LongIslandJam
10-22-2011, 11:00 PM
By: Gene Ostrowski
October 22, 2011
St. Johns, Pa- In what has become known as a fall classic at Mountain Speedway, the 7th annual NELMA Late Model Challenge kicked off on Saturday. With $1500 on the line for the Late Model victor, the show was a season ending success and many “outsiders” from the speedway drove off to victory. Three Long Island drivers took victories in the show- Dave Brigati took the exciting win in the Late Model main event and Chris Turbush brought home the $750 Street Stock victory. Kevin Nowak bested the Legends field to earn the victory and Luke Greenwood, who traveled from Connecticut won the Wingless Micro Sprint event.
Glenn Tyler turned the quickest lap in Late Model time trials and started from the pole in the 75-lap main event. He led the opening circuit over Craig Lutz and Joe Burns.
A long green flag run in the early going allowed Tyler to open up a gap between himself and Lutz. With 31 laps complete, Scott Wylie held third, followed by Burns and Jim Lamoreaux.
The yellow flag waved on lap 33 when Burns spun in turn three and then another yellow slowed the field two laps later when Rick Smith spun in turn three. The incident also collected Raven Schrantz and Geno Steigerwalt.
Green flag racing resumed and with a great restart, Lutz took command. Dave Brigati moved into the third position when he overtook Lamoreaux on the restart.
Lutz continued to lead just past the halfway mark and Brigati had climbed to second, followed by Tyler, Wylie and Burns.
Tyler worked his way back to second and then overtook the leader on lap 62 and then things got interesting in a hurry. Travis Fisher, who had cracked the top five earlier, got by Wylie for third. He then overtook Lutz for second on lap 64 and then attempted to drive under Tyler for the race lead. Tyler slammed the door and both drivers collected in turn three. The lap 65 incident also collected Lutz and Lamoreaux. The change of events moved Brigati to the race lead.
With the green flag back in the air, Brigati held off his competition over several restarts that followed and earned his first Late Model victory in four years. The win also marks his first Late Model victory at the speedway in his first Late Model start there.
Fisher held on to finish in the runner up spot, followed by Lutz and Wylie. Kevin Metzger, who had to be pulled from the infield swamp with 10 laps remaining, rebounded to finish fifth.
Steve Shultz turned the fastest time for the 50-lap Street Stock Fender Fury, but the invert moved Brian Wozniak to the point for the start of the event.
Wozniak led the opening circuit with Ray Minieri, Derek Stachecki, Nick Ross and Daryn Miller in tow. Minieri took his turn at the lead on lap one and then Chris Turbush, who had quickly worked his way to the front, grabbed the top spot on lap six.
With Turbush still out front, Steve Shultz quietly worked his way to the front and he overtook Minieri for the second spot on lap 28. Minieri dropped back to third, followed by Robert Fink and Miller.
The caution waved on lap 33 when Miller tried to get underneath Fink in turns one and two. Both drivers were forced to restart from the tail end of the field and Shultz had his opportunity at Turbush for the restart.
Shultz pulled alongside the leader and nearly took the top spot, but Turbush got sideways and to prevent himself from wrecking, Shultz had to lift out of the throttle and lost several positions.
Uncontested to the finish, Turbush took the victory over McDermott, Wozniak, Brian Brown and Minieri.
Chris Young set fast time during time trials for the Legends Fall Classic, but following the invert, Richie Coy started from the pole position in the 30-lap event. With the green flag out, coy led the opening lap over Scott Hubler, Rob McCormick, Brandon Bock and Jim Byrne.
Hubler worked by Coy and into the lead on the second lap and then the yellow flag waved when Matt Marring spun in turn two. Raven Schrantz and Van Michael were also collected.
Green flag racing resumed and both, Chris Young and Kevin Nowak made their presence known. First, Nowak moved to fourth on lap three and then overtook Bock for third on lap five and Young followed.
Nowak reeled in Hubler and attempted to make an inside maneuver on the leader in turn one. The two touched hard and Nowak caught air before taking to the infield in the lap seven incident. Both drivers were forced to restart at the rear of the field and Young came out with the race lead.
Just past halfway, Young continued to lead over Kyle Soper and Dylan Slepian. Nowak had rebounded from the incident earlier to hold the third spot, followed by Marring.
Nowak continued his charge and disposed of his competition. He moved into second on lap 17 and then overtook the leader on lap 19.
