Hagerstown Speedway
Hagerstown AMS opener dominated by Lathroum
Jamie Lathroum cruises toward victory at Hagerstown. (Jason Shank)
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (June 2) — Jamie “The Jet” Lathroum was cleared for takeoff Saturday at Hagerstown Speedway.
Lathroum pocketed $5,000 in the opening event on the Appalachian Mountain Speedweek presented by Harbaugh Amusement, taking the lead from Rick Eckert on the 12th lap and pulling away for a victory at the half-mile oval. | Slideshow | Video
Lathroum dominated the final 29 laps to take the checkers more than five seconds ahead of Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., rallied from his 14th starting spot to finish third followed by Eckert of York, Pa. Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., rounded out the top five in the six-race miniseries, which saw its scheduled opener fall to rain Friday at Big Diamond Speedway in Minersville, Pa.
“They had the best car I ever drove,” Lathroum said. “I saw McCreadie up top right before that caution. I figured there was something there and didn’t want him to get by me so I moved up there and actually the car felt better. It was the best thing I ever drove.”
Eckert jumped out to a lead over fast qualifier Deese, but Lathroum was past Deese by the second lap and quickly closing while the sixth-starting McCreadie moved into third by lap three.
The first caution appeared on the fifth lap when fourth-running Jeremy Miller of Gettysburg, Pa., stopped just before the third turn of lap five. Two laps later, Stevie Long rolled to a stop in turn two. On lap 10, Marvin Winters stopped in turn four.
It was a three-car battle up front, but Lathroum decided it was time to move on and around Eckert he went and was in charge on lap 12.
Within five laps, he was more than three seconds ahead and arrived at the rear of the field with more than six seconds to the good when the next caution waved just after McCreadie took second from Eckert.
Lathroum easily pulled away on the restart and again was in a race of his own. Stretching his lead every circuit under green and to more than five seconds ahead, he cleared his first rear car on the 37th lap and got past another with one to go to tour the final circuit and arrive at the finish by 5.416 seconds ahead of McCreadie.
“My guy has his arms apart, so I figured I was out there,” Lathroum said. “I tried to not make any mistakes and keep doing what I was doing. We put about the same set up in as last week and a little bit of fine tune and we went the right way. The past couple weeks, we’ve figured out something.”
“Lathroum was definitely the class of the field,” McCreadie said. “We just weren’t fast enough. We’ll go back to the drawing board and try again tomorrow night. The track was great tonight.”
“The car kept getting better and better,” Stone said. “It’s a shame we ran so bad in the heat. It was good for the feature. It was a good solid run for us.”
Notes: Lathroum’s MasterSbilt Race Car is sponsored by Three Mules Welding Supplies, Superior Tank and The Bowles Boys. ... The night’s action was sponsored by J&S Auto Salvage of Hancock, Md. ... Booper Bare rallied from 19th to finish seventh. ... D.J. Myers had a 23rd-to-ninth run. ... Alan Sagi started as a provisional in honor of his late father, Frank Sagi, the Hagerstown announcer for 39 years. ... Drivers failing to make the feature lineup: Jared Miley, Kenny Moreland, Ashley Barrett, David Williams, Jared Hawkins, Brady Smith, Devin Friese, Frankie Plessinger, Rick Elliott, Tyler Hershey, Keith Barbara, Steve Axtell Jr., Justin Kann, Mason Zeigler, Kyle Lear, Pancho Lawler, Trever Feathers, Ron Delano Jr., Brian Booze, Al Cheney and Danny Mitchell. ... Hagerstown hosts the World of Outlaws Late Model Series on June 16. ... Appalachian Mountain Speedweek competitors head to Winchester (Va.) Speedway on Sunday for a $5,000-to-win race on the tour’s second leg.
Appalachian Mountain Speedweek presented by Harbaugh Amusement @ Hagerstown: (1) Jamie Lathroum, (2) Tim McCreadie, (3) Dan Stone, (4) Rick Eckert, (5) Gregg Satterlee, (6) Roy Deese Jr., (7) Booper Bare, (8) Gary Stuhler, (9) D.J. Myers, (10) Jason Covert, (11) Rusty Sites, (12) Kenny Pettyjohn, (13) Scott LeBarron, (14) Coleby Frye, (15) Vic Coffey, (16) Keith Jackson, (17) Tommy Armel, (18) Nick Dickson, (19) Alan Sagi, (20) Jerry Bard, (21) Darryl Hills, (22) Marvin Winters, (23) Steve Long, (24) Jeremy Miller, (25) Ronnie DeHaven Jr. Fast qualifier (among 46 cars): Deese 19.525 seconds. Heat race winners: Stuhler, McCreadie, Winters, Miller. Consolation winners: Hills, Bard. Provisional starter: Sagi.
