Garrett Bard Wins Third Straight on PASS Tour
Garrett Bard Wins Third Straight on PASS Tour
Garrett Bard continued his mid-season resurgence Saturday night at Selinsgrove Speedway, scoring a convincing feature win for this third PA Sprint Series victory in a row.
It also was his second victory at Selinsgrove in six days, and he has a Laurel Highlands Sprint Series win at Clinton County Speedway during his PASS streak, giving him four IMCA/RaceSaver wins in the last three weekends. He took an earlier PASS win at Selinsgrove in May.
The Wells Tannery driver’s CG Racing Engines/Barnett Self Storage/Environmental Earth Tech #95 crossed under the checkered flag 3.261 seconds ahead of Myerstown’s “Nitro Nick” Sweigart, who edged Sinking Spring’s Kassidy Kreitz by less than half a second.
The last two positions in the top five were even closer, with Derek Hauck of Allenwood taking the fourth spot by .0056 seconds in a side-by-side finish with Dom Melair of Warrington.
Doug Dodson, Devin Adams, Kenny Heffner, Ken Duke Jr. and Justin Mills completed the top 10.
“We really started getting it going about three weeks ago,” Bard said in victory lane. “We’ve been getting lucky: Sydney’s been drawing good (starting position) pills, Dad’s been getting the car right every night, and it’s just a blast to drive right now.”
Bard was able to get past outside front-row starter Branstin Shue and challenge polesitter Nick Sweigart on the inside for the early lead.
“As soon as I saw Nick was going high, I knew I was going down to the bottom,” he said.
He added that he gave their duel an extra straightaway to make sure he had room to slide up in front of the #8. Then traffic quickly became an issue in a race that went green for all 20 laps.
“I got to traffic in about six laps,” he said, “and I’m like, ‘Do I really want a caution (and a clear track)?’ But I just wanted to go, because this car feels so great now. (It was) a lot of traffic, but I feel like I got through them really good, so I was just happy, and I wanted it to stay green the rest of the way.”
Heat races for the 37-car field went to Bard, Dodson, Heffner and Josh Spicer, with Logan Spahr, in only his second PASS start, taking the 15-car B-Main.
The first heat had a crash between Christian Rumsey and Tyler Snook at the checkered flag as they were battling for a qualifying spot. Snook had to withdraw from the feature due to the damage to his car. Rumsey subsequently was disqualified for being light at the scales, but he corrected that problem and qualified through the B-Main.
Kruz Kepner was the night’s hard charger, coming from 23rd starting position to 13th at the finish. Adams and Duke each picked up six spots in the nonstop race.
This weekend PASS returns to Port Royal Speedway for another Open Wheel Madness program. The 410 sprints and wingless super sportsman cars also will be featured. The PASS sprinters will run qualifying events and a 20-lap feature, and another strong field of entries is expected.
For the latest news and schedule information, visit www.pasprintseries.com, the PA Sprint Series Facebook page or @pasprintseries on Twitter.
Results from Selinsgrove Speedway July 10
HEAT 1 – 1. 71-Josh Spicer; 2. 33-Derek Hauck; 3. 56-Tyler Snook; 4. 99-Devin Adams; 5. 7-Drew Young; 6. 14-Logan Spahr; 7. 28R-Jason Roush; 8. 55B-Rick Romig; 9. 11W-Donnie Wise (DNF). DNQ – 44-Christian Rumsey (light at scales).
HEAT 2 – 1. 95-Garrett Bard; 2. 8-Nick Sweigart; 3. 2-Erin Statler; 4. 11M-Mikell McGee; 5. 25-Dustin Young; 6. 46-Mike Alleman; 7. 0Z-Zach Rhodes; 8. 7-Austin Reed (DNF); 9. 83-Larry McVay (DNF).
HEAT 3 – 1. 97-Kenny Heffner; 2. M1-Justin Mills; 3. 36-Dom Melair; 4. 67-Ken Duke Jr.; 5. 41Z-Jared Zionkowski; 6. 35-Buddy Schweibinz; 7. 31-Roger Weaver; 8. 91-John Fiore (DNF). DNS – 44K-Kirstin Hess.
HEAT 4 – 1. 20-Doug Dodson; 2. 03-Branstin Shue; 3. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 4. 1M-Paul Moyer; 5. 54-Mike Melair; 6. 19-Kruz Kepner; 7. 8-Will Brunson; 8. 88-Fred Arnold; 9. 43-J.R. Booth (DNF).
B-MAIN – 1. 14-Logan Spahr; 2. 46-Mike Alleman; 3. 19-Kruz Kepner; 4. 35-Buddy Schweibinz; 5. 44-Christian Rumsey; 6. 8-Will Brunson; 7-0Z-Zach Rhodes; 8. 28R-Jason Roush; 9. 55B-Rick Romig; 10. 31-Roger Weaver; 11. 91-John Fiore; 12. 11W-Donnie Wise; 13. 43-J.R. Booth; 14. 93-Larry McVay (DNF); 15. 88-Fred Arnold (DNF). DNS – 44K-Kirsten Hess; 34-Austin Reed.
FEATURE – 1. 95-Garrett Bard; 2. 8-Nick Sweigart; 3. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 4. 33-Derek Hauck; 5. 36-Dom Melair; 6. 20-Doug Dodson; 7. 99-Devin Adams; 8. 97-Kenny Heffner; 9. 67-Ken Duke Jr.; 10. M1-Justin Mills; 11. 2-Erin Statler; 12. 11M-Mikell McGee; 13. 19-Kruz Kepner; 14. 71-Josh Spicer; 15. 1M-Paul Moyer; 16. 25-Dustin Young; 17. 54-Mike Melair; 18. 14-Logan Spahr; 19. 7-Drew Young; 20. 41Z-Jared Zionkowski; 21. 44-Christian Rumsey; 22. 46-Mike Alleman; 23. 35-Buddy Schweibinz; 24. 8-Will Brunson; 25. 0Z-Zach Rhodes (DNF); 26. 03-Branstin Shue. DNS – 56-Tyler Snook. DNQ – 28R-Jason Roush; 55B-Rick Romig; 31-Roger Weaver; 91-John Fiore; 11W-Donnie Wise; 43-J.R. Booth; 83-Larry McVay; 88-Fred Arnold; 44K-Kirsten Hess; 34-Austin Reed.
Photo credit: Angela Dmuchowski Article by:Frank Buhrman & Stephanie Dodson