ROSSBURG, OH – July 18, 2017 – Billy Decker started on the pole and dominated all 75 laps on a very fast Eldora Speedway to win the Tuesday Night Tailgate. Decker had to outrun second-starting Pat Ward on a number of mid-race restarts and a final one with 12 laps to go in order to earn his Series-leading third victory of the season. Ward had to be strong in his own right to hold off Matt Sheppard who survived a furious and chaotic battle inside the top-five to claim the final spot on the podium. Brett Hearn and Peter Britten rounded out the top-five.
Eldora Speedway Notebook
Feature (75 Laps) – 1. 91-Billy Decker [1]; 2. 42p-Pat Ward [2]; 3. 9s-Matt Sheppard [5]; 4. 20-Brett Hearn [8]; 5. 21a-Peter Britten [3]; 6. 44-Stewart Friesen [12]; 7. 43h-Jimmy Horton [7]; 8. 43-Keith Flach [27]; 9. 99L- Larry Wight [22]; 10. 14w-Ryan Watt [18]; 11. 22-Brandon Walters [20]; 12. 7m-Mike Maresca [4]; 13. 8-Rich Scagliotta [25]; 14. 6m-Mat Williamson [6]; 15. 23-Kyle Coffey [23]; 16. 6j-Josh Hohenforst [16]; 17. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [13]; 18. 5h-Chris Hile [14]; 19. 109-Billy Whittaker [19]; 20. 165-Rex King Jr. [21]; 21. 34h-Cody Bleau [24]; 22. 29e-Erik Martin [29]; 23. 6h-Max McLaughlin [11]; 24. 19-Tim Fuller [10]; 25. 34p-Shaun Pangman [26]; 26. 25r-Erick Rudolph [9]; 27. 35-Frank Cozze [17]; 28. 84-Gary Tomkins [15]; 29. 14-CG Morey [28]; 30. DNS 17j-Matt Janiak [30].
Qualifying Group 1 – 1. 99L-Larry Wight, 16.382; 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 16.386; 3. 19-Tim Fuller, 16.410; 4. 34p-Shaun Pangman, 16.529; 5. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 16.536; 6. 43-Keith Flach, 16.821; 7. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 16.980; 8. 6j-Josh Hohenforst, 16.991; 9. 109-Billy Whittaker, 17.104; 10. 43h-Jimmy Horton, 17.425.
Qualifying Group 2 – 1. 44-Stewart Friesen, 16.537; 2. 7m-Mike Maresca, 16.546; 3. 35-Frank Cozze, 16.617; 4. 6m-Mat Williamson, 16.818; 5. 5h-Chris Hile, 16.907; 6. 21a-Peter Britten, 16.984; 7. 165-Rex King Jr., 17.120; 8. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 17.177; 9. 34h-Cody Bleau, 17.403; 10. 29e-Erik Martin, 18.341.
Qualifying Group 3 – 1. 91-Billy Decker, 16.384; 2. 25-Erick Rudolph, 16.669; 3. 42p-Pat Ward, 16.726; 4. 20-Brett Hearn, 16.733’ 5. 14w-Ryan Watt, 16.875; 6. 23-Kyle Coffey, 17.077; 7. 22-Brandon Walters, 17.272; 8. 84 Gary Tomkins, 17.813; 9. 17j-Matt Janiak, 17.917; 10. 14-CG Morey, 18.332; 11. 46-Jeremy Smith, NT.
Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top-6 Qualify – Top-4 Redraw) – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard [2]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller [3]; 3. 6h-Max McLaughlin [5]; 4. 43h-Jimmy Horton [10]; 5. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [7]; 6. 6j-Josh Hohenforst [8]; 7. 109-Billy Whittaker [9]; 8. 99L-Larry Wight [1]; 9. 34p-Shaun Pangman [4]; 10. 43-Keith Flach [6].
Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top-6 Qualify – Top-4 Redraw) – 1. 44-Stewart Friesen [1]; 2. 7m-Mike Maresca [2]; 3. 6m-Mat Williamson [4]; 4. 21a-Peter Britten [6]; 5. 5h-Chris Hile [5]; 6. 35-Frank Cozze [3]; 7. 165-Rex King Jr. [7]; 8. 8-Rich Scagliotta [8]; 9. 34h-Cody Bleau [9]; 10. 29e-Erik Martin [10].
Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top-6 Qualify – Top-4 Redraw) – 1. 91-Billy Decker [1]; 2. 25r-Erick Rudolph [2]; 3. 42p-Pat Ward [3]; 4. 20-Brett Hearn [4]; 5. 84-Gary Tomkins [8]; 6. 14w-Ryan Watt [5]; 7. 22-Brandon Walters [7]; 8. 23-Kyle Coffey [6]; 9. 14-CG Morey [10]; 10. 17j-Matt Janiak [9]; 11. DNS 46-Jeremy Smith.
Last Chance Qualifier (8 Laps – All Transfer to A-Feature) – 1. 109-Billy Whittaker [1]; 2. 22-Brandon Walters [3]; 3. 165-Rex King Jr. [2]; 4. 99L-Larry Wight [4]; 5. 23-Kyle Coffey [6]; 6. 34h-Cody Bleau [8]; 7. 8-Rich Scagliotta [5]; 8. 34p-Shaun Pangman [7]; 9. 43-Keith Flach [10]; 10. 14-CG Morey [9]; 11. 29e-Erik Martin [11]; 12. DNS 17J-Matt Janiak [12].
CONTINGENCY WINNERS: VP Racing Fuels ($50 Cash): Keith Flach; Pole Position Raceway Fast Time ($100 Cash): Larry Wight; Bicknell Racing Products ($100 Product Certificate): Billy Decker; Cometic Gasket ($50 Cash): Rich Scagliotta; Comp Cams ($50 Cash): Ryan Watt; Comp Cams ($50 Product Certificate): Billy Decker; Edelbrock ($50 Cash): Larry Wight; Fox Racing Shocks ($50 Cash): Brett Hearn; JE Pistons ($50 Cash): Peter Britten; JE Pistons (Product Certificate): Jimmy Phelps; JE Pistons (Product Certificate): Max McLaughlin; KSE Racing Products Inc. ($50 Product Certificate): Larry Wight; MSD Ignition ($50 Cash): Billy Decker; MSD Ignition ($25 Cash): Erick Rudolph; SuperFlow Dynos & Flowbenches ($50 Cash): Erick Rudolph; Wrisco Aluminum (Product Certificate): Billy Decker; JRI Shocks ($50 Cash): Rich Scagliotta; Dig Safely 811 Redraw Bonus ($100 Cash): N/A; Speedy First Aid Hard Luck Award (Product Certificate): Tim Fuller; ASi Racewear ($50 Cash): Jimmy Horton.
SEASON WINNERS
- Billy Decker – 3 (Fulton Speedway on April 29; Outlaw Speedway on June 20; Eldora Speedway on July 18)
- Stewart Friesen – 2 (Utica-Rome Speedway on July 2, Weedsport Speedway on July 11)
- Ryan Watt – 1 (Bridgeport Speedway on May 16)
- Matt Sheppard – 1 (Five Mile Point Speedway on June 11)
- Tim McCreadie – 1 (Albany-Saratoga Speedway on June 27)
- Larry Wight – 1 (Airborne Park Speedway on July 6)
