Justin Shea Makes Late Race Pass To Win Rush Sportsman Event At Sharon

Story By: MIKE LEONE / RUSH RACING SERIES – HARTFORD, OH – The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Sportsman Modified Series powered by Pace Performance headed to Sharon Speedway on Friday and Saturday night for a Bicknell Racing Products Touring Series event as part of the track’s annual “Apple Festival Nationals” for the fourth consecutive year.

It marked the second and final appearance of the season to the 3/8-mile Hartford, Ohio oval and race #6 overall for the 2017 season. Heat races were contested on Friday night with the K&N Dash and 25-lap feature event on Saturday night.

After watching Steve Slater steal a win away from him on the outside coming down for the white flag at the last Bicknell Touring Series event on August 26 at Sharon, Justin Shea performed a similar pass of race-long leader Chelsie Kriegisch on lap 15 to score his first career Tour win. Shea earned $800 for his second career Sharon win in the 25-lap feature, and was also selected by Series Officials as the Maxima Racing Oil “Maximum Performance” awards winner.

“We haven’t run much this year but now I’m wishing we would have,” revealed the 36-year-old Franklin, Pa. driver. “This car is phenomenal. It was a little tight yesterday, but we made the right adjustments and here we are. Everyone was running the bottom so the only way to make headway is to try the middle or top. It really liked it so I stuck it out there and it worked. We have a short trip to Tri-City (Raceway Park) tomorrow- it’s about two miles from home. I have to thank my wife and father-in-law; they’ve been a huge help the last two days helping out.”

Several cars got bunched up on the initial start causing a five-car accident that ended the night early for several racers including Slater, who was selected as the TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” recipient after suffering severe damage. That would turn out to be the only stoppage of the main event as the 25 laps then went caution-free.

Chelsie Kriegisch and Tour point leader, Kyle Martell, were one-two after the opening lap. Shea meanwhile started fifth as him and eighth starting Chas Wolbert passed Jessica Kriegisch for third and fourth on lap two. Wolbert and Shea battled hard for third as they raced side-by-side. Wolbert would grab the spot on lap four as the duo closed in on Martell. Shea then moved to the top and drove around both racers to take second on lap 11.

Kriegisch meanwhile was up front setting a good pace in search of her first career Sharon victory; however, Shea stuck to the outside line and closed in every lap. He caught Kriegisch on lap 14 and made the winning pass driving around her in turn four to lead the 15th circuit. Shea had a half-straightaway lead when he caught lapped traffic with three laps to go. Traffic didn’t slow Shea’s run to the checkered flag as he won by a comfortable 2.589 seconds in his Shea Trucking/Bradley’s Boarding & Grooming-sponsored #14s.

Kriegisch was a Tour season best second. Wolbert, who won the $800 2016 “Apple Festival Nationals” Tour make-up on August 5, was third after passing Martell on lap 14. Sharon track champion, Kole Holden, came from 10th to finish fourth over Josh Deems as both racers dropped Martell to sixth late in the event. It was a big night of racing for Deems, who also competed in the Big-Block Modified non-winners program with his “358” small-block. Deems had worked his way to second before getting spun, but would battle back for a fourth place finish to give him two top five finishes on the night. That effort got him selected as the Sherwood Wheels “Man of Steel” award.

Completing the top 10 were Brian Schaffer, Jessica Kriegisch, Rocky Kugel, and Brandon Ritchey. After getting caught up in the opening lap accident, Shayne Izzo came back to finish 11th as the last car on the lead lap for the $25 CrateInsider.com gift certificate. Preston Cope raced from 21st starting spot to finish 12th, which was good enough for the $100 Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” hard charger honors.

Chelsie Kriegisch, Wolbert, and Martell won Friday’s heat races over the 24-car field. Holden won his first K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash of the season to become the sixth different winner in as many races. Holden received a $100 K&N certificate. Blaze Myers was second to earn a $50 K&N certificate, while Nick Ritchey and Izzo were third and fourth and added an extra $25 cash.

Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modified Bicknell Touring Series Race #6 (25 laps, $800 to-win): 1. JUSTIN SHEA (14S) 2. Chelsie Kriegisch (10) 3. Chas Wolbert (c3) 4. Kole Holden (2) 5. Josh Deems (9D) 6. Kyle Martell (8) 7. Brian Schaffer (41) 8. Jessica Kriegisch (63) 9. Rocky Kugel (Myers 43Sr) 10. Brandon Ritchey ( 17) 11. Shayne Izzo (86) 12. Preston Cope (24P) 13. David Kalb, Jr. (11J) 14. Nick Ritchey (Eads 77N) 15. Gary Haupt (16) 16. Will Schaffer (4) 17. Jacob Jordan (28J) 18. Steve Slater (29) 19. Anthony Gillespie (Smith 3G) 20. Blaze Myers (43Jr) 21. Brandon Michaud (132) 22. Jeremy Weaver (35W) 23. Tiffany Williams (58) 24. Kevin Long (22)-DNS.

Car Count: 24
Margin of Victory: 2.589 seconds
Feature Lap Leaders: Chelsie Kriegisch (1-14), Justin Shea (15-25)
Maxima Oil “Maximum Performance: Justin Shea
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down Hard Charger”: Preston Cope (+9)
Sherwood Wheels “Man of Steel”: Josh Deems
TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night”: Steve Slater
CrateInsider.com “Last Car on Lead Lap”: Shayne Izzo

Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. C. Kriegisch 2. Shea 3. J. Kriegisch 4. Holden 5. N. Ritchey 6. B. Ritchey 7. Kalb 8. Cope.

Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Wolbert 2. B. Schaffer 3. Slater 4. Izzo 5. Haupt 6. Michaud 7. Long 8. Jordan.

Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Martell 2. Deems 3. Gillespie 4. Myers 5. Kugel 6. Weaver 7. Williams 8. W. Schaffer-DNS.

K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash (4 laps, $100 K&N certificate to-win): 1. Holden 2. Myers 3. N. Ritchey 4. Izzo.

 

CHAS WOLBERT DENIES JUSTIN SHEA OF WEEKEND SWEEP TO EARN 1ST CAREER TRI-CITY WIN IN BICKNELL TOUR FOR SWEENEY RUSH SPORTSMAN MODIFIEDS

The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Sportsman Modified Series powered by Pace Performance completed a busy weekend by heading to Tri-City Raceway Park on Sunday for a Bicknell Racing Products Touring Series show as part of the track’s annual “Applefest” event. It marked the second and final visit to the 1/2-mile Franklin, Pa. oval of the season and race #7 overall of 2017.

The 2017 season has seemed to be feast or famine for Chas Wolbert. The second year RUSH Sportsman Modified racer has been fast much of the year, but mechanical woes or accidents have kept him out of victory lane more than his speed has showed. Wolbert did pick up a pair of wins at Sharon Speedway and one at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway this season, and on Sunday night led all 20 laps of the feature holding off Justin Shea for his first career Tri-City win. The $600 victory was Wolbert’s second Bicknell Tour win of the season including the 2016 “Apple Festival Nationals” make-up race on August 5 at Sharon. Shea was selected as the Maxima Racing Oil “Maximum Performance” award winner.

“We’ve been struggling,” acknowledged the 23-year-old Warren, Ohio driver. “We’ve had a fast car week in and week out, been a tick off here and there, and have been in some accidents, but we made it here tonight. This is awesome! Ever since I was a little kid I heard about Tri-City, but never got a chance to come out here and watch until we started racing here. I’ve been good here, just glad to be standing here. I’m going to give my secrets away, but we put a hard right rear on tonight. With that red we had, the tire kind of sealed back over. I had to do all I could to get into the corners, because if I could get in, I could get out. I knew once I pushed, I had to get back down to the bottom.”

Wolbert redrew the pole and took off in the lead over Nick Ritchey. Shea started eighth and quickly moved forward. He was fifth after the opening lap, got by Josh Deems for fourth then passed Brandon Michaud for third on lap three. Brian Schaffer slowed on the frontstretch and exited to the infield on lap four, but not before A.J. Gillespie spun as he got on the binders to avoid hitting Schaffer. Schaffer was awarded the TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night” as his disappointing season continued.

When racing resumed on lap five, sixth starting Martell passed Michaud for fourth. Shea meanwhile was all over Ritchey in the battle for second on lap six and one lap later Martell joined making it a three-car race. Shea made the pass of Ritchey for second on lap eight, but had a half-straightaway deficit to make up. On lap 12, Jessica Kriegisch made contact with Blaze Myers racing down the frontstretch and a seven-car melee ensued in turn one. Jessica’s sister Chelsie seemed to receive the brunt of the damage. She was also checked over by the EMT crew, but other than some bruises was okay.

