Freddie Rahmer Claims Thunder Cup At Grandview for first-Ever All Star Sprint Win

Story By; TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – BECHTELSVILLE, PA – Joining his father, as well as his grandfather, on the all-time win list, Freddie Rahmer is now a main event winner at Grandview Speedway, this time claiming the 3rd Annual Thunder Cup against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions. For Rahmer, who started fourth on the main event grid, the Arctic Cat All Star victory was the first of his young career, which also earned him $5,000 in the process.

After making the winning move on lap 26, the Salfordville, Pennsylvania, native went on to lead the final ten circuits of the 35-lap feature program, ultimately holding off Ryan Smith and Greg Hodnett at the final checkers.

“This is special, you better believe it,” Rahmer said in victory lane. “My dad won here. My grandfather won here. I’ve been wanting to win here for a long time.”

Mark Smith and Ryan Smith led the 26 feature starters to green flag conditions at Grandview Speedway. Mark Smith earned the early advantage, quickly extending his lead over Ryan Smith and Sammy Swindell as the trio crossed by the flagstand for the first time. Freddie Rahmer, who started on the outside of row four, quickly crossed under Swindell to take the third position on lap three.

By lap five, the top three reached traffic for the first time. Despite Mark Smith’s torrid pace through heavy traffic, Ryan Smith never lost sight of the familiar No. M1, reeling Smith back in within two car lengths on lap 10. On lap 12, Ryan Smith made his first bid for the top spot, but his attempt to cross under Mark Smith through turns one and two on lap 12 proved to be unsuccessful. All momentum would soon be lost as red flag conditions took over the speedway on lap 14. All drivers involved, including Hunter Mackison who cleared the turn two retaining wall, walked away unharmed.

Green flag conditions soon returned with Mark Smith escaping in clean air once again over Ryan Smith and Freddie Rahmer. Like before, Mark Smith increased his advantage to multiple car lengths, encountering traffic again by lap 19. Smith’s second campaign in traffic was short lived as caution flags flew once again on lap 22.

Drama involving the race leader unfolded shortly thereafter, as a flat right rear tire forced Mark Smith to go pit-side surrendering the lead to Ryan Smith. With the help of an added caution on lap 22, Smith was able to make the tire change and return to the speedway.

Ryan Smith’s tenure at the top of the running order would hold strong for four laps after the lap 22 restart. Utilizing a bobble on the cushion by Smith on lap 25, Rahmer was able to launch his winning move on the bottom of turns three and four on lap 26; sliding in front of the “Kunkletown Kid” as the pair raced to the exit of turn four. Smith attempted to race back underneath the third generation racer, but Rahmer’s power move proved to be too strong.

From that point forward, it was all Freddie Rahmer at the top of the leaderboard, extending his command to nearly a half-straightaway as the lap clock clicked down.

“We were fortunate enough to get into the dash and get a good draw,” Rahmer stated. “I was catching Ryan [Smith] in the dash, and that was before we did anything to our car for the feature. I knew it was going to be ‘game over’ if I got myself up there. I think we are going to be right back on track tomorrow night.”

The Arctic Cat All Star trek through Central Pennsylvania will continue on Friday evening, August 18, at the world-famous Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg. The 35th running of the Jack Gunn Memorial will headline competition at the historic 1/2-mile, awarding a $5,000 top prize; the second of two Williams Grove Speedway appearances for “America’s Series” in 2017. The last time the traveling All Stars made the tow to Mechanicsburg, it was Lance Dewease earning the main event victory, holding off Freddie Rahmer for the Hinnershitz Memorial title.

Williams Grove Speedway will swing open pit gates at 5:30pm on Friday, August 18. A mandatory drivers meeting will be held at 6:30pm, soon followed by hot laps at 7, sharp. Additional news and information can be found online at the official home of Williams Grove Speedway: www.williamsgrove.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Grandview Speedway- Thursday, August 17, 2017:
3rd Annual Thunder Cup
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 33 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Sammy Swindell – 11.515 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Chad Kemenah – 11.545 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Sammy Swindell
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Dale Blaney
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Mark Smith
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Ryan Smith
JE Pistons Dash #1: Mark Smith
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Ryan Smith
Classic Ink USA B-Main: J.J. Grasso
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Freddie Rahmer
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Alan Krimes (+10)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Danny Dietrich (6th)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Tim Shaffer (12th)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Brock Zearfoss
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 37-JJ Grasso, 11.547; 2. 51R-Freddie Rahmer, 11.558; 3. O7-Sammy Swindell, 11.569; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 11.598; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 11.676; 6. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 11.722; 7. 35-Tyler Esh, 11.825; 8. 5-Justin Barger, 12.168; 9. 10-Joe Kata, 12.246

