Hagerstown Speedway

It wasn't a lot of room, but then Gary Stuhler doesn't need much.After being frustrated in attempts to pass Booper Bare in the first round of the Tri-State Late Model Championship series at Potomac Speedway on the high side of the track, Westminster resident Stuhler got just enough room on the inside.The result after taking the lead on lap 30 of the 40-lap feature was the second win for Stuhler at Potomac this season.Hampstead's Charlie Schaffer was 15th in the same race last Friday night.

Some new blood made a strong showing on tracks last week.Jarrod Spicer of Woodbine won the Junior Dragster League in his Next Generation 140-inch dragster at Mason-Dixon Dragway last Sunday. Spicer, the son of Lou and Phyllis Spicer, ran a 15.25 ET on a 15.10 Dial-In on a .536 reaction time.It was Westminster residents one and two in the Trail-Way eight-cylinder stock feature race. Mark Shorb got his first Trail-Way victory of the season and Corky Stull was second last Sunday night. Brad Green, another Westminster resident, was a heat winner in the four-cylinder division at Trail-Way.

Motor racing moves into high gear today at three area tracks 75-80 Dragway and Mason-Dixon Dragway open their 1991 seasons, and the Hagerstown Speedway has a full feature of oval dirt track racing.75-80 begins its 31st year of NHRA drag racing today. This will be the first opportunity for mid-Atlantic drag racers to compete against each other and the clock. The track opens at 9:30 a.m., and eliminations begin at 1:30 p.m.Next Sunday, points competition starts at 75-80. Points will be awarded every race weekend, leading to track championships and an invitation to be part of the 75-80 team in the North East District championships in September.

Westminster's Gary Stuhler ran out of track before he could close in on Denny Bonebrake in the Hoosier Tire late-model 25-lap feature at Hagerstown Speedway on April 17.Stuhler had won his heat and fought his way through the pack to close within three seconds of Bonebrake in the last lap, but couldn't make up the distance.Despite the second-place finish, Stuhler leads in the track's point standings with 2,000.Hampstead's Charlie Schaffer also made a late charge in the late-model feature at Winchester Speedway last Sunday.

Westminster's Gary Stuhler won the seventh annual Gene Van Meter Memorial at Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek last Saturday.Stuhler took the lead in lap 21 of the 40-lap late-model race and held off a late surge by Roy Deese Jr. through the final five laps to take the checkered flag by half of a car length. Ernie Jones of Westminster finished fourth.The Hagerstown Speedway Driver Report through last weekend's results has Stuhler in third place in the season's point total with a 179.0 year-to-date point average.

As the 1995 racing season winds down, area speedways schedule championship events. It has become tradition in oval track racing to end the season with events that include extra distance races and increased payoffs.Last weekend, two Carroll County drivers, Gary Stuhler and Mike Walls, turned in outstanding performances. Stuhler won the Winchester 200 late-model event at the Winchester (Va.) Speedway and Walls won the four-cylinder pure stock fall championship at the Hagerstown Speedway. Both are coming off a banner season.

The rain might have been just what the Carroll County farmers wantedlast weekend, but it was the last thing Carroll County racers needed.For the sixth time in seven weeks, many area tracks were rained out. Despite the wash there were some area winners:* George Hoff of Westminster won the Heavy Class at Mason-Dixon Dragway in Washington County last Saturday in his Ford Fairlane, running a perfect 13.51 elapsed time on a 13.51 dial-in (predicted time),...

Scott Chasen and Gene Belt, both of Taneytown, came away winners at the Mason-Dixon Dragway in Hagerstown on Sunday night.Chasen, driving his 1967 Falcon, captured the Class II Heavy honors by running an elapsed time of 12.79 seconds on an estimated dial-in of 12.75. Woodbine's Ed Talbert advanced to the semifinals and Chris Hruska of Mount Airy was a third-round winner.Belt came away with the top prize in the motorcycle division, running a 9.49 estimated time on a 9.38 dial-in on his 1100cc Suzuki.

March heralds the beginning of the racing season.For car owners and mechanics, it's time to test their off-season work.Hagerstown Speedway and Mason-Dixon Dragway in Washington County are scheduled to get under way today.The Hagerstown Speedway, on U.S. Route 40 east of town, will feature the super sprints and late models in today's season-opener. As in the past, Hagerstown will run late models, limited late models, semi-lates, pure-stocks and four-cylinder pure stocks each week.Special events during the year include the Camel Pro motorcycle races and Monster Trucks in July plus World of Outlaws on Memorial Day weekend and again in August.

Chris Hruska of Mount Airy was the overall champion and won the heavy class and over-all competition at Mason-Dixon Dragway Monday.Hruska took the heavy championship in his 1965 Mustang to defeat Frank Giallonnardo of Smithsburg, Washington County. Hruska ran a 12.05-second elapsed time after estimating a 12.02.Hruska then topped David Corbin of Hagerstown for the overall title. Hruska had an almost identical set of numbers in the overall championship run, with an elapsed time of 12.05 after estimating a time of 12.04.