Long Wins Earl Gaerte Classic

Plymouth, IN — (May 18, 2013) — In front of a very supportive Indiana crowd; the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP feature was picked up by Darren Long of Elida, OH who captured his first feature win of the 2013 season at Plymouth Speedway in Plymouth IN.
A field of 26 winged sprint cars signed in to be a part of the first Engine Pro Earl Gaerte Classic Presented by Fel-Pro Performance Gaskets. Long took the lead over early leader Ryan Grubaugh and held off challenges from Shane Stewart first, then multiple attempts by both Brandon Wimmer and Dustin Daggett. The eventual winner raced the rough track very aggressively and was extremely excited in the Plymouth victory lane. “I feel very privileged to be the first ever winner of this important race” stated the buckeye state racer. “I had the honors of racing for the Gaerte/Norman race team a couple years ago and enjoyed my time with the entire Gaerte family, so this is one of the highlight wins of my sprint car racing career said Long.”

The track was hampered by a lengthy track preparation as the new larger racing surface was extremely soft and took several hours to come together. An incredible effort by the Plymouth staff, plus the support of the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt racers to finish running in the track helped in allowing the event to be completed.

Due to the delayed program, the Nitro Black Dash was scratched and the Engine Pro redraw was completed in the pit area.

The top five finishers of the evening for the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP feature were—Long, Daggett, Wimmer, Patrick, and Sauder.
Heat race wins were captured by Wimmer, Long, Stewart, and Grubaugh, the B main went to Kevin Roberts Jr.

Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP Results-
Saturday May 18, 2013
Plymouth Speedway—Plymouth, IN
Car Count 26 (DNS 49 Shaun Dancer, 17 Jared Hortsman)

Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points transfer to the “A” Feature)
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat Race #1 (8 laps):1. 9w Brandon Wimmer, 2. 27 Beau Stewart, 3. 16 Ryan Ruhl, 4. 7k Chad Blonde, 5. 22r Kevin Roberts Sr., 6. 10j Chris Jones.
Allstar Performance/Comp Cams Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 7 Darren Long, 2. 33k Kyle Patrick, 3. 2 Kyle Sauder, 4. 12 Nick Roberts, 5. 31 Andy Teunessen, 6. 4 Eric Smith.
Speed Pro Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 3G Shane Stewart, 2. 2m Dustin Daggett, 3. 16c Greg Wheeler, 4. 19 Brett Mann, 5. 07x Dain Naida, 6. 23g Joe Geibe
ARP Fasteners Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 00 Ryan Grubaugh, 2. 20a Andy Chehowski, 3. 11 Trey Smith, 4. 46 Robert Huisken, 5. 77 Zane Default, 6. 70 Jim Lingar.
Engine Pro B Main (top 4 transfer) 1. 22r Kevin Roberts Sr., 2. 31 Andy Teunessen, 3. 10j Chris Jones, 4. 23g Joe Geibe, 5. 77 Zane Default, 6. 70 Jim Lingar, 7. 4 Eric Smith, 8. 19 Brett Mann.

Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP “A” Feature
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7 Darren Long, 2. 2m Dustin Daggett, 3. 9w Brandon Wimmer, 4. 33k Kyle Patrick, 5. 2 Kyle Sauder, 6. 27 Beau Stewart, 7. 07x Dain Naida, 8. 16 Ryan Ruhl, 9. 20a Andy Chehowski, 10. 22r Kevin Roberts Sr., 11. 46 Robert Huisken, 12. 16c Greg Wheeler, 13. 10j Chris Jones, 14. 12 Nick Roberts, 15. 11 Trey Smith, 16. 23g Joe Geibe, 17. 31 Andy Teunessen, 18. 3g Shane Stewart, 19. 00 Ryan Grubaugh. DNS 7k Chad Blonde.
Engine Pro Lucky Dog-No Winner