The final nine laps went green-to-checkered. Martell was able to get by Ritchey on the restart for third. In the final laps, Shea made some advances and was within striking distance, but was unable to make a serious bid at overtaking Wolbert. Wolbert’s C.T. Wolbert Trucking/Russ King Racing/Ohio Intra Express/Kings Ready Mix Concrete/Crooked Pine Woodworking/955 Automotive/Kings Sanitary-sponsored #c3 took the checkered flag first by 0.976 of a second for his third career Bicknell Tour win, matching Rocky Kugel for most all-time in the Series.

After taking much of the summer off from competition, Shea has returned with vengeance recording a win and two runner-up finishes in the last three Bicknell Touring Series events. “I’m starting to make a habit of this the last three shows and wishing I would have raced a little more this year,” expressed the 36-year-old racer. “It is what it is though. It’s fun to play here at the home track. The right rear cooled off under that long red flag and really hurt us. I poked my nose in there once or twice, but didn’t have anything for Chas (Wolbert).”

Martell was third as he’s closing in the Bicknell Tour Championship with all top seven finishes in the seven events to date. Ritchey dropped to fourth, but matched his best Bicknell Tour finish of 2017 from June 26 at Tri-City. Deems was fifth for the second straight night. Michaud’s sixth was his best career Tour finish. Kole Holden, who leads the Bicknell Weekly Series standings, raced from 13th to seventh. Jerry Schaffer was a late arrival missing the pit draw, but came home eighth to receive the Sherwood Wheels “Man of Steel” honors. Billy Myers started 19th and finished ninth to earn the $100 Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down” hard charger gift card. Brandon Ritchey was 10th.

Michaud and 13-year-old Blaze Myers captured their first career heat race wins. Brandon Ritchey won his first K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash of 2017 to become the seventh different dash winner in seven races! Ritchey received a $100 K&N gift card. Tiffany Williams was second and received a $50 K&N gift card, while Brian Schaffer and David Kalb, Jr. earned an extra $25 cash for finishing third and fourth.

The Bicknell Tour was close out its season on October 13-14 at Lernerville Speedway with the annual “Steel City Stampede” paying $800 to-win; however, in the meantime, Bicknell Weekly Series action will take place at Lernerville Speedway on September 16, Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway on September 23 and 30, followed by the first ever events at Mercer Raceway Park on October 6-7.

Sweeney RUSH Sportsman Modified Bicknell Touring Series Race #7 (20 laps, $600 to-win): 1. CHAS WOLBERT (c3) 2. Justin Shea (14s) 3. Kyle Martell (8) 4. Nick Ritchey (Eads 77N) 5. Josh Deems (9D) 6. Brandon Michaud (132) 7. Kole Holden (2) 8. Jerry Schaffer (14) 9. Billy Myers (43Sr) 10. Brandon Ritchey (17) 11. A.J. Gillespie (Smith 3G) 12. Blaze Myers (43Jr) 13. Chad Gumpp (King 12) 14. Tiffany Williams (58) 15. Jessica Kriegisch (63) 16. David Kalb, Jr. (11J) 17. Chelsie Kriegisch (10) 18. Jason Hufnagel (28) 19. Jacob Jordan (28J) 20. Brian Schaffer (41).

Car Count: 20
Margin of Victory: 0.976 of a second
Feature Lap Leaders: Chas Wolbert (1-20)
Maxima Oil “Maximum Performance: Chas Wolbert
Precise Racing Products “Pedal Down Hard Charger”: Billy Myers (+10)
Sherwood Wheels “Man of Steel”: Jerry Schaffer
TBM Brakes “Tough Brake of the Night”: Brian Schaffer
CrateInsider.com “Last Car on Lead Lap”: Chad Gumpp

Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Michaud 2. Shea 3. J. Kriegisch 4. Wolbert 5. B. Ritchey 6. Williams 7. Holden 8. Gillespie 9. C. Kriegisch 10. Bi. Myers.

Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Bl. Myers 2. Deems 3. Martell 4. N. Ritchey 5. B. Schaffer 6. Kalb 7. J. Schaffer 8. Gumpp 9. Hufnagel 10. Jordan.

K&N “Cold Air Induction” Dash (4 laps, $100 K&N certificate to-win): 1. B. Ritchey 2. Williams 3. B. Schaffer 4. Kalb.