LAST LAP BEDFORD BATTLE GOES TO DANNER
By: Nick Fillman – USAC ECSC
Bedford, Pennsylvania (October 15, 2022)………Briggs Danner of Allentown, Pa. fought off a late race charge from Alex Bright to collect his eleventh win on the 2022, Rapid Tire Services, USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, Presented by Capitol Renegade series trail.
Kyle Spence and Bobby Butler lead the field to green for the twenty-five lap feature event on the Bedford Fairgrounds half-mile, with Spence securing the early race lead at the completion of lap one. Briggs Danner was the quickest car on the move early in the feature event, moving into the fourth place position by lap four from his eight place starting spot.
Kyle Spence, Kenny Miller, and Briggs Danner quickly found themselves locked in a tight three car battle for the top three positions, with Bobby Butler holding strong in fifth, and a fierce battle raging between Joey Amantea, and Alex Bright as he began his charge through the field.
Danner worked to the inside of Kenny Miller for the runner up position on lap six after a brief side by side, cross over exchange for a handful of laps, with Danner securing second, and drawing his sights on race leader Kyle Spence
Meanwhile, Alex Bright was storming through the field, working by Amantea, and Butler, and Miller to move into third by lap ten of the feature event, making big gains on his fellow competitors with his extremely fast entry into turns three and four.
At the head of the field, Spence was holding off the charges of Danner, as both drivers ran the very narrow cushion around the high side of the speedway, with Danner getting a big run off of turn four down the front straight away, pulling a slide job on Spence for the race lead on lap eleven, officially being scored as the leader on lap twelve.
The first caution flag of the feature event flew on lap thirteen as Troy Fraker slowed to a stop on the backstretch. Whatever the issue may have been for Fraker was minor as he was able to be pushed off and join the tail end of the field.
Following the restart, Danner was able to put a bit of distance between himself and Spence, with Bright utilizing the same move as Danner, using a diamond maneuver off of turn four to get a big run on Spence heading into turn one, and taking over the runner up spot on lap fourteen.
After dropping back to third, Spence was eventually passed by Kenny Miller who moved into the final podium spot and quickly drew back in on the tail of second place Alex Bright, as both were a sizable distance behind Danner, working his way to a large lead once again.
Tough luck fell upon top five runner Kyle Spence, as he blew a right rear tire entering turn one on lap twenty-two and slowed to a stop. Luckily, Spence did not end up upside down, but his great top five run was unfortunately ended.
The caution flag bunched the field together for a three lap dash to the finish, bringing Bright to the rear bumper of leader Briggs Danner. Danner and Bright broke away from the front of the field on the restart, with Danner having a car length lead over Bright at the two-to-go signal. Bright, utilizing his massive turn three speed, pulled a massive slide job on Danner for the lead and lap twenty-four. Danner powered to the high side of the speedway in turns one and two, and narrowly move by Bright off of turn two, and regained the race lead. Danner had put enough distance between himself and Bright to secure his eleventh feature win of the season over Bright, Miller, Amantea, and Ed Aikin.
The win for Danner was his second career at the Bedford Speedway, and eleventh overall during the 2022 season. With the feature event win, and having a points lead of 127 points (78 most that can be scored a night) Briggs Danner and the Heffner Enterprises team were able to secure the 2022, Rapid Tire, USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, Championship over Alex Bright, in a role reversal of the 2021 season. Like Bright, Danner scored the Rookie of the Year honors in his first season of action, before securing the series championship in his second. Danner and team had a banner year, winning a tracks that the team has previously struggled at, and having no DNF’s and only one finish outside the top five, similar to Bright’s run of 2021.
