RGeeProductions
06-24-2012, 01:53 PM
With just ten laps to run in Saturday’s Modified main at Mahoning Valley Speedway, Tommy Flanagan appeared to be on his way to winning. However, after a restart at lap 25 his motor failed and Bobby Jones became the benefactor.
Jones, who hails from Palmerton, then had to shield off Earl Paules and Nevin George en route to his second win of the season.
“(Tommy) Flanagan was good and he pulled away from me. I just stayed in line with him and all I could do was wait to see if something would happen in the end. I felt bad for him but we’ve all been there but you take these wins anyway you can because it’s always so tough here at Mahoning,” said Jones.
At the start Flanagan shared the front row with Terry Markovic and was able to get a jump and lead the first lap. From there on he was making it a race for second as each passing lap he continued to distance himself from the pack. Matt Wentz and Jones had been dueling for second.
The race had gone nonstop until lap 25, which then deleted the huge lead of Flanagan. By then Jones had moved to second and on the restart is when the ill-fated end occurred for Flanagan. Entering turn one his car slowed and he was off the track soon after.
“It (engine) just quit on me. The car was running great to that point but all of a sudden the revs went up and I had to shut it down,” said Flanagan.
Jones was close enough that he actually bumped Flanagan and was concerned that he may have been at fault for his demise because of that.
“When I hit him I got on the brakes and I thought I may have shoved him and felt so bad and I hoped it wasn’t because of me tapping him that he pulled off,” explained Jones.
“Something happened and he just stopped. I drove around him and after I saw him in the infield I kind of knew he had other issues.”
Over the remaining laps teammates Paules and George where ganging up on Jones. George had been second but on lap 27 Paules went to his inside with a very gutsy move. Both of them continued pressuring Jones but he held his ground as the three of them crossed under the checkers in very tight line.
John Markovic and Wentz completed the top five. Heat winners were Jeff Rex, Jr., Flanagan and Troy Bollinger.
“You have to be on your game each night here with these guys. I figured sooner or later Earl (Paules) and Nevin (George) were coming. I was slowing down near the end just to try and protect my spot because the car was getting a little loose,” said Jones who now has 25 wins at Mahoning, 15 with the Modifieds.
“We’ve been kind of on a roller coaster year. We got that first win at the beginning of the year when we really weren’t that great and now lately we’ve found speed that has us up there with the other front runners and we’re just trying to fine tune it and tonight it was all good.”
Rick Wallace of Lehighton picked up his first Late Model win of the season. The third starting Wallace tucked in behind pole sitter Paul Effrig at the beginning of the race. Mike Sweeney then linked with them prior to the first caution on lap three.
On the restart the trio went into a breathtaking three-wide lap with each of them focused on taking the lead. Sweeny was at the very bottom of the track, while Effrig and Wallace occupied the next two lanes. When they crossed the stripe to complete lap four Wallace had his bumper ahead. The next time around Sweeney did the same.
The racing stayed green until lap 12 due to a two car tangle. Under the yellow race officials sent Sweeney back two spots for passing to low under the designated lines between in turn four. That elevated Wallace back to the front.
Sweeney did bounce right back and was once again fighting for the lead. Then came point leader Earl Paules who, with four laps to go, went around Sweeny for second. That would be as far as he would get as Wallace held on for his first win of the year and 36th overall.
Joe Steigerwalt of Lehighton took home the lion’s share of the Gene Bowers, Sr., Memorial Street Stock 100, earning $1200 for the win and an additional $750 in lap sponsor money.
Steigerwalt started from the pole and remained out front for the entire distance, fending off defending race winner Kevin Smith over the first 25 laps then for the rest of the way it was nonstop hounding from class champ TJ Gursky.
Despite several tries via restarts, Gursky was unable to make a pass as Steigerwalt was picture perfect in scoring his seventh career win and becoming the seventh different winner in eight races.
Smith was third with Todd Ahner and Hard Charger Award winner Jason Frey rounding out the top five.
There was a season high 29 cars for the regular 25-lap feature with Jason Kuhn of Lehighton pulling off a narrow win over Josh Mooney by a scant .055-second margin of victory.
