LongIslandJam
09-12-2011, 09:22 PM
By Dino Oberto
(LEHIGHTON, PA 9-10-11) Tyler Haydt took the lead away from a very impressive running Frankie Althouse just past the midway point and went on to score his fourth Mahoning Valley Speedway Modified win of the season. Earl Paules was second but had nothing for Haydt while Althouse held on for his best finish to date. In scoring the win the Kunkletown driver also padded his point lead with just three races remaining and has his eyes a possible track championship.
For Haydt and everyone else, the night started out in question. Despite perfect racing weather, earlier in the day things were somewhat doubtful about running. Due to the recent flooding from Hurricane Lee, the track just two days before was water stricken.
However, thanks to the untiring effort by promoters Doug and Gena Hoffman and the unselfish help from a multitude of racers and team members, everyone was determined to get the track surface in race ready condition. In the end the laboring paid off after plenty of water pumping and track sweeping. A drivers meeting confirmed that the track was deemed safe enough to compete on and thus the show went on. There were cones set up inside of turns three and four where some remnants of water were still evident.
“You know, I don’t mind it, it was the same for everybody. It’s one of those things where you get guys like Earl (Paules) and guys who will really hang it out. There are guys who will tip-toe around too but you can really go fast if you want to,” said Haydt.
“It is what it is and they made the best of what they had to work with and we raced on it and it seems that everyone’s happy and not much to complain about and we got another week in.”
Rookies Althouse and Kevin Rex, Jr., shared the front row with Rex motoring his way to the opening lap lead. On the next go-around Althouse, running inside of Rex, powered his way to the front. It would be his first time leading in a Modified and was doing so with assertion.
Rex ran second until a lap 10 restart which is when fifth starting Haydt overtook him. He was then glued to Althouse’s rear bumper and although he would try several times to make a pass, Althouse stood his ground, each time showing the determination of a driver hunger for a win.
On lap 18 the race was slowed due to debris and it would become the turning point as well. When the action resumed Haydt knew that would be his best shot at going for the lead and indeed he seized the opportunity and was able to make his way by.
Fourteenth starting Earl Paules had been in tow with Haydt and followed suit while Althouse slipped to third. The trio would run in that order the rest of the way.
“I figured the only way I had a shot was on a restart where I could try and beat him to the line,” said Haydt, who now has 31 overall wins at Mahoning.
“I ran behind him for about 10-12 laps, feeling him (Althouse) out and looking for a hole. He would have really had to have made a mistake for me to just drive by and get him. I certainly wasn’t going to just drive up on the top and drive around him. I wasn’t good enough even if the track would have been perfect to do that.”
Tommy Flanagan and Chip Santee completed the top five. As for Paules it was his ninth top five finish in ten starts as nearly each time he has raced this year he has been a contender for the win.
“He (Haydt) was better than I was tonight. I made a couple changes on my car to tighten it up and we got up to second which wasn’t bad,” said Paules.
“I’m glad Doug (Hoffman) got this show in. It was the same track for everybody. The track conditions made it more even for everyone.”
Both Haydt and Paules noted about the fine run turned in by Althouse.
Austin Kochenash of Danielsville was once again on top of the finishing order in the Late Model main, marking his fifth trip of the year to the Winner’s Circle.
Kochenash lined up fifth at the start and within four laps was in a tight three car battle at the front. The lead was being held by Geno Steigerwalt with Rick Wallace in between.
After a restart on lap five Kochenash advanced to second and then dogged Steigerwalt ever so closely over the next dozen laps.
At the completion of lap 17 Kochenash drove low on Steigerwalt and made incidental contact which caused him to loose traction and the lead. Paul Koehler stayed in line with Kochenash and was now second and for the remaining distance he would be the tracker.
Kochenash held on for the win and in the process added to his point lead heading into the final three events.
In the Street Stocks it was Lehighton’s Jason Frey becoming the 12th different winner this year. Frey, who started 10th, raced past early leader Adam Santee on a lap three restart and then pulled comfortably ahead en route to the win. Gene Bowers was second with Santee holding on for third.
The Dirt Mod feature saw Kris Graver of Lehighton take advantage of the misfortune of Mark Levy who had been leading from the onset but was tagged from behind by Dave Thomas on lap nine and spun from contention.
With Thomas being sent to the rear for his part, that put Graver at the helm and he had no trouble in cruising to his third consecutive win and seventh of the season. Finishing second was Mike Stofflet with Mike Stinger third.
Barry Christman, Jr., of Northampton made a daring three-wide pass for the lead with three laps to go which gave him his unprecedented 11th win of the season with the Pro4 Late Models. Christman has now tied the record for most class wins in a single season. For the second week in a row Jeremy Miller was runner-up.
