Brian Birkhofer, a 2003 champ, chased Hartman for about 70 laps but didn’t have enough to get up to Hartman.
The win kept the trophy in Ohio for the first time since 1997 when Dresden’s Donnie Moran won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997.
Head of the class
Austin Hubbard will have a story to tell at Sussex Tech High School in Delaware on Monday.
The 17-year-old Hubbard qualified for the World 100, making him one of the youngest drivers — if not the youngest driver — to do so.
“I’ve probably never been so scared in my life,” Hubbard said of competing in that 100-lap feature with some of dirt late model racing’s best drivers.
Hot laps
• Dan Schlieper and Earl Pearson Jr. slept better than most Friday night. The two drivers locked themselves into the World 100 feature after topping qualifying Friday. Schlieper, from Sullivan, Wis., clocked in at 16.853 seconds. Pearson Jr. was second at 16.86.
• Bradford’s Wayne Chinn, who finished fourth in the World 100 in 2007, failed to reach the feature this time. He made the last-chance B-Main race but didn’t advance.
• Eldora late model points challenger Chad Ruhlman also tried his luck at the World. The driver from Bemus Point, N.Y., failed to advance out of the second B-Main race. “To make the race would be the biggest victory I ever had,” Ruhlman said of competing against the high-powered and big-name teams as a small-budget racer.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, ext. 6991, or gbilling@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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