LongIslandJam
05-09-2011, 05:50 PM
By: Gene Ostrowski
May 8, 2011
St. Johns, PA- On Checkered Flag Fan Club day and in a Mother’s Day classic, Brian DeFebo of Berwick took the checkered flag to post his first Modified victory at Mountain Speedway since 2008. Steve Shultz of Drums took the early Street Stock lead from Jeff McGrath and never looked back to clinch his first victory of the season and Eric Banashefski of Ashley claimed his first FWD win of the year. Kevin Nowak of Long Island notched his second INEX Legends win of the season.
Barry Callavini started from the pole and led the opening circuit of the 40-lap Modified main event over David Schneider, Allen Creveling, Jimmy Zacharias and Brian DeFebo. Following a quick yellow flag on lap six, Zacharias overtook Schneider for second.
Callavini held off Zacharias until lap 13. Zacharias maintained the lead at the mid point of the event over DeFebo, Todd Baer and Earl Paules, who had slowly crept toward the top five. Rusty Smith began to quietly make his way toward the front and sat just outside of the top five.
The caution flag flew on lap 22 when Schneider spun in turn three. Several drivers took evasive action to avoid the spun machine and some were collected, such as Ken Vogel, Jr. and Kyle Ebersole.
Green flag racing resumed and with a great restart, DeFebo took control of the event. Baer climbed to second before he lost the spot to Zacharias. Smith worked his way into third when he got by Baer on lap 29 and then He edged by Zacharias for second seven circuits later.
Smith challenged DeFebo for the lead with three laps remaining and while racing side by side in turn three, DeFebo and Smith touched wheels, which sent Smith up to the wall, bringing out the caution flag.
With the green flag back in the air, DeFebo held off Zacharias for his first victory in nearly two years at the speedway. Darren Scherer finished in the third spot, followed by Earl Paules and John Markovic.
Heat race victories went to Barry Callavini, Brian DeFebo and CJ Jones.
Jeff McGrath started from the pole position and led the opening lap of the 25-lap Street Stock feature over Steve Shultz, Brian Brown, Bernie Uphold and Chris Burge.
Shultz pulled up alongside the leader and the two battled for a number of laps before Shultz completed the pass on lap three.
A quick yellow flag flew on lap nine when smoke erupted from Dale Santee’s machine and Schultz continued to hold the lead over McGrath, Brown, Mike Garris, Sr. and Burge when green flag racing resumed.
Brown challenged McGrath for second and in doing so turned McGrath in turns one and two on lap 18. Brown’s car sustained heavy sheet metal damage and he retired from the event.
Following a quick caution with two laps remaining, Shultz held the lead with Garris and Burge in tow. With the green flag back out, Shultz went on to score the victory over Garris, Burge and Mitch Hawk. McGrath grabbed the fifth spot from Pat Mahoney to score his best career finish.
Heat race wins went to Steve Shultz and Brian Brown.
Dylan Hoffman led the FWD competitors to the drop of the green flag in the 20-lap feature. However, Hoffman’s lead was short-lived, as he and Charles Ruckle, Jr. tangled in turn two.
The complete restart moved John Smith to the point. Smith led a lap before Pete Verwys overtook him. Verwys led with five laps in the books over Eric Banashefski, Jeff Biegley and Cody Roth.
Banashefski battled with Verwys for the lead, but the leader held his line until the caution flew on lap nine when Just Hughes spun in turns one and two. Green flag racing resumed and with a flawless restart, Banashefski took the lead.
Verwys used both the inside and outside lanes over the closing laps hoping that Banashefski would make a mistake. His intentions didn’t go unnoticed, but Banashefski held off Verwys to notch his first win of the season.
Biegley finished third, followed by Roth and Smith.
Dylan Hoffman and Pete Verwys picked up heat race victories.
Barry Schrantz began the 20-lap INEX Legends feature from the pole position but quickly lost the race lead to his daughter, Raven, before a lap was scored. When the leaders finally crossed the stripe to complete lap one, it was Mike Alcaro who came out with the lead.
A handful of cautions slowed the event in the early going. Meanwhile, Kevin Nowak climbed to second, followed by Scott Hubler, Chris Young and Brandon DeBrakilmer.
The red flag was displayed on lap 8 when David Chapman’s car shot up the track and into Joe DeGracia. DeGracia’s car flipped onto its roof and fortunately, he appeared uninjured as he climbed from his car.
Green flag racing resumed and Nowak took the lead. Hubler battled with Alcaro for second and contact was made. The end result was a lap 12 yellow flag and both drivers were forced to restart from the rear of the field.