In his fourth feature win of the season, Nowak claimed the victory over Young, Soper, Slepian and Coy.
Raven Schrantz was the B-Main winner.
Several 600cc Wingless Micro Sprints competed in a 20-lap feature event. After taking the lead from pole sitter, Rob Vivona on lap six, Luke Greenwood drove off to take the convincing victory
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 like Mountain Speedway on Facebook or visit www.mountainspeedway.com for the entire 2011 schedule, point standings and up to date news and information.
Late Models (75-laps) 1. DAVE BRIGATI 2. Travis Fisher 3. Craig Lutz 4. Scott Wylie 5. Kevin Metzger 6. Joe Burns 7. Glenn Tyler 8. Rick Smith 9. Geno Steigerwalt 10. Jim Lamoreaux 11. Paul Skodacek 12. Jim Wismer Jr 13. Francis Gross III 14. Glenn Slocum 15. Raven Schrantz
Street Stocks (50-laps) 1. CHRIS TURBUSH 2. Jeremy McDermott 3. Brian Wozniak 4. Brian Brown 5. Ray Minieri 6. Steve Shultz 7. Nick Ross 8. Brian Labar 9. Derek Stachecki 10. Mitch Hawk 11. Daryn Miller 12. Robert Fink 13. CJ Lehmann 14. Gene Bowers 15. Frank Scimeca
Legends (30-laps) 1. KEVIN NOWAK 2. Chris Young 3. Kyle Soper 4. Dylan Slepian 5. Richie Coy 6. Raven Schrantz 7. Brandon Bock 8. Brandon Michael 9. Todd McCollum 10. Van Michael 11. Kyle Ellwood 12. Carl Jones 13. Jim Byrne 14. Ron Poley 15. Andy Lewis 16. Cole Fuatesi 17.Russell Sniffen Jr. 18. Stephen Gaul 19. Scott Hubler 20. John Bacon 21. Jason Sendlewski 22.Matt Marring 23. Rob McCormick 24. Stephan Hershey 25. John Visconti DNS: Tony Hanbury DNQ: Barry Schrantz DNQ: Dave Chapman
600cc Wingless Micros (20-laps) 1. LUKE GREENWOOD 2. Rob Vivona 3. Mark Yonder 4. Budd Hines
October 22, 2011
St. Johns, Pa- In what has become known as a fall classic at Mountain Speedway, the 7th annual NELMA Late Model Challenge kicked off on Saturday. With $1500 on the line for the Late Model victor, the show was a season ending success and many “outsiders” from the speedway drove off to victory. Three Long Island drivers took victories in the show- Dave Brigati took the exciting win in the Late Model main event and Chris Turbush brought home the $750 Street Stock victory. Kevin Nowak bested the Legends field to earn the victory and Luke Greenwood, who traveled from Connecticut won the Wingless Micro Sprint event.
Glenn Tyler turned the quickest lap in Late Model time trials and started from the pole in the 75-lap main event. He led the opening circuit over Craig Lutz and Joe Burns.
A long green flag run in the early going allowed Tyler to open up a gap between himself and Lutz. With 31 laps complete, Scott Wylie held third, followed by Burns and Jim Lamoreaux.
The yellow flag waved on lap 33 when Burns spun in turn three and then another yellow slowed the field two laps later when Rick Smith spun in turn three. The incident also collected Raven Schrantz and Geno Steigerwalt.
Green flag racing resumed and with a great restart, Lutz took command. Dave Brigati moved into the third position when he overtook Lamoreaux on the restart.
Lutz continued to lead just past the halfway mark and Brigati had climbed to second, followed by Tyler, Wylie and Burns.
Tyler worked his way back to second and then overtook the leader on lap 62 and then things got interesting in a hurry. Travis Fisher, who had cracked the top five earlier, got by Wylie for third. He then overtook Lutz for second on lap 64 and then attempted to drive under Tyler for the race lead. Tyler slammed the door and both drivers collected in turn three. The lap 65 incident also collected Lutz and Lamoreaux. The change of events moved Brigati to the race lead.
With the green flag back in the air, Brigati held off his competition over several restarts that followed and earned his first Late Model victory in four years. The win also marks his first Late Model victory at the speedway in his first Late Model start there.
Fisher held on to finish in the runner up spot, followed by Lutz and Wylie. Kevin Metzger, who had to be pulled from the infield swamp with 10 laps remaining, rebounded to finish fifth.
