YORK HAVEN, Pa.: A little less than eight years ago, Jacob Allen couldn’t hold back the joy when he climbed from his car at Susquehanna Speedway.
It was the first time Allen pulled into Victory Lane in a 410 Sprint Car. There were hugs, tears, and elation. So, you can understand the fondness the Hanover, Pa., driver has for the York Haven, Pa., facility.
Now that it’s flipped over to BAPS Motor Speedway, nothing has changed. Allen still has an affection for the place and can’t wait to return any chance he gets.
Allen made the most of that opportunity Sunday on CH Recovery Night presented by UPMC. He started on the outside pole and led all 30 laps in an entertaining main event that produced his third win of the season.
“It feels great to be back and race in front of you guys,” Allen said in Victory Lane. “I’ve been slacking on the old High Limit tour, so to come back here and win has the whole team pumped up. So, that’s pretty sweet.
“It was a great team effort. Tyler, my Dad, Blake, Jordan, Spaulding. It was really nice to have us all working together as a team. Those guys’ effort is huge and just never giving up. This is one of my favorite places to race, and racing Sunday is great. So, BAPS, keep making races on Sundays so we can keep coming out.”
Allen got the jump on Kyle Moody at the start, blasting around the top of Turns 1 and 2 to take the early lead. Moody settled into second, with Freddie Rahmer following close behind.
The first caution of the event came out on Lap 7. Anthony Macri and Devon Borden got together on the backstretch, which sent Macri into the wall. Macri slowed through the third and fourth corner and rolled to a stop.
Rahmer took advantage of the restart and surged past Moody. Meanwhile, Allen continued to shoot around the cushion and maintained his lead.
The final stoppage came two laps later when Borden slowed. Rahmer started to challenge Allen for the top spot, but the High Limit regular was too good on the top of the speedway.
While the top three remained the same, eighth-place starter Danny Dietrich was starting to challenge Cory Eliason for fourth. He wrestled third away, but Eliason took it back on the backstretch.
Lapped traffic started to come into play late in the event, especially through the first and second corner. Allen was able to negotiate the backmarkers and came away with the victory by .862 seconds.
“The car was great,” Allen said. “Hats off to my guys for making good decisions the whole night. It’s so nerve-racking going out there, just like, ‘Are we making a make-or-break decision, here.' The best thing to do is just get in the car and race.
“I really didn’t know what to do in one and two. I just stayed committed to the top and kept peeking to my left to see if I could see somebody. With two to go, thankfully, the 75 [Cameron Smith] moved down, and I could see whoever was in second sliding up.”
Continued Allen, “I had to get up on the wheel and be a real man about it. The top stayed really nice in three and four, and lapped cars moved out of the way in my favor. It was nice to pound the top like that.”
Eliason slipped past Rahmer on the 26th circuit and showed Allen a nose with two laps to go. The California driver couldn’t pull the trigger on a move for the win and settled for second. Dietrich, Rahmer, and Moody completed the top five.
In the PA Sprints 305 Sprint Car main event, Zach Rhodes beat pole-sitter Ken Duke Jr. to Turn 1 and never looked back to claim the win.
There were four cautions during the main event. Rhodes had the answer on all of them and beat Duke to the stripe by .739 seconds. Buddy Schweibinz, Doug Dodson, and Tim Tanner Jr. completed the top five.
410 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 30 Laps: 1. Jacob Allen; 2. Cory Eliason; 3. Danny Dietrich; 4. Freddie Rahmer; 5. Kyle Moody; 6. Troy Wagaman Jr.; 7. Lucas Wolfe; 8. Logan Rumsey; 9. Tyler Ross; 10. Kody Hartlaub; 11. Ryan Newton; 12. Kyle Reinhardt; 13. Billy Dietrich; 14. Austin Bishop; 15. Brett Strickler; 16. Kenny Edkin; 17. Derek Locke; 18. Cameron Smith; 19. Reese Nowotarski; 20. J.J. Loss; 21. Devon Borden; 22. Domenic Melair; 23. Kyle Spence; 24. Anthony Macri.
305 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Zach Rhodes; 2. Ken Duke Jr.; 3. Buddy Schweibinz; 4. Doug Dodson; 5. Tim Tanner Jr.; 6. Dylan Shatzer; 7. Kruz Kepner; 8. Nick Sweigart; 9. Timmy Bittner; 10. Landon Price; 11. Jeff Paulson; 12. Seth Schnoke; 13. Owen Dimm; 14. Andrew Boyer; 15. Logan Spahr; 16. Dustin Young; 17. Len Laureno; 18. Hunter McFadden; 19. Alan Rhodes; 20. Dave Brown; 21. Tim Iulg; 22. Drew Young; 23. Mike Melair; 24. D.J. Tanner Jr.
BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY UPCOMING EVENTS:
PRACTICE: Wednesday, May 22 Test & Tune 6-9pm. All classes are welcome to practice. Frontstretch grandstands are Free to spectators and the NEW Dottie’s Snack Shack concession items are available for purchase.
FEATURED EVENT: Saturday May 25 Warhorse Camphill Hall of Fame Night Honoring Military Personnel and First Responders Featuring Meyer’s RV Super Sportsman, 358 Sprint Cars (Summer Series), 602 Crate Sportsman, Superior Homes Extreme Stocks (Double Points Feature only) (Pit Gate at 4pm, Grandstands at 5pm, Racing at 7pm)
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