Robinson’s $3,000 Eldora Victory Serves at Final World 100 Tune-up

ROSSBURG, OH (August 31) – A strong World 100 tune-up victory for Kent Robinson, a dramatic Stock Car point finale that found Nick Bowers winning the race, but Frank Paldino stealing the thunder and a blistering three-car Modified battle bested by Jonathan Taylor scripted Sunday’s 7th annual Baltes Classic presented by Coors Light at Eldora Speedway.

With the granddaddy of dirt Late Model racing, the World 100 (September 4, 5 & 6) just a few days away, Sunday’s Sunoco American Late Model Series (ALMS) served as valuable track time for the teams and a final opportunity to check chassis set-ups, etc.

For Robinson, the schooling required overcoming a late race battle from the defending Eldora Late Model champion Matt Miller and a wild three-car battle among a rising crop of young drivers – Jacob Hawkins, Jeff Babcock and Duane Chamberlain. Apparently Robinson did his homework well, as he completed the testing with a perfect score and a resulting $3,000 payday.

Following a pair of early-race caution periods that slowed the pace, it was wide open from that point forward. With the teams using every available inch of the massive Eldora oval, Robinson was busy staving off Miller, while the war behind them was waging.

In the early going it was Hawkins running third with Brian Ruhlman and Scott James in tow. Babcock came on the scene by the third tour to move into fifth and drop James back to fifth. Once the race returned to green and remained that way, Chamberlain was on the move and began the three-car battle that had the crowd in awe.

Swapping spots continuously, it came down to the checkered with Robinson and Miller sweeping first and second, while Hawkins was able to hold back Babcock and Chamberlain.

Coming into the evening, Jeff Koz had a somewhat comfortable 15-point margin over Paul Pardo towards the season championship title. Pretty much, all he had to do was start the race and finish 14 spots ahead of Pardo at the end of the 15-lap chase.

Knowing the mission that needed to be accomplished, Pardo was up to the task and jumped into the early lead, as Koz remained within the top five; keeping Pardo in sight.

All was fine through the first five laps and that is when a storyline that couldn’t have been written any better by the Hollywood experts began to unfold.

Coming down to complete six laps, Koz’s car sputtered through turns three and four and came to a near halt on the front stretch, before being rear-ended by Robbie Phlipot. Koz limped to the pit area as the field realigned themselves with Pardo out front and with his first season title in sight due to Koz’s misfortune.

Only three laps later, Lady Luck turned her nose on Pardo and he too, dropped off the pace and into the pit area. Koz had seen this and came back on to the track several laps off the pace, but in hopes of regaining some valuable finishing positions. It wasn’t meant to be, he returned to the pits, but with enough points to finish ahead of Pardo.

Enter the scene Frank Paladino. While all of this unfolded in front of him, he drove a heads-up race to finish third behind eventual winner Nick Bowers and Rob Trent and earned enough tallies to give him his first-ever track championship and, at Eldora nonetheless. A slim 2-point advantage over Koz catapulted him into the title as Pardo slipped to fourth behind Earnie Woodard in the final point rundown.

Knowing they had a job to do to beat that scenario, the Modified division rose to the occasion.

Taylor powered into the early lead with his brother Evan in hot pursuit while right behind them was a battle similar to the Late Models earlier. Babcock and Hawkins were duking it out for third and fourth, with Ruhlman also doing double duty and hanging in fifth spot.

Babcock was the first to make a move, as he dispensed of Evan Taylor on lap three to begin his challenge to Jonathan Taylor. Three circuits later Ruhlman accomplished the same fete to set up the three-car war that waged right up through the checkered.

Lapped traffic provided multiple challenges to the trio and set up some wild maneuvering, yet the spots remained unchanged through the finish as those three finished in that order. Hawkins was close behind in fourth while Matt Westfall also passed Evan Taylor to score fifth spot.

The scene is now set for three nights of racing that includes twin 25-lap A-Features Thursday (Sept. 4) and Friday (Sept. 5) before Saturday’s (Sept. 6) famed 100-lap chase for the cherished globed trophy representing a World 100 win.

Fans can purchase remaining race tickets and campsites for the World 100 — or any other exciting Eldora event — by going online to www.EldoraSpeedway.com. Tickets and campsites may also be purchased through the Eldora offices during normal business hours by calling (937) 338-3815.
Additionally, race fans and race teams can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and viewing video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc. Mobile device users can access the Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad and Android, which are available for download via iTunes and Google Play.