Steve Shultz turned the fastest time for the 50-lap Street Stock Fender Fury, but the invert moved Brian Wozniak to the point for the start of the event.
Wozniak led the opening circuit with Ray Minieri, Derek Stachecki, Nick Ross and Daryn Miller in tow. Minieri took his turn at the lead on lap one and then Chris Turbush, who had quickly worked his way to the front, grabbed the top spot on lap six.
With Turbush still out front, Steve Shultz quietly worked his way to the front and he overtook Minieri for the second spot on lap 28. Minieri dropped back to third, followed by Robert Fink and Miller.
The caution waved on lap 33 when Miller tried to get underneath Fink in turns one and two. Both drivers were forced to restart from the tail end of the field and Shultz had his opportunity at Turbush for the restart.
Shultz pulled alongside the leader and nearly took the top spot, but Turbush got sideways and to prevent himself from wrecking, Shultz had to lift out of the throttle and lost several positions.
Uncontested to the finish, Turbush took the victory over McDermott, Wozniak, Brian Brown and Minieri.
Chris Young set fast time during time trials for the Legends Fall Classic, but following the invert, Richie Coy started from the pole position in the 30-lap event. With the green flag out, coy led the opening lap over Scott Hubler, Rob McCormick, Brandon Bock and Jim Byrne.
Hubler worked by Coy and into the lead on the second lap and then the yellow flag waved when Matt Marring spun in turn two. Raven Schrantz and Van Michael were also collected.
Green flag racing resumed and both, Chris Young and Kevin Nowak made their presence known. First, Nowak moved to fourth on lap three and then overtook Bock for third on lap five and Young followed.
Nowak reeled in Hubler and attempted to make an inside maneuver on the leader in turn one. The two touched hard and Nowak caught air before taking to the infield in the lap seven incident. Both drivers were forced to restart at the rear of the field and Young came out with the race lead.
Just past halfway, Young continued to lead over Kyle Soper and Dylan Slepian. Nowak had rebounded from the incident earlier to hold the third spot, followed by Marring.
Nowak continued his charge and disposed of his competition. He moved into second on lap 17 and then overtook the leader on lap 19.
In his fourth feature win of the season, Nowak claimed the victory over Young, Soper, Slepian and Coy.
Raven Schrantz was the B-Main winner.
Several 600cc Wingless Micro Sprints competed in a 20-lap feature event. After taking the lead from pole sitter, Rob Vivona on lap six, Luke Greenwood drove off to take the convincing victory
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 like Mountain Speedway on Facebook or visit www.mountainspeedway.com for the entire 2011 schedule, point standings and up to date news and information.
Late Models (75-laps) 1. DAVE BRIGATI 2. Travis Fisher 3. Craig Lutz 4. Scott Wylie 5. Kevin Metzger 6. Joe Burns 7. Glenn Tyler 8. Rick Smith 9. Geno Steigerwalt 10. Jim Lamoreaux 11. Paul Skodacek 12. Jim Wismer Jr 13. Francis Gross III 14. Glenn Slocum 15. Raven Schrantz
Street Stocks (50-laps) 1. CHRIS TURBUSH 2. Jeremy McDermott 3. Brian Wozniak 4. Brian Brown 5. Ray Minieri 6. Steve Shultz 7. Nick Ross 8. Brian Labar 9. Derek Stachecki 10. Mitch Hawk 11. Daryn Miller 12. Robert Fink 13. CJ Lehmann 14. Gene Bowers 15. Frank Scimeca
Legends (30-laps) 1. KEVIN NOWAK 2. Chris Young 3. Kyle Soper 4. Dylan Slepian 5. Richie Coy 6. Raven Schrantz 7. Brandon Bock 8. Brandon Michael 9. Todd McCollum 10. Van Michael 11. Kyle Ellwood 12. Carl Jones 13. Jim Byrne 14. Ron Poley 15. Andy Lewis 16. Cole Fuatesi 17.Russell Sniffen Jr. 18. Stephen Gaul 19. Scott Hubler 20. John Bacon 21. Jason Sendlewski 22.Matt Marring 23. Rob McCormick 24. Stephan Hershey 25. John Visconti DNS: Tony Hanbury DNQ: Barry Schrantz DNQ: Dave Chapman
600cc Wingless Micros (20-laps) 1. LUKE GREENWOOD 2. Rob Vivona 3. Mark Yonder 4. Budd Hines