Group (B)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 11.545; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett, 11.591; 3. 1z-Dale Blaney, 11.74; 4. 21-Brian Montieth, 11.808; 5. 5T-Tyler Ross, 11.838; 6. 51-John Garvin, 12.188; 7. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 12.243; 8. 33-Brent Matus, 12.589

Group ( C )
1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 11.61; 2. 14-Tony Stewart, 11.655; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 11.704; 4. M1-Mark Smith, 11.775; 5. 87-Alan Krimes, 11.875; 6. 8M-TJ Michael, 11.982; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 11.983; 8. 88-Brandon Rahmer, 11.992

Group (D)
1. 24-Rico Abreu, 11.583; 2. 17-Caleb Helms, 11.89; 3. 95-Hunter Mackison, 11.944; 4. 94-Ryan Smith, 11.96; 5. 89-Robbie Stillwaggen, 12.155; 6. 13-Brandon Matus, 12.189; 7. 49H-Bradley Howard, 12.481; 8. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 15.65

Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. O7-Sammy Swindell [2]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [6]; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 4. 51R-Freddie Rahmer [3]; 5. 35-Tyler Esh [7]; 6. 5-Justin Barger [8]; 7. 37-JJ Grasso [4]; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 9. 10-Joe Kata [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 1Z-Dale Blaney [2]; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]; 3. 21-Brian Montieth [1]; 4. 27-Greg Hodnett [3]; 5. 5T-Tyler Ross [5]; 6. 51-John Garvin [6]; 7. 33-Brent Matus [8]; 8. 33M-Max Stambaugh [7]

Heat #3 – Group ( C ) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. M1-Mark Smith [1]; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [4]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 4. 14-Tony Stewart [3]; 5. 87-Alan Krimes [5]; 6. 8M-TJ Michael [6]; 7. 88-Brandon Rahmer [8]; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison [7]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 94-Ryan Smith [1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 4. 95-Hunter Mackison [2]; 5. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [8]; 6. 89-Robbie Stillwaggen [5]; 7. 13-Brandon Matus [6]; 8. 49H-Bradley Howard [7]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. M1-Mark Smith [1]; 2. O7-Sammy Swindell [2]; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett [3]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 94-Ryan Smith [1]; 2. 51R-Freddie Rahmer [2]; 3. 1Z-Dale Blaney [4]; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah [5]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 37-JJ Grasso [1]; 2. 8M-TJ Michael [3]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler [2]; 4. 88-Brandon Rahmer [5]; 5. 5-Justin Barger [7]; 6. 1080-Jordan Mackison [4]; 7. 33M-Max Stambaugh [10]; 8. 10-Joe Kata [11]; 9. 13-Brandon Matus [9]; 10. 33-Brent Matus [12]; 11. 89-Robbie Stillwaggen [6]; 12. 51-John Garvin [8]; 13. 49H-Bradley Howard [13]

A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 51R-Freddie Rahmer [4]; 2. 94-Ryan Smith [2]; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett [5]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [7]; 5. 21-Brian Montieth [13]; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich [12]; 7. 10H-Chad Kemenah [10]; 8. 1Z-Dale Blaney [6]; 9. 87-Alan Krimes [19]; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [8]; 11. O7-Sammy Swindell [3]; 12. 49X-Tim Shaffer [9]; 13. M1-Mark Smith [1]; 14. 14-Tony Stewart [15]; 15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [11]; 16. 5T-Tyler Ross [18]; 17. 37-JJ Grasso [21]; 18. 17-Caleb Helms [14]; 19. 35-Tyler Esh [17]; 20. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [20]; 21. 33M-Max Stambaugh [25]; 22. 22-Brandon Spithaler [23]; 23. 8M-TJ Michael [22]; 24. 33-Brent Matus [26]; 25. 95-Hunter Mackison [16]; 26. 88-Brandon Rahmer [24] Lap Leaders: Mark Smith [1-21], Ryan Smith [22-25], Freddie Rahmer [26-35]

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (August 17, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah – 4380
2. Ryan Smith – 4100
3. Caleb Armstrong – 4026
4. Max Stambaugh – 3688
5. Caleb Helms – 3544
6. T.J. Michael – 3471
7. Brandon Spithaler – 3453
8. Tyler Esh – 3337
9. Brandon Matus – 3252
10. John Garvin – 3172