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Event: 7th annual Baltes Classic by Coors Light
Date: August 31, 2014

UMP DIRTcar LATE MODELS

TIME TRIALS – 1. 15H-Jon Henry [15.859]; 2. 20H-Jacob Hawkins [15.891]; 3. 3-Matt Miller [15.914]; 4. 1B-Jeff Babcock [15.940]; 5. 7R-Kent Robinson [15.985]; 6. 9R-Curtis Roberts [16.112]; 7. 33-Aaron Scott [16.117]; 8. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [16.124]; 9. 13-Jr Hotovy [16.138]; 10. 49-Brian Ruhlman [16.153]; 11. 19-Chad Smith [16.205]; 12. 1N-Casey Noonan [16.217]; 13. M14-Brandon Thirlby [16.231]; 14. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [16.242]; 15. 83-Scott James [16.290]; 16. 1WC-Wayne Chinn [16.339]; 17. 15S-Dan Schlieper [16.354]; 18. 3N-Ross Nicastri [16.388]; 19. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [16.525]; 20. 10D-Curtis Deisenroth [17.159]; 21. 3G-Brian Gray [17.180]; 22. 8A-Rob Anderzack [17.235]; 23. 3A-Phil Ausra [17.352]; 24. 13P-Justin Pouley [17.516]; 25. 5*-Bryant Dickinson [17.588]; 26. 30K-Anthony Davis [18.168]; 27. 93B-Zak Blackwood [20.531]; 28. 97-Michael Chilton [99.999];

HEAT 1 – 1. 7R-Kent Robinson [4]; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman [2]; 3. 83-Scott James [1]; 4. 1WC-Wayne Chinn [5]; 5. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [6]; 6. 13-Jr Hotovy [3]; 7. 3G-Brian Gray [8]; 8. 10D-Curtis Deisenroth [7]; 9. 8A-Rob Anderzack [9]; 10. 5*-Bryant Dickinson [10];

HEAT 2 – 1. 20H-Jacob Hawkins [4]; 2. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [5]; 3. 1B-Jeff Babcock [3]; 4. M14-Brandon Thirlby [1]; 5. 19-Chad Smith [2]; 6. 15S-Dan Schlieper [6]; 7. 3N-Ross Nicastri [7]; 8. 13P-Justin Pouley [8]; 9. 97-Michael Chilton [DNS];

HEAT 3 – 1. 3-Matt Miller [3]; 2. 9R-Curtis Roberts [2]; 3. 33-Aaron Scott [1]; 4. 15H-Jon Henry [4]; 5. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [5]; 6. 1N-Casey Noonan [6]; 7. 3A-Phil Ausra [7]; 8. 93B-Zak Blackwood [9]; 9. 30K-Anthony Davis [8];

B-FEATURE – 1. 15S-Dan Schlieper [2]; 2. 13-Jr Hotovy [1]; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan [3]; 4. 3A-Phil Ausra [6]; 5. 3N-Ross Nicastri [5]; 6. 3G-Brian Gray [4]; 7. 10D-Curtis Deisenroth [7]; 8. 13P-Justin Pouley [8]; 9. 93B-Zak Blackwood [9]; 10. 8A-Rob Anderzack [10]; 11. 30K-Anthony Davis [DNF]; 12. 5*-Bryant Dickinson [DNF]; 13. 97-Michael Chilton [DNS];

A FEATURE – 1. 7R-Kent Robinson [1]; 2. 3-Matt Miller [3]; 3. 20H-Jacob Hawkins [2]; 4. 1B-Jeff Babcock [8]; 5. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [5]; 6. 49-Brian Ruhlman [4]; 7. 15H-Jon Henry [12]; 8. M14-Brandon Thirlby [11]; 9. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [13]; 10. 83-Scott James [7]; 11. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [15]; 12. 3A-Phil Ausra [19]; 13. 13-Jr Hotovy [17]; 14. 1N-Casey Noonan [18]; 15. 9R-Curtis Roberts [6]; 16. 15S-Dan Schlieper [16]; 17. 33-Aaron Scott [9]; 18. 3N-Ross Nicastri [20]; 19. 10D-Curtis Deisenroth [21]; 20. 8A-Rob Anderzack [22]; 21. 1WC-Wayne Chinn [10]; 22. 19-Chad Smith [14];

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UMP DIRTcar MODIFIEDS

HEAT 1 – 1. 11R-Josh Rice [5]; 2. 54-Matt Westfall [6]; 3. 5JB-Jerry Bowersock [9]; 4. 4S-Rob Starkey [1]; 5. 36-Brandon Vaughan [3]; 6. 47-Collin Thirlby [10]; 7. 23J-Jeff Koz [8]; 8. 53S-Brad Simpson [7]; 9. 53-Brad Johnson [4]; 10. 67S-Warren Shingleton [DNF];

HEAT 2 – 1. L5-Casey Luedeke [7]; 2. 7-Evan Taylor [5]; 3. 4K-Jason Kinney [3]; 4. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [9]; 5. 4J-David Treon, Jr [8]; 6. 79-Shane Unger [1]; 7. 33B-Bobby Boone [DNF]; 8. 21T-Tom Treon [DNF]; 9. 75D-Gary Dunaway [DNF]; 10. T5X-Doug Hewitt Jr [DNS];

HEAT 3 – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [3]; 2. 20-Josh Morton [1]; 3. 13-Jacob Hawkins [8]; 4. 1SW-Scott Williams [9]; 5. 26D-Mike Dirksen [2]; 6. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [10]; 7. 5X-Tim Richardson [4]; 8. 10-Scott Bowersock [DNF]; 9. 89R-Bobby Rose [DNF]; 10. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [DNS];