Despite a little pressure from Young, Nowak went on to claim his second victory of the season over Young, DeBrakilmer, Hubler and Stephan Hershey.
Heat race wins went to Kevin Nowak and Chris Young.
Mountain Speedway is just minutes from Hazleton, Pa, located on St. John’s Road, between Routes 93 and 309. Grandstand admission for all regular events is just $10 for ages 11 and older. Children 10 years of age and younger are admitted for free.
Please visit www.mountainspeedway.com for the entire 2011 schedule, point standings and up to date news and information.
Modified (40-laps) 1. BRIAN DEFEBO 2. Jimmy Zacharias 3. Daren Scherer 4. Earl Paules 5. John Markovic 6. Bobby Jones 7. Nick Pecko 8. CJ Jones 9. David Schneider 10. Allen Creveling 11. Todd Baer 12. Barry Callavini 13. Rusty Smith 14. Jarred Nace 15. Terry Markovic 16. Ken Vogel Jr 17.Kyle Ebersole 18. Jim Bojonny 19. Travis Ayres 20. TJ Zacharias
Street Stock (25-laps) 1. STEVE SHULTZ 2. Mike Garris Sr 3. Chris Burge 4. Mitch Hawk 5. Jeff McGrath 6. Patrick Mahoney 7. Bernie Uphold 8. Chip Wanamaker 9. Kyle Curtis 10. Sam Grow 11. Brian Brown 12. Bill Verwys 13. Dale Santee 14. Robert Fink
FWD (20-laps) 1. ERIC BANASHEFSKI 2. Peter Verwys Jr 3. Jeff Biegley 4. Cody Roth 5. John Smith 6. Dylan Hoffman 7. Brandon Oltra 8. Trevor Ahouse 9. Justin Hughes 10. Charles Ruckle Jr 11. Alex Doyle
INEX Legends (20-laps) 1. KEVIN NOWAK 2. Chris Young 3. Brandon DeBrakilmer 4. Scott Hubler 5. Stephan Hershey 6. Raven Schrantz 7. Beth Scherer 8. Barry Schrantz 9. David Chapman 10. Stephen Gual 11. Mike Alcaro 12. Joe DeGracia 13. Darren Scherer 14. Carl Jones
May 8, 2011
St. Johns, PA- On Checkered Flag Fan Club day and in a Mother’s Day classic, Brian DeFebo of Berwick took the checkered flag to post his first Modified victory at Mountain Speedway since 2008. Steve Shultz of Drums took the early Street Stock lead from Jeff McGrath and never looked back to clinch his first victory of the season and Eric Banashefski of Ashley claimed his first FWD win of the year. Kevin Nowak of Long Island notched his second INEX Legends win of the season.
Barry Callavini started from the pole and led the opening circuit of the 40-lap Modified main event over David Schneider, Allen Creveling, Jimmy Zacharias and Brian DeFebo. Following a quick yellow flag on lap six, Zacharias overtook Schneider for second.
Callavini held off Zacharias until lap 13. Zacharias maintained the lead at the mid point of the event over DeFebo, Todd Baer and Earl Paules, who had slowly crept toward the top five. Rusty Smith began to quietly make his way toward the front and sat just outside of the top five.
The caution flag flew on lap 22 when Schneider spun in turn three. Several drivers took evasive action to avoid the spun machine and some were collected, such as Ken Vogel, Jr. and Kyle Ebersole.
Green flag racing resumed and with a great restart, DeFebo took control of the event. Baer climbed to second before he lost the spot to Zacharias. Smith worked his way into third when he got by Baer on lap 29 and then He edged by Zacharias for second seven circuits later.
Smith challenged DeFebo for the lead with three laps remaining and while racing side by side in turn three, DeFebo and Smith touched wheels, which sent Smith up to the wall, bringing out the caution flag.
With the green flag back in the air, DeFebo held off Zacharias for his first victory in nearly two years at the speedway. Darren Scherer finished in the third spot, followed by Earl Paules and John Markovic.
Heat race victories went to Barry Callavini, Brian DeFebo and CJ Jones.
Jeff McGrath started from the pole position and led the opening lap of the 25-lap Street Stock feature over Steve Shultz, Brian Brown, Bernie Uphold and Chris Burge.
Shultz pulled up alongside the leader and the two battled for a number of laps before Shultz completed the pass on lap three.
