Ruhlman, Hoffman, Harrison and Bauer Win Friday Features; Nobbe Wins #DashForDough;

ROSSBURG, Ohio (October 5, 2016) – Despite Mother Nature’s best efforts, Eldora Speedway got the last laugh, waiting out the rain and using a small window of opportunity to get the entire DIRTcar UMP Fall Nationals by Allstar Performance completed in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

A sudden deluge fell upon the first turn of the high-banked clay oval at 8:58 p.m. of Saturday’s fast-paced program while the second half of the field worked lap 26 of the 40-lap Late Model feature. Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pennsylvania had just taken the lead when action was halted. Consulting with Eldora’s contracted meteorological service on the weather and fog conditions for the next 24 hours, track officials made the decision to forge ahead with the program and wait out the front that had plagued the entire weekend. After nearly three hours of rain and four hours of track prep, the Late Model feature was restarted at 3:45 a.m.

Zeigler, who inherited the lead on lap 23 when 2016 World 100 winner and UMP DIRTcar National Late Model champion Bobby Pierce, of Oakwood, Illinois, suffered a flat right rear tire, would lead the field back to the green flag after the six-hour and 47 minute red flag for weather. On the restart, he continuously turned back the challenges of former track champion Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Michigan to notch his first ever Eldora win in a brand new Pierce Platinum race car. Richmond, Indiana’s Duane Chamberlain would finished in the third spot with overall fast qualifier Mike Spatola, Manhattan, Illinois, crossing the line fourth and Sylvania, Ohio’s Casey Noonan in the fifth position.

In the 30-lap Modified feature, Parkersburg, West Virginia’s KC Burdette and Evan Taylor, of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, brought the field down to the green with Taylor nosing out front to the early race advantage. A fast surface combined with the best Modified drivers in the world made for an edge-of-your seat race with Taylor’s proverbial “rear view mirror” full of Burdette, defending race champion Jacob Hawkins (Fairmont, West Virginia), and former winners Brian Ruhlman and Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, North Carolina.

Slicing through the back of the field, Taylor was able to narrowly maintain his lead until lap 23 when a slight bobble in turns three and four allowed both Hawkins and Ruhlman to slip by. From there, the lead duo waged a war for the top spot with Ruhlman looking under Hawkins in every corner.

A final lap effort by Ruhlman would come up just short as Hawkins crossed the stripe first to win his second straight $5,000-to-win UMP Fall Nationals title in the 2 Brothers Motorsports/Outlaw by Shaw #13. Brian Ruhlman grabbed his second runner-up finish of the night with Burdette, Hoffman, and 14th-starting Derrick Ramey rounding out the top five.

In a special Late Model race for drivers who had never won a feature in the career, the 25-lap #DashForDough – honoring fallen driver Shane Unger – capped off the program with second generation driver Dustin Nobbe of Batesville, Ind. hoisting the $2,079 winner’s check in victory lane. Nobbe was greeted on the Eldora stage by the Unger family.

WEATHER-PLAGUED WEEKEND: Thursday’s racing program was halted by inclement weather before the first car hit the track. Coincidently, Friday’s show was able to be completed, run straight through in effort to beat the rain. Saturday night, the red flag waved on lap 26 (of 40) in the Late Model feature at 8:58 p.m. and racing resumed at 3:45 a.m. The official time of the rain delay was 6 hours and 47 minutes.

PUSH TRUCKS BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL (AND FUEL): Seeing an ever-so-small window to get the DIRTcar UMP Fall Nationals by Allstar Performance in before fog and more wet weather rolled in, Eldora officials decided to soldier on with the program. This meant the “World Famous Eldora Push Trucks” would log an unforeseen number of hours on the track to get it in race ready condition. In all, the vehicles logged a total of over 1000 laps (over 500 miles) and used some 400 gallons of fuels in preparation for the delayed restart of racing at 3:45 a.m. Sunday morning.

DRIVER DIVERSITY: A total of 144 drivers competed in the weekend festivities with 108 UMP DIRTcar Modifieds and 36 UMP DIRTcar Late Models on the grounds. 14 U.S. states and Canadian provinces were represented between the two classes. In the Modified division, over 30 different chassis makes were represented.

TRACK CHAMPIONS CROWNED: Several champions were established over the weekend. Ada, Ohio’s Jon Henry clinched his second Eldora Late Model championship when he started Saturday night’s feature. Henry out-dueled Bloomington, Indiana’s Kent Robinson by 39 points to win the title. The track’s Modified championship went to Jeff Koz of Lima, Ohio who edged out Joel Dick of Leamington, Ontario by just 15 points. The championship was Koz’s first at Eldora. Dick was trying to become the first Canadian champion in track history.

