MECHANICSBURG, PA – Troy Wagaman Jr.’s first Williams Grove start in Mike Heffner’s No. 27 resulted in his first trip to victory lane following the sprint car feature Friday night. He earned $5,500 for the win.
“This thing is a dream to drive,” he said. “I tried to do the best I could for these guys. I thought I was setting a decent pace. I didn’t want to get to the lapped cars at the wrong time. I’m in shock right now. I can’t believe they called me because I wasn’t doing that well.”
Billy Dietrich led the opening lap over Wagaman Jr. and Austin Bishop before a caution slowed the race with three laps completed.
T.J. Stutts passed Bishop and then challenged Wagaman Jr. following the restart. Dietrich, meanwhile, opened up a comfortable lead.
Dietrich’s great run came to an end with 10 laps completed as he jumped the cushion and hit the fourth turn fence bringing out the yellow.
This handed the lead to Wagaman Jr. for the restart with Stutts second. Stutts raced inside of the leader when action resumed, but Wagaman Jr. held the spot.
Stutts continued to challenge Wagaman for a few laps before he pulled away while nineth starter Freddie Rahmer raced into fifth spot.
Heavy traffic was in front of the leaders with five laps to go but Wagaman was nice and smooth through traffic and pulled away from Stutts over the final laps to score his first career Grove win in his first start at the track in the Mike Heffner No. 27.
Stutts, Rahmer, Steve Buckwalter and Austin Bishop completed the top five. Danny Dietrich, Devon Borden, Kyle Moody, Cameron Smith and Justin Whittall rounded out the top 10.
Heat races were won by Dietrich, Bishop and Wagaman Jr.
Presented by Kurt Smith Motorsports, The 30-lap USAC Eastern Storm main event saw Timmy Buckwalter grab the lead to start over Emerson Axsom and Briggs Danner.
Axsom challenged Buckwalter for the lead for several laps as Alex Bright challenged Danner for third with Justin Grant in fifth spot early on.
The red flag flew with seven laps completed when Brady Bacon and Robert Ballou were involved in a second turn crash.
Bright’s fuel cell was damaged in the wreck and his car was leaking fuel and a small fire erupted. There were no injuries.
Grant and Thomas Meseraull passed Danner following the restart.
Axsom stayed right with Buckwalter before he’d grab the lead off the fourth corner with 17 laps completed. Daison Pursley, who started 14th, was up to third after passing Meseraull and Grant.
Pursley and Buckwalter traded the second spot in turns three and four as Axsom built a 1.5 second lead. Pursley finally made the pass stick with four laps to go.
Pursley got to Axsom next as they raced into turn three on the final lap, but Axsom, of Franklin, Ind., held on for his first career Grove win and second straight in Eastern Storm action. The top two are recent high school graduates.
Buckwalter, Grant and Meseraull completed the top five.
Danner, Mitchel Moles, C.J. Leary, Jake Swanson and Kyle Moody rounded out the top 10.
“It’s pretty cool to win here,” Axsom said. “I was able to run the top and carry momentum.”
A total of 31 USAC National Sprint Cars were on hand for the annual Eastern Storm event. Meseraull set a track record in qualifying time trials with a lap of 19.016. The previous record was 19.509 set by Kevin Thomas Jr on June 15, 2018.
The USAC heat races were won by C.J. Leary, Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou and Mario Clouser. Mitchel Moles won the semi-feature.
Anton Hernandez flipped over the first turn fence while he was lining up for the third heat race. He was uninjured.
Feature Finishes
Sprint Car Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. Troy Wagaman Jr., 2. TJ Stutts, 3. Freddie Rahmer, 4. Steve Buckwalter, 5. Austin Bishop, 6. Danny Dietrich, 7. Devon Borden, 8. Kyle Moody, 9. Cameron Smith, 10. Justin Whittall, 11. Chad Trout, 12. Aaron Bollinger, 13. Jordan Givler, 14. Jimmy Siegel, 15. Lucas Wolfe, 16. Ryan Taylor, 17. Tim Glatfelter, 18. Ricky Dieva, 19. Zane Rudisill, 20. Dave Grube, 21. Billy Dietrich, 22. Chris Frank
USAC National Sprint Car Feature Finish (30 laps): 1. Emerson Axsom, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Timmy Buckwalter, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Thomas Meseraull, 6. Briggs Danner, 7. Mitchel Moles, 8. C.J. Leary, 9. Jake Swanson, 10. Kyle Moody, 11. Chase Stockon, 12. Matt Mitchell, 13. Mario Clouser, 14. Brady Bacon, 15. Joey Amantea, 16. Max Adams, 17. Kyle Cummins, 18. Logan Seavey, 19. Matt Westfall, 20. Charles Davis Jr., 21. Kevin Thomas Jr., 22. Alex Bright, 23. Robert Ballou, 24. Shane Cottle.
DNQ: Anton Hernandez, Dave Axton, Jason Cherry, Preson Lattomus, Carson Garrett, Tom Harris, Steve Drevicki
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