A quick yellow flag flew on lap nine when smoke erupted from Dale Santee’s machine and Schultz continued to hold the lead over McGrath, Brown, Mike Garris, Sr. and Burge when green flag racing resumed.
Brown challenged McGrath for second and in doing so turned McGrath in turns one and two on lap 18. Brown’s car sustained heavy sheet metal damage and he retired from the event.
Following a quick caution with two laps remaining, Shultz held the lead with Garris and Burge in tow. With the green flag back out, Shultz went on to score the victory over Garris, Burge and Mitch Hawk. McGrath grabbed the fifth spot from Pat Mahoney to score his best career finish.
Heat race wins went to Steve Shultz and Brian Brown.
Dylan Hoffman led the FWD competitors to the drop of the green flag in the 20-lap feature. However, Hoffman’s lead was short-lived, as he and Charles Ruckle, Jr. tangled in turn two.
The complete restart moved John Smith to the point. Smith led a lap before Pete Verwys overtook him. Verwys led with five laps in the books over Eric Banashefski, Jeff Biegley and Cody Roth.
Banashefski battled with Verwys for the lead, but the leader held his line until the caution flew on lap nine when Just Hughes spun in turns one and two. Green flag racing resumed and with a flawless restart, Banashefski took the lead.
Verwys used both the inside and outside lanes over the closing laps hoping that Banashefski would make a mistake. His intentions didn’t go unnoticed, but Banashefski held off Verwys to notch his first win of the season.
Biegley finished third, followed by Roth and Smith.
Dylan Hoffman and Pete Verwys picked up heat race victories.
Barry Schrantz began the 20-lap INEX Legends feature from the pole position but quickly lost the race lead to his daughter, Raven, before a lap was scored. When the leaders finally crossed the stripe to complete lap one, it was Mike Alcaro who came out with the lead.
A handful of cautions slowed the event in the early going. Meanwhile, Kevin Nowak climbed to second, followed by Scott Hubler, Chris Young and Brandon DeBrakilmer.
The red flag was displayed on lap 8 when David Chapman’s car shot up the track and into Joe DeGracia. DeGracia’s car flipped onto its roof and fortunately, he appeared uninjured as he climbed from his car.
Green flag racing resumed and Nowak took the lead. Hubler battled with Alcaro for second and contact was made. The end result was a lap 12 yellow flag and both drivers were forced to restart from the rear of the field.
Despite a little pressure from Young, Nowak went on to claim his second victory of the season over Young, DeBrakilmer, Hubler and Stephan Hershey.
Heat race wins went to Kevin Nowak and Chris Young.
Mountain Speedway is just minutes from Hazleton, Pa, located on St. John’s Road, between Routes 93 and 309. Grandstand admission for all regular events is just $10 for ages 11 and older. Children 10 years of age and younger are admitted for free.
Please visit www.mountainspeedway.com for the entire 2011 schedule, point standings and up to date news and information.
Modified (40-laps) 1. BRIAN DEFEBO 2. Jimmy Zacharias 3. Daren Scherer 4. Earl Paules 5. John Markovic 6. Bobby Jones 7. Nick Pecko 8. CJ Jones 9. David Schneider 10. Allen Creveling 11. Todd Baer 12. Barry Callavini 13. Rusty Smith 14. Jarred Nace 15. Terry Markovic 16. Ken Vogel Jr 17.Kyle Ebersole 18. Jim Bojonny 19. Travis Ayres 20. TJ Zacharias
Street Stock (25-laps) 1. STEVE SHULTZ 2. Mike Garris Sr 3. Chris Burge 4. Mitch Hawk 5. Jeff McGrath 6. Patrick Mahoney 7. Bernie Uphold 8. Chip Wanamaker 9. Kyle Curtis 10. Sam Grow 11. Brian Brown 12. Bill Verwys 13. Dale Santee 14. Robert Fink
FWD (20-laps) 1. ERIC BANASHEFSKI 2. Peter Verwys Jr 3. Jeff Biegley 4. Cody Roth 5. John Smith 6. Dylan Hoffman 7. Brandon Oltra 8. Trevor Ahouse 9. Justin Hughes 10. Charles Ruckle Jr 11. Alex Doyle
INEX Legends (20-laps) 1. KEVIN NOWAK 2. Chris Young 3. Brandon DeBrakilmer 4. Scott Hubler 5. Stephan Hershey 6. Raven Schrantz 7. Beth Scherer 8. Barry Schrantz 9. David Chapman 10. Stephen Gual 11. Mike Alcaro 12. Joe DeGracia 13. Darren Scherer 14. Carl Jones