Brown wins Wire to Wire PASS/MASS Showdown at Susquehanna

BROWN WINS WIRE TO WIRE PASS/MASS CO-SANCTION SHOWDOWN AT SUSQUEHANNA

YORK HAVEN, PA

By ERIKA PALMAI WAGNER

“Downtown” Dave Brown took the checkered flag this past Saturday night at Susquehanna Speedway for the ninth time in his career over Tyler Reeser, Cale Reagle, Darren Miller, and Kyle Ganoe. Saturday’s event at Susquehanna marked the first co-sanctioned Racesaver 305 event between the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series and PA Sprint Series on the 2017 schedule. Brown was one of sixteen MASS registered drivers who made the haul out to the Central Pennsylvania speedway, in efforts to take on the talents of the PA Sprint Series.

“Everything went well from the start tonight,” said the twenty-six-year-old Aston, PA native. “We pulled a good number that helped us start up front in the heat race, which is always a big help. The car was great for the heat and with just a few adjustments for the feature to make the car work on a dry-slick track with the help of my friends at Newlin Bar Service, we were good enough to get the job done!”

Thirty-four cars took part in four eight-lap qualifying heat races, with five cars transferring from the heat to the a-main. Dave Brown, Tyler Reeser, Dave Grube and Kyle Ganoe were all credited with wins in the qualifying events, also earning them $50 cash from heat race sponsors CSI Shocks, Freiberger Excavating and Professional Design Services. The B-Main was won by Nick Sweigart, who also took home a $50 gift certificate to CSI Shocks for his efforts.

At the start of the twenty-lap feature event, Cale Reagle and rookie Austin Bishop brought the field around for the green flag, with Reagle taking control of the lead immediately by the time they reached the flag stand. Bishop, who jumped to the high side of the multi-groove speedway, tried to challenge the leader for the front running spot a lap later, but he was unable to complete the pass, so he settled back into second.

Brown, who started in fourth, advanced quickly into third and began catching ground on second place utilizing the very top of the race track.

“After looking at the track and watching the midgets, I knew there was a lane up close to the wall that had not seen much traffic, so I basically had to work that groove in for a few laps, and it began to work,” noted Brown. “When I got to the second-place car, I noticed that Austin was running that line as well, but I think my car was a little bit better than his, so I was able to get a slider in around him in turns three and four, and after that we were able to focus on the leader”.

By the half way point with ten laps down, Reagle caught up to lapped traffic, with Brown lurking closely behind. On lap eleven, Brown passed Reagle for the lead, again applying his strategy to that ultra-high groove that was working so well for him the entire race. Running away with the lead with over a half a straight away gap on the top five, Brown said “a balance of

aggressiveness and patience” is what he attributed to his success in maneuvering through lapped traffic.

“With most of the field leaving the top side open, it was less patience and more of a ‘hammer down’ mindset that I was thinking when getting around the slower cars,” Brown said. “I just knew the top was the fast way around and I wasn’t going to move down to try and pass any lap cars, just in case there was someone close behind”.

In the closing laps of feature, twenty-one-year-old PASS regular Tyler Reeser moved into the top three by running a similar line that leader Dave Brown was using. On the last lap, Reeser stole second from Reagle, while “rim riding” around the outside wall in hopes to gain enough ground to make for an exciting finish.

“The bottom of the track was actually pretty decent, and I was able to pass a few cars down there on my way to the front,” Reeser said. “The top just had more momentum because of the cushion and with that being as good as it was, it really helped me mainly for the same reason Dave said and that’s because a lot of people don’t use it, so who ever does use it can see it as an open window”.

“I’m not sure how much more time I needed, but were we both in lapped traffic, and that plays a huge roll in things,” Reeser explained. “I think a caution would have been the best thing to see for me”.

“I just have to thank my dad, my buddy Damian, Newlin’s Bar Service who has been a huge help in getting my car set-up right this year,” Brown thanked in a post-race interview. “All of my sponsors, Ennis Burner’s and Fuel Service, Beck Welding and Fabrication, and D. Capps Carpentry. Everyone and anyone who helps me out, just know that you guys make it possible for me to be competitive and able to what we’ve done tonight”.

On Sunday, May 28th the Engler Machine and Tool Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series will be making their first of four appearances at Grandview Speedway. Stay tuned for more information on this event. For more info on what’s going on with the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series, please visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/midatlanticsprintseries/ or visit our website at www.masprintseries.com.

PA/MASS IMCA SPRINTS ( 34 Cars ):

1) 44x Dave Brown 2) 5T Tyler Reeser 3) 99 Cale Reigle 4) 9c Darren Miller 5) 0 Kyle Ganoe 6) 17A Colby Dice 7) 11 Austin Bishop 8) 14 Kyle Craker 9) 99 Stefanie Carberry 10) 67 Ken Duke Jr. 11) 8D Scott Ellerman 12) 3D Dave Grube 13) 83 Billy Ney 14) 28 Tommy Carberry 15) 9s Rick Stief 16) 77J Jeff Geiges 17) 18 Tim Tanner Jr. 18) 9B Brendon Poff 19) 39x

Scott Frack 20) 8 Nick Sweigart 21) 20 Stephanie Dodson 22) 50 Jay Krout 23) 4c Cody Hackenberry 24) 92 Alex Potosky ( DNF )

DNQ: 70 Eddie Wagner, 77 Andrew Hake, 56 Bobby Scherff, 0 Harris Kohen, 2 Erin Statler, 15B Bryant Davis, 13 Kurt Knepper, 57v David Bonner, 94D Logan Diehl, 777 Doug Snow

Lap Leaders: 99 Reigle (1 – 11), 44x Brown (12 – 20)

CSI Shocks B-Main: $50 Nick Sweigart

Heat 1, CSI: David Brown $50

Heat 2, Freiberger Excavation: Tyler Reeser $50

Heat 3, Professional Design Services: Dave Grube $50

Heat 4, Professional Design Services: Kyle Ganoe $50

Todd’s Performance: David Bonner $25

DMI Hard Luck Award: Bryant Davis $50

Bruce’s Auto Body Hard Charger: $25, Kyle Craker (19th to 8th)

Kelly Fuels: Dave Brown 5 Gallons of Fuel