Bard Sweeps 410s at Clinton County
Mill Hall, PA – Garrett Bard of Wells Tannery, PA earned his second career 410 sprint car victory on Saturday night at the Clinton County Speedway. Both feature wins occurred at Clinton County just weeks apart. Bard was the winner of the third annual Phil Walter Classic collecting the $6,300 payday, a race honoring Phil Walter the all-time 410 feature winner at the 1/3-mile oval. Devin Freise won the East Coast Legends twin feature events and Matt Weaver of Centre Hall won the 4 Cylinders.
Bard, who won his heat race qualifier stared on the pole alongside Indiana driver, Devin DeVault. Bard took the lead from the drop of the green flag, leading DeVault, defending race winner Dale Blaney of Ohio, Davie Franek of New Jersey, and Dominic Melair of Pennsylvania.
The first caution occurred on lap number 7, when Linden’s Dale Schweikart spun in turn two. Bard held off DeVault while Dominic Melair passed Franek for fourth and began to challenge Blaney. A lap eleven caution for Josh Beamer and Billy Dietrich when the two tangled on the front stretch, resulting in both drivers going to the pit area.
Following the restart, Bard and DeVault ran first and second, while Blaney and Melair continued to battle for the third postion. A lap 15 caution for Owen Dimm and Tylar Rutherford who tangled in turn four bunched the field up once again. Bard again maintained the lead, with DeVault, Blaney, Melair, and Mike Bauer now running in the top five.
Bard began to quickly catch of the tail end of the field, which would make lapped traffic a factor. Bard tried to maneuver the lapped traffic which slowed his pace, allowing DeVault to close the gap between the top two cars. Meanwhile, Blaney and Melair continued battle for the third postion. On lap number 25 and in heavy lapped traffic, Melair passed Blaney for third and made it a three-car battle for the lead. With two laps remaining, DeVault was on the rear bumper of Bard and threatened to take the lead. As the duo came to the white flag it was a drag race into turns one and two. Bard exited turn two with a slight lead over DeVault and Melair was also withing striking distance hoping the top two would make a mistake. As they entered turns three and four, DeVault took one last attempt to steal the win, as the exited turn four, brining the crowd to their feet as the leaders were side by side at the line. Bard, narrowly edged out DeVault by .086 seconds for the win. Melair was third, Blaney fourth and Michael Bauer was fifth. Sixth through tenth were Tyler Ross, Davie Franek, Logan Rumsey, Dan Shetler and AJ Flick. Heats were won Davie Franek, Dale Blaney, Garrett Bard, and Devin DeVault. B-Mains were won by Derek Swartz and Dylan Norris. 44 sprint cars were in competition.
The East Coast Legends competed in twin 15 lap main events. In the first feature event, Colton Friese and Seth Kearchner started on the front row. Kearchner led the first three circuits, until Coton Friese made a pass for the lead. Lincoln Kearchner and Devin Friese started working their way toward the front, moving into second and third positions by lap number six. In the final laps, Devin Friese began putting pressure on his nephew, Colton and by the white flag lap it was a family feud to the finish. Devin Friese made the pass as the duo exited turn four and the two Kearchners of Lincoln and Seth were right there as well, Colton spun as his uncle crossed the line to take the win. Lincoln Kearchner was second, Sith Kearchner was fourth, and Logan Jones completed the top five. Sixth through tenth were Vincent Wenrich, Justin Wagaman, Kelby Friese, Darren Lucas and Dave Benner. Heats were won by Colton Friese, Seth Kearchner, and Devin Friese.
The East Coast Legends Series inverted the top 12 finishers for the start of their second feature event. Grady McGrew started on the outside of the front row and took the early lead. Seth Kearchner quickly moved to the front and was running second by lap number six. On lap number seven, the red flag came out for the car of Benjamin Morrow, when it caught on fire going into turn number two. Morrow was ok. Devin Friese who started 12 worked his way through the field and was up to second by lap number nine. A lap later he passed McGrew for the lead and led the final 6 laps to claim his second victory of the season. McGrew held onto second followed by Seth Kearchner, Scott Houdeschell, and Colton Friese. Sixth through tenth were Darren Lucas, Justin Wagaman, Scott Spidle, Dalton Friese and Kelby Friese.
