HANOVER, PA

Using great starts, Tyler Phillips (3, below) captured three finals as Trail-Way Speedway hosted its annual end-of-summer night short track. While it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, it got chillier after the sun went down. And at this venue, a cool, clear evening means there will be dew settling on the track, making it a little greasy in spots.

Known for his sometimes spectacular "ability" to crash all by himself, Phillips has in the last few months learned to go faster by going slower, and he has not had any lapses. In all his races, Phillips had a full-length lead going into turn one, and he added to it while others discussed second place. Erin Kissinger, Becca Zafia, Ryan Connelly and Tyler Stacey (91, above) fought for that spot. Connelly shot into second at the start of lap two, and Stacey and Zafia dropped Kissinger back by the end of the third lap. Stacey took second on the following lap, but by then Phillips had built too large of a margin to contest.

Anthony Crabbe trailed the quickly disappearing Phillips in the Open B contest, with Connelly, Stacey and Jason Cunningham following. Connelly and Stacey moved by Crabbe on the back straight on lap two. Stacey took second off turn two on the sixth lap, setting an identical top three.

The 250 Sportsman class is for B riders to see how good they think they are against the Experts, but usually they add to the payout. Phillips was the leader, and Experts Travis Diem, John Long, Rich Mellinger and Roy Miller followed. Long took second at the end of lap one, but the margin remained about 20 yards.

Cory Texter (65, above) shot into the 450 Stock Frame lead, with Dalton Winkler, Mike Poe (83S) and Jake Shoemaker (behind Texter) close behind. Shoemaker took second at the end of the first lap, but Poe took it the following lap. After a few laps, Poe closed on Texter, who was doing an excellent job of guarding the inside. On the sixth lap, Poe tried to put it inside entering turn one, but he clipped Texter's rear tire and went down.

Former National number 19, Paul Lynch (above), made his first start in more than a year - and he showed the kids how to ride this place when it starts getting greasy, grabbing the Open A lead from Poe, Texter, Long and Jason Isennock. With the front two spreading out, Long started to pressure Texter for third in the late laps, but Texter held him off.

Rick Winsett easily won the Over 30 class, with Mellinger, Kevin Varnes and Ken Yoder behind. Yoder used the outside line to take second off turn two on the second lap, taking Varnes with him. After a little battle for second, the field spread out.

The Open Sportsman contest had three riders looking for a second win. At the green, the two veterans on Rotaxes, Winsett and Lynch, were in front and pulling away. Texter, Poe, Shoemaker and Chris Klinefelter fought closely over third. Things stayed close but unchanged. With two laps to go, things got crazy: Texter went off the groove, letting Poe, Shoemaker and Isennock by. Over the final two laps, these four bumped and banged into each other. Poe took third, Texter took fourth, and Yoder grabbed fifth.

After two restarts, Cameron Smith (15, above) took the 85 (7-11) lead from Brandon Price, Tristan Avery (4C) and Dustin Healey. Avery took second on lap two. Ryan Varnes came from the penalty line to take third off turn two on the third lap.

Colton Smith had a pair of wins, in the 125 and 150 Air-Cooled classes. The 125 contest saw Matt Trout and Smith outclassing the others. Smith finally took first entering  turn one on the fifth lap, with Trout staying close.

The Air-Cooled contest saw Smith holding off Samantha Bergman, who worked her way past Albert Cook for second on the fifth lap. As they started the final lap, she pulled to the outside of Smith and almost took the lead, losing by just a few feet at the line.

Results

50 SHAFT: 1. Racer Stacey (Yamaha); 2. Lennie Benson (Yamaha); 3. Robert Wheatley (Yamaha); 4. Braden Winsett (Yamaha); 5. Ethan Stroh (Yamaha).

50 CHAIN: 1. Damon Ream (Lem); 2. Doug Cook (Cob); 3. Racer Stacey (Cob); 4. Ethan Stroh (Honda).

50 (7-8): 1. Nathan Reichert (Con); 2. Zach Kolsovsky (Con); 3. Damon Ream (KTM); 4. Alex Myers (KTM).

65: 1. Brandon Price (KTM); 2. Dustin Healey (KTM); 3. Chris Thomas (Suzuki); 4. Nathan Reichert (Kawasaki); 5. Georgie Price (Kawasaki).

85 (7-11): 1.Cameron Smith (Suzuki); 2. Tristan Avery (Honda); 3. Ryan Varnes (Suzuki); 4. Brandon Price (Suzuki); 5. Dustin Healey (KTM).

85 (12-15): 1. Dylan Winsett (Honda); 2. Joe Jurgens (Suzuki); 3. Devon Gebhart (Honda); 4. Kalyan McAfee (Kawasaki).

150 AIR-COOLED: 1. Colton Smith (Kawasaki); 2. Samantha Bergman (Suzuki); 3. Tristan Avery (Yamaha); 4. Albert Cook (Suzuki); 5. Jeff Standiford (Honda).

125: 1. Colton Smith (Kawasaki); 2. Matt Trout (Yamaha); 3. Shain Bourassa (Suzuki); 4. Kristina Mester (Honda); 5. Jeff Standiford (Honda).

250 B: 1. Tyler Phillips (Kawasaki); 2. Tyler Stacey (Suzuki); 3. Ryan Connelly (Kawasaki); 4. Becca Zafia (Kawasaki); 5. Erin Kissinger (Kawasaki).

250 SPTSMN: 1. Tyler Phillips (Kawasaki); 2. John Long (Honda); 3. Travis Diem (Suzuki); 4. Rich Mellinger (Honda); 5. Roy Miller (Suzuki).

450 STK FRM: 1. Cory Texter (Honda); 2. Jake Shoemaker (Suzuki); 3. Dalton Winkler (Yamaha); 4. Kevin Varnes (Kawasaki); 5. Haden Avery (Suzuki).

500 2-VALVE: 1. Nick Taylor (Yamaha); 2. Jim Chapman (Yamaha); 3. Mike Keane (Yamaha); 4. Ed Hyde (Yamaha); 5. Michael Day (Yamaha).

OPEN A: 1. Paul Lynch (Rotax); 2. Mike Poe (Kawasaki); 3. Cory Texter (Honda); 4. John Long (Suzuki); 5. Jason Isennock (Honda).

OPEN B: 1. Tyler Phillips (Kawasaki); 2. Tyler Stacey (Suzuki); 3. Ryan Connelly (Kawasaki); 4. Jason Cunningham (Honda); 5. Becca Zafia (Honda).

OPEN TW: 1. Jason Isennock (Triumph); 2. Shawn Baer (Kawasaki); 3. Jim Haas (H-D); 4. Chris Klinefelter (Triumph); 5. Mark Myers (Triumph).

OPEN SPTSMN: 1. Rick Winsett (Rotax); 2. Paul Lynch (Rotax); 3. Mike Poe (Kawasaki); 4. Cory Texter (Honda); 5. Ken Yoder (Suzuki).

30+: 1. Rick Winsett (Rotax); 2. Ken Yoder (Suzuki); 3. Kevin Varnes (Kawasaki); 4. Rich Mellinger (Rotax); 5. Mike McKee (Suzuki).

40+: 1. Tom Majeski (Honda); 2. Warren Diem (Honda); 3. Lowell Wherley (W-R); 4. Todd Kendig (Rotax); 5. Dallas Baer (Rotax).

50+: 1. Jim Chapman (Rotax); 2. George MacNeill (KTM); 3. Mike Keane (Rotax); 4. Neil Dancho (Yamaha); 5. Pierce Thorpe (Honda).