Shaffer scores third Port victory

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PORT ROYAL - Todd Shaffer left no doubt he is prepared for this weekend's invasion by the All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint cars. Shaffer scored his third Port Royal Speedway win of the season Saturday night at the Juniata County oval.

Coupled with two prior victories at Williams Grove, Shaffer now owns five wins overall.

"It's great," began Shaffer. "To have five wins here, May 1st, or whatever it is, it's great. We had a good start. Actually, we had a pretty tough heat and we were worried about getting in the top four. We got that handled and there before the red (flag on Lap 15), the two guys ahead of me seemed like they were pretty equal. I couldn't get a run on them and I was hanging a little."

Jeff Van Dusen and Andy Haus started the race from the front row. Haus, son of late model star Scotty Haus, grabbed the early lead and stayed out front through Lap 10. Van Dusen went in front and Rick Lafferty moved by Haus for second place one lap later. The race was stopped on Lap 15 when Haus and Mike Erdley made contact on the inside of the front stretch. Haus flipped but was not hurt.

Shaffer restarted third but knew his car needed something to improve its performance. Mechanic Jimmy Russell came to the rescue.

"I want to thank Jimmy Russell, my mechanic," Shaffer said. "He worked the magic on the red. I told (Scotty Haus), 'they're going to be in trouble now.' He (Russell) wanted to go one way and I wanted to go the other. I don't know which way he went (with adjustments to Shaffer's car). It was right because I was good at the end. We had a couple lucky things happen there and we were able to get in victory lane."

Shaffer's winning pass came exiting Turn 2 during Lap 17. Shaffer moved by Van Dusen for the lead. Two laps later, Rick Lafferty took over the second spot from Van Dusen. Keith Kauffman grabbed third place on Lap 22.

Alan Cole was fourth and Van Dusen fifth. Sixth through 10th were Sean Michael, Steve Buckwalter, Dave Ely, Mike Wagner and Pat Cannon. Heat races for the 24-car field were won by Van Dusen, Daryl Stimeling and Cole.

Two other caution periods slowed the field. Cale Grubb and Scott Flammer crashed in Turn 2 on just the second lap, ending both of their nights. The yellow came out again on Lap 21 when Cliff Brian stopped in Turn 3 and was pushed to the pit area.

Tim Gray won his first late model feature of the season after leading wire to wire from the pole.

"Some of our luck has been rotten and some of it has been self-inflicted," Gray said. "What a difference a week makes. We put new shocks on the car and got help from one of Scott Haus guys. I think he felt sorry for me. He came over and helped me out between the heat and the feature. He helped me dial it in and a week's a big difference."

Gray's victory came using a self-built chassis.

"This is one of mine," he said. "I built this one four or five years ago. It's a lot of fun but when it comes time to get another car, we'll probably buy one."

Gary Beward finished second with Bob Dunn third. Tim Wilson and Scotty Haus completed the top five. Sixth through 10th were Waylon Wagner, Mitch Hack, Eric Zembower, Tim Fedder and Jere Wierman. Beward, Tim Burkholder and Gray won heat races. Wilson won the hard charger award by advancing the most positions in the 22-car feature event.

But perhaps the best race of the night was the 17-car pro stock feature.

Harold Ranck led the first two laps before Tim Krape went out front. It looked like Krape was on the way to his first win of the season but Derick Garman and Terry Naugle had other thoughts.

The trio raced hard together over the final four laps and as they left turn four coming to the checkered flag, Krape and Garman made contact. Both cars continued but the contact was enough to allow Garman to get the win with Krape second with Naugle third.

Herm Renninger and Ranck filled out the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Devin Frey, Todd Benny, John Wert, Josh Angle and Jeff Rayson. Heat races were won by Brian Towsey, who set a new five-lap record, and Garman.

The enduro feature was won by Bill Powell, who blew an engine entering the winner's circle after the race. Jason Zook finished second with Terry Naugle third. Brian Sanders and Brady Cauffman completed the top five with Craig Imes, Herm Renninger, Paul Dalton, Craig Dodson and Greg Miller taking home top-10 finishes in the 18-car field.

The All-Star Circuit of Champions invade May 9-10 for the 7th annual Bob Weikert Memorial race. Action starts at 7 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday. The top four finishers Saturday night are guaranteed spots in Sunday's race. The pro stocks are part of Saturday's show. The sprint cars are joined by the 358 late models on Sunday.