HEAT 4 – 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [8]; 2. 5-Jonathan Taylor [6]; 3. 34X-Ryan Sutter [4]; 4. 05-David Smith [1]; 5. 55S-Zach Schroeder [3]; 6. 225-Jesse Bitterling [9]; 7. 15J-Jimmy Hayden [DNS]; 8. 86-Drew Smith [DNS]; 9. 71-Matt Chambers [DNS];

B-FEATURE 1 – 1. 36-Brandon Vaughan [1]; 2. 47-Collin Thirlby [3]; 3. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [4]; 4. 23J-Jeff Koz [5]; 5. 5X-Tim Richardson [6]; 6. 67S-Warren Shingleton [11]; 7. 53S-Brad Simpson [7]; 8. 26D-Mike Dirksen [2]; 9. 53-Brad Johnson [9]; 10. 10-Scott Bowersock [DNS]; 11. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [DNS]; 12. 89R-Bobby Rose [DNS];

B-FEATURE 2 – 1. 55S-Zach Schroeder [2]; 2. 225-Jesse Bitterling [4]; 3. 4J-David Treon, Jr [1]; 4. 75D-Gary Dunaway [9]; 5. 79-Shane Unger [3]; 6. 71-Matt Chambers [10]; 7. 86-Drew Smith [8]; 8. 33B-Bobby Boone [DNS]; 9. 15J-Jimmy Hayden [DNS]; 10. 21T-Tom Treon [DNS]; 11. T5X-Doug Hewitt Jr [DNS];

A FEATURE – 1. 5-Jonathan Taylor [1]; 2. 7B-Jeff Babcock [5]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman [6]; 4. 13-Jacob Hawkins [11]; 5. 54-Matt Westfall [4]; 6. 7-Evan Taylor [3]; 7. 47-Collin Thirlby [19]; 8. 55S-Zach Schroeder [18]; 9. 5JB-Jerry Bowersock [9]; 10. 1SW-Scott Williams [15]; 11. 05-David Smith [16]; 12. 225-Jesse Bitterling [20]; 13. 34X-Ryan Sutter [12]; 14. 4S-Rob Starkey [13]; 15. 4K-Jason Kinney [10]; 16. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [14]; 17. L5-Casey Luedeke [7]; 18. 4J-David Treon, Jr [22]; 19. 75D-Gary Dunaway [24]; 20. 23J-Jeff Koz [23]; 21. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [21]; 22. 20-Josh Morton [2]; 23. 11R-Josh Rice [8]; 24. 36-Brandon Vaughan [DNS];

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STOCK CARS

HEAT 1 – 1. 410-Paul Pardo [5]; 2. 27-Frank Paladino [2]; 3. 25-Nick Bowers [6]; 4. 99-Andy King [1]; 5. 7-Jordan Conover [3]; 6. 99Z-Donnie Jeschke [9]; 7. 58-Alex Peace [8]; 8. 23-Casey Barr [4]; 9. 5W-Craig Swartz [DNS];

HEAT 2 – 1. 61-Rob Trent [2]; 2. 82-Chris Douglas [3]; 3. 00-Dean Pitts [4]; 4. 01-Earnie Woodard [8]; 5. 71C-Barney Craig [5]; 6. 20P-Robbie Phlipot [6]; 7. 10FF-Kenny Brady Jr. [1]; 8. 1W-Mark Wooten [DNF];

HEAT 3 – 1. 16-Jeff Koz [8]; 2. 5G-Anthony Goode [1]; 3. 7B-Shawn Valenti [5]; 4. 49-Eric Sandlin [4]; 5. 19-Wayne Williams [2]; 6. 55A-Brandon Archey [6]; 7. 55-Bradley Caudill [7]; 8. 9-Dave Keysor [DNF];

A FEATURE – 1. 25-Nick Bowers [7]; 2. 61-Rob Trent [2]; 3. 27-Frank Paladino [4]; 4. 7B-Shawn Valenti [9]; 5. 71C-Barney Craig [14]; 6. 00-Dean Pitts [8]; 7. 99Z-Donnie Jeschke [16]; 8. 5G-Anthony Goode [6]; 9. 82-Chris Douglas [5]; 10. 19-Wayne Williams [15]; 11. 01-Earnie Woodard [11]; 12. 55A-Brandon Archey [18]; 13. 7-Jordan Conover [13]; 14. 23-Casey Barr [22]; 15. 55-Bradley Caudill [21]; 16. 5W-Craig Swartz [25]; 17. 10FF-Kenny Brady Jr. [20]; 18. 99-Andy King [10]; 19. 20P-Robbie Phlipot [17]; 20. 410-Paul Pardo [3]; 21. 16-Jeff Koz [1]; 22. 58-Alex Peace [19]; 23. 1W-Mark Wooten [DNS]; 24. 9-Dave Keysor [DNS]; 25. 49-Eric Sandlin [DNS];