Hagerstown

AUGUST 14TH, 1999                    
       STUHLER DOMINATES 100-LAP STARS 52ND ANNIVERSARY AT HAGERSTOWN
   
HAGERSTOWN, MD - Gary Stuhler is at his best when the big money is on the line. Once again the Greencastle, PA driver turned in a superb performance as he totally outclassed the rest of the field in the 100-lap STARS 52nd Anniversary feature at the Hagerstown Speedway Saturday night.  Stuhler started fifth and took the lead from Rodney Franklin on the ninth lap and was never challenged the rest of the way in an awesome driving display. When Stuhler crossed the finish line, it was his 12th STARS win at Hagerstown and 11th of the season. Five of Stuhler wins have come at Hagerstown including the STARS 100-lap Conococheague 100 last month. It was Stuhler second STARS win in two weeks. Stuhler collected $10,000 for his 94th career win at Hagerstown.

    "We changed the car around from last night and it made a difference,"
said Stuhler who finished second in the 50-lapper to open the 52nd
Anniversary Weekend. " I owe the win to Huey and the crew, they made the call on the set-up."

    Chub Frank started 12th and finished second ahead of Mike Balzano after
the two drivers battled side-by-side for most of the second half of the race.Roy Deese was fourth and Bart Hartman fifth. Nathan Durboraw was next with Jeremy Miller coming from 17th for seventh. Steve Shaver and 16th starting Donnie Moran were next with Lynn Geisler rounding out the top ten one lap down.

    In the 15-lap summer championship for the Ernie's Salvage Yard 4-cyl pure
stocks, Brian Miller moved closer to his fourth track title with his seventh
win of the season.

    Rodney Franklin took the lead from the outside pole with Roy Deese, D.J. Myers, Steve Shaver and Stuhler falling in line. Stuhler picked off Shaver for fourth on the second lap as Myers took second from Deese on lap three.Stuhler worked his way past Deese on lap four for third and moved into second four laps later on lap eight. A lap later, Stuhler went under Franklin to take the lead. Once Stuhler was in front, he walked away from the field and cruised to another impressive win in the Dale Beitler owned Duron Paints/Reliable Painting/MastersBilt Chassis/Leggett Research Engines.

    While Stuhler was way out in front, Mike Balzano moved into second on lap 21 as 13th starting Chub Frank climbed into the top five. Frank picked off the next two drivers to move into third on the 29th lap and closed in on
second-place Balzano on lap 33. Two laps later, Frank moved into second, but was unable to close in on Stuhler as the red flag was waved for the fuel
stop.

    On the green for the second 50-laps, Stuhler got a quick jump on the
field as Frank had to hold off Balzano while trying to get past two lapped
cars to track down the leader. Balzano came back to take second on lap 70,
but Frank didn't give up as the two raced side-by-side for several laps
allowing Stuhler to increase his lead to half-lap by the time Frank regained
the runner-up spot on lap 86. Frank had no chance of catching Stuhler in the
remaining 14 laps and settled for second with Balzano taking third. Deese
finished fourth after taking third for a couple laps from Balzano five laps
from the end with Bart Hartman coming from 12th for fifth. Nathan Durboraw,Jeremy Miller, Steve Shaver were next with Donnie Moran ninth after going to the pits on lap 51. Lynn Geisler finished out the top ten one lap down.

    Heat winners for the 48 cars were Andy Fries, Balzano, John Mason and
Durboraw. R. J. Conley and Miller won the B-Mains. Deese won the Dash. Rodney Franklin set fast time of 20.154 seconds.

    In the 4-cyl pure stock feature, Ashley Gordon led the first two laps as
Brian Miller blasted his way to third from his 11th starting spot. On the
third lap, Miller passed Andy Holmes and Gordon to take the lead. After
brushing off a challenge from A. Holmes on the ninth lap, Miller pulled away
to a six car length win over Dean Holmes, A. Holmes, Eric Mellott, Jerry
Fifield, Gordon, Billy Ecton Jr., Tiffany Shoemaker, Robert Holmes and Larry Baker II. Following the feature, Mellot was disqualified because he refused to have his car inspected. Heat winners for the 12 cars were Andy and Robert Holmes.

    Next weekend, the American Motorcyclist Association Grand National Dirt
Track Series take over the half-mile over in the Hub-City Classic. Race time
is 8 P.M. with preliminaries getting underway at 6 P.M. Gates open at 4 P.M
.
RESULTS:
ERNIE'S SALVAGE YARD 4-CYL PURE STOCKS- 1. Brian Miller; 2. Dean Holmes; Andy Holmes; 4. Jerry Firfield; 5. Ashley Gordon; 6. Bill Ecton Jr.; 7. Tiffany
Shoemaker; 8. Robert Holmes; 9. Larry Baker II; DNS. Dawson; Horner. DQ:
Mellott
 
STARS National DirtCar Racing League Race Report (for 8-14-99)
Race No. 24-1999 Season-"52nd Anniversary 100"
Hagerstown Speedway-Hagerstown,MD-1/2 Mile Oval
$38,000 Purse-$10,000 To Win-100 Lap Feature

(Showing Finish Pos.,Start Pos.,Car #,Driver,Laps,Purse,Reason Out)

