Hummingbird Speedway Kicks Off 23rd Consecutive Season

By: Steven Curry – Race Reporter

Reynoldsville- Sunny skies welcomed drivers, teams, and fans from all over the region back to Hummingbird Speedway on Saturday night for the 2023 Season Opener. The 2023 season marks the 23rd consecutive season of racing at the Bird. Earl “The Squirrel” Jackson is entering his second season as flagman as John McConnell, the host of the popular Garage Crawl on Facebook, enters his first season as the voice of the Bird. It was scheduled to be a regular six-division program with the Pro Stocks, Economods, Super Late Models, Semi Late Models, Pure Stocks, and Four-Cylinders all on the card. However, due to the seemingly relentless rains that the area experienced throughout most of the week which led to some challenging track conditions throughout the night, the final feature of the night (the Four-Cylinders) was suspended after just a few laps. The Four-Cylinder feature will resume where it left off next week, May 13th. Five drivers started 2023 on the right foot by taking trips to Carns Powersports Victory Lane. The #52 of Zac Etzel picked up his first career feature win in the Andy Man’s Car Care Economods. After a six-year drought without a win, the #1B of Dwayne Brooks took the checkers in the Srock Contracting Super Late Models for his first win since 2017. Other feature winners on Opening Night included: the #101 of Bruce Hartzfeld in the Cypress Clock & Gift Shop Pro Stocks, the #9N of Nick Loffredo in the Swanson Heavy Truck Repair Semi Late Models, and the #88 of Josh Fields in the Pure Stocks.

Jim Challingsworth and Bruce Hartzfeld led the Cypress Clock & Gift Shop Pro Stocks trackside for their 20-lap feature event to kick off the feature racing action. Hartzfeld jumped out to the lead on the start and led lap 1 over Fuzzy Fields and Challingsworth. Hartzfeld continued to lead the way until a caution for a spin on the backstretch on lap 4 or 5 set up the first restart of the race. On the restart, Hartzfeld got out to the lead over Fields and Challingsworth. Hartzfeld began to extend his lead over the field as the race neared halfway. At the halfway mark on lap 10, it was Hartzfeld still leading the way over Fields and Challingsworth. One more caution flag would fly in the second half of the race, but it would not phase Hartzfeld as he cruised to the win over Fields, Challingsworth, Kyle Corah, Mikael Beaver, and Jim Bloom. Hartzfeld won the lone heat race.

The Andy Man’s Car Care Economods were next to the track with Alex Siekkinen and Nate Fleck on the front row for their 15-lap feature race. Siekkinen edged out to the lead on the start over Fleck and Zac Etzel. Siekkinen led lap 1 as Etzel made the pass on Fleck on the inside to move into the second position. On lap 2, Orin Taylor used the lowside to his advantage to make the pass on Fleck for the third spot. Just the first two laps were completed before a caution for a spin on the backstretch brought about the first restart of the race. On the restart, it was Siekkinen out to the point over Etzel and Taylor. On lap 3, Fleck worked his way back around Taylor to move into third behind the leaders. Then, a couple of laps later on lap 5, Fleck made the pass to the inside of Etzel to move into the runner-up position behind Siekkinen. Another couple of laps were completed before a caution for a spin in turns 3 and 4. On the ensuing restart, Fleck made a move to the inside of Siekkinen and made the pass to take the top spot at halfway as Taylor passed Etzel for third. Etzel made the pass on Taylor to regain the third position on lap 11. Later that lap, the caution flag was displayed again for a wreck on the backstretch. Fleck led the way over Siekkinen and Etzel on the restart. On lap 12, Etzel made the pass to the inside of Siekkinen to move into second. Later that lap, Fleck spun out of the lead coming off of turn 2, bringing the caution out one more time. That moved Etzel to the top spot for the final restart with Siekkinen and Brad Curran Jr. following behind. Etzel jumped out to the lead on the final restart over Siekkinen and Curran Jr.. Etzel got the lead and never looked back in the final few laps enroute to his first career feature win. Taylor made a last lap, last turn pass on Curran Jr. for third. Siekkinen, Taylor, Curran Jr., Fleck, Don Watson, and Carter Bidwell rounded out the field. Siekkinen and Fleck won the heat races.

