Gregg Satterlee became the first driver to win three Butch Renninger Memorial Race’s in the history of the event as he drove his way forward to capture the victory Saturday night as part of the 167th Annual Juniata County Fair opener at Port Royal Speedway.
The 18th running of the event sanctioned by the ULMS Racing Series paid an all-time high of $6333 and was Satterlee’s 13th career victory at the Speedway, which moved him into sole possession of 21st on the all-time career win list at the Speedway in the division. Satterlee’s win was his fourth straight ULMS win at the Speed Palace and also his 10th career Zimmer Service Center ULMS Series win.
“This is one of my favorite races of the year to come to,” said Satterlee.”I didn’t know Butch, but it’s fun to hear about how much he meant to Port Royal and what all he did racing. It’s fun to win races, but it’s even better when it’s something like this.”
Opening day winner Trevor Feathers and Michael Norris led the field of 28 cars to the green flag and it was Norris getting the early jump and leading lap one of the event. Satterlee, who started fifth, was on the march forward early as he moved into fourth at the completion of lap one.
Fast time award winner from earlier in the night, Max Blair, moved into the runner-up position on the second lap and Satterlee followed suit to crack the podium as well. It would only take three more laps for Satterlee to get past Blair for second and the Rochester Mills, Pa. native set his sights on Norris.
Track points leader Dylan Yoder started the event form the 14th position and was already up to eight by the completion of lap seven, while one lap later Norris was buried in heavy lapped traffic with over a 1.5 second advantage over Satterlee.
Satterlee took advantage of Norris’s struggles and one lap later he cut a full second off the lead and only trailed by .619 of a second. However, the caution flew for a slowing Drake Troutman on the frontstretch and bunched the field back together.
The caution was all Satterlee needed as he chose the top line during a ‘Delaware Restart’ and he set up Norris perfectly on the restart to slide by the leader entering turn one to lead lap 10. Gary Stuhler also capitalized on the restart as he went form fifth to third as well.
With 20 laps remaining Satterlee had worked up his advantage over Norris to 2.536 seconds, but lapped traffic again reared his ugly head three laps later and allowed Norris to cut the advantage to 1.593 seconds.
Norris again cut the distance in half with 15 to go and on lap 20 he was all over Satterlee in lapped traffic. Norris and Satterlee swapped the lead exiting turn two and Satterlee held the advantage entering turn three, but Norris was able to inch forward heading to the line to lead lap 21.
The caution flew for the second time of the race one lap later when Deshawn Gingerich spun in turn four and while under yellow-flag conditions Norris was forced to hand over the point as he discovered a flat left-front tire.
Norris’s misfortune proved to be Satterlee’s gain as he regained the lead as a result and when the field went back to green it was Rick Eckert gaining two spots to move into the runner-up position. 15th-place starter Jason Covert cracked the top-five the following lap as well and he moved into fourth with nine laps remaining.
However, nobody had anything for Satterlee as he quickly built up a 3.319 second advantage with six laps remaining. With four laps to go, Satterlee caught the tail end of the field again, but he was not to be denied as he cruised home to the victory by 3.682 seconds over Eckert, Blair, Covert and Stuhler.
Kyle Lee, Alex Ferree, Yoder, Jared Miley and Dan Stone rounded out the top ten. Colton Flinner rebounded from a heat race crash to go from 26th to 11th.
“I’ve got to thank the Renninger family, the fans and just everyone who comes together to make a race like this happen for us drivers,” said Satterlee. “I hate to see Mikey get a flat there and I would have loved to have raced it out there at the end. I was kind of just biding my time there getting ready for a late battle and I guess luck was just on our slide tonight.”
ULMS RACING SERIES is proudly supported by Zimmer’s Service Center, TheCushion, Close Racing Supply, Precise Racing, Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic, Lias Tire, American Racer Tire, Murphy’s Logging, Chew on this Jerky, C&J Dairy, Titusville Dairy, Viper Motorsports, Insinger Performance, VP Race Fuels, MACH Auto Detailing, WEHRS Machine & Racing Products, DirtDefender, Jay’s Auto Wrecking, Genesis Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Shocks, Keizer Wheels, Cousins Designs, Dynamic Drivelines, Beyea Headers, Mary Norgrove Notary Public, Jays Automotive, Phantom Signs & Graphics, Vahlco Wheels, Accelo Race Wear, Bernheisel Race Components and PennGrade 1® High Performance Oil.
Butch Renninger Memorial Super Late Model Results (33 laps)- 1. Gregg Satterlee 2. Rick Eckert 3. Max Blair 4. Jason Covert 5. Gary Stuhler 6. Kyle Lee 7. Alex Ferree 8. Dylan Yoder 9. Jared Miley 10. Dan Stone 11. Colton Flinner 12. Marvin Winters 13. Jeff Rine 14. Hayes Mattern 15. Chad Myers 16. Justin Weaver 17. Jim Yoder 18. Jamie Lathroum 19. Gene Knaub 20. Deshawn Gingerich 21. Scott Flickinger 22. Dave Stamm 23. Michael Norris 24. Andy Haus 25. Trevor Feathers 26. Dillan Stake 27. Drake Troutman 28. Kyle Hardy