1. (5) #19 Gary Stuhler 100 $10,040 Running
2. (13) #1* Chub Frank 100 $5,000 Running
3. (8) #E1 Mike Balzano 100 $3,000 Running
4. (1) #05 Roy Deese Jr. 100 $2,100 Running
5. (12) #75 Bart Hartman 100 $1,500 Running
6. (10) #24 Nathan Durboraw 100 $1,400 Running
7. (18) #1M Jeremy Miller 100 $1,340 Running
8. (3) #30 Steve Shaver 100 $1,260 Running
9. (16) #99 Donnie Moran 100 $1,100 Running
10. (14) #1C Lynn Geisler 99 $1,000 Running
11. (22) #W11 Rob Blair 99 $940 Running
12. (9) #72 John Mason 99 $800 Running
13. (21) #34 Rick Workman 99 $740 Running
14. (7) #82 Andy Fries 99 $650 Running
15. (15) #33 Aaron Scott 98 $600 Running
16. (26) # 3 Jeff Robinson 98 $590 Running
17. (25) # 9 Frankie Plessinger 98 $540 Running
18. (23) # 1 Rodney Combs 96 $540 Running
19. (17) #71C R.J. Conley 68 $540 Cooling
20. (11) #40 Les Hare 68 $500 Accident
21. (24) #32L Greg Lucas 67 $540 Handling
22. (20) #42 Todd Andrews 61 $540 Handling
23. (19) # 7 Charlie Schaffer 50 $540 Handling
24. (4) #44 D.J. Myers 49 $550 Cooling
25. (2) #01 Rodney Franklin $580 Handling
26. (6) #46 Brent Smith $535 Handling

TIME OF RACE: 55 Mins.
YELLOW FLAGS: Three-Laps 8,51,68
RED FLAGS: None
LAP LEADERS: Two-Franklin 1-8;Stuhler 9-100
"ROOKIE OF THE RACE": Scott
OUTERWEARS CO. "Co-Hard Charger's Of The Race": Frank,Blair
PROVISIONAL STARTERS: Combs,Lucas,Plessinger,Robinson
CAR COUNT: 47
FAST QUALIFIER: Franklin 20.154 secs.
BORLA EXHAUST Heat Race Winners: Fries,Balzano,Mason,Durboraw
SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE Heat Race Bonus Winner: None
ISKY RACING CAMS Dash Winner: Deese Jr.
PRO SHOCKS "B" Main Winners: Conley,Miller

SUMMARY
Qualifying: 1)#01 Rodney Franklin, 20.154; 2)#19 Gary Stuhler, 20.326; 3)#1
Rodney Combs, 20.559; 4)#30 Steve Shaver, 20.633; 5)#44 D.J. Myers, 20.665;6)#05 Roy Deese Jr., 20.667; 7)#46 Brent Smith, 20.804; 8)#40 Les Hare,20.828; 9)#82 Andy Fries, 20.909; 10)#9 Frankie Plessinger, 20.911; 11)#72 John Mason, 20.937; 12)#84 Rodney Sweitzer, 20.948; 13)#75 Bart Hartman,20.960; 14)#E1 Mike Balzano, 20.968; 15)#04 Bob Close, 20.974; 16)#24 Nathan Durboraw, 20.983; 17)#34 Rick Workman, 20.985; 18)#1* Chub Frank, 21.051;19)#33 Aaron Scott, 21.057; 20)#4N Allen Brannon, 21.099; 21)#7 Charlie Schaffer, 21.147; 22)#99S Marshall Shunk, 21.158; 23)#1C Lynn Geisler,21.176; 24)#99 Donnie Moran, 21.178; 25)#12 Devin Friese, 21.246; 26)#42 Todd Andrews, 21.257; 27)#71C R.J. Conley, 21.277; 28)#1M Jeremy Miller, 21.299;29)#51 Jesse Sheckler, 21.447; 30)#21 Jeff Shearer, 21.489; 31)#2P Bill Palmer, 21.518; 32)#W11 Rob Blair, 21.553; 33)#76 Doug Burkholder, 21.563;34)#80 Bryan Durig, 21.670; 35)#2S Sam Stile, 21.688; 36)#92 Harold Dorsey Jr., 21.694; 37)#99H Mike Hardy, 21.760; 38)#2J Jeff Rine, 21.806; 39)#10 Jere Wierman, 22.008; 40)#4J Jeff Bryner, 22.123; 41)#W7 Thomas Ware, 22.134;42)#3 Jeff Robinson, 22.135; 43)#32L Greg Lucas, 22.323; 44)#17 Jim Stasiowski, 23.669; 45)#15 Tommy Armel, NT 46)#25A Andy Anderson, NT 47)#D2 Nolan Dalton, NT.

BORLA EXHAUST Heat #1: Fries,Franklin,Hartman,Myers,Schaffer,
Workman,Scheckler,Burkholder,Friese,Hardy,Ware,Stasiowski (Top 4
advance to feature)
BORLA EXHAUST Heat #2: Balzano,Deese Jr.,Frank,Stuhler,Andrews,
Robinson,Shearer,Rine,Durig,Plessinger,Shunk,NS-Anderson (Top 4
advance to feature)
BORLA EXHAUST Heat #3: Mason,Smith,Geisler,Scott,Conley,Combs,
Palmer,Lucas,Wierman,Close,Stile,NS-Dalton (Top 4 advance to feature)
BORLA EXHAUST/SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE Heat #4: Durboraw,
Hare,Shaver,Moran,Miller,Sweitzer,Brannon,Blair,Dorsey Jr.,Armel,Bryner
(Top 4 advance to feature)
ISKY RACING CAMS Dash: Deese Jr.,Franklin,Shaver,Myers,Stuhler,
Smith (Finish determines first three rows of feature)
PRO SHOCKS "B" Main #1: Conley,Schaffer,Workman,Lucas,Burkholder,
Combs,Stile,Palmer,Scheckler,Hardy,Friese,Ware,Wierman,Stasiowski,NS-
Close,Anderson (Top 3 advance to feature)
PRO SHOCKS "B" Main #2: Miller,Andrews,Blair,Robinson,Brannon,Armel,
Sweitzer,Rine,Plessinger,Shunk,Durig,Bryner,Shearer,Dorsey Jr.,NS-Dalton
(Top 3 advance to feature)