Paul Kot and Doug Eck headed the field of Srock Contracting Super Late Models for their 25-lap feature. Dwayne Brooks made a three-wide pass for the lead on the highside of turns 1 and 2 on the opening lap. Brooks would lead lap 1 over Eck and Kot. A couple of quick caution flags for spins would keep the field close with only an additional 2 to 3 laps being completed. On the restart following the cautions, it was Brooks still leading the way over Eck and Kot. On lap 8, Eck was able to close in and make the pass on Brooks for the race lead. One lap later, Kot was able to work his way past Brooks for second. At the halfway point on lap 13, it was still Eck out front over Kot and Brooks. A caution for a spin in turns 1 and 2 later that lap brought about another restart. After another quick caution flag, it was Eck out to the lead over Kot and Brooks. On lap 14, Brooks powered past Kot on the inside to move back into second. Brooks was flying on the highside and was catching the leader rather quickly. On lap 18, Eck had to check up briefly coming off of turn 4 which led to Brooks getting into him and spinning on the frontstretch. He made a 360 and continued on his way, now in the fourth position. The spin moved Derek Rodkey into third. The caution flag came out again one lap later for a spin in turn 1. Eck pulled out to the lead on the restart over Kot and Rodkey. Brooks, coming from fourth, powered past Rodkey on the highside as he set his sights on Eck and Kot. The caution flag was displayed one final time on lap 22, which set up a three-lap showdown between Eck, Kot, and Brooks. On the final restart, it was Eck out to the lead as Brooks dove to the inside of turns 1 and 2 to get past Kot for second and set his sights on Eck. Brooks closed in on Eck and powered past on the highside to take the top spot just as the white flag was in the air. Brooks held on to capture his first checkered flag in nearly 6 years in what was a wild race. Brooks was followed by: Eck, Kot, Rodkey, Clay Ruffo, Dennis Curry, Nathan Brady, Rich Runyan Jr., Orvis Newcome lll, Cregen Brady, and Joe Loffredo. Eck and Brooks won the heat races.

The Swanson Heavy Truck Repair Semi Late Models were trackside next with Kyle Shannon and Nick Loffredo leading the field to the green flag for their 20-lap main. Shannon got out to the lead on the start and led lap 1 over Loffredo and Dan Smeal. On lap 3, Loffredo used the outside of turns 1 and 2 to make the pass on Shannon for the race lead. At the cross flags on lap 10, it was Loffredo continuing to lead the way over Shannon and Smeal. On lap 14, Smeal pulled off a three-wide move on the inside of turns 1 and 2 to go from 3rd to 1st with just six laps remaining. Later that lap, Smeal got tight going into turns 3 and 4 and spun out, allowing both Loffredo and Shannon to go by and move back into the first and second positions. Smeal continued on though in the third spot without a caution flag. Shannon closed in on Loffredo in the final laps and actually got to the inside of Loffredo, but it was to no avail as Loffredo held on to take his first trip to Carns Powersports Victory Lane this season. Shannon, Smeal, Adam Nixon, Doug Surra, and Ryan McCanna rounded out the field. Loffredo won the heat race.

Josh Fields and Dustin Challingsworth led the Pure Stocks to green for their 15-lap feature event. A quick caution flag on the opening lap involving Challingsworth moved Bruno Mowery and Wayne Truitt into second and third for the restart. On the restart, it was Fields out to the lead as he led lap 1 over Mowery and Truitt. Another lap or so was completed before a caution for a spin in turns 1 and 2. Fields jumped out to the lead on the restart over Mowery and Truitt. On lap 6, Challingsworth reentered the top 3 by passing Truitt for the third position. The caution flag was displayed again later that lap. At the halfway mark on lap 8, it was Fields out front over Mowery and Challingsworth. 2 or 3 more caution flags would fly in the second half of the race, but none of them phased Fields as he would go on to lead from green to checkered on his way to notching his first win of 2023. Mowery and Challingsworth swapped the 2nd and 3rd positions a couple of times in the closing laps with Mowery ending up coming home 2nd and Challingsworth 3rd. Fields was followed by: Mowery, Challingsworth, Josh Bloom, Truitt, Devin Dickey, Jake Valasek, Andy Frey, Renae Meyer, Paul Metz Jr., Dominic Marchiori, Jenna Pfaff, and Ashley Kilhoffer. Mowery and Challingsworth won the heat races.

