By Todd Heintzelman

SELINSGROVE, Pa.: Blane Heimbach has four wins in the Jack Gunn Memorial at Selinsgrove Speedway coming in 358 and 360 Sprint Car competition.

The hometown racer added a fifth victory in the event Saturday night and a first driving a 410 Sprint Car. His second 410 win at Selinsgrove in the last month was worth $5,000 in the Jeff and Missy Creasy-owned No. 12.

“The older I get, the more I appreciate the people before me and the people who have stamped their spot in the sport, and I appreciate what they’ve done for the sport,” Heimbach said.”

Heimbach started on the pole and led all 25 laps. Mark Smith ducked under him following a few early restarts, but Heimbach never lost the lead and cruised by slower traffic with ease.

“Starting spot had a lot to do with it tonight,” Heimbach said. “It would have been tough to get up through starting back in the field. The track was pretty difficult. Both turns had some pretty good sized holes. It would have been hard to keep your speed up and pass at the same time.”

Two early yellow flags gave Smith a shot at Heimbach, but he turned him away both times and was able to stay ahead of the field.

“I figured I’d see him,” Heimbach said. “I figured he’d take a shot at it. I knew as long as I made a good entry into the corner and stayed straight enough, I figured I could beat him around the corner. I had good starts and good restarts and stayed straight enough for long enough to win the race.”

With only 16 cars starting the A-main, lapped traffic was never really a factor on the big half-mile. Said Heimbach, “There were a few lapped cars that were really off the pace. You still have to be careful.”

As Heimbach led Smith, fast timer Devon Borden had raced from sixth into third. Following a lap 15 restart, Borden and Smith swapped the second spot at both ends of the speedway. Smith maintained second over Borden. Lucas Wolfe passed Steve Buckwalter for fourth spot.

As for Heimbach, winning a Sprint Car event at Selinsgrove Speedway in front of the hometown crowd is still a big deal.

“I live two miles from here, and I love coming here,” he said. “When you’re good here, it’s fun. When you’re not, it’s miserable.”

He easily controlled the final half of the feature winning over Smith and Borden, Wolfe and Buckwalter completed the top five. Jason Shultz, Briggs Danner, Mike Walter, Dallas Schott and Jake Karklin rounded out the top 10

“We got a good run on that one restart and we had him, and then I had to drive through that hole, and it killed me,” Smith said. “It bounced me up to him. Oil flew everywhere out of the motor. I had to back out of it, or I was going to wreck both of us.”

“My guys gave me a really good car,” Borden said. “I’m a little frustrated. I want to do better. It’s all part of climbing the mountain. We keep trying to get better and taking it night by night. We’re going to get there and when we do, we’re going to win a lot of races.”

Borden set quick time over the 16-car field with a lap of 16.489. He also win his heat race. Wolfe won the other heat. The top drivers redrew for feature starting spots.

Logan Spahr led all 20 laps of the 305 sprint car feature. Doug Dodson, Garrett Bard, Tyler Snook and Zach Rhodes completed the top five.

The speedway announced the 40th Annual Jim Nace Memorial National Open will pay $26,000 to win.