STARS Racing Series Report, Results, Standings from Ohio
28 July 1997
Conneaut, OH - Todd Andrews of Eldred, PA notched his first STARS Racing Series sanctioned win of the 1997 season Friday night at Ace High Speedway in Conneaut, OH. Andrews, driving the Bullitt/Malcuit/Andrews Auto Salvage #42 Ford Mustang took the lead on lap three and then held of the challenge of Steve Francis to pocket the $10,000 winners share of the purse in the "Pinnacle 50". The win was the third career victory for Andrews on the STARS circuit. Davey Johnson made a last lap pass of Mike Balzano to capture third and Rick Eckert ended the race in fifth.Rob Blair started on the pole and took the lead as the 24 cars roared into turn one at the drop of the green. Andrews fell into second with Dutch Davies, Eckert and Francis following. Andrews put continual pressure on Blair for the first two laps before making his move and taking the lead on the third circuit. Once on the point, Andrews was able to pull out to a five car-length lead over the fierce battle raging behind him.
Francis moved into fourth on the fifth lap and Balzano made his first appearance in the top five one lap later. On lap 9, Francis made a daring move in turn four to jump into second as he passed both Davies and Blair, who was beginning to slow with engine problems. Eckert had dropped back and was watching the battle from just outside the top five, while Balzano made another pass on lap ten to take the fourth spot. Following him through was rookie Mike Benedum to take fifth. Davies race came to an end on lap 13 as he stopped with a broken drive shaft, with Blair having retired just one lap earlier with his ailing power plant.
On the restart, Andrews and Francis powered away from the pack and put on a show for the crowd as they proceeded to weave their way through the back markers. Francis tried to find a way around Andrews on numerous occasions, but just could not muster the power to make the pass. Johnson had been making steady progress from his tenth starting spot and on lap 29 he moved into the top five. On lap 39 he made the pass for fourth and set out after Balzano, who was in third. He caught him and then on the last lap made the pass to take a well deserved third.
There were 36 cars on hand for the event, and Andrews set the fast time in qualifying with an 18.236 sec clocking around the 7/16 mile high banked clay oval. Francis, Balzano and Steve Shaver captures heat wins and Blair took the ISKY RACING CAMS Fast Dash. the win in the PRO SHOCKS 'B' Main went to Bob Close.
John Kaiser, The Autochannel
Pinnacle 50 Race Results pos st Car Driver laps Money Status 1. 3 42 Todd Andrews 50 $10000 Running 2. 7 15 Steve Francis 50 5000 " 3. 10 2JX Davey Johnson 50 3000 " 4. 8 E1 Mike Balzano 50 2000 " 5. 4 24 Rick Eckert 50 1500 " 6. 24 1* Chub Frank 50 1450 " 7. 5 68 Tim Hitt 50 1300 " 8. 15 28B Dick Barton 50 1200 " 9. 6 25 Mike Bendum 50 1100 " 10. 23 71R Rod Conley 49 1050 " 11. 21 25C Bob Craig 49 950 " 12. 16 21 Frank Poniatowski 49 800 " 13. 13 5M Ryan Markham 49 700 " 14. 18 61 Dan Armbruster 46 650 " 15. 14 77 Barry Bragdon 45 600 Oil Leak 16. 12 03S Chevy Scott 43 550 Steering 17. 17 71 Delmas Conley 42 500 Suspensn 18. 11 2J Mike Johnson 37 500 Fuel Pres 19. 9 30 Steve Shaver 34 500 Axle 20. 20 V2 Ron Davies 22 550 Suspensn 21. 22 13 Jim Mazur 21 550 Handling 22. 2 40 Dutch Davies 13 500 Drve shft 23. 1 WON11 Rob Blair 12 500 Engine 24. 19 04 Bob Close 8 550 Handling Time of Race : 40 mins Cautions : 6 Lap Leaders : Blair, Andrews Rookie of Race : BenedumOrrville, OH - Rick Eckert, of York, PA, finally broke his winless streak with the STARS Racing Series Saturday night as he captured the win in the "Buckeye Classic 50" at Buckeye Raceway, Orrville, OH. Eckert piloted his Rayburn/Russell Baker/Raye Vest Excavating #24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo into the lead at the drop of the green and then held off the challenge of Bart Hartman to pocket $6,000 and his first win since September 3, 1994. Tim Hitt, Mike Balzano and Chub Frank rounded out the lead quintet at the finish.
Hitt led the 24 car field to the start from his pole position, but it was Eckert who took the lead on the first lap from his outside front row spot on the grid. Frank was also able to get past Hitt who ended the first lap in third with Brent Rhebergen and Paul Davis right behind him. Davis moved into fourth on lap 4 and Hartman, who had started the race in eighth, had worked his way up to fifth by lap 5 and then on the next circuit he passed Davis for fourth. Also making a charge to the front was series points leader Steve Francis who had begun the race in tenth place. Francis got around Davis for fifth on the tenth lap and began closing on Hartman.
