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October 22, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lathroum Wins $8,800 with Late Race Pass at “The Ultimate†at Hesston! Friese crowned UFo Race Champion!
(Markleysburg, PA) Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsville, MD turned his season around in the final weeks. After caputuring a $5,000 win the week before, Lathroum put his name on the winner’s list for “The Ultimate†and carried away $8,800. Lathroum tracked down leader Jason Covert and made a late race pass to take the win. The feature start money and winner’s payoff of this great paying event were increased by G & R Excavation and Demolition of Tyrone, PA and BBI Racing Products of Altoona, PA.
Devin Friese of Chambersburg, PA captured his 1st-ever touring championship and is the 2011 UFo Race Champion. Friese capped off his great season, which included 2 UFo wins, with a 3rd place finish in “The Ultimate.†Keith Barbara of South Park, PA advance a position in the final point standings and finished 2nd for the 2nd year in a row over Jared Miley. 2010 defending champion Chad McClellan of Stoystown, PA followed in 4th with Quintin Wyandt of Hooversville, PA finishing 5th in his rookie Super Late Model season.
Danny Mitchell of Clarksburg, PA, Matt Dobnak of West Mifflin, PA, multiple tour winner Jared Hawkins of Fairmont, WV, tour winner Jason Covert of York Haven, PA and tour winner Ron Delano Jr. of Stoystown, PA rounded out the top 10. All will be paid point fund money from the participating tracks and sponsors American Racer, Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic, Townsend Gas & Oil, Precise Racing and Lias Tire.
After the redraw of all heat race qualifiers, Bob Dunn and Jason Covert sat on the front row for the 61-lap race. Covert immediately took off into the lead and started to build up a distance between him and the other competitors. New crowned champion Devin Friese moved into 2nd on lap 5 and tried to hunt down Covert. The 1st caution of the race appeared when Boom Briggs slowed with mechanical problems. Another caution appeared for a spinning car on lap 15, with a 3rd caution appearing for a 4 car mix-up on lap 16.
On the double file restart, Friese challenged Covert for the lead, but Covert took firm command of the race as the laps continued with Friese, Chub Frank, Jeff Rine and 10th starting Lathroum racing for the 2nd position. 13th starting Gregg Satterlee began his march from 13th and moved into the top 5 on lap 21 as he and Lathroum moved by Rine.
Lap 33 saw the final green flag of the race as Keith Barbara stopped with a flat tire. On lap 34, Lathroum moved by Frank into 3rd and then passed Friese for 2nd on lap 37. Covert has built up a half straight away lead. With Covert running on the fast cushion and Lathroum finessing on the bottom of the track, Lathroum begain to reel in Covert. Saterlee continue to advance and passed Frank for 4th on lap 43.
Lathroum begain to challenge Covert and on lap 53 crossing the start/finish line, Covert nearly met disaster as he made contact with a lapped car. Covert managed to save his car from a complete sideways skid, as Lathroum moved into the lead and went on to the $8,800 win. Covert recovered for 2nd with Friese following in 3rd. Satterlee and Frank crossed the line in 4th and 5th. Booper Bare, 17th starting Ron Davies, 16th starting Greg Fetters, 20th starting Dutch Davies and 18th starting Dylan Yoder rounded out the top 10.
Heat race wins went to Frank, John Lobb, Rine, Bare and Lathroum with consolation wins going to Fetters and Davies.
The UFo Semi-Lates made their debut with Tim Smith of Long Hollow PA capturing the $1,650 win in the “Challenger Super Championship.†Smith started on the front row, but spent the entire 2nd half of the race battling for the lead with Bobby Beard, then Rick Singleton.
Smith jumped out to the lead at the green using the outside cushion with Brian Leslie in tow. Beard advanced into 2nd from his 5th place starting position and started to challenge Smith after a the 1st restart of the race on lap 14. In each turn, Beard would dive under Smith in an attempt to make the winning pass. Restarts after cautions on laps 20 and 29 continued to see Smith and Beard race fiercely.
The final restart of the race was on lap 31, when Beard jumped the cushion twice allowing 8th starting Singleton and Andy Fries to move by. Singleton immediately picked up where Beard left off and raced Smith for the lead on the low side of the track with Friese right behind. After 40 laps, Smith crossed under the check flag as the 1st-ever UFo Semi-Late winner with Singleton and Fries in tow. Beard finished 4th with 14th starting George Dixon Jr. in 5th. Curtis Heath, Jack Griffith, 18th starting Dale Smith, Jake Jones and 22nd starting Will Rowe rounded out the top 10.
Joe Kot of Dubois, PA was declared the winner of the highly competitive B-Cadet “Challenger Super Championship†after apparent winner Tyler Hite came up light at the scales. The division used multiple weight breaks for different equipment combinations from different tracks, and the entire race looked like rush hour on the freeway with a group of 8 to 10 cars racing for the lead most of the race and positions swapping lap after lap.
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