Bridgeport’s Pack The House Night Lives Up To It’s Name

Story By: KOLBY RAMEY / BRIDGEPORT SPEEDWAY – SWEDESBORO, NJ – For the third consecutive season, the Bridgeport Speedway has presented a Pack the House Night, offering FREE grandstand admission for an eight division night of racing on the 5/8th mile and Spirit Speedway quarter mile tracks. It was a full night of excitement as many attended their first ever dirt track race.

Jim Gallagher, Jr. delivered a Father’s Day present to his dad one day early as he raced to his first win of the season in the Stewart Stainless 602 Crate Sportsman Feature event. Gallagher, Jr., the 2017 Rookie Champion, earned his first win last season but has struggled with mechanical issues with a new mount this season.

After weeks of work, the problem was found and Gallagher drove to victory, taking the lead on the first lap from polesitter, Parker Guldin. David Crossman raced to his second consecutive runner-up finish after pressuring Gallagher on every restart in the twenty lap event. Eric Kormann finished third with his Dave Stanton Tribute bodied No. 92D followed by Steve Kemery. Last week’s feature winner, Tommy Errico, raced to a top five finish in the race’s final laps.

Austin Bishop earned his first ever Mid Atlantic Sprint Series (MASS) win over Tim Tanner and Ryan Stillwaggon. That made three wins in a row for Bishop who has won twice this season in Central PA 305 competition.

Bishop’s win almost didn’t happen as he and a hard-charging, Jeff Geiges raced down the backstretch just before the halfway mark of the Delaware Auto Exchange sponsored event. Bishop and a lapped car made contact sending the lapped car spinning into the path of Geiges. No one was injured but the race was red flagged while safety crews attended to the scene.

Bishop took the win over Tanner who battled to the finish with Stillwaggon. Point leader, Eddie Wagner finished fourth with Dave Brown coming a long way to finish fifth.

Jeramy Doerr won the 30th Pennco Tech Outlaw Stock feature of his career with a win over 2017 Champion, Tom Wills, Jr. Doerr led all but the first lap of the fifteen lap race. Brian Ludwig finished third after leading the initial lap. Last week’s race winner, Mike Creamer finished fourth with Darren Cox rounding out the top five.

Shillington, PA driver, Seth Spayd became the fourth different winner in the DA’s Auto Body & Repair Rookie feature event. Spayd held off a late race challenge by Sammy Martz, Jr. to capture the win. Danny Buccasfusca finished third.

When action switched to the Spirit quarter mile, it was PJ Williams who returned to Victory Lane in the Ace Overhead Door Company 600 Micro Feature event. Williams one other Spirit victory also came in a Saturday night event earlier this season.

Williams lost the lead to Travis Hill just before the halfway mark but Hill’s engine expired after the local favorite took the crossed flags for halfway.

Willilams went on to capture the win over 600 Micro rookie, Colin Bustard. Brandon Pavel drove a career best finish of third as the top three were separated by a car length headed for the finish. Lou Cicconi finished fourth with Steve Kemery taking fifth after doing double duty in the 602 Crate Sportsman and 600 Micros.

Jacob Hendershot took a night off from work to pilot the Jim Widdoss No. 28 in Ace Overhead Door Company 270 Micro action. Hendershot made it pay off as he worked the outside to take the lead from Sean Huesser on the final lap. A disappointed Huesser finished second followed by Kyle Weiss, Ken Andreas and Steve Coslop.

Scott Miller took the lead from Joe Garey, Sr. to capture his second win of the season in i2M Four Cylinder Enduro action.

Josh Pepe led from the green to the checkered to take the win in the Excel 600 Modified feature event over Travis Fichter, Korey Inglin, Richie Hitzler and Aaron Bowes.

Action returns to the Spirit Speedway quarter mile on Friday night with the 270 and 600 Micro Sprints, 600 Novice, Four Cylinder Enduros and Slingshots with racing getting underway at 8pm. It’s Scout Night at the Bridgeport Speedway on Saturday as the Big Block Modifieds, 602 Crate Sportsman, Outlaw Stocks and Rookies take to the track, beginning at 7pm.

