ROSSBURG, OH (May 25) – Sunday’s Sunoco sponsored American Late Model Series (ALMS) race at Eldora Speedway may have been the 39^th annual Johnny Appleseed Classic, but it also served as the final tune-up for the impending Dirt Late Model Dream and the quality of entrants certainly served testament to that as Josh Richards bested a stellar 56 car field to take the victory.   Brian Sebetto inched out Darren Long to take the National Racing Alliance (NRA) Sprint Invader victory, while Jeff Babcock continued his winning ways in the Advance Auto Parts Stock Car finale.

                Matt Miller jumped into the early lead of the 25-lap ALMS nightcap and looked to have everything under control as he opened a nice lead over the balance of the field.   That gap tightened up on lap 4 as Audie McWilliams coasted to a stop to bring out the caution flag.

                On the restart, Miller found Richards, Rocky Hodges and Jeep VanWormer glued to his bumper.  

                An extended green flag period intensified the action amongst that group, but as they approached lapped traffic on lap 15, the heat got stronger.   That fell into the hands of Miller, who pulled up and under Miller out of turn 2 to take the lead.   From thereon in, the battle was not for the lead, but for the balance of the available positions.

                Hodges began to apply heat on Miller, as did Terry Casey, who got by VanWormer for fourth.   Rapidly coming on the scene was Darrell Lanigan, who was advancing from his 17^th starting position to move into sixth, with Scott James right behind him.

                The group thrilled the huge crowd in what looked to be a wild finish.   It all came to a quick halt two laps from the finish, when a yellow flag appeared for debris in turn three and then on the restart, a wild melee down the back stretch eliminated the night’s quick qualifier Doug Drown, to bring out the red flag.

                On the restart, several cars set their sights on leader Richards in a last ditch effort to over take him, the resulting rush found cars getting loose, with Drown spinning wildly down the back chute and getting clipped by several cars.   He was uninjured but the car was out for the night.

                As the field realigned themselves, Lanigan and Casey were each moved back two positions for jumping on earlier restarts.  

                The final two laps found Richards invincible, with Miller holding off Lanigan, VanWormer and James to complete the top five.   That rundown was corrected to move Lanigan back to fifth, as on the final restart he again advanced before the designated starting point was penalized an additional two spots, moving VanWormer to third, James fourth and Lanigan fifth.

                Brian Sebetto had only seen Eldora one other time and that night, he totaled his Sprint Car.   Sunday had different and rewarding results.

                While the score sheets show him leading from start to finish, the race was a totally different story.

                With only one yellow flag slowing the pace there were multiple packs of action, yet, with the qualify of competition, only one lapped car throughout the event.

                Sebetto found the famed Eldora high banks much more to his liking and drove them as if he were a weekly competitor.   Multi time winner Darren Long was running a distant runner-up; however, as the laps began to wind down, he was reeling Sebetto in.   As if he had one eye on the lap counter, the final five laps really found him applying the pressue and when the white flag unfurled, he moved with two car lengths of the leader to bring the crowd to their feet. 

                Two cars, about to become lapped vehicles, caused a slight hesitation for Sebetto and that was what Long had hoped for.   A breath taking bonsai move off of turn four found him literally inches away from stealing away the win, with a jubilant Sebetto emerging from his car on victory lane.

                Long accepted runner-up honors, while Butch Schroeder, took third, an impressive Luke Hall nailed fourth and Greg Wilson completed the top five.

                Jeff Babcock again prevailed in the Stock Car finale, but unlike previous week’s, this was no cake walk.   Hounding him the entire distance was Kevin Gossard and John Brooks.   That trio was joined by Mike Dirksen and Bob Burch in the final stages, but the final run down didn’t change.

 

Sunoco American Late Model Series – 56 cars

 

Fast Time:  Doug Drown 16.110

 

a-main: 1)Josh Richards 2)Matt Miller 3)Jeep VanWormer 4)Scott James 5)Darrell Lanigan 6)Brad Neat 7)Terry Casey 8)Wayne Chinn 9)Rick Combs 10)Ben Adkins 11)Tyler Boggs 12)Jerry Bowersock 13)Aaron Scott 14)Brian Ruhlman 15)Andrew Reaume 16)Doug Drown 17)Rocky Hodges 18)Shawn Negangard 19)Josh Williams 20)Steve Casebolt 21)Casey Noonan 22)Audie McWilliams 23)Jordan Bland

 

b-main 1:  Kris Patterson, Kerry Mathew, Rusty Schlenk, Jerry Rice, John Mason, Bill Hahn, Brad Eitinear, D. J. Wells, Larry Kingseed, Ryan VanderVeen, Troy Cattarene, Jon Horner, Tyler Boggs, Ky Harper, Hillard Miller, Bob Lanter, Rusty Seaver, Donnie Roberts

 

b-main 2:  Shannon Buckingham, Casey Noonan, Bobby Kitchen, Dustin Moore, Chad Ruhlman, Chris Ross, Steve Kester, David Spille, Brian Ruhlman, Curtis Deisenroth, Curtis Roberts, Bill Williams, Tom Sprague, Chuck Hummer, Mike Bores, Mike Stiltner, Brett Reaume, Don Gordon

 

heat 1:  Drown, Adkins, James, McWilliams, Scott, Patterson, Mathew, Hahn, Kingseed, VanderVeen, Cattarene, Horner, Lanter, Wells

heat 2:  Richards, Casey, Negangard, Bland, Mason, Schlenk, Eitinear, Rice, Harper, H. Miller, Lanigan, Boggs, Seaver, Roberts

heat 3:  Hodges, VanWormer, A. Reaume, Bowersock, Noonan, Buckingham, Moore, Kester, Spille, B. Ruhlman, Deisenroth, Sprague, Stiltner, Gordon

heat 4: M. Miller, Chinn, Neat, Casebolt, J. Williams, Kitchen, Combs, C. Ruhlman, Ross, Roberts, B. Williams, Bores, Hummer, B. Reaume,

