Dart leads sprint car racers at Ephrata

EPHRATA — Soap Lake resident Paul Dart found a lightning-fast setup, blistered the quarter-mile asphalt track and dominated the AllState Electric Inc. CROW sprint car feature Saturday night at Raceway Park.

Dart succeeded in spite of very cool temperatures and strong winds. Stuart Barger also had a good night behind the wheel, taking the Jerry's Auto Supply main event hardware. The trophy for the Pioneer Muffler II adult hornets went to the hard-charging, broad-sliding Jeremy Lodi. Rounding out the action at Ephrata Raceway Park's high-banked track were the bump-to-pass stockcars from the west side of the Cascades. Bob Lingren outlasted all comers and survived the mayhem to earn the victory in the main event.

Dart nearly pulled off a sweep in the AllState Electric CROW sprint car division. He posted the fastest qualifying time, won the heat race, and dominated the 25-lap main event. However, Whitney Nolan of Wenatchee put the kibosh on Dart's sweep by taking the trophy dash.

Before the CROW feature, attrition took its toll on a number of winged sprinters. Drivers and crew members were extremely busy making repairs on cars and attempting to rid the open wheelers of early-season gremlins, largely to no avail.

Robbie Patterson of Soap Lake led the field of sprint cars to the green flag and jumped out to the initial lead. He was followed by Nolan and Todd Lolkus of Ephrata. Patiently, Dart maneuvered his sprinter through traffic and set his sights on Patterson. Just past the halfway mark, Dart shot past Patterson and never looked back.

Meanwhile, Patterson and Nolan challenged each other for the second spot. Lolkus and Kurt Myers played cat and mouse with each other, with Lolkus managing to fend off all of Myers' attempts to pass.

Dart walked away with the victory. Patterson just edged out Nolan at the stripe for the No. 2 spot. Lolkus and Myers rounded out the top five finishers.

The Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stocks made their first appearance of the 2007 season with several drivers moving up from the adult hornets.

Ephrata's Derrick Kapalo, a rookie in the class, set the fastest qualifying time. Billy Smith picked up a win in the heat race. However, Barger, a veteran hobby stock driver, wasted little time in seizing the lead in the main event, earning the victory. Kapalo took second with Patrick Canady of Ephrata and Smith taking third and fourth, respectively.

Offering the best bang for the buck, the Ephrata Pioneer II adult hornets had a good turnout, putting 16 four-bangers on the starting grid for the hornet feature.

The action got crazy just after Jeremy Block and Evan Evans paced the pack across the starting line. While all bunched up, Josh Hector spun, sending cars in all directions in order to avoid a collision. Evans, meanwhile, had assumed the lead. Howver, Evans spun on the back stretch after contact with another car. Unfortunately, Evans' disabled car limped to the pits and was not able to be repaired in time to resume.

On the ensuing restart, Brian Hahne assumed the early lead. Chris McCart took the lead after Hahne drifted high coming out of turn 2. McCart began to pull away from the field, enjoying a lead that was more than a straightaway in length.

Jeremy Lodi was a man on a mission. After starting at the rear of the pack, he used the high groove to get around slower traffic. At one time, Lodi went four-wide in turns 3 and 4 to get by a number of cars. Resembling a stockcar racing on dirt, Lodi had the back end of his car sliding out in the corners. He quickly caught up with McCart and used the high groove to take the lead. Once Lodi had the lead, nobody was able to get close.

Derrick Kapalo danced through traffic to get near the front. He overtook McCart, but couldn't reel in Lodi. Lodi won the hornet main event in convincing style. Kapalo and McCart finished second and third, respectively. Rounding out the top five were Nathan Schell and Rod Julian.

Sprint Cars (CROW)

Fast time: Paul Dart, 12.97 seconds.

Dash: 1. Whitney Nolan.

Heat: 1. Paul Dart, 2. Whitney Nolan, 3. Kurt Myers, 4. Todd Lolkus.

Main event: 1. Paul Dart, 2. Robbie Patterson, 3. Whitney Nolan, 4. Todd Lolkus, 5. Kurt Myers, 6. Tom Beierman, 7. Kevin Hill.

Hobby stocks

Fast time: Derrick Kapalo, 16.47 seconds.

Dash: 1. Stuart Barger.

Heat: 1. Billy Smith, 2. Stuart Barger, 3. Derrick Kapalo, 4. Patrick Canady.

Main event: 1. Stuart Barger, 2. Derrick Kapalo, 3. Patrick Canady, 4. Billy Smith.

Pioneer II muffler hornets

Dash 1: 1. Jeremy Lodi.

Dash 2: 1. Rod Julian.

Heat 1: 1. John Olsick, 2. Evan Evans, 3. Nathan Schell, 4. Lemar Dana.

Heat 2: 1. Dustin Kaplan, 2. Josh Hector, 3. Jeremy Lodi, 4. Rod Julian.

Main event 1: 1. Jeremy Lodi, 2. Dustin Kapalo, 3. Chris McCart, 4. Nathan Schell, 5. Rod Julian, 6. Eric Razey, 7. Josh Hector, 8. Brian Hahne, 9. John Olsick, 10. Jeremy Block, 11. Lemar Dana, 12. Evan Evans, 13. Levi Runnion, 14. Kenny Brown.

Bump to pass

Dash: 1. Tim Covey.

Heat: 1. Bob Lingren

Main event: 1. Bob Lingren, 2. Tim Covey, 3. Jerry Ward.