11th Annual Baltes Classic – Eldora Speedway

Race Story

MOYER TOPS HOFFMAN IN BALTES CLASSIC

(Courtesy DIRTcar PR)
ROSSBURG, OH — Sep. 2, 2018 — The Sunoco American Late Model Series continues to roll through the 2018 racing season as the traditional tripleheader of action over the Labor Day Holiday Weekend concluded at Eldora Speedway (OH) with the 11th annual Baltes Classic. The highlight of the Labor Day Weekend was on the biggest stage in all of dirt track racing. The famed ½ (0.500) high-banked dirt oval located just east of the Indiana/Ohio state line in Rossburg, OH hosted the series in a 30-Lap / $5,000 to win showdown. When the checkered flag flew, National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame legend, Billy Moyer would be standing in victory lane after holding off a ferocious charge from Nick Hoffman to win.

The Baltes Classic was the third of four appearances at Eldora in 2018 and milestone race #90 all-time for the series at the track that has hosted the series the most of any other in the 24-year history of the Sunoco ALMS. Moyer and former five-time track champion, Matt Miller led the field to the green flag to begin the 30-Lap feature. Several quick cautions early on slowed the pace, but each time, Moyer would beat out Hoffman, who slipped past Miller from his third starting position, to the first corner to grab the lead. Moyer and Hoffman would soon pull away from the rest of the field once they started clicking off laps setting up a battle for the ages in the later laps.

As Hoffman continued to size up Moyer, the two leaders approached lapped traffic and the slide job wars began between the two drivers. The crafty veteran Moyer never relented even after Hoffman would slide past him on several occasions, even briefly taking the lead with three laps to go. But Moyer, knew what to do to get back past Hoffman and slide-jobbed Hoffman one last time with two laps to go and in the end, would beat Hoffman to the line by just 0.196 seconds to score his fourth career win in the Baltes Classic and his eighth career Sunoco ALMS victory, his first of 2018. For Moyer, it was his sixth Sunoco ALMS win of his career at Eldora alone, with his only other two Sunoco ALMS triumphs coming at Farmer City Raceway (IL).

Hoffman settled for second over five-time track champion, Matt Miller while two-time and defending DIRTcar National Champion, Rusty Schlenk was fourth ahead of part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, Chad Finley who completed the top five after starting 13th. Defending track champion, Kent Robinson started 17th and charged his way to a sixth-place finish as Shanon Buckingham overcame an early caution to score a seventh place showing Eldora Late Model points leader coming into the night, Devin Gilpin was eighth as Scott James and Joey Coulter were the top 10.

Earlier in the evening, Greg Johnson out-timed the 31-car field in Qualifying with a 15.542 = 115.815mph. Moyer, Miller, Hoffman and Schlenk won the Heat Races while Robinson scored the victory in the Last Chance Showdown.

The Baltes Classic was the final tune-up for the Dirt Late Model racings most prestigious event, the 48th annual World 100 this Thursday-Friday-Saturday, September 6-7-8th. While the fourth and final appearance of 2018 at Eldora for the Sunoco American Late Model Series is also the final race of the year for the series on Saturday, October 13th as part of the tracks Last Call For Them All weekend.

For more information about the Sunoco American Late Model Series, visit the series website, which is located at: americanlatemodelseries.com. You can also follow the series on all Social Media outlets on Facebook and Twitter via the DIRTcar Racing pages using the hashtag #ALMS.

In DIRTcar Modified action, Brian Ruhlman held off Jacob Hawkins to win his series leading 38th win at Eldora. Paul Pardo was victorious in the Eldora Stock Car division.

Race Results

Event Box Score

SUNOCO AMERICAN LATE MODELS

Qualifying
1. 17J-Greg Johnson, 15.542; 2. 4G-Kody Evans, 15.655; 3. 21-Billy Moyer, 15.684; 4. C9-Steve Casebolt, 15.696; 5. 7R-Kent Robinson, 15.725; 6. 11R-James Rice, 16.166; 7. 1N-Casey Noonan, 16.372; 8. 42-Chad Finley, 16.552; 9. 50-Shanon Buckingham, 15.626; 10. 1G-Devin Gilpin, 15.697; 11. 19-Greg Roberson, 16.040; 12. 3-Matt Miller, 16.286; 13. 8-Rob Anderzack, 16.408; 14. 49-Matt Lindsey, 16.510; 15. 22F-Nick Fenner, 18.048; 16. 5D-Bryant Dickinson, 99.999; 17. 2H-Nick Hoffman, 15.605; 18. 5N-Dustin Nobbe, 15.628; 19. 87J-Freddie Carpenter, 16.021; 20. 20H-Jon Henry, 16.059; 21. 51-Devin Shiels, 16.154; 22. 995-Dwight Falcon, 16.422; 23. 52-Brad Harden, 16.541; 24. 12-Jason Jameson, 15.619; 25. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk, 15.906; 26. 20C-Duane Chamberlain, 16.019; 27. 2C-Joey Coulter, 16.105; 28. 95J-Jerry Bowersock, 16.111; 29. 83-Scott James, 16.167; 30. 69-Jeff Warnick, 16.828; 31. 626-Brian Mullins, 99.999

