Selinsgrove Speedway
Dickson fends off Eckert for Selinsgrove victory
Nick Dickson shows off his earnings. (pbase.com/cyberslash)
SELINSGROVE, Pa. (June 6) — Outside front-row starter Nick Dickson of Lewiston, Pa., outdueled polesitter Steve Campbell of Danville, Pa., on the first lap and never looked back in racing to victory on the CenturyLink Appalachian Mountain Speedweek at Selinsgrove Speedway. | Slideshow
Dickson earned $5,000 for a victory in what became the miniseries opener following Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway’s rainout on Saturday.
Sixth-starting Rick Eckert of York, Pa., cut into Dickson’s full-straightaway advantage after taking second on the 18th lap, and the race’s final caution bunched the field with 11 laps remaining. Dickson edged away from Eckert the rest of the way to win the 40-lapper by a half-straightaway at the half-mile oval.
"I needed restarts because we were running a little different tire compound than most of the others here tonight,” said Dickson, who used American Racer tires. "I was wanting a caution when that last one came out. It helped my car and also cleared the traffic on the racetrack so we had a clear path the rest of the way.”
Eckert settled for second with Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., in third. Frankie Plessinger of Big Cove Tannery, Pa., and Campbell gave home-state drivers a sweep of the top five. Fast qualifier Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsville, Md., who started ninth after the redraw, ended up seventh as the top-finishing non-Pennsylvania driver.
Jeff Rine of Danville, Pa., who had won five consecutive weekly events at Selinsgrove entering the race, ended up 10th.
Dickson notched his second richest payday of his racing career, earning half the $10,000 he won at Selinsgrove’s 2007 Paul Long Memorial.
Notes: Dickson’s car has a Hershey Racing Engine and sponsorship from Dickson’s Custom Exhaust and Speedwrapz. ... Former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., advanced from 20th to finish ninth. ... Cautions appeared for Coleby Frye's lap-16 flat tire and when D.J. Myers slowed with a flat on lap 29. ... Among drivers failing to make the starting lineup: Ricky Elliott, Waylon Wagner, Derek Byler, Brian Booze, Bobby Stokes and Shawn Claar. ... The miniseries, sponsored by CenturyLink, heads to Winchester (Va.) Speedway on Monday for a $5,000-to-win event.
Appalachian Mountain Speedweek @ Selinsgrove: (1) Nick Dickson, (2) Rick Eckert, (3) Jeremy Miller, (4) Frankie Plessinger, (5) Steve Campbell, (6) Jason Covert, (7) Jamie Lathroum, (8) Ricky Elliott, (9) Tim McCreadie, (10) Jeff Rine, (11) Darryl Hills, (12) Vic Coffey, (13) Jim Yoder, (14) Dylan Yoder, (15) Tim Wilson, (16) Scott Haus, (17) Jeff Smith, (18) Dave Zona, (19) Chris Casner, (20) Brett Schadel, (21) Scott LeBarron, (22) Jimmy Mars, (23) D.J. Myers, (24) Coleby Frye, (25) Tony Adams. Fast qualifier (among 51 cars): Lathroum, 20.562 seconds. Heat race winners: Miller, Covert, Plessinger, Eckert, Mars. Consolation race winners: D. Yoder, Coffey.
