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Ben
Ebeling Sets New SCSCS Marks in Another Shenandoah Speedway Veterans
Classic Sweep
Shenandoah,
Virginia (June 6, 2022) – A small yet mighty field assembled
in the valley of the Blue Ridge mountainous region for an evening of
Super Cup Stock Car Series benchmarks being achieved as part of the
third running of the KVK Precision / RealFast.TV Veterans Classic.
Although not a new
track record, Ben Ebeling set fast time with a lap of 16.659
seconds, obtaining his fourth consecutive Pole Award at Shenandoah
Speedway. According to
series historical records, this was only the second instance in
which such a feat at a specific facility had been accomplished.
With first to last
being separated by only slightly over a half-second, and even less
of a margin at times during earlier practice sessions, it was
decided for the entire field to redraw for starting position.
Freeport, New York’s Ron Langdon in the No. 17 National
Appliance / Oval Speed Unlimited / Langdon’s
Automotive Chevrolet and Haymarket, Virginia’s 
Rob
Jones Shoe Crazy Wine / Seattle Gummy Company / SlapShot Beef Jerky
/ Jersey Girl Hot Sauce / Brownzzz.com / Perk2o / Ashton Racing
Chevrolet started from the front row as a result.
Over the opening
laps Ebeling, who started third, looked for a way to navigate inside
of Langdon and finally was successful on lap five of 50.
The Hickory, North Carolina competitor essentially cruised to
victory from there, maintaining between a two and four second
advantage over the battle for the runner-up spot during the
remainder of the distance.
“We were
definitely able to set our pace in the first race,” Ebeling noted.
“It’s a lot nicer when you’re able to do that so
definitely an advantage there. We
made some adjustments after the first and second practice that
really helped the car out some.”
Behind Ebeling was
some of the most incredible action between teammates on the 3/8-mile
oval to be seen. Point
leader heading into Shenandoah, Jason Kitzmiller, maneuvered his 
way
to second position fairly early on, but was pressured lap after lap
by Petersburg, West Virginia’s Larry Berg.
Once the white flag waved, Berg made his move to the outside.
“I really
didn’t want to push the issue with Jason since he runs for points,
but I thought I’d just go ahead and sneak around him on the last
lap,” Berg said with a grin. “Honestly,
between (Ebeling) and Jason and my car there wasn’t a lot of
difference really. It
was fun.”
Kitzmiller
explained the learning experience that ultimately relegated him to
third in the final order.
“The car kept
getting loose off and I spun the right rear two laps before that,”
the driver of the No. 97 A.L.L. Construction, Inc. / Grant County
Mulch / A & J Excavating / CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet.
“I was just trying to hang on, and I just didn't.
I came off of two and too much in the throttle and it kicked
sideways and he got around me. It
was good driving and a mental note for me.
I just came back through the throttle too fast.
That’s why I was so aggravated.
It was my fault.”
Brent Nelson,
returning from an absence from Midvale Speedway last time out, moved
up to finish fourth in the No. 80 Precision Auto Collision / Airtek
Inc. / Atkinson Welding / QH Design / JEBCO Chevrolet while early
leader Langdon fell back to a fifth place result.
Another
redraw saw Ebeling starting a row further back in the second twin
50-lap main event with Kitzmiller leading the field to the green
flag. The No. 44
Startown Carpet & Floor Coverings / Swanny’s Auto Sales /
Wrenn's Lawn Service / L & C Truck Repair / Battery Specialist
of Hickory / RE Suspension / Good Frames, LLC / Williams Ebeling
Enterprises Ford’s ascension toward the front was a bit more
challenging in this one. He
was up to third within the first 10 laps, but had to deal with both
CR7 Motorsports drivers to find a way by.
On lap 12, Ebeling
was able to get around Berg and then a lap prior to halfway, the
strategy worked out to acquire the lead for another entertaining
duel for the fans to witness.
“We just kind of
had to pick and choose our battles with Jason and Larry both,”
Ebeling explained.
“Larry gave us a
hard run for it and we were able to get past him after a few laps,
but Jason was doing what he was supposed to do.
He was the leader of the race and he was trying to protect
his line and make me work for it.
We definitely had to kind of follow him and he pushed up a
little bit, I almost looked on the outside and we were able to cross
over and go to the bottom and it just worked out.
We ran pretty tight through one and two and then three and
four, but we were able to come out in the front.”
The night’s
racing outcome served as the second straight SCSCS portion of the
Veterans Classic without a single yellow flag flown during the 100
laps recorded altogether each time.
It was Ebeling’s fourth consecutive points-paying race win
and sixth in a row at Shenandoah Speedway, both new series records.
“Obviously we
like the racetrack,” Ebeling continued.
“It’s kind of a driver’s racetrack where it’s very
easy to overdrive and one of those racetracks where you have to slow
down to go fast. I feel
like it fits my driving style pretty good; it’s definitely been
good to us. We enjoy the
scenery and enjoy everything about this place.”
Kitzmiller would
have to settle for a best of second, which was in a different car
than he ran in the first two events of 2022.
“Trying to hit my
marks and I knew Ben was coming somewhere,” the Maysville, West
Virginia racer recapped. “He’s
got a good car and he’s really good here, so I knew he would be
there at some point. I
just did not have the drive off that we would like to have, but the
car wasn’t bad. We had
a good second place car today. My
car ran better with two wheels down under the white line and we were
just running that. Ben
got underneath me there coming off of three and four and we raced
down the frontstretch, but it was a clean pass and we didn’t beat
on each other. All the
cars are in a little bit better shape than Midvale so that’s a
victory in itself.”
Berg
stayed with Kitzmiller until the checkered flag but followed him to
the line for third on this occasion.
Nelson, a fellow Petersburg, West Virginia resident, was
fourth with Langdon fifth once again.
Warrington, Pennsylvania’s Mike Senica took over the
driving duties in the aforementioned No. 57 and rounded out the
field of finishers.
Ebeling
unofficially holds a slim eight-point lead over Kitzmiller following
the victorious night heading into the next event in two weeks.
The Keystone Twins at Clearfield, Pennsylvania’s UMI
Motorsports Park is one of the very few facilities in which the
defending SCSCS champion has not captured a checkered flag.
“We’re going to
look back at our setup notes and stuff from what we did there last
year and do something definitely different,” Ebeling indicated
regarding the 5/8-mile oval in which the series returned to in 2021
after a six year hiatus. “I
felt like we struggled there a little bit last year to get a hold of
that place, so we’ll go home and thankfully we can work on making
it faster and don’t have to work on anything else. We’ll
be good to do our homework and see what we need to do for UMI.”
More details and
continued updates throughout the season will be available at the
official web site at supercupstockcarseries.com
as well as the Super Cup Stock Car Series Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram
pages.
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