Heat #1 – (10)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 21-Billy Moyer[2]; 2. C9-Steve Casebolt[1]; 3. 4G-Kody Evans[3]; 4. 42-Chad Finley[8]; 5. 1N-Casey Noonan[7]; 6. 11R-James Rice[6]; 7. 7R-Kent Robinson[5]; 8. 17J-Greg Johnson[4]

Heat #2 – (10)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 3-Matt Miller[1]; 2. 50-Shanon Buckingham[4]; 3. 1G-Devin Gilpin[3]; 4. 19-Greg Roberson[2]; 5. 8-Rob Anderzack[5]; 6. 49-Matt Lindsey[6]; 7. 5D-Bryant Dickinson[8]; 8. 22F-Nick Fenner[7]

Heat #3 – (10)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 2H-Nick Hoffman[4]; 2. 87J-Freddie Carpenter[2]; 3. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[3]; 4. 51-Devin Shiels[5]; 5. 995-Dwight Falcon[6]; 6. 20H-Jon Henry[1]; 7. 52-Brad Harden[7]

Heat #4 – (10)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[3]; 2. 12-Jason Jameson[4]; 3. 83-Scott James[6]; 4. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[2]; 5. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5]; 6. 2C-Joey Coulter[1]; 7. 69-Jeff Warnick[7]; 8. 626-Brian Mullins[8]

B-Feature – (12)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 7R-Kent Robinson[9]; 2. 2C-Joey Coulter[8]; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan[1]; 4. 17J-Greg Johnson[13]; 5. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[4]; 6. 995-Dwight Falcon[3]; 7. 8-Rob Anderzack[2]; 8. 69-Jeff Warnick[12]; 9. 49-Matt Lindsey[6]; 10. 52-Brad Harden[11]; 11. 5D-Bryant Dickinson[10]; 12. 22F-Nick Fenner[14]; 13. 626-Brian Mullins[15]

A-Feature – (30)Laps
1. 21-Billy Moyer[1]; 2. 2H-Nick Hoffman[3]; 3. 3-Matt Miller[2]; 4. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[4]; 5. 42-Chad Finley[13]; 6. 7R-Kent Robinson[17]; 7. 50-Shanon Buckingham[6]; 8. 1G-Devin Gilpin[10]; 9. 83-Scott James[12]; 10. 2C-Joey Coulter[18]; 11. 19-Greg Roberson[14]; 12. 95j-Jerry Bowersock[22]; 13. 8-Rob Anderzack[24]; 14. 4G-Kody Evans[9]; 15. 1N-Casey Noonan[19]; 16. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[11]; 17. 12-Jason Jameson[8]; 18. 87J-Freddie Carpenter[7]; 19. 51-Devin Shiels[15]; 20. C9-Steve Casebolt[5]; 21. 17J-Greg Johnson[20]; 22. 49-Matt Lindsey[23]; 23. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[16]; 24. 69-Jeff Warnick[21]

————————————————–

DIRTCAR MODIFIEDS

Qualifying
1. 20M-Josh Morton, 17.310; 2. 111-Josh Rice, 17.338; 3. 13H-Jacob Hawkins, 17.382; 4. O9D-Joel Dick, 17.401; 5. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth, 17.456; 6. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 17.464; 7. 95J-Jerry Bowersock, 17.514; 8. 36-Brandon Vaughan, 17.584; 9. 5X-Tim Richardson, 17.654; 10. 3W-Dylan Woodling, 17.687; 11. 52-Weasel Phlipot, 17.750; 12. 1-Scott Williams, 17.774; 13. 7T-Evan Taylor, 17.775; 14. 74-Lenny Guyton, 17.819; 15. 18-Ryan Sutter, 17.829; 16. 46-Tim Rivers, 17.837; 17. 4L-Mike Learman, 17.968; 18. 10-Nathon Loney, 18.009; 19. 3G-Brian Gray, 18.092; 20. OO-Jeremy Owens, 18.097; 21. 5-Jonathan Taylor, 18.101; 22. 39-Cole Roberson, 18.813; 23. 9G-Erny Gingerich, 18.825; 24. 11H-Mike Hohlbein, 19.170; 25. 7C-Jordan Conover, 19.334; 26. AK47-Alan Ketcham, 19.340; 27. 36S-Adam Schaeff, 20.743; 28. 86-Luke Timmerman, 20.767; 29. J7-John Jones, 21.737

