Landon Price wins at Path Valley
Fleetwood, Pa., teenager Landon Price found the antidote for a brief racing slump Friday night, capturing the 25-lap PA Sprint Series IMCA/RaceSaver feature at Path Valley Speedway Park.
After an early-race battle for third place with the season’s dominant driver, Garrett Bard, Price caught up with and passed leader John Walp and was untouchable from that point on. Walp and Bard had a torrid duel for the runner-up spot, with Bard taking it by inches in a side-by-side finish. Jake Frye, who was part of top-five battling throughout the race, finished fourth, ahead of late-charging Ryan Lynn.
Completing the top 10 were Larry McVay, Cody Hackenberry, Todd Lynn, Ian Cumens and Andrew Boyer.
Price would have come into the night’s racing as a longshot. This was only his fourth Path Valley start, with a previous best of ninth, and ninth also was his best finish in his last six PASS events. A two-time winner last year in his first full season steering a RaceSaver sprint car, the Steak-Umm/Swavely’s Lawn & Turf/Givlar’s Trailer Sales/VAN Industries #69 chaffeur seemed headed in the wrong direction, but Friday corrected that impression.
The margin of victory was 2.571 seconds.
“I was so nervous the whole race,” Price said in victory lane. “Those cautions just killed me. I kept getting tight getting into three and four. I was running in too hard, but there were some laps I really got it going . . . and it feels good”
Heat races for the 19 RaceSaver sprinters on hand Friday were won by Walp and Frye.
Cody Hackenberry advanced from 17th starting spot to 7th at the finish to earn the Hard Charger Award, which included a new tire from Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic and $25 from the speedway.
For more information about PA Sprint Series racing, visit www.pasprintseries.com or the PA Sprint Series Facebook page.
Results from Path Valley Speedway Park, August 14
HEAT 1 – 1. 5-John Walp; 2. 69-Landon Price; 3. 95-Garrett Bard; 4. 55-Domenic Melair; 5. 83-Larry McVay; 6. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 7. 71-Josh Spicer; 8. 13-Kurt Knepper; 9. 4C-Cody Hackenberry (DNF). DNS – 19K-Chris Kreider.
HEAT 2 – 1. 56-Jake Frye; 2. 79-Ian Cumens; 3. 54M-Todd Lynn; 4. 26-Ryan Lynn; 5. 21-Andrew Boyer; 6. 31-Donnie Hendershot; 7. 7-Jim Kennedy; 8. 83K-Kristina Pratt; 9. 19-Kruz Kepner (DNF).
FEATURE – 1. 69-Landon Price; 2. 95-Garrett Bard; 3. 5-John Walp; 4. 56-Jake Frye; 5. 26-Ryan Lynn; 6. 83-Larry McVay; 7. 4C-Cody Hackenberry; 8. 54M-Todd Lynn; 9. 79-Ian Cumens; 10. 21-Andrew Boyer; 11. 55-Domenic Melair; 12. 13-Kurt Knepper; 13. 83K-Kristina Pratt; 14. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz (DNF); 15. 71-Josh Spicer (DNF); 16. 19K-Chris Kreider (DNF); 17. 19-Kruz Kepner (DNF); 18. 31-Donnie Hendershot (DNF); 19. 7-Jim Kennedy (DNF).