UMP DIRTcar CHAMPIONS CROWNED: Coming into the weekend, World 100 winner Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Illinois had already clinched the UMP DIRTcar Late Model National Championship. However, the UMP DIRTcar Modified title wasn’t decided until the final race. A Friday night win in the A-Feature pushed Highland, Illinois’s Mike Harrison back in front of Michael Long to give him his fifth such crown. The UMP DIRTcar champions will be officially announced at their banquet after a complete points audit.

GREEN AND SPALDING PLAY ALPHABET SOUP: Coming from the E-Feature, both Brandon Green (Walton, Kentucky) and Jared Spalding (Troy, Pennsylvania) worked their way from the D-Feature to the C-Feature to B-Feature. Their crowd-pleasing efforts to make the A-Feature fell short however, with Spalding finishing 17th and Green finishing 19th in the B-Feature.

RUHLMAN SETS TRACK MODIFIED MARK: With his A-Feature win Friday night, Brian Ruhlman surpassed Scott Orr in the track’s all-time Modified win mark with his 36th Eldora victory. His first Eldora Modified win came on May 18, 2002 and he has won at least one Eldora Modified feature in 13 of the last 15 seasons.

————————————————————————

RESULTS:
DIRTcar UMP Late Models

Qualifying
1.89-Mike Spatola, 15.556; 2.20C-Duane Chamberlain, 15.593; 3.88-Andrew Reaume, 15.607; 4.32P-Bobby Pierce, 15.727; 5.15H-Jon Henry, 15.748; 6.49-Brian Ruhlman, 15.757; 7.25Z-Mason Zeigler, 15.820; 8.C9-Steve Casebolt, 15.885; 9.7R-Kent Robinson, 15.913; 10.99M-Devin Moran, 16.021; 11.5N-Dustin Nobbe, 16.057; 12.4-Tripp Gerrald, 16.082; 13.11-Josh Rice, 16.082; 14.42M-McKay Wenger, 16.112; 15.31-Nick Latham, 16.124; 16.33-Jesse James Lay, 16.124; 17.4G-Kody Evans, 16.312; 18.23w-Brad Wade, 16.328; 19.1N-Casey Noonan, 16.393; 20.95J-Jerry Bowersock, 16.427; 21.53-Hillard Miller, 16.462; 22.69H-Jonny Huck, 16.472; 23.8-Rob Anderzack, 16.616; 24.77-Steve Kester, 16.675; 25.27B-Jeffrey Beyers, 16.753; 26.41-Jason Playter, 16.824; 27.12J-Jason Wagner, 16.870; 28.21H-David Hilliker, 17.055; 29.18M-Randy Wynett, 17.288; 30.69M-John Mayes, 17.290; 31.11L-Ryan Lanphierd, 17.354; 32.9N-Ted Nobbe, 17.537; 33.1X-Greg Gokey, 99.999; 34.P3-Jeff Robertson, 99.999; 35.23J-Mike Hudson, 99.999;

Heat 1, Group A – (10 Laps)
1. 15H-Jon Henry[4] ; 2. 33-Jesse James Lay[3] ; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan[6] ; 4. 12J-Jason Wagner[8] ; 5. 4G-Kody Evans[1] ; 6. 77-Steve Kester[7] ; 7. 69M-John Mayes[9] ; 8. 31-Nick Latham[2] ; 9. 23w-Brad Wade[5]

Heat 2, Group B – (10 Laps)
1. 49-Brian Ruhlman[2] ; 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce[3] ; 3. 89-Mike Spatola[4] ; 4. 42M-McKay Wenger[1] ; 5. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5] ; 6. 8-Rob Anderzack[6] ; 7. 19-Derrick Hilliker[8] ; 8. 18M-Randy Wynett[7] ; 9. 1X-Greg Gokey[9]

Heat 3, Group C – (10 Laps)
1. 88-Andrew Reaume[4] ; 2. 7R-Kent Robinson[3] ; 3. 11-Josh Rice[1] ; 4. 4-Tripp Gerrald[2] ; 5. 21H-David Hilliker[6] ; 6. 9N-Ted Nobbe[8] ; 7. 11L-Ryan Lanphierd[7] ; 8. P3-Jeff Robertson[9] ; 9. 27B-Jeffrey Beyers[5]

Heat 4, Group D – (10 Laps)
1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[3] ; 2. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[4] ; 3. 99M-Devin Moran[1] ; 4. C9-Steve Casebolt[2] ; 5. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[5] ; 6. 53-Hillard Miller[6] ; 7. 41-Jason Playter[8] ; 8. 69H-Jonny Huck[7] ; 9. 23J-Mike Hudson[9]

