Winchester Speedway
Satterlee repels Stone for Winchester victory
By Jason Shank
DirtonDirt.com correspondent
Gregg Satterlee (22) and Rick Eckert (24) get rolling at Winchester. (Jason Shank.)
WINCHESTER, Va. (June 3) — Polesitter Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., outdueled Rick Eckert of York, Pa., early and held off Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., late in Sunday night’s Appalachian Mountain Speedweek presented by Harbaugh Amusement event at Winchester Speedway and earned $5,000 for his first victory on the week-long miniseries. | Video | Slideshow
Satterlee cruised for much of the distance after taking the lead from race-long leader Eckert on lap nine, but had to hold off Stone’s furious high-side challenge at the end in winning by just a few car lengths. Behind Stone, Jason Covert of York, Pa., finished third with Jared Miley of South Park, Pa., and Keith Jackson of Odenton, Md., rounding out the top five.
“I could see my guys in the infield were telling me (Stone) was above me. I didn’t think he could go under me, so I just tried to make smooth laps,” Satterlee said of the late battle with Stone. “There car was good. We started off and tried something a little bit different from when we were here in the past and pretty much nailed it.”
Second-starting Eckert grabbed the lead on the start of the 40-lapper before Satterlee began to look low for the lead by lap seven. The drivers battled side by side the next two laps with Satterlee scored as the leader on lap nine.
Satterlee couldn’t complete the pass on the following lap, but a caution for Jamie Lathroum, the tour’s opening round winner Saturday night at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, put Satterlee out front for the restart.
Satterlee held command following the restart as Miley was able to work under Eckert to take over the second spot. Jackson was also able to find his way by Eckert for third on lap 12.
The pace was again slowed just a few laps later when Tommy Armel slowed in turn four. Satterlee retained the lead for the restart while some shuffling in a battle for the fifth-spot between eighth-starting Stone and Covert moved Keith Barbara of South Park, Pa., back to seventh before another quick caution on lap 14.
Stone continued his trek to the front after getting around Jackson on lap 22, and by lap 25, had made his way to third by maneuvering around Eckert. While Stone continued to work his way to the front, Covert was following suit by moving into the fourth spot.
A lap 29 caution for David Williams packed the field tight for the final time. Satterlee again pulled to the lead as Stone, who was one of only a few to use the 3/8-mile oval’s outside groove, got by Miley for the second spot and tried to catch the leader. Covert also worked his way by Miley for the third spot, making it a three-way battle for the lead as the race entered its closing stages.
Before the leaders settled their battle, Barbara and Eckert made contact while racing for the sixth spot sending Barbara into the outside wall. Barbara was able to regroup before the caution, but the incident caused a major traffic jam right under the flag stand. Barbara faded after the incident to finish 15th.
Stone chased Satterlee down in the race’s final laps and was close enough to make a high-side challenge through the final two circuits. But his bid fell short, and the low-running Satterlee held on for the victory.
“I really didn’t (know the outside would work), but we weren’t really gaining anything on the inside,” the runner-up Stone said of his charge to the front. “We could just follow. We’re here to win so I figured I’d give it a try. It felt pretty decent, then as my tires got warm, the car just got better and better as we went.”
The 11th-starting Covert benefitted from a number of restarts to grab the third-place finish.
“The car was good and our tires made the difference on those restarts. Those long yellows helped us a lot,” said Covert, who has two of his favorite tracks coming up on the tour. “I’m looking forward to going to (Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex and Dog Hollow Speedway) probably more than I’ve looked forward to going to any racetracks in a long, long time.”
Eckert, the reigning World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion, was sixth at the finish followed by fellow WoO regular Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.
Notes: Satterlee’s Rocket Chassis is powered by a Roush-Yates Engine with sponsorship from Satterlee Petroleum Distributors, East American Motorsport, Integra Shocks and JNJ Motorsports Media. ... The victory is Satterlee’s second $5,000 payday of the season. His first came in the UFO Race Tour-sanctioned Penn National 51 May 5 at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. ... Follow the race’s first caution Lathroum, who was backed against the turn-one wall, drove his wrecked machine off the wall and directly over the nose of Kenny Pettyjohn’s race car in an apparent retaliation for the incident. ... The AMS tour moves to Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa., Monday night before wrapping up with events at Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa., and Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., Tuesday and Wednesday.
Appalachian Mountain Speedweek presented by Harbaugh Amusement @ Winchester: (1) Gregg Satterlee, (2) Dan Stone, (3) Jason Covert, (4) Jared Miley, (5) Keith Jackson, (6) Rick Eckert, (7) Tim McCreadie, (8) Ronnie DeHaven Jr., (9) Kenny Pettyjohn, (10) D.J. Myers, (11) Booper Bare, (12) Vic Coffey, (13) Kyle Hardy, (14) Mark Pettyjohn, (15) Keith Barbara, (16) Brad Ritter, (17) Gary Stuhler, (18) Coleby Frye, (19) David Williams, (20) Brady Smith, (21) Brad Omps, (22) Scott LeBarron, (23) Tommy Armel, (24) Jamie Lathroum. Fast qualifier (among 58 cars): Lathroum. Heat race winners: Stone, Miley, Satterlee, LeBarron, McCreadie. Consolation winners: M. Pettyjohn, Smith.
Correction: Fixes Stone's hometown to Thompson, Pa., sted Warren, Pa.
