Camargo, IL (6-14-09) by Kelly Brown - Public Relations Director – At the beginning of the three race stretch in Pennsylvania for the O’Reilly All Stars, someone may have predicted that we would see someone new in Victory Lane, but almost no one would have probably guessed that at the end of the triple headed there would be three new race winners in the All Star record books. On night one it was Cody Darrah, followed by Brian Montieth last night. Tonight it was Chad Layton’s turn as he collected his first career All Star victory.

Not only was it the first win for Layton, it was also the first time he had ever competed at Central PA Speedway. Lining up for tonight’s feature event it was the 7 of Layton and 0x of Andy McKisson on the front row of the event. When the Green Flag flew Layton would get the jump taking the lead going into Turn 1. McKisson would fall in line, with Mark Smith, Greg Hodnett and Tim Shaffer in his tracks.

By Lap 5 Hodnett had made his way around McKission and began working on Layton. Over the following laps of the event, Layton and Hodnett would battle for the top position. Hodnett would try every move his could on Layton to no avail. It seemed as if Hodnett could get close to Layton, but sliding past him was more difficult that it looked.

The first Yellow Flag of the night came out early in the event for Daron Clayton. The 92 of Clayton went over the cushion in 1 and 2 and came to a stop stalling his racing machine. When the Green Flag flew again Layton and Hodnett picked up where they picked up, playing a game of cat and mouse.

The second break in racing action happened on Lap 14 when the 7au of Roddy Bellbowen came to a stop between Turns 3 and 4.  When the green flag came out again Layton and Hodnett continued their battle until the Yellow Flag waved again on Lap 21 for debris on the race course.

When racing action resumed Layton, Hodnett, Daryn Pittman, Mark Smith and Dale Blaney were in the top-five. As Layton and Hodnett raced side-by-side for the lead on the restart, the rest of the field fell behind them. On Lap 26 the yellow banner would wave again as Dale Blaney came to a stop on the race surface.

A Red Flag came out with two laps to go for a fuel and air stop only, setting up a green-white-checker finish. When the Green Flag did fly it was a chaotic dash for positions, but Layton did not wavier, taking the Checkered Flag first. He was followed to the finish line by Pittman, Mark Smith, Tim Shaffer, and Fred Rahmer.

This may have been Layton’s first All Star victory, but over all it was his 73 career win. Some notable finishes were the w20 of Greg Wilson who started in the 21st position and finished in 6th. Rookie-of-the-Year competitor Brandon Wimmer was the top rookie and another hard charger starting 17th and finishing 7th. Fellow rookie Daron Clayton came back to collect his first top-ten finish in All Star competition coming home in the 9th position.