Alex Bright scored the heat race victory on Saturday night at Bedford and drove up through the field in the tire tracks of Briggs Danner to a runner up finish. Bright was trapped a bit on the initial start, as his inside starting position left him in the un-preferred lane on the bottom of the speedway. Eventually Bright was able to get the Hummer Motorsports entry rolling, especially through turns three and four. While the 2022 USAC East Coast season may not have saw the amount of wins as 2021, Bright and team have had a fantastic 410 season, scoring an Xtreme Outlaws win, and a pair of BOSS Series victories. Bright and team will head to Texas in two weeks chasing a shot at a $20,000 pay day with the Xtreme Outlaws series.
Third place went to Morgantown, PA’s Kenny Miller lll, who since joining the series, has always had a great deal of speed at the Bedford Speedway. Unlike Danner and Bright, and the majority of the top half of the field, Miller was able to make passes on both the top and bottom of the speedway. Miller gave everything he could to Alex Bright and Danner as both made their way to the front, coming up just short in his quest for the victory.
Joey Amantea has had an up and down season, but that has not left the team with any less of a drive in their quest for more victories. Blown engines, and some unfortunate racing accidents, have challenged the team, but they have prevailed, and kept driving toward the front of feature events. Saturday was no different with Amantea coming on late in the feature to finish fourth, but yet again, blowing an engine at the line at the conclusion of the feature event.
Rounding out the top five was Ed Aikin, who has continued his smooth and competitive 2022 season. While not finding victory lane just yet, Aikin gains more speed and consistency each and every time they have unloaded in the pit area. With only one weekend to go, a distance race at the Bridgeport Speedway, Aikin is definitely one to watch as Bridgeport is among Aikin’s favorite tracks, and home to his best series finish.
Coming up for the USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, is the season finale on October 29th and 30th at the Bridgeport Motorsports Park as a part of their first ever “Sprintober Fest” featuring the URC Winged 360’s, USAC East Coast, and headlined by the 410 Winged Sprint cars. The event scheduled for the New Egypt Speedway on October 22nd, has been cancelled. The speedway is still in a changing of hands from a promotional team aspect, but both parties are eager to put on a show in 2023!
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USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CARS PRESENTED BY CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS RACE RESULTS: October 15, 2022 – Bedford Speedway – Bedford, Pennsylvania
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 20-Alex Bright (6), 2. 5G-Briggs Danner (5), 3. 88J-Joey Amantea (2), 4. 83-Bruce Buckwalter Jr. (4), 5. 67-Jason Cherry (7), 6. 45-Brett Rose (3), 7. 96-Lee Kauffman (1), 8. 42-John Fraker (8). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. 22-Kyle Spence (2), 2. 5B-Bobby Butler (4), 3. 7-Ed Aikin (6), 4. 23m-Kenny Miller III (5), 5. 23B-Preston Lattomus (7), 6. 18T-J.T. Ferry (3), 7. 12w-Troy Fraker (1). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Briggs Danner (8), 2. Alex Bright (7), 3. Kenny Miller III (4), 4. Joey Amantea (6), 5. Ed Aikin (5), 6. Preston Lattomus (10), 7. Bobby Butler (1), 8. Bruce Buckwalter Jr. (3), 9. J.T. Ferry (12), 10. Jason Cherry (9), 11. Brett Rose (11), 12. Troy Fraker (14), 13. Lee Kauffman (13), 14. Kyle Spence (2), 15. John Fraker (15). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 Kyle Spence, Laps 12-23 Briggs Danner, Lap 24 Alex Bright, Lap 25 Briggs Danner.
USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CARS PRESENTED BY CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS POINTS: 1-Briggs Danner-1418, 2-Alex Bright-1291, 3-Steven Drevicki-1146, 4-Joey Amantea-966, 5-Kenny Miller III-866, 6-Preston Lattomus-739, 7-Mike Thompson-732, 8-Bruce Buckwalter Jr.-688, 9-Jason Cherry-640, 10-Christian Bruno-622.
NEXT USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CARS PRESENTED BY CAPITOL CUSTOM TRAILERS RACE: October 29, 2022 – Bridgeport Motorsports Park – Swedesboro, New Jersey
