Greater Cumberland Raceway
Elliott grabs pole position at MACS Big Kahuna VIII
By Matt Felten
Allegany County SpeedwayCUMBERLAND, Md. (Oct. 3) — Two-time race winner Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del., sits in the driver's seat to claim his third Big Kahuna win following Friday's preliminary events at Allegany County Speedway. More than half the starting field was set Friday after qualifying and heat races for the Mid-Atlantic Championship Series season finale at the 5/8-mile oval known as The Rock.
While the $12,000-to-win event is using a single-feature format instead of the double-feature format of recent years, Elliott has claimed main event victories each of the past two years. He'll start on the pole position of Saturday's main event.
Fast qualifier Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., driving the Ernie Davis-owned No. 25, will start alongside Elliott in the front row. Sixteen drivers are locked in through the heat events Pennsylvania drivers Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Davey Johnson of Latrobe, Matt Lux of Franklin and Rick Eckert of York winning heat races.
Notes: Sixth-fastest qualifier Jason Covert of York, Pa., holds a 155-point lead on Doug Horton of Bruceton Mills, W.Va., in gunning for his third consecutive MACS championship. ... Nick Dickson piloted Jack Pencil's backup car, duct-taping a No. 17 over the No. 14. ... In Friday's Limited Late Model action at Cumberland, track champ Matt Sponaugle of Wiley Ford, W.Va., picked up where he left off in the regular season by claiming a $1,000 victory in a 20-lap feature. Sponaugle took the lead from polesitter Jerry Bard and led the final 14 laps. Bard and D.J. Troutman chased Sponaugle to the checkered flag.
Friday's heat race winners
First heat: 1. Boom Briggs, 2. Josh Richards, 3. Gary Stuhler, 4. D.J. Troutman, 5. Gregg Satterlee, 6. Keith Barbara, 7. Jeff Rine, 8. Doug Horton, 9. Russ King, 10. Ray Davis Jr., 11. Ron Delano.
Second heat: 1. Davey Johnson, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Jason Covert, 4. Jared Miley, 5. Tyler Armstrong, 6. Mark Banal, 7. Devin Friese, 8. Chuck Harper, 9. Wayne Johnson, 10. Nick Dickson, 11. Scott Cross.
Third heat: 1. Matt Lux, 2. Mike Balzano, 3. Jeremy Miller, 4. Ricky Elliott, 5. Waylon Wagner, 6. Scott Rhodes, 7. Coleby Frye, 8. Chuck Clise, 9. Mike Lupfer, 10. Scott Haus, 11. Greg Fetters
Fourth heat: 1. Rick Eckert, 2. Steve Francis, 3. Randy Burkholder, 4. Brian Booze, 5. Jim Yoder, 6. Alan Sagi, 7. Jack Pencil, 8. Rod Conley, 9. Bob Gordon, 10. Scott LeBarron, 11. Kirk Ryan Jr.
