Race Story

Randy Hannagan, Doug Drown, & Trevor Neville grab the feature wins in Saturday’s Family Fireworks Night presented by Casey’s.

(Courtesy of Mike Ernst)

ROSSBURG, OH – It is every dirt racing driver’s dream to win at Eldora Speedway and it is usually quite emotional when a driver picks up that first Eldora win. In an on-going quest to return to the coveted victory stage, rarely does a driver know they have reached the famed Eldora victory stage for the final time in their career.

Saturday night veteran Sprint Car driver Randy Hannagan dominated the 25-lap Great Lakes Super Sprint (GLSS) main event and revealed in victory lane it would most likely be the final race he ever wins at Eldora.

“I love this place, but this will probably be the last time I ever stand in victory lane here,” Hannagan said fighting back tears. “This is a young guy’s deal out here not some 57-year old. This is probably (car owner) Dennis Yoakam’s last year, and I said when he is done, I am done. I can’t thank him enough for what he has done for my career.”

Saturday’s win was Hannagan’s second straight win in the Eldora Family Fireworks Night 360 event and his 11^th career win at Eldora. His 11^th win ties him with Kyle Sauder on the all-time 360 win list at Eldora, behind Tim Allison (15 wins) and Phil Gressman (13).

Hannagan, who grew up racing in California became a regular with the World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series and while he was never able to win an outlaw race he has a handful of top-five finishes with the series at Eldora.

Hannagan, who now resides in Pittsboro, Indiana, was able to win three times at Eldora in All Star Circuit of Champion events, the most recent in August of 2005.

“Everybody pulls into here expecting to win because it is a special place to win and it is so hard to win races here,” Hannagan said. “I’ve had really good luck here and really like racing here. It just time to pass it on to my son Mason and help him out.”

Hannagan’s biggest challenge on Saturday came when the caution flag flew on lap 21 when Greg Dallman rolled to a stop in turn one. Second-place Brad Lamberson, looking for his first Eldora win, tried to challenge Hannagan on the restart but the veteran was up to the challenge and pulled away over the final four laps to win by nearly 10 car-lengths.

Lamberson held on to finish in second-place, ahead of Devon Dobie, Nate Dussel and Chase Dunham. Rounding out the top 10 were Jared Horstman, Max Stambaugh, Luke Hall, Dustin Daggett and Jac Nickles.

GLSS heat races were won by Sauder, Hall, Dunham and Stambaugh while Kobe Allison won the B-main event.

While Hannagan visited victory lane for the final time, UMP Modified driver Trevor Neville and Eldora Super Stock driver Doug Drown picked up their first career wins at Eldora.

Drown, from Wooster, was the fastest qualifier in the Super Stock qualifying and finished second to former Eldora track champion Gary Rahe, Jr. The closing laps of the 15-lap feature event saw the two going at it for the feature win.

The caution-filled race restarted with four laps remaining and Rahe was all over Drown for the top spot. Rahe edged ahead in turn two of the final lap but Drown drove back by on the backstretch and then held off Rahe in the final two corners for his first career win at Eldora.

“Hopefully all the fans enjoyed the show but that was too close for comfort,” Drown said of the closing laps. “My car owner (Bob Dockery) has never won here, and I have never won here so it feels really good. It doesn’t have to be one of the big crown jewel races to make you feel real good about winning here. The staff here and all the fans really makes every race here feel really special.”

Rahe settled for a runner-up finish, while Earnie Woodard, Shaun Smith and Dean Pitts completed the top five. Tony Anderson, Mark Wooten, Devon Helmig, Nick Bowers and Jacob Gamber completed the top 10.

St. Henry’s Luke Timmerman finished in 19^th.

Neville, of Mackinaw, Illinois made the long haul to Eldora worth it, passing Jonathan Taylor and lap eight and then controlled the remaining 12 laps to pick up his first Eldora checkered flag.

“We drove past about eight different tracks we could have raced at just to get here,” Neville said. “I’ve dreamt my whole life of being up here and what I would say and now I don’t know what to say. We’ve been close here a couple of times so I knew we could do it. I just need to thank everyone for racing me clean and we were able to get it done. It’s pretty awesome!”

New Bremen’s Drew Charlson won his first race at Eldora and chased Neville over the final half of the 20 lap main event but had to settle for second-place on Saturday. Jeff Koz, Taylor and Dylan Woodling completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Cole Sink, Brian Ruhlman, Jarrod Klay, Andy Welch and Scottie Williams, who was driving St. Henry’s Brad Hess-owned machine.

Eldora Speedway’s next action is the Baltes Classic, the annual salute to track founders Earl and Berneice Baltes. The traditional Labor Day weekend event on Sunday, September 1^st will feature the American Late Model Iron Man Series, the UMP Modifieds and the Eldora Super Stocks.

