Story By: CHRIS MOORE / SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES – BLOOMSBURG, PA – Civil War. The Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco prepares for its own version of a “civil war” on Tuesday, June 7.
The stars of the STSS River Valley Builders North Region take on the top drivers of the Hurlock Auto & Speed Supply South Region at Bloomsburg Fair Raceway. The ‘Battle at Bloomsburg’ is the site of the annual combination race, carrying points for both the North and South Region.
The ’22 edition offers $7,000 to win and $700 just to take the green flag for 50 laps around the Bloomsburg oval.
The combination race began in 2015, when the STSS big-block/small-block Modifieds were split into two separate regions. In years past, the combination race took place at Big Diamond Speedway in Minersville, Pa.
In the five previous combination races, the South Region drivers have claimed four victories, with the only exception coming in 2019. Savannah, N.Y.’s Matt Sheppard qualified for the main event through a consolation race, driving from the rear of the field to take the win back to Central New York. Sheppard enters the 2022 combination race atop the River Valley Builders North Region standings.
The 2018 and 2021 combination events both fell by the wayside due to weather.
Hellertown, Pa.’s Rick Laubach won the first-ever combination race in 2015, his second career and most recent STSS win to date. The triumph over Sprakers, N.Y.’s Stewart Friesen was Laubach’s second consecutive STSS win at the time.
Ryan Watt followed suit with Laubach, as the Boyertown, Pa., driver became the second consecutive Keystone State star to claim the North vs. South battle. Watt, like Laubach, upended Friesen, who finished as the runner-up for the second consecutive year.
The Garden State took bragging rights in ’17, as Ringoes, N.J.’s Ryan Godown topped the star-studded field for his fifth career STSS win. Godown has since doubled his STSS win total, and currently sits on top of the Hurlock Auto & Speed Supply South Region standings entering the ‘Battle at Bloomsburg.’
After the 2018 rainout and Matt Sheppard’s triumph in 2019, New Jersey once again took the combination race back south. Frenchtown, N.J.’s Billy Pauch Jr. took home the victory, passing Jimmy Horton in the late stages for the victory.
The combination race winner has finished in the top five in points in their respective region in each of the five previous editions, with Sheppard being the most successful. The only Empire State driver to win the combination race went on to win both the North and South Region titles in 2019.
This year’s edition shifts gears, heading to Bloomsburg Fair Raceway, where the STSS visited one time in 2021. Boyertown, Pa.’s Jeff Strunk was the winner of the inaugural trip to the famed fairgrounds.
The Crate 602 Sportsman of the Precision Hydraulic & Oil North Region will join the program going for 25-laps and a $1,500 winners’ share. Cream Ridge, N.J.’s Steve Davis leads the North Region standings heading into Round No. 3.
Davis maintains a 44-point lead ahead of Wallkill, N.Y.’s Travis Green and a 50-point advantage over Fair Haven, Vt.’s Justin Comes.
The event carries a Wednesday (June 8) rain date.