DWIGHT LEPPO RUNS FIRST SUB SIX-MINUTE FEATURE IN TRAIL-WAY 358 SPRINT CARS

HANOVER, PA (5/8/2015) – It didn’t take Dwight Leppo long to make an impression in his first Trail-Way race of 2015.

Five minutes, 57.97 seconds to be exact.  

Leppo, a low budget racer who just got his motor together on Saturday, started on the pole and led every lap in running away to the first sub six-minute 25-lap “358” sprint car feature in the history of Trail-Way Speedway Friday night.

Despite that, the race couldn’t end soon enough for the New Oxford driver.                       

                                   

“It seemed like it took forever,” said Leppo upon exiting the family Auchey’s Body Shop/Joe Messinger’s Home Improvement #4 in victory lane, “This is the first full race I ran this year.  We went to Lincoln and shook the car down last week, but we had some issues and didn’t qualify.”

“The car didn’t feel that good,” said Leppo, “And I can’t believe it was a track record.”

Those who watched the race had no doubt.  A competitive but small field kept Leppo from having to deal with lapped traffic most of the race.  Leppo’s final margin of victory over runner-up Cody Fletcher was 2.15 seconds, with points leader Isaac Sneeringer, hard charger Jeff Halligan, and one-time winner JB Cunningham rounding out the top five.

Heats for the nine 358 sprinters were won by Leppo and David Holbrook.  Holbrook and Dave Thrush both experienced mechanical problems and were unable to start the feature.

Like Leppo, the other three winners on the night scored their first victories of 2015.

Bradley Weber started on the second row, caught polesitter Jason Sechrist for the lead on lap five, and drove away to his eighth career Trail-Way win in the 20-lap 600cc micro-sprint feature.  Travis Scott, Tyler Walton, and Sechrist crossed second through fifth.

Qualifiers for the micros were won by Scott and Weber.

Jeremy Stremmel was there to assume the lead when Craig Wagaman spun out in turn two of lap 15 and went on to hold off the challenges of Eric Johnson to score his fifth career Trail-Way win in the 20-lap street stock feature.  Wagaman busted his radiator when he hit the inside berm during his spin, and was done for the night.  Dan Furman, Travis Leh, and Jim Jacobs finished third through fifth.

Stremmel and Eric Johnson were heat winners for the 13 street stocks.

Matt Chronister started third, took the lead from brother Jason on lap three, and went on to claim his 24^th career Trail-Way win (second all-time) in the 15-lap limited stock feature.  Shane Miller challenged Chronister from lap four on and settled for second, with Kyle Rohrbaugh, Robbie Carroll, and 11^th-starting Cory Weishaar completing the top five. 

Jason Chronister and Shane Miller were heat winners for the 19 limited stocks on hand.

Next Friday, May 15^th, Trail-Way will host the 358 Sprints in the “Insinger Fuels 358 Spring Championship,” paying $1,200 to the winner. Also on the card will be the Limited Stocks, Mason Dixon 270cc Micro Sprints and the Classic Car Series. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and heats will begin at 7:45 p.m.

The following Friday night, May 22^nd, the 358 Sprints are back in action along with the Limited Stocks, Street Stocks and the 600cc Micro Sprints. This will also be “Armed Forces Appreciation Night.” All Armed Forces members will receive $2 off the price of the admission fee.

Friday May 8, 2015
Trail-Way Speedway
Hanover, PA
For Immediate Release

HOOSIER TIRE MID-ATLANTIC 358 SPRINT CARS

FEATURE (25 Laps) – 1. 4-Dwight Leppo; 2. 66A-Cody Fletcher; 3. 19Z-Isaac Sneeringer; 4. 45H-Jeff Halligan; 5. 19-JB Cunningham, Jr.; 6. 19D-Wyatt Hinkle; 7. 13-Ryan Higgins; 8. 77-David Holbrook (DNF); 9. 22T-Dave Thrush (DNF). Time – 5:57.97 (New 25-lap track record)

Lap Leaders: Dwight Leppo (1-25)

358 Sprint Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 4-Dwight Leppo; 2. 66A-Cody Fletcher; 3. 19D-Wyatt Hinkle; 4. 22T-Dave Thrush; 5. 45H-Jeff Halligan (DNF). Time – 2:24.72

358 Sprint Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 77-David Holbrook; 2. 19-JB Cunningham, Jr.; 3. 19Z-Isaac Sneeringer; 4. 13-Ryan Higgins. No time.

