A lap-eight restart crash on the frontstretch at Selinsgrove Speedway Wednesday night involved 13 of the 26 Super DIRTcar Modified starters. In a frightening sequence, five cars flipped, yet remarkably, no drivers were injured.

Most observers at the track had never witnessed such a high-speed crash of this magnitude in dirt Modified racing. Veteran fans could only compare it to the April 1978 Super DIRT Week backstretch crash at the New York State Fairgrounds, which involved 15 Modifieds.

That incident, 37 years ago at the Syracuse Mile, saw Wayne Reutimann’s No. 666 have its roll cage torn off, and Glenn Fitzcharles’s No. 23 burst into flames. Thankfully, as on Wednesday night, there were no injuries in either case, only a heavily decimated field.

While opinions varied on the cause of the crash, it appeared to be a racing incident triggered during a double-file restart, with race leader Louden Reimert and eventual winner Stewart Friesen bringing the field to green.

“Louden set such a slow pace coming to the green, he had me lugged down, and then he fired, and it was just blah,” said race winner Friesen afterward.

“I tried to keep it as straight as I could, but obviously, it got pretty bad behind me. Really hate it for all the guys that got involved in that big wreck.”

Reimert, as the racer leader, chose the preferred outside line for the double-file. He got a great launch and pulled ahead of Friesen, who lost ground as the field scrambled for position behind him.

“I really don’t know what happened, but I heard I got blamed for it in victory lane by Friesen. Something about me checking up at the start,” said Reimert. 

“I was the leader. I had control of the restart, but he tried to run out front of me before I started. I kept the same pace — you can only go so far ahead of the leader. When he lifted, I took off. Honestly, I really have no idea what caused that wreck — but it’s a shame to see cars torn up like that.”

As the field jumbled up behind Friesen, Matt Sheppard—who restarted third—spun across the track, sliding backward under the starter’s stand while scraping along the frontstretch wall heading to turn one.

“The No. 44 didn’t go, but we stayed in our lane. Someone hooked my back bumper and spun me straight to the outside wall,” said Sheppard. 

“I know I was still on the bottom of the track, so I’m not sure why. I don’t know who it was. They are telling me it was (Ryan) Godown, but others are saying someone else got into him. Going to have to watch the video to see what happened.”

Godown, restarting sixth on the outside, got his bumper hooked with Sheppard’s car and was launched into a violent series of flips. Both cars were then struck by oncoming traffic.

“I don’t know if Stew didn’t go or just didn’t get a good restart. I went good, and Sheppard tried to split the gap. When he did, it hooked my left front to his right-rear corner bumper and sent us both into the fence,” said Godown, who later confirmed his feelings after watching a video on his phone. 

“He (Sheppard) raised his hands to me afterward, but I didn’t turn down on him. What did he want me to do? I was on the gas. I don’t know why he changed a lane like that on the start.”

Godown’s No. 26, which lost its roof in the melee, came to rest after additional heavy contact from Jack Lehner and Logan Watt, both of whom were running mid-pack.

“That was by far the hardest crash I’ve ever been in, the worst part was it just didn’t end,” said Godown. 

“It started before the starter’s stand. When I was upside down, I got hit at the top of the cage by a race car, bent my seat forward, and bent the cage. Car is junk.”

Sheppard took a major hit from Tim Sears Jr. and Todd Root. Sears, who had brought out the first caution of the 75-lap event, also flipped over. Root, who had taken a provisional and started 28th, also collided hard with Sheppard’s No. 9, which landed on its side.

“All I know is someone hooked me at the worst place on the planet. The whole field was behind us,” said Sheppard. 

“I could see them coming when I was turned around riding the wall. A couple few missed, most didn’t.”

Except for Sheppard and Godown, 11 of the top 13 starters managed to escape the crash, including race runner-up Alex Yankowski.

“I stayed low and was lucky enough to get clear. I’m glad everyone is okay, it was a really scary deal,” said Yankowski, who had a ringside seat restarting on the inside in the seventh position. 

“I saw Godown and Sheppard get hooked, but I didn’t see the rest of it. Luckily, I was able to squirt under it and drive clear of it all. I’m so glad everyone was alright.”

While Yankowski and others found an escape route on the inside of the track, the speedway racing surface—narrowed by inside and outside guardrails—quickly became completely blocked, leaving the second half of the field with nowhere to go.

“I like Sheppard, get along good with him, just don’t understand him making that move that early in the race,” said Godown. 

“Maybe he saw something different than I did. But when he switched lanes so quick, I didn’t have a chance to get out of the gas.”

Cars driven by Darren Smith and Bob McGannon also flipped farther down the track into Turn 1. Other drivers involved included Anthony Perrego, Matt Stangle, Marcus Dinkins, and Jimmy Phelps.

“Saw it happening and tried to get out of the way. Got to the inside and thought I was clear, and then I saw a red car (McGannon) flipping over me, not sure who it was,” said Perrego, whose Vinny Salerno No. 4 was badly damaged in the crash. 

“It was supersonic racing; we were all going so fast, things happened quickly.”

McGannon said when he arrived at the crash scene, there just wasn’t any place to go.

“All of a sudden, they were all wadded up ahead of us. There was nowhere to go. I just held on,” said McGannon. 

“I was up on top of someone at one point while leaning on the inside guardrail sideways. It was crazy. I got hit a couple of times as well. It was nuts, I’m 64, but something like that keeps you young, I guess.”

Dillon Steuer was able to drive away from the scene with body damage and continue in the race. Phelps, Lehner, Matt Stangle, Mike Mahaney, and Marcus Dinkins all rejoined the reduced field of 16 cars that restarted the event after going to the work area.

“I’ve taken some hard hits, but that was one of the hardest ones,” said Sears, who had just returned to the track after getting a flat tire changed that set up the restart. 

“I don’t know what happened up front. We went green, and I passed three or four cars, and then everyone was wrecking in front of me. We’re going so fast here there just wasn’t any time to slow down,” Sears added.

“I just caught Sheppard with my right rear tire, and it sent me for a spiral. I wasn’t worried about myself because I was one of the last cars in there, but I was more worried about the ones we were hitting. I’m glad everyone is okay. We’re going to have to regroup after this one.”

After finishing his first four SDS starts in the top 11 positions, 16-year-old Modified rookie Logan Watt was disappointed in not being able to continue in the race.

“Car’s bent, but nothing that Bob Strunk can’t fix,” said Watt of the noted welder and frame repair specialist.

The most dazed from the incident appeared to be Darren Smith, who took a nasty series of flips that landed him the farthest away from where the incident started.

Sheppard, who had injured his back working in the shop prior to going to Big Diamond’s race the night before, spent pre-race at Selinsgrove laying on the floor of his trailer.

“I feel alright, took a couple of hard hits, just got to figure out how to get this mess into the trailer,” said Sheppard. 

“Crazy thing is I feel better in the seat of the race car than I do riding in the truck getting to the races the last two nights.”