Walt Mueller from Netcong, NJ notched his first Mahoning Micro Stock win with a solid performance. Mueller used a lap three restart to overhaul John Rakos for the lead and then stayed the course the rest of the way.
Modified Feature Finish, 35 Laps: 1. Tyler Haydt, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Frankie Althouse, 4. Tom Flanagan, 5. Chip Santee, 6. John Markovic, 7. Brian Romig, 8. Terry Markovic, 9. Kevin Rex, Jr., 10. Rick Reichenbach, 11. Matt Higgins, 12. Rob Shultz, 13. Andy Szapacs, 14. Lonnie Behler 15. Don Wagner, 16. Todd Baer
Late Model Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Austin Kochenash, 2. Paul Koehler, Jr., 3. Geno Steigerwalt, 4. Mike VanFossen, 5. George Ramos, 6. Paul Effrig, 7. Glenn Slocum, 8. Ed Bauer, 9. Rick Wallace
Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Jason Frey, 2. Gene Bowers, 3. Adam Santee, 4. Todd Ahner, 5. Randy Ahner, Jr., 6. TJ Gursky, 7. Kevin Smith, 8. Steve Hoffman, 9. Jillian Long, 10. Josh Mooney, 11. Steve Steigerwalt, 12. Rich Moser, 13. BJ Wambold, 14. Austin Santee, 15. Trevor Hosier, 16. Darryl Breunig, 17. Joe Roberts, 18. Joe Stamm, 19. Jason Kuhn
Dirt Modified Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Kris Graver, 2. Mike Stofflet, 3. Mike Stinger, 4. Mark Levy, 5. Bill Sitler, 6. Joe Stangle, 7. Dave Thomas
Pro4 Late Model Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Barry Christman, Jr., 2. Jeremy Miller, 3. Jake Kibler, 4. Aleia Geisler, 5. Bill Rooney, 6. Taya Wentz, 7. Tyler Stangle Did not start: Ray Geisler
Micro Stock Feature Finish, 15 Laps: 1. Walt Muller, 2. John Rakos, 3. Bill darling, 4. Calvin Carroll, 5. Roy Morris, 6. Bob Wagner, 7. Dave Allen, 8. Roger Snyder, 9. Pete Bayles, 10. AJ Fuge, 11. Tyler Wagner, 12. Wayne Krenn 13. Mike Duffy
Did not start: Mario Oberto
(LEHIGHTON, PA 9-10-11) Tyler Haydt took the lead away from a very impressive running Frankie Althouse just past the midway point and went on to score his fourth Mahoning Valley Speedway Modified win of the season. Earl Paules was second but had nothing for Haydt while Althouse held on for his best finish to date. In scoring the win the Kunkletown driver also padded his point lead with just three races remaining and has his eyes a possible track championship.
For Haydt and everyone else, the night started out in question. Despite perfect racing weather, earlier in the day things were somewhat doubtful about running. Due to the recent flooding from Hurricane Lee, the track just two days before was water stricken.
However, thanks to the untiring effort by promoters Doug and Gena Hoffman and the unselfish help from a multitude of racers and team members, everyone was determined to get the track surface in race ready condition. In the end the laboring paid off after plenty of water pumping and track sweeping. A drivers meeting confirmed that the track was deemed safe enough to compete on and thus the show went on. There were cones set up inside of turns three and four where some remnants of water were still evident.
“You know, I don’t mind it, it was the same for everybody. It’s one of those things where you get guys like Earl (Paules) and guys who will really hang it out. There are guys who will tip-toe around too but you can really go fast if you want to,” said Haydt.
“It is what it is and they made the best of what they had to work with and we raced on it and it seems that everyone’s happy and not much to complain about and we got another week in.”
Rookies Althouse and Kevin Rex, Jr., shared the front row with Rex motoring his way to the opening lap lead. On the next go-around Althouse, running inside of Rex, powered his way to the front. It would be his first time leading in a Modified and was doing so with assertion.
Rex ran second until a lap 10 restart which is when fifth starting Haydt overtook him. He was then glued to Althouse’s rear bumper and although he would try several times to make a pass, Althouse stood his ground, each time showing the determination of a driver hunger for a win.
On lap 18 the race was slowed due to debris and it would become the turning point as well. When the action resumed Haydt knew that would be his best shot at going for the lead and indeed he seized the opportunity and was able to make his way by.
Fourteenth starting Earl Paules had been in tow with Haydt and followed suit while Althouse slipped to third. The trio would run in that order the rest of the way.
“I figured the only way I had a shot was on a restart where I could try and beat him to the line,” said Haydt, who now has 31 overall wins at Mahoning.
