Doug Drown Conquers Raceway 7 Super Late Models

By Jay Pees

Conneaut, OH (September 15, 2018): The “ground-pounding” Super Late Models made their annual visit to Raceway 7 with 24 of the fastest racers in the area signing in for a night of time trials, heat races, and a $5000 to win, 30-lap main event. Joining the headlining class were 29 Bonnell’s Collision Center E-Mods, racing in time trials, heats, and a 25-lap main event for a $2000 winner’s purse, 25 Bonnell’s Auto Group Economods racing 20-laps for $700, and 28 Sunnyside Farm Transit Mini Stocks, competing in a 15-lap feature for a $350 winner’s purse. Fast time for the Super Late Models was set by Doug Drown at 17.465. Drown the went on to win both his heat and the 40-lap feature.

The Sunnyside Farm Transit Mini Stocks were the first season finale on the bill with John Zeleznick and Joe Campbell on the front row. Zeleznick led lap one then yellow appeared on lap two when Zoey Gill and Nichole Condron got together in turn three. Zeleznick, looking to “bookend” his season with wins at both beginning and end, brought the field back to green with Campbell, the 2017 champion, and Dillon Speer, the 2018 champion, right behind. At green, Speer came to second. Speer challenged Zeleznick, using the high line but the leader began pulling away on lap five. At six laps complete, Jacob Peterson, Mike Barr, and Condron wrecked in turn four. Ana Vassen and Trevor Jimerson got together in turn two after the restart. At the next green the race for the lead was three wide coming out of turn two with William VanGuilder leading at the end of seven. At eight laps Speer was challenging with Zeleznick now third, Campbell fourth, and Skip Jackson fifth. Scott Gill got into the turn two barrier with nine complete. At this green former champion Jason Easler came up to fifth. On lap eleven Zeleznick was back up to second as VanGuilder was stretching his lead. With two laps left Easler was next to Jackson fighting for fourth. With the white flag flying Josh Crull got wide in turn one, coming to a halt and slowing the race under yellow and setting up a one lap shootout for the $350 winner’s purse. Van Guilder slipped way high in turns one and two allowing both Zeleznick and Speer to get by. Zeleznick succeeded in “bookending” the season with champion Speer second. VanGuilder had to settle for third with Jackson fourth and Easler fifth.

The Bonnell’s Collision Center 30-lap E-Mod feature started with Brent Rhebergen and Chuck Steinle Jr at the front. Rhebergen took off with the lead with sixth starting 2018 Troy Johnson champion coming to second at lap one, then the lead when caution flew for Alan Atkinson, spun into the infield in turn four. For the green it was Johnson, Rhebergen, Joel Watson Ken Zimmer and Chuck Steinle Jr the front five. Watson was second at five complete with 2017 champion Gary Eicher fifth at six laps. At eight laps Eicher was fourth. Caution flew at nine laps when Butch Lambert, Randy Bauknecht, and Percy McDonald spun in turn three. In a rare slip, Watson got sideways in turn four on lap ten and briefly was contacted by Eicher, but both were able to straighten out and continue. Watson was again challenging at fourteen complete but Johnson was still leading at the halfway point over Watson, Eicher, Rhebergen, and Dan Davies. Watson was the leader at sixteen complete. At eighteen laps Eicher got by Johnson as Watson was scooting away enroute to his 55th Raceway 7 feature win. The route to Victory Lane wasn’t easy as on lap twenty three I. Heavy traffic Eicher got next to Watson but then fell back over the remaining laps. Again in traffic on lap twenty nine, Eicher was able to get next to the leader but again Watson powered away. Eicher settled for second with Johnson third, Rhebergen fourth, and Zimmer fifth.

