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Troutman wins, champs decided at The Rock Sept. 10, 2011 CUMBERLAND, Md. -- Tight battles in the championship standings ended without a major upset in the five divisions on the final regular season race Saturday night at The Rock, Allegany County Speedway. Three new winners included George Hilliard Memorial winner D.J. Troutman, and Andrew Pluta Jr. and Ray Shepherd in the Factory Stock classes. Brian Duffy won his third Street Stock race and Justin Michael took the suspense out of the closest point battle entering the Hobby Stock feature by claiming another win. Matt Sponaugle earned the Limited Late Model championship for the second straight year and fourth time in his career. Daryl Whetstone recovered in the Street Stock feature to win that championship for the first time. Michael broke through for his first Hobby Stock title, and DacRon Powell and Brian Ringer repeated as 4-Cylinder and 6/8-Cylinder champs. In the 20-lap George Hilliard Memorial, Troutman grabbed the lead in the opening corners over Sponaugle and went on to win by nearly two seconds. Troutman led by nearly three seconds with eight laps to go. Sponaugle made up some time before the finish when Troutman got into traffic in the last two laps. After Sponaugle, Travis Stickley drove to a third-place finish. Barry Miller and Eric Irvin wound up fourth and fifth. Duffy led the entire distance in the 16-lap Street Stock race. Behind him, two incidents shuffled the field, the first of which nearly gave John Whitfield the championship over Whetstone. Whetstone entered the race leading by 30 points. Duffy led Whetstone, Bob Jay, Whitfield and Chris Chamberlain after the first lap but on the next lap Whetstone fell to fourth and spun after Chamberlain spun ahead of him in turn two. Whitfield held third and was in the driver's seat for the championship when Whetstone was forced to restart in 12th place. By lap 10, Whetstone recovered to sixth and two laps later, Whitfield was forced to pit with a flat tire. After the final caution with two laps to go, Duffy took another commanding lead. Kerry Molovich finished second when Jay fell off the pace in the last laps. Justin Bonnett, Whetstone and Chamberlain completed the top five. Whitfield finished eighth to end his championship hope. Michael entered the Hobby Stock race with a scant five-point margin over Jimmy Moreland for the title but didn't leave any doubt by going the distance ahead of the field. David Riley kept the race competitive by hanging around in the runner-up spot. He ended up two car lengths off the winning pace at the finish. Moreland ran as high as third but ended up fifth. Billy VanMeter and Marcius VanMeter got third and fourth. Pluta grabbed a win over Kevin Beers Jr. that was marred when a fire broke out on Pluta's car shortly after the race concluded. Pluta stopped on the backstretch after the race as flames whipped over the back half of his No. 88. He escaped the cockpit unharmed. Beers made a strong bid for the lead after the final caution came on lap eight. Pluta held on long enough to get the checkered over Beers and Robert Pluta. Powell recovered from an earlier crash with Pluta to finish fourth, handily winning the championship. Fifth went to Nick Iski. Shepherd took the lead from Ringer on the second lap and went on to win by four car lengths over Jason Stoner in the 12-lap 6/8-Cylinder feature. Ringer ended up third and claimed the championship over Dave Comer, who finished sixth. Shepherd led by nearly half of a straightaway but Stoner, who took second from Ringer on lap six, steadily closed in before the finish. Christine Stickley earned a fourth-place finish. Ryan Peer ended up fifth. The Big Kahuna returns to The Rock on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. with the UFo Race Championship late models. The Rock - Allegany County Speedway Saturday Sept. 10, 2011 Race Results LIMITED LATE MODEL GEORGE HILLIARD MEMORIAL (20 laps): 1. D.J. Troutman, 2. Matt Sponaugle, 3. Travis Stickley, 4. Barry Miller, 5. Eric Irvin, 6. George Dixon Jr., 7. Khi Swanger, 8. Corey Weaver, 9. Tim Smith Jr., 10. Matt Emerick, 11. Ronnie Bottenfield, DNS: Travis Calhoun. STREET STOCK (16 laps): 1. Brian Duffy, 2. Kerry Molovich, 3. Justin Bonnett, 4. Daryl Whetstone, 5. Chris Chamberlain, 6. Jeremy Swank, 7. Rick Wright, 8. John Whitfield, 9. Kevin Deremer, 10. Dennis Collins, 11. Bob Jay, 12. Elwood Hyre, 13. Zane Weicht, 14. Joe Marple. HOBBY STOCK (15 laps): 1. Justin Michael, 2. David Riley, 3. Billy VanMeter, 4. Marcius VanMeter, 5. Jimmy Moreland, 6. Jim DeArmitt, 7. Kevin Van Horn, 8. Bryan Morris, DNS: Kevin Tayler, Brad Feight, Alan Shives, Jason Haggerty. FACTORY STOCK 4-CYLINDER (12 laps): 1. Andrew Pluta Jr., 2. Kevin Beers Jr., 3. Robert Pluta, 4. DacRon Powell, 5. Nick Iski, 6. Philip Best, 7. Chris Shoemaker, 8. Ronnie Valentine, 9. Jason Poland, 10. Tyler Larkin, 11. John Crowfis Jr., 12. Harold Propst, 13. Steve Riggleman, 14. Ryan Peer, 15. Kevin See, DNS: Daniel Wratchford, Neil Bauer Jr. FACTORY STOCK 6/8-CYLINDER (12 laps): 1. Ray Shepherd, 2. Jason Stoner, 3. Brian Ringer, 4. Christine Stickley, 5. Ryan Peer, 6. Dave Comer, 7. Will Worthington, 8. Brandon Inglish. |
