Garrett Bard adds Clinton County Victory to His Resume
August 22, 2020
Mill Hall, PA – Garrett Bard of Wells Tannery parked his RaceSaver Sprint Car in victory lane Friday night at the Clinton County Speedway. It was Bard’s first career win in a full size sprint car at the 3/8th mile oval. Bard has previously visited victory lane in his 600 Micro Sprint and is ranked second on the all- time 600 Micro Sprint winners’ list. Other winners on Friday night included Robert Tressler of Lock Haven in the Pro Stocks, Mikey Smith of Scranton in the 600 Micro Sprints, Jeffrey Weaver of Lock Haven in the 270 Micro Sprints and Sterling Kepner of Muncy in the Four Cylinder division.
By luck of the draw, Bard started on the pole position along-side Cogan Station’s Matt Tebbs for the start of the 25 lap main event. Bard took the lead at the drop of the green flag over Tebbs, Tylor Cochran of Williamsport, Ian Cumens of Lyndell and Josh Beamer of Picture Rocks. The red flag came out on lap number three when Jeffrey Weaver of Lock Haven hit the front stretch wall. Following the restart, Bard began to distance himself from Tebbs and the rest of the field. Larry McVay of Bordentown, NJ who started ninth, moved into the top five by the completion of lap number six. Jared Zionkowski’s car brought out the caution of lap number 8 after suffering a flat tire. The restart bunched the field once again with Bard, Tebbs, Cochran, McVay and Cumens in the top five. While Bard tried to distance himself from the field, McVay used the opportunity to pass Cochran and moved into the runner up position at the race’s midway point. McVay started to reel in Bard as the field began to encounter lapped traffic. A three car incident involving Dale Schweikart, Matt Tebbs and Dylan Proctor brought out the race’s final caution of lap number 14. Bard restarted the race with McVay in second, Cumens, Cochran and Wapwallopen John Walp in the top five. Bard continued to lead every lap on his way to the victory over McVay, Cumens, Cochran and Walp. Bard, who is ranked second in the IMCA’s national points standing said “it is nice to finally get a win here at Clinton County. I knew McVay was right behind me and I was lucky to hold him off.” Sixth through tenth were Scott Lutz, Ryan Lynn, Beamer, Proctor and David Guss, Jr. Heat races were won by Weaver and Cochran.
Jason Smith of Williamsport started on the outside of the front row and jumped into the early lead of the Pro Stock feature event. Smith led until lap number five when Tim Shirk spun to bring out the caution flag. Third place starter, Robert Tressler used the restart to his advantage and passed Smith in turns one and two. At the halfway point, Tressler had a four car length’s lead, while Smith, Tommy Dawson, Ay Schilling and Noah Jensen were in a contested battled for the second through fifth positions. Tressler lead the remaining laps to claim his second victory of the season over Smith, Dawson, Schilling and Jensen. Sixth through tenth were AJ Stroup, Mark Bitler, Corey Long, Bradley Benton, and Danny Jensen. Qualifiers were won by Smith and Schilling.
Timmy Bittner of Beech Creek and Derek Swartz lead the field of 600 Micro Sprints to the green flag. On lap number four the caution came out for a multi-car accident in turn number four. Following the restart, Mikey Smith lead the field over Tyson Mowery, Johnny Smith, Garret Bard and Jeffrey Weaver. Smith continued began to encounter lapped traffic on lap number twelve. Smith navigated through the lapped cars to claim his first win of the season. Tyson Mowery finished second, Garret Bard was third, Mason Peters was fourth and Jeffrey Weaver finished fifth. Sixth through tenth were Johnny Smith, Jeff Gyuina, Mitchell Holden, Timmy Bittner and Corey Brungard. Heat races were won by Cody Hauck and Johnny Smith.
Nick Whitesel and Shaun Musser led the full field of 270 micro sprints to the green flag for their 15 lap main event. At the completion of lap number one, the red flag waved for Mackenzie Hixon who rolled onto her side. Following the restart, Jeffrey Weaver and Timmy Bittner raced to the front of the field to take the top two positions. Troy Whitesel, who started eighth was quickly catching the leaders, but drifted high on the back stretch and lost several positions as he regained control of his car. Bittner made several attempts to take the lead from Weaver. The leaders began to encounter lapped traffic by the half-way point of the race. On lap number ten, Weaver led Bittner, Logan Hammaker, Denny Rinehimer, and Troy Whitesel. Whitesel moved into the fourth position on lap number eleven. The event’s final caution flag waved on lap number 13 setting up a two lap dash to the finish. Weaver was able to hold off Bittner for the win, Whitesel rallied for a third place finish, with Rinehimer and Hammaker completing the top five. Sixth through tenth were Michael McGhee, Ethan Spotts, Zachery Glass, Wyatt Rotz and Hunter Zimmerman. Heat race winners were Rotz, Rinehimer and Whitesel.
