HARTFORD, Ohio — Sharon Speedway kicked off the annual “Apple Festival Nationals” on Friday night presented by A&MP Electric.
Ty Rhoades (Hovis Auto & Truck Supply UMP Modifieds) and Curt J. Bish (Gibson Insurance Agency Pro Stocks “Fallen Drivers Tribute” presented by Jasinski Family & Race-1) visited victory lane.
There were 115 cars in the pit area.
Rhoades Charges Hard
Rhoades made up a four-second deficit as he tracked down race-long leader Nate Young and made the winning pass with three laps to go to win the 20-lap Hovis Auto & Truck Supply UMP Modified feature. Rhoades earned $1,000 in the event presented by A&MP Electric as he became the first repeat winner of the season in the UMP Mod finale.
“I knew I had a long way to go,” explained the 32-year-old driver. “I was trying to be patient. I really couldn’t feel by right rear yet. My guys were giving me the signal to get going. Nate (Young) is one of the strongest guys here — they have that Longhorn figured out. I saw there were 13 laps in and knew I really needed to get going.
“I knew my car had a lot more to go. I just wanted to be careful in lapped traffic and bring the car home in one piece. (Dave) Willoughby and the team here give probably the best facility to race on every time we come here. I wish we could race here weekly, but I’m fortunate I get to travel quite a bit.”Â
Young took off in the lead over Troy Johnson, Rhoades, Dan Davies and Jeremy Double.
Young instantly pulled away from the pack, while a three-car battle between Johnson, Rhoades and Davies ensued on lap four. Rhoades snuck under Johnson, the veteran New York racer, for second on lap five, but faced a four-second deficit with 15 laps to go. Davies would follow in third past Johnson on lap seven.
Rhoades slowly began to chew into Young’s lead, but then started drastically cutting into the lead past the halfway mark.Â
Rhoades, who was running the bottom, really closed in on Young, who was running the top, on lap 14. Rhoades made quick work of Young sneaking under and past the leader on lap 17. Young would keep pace with Rhoades in lapped traffic, but was unable to make a bid at regaining the lead.Â
Rhoades crossed the finish line first by 0.700 seconds in his No. 12r. It was Rhoades’ third career UMP Modified victory and eighth overall at Sharon thanks to five Econo Mod victories.
Young just missed out on his first career Sharon win as he had to settle for second over Davies.Â
Double was fourth after getting by Johnson on lap eight. Johnson dropped to fifth. Jared Spalding was sixth in his first ever visit. Bud Watson went 12th to seventh to earn the $100 Summit Racing Equipment Hard Charger gift card. Garrett Calvert, Joel Watson and Kyle Layton completed the top 10.
Bish Makes Last-Lap Pass
After getting sent to the tail for spinning Jamie Duncan on the opening lap, a determined Bish worked his way through the pack, benefitted from some late race cautions and made a last lap pass of Jason Fosnaught to score an exciting victory in the 20-lap Gibson Insurance Agency Pro Stock feature.
Bish joined Tim Bish (no relation) as the season’s only repeat winners in 11 events. Bish earned $1,000 in the “Fallen Drivers Tribute” event presented by the Jasinski Family and Race-1.
“I knew the top was way better,” acknowledged the 39-year-old racer. “The cars kind of went to the middle on that one restart and I figured I’m going to stick it on the top — it’s been really good to me. There was lots of traction there and good moisture. I rolled the dice and hoped I wasn’t going to stuff it in the fence.
“If we wouldn’t have gotten those late cautions, I wouldn’t be standing here. It’s tough to see a guy lead the whole race and lose it on the last lap. I want to apologize to Jamie Duncan for getting into him on the start — that was my fault.”
Fosnaught used the outside to take the early lead, while Jason Jones went sixth to second ahead of Tim Bish and Steve D’Apolito. Tim Bish began to pressure Jones on lap 10 and the two ran side-by-side for two laps before Bish made the pass for second on lap 12.Â
Lapped traffic came into pay on lap 15, while D’Apolito passed Jones for third on lap 16. After 16 caution-free laps, fifth running Brian Carothers went up in smoke to bring out the caution. That would be the first of three cautions over the next two laps as top runners Coleton Longwell and Tyler Wyant suffered flat tires from contact.Â
The issues for Carothers, Longwel, and Wyant along with the cautions that set up double file restarts were just what the doctor ordered for Curt J. Bish, who had been running ninth with four laps to go. Bish flew into second on the final restart with two laps to go then drove around race-long leader Fosnaught on the last lap.
Bish quickly pulled away on the top side of the track and crossed the finish first by an impressive 0.737 seconds in the No. 29 for his 11th career win.
Fosnaught, who ended a five-year victory drought at Sharon by winning in his own No. J19 on July 22, just missed winning in the McDonald No. 25 after leading more than 19 laps. Tim Bish was third in Mike Miller’s No. 51.
Sixteenth-starting Jacob Wheeler was an impressive career best fourth. After challenging for second, D’Apolito dropped to fifth at the finish. Jones, who was as high as second on lap 11, faded to sixth as 12th starting Chris McGuire, Chris Schneider, Jamie Scharba, and Russ Coyne completed the top 10.Â
UMP Modifieds Feature Results (20 Laps)
1. 12R-TY RHOADES[3]; 2. 42-Nate Young[1]; 3. 71D-Dan Davies[4]; 4. 83-Jeremy Double[5]; 5. 2J-Troy Johnson[2]; 6. 11-Jared Spalding[8]; 7. 225-Bud Watson[12]; 8. 12C-Garrett Calvert[6]; 9. 92-Joel Watson[7]; 10. 99L-Kyle Layton[10]; 11. 67-Jarrett Young[9]; 12. 17G-Brandon Grossman[16]; 13. 17-Jason Gracey[14]; 14. 2-Bill Watson[11]; 15. 1-Vinnie DePizzo[15]; 16. 9R-Garrett Rons[13]
Pro Stock Feature Results (20 Laps)
1. 29-CURT J. BISH[5]; 2. 25M-Jason Fosnaught[2]; 3. 51-Tim Bish[1]; 4. 44-Jacob Wheeler[16]; 5. 84-Steve D’Apolito[4]; 6. 81J-Jason Jones[6]; 7. 63-Chris McGuire[12]; 8. 55-Chris Schneider[9]; 9. 11S-Jamie Scharba[13]; 10. 8C-Russ Coyne[11]; 11. 948-Joey Zambotti III[14]; 12. 05-Ed Bolyard II[15]; 13. 0-Larry Kugel[17]; 14. 7-Coleton Longwell[8]; 15. 24-Tyler Wyant[7]; 16. 67J-Jamie Duncan[3]; 17. 02C-Brian Carothers[10]; 18. 55C-Brandon Connor[18]