Greater Cumberland Raceway
Blair slips past Troutman in final laps at The Rock
By Matt Felten
Allegany County SpeedwayCUMBERLAND, Md. (Aug. 22) — Series points leader Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., picked off home-track driver D.J. Troutman in the waning laps to claim the $5,000 prize in the Independent Racing Series event at Allegany County Speedway. Blair won the first IRS event at The Rock by running down both Troutman, one of the hottest drivers at the speedway in the past month, and Pencil, a three-time track champion. Pencil, of Bedford, Pa., trailed Blair to the finish in the runner-up spot. D.J. Myers of Greencastle, Pa., who advanced eight positions, was third and Troutman, of Hyndman, Pa., faded to fourth.
Troutman looked strong leading through the halfway point. The rest of the top five shuffled behind him and Blair fell as far back as sixth on lap 13. Fast qualifier and polesitter Jason Covert's night ended prematurely on lap 14 when he tangled with Pencil on a restart while trying to hold on to second. Covert spun in turn two and was collected by Devin Friese.
Blair moved back up over Pencil and Myers to get second by lap 16. Under green through lap 25, Troutman had built as much as a 2.5-second lead. But Troutman's dwindled and a lap-32 caution made up the rest of the distance for Blair. Two laps later, Blair fought to the inside of Troutman, first in turn two and again in turn four. After another lap of side by side jostling, Blair pulled ahead from the bottom groove in turn four on lap 35. Pencil got second on the next lap but trailed Blair to the finish line by almost a second at the 5/8-mile oval.
Notes: Blair's Rocket Chassis is sponsored by Specialty Products, Bossard's Auto Parts, Maloney Tool & Mold and Armstrong Lumber. ... Blair has five IRS victories including three of the last five series events. ... Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., didn't start the feature. ... The next special at Allegany County is the Sept. 5 George Hilliard Memorial for Limited Late Models. ... The second-year IRS tour, stung by recent race cancellations, heads for a Sept. 12-13 weekend at Winchester (Va.) Speedway and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
IRS @ Allegany County: (1) Robbie Blair, (2) Jack Pencil, (3) D.J. Myers, (4) D.J. Troutman, (5) Chuck Harper, (6) Keith Jackson, (7) Dave Hess Jr., (8) Mike Knight, (9) Greg Fetters, (10) Nick Dickson, (11) Doug Horton, (12) Jared Miley, (13) Chuck Clise, (14) Ron Delano Jr., (15) Rick Aukland, (16) Bob Friese, (17) Bob Hershman, (18) Chad McClellan, (19) Dave Bloss, (20) Jason Covert, (21) Devin Friese, (22) Mike Hess.
