HAGERSTOWN, Md. – Attrition under a full moon dominated the 13th annual Small Car Nationals at Hagerstown Speedway, but setting the cautions and red flags aside, fans were treated to some excellent multiple groove racing throughout the night.
Cody Kershner powered past Spike Moore to lead the first lap of the 30 lap Late Model Sportsman portion of the Small Car Nationals and led the first 19 laps through traffic up high and low, swapping grooves as Moore was in pursuit.
Following a restart, Moore slipped past Kershner into the lead right before another caution came out two laps later.
Going into Turn One following that restart, a multiple car melee and pileup took out over half of the field. All drivers were OK, but all cars weren’t. Moore was able to survive the final restart and pull away from Kershner to take the win.
Robbie Emory finished third, followed by Shaun Miller and Troy Miller in the top five.
Danny Atherton led the way early in the 25 lap Pure Stock feature, but fortunes turned against him after the halfway point after leading at times by over half of a straightway. Following a restart after lap 17, Rob Nichols slid under Atherton coming off of turn two to take the lead, and took the preferred fast line up top that Atherton was using to his advantage.
The final caution on lap 19 setup a restart that put Jonathan DeHaven on the rear bumper of Atherton. DeHaven aggressively drove into the rear of Atherton, sending him into a spin that ultimately put Atherton on his roof.
DeHaven was immediately black flagged and disqualified for rough driving. Atherton was uninjured.
Over the last five laps, Nichols battled side by side with Michael Warrenfeltz, but was able to hold off Warrenfeltz to take the win.
Dylan Rutherford finshed third, Jeremy Tinsman brought his battered machine from the rear to finish fourth, and Craig Parrill survived the attrition from his 21st place start to finish fifth.
A wild Hobby Stock feature event marred by multiple cautions was won by Ryan Leister after numerous side by side battles for the lead. Leister battled Ray Rothfuss early and often over the course of 25 laps, but was able to pull away towards the end to take the win.
Dustin Hoffman, Brady Daniels and Kevin Thomas completed the top five.
The Mid Atlantic Modifieds provided the nightcap with a 20 lap feature event, and racing legend Ken Schrader scored the victory.
Carl McKinney initially took the lead from his pole position before Schrader made a bold move up high coming off of turn two to take the lead on the third lap. Schrader led the next few circuits before a caution bunched the field back up for a restart.
McKinney regained the lead briefly before the duo exchanged sliders for a few laps, and then Schrader took the point for good. Schrader had to survive a one lap shootout after the last restart to pick up the popular win.
McKinney held on to second, while Ray Kable, Cody Williams, and Brad Kling rounded out the top five.