Jeremiah Shingledecker of Polk, Pa., scored a stellar victory with a late race pass in the 20-lap DIRTcar Big Block Modified feature to defeat Dave Murdick for his second win in a row and the 18th of his career at Tri-City. The win broke a tie between Shingledecker and Brian Swartzlander for fifth on the all-time win list. In addition, Shingledecker and a lucky fan split $200 after the fan chose the feature winner as the Jim?s Super Market Super Fan of the Week driver.
What a great race, smiled Shingledecker in victory lane next to his Hard’s Welding/Village Auto/Steve’s Teez Bicknell No. 37MD.
It looked like Dave got a little comfortable on the high side of the track, and I got under him off turn two.This is amazing! Eight years ago, I almost quit because racing wasn’t going so well. The last few years have been simply amazing!
Murdick paced the race from the pole position with Brad Rapp and Chris Haines in tow. Haines, a Pro Stock driver and DIRTcar Big Block Modified rookie, was impressive as a teammate to Shingledecker driving the 2009 championship car in only Haines? second week out. A couple of cautions on the fourth circuit allowed Shingledecker to finally pass Haines for third after the second restart. He then passed Rapp for second on the seventh circuit. While Murdick fended off Shingledecker, Andy Priest dueled with Haines for fourth. Priest took the spot on the sixth circuit, then chased down Rapp after he slipped to third. After a couple of slide job passes off turn four that failed to get him the spot, Priest finally succumbed to mechanical troubles with four laps to go. That allowed Rex King to move into fourth while Haines battled Kevin Hoffman for fifth.
Up front, however, the fans were on their feet as Shingledecker was searching the inside lane on Murdick. Finally, with less than two laps to go, Shingledecker found the bite on the inside of turn two and stole the lead. Murdick desperately tried to recover on the outside cushion, but it was to no avail. At the finish, Shingledecker was the winner over Murdick, Rapp, Rex King and Haines, who had his first-ever top five finish in only his second race. Shingledecker and Haines also won the DIRTcar Big Block Modified heat races.
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