The 40-lap $5000 to win Super Late Model feature started with Steve Kania and Doug Drown on the front row. As the field started across the stripe at the end of lap one Bob Dorman spun in turn four with Rich Gardner and Ed Bolyard spinning to avoid contact. For green it was Drown, Kania, Alex Ferree, Dave Hess Jr, and Matt Urban as the front five. One more lap was in when John Lobb, Bump Herman, and Chad Valone spun in turn four. At the time of yellow Drown was leading with Ferree now in second, Kania third, Urban fourth, and Darrell Bossard fifth. Kania came back to second at the restart with Mike Maresca coming into the top five at five laps. Bossard was second at six laps but Ferree fought back and was second at eight laps, dropping Kania to fourth. At ten laps Breyton Santee came to a stop in turn two, eliminating Drown’s 2.145 second lead. After green Bossard came back to second but Drown was again stretching his lead. Maresca got way high in turn two with twelve complete, slipping back several spots to eighth. As the race completed thirteen laps Kania spun in turns three and four with Jake Finnerty getting involved. Then on the lap fourteen restart Hess got sideways in turn one with Bolyard and Terry Porter spinning to avoid contact but Porter suffered damage to the right rear quarter panel. At halfway it was Drown leading Bossard, Ferree, Maresca, and Matt Lux. Bossard was next to the leader when caution flew at this point when Bolyard spun in turn four. At 21 laps Ferree got by Bossard and Chad Wright was up to fifth a lap later. Bolyard again spun in turn two at twenty seven laps, his third, the limit in features. At green Chad Wright got a great start and was third at twenty eight laps. Wright was able to pull alongside Bossard several times over the next laps but Drown was pulling away. At thirty three laps Bossard was again solidly in second with Ferree starting to get by Wright, succeeding at thirty six. Maresca got by Wright with three laps remaining. At the finish Drown had a half straight lead, 2.372 seconds, over Bossard, Miley, Maresca fourth, and Ferree fifth.

Two-time winner Eric Wilson and Mark Titus brought the final race of 2018, the 20-lap Bonnell’s Auto Group Economods, to green with Wilson leading by half a length at the end of lap one. At two laps complete Jack Young slowed in turn three, putting the race under caution. At green Matt Alexander came to second with Wilson leading at three when caution again flew, this time for the spun car of Pat Drennan in turn four. With five laps in the books Kyle Miller slowed to a halt in turn three just as yellow flew for Chris Blau, spun in turn two. Dustin Demattia pulled pitside under the caution. On lap seven Eric Reinwald, Titus, and Brandon Blackshear were three wide fighting for third when Blau again spun in turn two. At the restart Reinwald got by Wilson for the lead. At nine complete Justin Sax spun in turns three and four with Garrett Calvert, Geoff Conn, Gary Murphy, and Tim Gould piling into each other. Reinwald, Wilson, Alexander, Titus, and Blackshear brought the race back to green with Alexander immediately coming to second and Blackshear third over Wilson. Again in turns three and four trouble struck when Billy Henry spun with Mike Harmon, Chris Blau, Mike Harmon, Garrett Calvert, and Mickey Wright getting involved. With the passes for second and third negated by the caution Wilson was able to retain second on this restart with Alexander third, Blackshear fourth and Titus fifth. On lap fourteen Blackshear got by Alexander for third with Steve Haefke now fifth. Bud Watson and another car got together in turn two with five laps to go resulting with the nose sheet metal and bumper of Watson’s car dislodging and winding up on the track. Haefke got by Alexander for fourth at seventeen complete with Jacob Eucker getting by his a lap later for fifth. Reinwald went on to his third win of the year, also “bookending” his year with wins on the first and last night. Wilson wound up second with Steve Haefke, Brandon Blackshear, and Jacob Eucker rounding out the top five.

Super Late Models:
Time Trials
Group 1: Chad Wright 17.705, Alex Ferree 17.852, Matt Urban 17.958, Bump Herman 17.980, Jake Finnerty 18.174, Breyton Santee 18.713, Terry Porter 19.389
Group 2: Darrell Bossard 18.085, Chris Hackett 18.275, Bob Dorman 18.334, Ed Bolyard 20.148
Group 3: Michael Maresca 17.774, Chad Valone 18.334, Eastman Headman 18.555, Rich Gardner 18.920, Damon Haught 21.452
Group 4: Doug Drown 17.465, Dave Hess Jr 17.773, Kyle Knapp 17.783, Matt Lux 17.801, John Lobb 18.136, Wendell Pinckney 18.524
Heat 1: Alex Ferree, Matt Urban, Jake Finnerty, Breyton Santee, Terry Porter, Bump Herman (DNS)
Heat 2: Chad Wright, Darrell Bossard, Bob Dorman, Jared Miley, Chris Hackett, Ed Bolyard
Heat 3: Mike Maresca, Steve Kania, Eastman Hedman, Chad Valone, Rich Gardner, Damon Haught
Heat 4: Doug Drown, Dave Hess Jr, Matt Lux, Kyle Knapp, John Lobb, Wendell Pinckney
Feature: Doug Drown, Darrell Bossard, Jared Miley, Mike Maresca, Alex Ferree, Chad Wright, John Lobb, Jake Finnerty, Matt Lux, Matt Urban, Bob Dorman, Dave Hess Jr, Bump Hedman, Chris Hackett, Steve Kania, Rich Gardner, Terry Porter, Damon Haught, Eastman Hedman, Wendell Pinckney, Kyle Knapp, Ed Bolyard, Breyton Santee, Chad Valone

