Abreu Wins PA Speedweek Finale At Selinsgrove; Wolfe Takes Title

Story By: SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY – SELINSGROVE, PA – Second-place starter Rico Abreu of St. Helena, Calif., led polesitter Anthony Macri at the start of the Jan Opperman/Dick Bogar Memorial Sunday in the PA Sprint Car Speedweek finale presented by Middleswarth Potato Chips at Selinsgrove Speedway.

Macri, running his first full Speedweek, pulled to Abreu’s rear bumper on lap 11 while Abreu, an established nationwide star also running his first full Speedweek and making his first career start at Selinsgrove, negotiated his way through lap traffic before Marci’s car slowed to a stop after losing an engine on the home stretch.

Once the green flag came back out Abreu drove away from third-place starter Danny Dietrich who had climbed to second.

Dietrich needed to win and to have sixth-place starter Lucas Wolfe finish eighth or worse to claim his second Speedweek title in a row. Wolfe was in search of his third title.

As Dietrich kept close tabs on race leader Abreu, Wolfe battled just outside the top five in sixth.

The car on the move after the restart for the Macri issue was Blane Heimbach. Heimbach raced his way into the top five and then grabbed fourth from Greg Hodnett on lap 16.

By the lap 20 mark, Abreu had opened a three second lead. Dietrich started to make up ground, cutting the lead down to one second, while Abreu again began to tip toe through lap traffic. This time the story was different though as Dietrich never got close enough to challenge Abreu.

At the end of the 30 lap feature, Abreu was the driver out front claiming the $5,000 in his first central Pennsylvania 410 sprint car win in the Always Racing Speedweek finale.

In victory lane Abreu said he was pacing himself through traffic knowing he could only go as fast as the cars in front of him. He added that one of his biggest support groups is in central Pennsylvnia and he thanked the fans for their support of not only him, but the week in general. Abreu showed his appreciation by joining fans after the race in the grandstand area at his merchandise trailer to sign autographs.

Danny Dietrich’s second place effort was not enough to net last year’s Speedweek winner and champion a second title. Lucas Wolfe crossed the line in seventh adding his third Spedweek crown (2007, 14, 17). Wolfe credited his team and their efforts all week, but admitted he was a little disappointed the team didn’t get a victory considering how strong they were leading into the week. This is Wolfe’s third title with three different teams. Wolfe won the Ray Tilly Classic at Selinsgrove Speedway in June.

Abreu, Dietrich, Dale Blaney, Heimbach, and Greg Hodnett were the top five. It was Blaney’s third third- place finish of the week.

Former 358 Sprint Car winner at Selinsgrove Speedway Brock Zearfoss was sixth followed by Wolfe, TJ Stutts, James McFadden, and Ryan Smith.

The SprintCarUnlimited.com fast time award was presented to Trey Starks. Fast Tees also put up a bonus that was presented to George Streaker.

Heat races went to Hodnett, Blaney, and Dietrich and the B-main was won by Tyler Walker.

In the 305 Sprint Car feature Kyle Ganoe was running third when the top two tangled in turns three and four and Ganoe inherited the race lead. The old adage that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good came to mind, although Ganoe was running strong. Anytime a driver can jump from third to first is a good break.

Austin Bishop led early before he and Tyler Reeser got together on lap nine. Both drivers were out of the event. Reeser was running the high side of the speedway and Ganoe did the same the rest of the event getting away from any challenges from second place Jaremi Hanson for the win.

Hanson, Zach Newlin, Nathan Gramley, and Dave Grube were the top five finishers. Cale Reigle, Mike Alleman, George Riden, Erin Statlern, and Jared Sionkowski made up the top ten finishers.

Hanson and Ganoe were heat race winners.

The A&A Pro Stocks were on the card as the night cap and gave the fans a thriller as Shaun Lawton made a bold outside move to pass Kyle Bachman for second and then race leader AJ Hoffman as well for the lead.

Hoffman led the field, which predominantly ran the inside line, for the first nine laps of the 15 lap feature. Lawton was able to make the move on the outside line on lap ten and never looked back on his way to his second win of the season.