Kuhn hustled the lead from Joe Roberts on lap11 and then was doing all he could to hold off the dual of Mooney and Frey. The later ran extremely close in side-by-side style. It took Mooney until lap15 to break free with Frey.
He then aimed at the leader but his intrepid effort fell ever so close. Both drivers came into the night one-two in the standings and left in the same spots.
Street Stock heat win went to Gursky, Roberts and Zach Graver with Jillian Long annexing the consi.
Mike Stofflet of Mertztown presented himself with a personal birthday gift by taking a victory in the Dirt Mod feature. Stofflet started tenth and blasted into the lead after a wild three wide battle on lap eleven with Dave Thomas and Kris Graver.
Mark Levy had led from the outset and was cruising nicely until lap nine when he lost grip and spun. Graver then out-dueled Thomas on the restart and Stofflet merged with the leaders on the next circuit. He wisely stuck to the low lane while Graver and Thomas went a groove each to his left.
As Stofflet was eking his way to the lead Thomas and Graver got coupled which sent the point leader against the front stretch wall. He did recover after going pit side.
The rest of the way Stofflet gradually pulled away for his second straight win. Dave and Randy Thomas finished second and third respectively.
Randy Thomas and Graver notched heat wins.
12-year old Kyle Strohl of Palmerton proved himself yet again as the he drove to a solid win in the 4-Cylinder Stock main, his second of the season and third overall of the year. He also has a Street Stock victory.
After taking the lead from Bobby Kibler, Jr., with a veteran-like inside move on lap five, Strohl then drove away to an impressive victory of nearly a second over runner up Jake Kibler.
What’s even more striking is he drives a front wheel powered car which is slightly less potent than the traditional rear wheel cars. Strohl showed no signs of that, winning handily in a time caution free of 4:05.
Jake Kibler and point leader Jeremy Miller won 4-Cylinder heats.
Ron Merlino, Jr., of Franklinville, NJ led every lap en route to his first 4c Super Modified win at the speedway. Second went to Mike Renn. Bob Renn took the heat win.
Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Bobby Jones, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Nevin George, 4. John Markovic, 5. Matt Wentz, 6. Brian DeFebo, 7. Chip Wanamaker, 8. Shawn Sitarchyk, 9. Scott Lesher, 10. John Bennett, 11. Troy Bollinger, 12. Terry Markovic, 13.Lonnie Behler, 14. DJ Wagner, 15. Scott Meckes, 16. Don Wagner, 17. Tom Flanagan 18. Kevin Rex, Jr., 19. Rich Moser
Late Model Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Rick Wallace, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Mike Sweeney, 4. Frankie Althouse, 5. Paul Effrig, 6. Kenny Hein, 7. Geno Steigerwalt, 8. George Ramos, 9. Dave Wallace, 10. Glenn Slocum
Street Stock Feature Finish, 100 Laps: 1. Joe Steigerwalt, 2. TJ Gursky, 3. Kevin Smith, 4. Todd Ahner, 5. Jason Frey, 6. Gene Bowers, 7. Chris parry, 8. Chip Wanamaker, 9. Jason Kuhn, 10. Jillian Long, 11. Josh Mooney, 12. BJ Wambold, 13. Steve Hoffman, 14. Joe Roberts, 15. Rich Moser, 16. Brian Labar, 17. Randy Ahner, Jr., 18. Zach Graver, 19. Kyle Strohl, 20. Eric Danyluk, 21. Bob Kibler, 22. Joe Stamm
Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Jason Kuhn, 2. Josh Mooney, 3. Jason Frey, 4. Joe Steigerwalt, 5. Chris Parry, 6. Todd Ahner, 7. Randy Ahner, Jr., 8. Long, 9. Gursky, 10. Smith, 11. Jonathan Tracey, 12. Hoffman, 13. Roberts, 14. Bowers, 15. Danyluk, 16. Strohl, 17. Wanamaker, 18. Kibler, 19. Zach Graver, 20. Moser
Did not qualify: BJ Wambold, Ethan Rutherford, Guy Ackerman, Mike Radocha, Cody Roth, Lou Strohl, Scott Kotran, Joe Stamm, Brian Labar
Dirt Modified Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Mike Stofflet, 2. Dave Thomas, 3. Randy Thomas, 4. Joe Stangle, 5. Mark Levy, 6. Kris Graver, 7. Ronnie Krex, 8. Ricky Yetter, 9. Dave Gorbatuk, 10. Bill Sittler, Jr., 11. Frank Parastino, 12. Ed Altemose
4-Cylinder Stock Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Kyle Strohl, 2. Jake Kibler, 3. Jeremy Miller, 4. Nick Baer, 5. Tyler Stangle, 6. Dan Freundt, 7. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 8. Jake Oswald, 9. Stone Wentz, 10. Tony Scheier, 11. Taya Wentz DQ: Doug Knauss
4C Super Modified Feature Finish, 15 Laps: 1. Ron Merlino, Jr., 2. Mike Renn, 3. Steve Renn, 4. Bob Renn, 5. Wes Gilbert, 6. Anthony Merlino
Dino Oberto
Jones, who hails from Palmerton, then had to shield off Earl Paules and Nevin George en route to his second win of the season.
