Potomac Speedway
Coffey claims Speedweek opener at Potomac
Vic Coffey earned $5,000 for his first Appalachian Mountain Speedway victory. (Shaun Lawrence)
BUDDS CREEK, Md. (May 31) — Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., started the Appalachian Mountain Speedweek on a positive note Friday night at Potomac Speedway with a $5,000 victory during the opening round of the six-race miniseries.
Coffey, a former points runner-up on the Pennsylvania-based tour, used a high-side rally to overtake Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsville, Md., for the lead on lap 29 and never looked back. He claimed his first-career series victory in beating Kenny Moreland of Waldord, Md., to the finish. | Slideshow
Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., finished third in the 40-lap race, while Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., finished fourth after running as high as second late in the race. Kenny Pettyjohn of Millsboro, Del., rounded out the race’s top-five finishers.
J.T. Spence of Winchester, Va., broke out to the early lead. But he was knocked from contention when he suffered a flat tire under a lap-six caution for Ron Delano Jr. of Stoystown, Pa. That handed the lead to Lathroum, who remained out front until Coffey’s strong run shuffled him back to second.
Lathroum’s night got worse when he spun a few laps later, relegating him to an eight-place finish.
Spence rallied back from the tail of the field to finish sixth after pitting to change his flat tire.
After getting caution a caution on the race’s initial start, former series champion Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., rallied from the tail and was threatening to break into the top-five when he drew a lap-27 caution.
Notes: Coffey drives Rocket Chassis sponsored by Sweetners Plus. ... ... Less than half of the field was running at the finish. ... ... All 23 drivers started the main event. The 23 cars is the fewest entrants for a Speedweek event since the 2011 finale at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway drew 22. ... Last year’s four series events drew 46, 58, 50 and 37 cars respectively. ... The first four qualifiers in each group were inverted for heat races, and the top three finishers from each heat redrew for feature starting positions. ... Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway hosts round two of the six-race series Saturday night with another $5,000-to-win main event.
Appalachian Mountain Speedweek @ Potomac: (1) Vic Coffey, (2) Kenny Moreland, (3) Dan Stone, (4) Jason Covert, (5) Kenny Pettyjohn, (6) J.T. Spence, (7) Nick Dickson, (8) Jamie Lathroum, (9) Mason Ziegler, (10) Danny Snyder, (11) Gregg Satterlee, (12) Dale Hollidge, (13) Austin Hubbard, (14) Stevie Long, (15) Deane Guy, (16) D.J. Myers, (17) Kyle Hardy, (18) Ryan Hackett, (19) Mike Altobelli Jr., (20) Jeremy Miller, (21) Ron Delano Jr., (22) Ricky Elliott, (23) David Williams. Fast qualifier (among 23 cars): Pettyjohn, 14.647 seconds. Heat winners: Covert, Coffey, Spence.