Dustin Snook recovered from an early race accident to finish second followed by Bachman, Tommy Slanker, and Hoffman. Jake Buck, Bill Conrad, Nick Gentile, Lori Croop, and AJ Stroup finished out the top ten.

Bachman won the heat race for the Pro Stocks.

The ninth annual Jeff’s Auto Body & Recycling Center Driver & Fan Appreciation Night Saturday, July 15, at Selinsgrove Speedway will offer plenty of giveaways for race fans, FREE child and student general admission for ages 17 and younger, plus bonus money for the top three finishers in the 360 sprint car, late model, pro stock, and roadrunner feature events. Race time is 7:30 p.m.

SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY SUMMARY – 9 July 2017
410 Sprints – 29 Entries

30-Lap A-Main: 1) 24R Rico Abreu 2) 48 Danny Dietrich 3) 1 Dale Blaney 4) 12 Blane Heimbach 5) 27 Greg Hodnett 6) 3Z Brock Zearfoss 7) 24 Lucas Wolfe 8) 11 TJ Stutts 9) 3 James McFadden 10) 07 Ryan Smith 11) 29 Jason Shultz 12) 51 Freddie Rahmer 13) 35 Tyler Walker 14) 44 Trey Starks 15) 0 Rick Lafferty 16) 92 Sammy Walsh 17) 75 Nicole Bower 18) 33 Jared Esh 19) 35 Daryl Stimling 20) 91 Anthony Fiore 21) 39 Anthony Macri 22) 49 Mallie Shuster 23) 66 Ryan Kissinger 24) 33 Michael Walter

Heat Winners: Greg Hodnett, Dale Blaney, Danny Dietrich

B-Main Winner: Tyler Walker

Time Trials: 1) 44 Trey Stark 16.431 2) 3Z Brock Zearfoss 16.595 3) 24 Lucas Wolfe 16.609 4) 27 Greg Hodnett 16.619 5) 39 Anthony Macri 16.632 6) 11 TJ Stutts 16.692 7) 24 Rico Abreu 16.762 8) 1 Dale Blaney 16.794 9) 48 Danny Dietrich 16.854 10) 12 Blane Heimbach 16.857 11) 0 Rick Lafferty 16.893 12) 07 Ryan Smith 16.897 13) 75 Nicole Bower 16.976 14) 29 Jason Shultz 17.004 15) 3 James McFadden 17.046 16) 49 Mallie Shuster 17.083 17) 51 Freddie Rahmer 17.140 18) 92 Sammy Walsh 17.198 19) 33 Michael Walter 17.280 20) 35 Tyler Walker 17.297 21) 91 Anthony Fiore 17.432 22) 59 Colby Womer 17.491 23) 33 Jared Esh 17.517 24) C4 Jim Shuster 17.682 25) 35S Daryl Stimeling 17.867 26) 66 Ryan Kissinger 18.330 27) 33X Mike Walter 18.433 28) 19W Ryan Linder 19.391 29) 17 George Streaker Jr. 27.477

305 Sprints – 18 Entries

20-Lap A-Main: 1) 0 Kyle Ganoe 2) 36 Jaremi Hanson 3) 11Z Zach Newlin 4) 23 Nathan Gramley 5) 3D Dave Grube 6) 99 Cale Reigle 7) 46 Mike Alleman 8) 99R George Riden 9) 2 Erin Statler 10) 41Z Jared Zionkowski 11) 88 Fred Arnold 12) 5 Fred Arnold 13) 51 Dave Graber 14) 74JR Vance Berry 15) 11 Austin Bishop 16) 5T Tyler Reeser 17) 67 Ken Duke 18) 137 Ian Cumens

Heat Winners: Jaremi Hanson, Kyle Ganoe

Pro Stocks – 10 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 92 Shaun Lawton 2) 15 Dustin Snook 3) 99B Kyle Bachman 4) 40 Tommy Slanker 5) 6C AJ Hoffman 6) 11B Jake Buck 7) 14C Bill Conrad 8) 40G Nick Gentile 9) 55 Lori Croop 10) 26 AJ Stroup