The 26-car Four-Cylinder field did take to the track briefly to conclude the evening. William Kephart and Hunter Olszewski led the field to the green flag. They completed 2 or 3 laps before the race was suspended by track officials due to rough track conditions. The race will resume from where it was stopped this coming Saturday, May 13th. The heat race winners from earlier in the evening were Camden Frantz, Matt Urey, Greg Kiehl, and Shawn Hadden.

Speedway Notes: 69 cars were in attendance for Opening Night of the 2023 racing season. That breaks down to: 6 Pro Stocks, 7 Economods, 11 Super Late Models, 6 Semi Late Models, 13 Pure Stocks, and 26 Four-Cylinders. We will be back in action this coming Saturday, May 13th, with a Regular 6-Division Program plus the first Kids Bike Race of the season. The remainder of the Four-Cylinder feature from Opening Night will be run as well. It will also be a Mother’s Day Special with all of the Mom’s in attendance receiving a special gift. Gates open at 4:00 with racing beginning at 7:00. The Sub Hub Kids Club gets underway every Saturday night at 6pm by the pit gate entrance. It is a great place to take your kids to do some fun kids club activities as well as meet some drivers prior to racing getting started. For more information, call the track office at (814) 653-8400 or visit the tracks’ website at www.hummingbirdspeedway.com. You can also follow the track on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.

Results:

Cypress Clock & Gift Shop Pro Stocks
1st) #101 Bruce Hartzfeld
2nd) #28 Fuzzy Fields
3rd) #44 Jim Challingsworth
4th) #152 Kyle Corah
5th) #26JR Mikael Beaver
6th) #37A Jim Bloom

Andy Man’s Car Care Economods
1st) #52 Zac Etzel
2nd) #20 Alex Siekkinen
3rd) #21T Orin Taylor
4th) #C17 Brad Curran Jr.
5th) #71 Nate Fleck
6th) #71A Don Watson
7th) #26X Carter Bidwell

Srock Contracting Super Late Models
1st) #1B Dwayne Brooks
2nd) #20 Doug Eck
3rd) #36 Paul Kot
4th) #14R Derek Rodkey
5th) #14 Clay Ruffo
6th) #75 Dennis Curry
7th) #77 Nathan Brady
8th) #18 Rich Runyan Jr.
9th) #66N Orvis Newcome lll
10th) #2 Cregen Brady
11th) #9J Joe Loffredo

Swanson Heavy Truck Repair Semi Late Models
1st) #9N Nick Loffredo
2nd) #11 Kyle Shannon
3rd) #44 Dan Smeal
4th) #47 Adam Nixon
5th) #3xAA Doug Surra
6th) #21 Ryan McCanna

Pure Stocks
1st) #88 Josh Fields
2nd) #48 Bruno Mowery
3rd) #46 Dustin Challingsworth
4th) #37B Josh Bloom
5th) #54 Wayne Truitt
6th) #18 Devin Dickey
7th) #121 Jake Valasek
8th) #55X Andy Frey
9th) #56K Renae Meyer
10th) #14M Paul Metz Jr.
11th) #01D Dominic Marchiori
12th) #33 Jenna Pfaff
13th) #50 Ashley Kilhoffer

Four-Cylinders (Heat Race Results)
Heat #1:

1st) #158 Camden Frantz
2nd) #4234 Hunter Olszewski
3rd) #187 Kevin Wice
4th) #65 Louis Young
5th) #251 Dillon Morrison
6th) #6 Adam Pluebell
7th) #03C Coty Maines

Heat #2:

1st) #501 Matt Urey
2nd) #007 William Kephart
3rd) #850B Bryun Hackenberg
4th) #29L Josh Lindemuth
5th) #427H Jeremy Harris
6th) #19R Jimmy Delozier
7th) #79 Devon Trayer

Heat #3:

1st) #17 Greg Kiehl
2nd) #44B Bruce Long
3rd) #17S Greg Snell
4th) #33 Troy Bennett
5th) #35K Heidi Miller
6th) #11 Jim Boyer

Heat #4:

1st) #3H Shawn Hadden
2nd) #910 Travis Timko
3rd) #1 Ben Lehane
4th) #56 Justin Finland
5th) #65Y Michael Young
6th) #317 Kevin Piper

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