ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. — Canadian traveler Skylar Gee earned his first Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway.
Gee led all 30 laps from the pole to defeat the All Star regulars and the homestanding Central Pennsylvania field.
The All Star Rookie of the Year contender took the checkered flag more than two seconds ahead of Dale Blaney, with Ryan Smith Adam Wilt and Jeff Halligan rounding out the top five.
Six-time All Star champion and all-time series win leader, Dale Blaney, chased Gee to the finish, followed by Ryan Smith, Adam Wilt and Jeff Halligan.
“Hats off to my team. They gave me one hell of a race car tonight,” Gee said after the $5,000 triumph. “This was a fun race track. I can’t wait to come back here.”
With six cautions, including an unforeseen fuel stop on lap four, cutting-up the 30-lapper, the only real challenges for Gee were the multiple restarts. In fact, the third-generation ace was forced to survive two complete restarts before getting underway, officially.
A tap against the turn four, outside retaining wall gave Gee a stir on lap 22, ultimately trimming his near-three second command over Blaney to a single second. Despite the fact, Blaney was unable to capitalize. Even when a lapped car blocked Gee’s preferred top lane in the final corner, nobody was present to potentially overtake.
The ASCS graduate did not falter, however, and simply dived through the corner to set-up a straight shot at the flag stand.
“I’m looking at the board and I’m seeing Dale Blaney and the 72 [Ryan Smith] and I think ‘I better get going here,’” Gee continued, pilot of the Moto Gator/Raw Machinery/Carlan Services/No. 99 sprint car. “I just kept trying to change it up and plan my starts right; I think I did a pretty good job of that. It really hasn’t sunk in yet. I really don’t know what to say.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 99-Skylar Gee [1]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 3. 72-Ryan Smith [4]; 4. 15-Adam Wilt [8]; 5. 58-Jeff Halligan [5]; 6. 87K-Alan Krimes [18]; 7. 16-Matt Campbell [2]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel [12]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 10. 51-Freddie Rahmer [16]; 11. 70X-Justin Peck [14]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [13]; 13. 59-Jim Siegel [19]; 14. 1X-Chad Trout [7]; 15. O7-Gerard McIntyre [24]; 16. 21-Brian Montieth [10]; 17. 70-Brock Zearfoss [11]; 18. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 19. 73B-Brett Michalski [26]; 20. 39-Cory Haas [15]; 21. 88-Brandon Rahmer [21]; 22. 75-Chase Dietz [17]; 23. 48-Danny Dietrich [20]; 24. 69-Tim Glatfelter [22]; 25. 99M-Kyle Moody [25]; 26. 8-Billy Dietrich [23] Lap Leaders: Skylar Gee (1-30)