Race Results

Event Box Score

Sprints

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 2-Kyle Sauder[1]; 2. 85-Dustin Daggett[3]; 3. 17-Jared Horstman[2]; 4. 27-Brad Lamberson[4]; 5. 24-Kobe Allison[8]; 6. 48-Wade Buttrey[6]; 7. 49T-Gregg Dalman[7]; 8. 46-Ryan Coniam[5]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 12B-Luke Hall[1]; 2. 22H-Randy Hannagan[4]; 3. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[2]; 4. 31-Jac Nickles[3]; 5. O1-Chase Ridenour[7]; 6. 12-Corbin Gurley[5]; 7. 11A-Abby Hohlbein[6]; 8. 11H-Caleb Harmon[8]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 66-Chase Dunham[2]; 2. 15K-Creed Kemenah[1]; 3. 1-Nate Dussel[4]; 4. 7C-Phil Gressman[3]; 5. 16-Ryan Ruhl[5]; 6. 10S-Jay Steinebach[6]; 7. AU26-Todd Moule[8]; 8. 88N-Frank Neill[7]

Heat #4 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 71H-Max Stambaugh[1]; 2. 23-Devon Dobie[4]; 3. 22-Aaron Shaffer[2]; 4. 24V-Levi Voyce[6]; 5. 70-Eli Lakin[5]; 6. 11M-Hayden Miller[3]; 7. 19-Jett Mann[7]

B-Feature – (12)Laps – Top 6 Transfer
1. 24-Kobe Allison[1]; 2. 16-Ryan Ruhl[3]; 3. O1-Chase Ridenour[2]; 4. 12-Corbin Gurley[6]; 5. 11A-Abby Hohlbein[10]; 6. 49T-Gregg Dalman[9]; 7. 70-Eli Lakin[4]; 8. 48-Wade Buttrey[5]; 9. AU26-Todd Moule[11]; 10. 88N-Frank Neill[15]; 11. 10S-Jay Steinebach[7]; 12. 46-Ryan Coniam[13]; 13. 11H-Caleb Harmon[14]

A-Feature – (25)Laps
1. 22H-Randy Hannagan[1]; 2. 27-Brad Lamberson[2]; 3. 23-Devon Dobie[3]; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[6]; 5. 66-Chase Dunham[4]; 6. 17-Jared Horstman[11]; 7. 71H-Max Stambaugh[5]; 8. 12B-Luke Hall[8]; 9. 85-Dustin Daggett[9]; 10. 31-Jac Nickles[14]; 11. 12-Corbin Gurley[20]; 12. 2-Kyle Sauder[7]; 13. O1-Chase Ridenour[19]; 14. 24-Kobe Allison[17]; 15. 11A-Abby Hohlbein[21]; 16. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[12]; 17. 22-Aaron Shaffer[13]; 18. 15K-Creed Kemenah[10]; 19. 7C-Phil Gressman[15]; 20. 49T-Gregg Dalman[22]

Rosewood Machine Precision Move of the Race winner: Jac Nickles

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Stocks

Stocks – Qualifying
1. 21D-Doug Drown, 19.064; 2. J1-Jeff Matheny, 19.150; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson, 19.175; 4. 17-Jeremy Creech, 19.231; 5. 8-Adam Lantz, 19.302; 6. 28-Shaun Smith, 19.368; 7. 25-Nick Bowers, 19.383; 8. 7C-Jordan Conover, 19.495; 9. 95-Gary Rahe, 19.518; 10. 74D-Craig Dippman, 19.826; 11. 26-Justin Long, 19.835; 12. O1-Earnie Woodard, 19.942; 13. 07D-Daniel Dippman, 20.074; 14. 17H-Devon Helmig, 20.234; 15. P33-Josh Robertson, 20.295; 16. 52-Logan Hough, 20.340; 17. 62R-Richard Riffe, 20.387; 18. 0-Dean Pitts, 20.390; 19. 4G-Justin Gamber, 20.466; 20. J2-Rob Trent, 20.484; 21. 7-Daniel Wooten, 20.686; 22. 27-Frank Paladino, 20.758; 23. 1W-Mark Wooten, 20.803; 24. 24-Travis Butte, 20.870; 25. 6-Brad Enssle, 20.890; 26. G15-Jacob Gamber, 20.957; 27. 97D-Taylor Hough, 21.410; 28. 86-Luke Timmerman, 22.123; 29. 4-Jeffrey Strock, 22.639; 30. 88-Tanner Huwer, 23.555

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 95-Gary Rahe[2]; 2. 21D-Doug Drown[4]; 3. 7-Daniel Wooten[6]; 4. 07D-Daniel Dippman[1]; 5. 6-Brad Enssle[7]; 6. 62R-Richard Riffe[5]; 7. 4-Jeffrey Strock[8]; 8. 8-Adam Lantz[3]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 28-Shaun Smith[3]; 2. 74D-Craig Dippman[2]; 3. J1-Jeff Matheny[4]; 4. 17H-Devon Helmig[1]; 5. 0-Dean Pitts[5]; 6. G15-Jacob Gamber[7]; 7. 88-Tanner Huwer[8]; 8. 27-Frank Paladino[6]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 22T-Tony Anderson[4]; 2. 26-Justin Long[2]; 3. P33-Josh Robertson[1]; 4. 1W-Mark Wooten[6]; 5. 4G-Justin Gamber[5]; 6. 25-Nick Bowers[3]; 7. 97D-Taylor Hough[7]

