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Ebeling,
the Harrisons, and More Put on a Show for the Franklin County
Speedway Crowd
Callaway,
Virginia (June 4, 2023) – A threat of weather moving from the
northeast was no match on Saturday for competitors who reside to the
northwest and southwest of Franklin County Speedway.
Under what turned out to be sunny skies and later a clear
sight of a full moon, many of the Super Cup Stock Car Series
favorites treated the Callaway, Virginia audience to some phenomenal
racing during Calvin Brooks Memorial night.
2021 SCSCS champion
Ben Ebeling, in his debut at the track, claimed the first Pole Award
of the 2023 season with a best time of 14.721 seconds.
The field would start straight up from qualifying for the
green flag more than 12 years after their last visit to the
high-banked 3/8-mile oval. It
was Harvey Harrison, a past Late Model division winner at 
Franklin
County Speedway in the 1990s, accelerating to the early lead from
the outside lane in the No. 51 John 3:16 / Southern Coal Corporation
/ Harrison’s Motorsports Chevrolet.
Over the opening
laps, side by side racing was common, especially between Bill Ashton
in the No. 35 Bill’s Wood Stoves – Hopwood, Pennsylvania /
Ashton Racing Ford’s maiden voyage and teammate for the evening in
the No. 57 Chevrolet, Ron Langdon, who now calls Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania home. Six
circuits in, the battle up front heated up some more with Ebeling
nosing to the inside of Harvey Harrison and taking the top spot at
lap seven.
The first of Twin
35-lap races was far from over for the Hickory, North Carolina
driver. Charging fast
was Brian Harrison. A
spin with six laps remaining by Langdon tightened the field even
more. Despite some
concern about that, Ebeling was able to hold off the Renick, West
Virginia racer for his first win in the last 364 days.
“(The late
yellow) helped Brian I think more than it helped me,” the driver
of the No. 44 Startown Carpet & Floor Coverings / Swanny’s
Auto Sales / Wrenn's Lawn Service / L & C Truck Repair / Battery
Specialist of Hickory / Good Frames, LLC Ford presumed. “At
that point (prior to the caution) we were a little bit clearer with
a little bit of cushion, but Brian was definitely coming.
The banking in the corners and stuff like that, I enjoyed the
racetrack. We look
forward to coming back here.”
The No. 15 had to
settle for second to conclude the first race, its best finish since
2014.
“Ben’s a good
racer; he’s a tough racer to start with,” Brian Harrison noted. “He’s
not going to lay over for you and we can race each other because
we’ve become buddies in the last two or three years.
That’s what I like about this deal.”
After leading
early, Harvey Harrison faded a little but still closed out the
podium.
“It always feels
good,” the No. 51 John 3:16 / Southern Coal Corporation /
Harrison’s Motorsports Chevrolet pilot commented regarding
returning to his past home track.
“The boys in front of me were hard to guard.
I gave them my best shot and I was thanking the good Lord
that the rear end didn’t tear out on me.
Other than that, I just needed a little bit more.
But I had a blast. This
is a great little track.”
Ashton and Langdon
rounded out the top five finishers.
For the second
35-lap main event there was a redraw; however, it fell in the top
two from the first race’s favor.
Ebeling’s son Landon “eenie meenie miny moed” the pill
draw and chose No. 1, while Brian Harrison’s son Logan drew No. 2.
It was a similar
story to the first one with the outside front row getting the early
advantage. It took
Ebeling 13 laps to find a way under the leader in turn three this
time around. Despite
Littlestown, Pennsylvania’s Jason Schue’s No. 3 Firehouse Grill
/ 1st Choice Computer Solutions / Littlestown Car 
Wash
/ Peckie's Auto Body / Larry's Lawn Mower Repair / Jason Schue
Racing Chevrolet slowing to the pits, there were no yellow flags for
the entire distance and it was a sweep of the evening but not
without its challenges.
“Brian
gave me everything I could handle and then some,” Ebeling, now a
24-time SCSCS winner, said. “He
definitely did what he was supposed to, kept it wide, tried to keep
me behind him there. I
was trying to capitalize on making the move on him and also trying
not to bottom out. We
raised that car up a bunch and it kept hitting the racetrack.
When I was racing Brian and I saw Harvey in the mirror I’m
like, uh oh, the Harrisons are going to gang up on me.”
As indicated, the
2016 series champion was catching both leaders fast, but it was son
finishing ahead of father for the second occurrence and his fourth
career runner-up result.
“It’s kind of
like me and Brent Nelson,” Brian Harrison stated about his past
battles with the Petersburg, West Virginia racer in the No. 80
Precision Auto Collision / Airtek Inc. / Atkinson Welding / QH
Design / 
JEBCO
Chevrolet, who unfortunately was sidelined following practice due to
motor issues. “We race
each other hard, and I’ve always come up short, so Ben might be
the new Brent Nelson. Pretty
good deal today. Had a
lot of fun, nothing is torn up, and we can load them on the
trailers.”
Harvey Harrison,
Ashton, and Langdon completed the top five order once again.
Next up is an
always anxiously awaiting visit to Jennerstown Speedway in two
weeks. Both top
finishers had slightly varying approaches when Saturday night
concluded.
“Honestly, we
were looking forward to getting through this weekend,” Ebeling,
with only one victory in 13 starts at the Pennsylvania facility,
mentioned. “We’re
just one race at a time this year, trying to balance kids and work
and family and all that stuff. I
anticipate going to Jennerstown, and if we do we hope to run the
best that we can.”
“This place is
definitely an old track and it’s worn out, but it kind of fits my
driving style,” the driver of the Harrison’s Welding /
Swearingen Bat Company / Harrison’s Motorsports Chevrolet first
reiterated about Franklin County Speedway.
“Every time I come here it seems like I’ve been pretty
good. I like this place,
but I’m ready to go to Jennerstown.
That’s the one.”
More information
can be found on the Super Cup Stock Car Series official website
supercupstockcarseries.com with interactive updates throughout race
day available on Facebook (search Super Cup Stock Car Series),
Twitter (@SCSCSRacing), and Instagram (SCSCS_Racing).
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