BEDFORD, Pa. (Oct. 21) — Add Kyle Hardy’s name to the recent list of drivers who have won some of Bedford Speedway’s most prized races in dramatic fashion.
In Saturday’s Keystone Cup, the Stephens City, Va., veteran became the latest winner to draw the ire of another competitor at the half-mile when he thwarted Dylan Yoder’s last-corner bid at the $23,000 reward.
As the two barreled into the final corner side-by-side — Hardy inside, Yoder outside — the Selinsgrove, Pa., driver’s dazzling charge from five seconds behind had been snuffed out upon Hardy’s contact that drove Yoder up the banking. Hardy’s hip-check to earn his richest-career win adds to the dramatic victories of Matt Cosner (last September’s Labor Day Classic) and Mason Zeigler (last month’s Labor Day Classic) at Bedford.
"I've been trying to win one here for a long time,” said Hardy, who then paused in victory lane to absorb the boos hurled his way. “I hear all the people (booing) ... (Yoder) rode me down, and for $23,000 I wasn't going to let him drive by me. I’m going to put up every fight I can. I'm not going to wreck him, but I'm going to lay a fender to him if I have to.
“I don't get paid to drive this car to run second. I can't say enough about this. Twenty-three thousand dollars, we're taking it back to Winchester, Va. It's pretty cool.”
For all but three laps of Saturday’s 60-lap main event, Yoder hadn’t been in the picture. He started the race from the pole, but Bedford’s favorable top groove on the start and restarts got the best of him, so that shuffled him back to fourth on the initial start.
Over the final 11 laps, Yoder miraculously erased Hardy’s five-second deficit, something even he didn’t envision.
“I never thought I’d catch Hardy. He was far ahead … we ran him down really quick,” Yoder said. “Car came on there pretty good. Could run pretty hard. Then passed him in turn two on the last lap. In turn three, he turned me over.”
When asked if he was caught off guard by the contact, considering he and Hardy have raced for years without an issue, the mind-mannered Yoder said, “That’s how some people are. You have to run them the same way later.
Yoder added that he “couldn’t see Hardy anymore” rounding the backstretch on the final lap, implying that he had made the pass for the lead, leading think “I had him cleared because I had a good run through two, but it’s like the deal with Ferree and Zeigler the other big race at Bedford.
“Not quite as bad, but still bad enough,” Yoder added.
Hardy, who went on to lead the final 52 of 60 laps, beat Yoder back to the finish line by nearly two seconds in a race he commanded most of the way. Ferree of Saxonburg, Pa., led the opening eight laps, but was no match for Hardy or Yoder, finishing six seconds off the pace.
“I just didn’t tighten up enough because this place usually rubbers up quick,” Ferree said. “It usually flips faster. The corners didn’t rubber like it usually does. I just left her a little bit free. Left her exactly where I was last time we were here and didn’t get it to where it was. Should’ve known better — cooler, started off wetter to start with. Yeah, wasn’t our night. That’s the way it works.”
Hardy overtook Ferree, the outside pole-starter, on lap nine and built a two-second lead shortly after, right up until the first and only caution on lap 21 for Drake Troutman’s flat right-front tire that knocked him out of the ninth position.
The race ended on a nonstop 39-lap run in which Hardy led by as many as 5.3 seconds on lap 48. When Yoder blasted around Ferree with 11 laps remaining, Ferree thought Yoder “definitely had a chance” to make a last-ditch push at the win.
“He drove away from me, and depending on lapped traffic — you get stuck behind a couple lapped cars — and five seconds doesn’t mean much on some nights,” Ferree said. “What I heard is he did catch him and got a little ugly in three and four again. That stinks for Yoder. Yeah, no, Kyle was good.”
Hardy said he “kind of stalled out there with 10 to go,” a byproduct of dirty air while navigating lapped traffic and uncertainty of where to exactly be on the racetrack.
“My guys were telling me we were gapping them pretty good,” Hardy said. “They were telling me to get from the bottom and to the top. I don’t know. Dylan, he had a good car to run me down and get up beside me. I’m going to do everything I can. I don’t get to race for $23,000 very much. Just thankful to have this ride. I’m sure Dylan owes me one.”
Fortunately for Yoder, he takes home $10,000 as Saturday’s runner-up finisher, which is also a career-best payday.
“It definitely helps,” Yoder said. “I’m glad we were able to finish after that, otherwise it might’ve been a little worse, especially after running him down from that far and passing him clean. … I’ve got passed the last lap or two before, but I’ve never been ran over before. I’ve been ran over, just not for the win on the last lap.”
Hardy concluded that Saturday’s events deciding the $23,000 payday is “a part of racing.
“As I said, Dylan owes me one, and I’ll take it whenever it comes,” Hardy said. “I’ve seen way worse than that. Zeigler and Ferree … Zeigler completely destroyed (Ferree). I didn’t destroy him. I gave him a door. It’s part of it. We’re onto the next.”
