Bedford Speedway
Stuhler stalks Rhodes, takes $5,055 at Bedford
By Dave Harclerode
Bedford Speedway
BEDFORD, Pa. (Aug. 31) — Losing the lead on the first lap, polesitter Gary Stuhler patiently bided his time before pouncing with five laps remaining to win the annual Labor Day 55 at Bedford Speedway.
Stuhler, of Greencastle, Pa., edged past Scott Rhodes of Somerset, Pa., for a $5,000 victory in the unsanctioned special at the half-mile fairgrounds oval. Jeff Rine dropped Rhodes to third on the final lap while Chris Harr was fourth. Hometown driver Jack Pencil was fifth in wrapping up his fourth Bedford Late Model championship. Stuhler took home $5,055.
Stuhler, second in all-time victories at Bedford with 27, started on the pole, but it was anything but a done deal when Rhodes took command at the outset.
Rhodes led the first half of the race convincingly as the field shuffled themselves behind second place runner Stuhler. Bo Feathers, a dominating force at Bedford this season, started 11th and was flying to the front, making it all the way to third by the halfway fuel stop. D.J. Troutman, one of five non-finishers, dropped out in the first half of the race while running in the top five.
Pencil, Jeremy Miller and track title contender Wayne Johnson were mired in the middle of the pack, but it was all about to change after the fuel stop. When racing resumed with 28 laps remaining, Feathers' charge to the front diminished as Rine took over the third spot. Harr worked past Feathers, who began to fade further back.
With 22 laps remaining, Stuhler turned up the heat and started pressuring Rhodes. The pair ran side-by-side or nearly side-by-side almost identically lap after lap as if the race were choreographed. As the duo up front tried to figure things out, the Miller-Pencil-Johnson grouping was on a stampede. Pencil led the charge and advanced 10 positions to settle into a solid fifth, as Miller followed in sixth, and Johnson, who started 18th, held seventh.
The front four of Rhodes, Stuhler, Rine and Harr didn't allow Pencil to advance any further.
Up front, Stuhler was running out of laps in his efforts to catch Rhodes, who was running the outside grove. Working the bottom and middle grooves as the cushion started to go away, Stuhler edged closer and closer.
On the 50th lap, Rhodes slid up ever so slightly in turn two, and that's all Stuhler needed to pull into the lead.
Stuhler went on to take his first victory of the season at Beford while Rine slipped past Rhodes
Stuhler held on to take his first win of the season. Rhodes' great run turned even more sour as Jeff Rine stole the second position from him exiting turn four as they headed for the checkered flag.
Notebook
Stuhler's Glenn Nininger-owned car is sponsored by Nininger's Tire & Auto Center, Leggett Engine Research, Eastern Caisson Corp, Round Hill Service Center, PPM and D&S. ... Four-time track champion Jack Pencil also owns two titles in the Semi-Late division. ... Shawn Claar won Bedford's Limited Late Model feature over Travis Calhoun and Derek Byler. Claar has three 2007 victories. ... Bedford's final event of the season is the richest event in the history of the track with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series paying $10,000 to the winner on Sept. 21, an event preceding a WoO show at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