B-Feature – (12 Laps)
1. 77-Steve Kester[1] ; 2. 9N-Ted Nobbe[3] ; 3. 31-Nick Latham[9] ; 4. 23w-Brad Wade[13] ; 5. 1X-Greg Gokey[14] ; 6. 11L-Ryan Lanphierd[7] ; 7. 19-Derrick Hilliker[6] ; 8. 18M-Randy Wynett[10] ; 9. P3-Jeff Robertson[11] ; 10. 41-Jason Playter[8] ; 11. 23J-Mike Hudson[16] ; 12. 53-Hillard Miller[4] ; 13. 8-Rob Anderzack[2] ; 14. 69M-John Mayes[5] ; 15. 69H-Jonny Huck[12] ; 16. 27B-Jeffrey Beyers[15]

A-Feature – (40 Laps)
1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1] ; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman[7] ; 3. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[6] ; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[10] ; 5. 1N-Casey Noonan[9] ; 6. 32P-Bobby Pierce[3] ; 7. 4G-Kody Evans[17] ; 8. 8-Rob Anderzack[27] ; 9. 12J-Jason Wagner[13] ; 10. C9-Steve Casebolt[16] ; 11. 21H-David Hilliker[19] ; 12. 15H-Jon Henry[4] ; 13. 31-Nick Latham[23] ; 14. 33-Jesse James Lay[2] ; 15. 99M-Devin Moran[12] ; 16. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[20] ; 17. 77-Steve Kester[21] ; 18. 7R-Kent Robinson[8] ; 19. 42M-McKay Wenger[14] ; 20. 23w-Brad Wade[24] ; 21. 11-Josh Rice[11] ; 22. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[18] ; 23. 4-Tripp Gerrald[15] ; 24. 88-Andrew Reaume[5] ; 25. 41-Jason Playter[25] ; 26. 9N-Ted Nobbe[22] ; 27. P3-Jeff Robertson[26]

Dash For Dough – (25 Laps)
1. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[3] ; 2. 4G-Kody Evans[2] ; 3. 8-Rob Anderzack[4] ; 4. 69H-Jonny Huck[11] ; 5. 11L-Ryan Lanphierd[7] ; 6. 23w-Brad Wade[12] ; 7. 18M-Randy Wynett[9] ; 8. P3-Jeff Robertson[10] ; 9. 4-Tripp Gerrald[1] ; 10. 69M-John Mayes[5] ; 11. 19-Derrick Hilliker[6] ; 12. 41-Jason Playter[8]

——————–

DIRTcar UMP Modifieds

E-Feature – (15 Laps)
1. 3W-Dylan Woodling[4] ; 2. 51-Brandon Green[3] ; 3. 13-Andy Galgoci[11] ; 4. 01-Jared Spalding[6] ; 5. 11R-Ed Roley[5] ; 6. 15G-Richard Gibson[1] ; 7. 116-Jimmie Haager[7] ; 8. 1m-Ryan Morton[10] ; 9. 8-Kyle Strickler[9] ; 10. 71D-Anthony Davis[8] ; 11. 32-Scott Boyd[2]

D-Feature – (15 Laps)
1. 5X-Tim Richardson[2] ; 2. 1N-Will Norris[4] ; 3. 2-David Mitchell[6] ; 4. 51-Brandon Green[18] ; 5. 3W-Dylan Woodling[17] ; 6. 01-Jared Spalding[20] ; 7. 71DD-Dan Davies[7] ; 8. 52G-Colin Green[3] ; 9. 22LS-Brian Speelman[15] ; 10. 17R-Nick Rosselit[8] ; 11. 33-Mike Gemmer[9] ; 12. 15G-Richard Gibson[22] ; 13. 1m-Ryan Morton[24] ; 14. 4G-Bill Griffith[5] ; 15. 0%-Derrick Austin[14] ; 16. 52-Weasel Phlipot[16] ; 17. 14-Michael Thayer[12] ; 18. 7&7-Jeff Solinger[10] ; 19. 16CJ-Rick Pauley[1] ; 20. 83-Kasey Schrock[11] ; 21. 11JH-Josh Holley[13] ; 22. 13-Andy Galgoci[19] ; 23. 116-Jimmie Haager[23] ; 24. 11R-Ed Roley[21]