STEWART STAINLESS SUPPLY 602 CRATE SPORTSMAN (20 laps): 1. Gallagher, Jr., 2. David Crossman, 3. Eric Kormann, 4. Steve Kemery, 5. Tommy Errico, 6. Seth Spayd, 7. Wayne Weaver, 8. Sammy Martz, Jr., 9. Brad Roberts, 10. Frank Dorry, 11. Parker Guldin, 12. Chris Jenkins, 13. Danny Buccafusca, 14. Bobby Bracall, 15. Mark Clauss, 16. Tom Holding, 17. Roger Gaskill, 18. Tom Sherby, 19. Rich Wegner, Sr., 20. Ernie Miles, Jr., 21. John Cavallaro, 22. Tom Moore, Jr., 23. Scott Kohler, DNS – David Hartman, Aaron Bowes

D.A.’S AUTO BODY AND REPAIR ROOKIES (8 laps): 1. Seth Spayd, 2. Sammy Martz, Jr., 3. Danny Buccafusca, 4. Parker Guldin, 5. David Hartman

DELAWARE AUTO EXCHANGE MASS 305 SPRINTS: 1. Austin Bishop, 2. Tim Tanner, Jr., 3. Ryan Stillwaggon, 4. Eddie Wagner, 5. Dave Brown, 6. Brendon Poff, 7. Scott Frack, 8. Mark Bitner, 9. Rick Stief, 10. Tom Carberry, Sr., 11. C.J. Faison, 12. Bryant Davis, 13. Samatha Lieberman, 14. Randy Wilbert, 15. Craig Pellegrini, 16. Josh Fox, 17. Jason Dunn, 18. Chad Connor, 19. Larry McVay, 20. Logan Diehl, 21. Jeff Geiger, 22. Dean Conk, Jr., 23. Dan Leaper, 24. Keith Anderson, DNS – Zack Burd

PENNCO TECH OUTLAW STOCKS (15 laps): 1. Jeramy Doerr, 2. Tom Wills, Jr., 3. Brian Ludwig, 4. Mike Creamer, 5. Darren Cox, 6. Gary Elliott, 7. Lee Allen, 8. Gary Klimeczak, 9. Billy Wroble, 10. Jeff Dirkes, 11. Ken Moren, 12. Terry Griffin, 13. Paul Donahue, 14. Eric Mattson, 15. Jimmy Avery, 16. Steven Land, 17. Keith McKinley

ACE OVERHEAD DOOR CO 600cc MICRO SPRINTS (20 laps): 1. P.J. Williams, 2. Colin Bustard, 3. Brandon Pavel, 4. Lou Cicconi, 5. Steve Kemery, 6. Josh Martin, 7. Nathan Smith, 8. Nick Havens, 9. Greg Stevens, 10. Nick Sapp, 11. Jim Tippin, 12. Mark Landwher, 13. Dave Nelson 14. Jared Lilly, 15. Kristy Hicks, 16. Fred Heinly, 17. Mike Linderman, 18. Travis Hill, 19. Joe Dopke, 20. Cheyenne Robicheaux, 21. Matt Smith, 22. Billy Calvert, 23. Jon Keller, 24. Whitey Kidd III, DNS – Dave Damaio

ACE OVERHEAD DOOR CO 270cc MICRO SPRINTS (20 laps): 1. Jacob Hendershot, 2. Sean Huesser, 3. Kyle Weiss, 4. Ken Andreas, 5. Steve Coslop, 6. Cody West, 7. Billy Gray, 8. Billy Murphy, 9. Devin Porch, 10. Brandon Shipley, 11. John West, 12. Ryan Krushinski, 13. Logan Diehl, 14. Ryan Wozunk, 15. Alex Swift, 16. Kristen Landwher, 17. Nick Ferkel, 18. Buddy Schweibinz, 19. Tom Landwher, DNS – John Wagner, Jr., Bill Gunning

XCEL 600 MODIFIEDS (20 laps): 1. Josh Pepe, 2. Travis Fichter, 3. Korey Inglin, 4. Richie Hitzler, 5. Aaron Bowes, 6. Jon Josko, 7. D.J. Hunt, 8. Geoffrey Sutton, 9. Brian Blankenbiller, 10. Jon Keller, 11. Shawna Schibilia, 12. Brent Johnson, 13. Robert Martin, 14. Hunter Diehl, 15. Jessica Michel, 16. Keith Inglin, 17. Grant Schibilia

i2m FOUR CYLINDER ENDUROS (20 laps): 1. Scott Miller, 2. Joe Garey, 3. Joe Garey, Jr., 4. Chris Martinez