 

Advance Auto Parts Stock Cars 5/25/2008

a-main:1. Jeff Babcock (Wayne, OH), 2. Kevin Gossard (Findlay, OH), 3. John Books (Wayne, OH), 4. Mike Dirksen (Union City, OH), 5. Bob Burch (Eaton, OH), 6. Earnie Woodard (Georgetown, KY), 7. Jeremy Creech (Hagerstown, IN), 8. Shawn Phillippi (Greenville, OH), 9. Gabe Wombolt (Greenville, OH), 10. Chad Barr (Piqua, OH), 11. Jason Kinney (Mendon, OH), 12. Mike Krueger (Lima, OH), 13. Adam Schaeff (Eaton, OH), 14. Glenn Knick (Bradford, OH), 15. Doug Tiemann (Richmond, IN), 16. Michael Barr (Dayton, OH), 17. Jan Launder (Findlay, OH), 18. Luke Timmerman (St. Henry, OH), 19. Jamison Heiser (Ft. Recovery, OH), 20. Barney Craig (Cridersville, OH), 21. Terry Klopfenstein (Jackson Center, OH), 22. Doug Mathey (Richmond , IN),

 

b-main:1. Adam Schaeff (Eaton, OH), 2. Mike Krueger (Lima, OH), 3. Glenn Knick (Bradford, OH), 4. Jan Launder (Findlay, OH), 5. Jamison Heiser (Ft. Recovery, OH), 6. Luke Timmerman (St. Henry, OH), 7. Michael Barr (Dayton, OH), 8. Anthony Goode (Greenville, OH), 9. Rodney Lacey (Vamdalia, OH), 10. Stacey Gazerek (Jenera, OH), 11. Andy King (Convoy, OH), 12. Chad Thornhill (Rossburg, OH), 13. John Phlipot, Jr. (Covington, OH), 14. Jon Mark Runyon (Portland, IN),

 

heat 1:1. Barney Craig (Cridersville, OH), 2. John Books (Wayne, OH), 3. Doug Mathey (Richmond , IN), 4. Jeremy Creech (Hagerstown, IN), 5. Chad Barr (Piqua, OH), 6. John Phlipot, Jr. (Covington, OH), 7. Glenn Knick (Bradford, OH), 8. Jamison Heiser (Ft. Recovery, OH), 9. Michael Barr (Dayton, OH), 10. Anthony Goode (Greenville, OH),

 

heat 2:1. Earnie Woodard (Georgetown, KY), 2. Doug Tiemann (Richmond, IN), 3. Kevin Gossard (Findlay, OH), 4. Gabe Wombolt (Greenville, OH), 5. Shawn Phillippi (Greenville, OH), 6. Adam Schaeff (Eaton, OH), 7. Jan Launder (Findlay, OH), 8. Mike Krueger (Lima, OH), 9. Rodney Lacey (Vamdalia, OH), 10. Luke Timmerman (St. Henry, OH),

 

heat 3:1. Jeff Babcock (Wayne, OH), 2. Bob Burch (Eaton, OH), 3. Mike Dirksen (Union City, OH), 4. Terry Klopfenstein (Jackson Center, OH), 5. Jason Kinney (Mendon, OH), 6. Chad Thornhill (Rossburg, OH), 7. Jon Mark Runyon (Portland, IN), 8. Stacey Gazerek (Jenera, OH), 9. Andy King (Convoy, OH),

 

NRA Sprint Invaders 5/25/2008

a-main:1. Brian Sebetto, 2. Darren Long, 3. Greg Wilson, 4. Luke Hall, 5. Butch Schroeder, 6. Mike Brecht, 7. Ben Rutan, 8. Dustin Daggett, 9. J.R. Stewart, 10. Ryan Ruhl, 11. Ronnie Blair, 12. Kent Wolters, 13. Jeff Williams, 14. Chad Gullett, 15. tim alison, 16. Dwain Leiber, 17. Scott Carter, 18. Dennis Yoakam, 19. Mark Hery, 20. Dane Naida,

 

b-main:1. Ronnie Blair, 2. Mark Hery, 3. Dane Naida, 4. Scott Carter, 5. Chad Gullett, 6. Jared Horstman, 7. Lee Stark, 8. Mike Miller, 9. Sean Robinson, 10. Pete Ische, 11. Aaron Maloney, 12. Bob Carman, 13. Tyler McDonald, 14. Rick Boughan,

 

heat 1:1. Dustin Daggett, 2. Luke Hall, 3. Jeff Williams, 4. Ben Rutan, 5. Dennis Yoakam, 6. Dane Naida, 7. Aaron Maloney, 8. Lee Stark, 9. Bob Carman, 10. Mike Miller,

 

heat 2:1. Ryan Ruhl, 2. Brian Sebetto, 3. Greg Wilson, 4. Butch Schroeder, 5. Mike Brecht, 6. Ronnie Blair, 7. Jared Horstman, 8. Scott Carter, 9. Pete Ische, 10. Rick Boughan,

 

heat 3:1. J.R. Stewart, 2. Darren Long, 3. tim alison, 4. Kent Wolters, 5. Dwain Leiber, 6. Chad Gullett, 7. Mark Hery, 8. Tyler McDonald, 9. Sean Robinson,