Hartman, however, was not waiting as he passed Hitt for third on lap 13 and then on the 14th lap he went by Frank to take second. Hartman closed in on Eckert as the two began to encounter slower traffic, but was not able to reach his rear bumper until the 30th lap. Hartman searched for a way around Eckert, but was unable to find a weakness in the line being run by Eckert around the 3/8 mile oval. Balzano moved into fifth on the 29th lap, and Hitt was able to get by Frank on lap 33 and take third. One lap later it was Balzano's turn to pass Frank as he moved up to fourth.
Possibly the fastest car on the track was that of Steve Shaver. After starting in 23rd position, Shaver had spent most of the race working his way through the pack and on lap 40 he had closed in on Francis who was now running in sixth. For the last ten laps of the race the two cars battled until Shaver was able to make the pass on the white flag lap. Eckert took the win by a two car-length margin over Hartman.
42 car were on hand for the second race of the weekend, and it was Todd Andrews who set the fast time in qualifying with a time of 17.986 seconds. Balzano, Hartman and Dan Armbruster took the heat wins and the ISKY RACING CAMS Fast Dash went to Hitt.
In a special "Match Race" between winged Sprint driver Dale Blaney and Steve Francis in his Late Model, it was Blaney who took the win by completing 8 laps before Francis could complete the required seven.
John Kaiser, The Autochannel
Buckeye Classic 50 Race Result pos st car Driver laps Money Status 1. 2 24 Rick Eckert 50 $6000 Running 2. 8 75 Bart Hartman 50 3500 " 3. 1 68 Tim Hitt 50 2000 " 4. 7 E1 Mike Balzano 50 1500 " 5. 3 1* Chub Frank 50 1200 " 6. 23 30 Steve Shaver 50 1050 " 7. 10 15 Steve Francis 50 900 " 8. 13 96F Keith Berner 50 850 " 9. 21 40M Wayne Maffett Jr 50 850 " 10. 20 5M Ryan Markham 50 800 " 11. 4 07R Brent Rhebergen 50 750 " 12. 14 71 Delmas Conley 50 650 " 13. 12 71R Rod Conley 50 600 " 14. 11 25 Mike Bendum 49 550 " 15. 16 24H Rob House 49 500 " 16. 18 25J Ted Johnson 48 450 " 17. 6 42 Todd Andrews 43 400 Handling 18. 5 16 Paul Davis 35 350 Handling 19. 15 10 Larry Bond 33 350 Accident 20. 9 61 Dan Armbruster 32 350 Accident 21. 17 29 Darrell Lanigan 19 350 Handling 22. 22 19 Allen Baker 9 400 Brakes 23. 24 77 Barry Bragdon 1 350 Piston 24. 19 32 Scott hartley 0 400 Accident Time of Race : 30 mins Cautions : 3 Lap Leaders : Eckert Rookie of Race : Markham Points standings for the Short Track Auto Racing Stars Series 1997 STARS Point Standings thru 7/26/97 1. #15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY 6670 2. #68 Timm Hitt Weston, WV 5290 3. #24 Rick Eckert York, PA 5260 4. #E1 Mike Balzano Parkersburg, WV 5250 5. #30 Steve Shaver Parkersburg, WV 4410 6. #71R Rod Conley Wheelersburg, OH 4340 7. #75 Bart Hartman Zanesville, OH 3360 8. #77 Barry Bragdon Wheelersburg, OH 3180 9. #71 Delmas Conley Wheelersburg, OH 3060 10. #42 Todd Andrews Eldred, PA 2740 11. #25 Mike Benedum Bristol, WV 2630 12. #19 Gary Stuhler Greencastle, PA 2350 13. #1J Davey Johnson Greensburg, PA 2090 14. # 1 Charlie Swartz Grayson, KY 1910 15. #32 Scott Hartley Ravenswood, WV 1770 16. #2J Mike Johnson Imperial, PA 1530 17. #B4 Jack Boggs Grayson, KY 1520 18. #99 Donnie Moran Dresden, OH 1460 19. #71C R.J. Conley Wheelersburg, OH 1330 20. #00 Booper Bare Rockbridge Baths, VA 1200 1997 STARS Rookie of the Year Points 1. #25 Mike Benedum Bristol, WV 2630 2. #5M Ryan Markham Ashland, OH 1120 3. #11 J.R. Kiefer Bedford, PA 50 1997 PRO SHOCKS 'B' Main Points 1. #5M Ryan Markham Ashland, OH 1380 2. #2J Mike Johnson Imperial, PA 930 3. #00H Chuck Harper Beverly, WV 760 4. #71 Delmas Conley Wheelersburg, OH 570 5. #07R Brent Rhebergen Clymer, NY 560 1997 STARS Feature Winners Steve Francis 4 Bart Hartman 3 Gary Stuhler 3 Donnie Moran 2 Steve Shaver 2 Keith Nobisch 1 (np) Booper Bare 1 Ronnie Johnson 1 Davey Johnson 1 Tim Hitt 1 Randle Chupp 1 Jack Boggs 1 Mike Balzano 1 Rod Conley 1 Scott Bloomquist 1 Todd Andrews 1 Rick Eckert 1
