Sweet victory for Canady at ERP
Ephrata Raceway Park
EPHRATA - Ephrata Raceway Park held its annual Three Dog Night Saturday. While race fans could buy three hot dogs for a buck, the drivers battled to be the top dogs of their respective divisions.
Ephrata's Pat "The Candy Man" Canady earned a sweet victory in the Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stocks. Joe Smith of Moses Lake took the main event victory in the Ephrata Raceway Park mini stocks while Entiat's Damon Claibourn took the top spot in the Kim Janke State Farm Agent youth hornets.
Billy Smith sat on the pole for the Jerry's Auto Supply hobby stock feature. The Ephrata driver jumped out to an early lead of the 20-lap race, holding off Neil Nelson. On lap 5, Smith's racecar didn't accelerate after exiting turn two. Nelson was pinned behind Smith just long enough for Pat Canady to bolt to the low groove and assume the lead.
While Canady began pulling away from the pack, Bo Swenson of Ephrata maneuvered through the field and set his sights on catching the leader. Swenson reeled in Canady by lap nine and moved to the second groove in an attempt to take the lead. However, Canady never bobbled and held off Swenson's charges to take the checkers. Swenson was a very close second. Tanner Halley of Ephrata ran well and earned a third place finish.
The 2007 mini stock champion, Joe Smith, sent a message to the rest of the field that he intends to repeat as the point leader in September. However, the field replied back with a note stating that it is going to be a battle. Soap Lake's Nick Gardner led the pack to the green flag and held on to the lead for the first four circuits around the quarter-mile asphalt. Smith whittled his way to the front and stole the lead from Gardner on lap five.
Saturday marked the first race of the season for the Kim Janke State Farm Agent youth hornets. Many of the drivers experienced the thrill of driving in a race for the first time. The large field of stock four-bangers came to the starting stripe with Ephrata's Michael Olsick at the point. The pack flew into the first turn four-wide.
Fast Time: Bo Swenson (16:45)
B Dash: Neil Nelson
A Dash: Patrick Canady
B Heat: (1) Neil Nelson (2) JD Nelson (3) Billy Smith (4) Derrick Kapalo
A Heat: (1) Bo Swenson (2) Randy Pugh (3) Patrick Canady (4) Tanner Halley
Main Event: (1) Patrick Canady (2) Bo Swenson (3) Tanner Halley (4) Troy Lannoye (5) Randy Pugh (6) Neil Nelson (7) Billy Smith (8) Derrick Kapalo (9) JD Nelson
Fast Time: David Mackin (16.32)
B Dash: Nick Gardner
A Dash: Charles Larr
Heat: (1) Nick Gardner (2) Jeremy Razey (3) Justin Lovitt (4) Vern Hector
Main Event: (1) Joe Smith (2) David Mackin (3) Charles Larr (4) Nick Gardner (5) Justin Lovitt (6) Eddie Razey (7) Robert Martin (8) Jeremy Razey (9) Vern Hector (10) Doug Brown
Fast Time: Damon Claibourne (17.43)
C Dash: Sean Manderville
B Dash: Bart Hector Jr.
A Dash: Stephanie Patty
B Heat: (1) Bart Hector Jr. (2) Taylor Blackburn (3) Cody Berry (4) Jatender Veenstra
A Heat: (1) Damon Claibourn (2) Jesse Hector (3) Dallas White (4) Stephanie Patty
Main Event: (1) Damon Claibourn (2) Dallas White (3) Jesse Hector (4) Stephanie Patty (5) Kelly Olsick (6) Dylan Adamson (7) Taylor Blackburn (8) Jatender Veenstra (9) Bart Hector Jr. (10) Cody Berry (11) Tiffany Rutt (12) Derek Thompson (13) Colton Dana (14) Michael Olsick (15) Sean Manderville
Dash: Billy Smith
Main Event: (1) Justin Winningham (2) Billy Smith