Scott Englert led the opening lap of the 4 Cylinder feature event. Fourth place starter Kennedey Courter passed Englert to lead lap two, with Englert reclaiming the lead on the third circuit. Ninth place starter, Sterling Kepner worked this way up through the field and passed Englert at the conclusion of lap number five. The leaders began to encounter lapped traffic on lap number seven. Tyler Watson began to pressure Kepner for the top spot in the final laps with Englert, Chris Orwig and Blake Snyder racing in the top five. The top two raced side by side as the white flag waved. Kepner held off Watson for this second win of the season. Englert, Snyder and Orwig completed the top five. Sixth through tenth were Michael Luther, Skylar Witchley, Chelsie Harris AJ Stephens and Kevin Stetchock. Heat races were won by Maddox Smith and Blake Snyder.
The Clinton County Speedway will host the 3rd annual Lenny Stroud Jr Memorial Races on Friday August 21st. The race will feature the Limited Late Models in a $1,200 to win event. An additional $100 bonus will be paid to the winners in the Pro Stocks, 270s, 600s, and 4 Cylinders. Gates will open at 5:15, Hot laps are at 7PM and Racing begins at 7:30PM For more information about the speedway and upcoming events, visit the speedway website at www.clintoncountyspeedway.com or follow the speedway on Facebook.
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Sprint Cars: 1. Garrett Bard 2. Larry McVay 3. Ian Cumens 4. Tylor Cochran 5. John Walp 6. Scott Lutz 7. Ryan Lynn 8. Josh Beamer 9. Dylan Proctor 10. Dave Guss, Jr 11. Reed Thompson 12. Mike Murphy 13. Matt Tebbs 14. Dale Schweikart 15. Robbie Bartchy 16. Jared Zionkowski 17. Jeffery Weaver 18. Jim Kennedy DNS: Josh Fox, Dakota Schweikart
Pro Stocks: 1. Robert Tressler 2. Jason Smith 3. Tommy Dawson 4. AY Schilling 5. Noah Jensen 6. AJ Stroup 7. Marc Bitler 8. Cory Long 9. Bradly Benton 10. Danny Jensen 11. Rich Fey 12. Todd Geyer Sr. 13. Kevin VanAmburg 14. Rooster Peters 15. Tim Shirk
600 Micro Sprints: 1. Mikey Smith 2. Tyson Mowery 3. Garrett Bard 4. Mason Peters 5. Jeffrey Weaver 6. Johnny Smith 7. Jeff Gyuina 8. Mitchell Holden 9. Timmy Bittner 10. Corey Brungard 11. James Layton 12. Eric Leonard 13. Dan Tripoli 14. Derek Swartz 15. Trevor Teats 16. Brock Puterbaugh 17. Alan Rhodes 18. Cordy Hauck DNS Jay Corder
270 Micro Sprints: 1. Jeffrey Weaver 2. Timmy Bittner 3. Troy Whitesel 4. Logan Hammaker 5. Denny Rinehimer 6. Michal McGhee 7. Ethan Spotts 8. Zachary Glass 9. Wyatt Rotz 10. Hunter Zimmerman 11. Doug Reinhard 12. Mitchell Holden 13. Shaun Musser 14. John Roberts 15. Buddy Kramer 16. James Bigler 17. Levi Brungard 18. Mackenzie Hixon 19. Preston Bierly 20. Kyle Stahl 21. Mathew Dixon DNS: Gary Keister, Nick Whitesel, Kyler Stahl
4-Cylinders: 1. Sterling Kepner 2. Tyler Watson 3. Scott Englert 4. Blake Snyder 5. Chris Orwig 6. Michael Luther 7. Skylar Witchley 8. Chelsie Harris 9. AJ Stephens 10. Kevin Stetchock 11. Shaun Wise 12. Jonathon Stringfellow 13. Brett Shirk 14. Kennedey Courter 15. Kyle Strouse 16. Eric Miller 17. Jimmy Delozier 18. John Baey DQ: Maddox Smith DNS: Michael Barnes, Bryan Strouse