ROSSBURG, Ohio — Chad Ruhlman  held off Scott Orr to win Friday night’s UMP modified portion of the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway.
Shaun Smith led the early laps, but numerous caution flags played into Ruhlman’s favor, as he used repeated slide jobs on restarts to work his way to the front of the pack. Ruhlman then had to contend with multi-time track champion Orr during the closing laps. Ruhlman held on and acknowledged in victory lane he was exhausted after fighting back his challenger. Smith finished third, ahead of Stan Smith and Gary Richard.
The summary:
First Heat: Todd Sherman, Stan Smith, Tim Brown, Bob Burch, Ken Carrolson, Paul DeGoey, Steve Shellenberger, Buzz Jacobs, Danny Claycomb, Barney Craig.
Second Heat: Mike Chrisman, Gary Richard, Clint Shults, Chad Begoon, Chad Rosenbeck, Don Adams, Brad McLeod, Bill Thomas, Tom Treon.
Third Heat: John Brooks, Justin Matson, Chris Ullery, David Treon, Carmen Perigo, Jack Waldfogel, Jerry Bowersock, Aaron Wiebe.
Fourth Heat:  Rob Williams, Shaun Smith, Steve Shute, Jeremy Rayburn, Brent Hole, Mark Kowarsch, Mike Sullivan, Ryan Sutter, Davey Gantt.
Fifth Heat: Chad Ruhlman, Scott Orr, Jon Henry, Mike Dirksen, Shane Unger, Mike Hohlbein, Mike Roediger, Mike Free, Chris Vandewiele, Abe Unger.
First B Main: Burch, Dirksen, DeGoey, Rosenbeck, Hohlbein, McLeod, Hole, Wiebe, Gantt, Sullivan, T. Treon, Waldfogel, D. Treon.
Second B Main: Adams, Begoon, Roediger, Kowarsch, Carrolson, Claycomb, Craig, Sanders, Thomas, Unger, Sutter, Rayburn, Shellenberger, Perigo, D. Gantt, Hewitt.
Feature: Ruhlman, Orr, Sh. Smith, S. Smith, Richard, Dirksen, Williams, Henry, Shute, Burch, Kowarsch, Roediger, Brown, Chrisman, Rosenbeck, Sherman, Adams, DeGoey, Matson, Ullery, Brooks, Schults, Begoon.