Miller, Nier, Babcock & Pardo pull off exciting Eldora wins

ROSSBURG, OH (May 25) – Sunday night’s Johnny Appleseed Classic by Miller Lite was a story of repeat wins, redemption and a near photo-finish as the 104 entrants used the entire 90’ width of Eldora Speedway with Matt Miller (Sunoco American Late Model Series) Jim Nier (NRA Sprint Invaders), Jeff Babcock (UMP DIRTcar Modifieds) and Paul Pardo (Eldora Stock Cars) capturing the main event victories.

By virtue of his second heat victory, Miller started on the outside pole of the 25-lap ALMS finale, and when the green flag dropped he was out front and sailing.

With a comfortable margin being built up over the field, all eyes were focused on the battle behind him, as the balance of the field used every inch of the clay surface to provide some of the fiercest racing seen in years.

Duane Chamberlain had his hands full holding back Brad Neat, Jeep VanWormer, Kent Robinson, while Wayne Chinn, and Scott James soon joined the fold. As Miller began threading himself through lapped traffic on lap 10, tough luck fell upon runner-up Chamberlain, as a right rear flat sidelined him to the pit area.

By this time, VanWormer had moved into third ahead of Neat, Chinn and Robinson; but with the Chamberlain departure that set him side-by-side with Miller on the double-file restart. Miller again got the jump on the green as VanWormer got engaged into a four car battle with Neat, Robinson and Chinn that set the fans into a frenzy.

After shaking them loose on lap 17, the chase was on, with VanWormer reeling in Miller lap after lap. With three laps remaining, VanWormer moved into contention to challenge for the lead; often pulling alongside down the back chute. A late charge for VanWormer to wrestle the lead from Miller was thwarted by a lapped car that Miller used to his advantage and registering yet another ALMS victory at Eldora in the final tune-up before the June 5-6-7 Dirt Late Model Dream by Ferris Mowers.

VanWormer finished a tight runner-up, followed in order by Robinson, Neat and Jeff Babcock who came on strong in the later stages.

Two years ago Nier had celebrated in victory lane; only to meet disappointment a few minutes later when a post-race inspection by NRA officials found the Nier entry not in full compliance and the win was erased. But not so Sunday night as the seasoned veteran planted himself up close to the wall and never let up as lapped traffic came into play in the 20-lap non-stop event for the winged Sprint Cars.

Earlier in the race it looked as if Jared Horstman had the field covered, but 13 laps into the chase, mechanical woes dropped him somewhat off the pace. Nier was knocking on the door at that time and took advantage of Hortsman’s misfortune to charge out front.

As the final laps wore down, Nier was finding some competition from Butch Schroeder and Randy Hannagan, but with that bittersweet moment etched in his mind, Nier was determined to prove that the previous win was no fluke.

With the checkered flag in sight, Nier continued his flirtation with the outer wall right to the finish. The green-to-checkered flag race didn’t leave much time for Schroeder and Hannagan, and time simply ran out for them as they had Nier in sight. Ryan Ruhl and Todd Heuerman completed the top five, as a disappointed Horstman limped home in ninth spot.

By virtue of the invert drawing, Babcock started on the inside of the front row. That meant bad news for the balance of the field and Babcock didn’t let their expectations down. He masterfully threaded his way through the lapped traffic, as Brian Ruhlman, Matt Westfall and Evan Taylor were waging their own battle that soon found Jerry Bowersock in the mix.

A last lap caution flag gave everyone a last chance shot at Babcock, but he was undaunted by the challenges and sailed to his third win of the season at Eldora. Ruhlman had his hands full with Westfall as the duo swapped positions multiple times. As they crossed the finish line, it was Ruhlman be inches of Westfall, with Taylor and Jerry Bowersock completed the top five.

At the dropping of the green flag in the Stock Car main event, it was Earnie Woodard in control at the end of lap one, but that soon changed as eventual winner Pardo pulled out front. He brought with him Dean Pitts, who kept Pardo well within sight. Multiple times Pitts inched up behind Pardo, but that strong run ended just past the half-way point when a quick spin by Pitts brought out the yellow flag.

On the ensuing restart it was Pardo over last week’s feature winner in a classic battle down to the wire. Pardo was rim-riding the top, while Bowers was hugging the bottom in drastically different driving styles.

Out of each turn, Bowers would charge off the bottom to pull up alongside Pardo down the straights; but it was the developed horsepower by using the upper groove that gave Pardo the edge and one of the closest win margins in recent years. By a mere .060 seconds Pardo pulled out the win over Bowers, as defending champion Barney Craig, Tony Anderson and Jeff Koz completed the top five spots.

