Esh Repeats at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, Pa. (April 8, 2017) – Doug Esh went two for two on Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway, claiming his second sprint car win in as many weeks at the track, besting Greg Hodnett both times for the victory.
Fourth starter Esh of Lancaster blasted right through the middle of the front row when the green flag appeared in the 410 sprint car main to blister by Ryan Taylor and Dale Blaney for immediate control.
Esh then just rocketed away with the lead, entering the backmarkers on the fifth tour.
Blaney settled into second with Hodnett third during the early going but the pace was slowed with 10 laps away for a stopped Logan Wagner, who had been running in fifth.
Hodnett finally muscled his way around Blaney with 13 laps to go and set his sights on leader Esh but Esh again was way out in front and again working the rear of the field.
However Esh’s fortunes changed a bit with seven laps to go when he slammed the frontstretch wall, allowing Hodnett to gain some ground.
With his mount still underneath him, Esh did his best to stay ahead of Hodnett during the late stages albeit a faltering advantage as the laps ticked down.
In the end, Hodnett was 1.469 seconds behind as the pair crossed the finish line. The win was the ninth of Esh’s career at the Port Royal oval.
Blaney rode home third followed by Ryan Taylor, Dylan Cisney, TJ Stutts, Steve Buckwalter, Aaron Ott, Mike Wagner and AJ Flick.
Heats for the 30 sprint cars went to Hodnett, Blaney and Taylor with Kody Lehman taking the consolation race. Fast time in time trials went to Stutts with a lap of 16.561 seconds.
Feature Finishes
4/8/17
Sprint Cars, 25 laps: 1. Doug Esh, 2. Greg Hodnett, 3. Dale Blaney, 4. Ryan Taylor, 5. Dylan Cisney, 6. TJ Stutts, 7. Steve Buckwalter, 8. Aaron Ott, 9. Mike Wagner, 10. AJ Flick, 11. Tim Shaffer, 12. Carol Bowser, 13. Rick Lafferty, 14. Tyler Bear, 15. Kody Lehman, 16. Curt Stroup, 17. Dan Shetler, 18. Ralph Engel, 19. Danny Massey, 20. James Pryde, 21. George Hobaugh, 22. Gary Kriess, 23. Logan Wagner, 24. Cale Grubb
DNS: Joe Trenca
DNQ: Nicole Bower, George Streaker Jr., Robbie Kendall, George Streaker, Brock Zearfoss
—From Port Royal PR
