SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Pat Cannon, of Etters, held off a last-lap, last-turn pass attempt by Blane Heimbach, of Selinsgrove, to win his second Paul Stine Chevrolet National Open for 358 sprint cars Saturday night at Selinsgrove Speedway.

The $5,000 victory marked Cannon’s sixth of the season at the track and the 14^th overall this year behind the wheel of the Highlands Tire Service No. 3. Cannon, who clinched this year’s track championship, set a new one-lap track of 17.904 seconds in qualifying.

AJ Hoffman, of Richfield, won his seventh pro stock race of the season in the 15-lap feature. Hoffman ended the year as the division’s leading feature winner.

The next event on the 2008 schedule is the annual awards banquet at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey Hotel on Saturday, Nov. 15.

At the start of the Open, alternate starter Jessica Anderson hit the first turn guardrail and turned over in her race car.  On the second attempt to start the race, polesitter Phil Walter powered into the lead. Walter and second-place starter Larry Kelleher dueled in a high-speed chase for the lead until the caution flag unfurled again when Chris Borich slammed the inside frontstretch wall.

On the lap two restart, Walter, Kelleher and eighth-place starter Pat Cannon streaked away from the field. The sixth lap saw Kelleher make an inside pass by Walter in turns one and two for the lead. Misfortune struck Kelleher on the 11^th circuit when his race car developed mechanical problems and stopped in turn four.

The lap seven restart saw Cannon drive underneath Walter for the lead entering turn one. By lap 15, ninth-place starter Blane Heimbach advanced to fourth. The race was stopped on lap 17 for refueling.

When the race resumed, Heimbach stormed into second and set his sites on Cannon, while P. Walter, fourth-place starter Mike Walter, and third-place starter Jason Shultz raced in the top five.

On the final lap, Heimbach reeled in Cannon in lapped traffic and made a last-ditch effort on the low side coming off turn to take the lead and win to no avail. Cannon was victorious by half a second over Heimbach. P. Walter, M. Walter, and Shultz completed the top five.

Mark Freeland, who flipped his race car violently through turns three and four on the checkered flag lap, escaped injury.

Second-place starter AJ Hoffman led flag-to-flag for his victory in the pro stock feature. Fourth-place starter Peanut Heintzelman trailed Hoffman for the first 10 laps before spinning in turn four. Third-place starter Troy Miller inherited the runner up position and put in a bid for lead on the lap 11 restart. Hoffman held off the challenged and began to stretch his lead in the final laps of the race.
At the checkered flag, Hoffman was victorious by 1.89 seconds over Miller, Doug Minium, Sam Jensen, and Heintzelman.  

358 Cars – 34 Entries

30-Lap A-Main:  1) 3 Pat Cannon $5,000  2) 12 Blane Heimbach  3) 5 Phil Walter  4) 63 Mike Walter  5) 2 Jason Shultz  6) 28F Davie Franek  7) 7 Joey Borich  8) 21 Adrian Shaffer  9) 10 Jeff Furlong  10) 22T Matt Boland  11) 11 Joel VanBuskirk  12) 7V Jeff Rohrbaugh  13) 7A Mark Freeland  14) 1N Brain Nornhold  15) 17M Mark Manieri Jr.  16) 21 Duane Mausteller (DNF)  17) 21T Chad Trout (DNF)  18) 99K Cody Keller (DNF)  19) 28 Chuck Paige (DNF)  20) 14 Matt Heimbach  21)  76 Larry Kelleher (DNF)  22) 81 Bob Biedleman  (DNF)  23) 19 Colby Womer (DNF)  24) 2 Chris Borich (DNF)  25) 71 Jessica Anderson (DNF) 

Heat Winners:  Mark Freeland, Davie Franek, Chad Trout, Bob Biedleman

B-Main Winner:  Joel VanBuskirk

Time Trials:  1) Pat Cannon 17.904  2) Nicole Bower 18.063  3) Joey Borich 18.140 4) TJ Stutts 18.165  5) Duane Mausteller 18.209  6) Mike Walter 18.212  7) Jason Shultz 18.227  8) Larry Kelleher 18.250  9) Phil Walter 18.252  10) Blane Heimbach 18.260  11) Colby Womer 18.281  12) Chris Borich 18.301  13) Mark Freeland 18.368  14) Davie Franek 18.431  15) Jeff Rohrbaugh 18.514  16) Matt Boland 18.516  17) Scott Flammer 18.547  18) Matt Heimbach 18.553  19) Chad Trout 18.563  20) Bob Beidleman 18.567  21) Joel VanBuskirk 18.572  22) Brian Nornhold 18.575  23) Adrian Shaffer 18.617 24) Chuck Paige 18.669  25) Cody Keller 18.740  26) Jeff Furlong 18.743  27) Jessica Anderson 18.777  28) Todd Hestor 18.815  29) Ryan Kissinger 18.826  30) Mark Manieri Jr. 18.851  31) Derrick Locke