Heat #4 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. O1-Earnie Woodard[2]; 2. 86-Luke Timmerman[7]; 3. 7C-Jordan Conover[3]; 4. 17-Jeremy Creech[4]; 5. 52-Logan Hough[1]; 6. 24-Travis Butte[6]

A-Feature – (15)Laps
1. 21D-Doug Drown[3]; 2. 95-Gary Rahe[7]; 3. O1-Earnie Woodard[4]; 4. 28-Shaun Smith[5]; 5. 0-Dean Pitts[16]; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson[6]; 7. 1W-Mark Wooten[14]; 8. 17H-Devon Helmig[13]; 9. 25-Nick Bowers[20]; 10. G15-Jacob Gamber[19]; 11. 27-Frank Paladino[24]; 12. 6-Brad Enssle[15]; 13. 07D-Daniel Dippman[12]; 14. J1-Jeff Matheny[10]; 15. 7-Daniel Wooten[9]; 16. 88-Tanner Huwer[22]; 17. 26-Justin Long[2]; 18. 97D-Taylor Hough[23]; 19. 86-Luke Timmerman[1]; 20. P33-Josh Robertson[11]; 21. 4G-Justin Gamber[17]; 22. 74D-Craig Dippman[8]; 23. 62R-Richard Riffe[18]; 24. 4-Jeffrey Strock[21]

Rosewood Machine Precision Move of the Race winner: Dean Pitts

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Modifieds

Modifieds – Qualifying
1. 16-Jeff Koz, 16.819; 2. 88-Scott Orr, 16.852; 3. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum, 16.998; 4. 5-Jonathan Taylor, 17.083; 5. 777-Trevor Neville, 17.084; 6. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 17.176; 7. 3W-Dylan Woodling, 17.201; 8. 54-Zachary Hawk, 17.245; 9. 20M-Josh Morton, 17.261; 10. 21c-Drew Charlson, 17.373; 11. 7-Evan Taylor, 17.439; 12. 0K-Freddie Carpenter, 17.441; 13. 52-Weasel Phlipot, 17.481; 14. 17J-Jarrod Klay, 17.546; 15. 80-Cole Sink, 17.571; 16. 14-Dalton Lane, 17.574; 17. 5X-Jerry Bowersock, 17.623; 18. 72-Matt Miller, 17.641; 19. 10H-Scottie Williams, 17.702; 20. 18-Ryan Sutter, 17.725; 21. 22T-Tony Anderson, 17.899; 22. 78-Andy Welch, 17.936; 23. 11G-Kevin Grilliot, 18.085; 24. 42T-JJ Teegardin, 18.105; 25. 4M-Dustin Moore, 18.119; 26. 911-David Tuttle, 19.614; 27. 33W-Bryan Wombolt, 99.991

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – All Transfer
1. 777-Trevor Neville[3]; 2. 16-Jeff Koz[4]; 3. 5X-Jerry Bowersock[5]; 4. 20M-Josh Morton[2]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson[6]; 6. 52-Weasel Phlipot[1]; 7. 4M-Dustin Moore[7]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – All Transfer
1. 49-Brian Ruhlman[3]; 2. 21c-Drew Charlson[2]; 3. 72-Matt Miller[5]; 4. 88-Scott Orr[4]; 5. 17J-Jarrod Klay[1]; 6. 911-David Tuttle[7]; 7. 78-Andy Welch[6]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – All Transfer
1. 7-Evan Taylor[2]; 2. 3W-Dylan Woodling[3]; 3. 80-Cole Sink[1]; 4. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[4]; 5. 10H-Scottie Williams[5]; 6. 11G-Kevin Grilliot[6]

Heat #4 – (8)Laps – All Transfer
1. 5-Jonathan Taylor[4]; 2. 0K-Freddie Carpenter[2]; 3. 18-Ryan Sutter[5]; 4. 42T-JJ Teegardin[6]; 5. 54-Zachary Hawk[3]; 6. 14-Dalton Lane[1]

A-Feature – (20)Laps
1. 777-Trevor Neville[3]; 2. 21C-Drew Charlson[4]; 3. 16-Jeff Koz[6]; 4. 5-Jonathan Taylor[1]; 5. 3W-Dylan Woodling[8]; 6. 80-Cole Sink[11]; 7. 49-Brian Ruhlman[2]; 8. 17J-Jarrod Klay[18]; 9. 78-Andy Welch[26]; 10. 10H-Scottie Williams[19]; 11. 4M-Dustin Moore[25]; 12. 72-Matt Miller[10]; 13. 88-Scott Orr[14]; 14. 11G-Kevin Grilliot[23]; 15. 0K-Freddie Carpenter[5]; 16. 20M-Josh Morton[13]; 17. 7-Evan Taylor[7]; 18. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[15]; 19. 22T-Tony Anderson[17]; 20. 911-David Tuttle[22]; 21. 42T-JJ Teegardin[16]; 22. 52-Weasel Phlipot[21]

Rosewood Machine Precision Move of the Race winner: Cole Sink

Photos