Eldora will be down next weekend, as the historic speed plant preps for the June-5-6-7 Dream that will see one driver capture $100,000 on Saturday, June 7. Ticketing information for that event, or any of Eldora’s other upcoming major events can be found on the track’s website www.EldoraSpeedway.com or can be obtained by calling the speedway office (937) 338-3815 during normal business hours. Additionally, race fans and race teams can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and view video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc. Mobile device users can access the Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad and Android which is available for download via iTunes and Google Play.

Sunoco ALMS

TIME TRIALS - 1. 1WC-Wayne Chinn [16.313]; 2. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [16.212]; 3. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [16.137]; 4. 83-Scott James [16.466]; 5. 6-Jonathan Davenport [16.067]; 6. 21-Tony Musolino [17.193]; 7. 15-Jon Henry [16.601]; 8. 16-Brad Neat [16.248]; 9. 49-Brian Ruhlman [17.224]; 10. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [16.574]; 11. 33S-Aaron Scott [17.277]; 12. M14-Brandon Thirlby [16.972]; 13. 1-Jeff Babcock [16.182]; 14. 3-Matt Miller [16.484]; 15. 9R-Curtis Roberts [16.448]; 16. 36-Matt Irey [16.826]; 17. 21B-Rich Bell [17.668]; 18. 00K-Chris Keller [16.699]; 19. 15A-Phil Ausra [18.755]; 20. 1N-Casey Noonan [17.084]; 21. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [17.128]; 22. B4U-Brad Eitinear [17.657]; 23. 8A-Rob Anderzack [19.020]; 24. 75-Dusty Moore [16.908]; 25. 87-Richard Neiser [17.700]; 26. 7R-Kent Robinson [16.839]; 27. 92S-Cody Scott [18.587];

HEAT 1 - 1. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [3]; 2. 16-Brad Neat [1]; 3. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [2]; 4. 83-Scott James [6]; 5. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [7]; 6. 1WC-Wayne Chinn [5]; 7. 49-Brian Ruhlman [9]; 8. 15-Jon Henry [8]; 9. 6-Jonathan Davenport [4];

HEAT 2 - 1. 3-Matt Miller [2]; 2. 1-Jeff Babcock [4]; 3. M14-Brandon Thirlby [6]; 4. 33S-Aaron Scott [7]; 5. 15A-Phil Ausra [9]; 6. 36-Matt Irey [5]; 7. 21B-Rich Bell [8]; 8. 9R-Curtis Roberts [DNF]; 9. 00K-Chris Keller [DNF];

HEAT 3 - 1. 7R-Kent Robinson [4]; 2. 1N-Casey Noonan [2]; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [1]; 4. 87-Richard Neiser [7]; 5. 75-Dusty Moore [3]; 6. 21-Tony Musolino [5]; 7. B4U-Brad Eitinear [6]; 8. 92S-Cody Scott [8]; 9. 8A-Rob Anderzack [DNF];

B-FEATURE - 1. 1WC-Wayne Chinn [1]; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman [4]; 3. 21B-Rich Bell [5]; 4. 15-Jon Henry [7]; 5. 36-Matt Irey [2]; 6. B4U-Brad Eitinear [6]; 7. 9R-Curtis Roberts [8]; 8. 21-Tony Musolino [3]; 9. 92S-Cody Scott [9]; 10. 8A-Rob Anderzack [12]; 11. 6-Jonathan Davenport [DNS]; 12. 00K-Chris Keller [DNS];

A FEATURE - 1. 3-Matt Miller [2]; 2. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [7]; 3. 7R-Kent Robinson [3]; 4. 16-Brad Neat [4]; 5. 1-Jeff Babcock [5]; 6. 83-Scott James [10]; 7. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [9]; 8. 1WC-Wayne Chinn [16]; 9. 15-Jon Henry [19]; 10. M14-Brandon Thirlby [8]; 11. 1N-Casey Noonan [6]; 12. 9R-Curtis Roberts [22]; 13. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [13]; 14. 49-Brian Ruhlman [17]; 15. 75-Dusty Moore [15]; 16. 15A-Phil Ausra [DNF]; 17. 21B-Rich Bell [DNF]; 18. B4U-Brad Eitinear [DNF]; 19. 36-Matt Irey [DNF]; 20. 33S-Aaron Scott [DNF]; 21. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [DNF]; 22. 87-Richard Neiser [DNF];

