Hagerstown Speedway
Rookie erases doubts with first Hagerstown victory
Ashley Barrett grabbed his first Super Late Model victory at Hagerstown. (wrtspeedwerx.com)
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (Aug. 13) – Ashley Barrett cast aside doubts about advancing into the Super Late Model division by capturing his career victory in the division Saturday at Hagerstown Speedway. The Shippensburg, Pa., driver led all the way from outside the front row and held off Gary Stuhler by less than a second at the checkers.
"Most of this season, I've asked myself: 'What am I doing here?'," Barrett said. "We get here and it just doesn't seem like we can get one thing to go right. We've had a few good runs, mostly at the beginning of the season. Things would break or I'd wreck the car.
"I still knew how to drive, but I really have to thank Ben Foor. He showed up and showed us some things we've been struggling with setups. This car was unreal, a completely different car than what we've had in previous weeks. It was like a cakewalk out there. It was ridiculous how good that car was."
Barrett took command while Rusty Sites and Stuhler battled for second as Tyler Hershey quickly joined them within two laps. Stuhler secured the runner-up spot on lap seven while Hershey was past Sites two laps later.
Barrett continued to hold his own around the top side with Stuhler not allowing him to even slip once and through two cautions before Hershey's car came to a stop on the 19th lap.
A final caution on lap 23 was for Roy Deese Jr. whose right-rear tire went flat while he was running fourth. But Barrett was up for the green-white-checkered finish to top Stuhler, 12th-starting Kyle Lear, Jim Bernheisel and Sites.
"Once we got about two laps in, I knew what kind of car I had under me. I didn't really care who was behind me," Barrett said. "When the track is that fast on the top and your car is good, no one is going by you if you can run the top hard. You don't have to worry about it. When I saw Gary Stuhler was behind me and he was my favorite when I was a kid, I said 'I have to beat him'."
Racing resumes Aug. 20 at Hagerstown the 31st Annual Ernie D's Shorty Bowers-Bull Durham Championship, a $2,500-to-win event for Super Late Models.
Hagerstown Speedway: (1) Ashley Barrett, (2) Gary Stuhler, (3) Kyle Lear, (4) Jim Bernheisel, (5) Rusty Sites, (6) Duane Harbaugh, (7) Alan Sagi, (8) Brian Booze, (9) Bryan Bernheisel, (10) Al Shawver Jr., (11) Jerry Bard, (12) Roy Deese Jr., (13) Lindsay Barton, (14) Chad Davis, (15) Brent Smith, (16) Frankie Plessinger, (17) Tyler Hershey, (18) Matt Murphy, (19) Marvin Winters, (20) Tim Murphy, (21) Darryl Hills, (22) Charlie Hageage, (23) Denny Bonebrake.