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 5-Jonathan Taylor[1]; 2. 7T-Evan Taylor[3]; 3. 4L-Mike Learman[2]; 4. 5X-Tim Richardson[4]; 5. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth[5]; 6. 20M-Josh Morton[6]; 7. 7C-Jordan Conover[7]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 49-Brian Ruhlman[5]; 2. 10-Nathon Loney[2]; 3. 111-Josh Rice[6]; 4. 3W-Dylan Woodling[4]; 5. 74-Lenny Guyton[3]; 6. 39-Cole Roberson[1]; 7. AK47-Alan Ketcham[7]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 13H-Jacob Hawkins[6]; 2. 18-Ryan Sutter[3]; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5]; 4. 52-Weasel Phlipot[4]; 5. 9G-Erny Gingerich[1]; 6. 3G-Brian Gray[2]; 7. 36S-Adam Schaeff[7]

Heat #4 – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 1-Scott Williams[4]; 2. O9D-Joel Dick[6]; 3. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[1]; 4. 36-Brandon Vaughan[5]; 5. 46-Tim Rivers[3]; 6. 86-Luke Timmerman[7]; 7. OO-Jeremy Owens[2]

B-Feature – (8)Laps – Top 8 Transfer
1. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth[1]; 2. 20M-Josh Morton[5]; 3. 74-Lenny Guyton[2]; 4. 3G-Brian Gray[7]; 5. 9G-Erny Gingerich[3]; 6. 46-Tim Rivers[4]; 7. 7C-Jordan Conover[9]; 8. 39-Cole Roberson[6]; 9. AK47-Alan Ketcham[10]; 10. 36S-Adam Schaeff[11]

A-Feature – (20)Laps
1. 49-Brian Ruhlman[5]; 2. 13H-Jacob Hawkins[7]; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[4]; 4. O9D-Joel Dick[6]; 5. 5-Jonathan Taylor[15]; 6. 7T-Evan Taylor[11]; 7. 3G-Brian Gray[20]; 8. 36-Brandon Vaughan[3]; 9. 1-Scott Williams[10]; 10. 20M-Josh Morton[18]; 11. 18-Ryan Sutter[12]; 12. 10-Nathon Loney[14]; 13. 46-Tim Rivers[22]; 14. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[16]; 15. 4L-Mike Learman[13]; 16. 9G-Erny Gingerich[21]; 17. 39-Cole Roberson[24]; 18. 52-Weasel Phlipot[9]; 19. 111-Josh Rice[8]; 20. 74-Lenny Guyton[19]; 21. 3W-Dylan Woodling[1]; 22. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth[17]; 23. 7C-Jordan Conover[23]; 24. 5X-Tim Richardson[2]

—————————–

STOCK CARS

Qualifying
1. O1-Earnie Woodard, 18.779; 2. J1-Jeff Matheny, 18.874; 3. 410-Paul Pardo, 18.907; 4. 463-Daniel Sanchez, 19.261; 5. 17B-Nick Bowers, 19.298; 6. 17C-Jeremy Creech, 19.344; 7. 27-Frank Paladino, 19.500; 8. 99J-Donnie Jeschke, 19.512; 9. 87-Andy Welch, 19.518; 10. 95-Gary Rahe Jr., 19.542; 11. 11-TJ Smith, 19.555; 12. 33-Erik Skaggs, 19.679; 13. 91-Rob Trent, 19.716; 14. OOP-Dean Pitts, 19.753; 15. 5G-Anthony Goode, 19.797; 16. J2-Keith Lyall, 19.826; 17. 23-Casey Barr, 20.315; 18. 15-Drew Trick, 20.671; 19. 5W-Craig Swartz, 20.990; 20. 82-Chris Douglas, 99.999

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. 91-Rob Trent[2]; 2. 95-Gary Rahe Jr.[3]; 3. 463-Daniel Sanchez[5]; 4. O1-Earnie Woodard[6]; 5. 27-Frank Paladino[4]; 6. 5W-Craig Swartz[7]; 7. J2-Keith Lyall[1]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. J1-Jeff Matheny[6]; 2. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[4]; 3. 17B-Nick Bowers[5]; 4. OOP-Dean Pitts[2]; 5. 23-Casey Barr[1]; 6. 11-TJ Smith[3]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. 410-Paul Pardo[6]; 2. 17C-Jeremy Creech[5]; 3. 5G-Anthony Goode[2]; 4. 87-Andy Welch[4]; 5. 15-Drew Trick[1]; 6. 33-Erik Skaggs[3]

A-Feature – (15)Laps
1. 410-Paul Pardo[8]; 2. 91-Rob Trent[2]; 3. 463-Daniel Sanchez[7]; 4. 27-Frank Paladino[13]; 5. 95-Gary Rahe Jr.[3]; 6. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[4]; 7. 17C-Jeremy Creech[5]; 8. 82-Chris Douglas[x]; 9. 11-TJ Smith[17]; 10. O1-Earnie Woodard[10]; 11. OOP-Dean Pitts[11]; 12. J1-Jeff Matheny[9]; 13. 15-Drew Trick[15]; 14. 5G-Anthony Goode[1]; 15. 23-Casey Barr[14]; 16. 87-Andy Welch[12]; 17. 5W-Craig Swartz[16]; 18. 17B-Nick Bowers[6]; 19. 33-Erik Skaggs[18]; 20. J2-Keith Lyall[19]

Photos