NRA Sprint

TIME TRIALS - 1. B20-Butch Schroeder [14.663]; 2. 22H-Randy Hannagan [14.737]; 3. 00N-Jim Nier [14.784]; 4. 18-Todd Heuerman [14.818]; 5. 12H-Tim Hunter [14.936]; 6. 17-Jared Horstman [14.959]; 7. 16-Ryan Ruhl [14.981]; 8. 6JS-Jr Stewart [14.987]; 9. 49-Shawn Dancer [15.016]; 10. 28H-Hud Horton [15.073]; 11. 35-Ron Blair [15.087]; 12. 6S-Max Stambaugh [15.099]; 13. 11N-Ed Neumeister [15.167]; 14. 23-Devon Dobie [15.203]; 15. 10X-Dustin Stroup [15.205]; 16. 11-Tim Allison [15.300]; 17. 49T-Gregg Dalman [15.613]; 18. 2M-Dustin Daggett [15.675]; 19. 1-Jimmy Snead [15.763]; 20. 20A-Andy Chehowski [15.842]; 21. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [16.004]; 22. 7K-Kyle Pitts [16.040]; 23. 12R-Nick Roberts [16.104]; 24. 27-Brad Lamberson [16.242]; 25. 8J-Jess Stiger [16.446]; 26. 4-Eric Smith [24.194];

HEAT 1 - 1. B20-Butch Schroeder [6]; 2. 16-Ryan Ruhl [4]; 3. 18-Todd Heuerman [5]; 4. 11N-Ed Neumeister [2]; 5. 28H-Hud Horton [3]; 6. 1-Jimmy Snead [7]; 7. 7K-Kyle Pitts [8]; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger [9]; 9. 11-Tim Allison [DNF];

HEAT 2 - 1. 35-Ron Blair [3]; 2. 22H-Randy Hannagan [6]; 3. 49T-Gregg Dalman [1]; 4. 23-Devon Dobie [2]; 5. 6JS-Jr Stewart [4]; 6. 12R-Nick Roberts [8]; 7. 20A-Andy Chehowski [7]; 8. 4-Eric Smith [9]; 9. 12H-Tim Hunter [DNF];

HEAT 3 - 1. 00N-Jim Nier [6]; 2. 2M-Dustin Daggett [1]; 3. 17-Jared Horstman [5]; 4. 10X-Dustin Stroup [2]; 5. 49-Shawn Dancer [4]; 6. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [7]; 7. 6S-Max Stambaugh [3]; 8. 27-Brad Lamberson [8];

B-FEATURE - 1. 6S-Max Stambaugh [1]; 2. 12R-Nick Roberts [7]; 3. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [5]; 4. 20A-Andy Chehowski [4]; 5. 1-Jimmy Snead [3]; 6. 8J-Jess Stiger [9]; 7. 27-Brad Lamberson [8]; 8. 7K-Kyle Pitts [DNF]; 9. 11-Tim Allison [DNS]; 10. 4-Eric Smith [DNS];

A FEATURE - 1. 00N-Jim Nier [4]; 2. B20-Butch Schroeder [6]; 3. 22H-Randy Hannagan [5]; 4. 16-Ryan Ruhl [1]; 5. 18-Todd Heuerman [3]; 6. 2M-Dustin Daggett [15]; 7. 35-Ron Blair [10]; 8. 49-Shawn Dancer [8]; 9. 17-Jared Horstman [2]; 10. 28H-Hud Horton [9]; 11. 6JS-Jr Stewart [7]; 12. 10X-Dustin Stroup [13]; 13. 23-Devon Dobie [12]; 14. 11N-Ed Neumeister [11]; 15. 49T-Gregg Dalman [14]; 16. 6S-Max Stambaugh [16]; 17. 12R-Nick Roberts [17]; 18. 20A-Andy Chehowski [19]; 19. 1-Jimmy Snead [DNF]; 20. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [DNF];

UMP DIRTcar MODIFIED

HEAT 1 - 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [4]; 2. 5X-Tim Richardson [1]; 3. 55S-Zach Schroeder [6]; 4. 5-Jonathan Taylor [7]; 5. 18-Ryan Sutter [5]; 6. 15B-Dave Baker [10]; 7. 15H-Jeff Hamby [8]; 8. 79-Shane Unger [2]; 9. 20-Josh Morton [DNF]; 10. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [DNF];