Bonnell Collision Center E-Mods:
Time Trials
Group 1: Dan Sasso 19.066, Alan Atkinson 19.300, Chuck Steinle Jr 19.439, Jeff Johnson 19.450, Ron Seeley 19.903, Dan McDonald 20.030, Ed Bolyard 20.136
Group 2: Joel Watson 18.891, Dan Davies 18.942, Brent Rhebergen 19.054, Mike McGee 19.385, Bob Mosley 19.509, Josh McDonald 19.522, Randy Hall 19.563, To. Rockwell 19.636
Group 3: Carl McKinney 19.343, Mitchell Wright 19.568, Bill Taylor 19.573, Butch Lambert 20.017, Randy Bauknecht 20.086, Rick Pratschler 20.520, Brian Huffman 20.807
Group 4: Ken Zimmer 18.837, Troy Johnson 18.930, Mike Potosky
Heat 1: Chuck Steinle Jr, Alan Atkinson, Jeff Johnson, Percy McDonald, Ron Seeley, Dan McDonald, Ed Bolyard, Dan Sasso (DNS)
Heat 2: Joel Watson, Brent Rhebergen, Dan Davies, Randy Hall, Josh McDonald, Michael McGee, Tim Rockwell, Bob Moskey
Heat 3: Mitchell Wright, Carl McKinney, Randy Bauknecht, Bill Taylor, Rick Pratschler, Butch Lambert
Heat 4: Ken Zimmer, Troy Johnson, Mike Kinney, Gary Eicher, Mike Potosky, Justin Carlson, Hunter Hulley
B-Main: Mike McGee, Butch Lambert, Dan Sasso, Dan McDonald, Hunter Hurley, Ed Bolyard, Brian Huffman, Bob Moskey, Justin Carlson
Feature: Joel Watson, Gary Eicher, Troy Johnson, Brent Rhebergen, Ken Zimmer, Dan Davies, Mike Kinney, Carl McKinney, Mike Potosky, Mike McGee, Chuck Steinle Jr, Mitchell Wright, Jeff Johnson, Randy Hall, Randy Bauknecht, Rick Pratschler, Ron Seeley, Bill Taylor, Percy McDonald, Butch Lambert Alan Atkinson, Dan McDonald, Josh McDonald, Dan Sasso

Bonnell Auto Sales Economods:
Heat 1: Eric Reinwald, Matt Alexander, Eric Wilson, Mark Titus, Garrett Calvert, Gary Murphy, Pat Drennan
Heat 2: Jacob Eucker, Mike Boyd, Kyle Miller, Jack Young, Mike Harmon, Gary Olson, Justin Sax, Tim Gould
Heat 3: Billy Henry, Steve Haefke, Dustin Demattia, Brandon Blackshear, Mickey Wright, Mark Titus, Casey Harmon, Chris Blau
Feature: Eric Reinwald, Eric Wilson, Steve Haefke, Brandon Blackshear, Jacob Eucker, Matt Alexander, Mark Titus, Mike Boyd, Bud Watson, Chad Wright, Pat Drennan, Tim Gould, Gary Olson, Dustin Demattia, Kyle Miller, Garrett Calvert, Gary Murphy, Justin Sax, Billy Henry, Mike Harmon, Chris Blau, Geoff Conn, Casey Harmon, Jack Young

Sunnyside Farm Transit Mini Stocks:
Heat 1: William VanGuilder, Kyle Adkins, Tim Callahan, Skip Jackson, John McGee, Trevor Jimerson, Bill Fuchs, Logan Keney
Heat 2: Bob Leonard, Jessica Harvey, Shawn McBride, Scott Gill, Corey Wick, Bob Wagner
Heat 3: Dillon Speer, Nichole Condron, Zoey Gill, Mike Barr, Jeremy Start, Chuck Homa, Travis Creech
Heat 4: John Zeleznick, Jason Easler, Joe Campbell, Josh Crull, Alexis Vogt, Ana Vassen, Dave Wagner
B-Main: Trevor Jimerson, Bill Fuchs, Logan Kenny, Ana Vassen, Bob Wagner, Chuck Homa, Derrick Tuttle, Travis Creech, Dave Wagner (DNS)
Feature: John Zeleznick. Dillon Speer, William VanGuilder, Skip Jackson, Jason Easler, Joe Campbell, Kyle Adkins, Bill Fuchs, Jessica Harvey, Bob Leonard, Corey Wick, Zoey Gill, Scott Gill, Joe Keney, Alexis Vogt, Jeremy Start, Josh Crull, Shawn McBride, Mike Barr, Trevor Jimerson, Ana Vassen, John McGee, Nichole Condron, Tim Callahan