Kyler Stahl and Larry Beachel started on the front row of the 4 Cylinder feature event. By the completion of lap number one., Matt Weaver charged from his third starting position into the lead, as Stahl, Beachel and Coty Maines battled for the runner up position. The events only caution occurred on lap number four when Terry Karchiner stopped on the speedway. Following the restart, Weaver continued to hold the lead, as Zak Kline and Coty Maines worked their way to the front of the field. At the midway point, Weaver was leading Kline, Beachel, Maines and Blake Snyder. Maines moved into third with two laps to go. Weaver raced to the win over Kline, Maines, Beachel and Snyder. Sixth through tenth Kyler Stahl, Garrett Lucas, Jason Koch, Dalton Lucas, and Kyle Strouse. Heats were won by Maines and Weaver
The Clinton County Speedway returns this Friday with the annual Len Stroud Memorial for the Limited Late Models paying $1,200 to win. In addition, the Pro Stocks, 270 Micros and 4 Cylinders will be on the card. Gates open at 5 and Hot laps begin at 7PM. For the latest speedway information visit the speedway website at www.clintoncountyspeedway.com or follow the speedway social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and X.
410 SPRINTS: 1. Garrett Bard, 2. Zane DeVault 3. Domenic Melair 4. Dale Blaney 5. Michale Bauer 6. Tyler Ross 7. Davie Franek, 8. Logan Rumsey 9. Dan Shetler 10. AJ Flick 11. TJ Stutts 12. Greg Wilson 13. Mike Thompson 14. Dale Schweikart 15. Dylan Norris 16. JT Ferry 17. Jordan Givler 18. Tylar Rutherford 19. Jake Water 20. Derek Swartz 21. Chris Smith 22. Owen Dimm 23. Josh Beamer 24. Billy Dietrich
DNS: Joe Kata III, Wyatt Walizer, John Jerich, Ryan Smith, Bob Felmlee, Croix Beasom, Kruz Kepner, Dustin Prettyleaf, Matt Heimbach, Cameron Smith, Daryl Stimeling, Tanner Brown, Seth Schnoke, Kyle Keen, Kar Walizer, Sean Rayhall, Dustin Baney, Chris Frank, Hayden Miller, John Walp
EAST COAST LEGENDS (feature 1): 1. Devin Friese, 2. Lincoln Keachner 3. Seth Keachner 4. Scott Houdeschell 5. Logan Jones 6. Vincent Wenrich 7. Justin Wagaman 8. Kelby Friese 9. Darren Lucas 10. Dave Benner 11. Grady McGrew 12. Erick Hurst 13. Hunter McElroy 14. Scott Spidle 15. Moses Goetz 16. Benjamin Morrow 17. Dalton Friese 18. Matt Grebe 19. Dustin Burnisky 20. Jimmy Eicher 21. Colton Friese 22. Ben Burnisky
EAST COAST LEGENDS (feature 2): ): 1. Devin Friese, 2. Grady McGrew 3. Seth Keachner 4. Scott Houdeschell 5. Colton Friese 6. Darren Lucas 7. Justin Wagaman 8. Scott Spidle 9. Dalton Friese 10. Kelby Friese 11. Erick Hurst 12. Vincent Wenrich 13. Hunter McElroy 14. Dave Benner 15. Moses Goetz 16. Matt Grebe 17. Dustin Burnisky 18. Lincoln Keachner 19. Ben Burnisky 20. Benjamin Morrow 21. Jimmy Eicher 21. 22. DNS Logan Jones
4-CYLINDERS: 1. Matt Weaver, 2. Zak Kline 3. Coty Maines 4. Larry Beachel Jr. 5. Blake Snyder 6. Kyler Stahl 7. Garrett Lucas 8. Jason Koch 9. Dalton Lucas 10. Kyle Strouse 11. Nick Snook 12. Terry Karichner 13. Alyssa Snook 14. Chaz Beaver 15. Ian Heaps DNS Toby Maines