HEAT 2 - 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [6]; 2. 10-Scott Bowersock [1]; 3. 7-Evan Taylor [4]; 4. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [5]; 5. 4S-Rob Starkey [7]; 6. 23J-Jeff Koz [10]; 7. 26L-Casey Luedeke [9]; 8. 21T-Tom Treon [3]; 9. 51-Cody Timmerman [2]; 10. 9J-Jaared Guinn [8];

HEAT 3 - 1. 5JB-Jerry Bowersock [2]; 2. 54-Matt Westfall [8]; 3. 05-David Smith [5]; 4. 1SW-Scott Williams [4]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson [7]; 6. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [6]; 7. 4J-David Treon, Jr [9]; 8. 47-Collin Thirlby [1]; 9. 36-Brandon Vaughan [3];

B-FEATURE - 1. 23J-Jeff Koz [2]; 2. 15B-Dave Baker [1]; 3. 15H-Jeff Hamby [4]; 4. 47-Collin Thirlby [9]; 5. 26L-Casey Luedeke [5]; 6. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [3]; 7. 36-Brandon Vaughan [12]; 8. 79-Shane Unger [7]; 9. 4J-David Treon, Jr [6]; 10. 21T-Tom Treon [8]; 11. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [13]; 12. 9J-Jaared Guinn [14]; 13. 51-Cody Timmerman [11]; 14. 20-Josh Morton [DNS];

A FEATURE - 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [1]; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman [2]; 3. 54-Matt Westfall [6]; 4. 7-Evan Taylor [8]; 5. 5JB-Jerry Bowersock [3]; 6. 18-Ryan Sutter [13]; 7. 1SW-Scott Williams [12]; 8. 4S-Rob Starkey [14]; 9. 10-Scott Bowersock [5]; 10. 5X-Tim Richardson [4]; 11. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [11]; 12. 22T-Tony Anderson [15]; 13. 47-Collin Thirlby [19]; 14. 15H-Jeff Hamby [18]; 15. 15B-Dave Baker [17]; 16. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [21]; 17. 26L-Casey Luedeke [20]; 18. 4J-David Treon, Jr [24]; 19. 36-Brandon Vaughan [22]; 20. 23J-Jeff Koz [16]; 21. 79-Shane Unger [23]; 22. 05-David Smith [DNF]; 23. 5-Jonathan Taylor [10]; 24. 55S-Zach Schroeder [DNS];

STOCK CAR

HEAT 1 - 1. 25-Nick Bowers [3]; 2. 36-Adam Schaeff [5]; 3. 01-Earnie Woodard [6]; 4. 77-Corey Wooten [8]; 5. 9-Dave Keysor [2]; 6. 58-Alex Peace [DNS]; 7. 82-Chris Douglas [DNS]; 8. 23-Casey Barr [DNS];

HEAT 2 - 1. 00-Dean Pitts [2]; 2. 71C-Barney Craig [1]; 3. 27-Frank Paladino [4]; 4. 19-Wayne Williams [6]; 5. 16-Jeff Koz [7]; 6. 55A-Brandon Archey [5]; 7. 51M-Ben Myers [3]; 8. 1W-Mark Wooten [DNF];

HEAT 3 - 1. 22T-Tony Anderson [1]; 2. 410-Paul Pardo [4]; 3. 49-Eric Sandlin [2]; 4. 99-Andy King [7]; 5. 5W-Craig Swartz [DNF]; 6. 61-Rob Trent [DNF]; 7. 7-Jordan Conover [DNS];

A FEATURE - 1. 410-Paul Pardo [3]; 2. 25-Nick Bowers [8]; 3. 71C-Barney Craig [4]; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson [6]; 5. 16-Jeff Koz [14]; 6. 01-Earnie Woodard [2]; 7. 27-Frank Paladino [1]; 8. 36-Adam Schaeff [5]; 9. 19-Wayne Williams [11]; 10. 55A-Brandon Archey [17]; 11. 49-Eric Sandlin [9]; 12. 61-Rob Trent [18]; 13. 51M-Ben Myers [20]; 14. 99-Andy King [12]; 15. 82-Chris Douglas [19]; 16. 00-Dean Pitts [DNF]; 17. 23-Casey Barr [DNF]; 18. 77-Corey Wooten [DNF]; 19. 1W-Mark Wooten [DNF]; 20. 5W-Craig Swartz [DNS]; 21. 58-Alex Peace [DNS]; 22. 7-Jordan Conover [DNS]; 23. 9-Dave Keysor [DNS];