C-Feature – (20 Laps)
1. 18S-Ryan Sutter[2] ; 2. 25w-Allen Weisser[9] ; 3. 10-Scott Bowersock[11] ; 4. 51-Brandon Green[20] ; 5. 12-Jeff Curl[5] ; 6. 1AS-Andrew Sprague[7] ; 7. 1-Scott Williams[10] ; 8. 01-Jared Spalding[22] ; 9. 65-Zeke McKenzie[6] ; 10. 35-Bobby Stremme[4] ; 11. 36L-Jamie Lomax[12] ; 12. 7D-Michael Sabatino[15] ; 13. 86-Drew Smith[14] ; 14. 44-Ryan Ayers[3] ; 15. 5X-Tim Richardson[17] ; 16. 52G-Colin Green[24] ; 17. 3W-Dylan Woodling[21] ; 18. 2-David Mitchell[19] ; 19. 49J-Jason Murray[13] ; 20. 1S-Brian Shaw[1] ; 21. 71DD-Dan Davies[23] ; 22. 71-Blake Spalding[8] ; 23. 58P-Jim Post[16] ; 24. 1N-Will Norris[18]

B-Feature – (20 Laps)
1. 09D-Joel Dick[2] ; 2. K9-Will Krup[3] ; 3. 45P-Brian Post[1] ; 4. 21D-Danny Schwartz[4] ; 5. 21A-Nick Allen[5] ; 6. 16C-
Josh Harris[6] ; 7. 5-Jonathan Taylor[14] ; 8. P0-Brody Pompe[11] ; 9. 9S-Kelly Shryock[8] ; 10. 15B-Dave Baker Jr[10] ; 11. 225-Jesse Bitterling[15] ; 12. 12-Jeff Curl[21] ; 13. 36-Brandon Vaughan[16] ; 14. 1AS-Andrew Sprague[22] ; 15. 72-Brian Lynn[13] ; 16. 21S-Stephen Schnapf[9] ; 17. 01-Jared Spalding[24] ; 18. 10-Scott Bowersock[19] ; 19. 51-Brandon Green[20] ; 20. 17W-Tanner Wilson[12] ; 21. 18S-Ryan Sutter[17] ; 22. 1-Scott Williams[23] ; 23. 25w-Allen Weisser[18] ; 24. 111-Curt Spalding[7]

A-Feature – (30 Laps)
1. 13H-Jacob Hawkins[3] ; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman[5] ; 3. 44KC-KC Burdette[1] ; 4. 2NH-Nick Hoffman[4] ; 5. 7R-Derrick Ramey[14] ; 6. 7-Evan Taylor[2] ; 7. 24H-Mike Harrison[6] ; 8. 87-David Mielke[11] ; 9. 45P-Brian Post[23] ; 10. 64JR-Billy Workman Jr[20] ; 11. 77B-Ray Bollinger[15] ; 12. 16-Jeff Koz[18] ; 13. K9-Will Krup[22] ; 14. 09D-Joel Dick[21] ; 15. 21A-Nick Allen[25] ; 16. 25w-Allen Weisser[30] ; 17. 5-Jonathan Taylor[27] ; 18. 18S-Ryan Sutter[31] ; 19. 19B-Chad Bauer[7] ; 20. P0-Brody Pompe[28] ; 21. 9S-Kelly Shryock[33] ; 22. 18L-Michael Long[16] ; 23. 1-Scott Williams[29] ; 24. 36L-Jamie Lomax[32] ; 25. 47-Collin Thirlby[10] ; 26. 1DH-Dean Hoffman[13] ; 27. 21C-Taylor Cook[9] ; 28. 21D-Danny Schwartz[24] ; 29. 25N-Tyler Nicely[19] ; 30. 35S-David Stremme[17] ; 31. 10Y-Trent Young[12] ; 32. 16C-Josh Harris[26] ; 33. 36W-Kenny Wallace[8]
About Eldora Speedway:
Since carved from a cornfield in the natural amphitheater that existed between the Eldora Ballroom and the Wabash River by bandleader Earl Baltes in 1954, Eldora Speedway has grown to be a frontrunner in motorsports growth and stability. Baltes chose to sell the legendary high-banked clay oval to motorsports entrepreneur and NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC champion Tony Stewart in 2004. Celebrating its 63rd season in 2016, Eldora hosts the biggest events in short-track racing including the $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream by Ferris Mowers; the $50,000-to-win Kings Royal Weekend; the Camping World Truck Series’ Aspen Dental Dirt Derby – NASCAR’s only race on dirt; the legendary World 100; and the historic 4-Crown Nationals. The complete schedule for Eldora’s 63rd consecutive season, including ticket and campsite information, is available at www.EldoraSpeedway.com and can be requested by phone at (937) 338-3815. Fans can get behind-the-scenes access of Eldora Speedway by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, hitting ‘Like’ at www.facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and subscribing to www.youtube.com/EldoraSpeedway.