LIMITED STOCKS

FEATURE (15 Laps) – 1. 81-Matt Chronister; 2. 39-Shane Miller; 3. 12-Kyle Rohrbaugh; 4. 69-Robbie Carroll; 5. 37-Cory Weishaar; 6. 99-Cody Klinedinst; 7. 5-Shannon Weaver; 8. 94-Kenny Startzman; 9. 92-Terry Hartlaub; 10. 15-Nick McDaniel; 11. 2-Chad Weaver; 12. 38-Jason Chronister; 13. 01-Chelsea Weaver; 14. 41-Robert Wellman; 15. 1-Sarah Redmond (DNF); 16. 16-Julio Perez (DNF); 17. 11-Michael Kolodiej, Jr. (DNF); 18. 18-Robert Nicklow (DNF); 19. 20-Wes Kellison (DNS). No time.

Lap Leaders: Jason Chronister (1-2), Matt Chronister (3-15)

Limited Stock Heat 1 Finish (6 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 38-Jason Chronister; 2. 69-Robbie Carroll; 3. 37-Cory Weishaar; 4. 1-Sarah Redmond; 5. 16-Julio Perez; 6. 94-Kenny Startzman; 7. 15-Nick McDaniel; 8. 92-Terry Hartlaub; 9. 41-Robert Wellman (DNS); 10. 11-Michael Kolodiej, Jr. (DNS) Time – 2:08.22

Limited Stock Heat 2 Finish (6 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 39-Shane Miller; 2. 81-Matt Chronister; 3. 99-Cody Klinedinst; 4. 12-Kyle Rohrbaugh; 5. 18-Robert Nicklow; 6. 5-Shannon Weaver; 7. 2-Chad Weaver; 8. 01-Chelsea Weaver; 9. 20-Wes Kellison (DNF). No time.

STREET STOCKS

FEATURE (20 Laps) – 1. 51-Jeremy Stremmel; 2. 1J-Eric Johnson; 3. 5M-Dan Furman; 4. 25-Travis Leh; 5. 4J-Jim Jacobs; 6. 40K-David Johnson; 7. 7M-Craig Wagaman (DNF); 8. 17-Brian Blank, Jr. (DNF); 9. 60-Aaron Beard (DNF); 10. 94-Dalton Myers (DNF); 11. 28-Kelly Seal III (DNF); 12. 33-Michael Goodwin (DNS); 13. 119-Steve Anthony (DNS). No time.

Lap Leaders: Eric Johnson (1), Craig Wagaman (2-14), Jeremy Stremmel (15-20)

Street Stock Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 51-Jeremy Stemmel; 2. 28-Kelly Seal III; 3. 7M-Craig Wagaman; 4. 33-Michael Goodwin; 5. 25-Travis Leh; 6. 94-Dalton Myers (DNF); 7. 17-Brian Blank, Jr. (DNF). No time.

Street Stock Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 1J-Eric Johnson; 2. 5M-Dan Furman; 3. 60-Aaron Beard; 4. 4J-Jim Jacobs; 5. 40K-David Johnson; 6. 119-Steve Anthony. No time.

600cc MICRO SPRINTS

FEATURE (20 Laps) – 1. 17-Bradley Weber; 2. 07-Travis Scott; 3. 14T-Tyler Walton; 4. 5-Jason Sechrist; 5. 14K-Hannah Riser; 6. 13-Bo Gordon, Jr.; 7. 84-Colton Laughman; 8. 56-Jake Frye; 9. 00-Christian Reed; 10. 93-Cory Lawler; 11. 89-Alyson Dietz (DNF); 12. 10-Jeremy Glass (DNS). No time.

Lap Leaders: Jason Sechrist (1-4), Bradley Weber (5-20)

600cc Micro Sprint Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 07-Travis Scott; 2. 14T-Tyler Walton; 3. 13-Bo Gordon, Jr.; 4. 00-Christian Reed; 5. 56-Jake Frye; 6. 10-Jeremy Glass (DNF). Time – 2:05.38 

600cc Micro Sprint Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 17-Bradley Weber; 2. 14K-Hannah Riser; 3. 5-Jason Sechrist; 4. 84-Colton Laughman; 5. 89-Alyson Dietz; 6. 93-Cory Lawler. Time – 2:09.18