OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Brandon Spithaler raced to victory during the June 14 installment of Sunday Night Thunder at Pennsylvania’s Tri-City Raceway Park.
Spithaler beat recent Tri-City winner Tim Shaffer to the checkered flag by a massive margin, crossing the finish line in front of the Steel City Outlaw by 18.240 seconds.
Clocking lap times that were three tenths of a second faster than any other driver, Spithaler outran the competition by a significant distance, with a shockingly fast performance.
After a random draw for top starting positions among the top three finishers from each heat race, Spithaler launched from the pole position for the 25-lap feature race.
Spithaler immediately pulled away from the field with the early race lead. The previous week’s winner, Shaffer, grabbed second place after starting fourth.
Quickly, Spithaler caught up to the back of the pack, and lapped traffic was heavy. Shaffer was able to gain on leader Spithaler in the first stages of the event, when racing through slower cars, but after a caution flag forced a restart, Spithaler’s strength was evident.
When the leaders caught up to lapped traffic the second time, Spithaler attacked with bold moves. Splitting the slower cars and threading the needle between other drivers battling for positions, Spithaler built an insurmountable lead in the middle stages of the race.
Whether in traffic, or with a clear race track after a restart, Spithaler’s car was unmatched by any other machine. In the closing laps, Spithaler lapped up to fifth place, building an interval of more than a straightaway over Shaffer.
“This track was perfect tonight. If Tri-City was like this every week, I would love it,” Spithaler declared in victory lane. “When I saw that Shaffer was behind me on the scoreboard under caution, I knew I needed to take every chance in lapped traffic to keep him in second place.”
Spithaler’s improvement was notable, as he finished a distant sixth in the season opener the previous Sunday.
Jack Sodeman Jr. and Lee Jacobs finished third and fourth, respectively, but both were more than 20 seconds in arrears. They were the final two drivers on the lead lap.
Dan Kuriger completed the top five, one lap down. He was followed by Brandon Matus, Jared McFarland, Cody Bova, Gary Kreiss and Darren Pifer.
Twenty-eight cars were in attendance and 25 started the 25-lap feature Sunday night.
The finish:
Brandon Spithaler, Tim Shaffer, Jack Sodeman Jr., Lee Jacobs, Dan Kuriger, Brandon Matus, Jared McFarland, Cody Bova, Gary Kreiss, Darren Pifer, Jacob Gamola, Joe Butera, Brent Matus, Logan McCandless, Andy Cavanaugh, Steve Cousins, Davey Jones, Chase Methenay, Layton Wagner, Carl Bowser, Darin Gallagher, Jim Morris, Robert Lime, Alan Feree, Jeremy Kornbau.