“I ran behind him for about 10-12 laps, feeling him (Althouse) out and looking for a hole. He would have really had to have made a mistake for me to just drive by and get him. I certainly wasn’t going to just drive up on the top and drive around him. I wasn’t good enough even if the track would have been perfect to do that.”
Tommy Flanagan and Chip Santee completed the top five. As for Paules it was his ninth top five finish in ten starts as nearly each time he has raced this year he has been a contender for the win.
“He (Haydt) was better than I was tonight. I made a couple changes on my car to tighten it up and we got up to second which wasn’t bad,” said Paules.
“I’m glad Doug (Hoffman) got this show in. It was the same track for everybody. The track conditions made it more even for everyone.”
Both Haydt and Paules noted about the fine run turned in by Althouse.
Austin Kochenash of Danielsville was once again on top of the finishing order in the Late Model main, marking his fifth trip of the year to the Winner’s Circle.
Kochenash lined up fifth at the start and within four laps was in a tight three car battle at the front. The lead was being held by Geno Steigerwalt with Rick Wallace in between.
After a restart on lap five Kochenash advanced to second and then dogged Steigerwalt ever so closely over the next dozen laps.
At the completion of lap 17 Kochenash drove low on Steigerwalt and made incidental contact which caused him to loose traction and the lead. Paul Koehler stayed in line with Kochenash and was now second and for the remaining distance he would be the tracker.
Kochenash held on for the win and in the process added to his point lead heading into the final three events.
In the Street Stocks it was Lehighton’s Jason Frey becoming the 12th different winner this year. Frey, who started 10th, raced past early leader Adam Santee on a lap three restart and then pulled comfortably ahead en route to the win. Gene Bowers was second with Santee holding on for third.
The Dirt Mod feature saw Kris Graver of Lehighton take advantage of the misfortune of Mark Levy who had been leading from the onset but was tagged from behind by Dave Thomas on lap nine and spun from contention.
With Thomas being sent to the rear for his part, that put Graver at the helm and he had no trouble in cruising to his third consecutive win and seventh of the season. Finishing second was Mike Stofflet with Mike Stinger third.
Barry Christman, Jr., of Northampton made a daring three-wide pass for the lead with three laps to go which gave him his unprecedented 11th win of the season with the Pro4 Late Models. Christman has now tied the record for most class wins in a single season. For the second week in a row Jeremy Miller was runner-up.
Walt Mueller from Netcong, NJ notched his first Mahoning Micro Stock win with a solid performance. Mueller used a lap three restart to overhaul John Rakos for the lead and then stayed the course the rest of the way.
Modified Feature Finish, 35 Laps: 1. Tyler Haydt, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Frankie Althouse, 4. Tom Flanagan, 5. Chip Santee, 6. John Markovic, 7. Brian Romig, 8. Terry Markovic, 9. Kevin Rex, Jr., 10. Rick Reichenbach, 11. Matt Higgins, 12. Rob Shultz, 13. Andy Szapacs, 14. Lonnie Behler 15. Don Wagner, 16. Todd Baer
Late Model Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Austin Kochenash, 2. Paul Koehler, Jr., 3. Geno Steigerwalt, 4. Mike VanFossen, 5. George Ramos, 6. Paul Effrig, 7. Glenn Slocum, 8. Ed Bauer, 9. Rick Wallace
Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Jason Frey, 2. Gene Bowers, 3. Adam Santee, 4. Todd Ahner, 5. Randy Ahner, Jr., 6. TJ Gursky, 7. Kevin Smith, 8. Steve Hoffman, 9. Jillian Long, 10. Josh Mooney, 11. Steve Steigerwalt, 12. Rich Moser, 13. BJ Wambold, 14. Austin Santee, 15. Trevor Hosier, 16. Darryl Breunig, 17. Joe Roberts, 18. Joe Stamm, 19. Jason Kuhn
Dirt Modified Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Kris Graver, 2. Mike Stofflet, 3. Mike Stinger, 4. Mark Levy, 5. Bill Sitler, 6. Joe Stangle, 7. Dave Thomas
Pro4 Late Model Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Barry Christman, Jr., 2. Jeremy Miller, 3. Jake Kibler, 4. Aleia Geisler, 5. Bill Rooney, 6. Taya Wentz, 7. Tyler Stangle Did not start: Ray Geisler
Micro Stock Feature Finish, 15 Laps: 1. Walt Muller, 2. John Rakos, 3. Bill darling, 4. Calvin Carroll, 5. Roy Morris, 6. Bob Wagner, 7. Dave Allen, 8. Roger Snyder, 9. Pete Bayles, 10. AJ Fuge, 11. Tyler Wagner, 12. Wayne Krenn 13. Mike Duffy
Did not start: Mario Oberto