“(Tommy) Flanagan was good and he pulled away from me. I just stayed in line with him and all I could do was wait to see if something would happen in the end. I felt bad for him but we’ve all been there but you take these wins anyway you can because it’s always so tough here at Mahoning,” said Jones.
At the start Flanagan shared the front row with Terry Markovic and was able to get a jump and lead the first lap. From there on he was making it a race for second as each passing lap he continued to distance himself from the pack. Matt Wentz and Jones had been dueling for second.
The race had gone nonstop until lap 25, which then deleted the huge lead of Flanagan. By then Jones had moved to second and on the restart is when the ill-fated end occurred for Flanagan. Entering turn one his car slowed and he was off the track soon after.
“It (engine) just quit on me. The car was running great to that point but all of a sudden the revs went up and I had to shut it down,” said Flanagan.
Jones was close enough that he actually bumped Flanagan and was concerned that he may have been at fault for his demise because of that.
“When I hit him I got on the brakes and I thought I may have shoved him and felt so bad and I hoped it wasn’t because of me tapping him that he pulled off,” explained Jones.
“Something happened and he just stopped. I drove around him and after I saw him in the infield I kind of knew he had other issues.”
Over the remaining laps teammates Paules and George where ganging up on Jones. George had been second but on lap 27 Paules went to his inside with a very gutsy move. Both of them continued pressuring Jones but he held his ground as the three of them crossed under the checkers in very tight line.
John Markovic and Wentz completed the top five. Heat winners were Jeff Rex, Jr., Flanagan and Troy Bollinger.
“You have to be on your game each night here with these guys. I figured sooner or later Earl (Paules) and Nevin (George) were coming. I was slowing down near the end just to try and protect my spot because the car was getting a little loose,” said Jones who now has 25 wins at Mahoning, 15 with the Modifieds.
“We’ve been kind of on a roller coaster year. We got that first win at the beginning of the year when we really weren’t that great and now lately we’ve found speed that has us up there with the other front runners and we’re just trying to fine tune it and tonight it was all good.”
Rick Wallace of Lehighton picked up his first Late Model win of the season. The third starting Wallace tucked in behind pole sitter Paul Effrig at the beginning of the race. Mike Sweeney then linked with them prior to the first caution on lap three.
On the restart the trio went into a breathtaking three-wide lap with each of them focused on taking the lead. Sweeny was at the very bottom of the track, while Effrig and Wallace occupied the next two lanes. When they crossed the stripe to complete lap four Wallace had his bumper ahead. The next time around Sweeney did the same.
The racing stayed green until lap 12 due to a two car tangle. Under the yellow race officials sent Sweeney back two spots for passing to low under the designated lines between in turn four. That elevated Wallace back to the front.
Sweeney did bounce right back and was once again fighting for the lead. Then came point leader Earl Paules who, with four laps to go, went around Sweeny for second. That would be as far as he would get as Wallace held on for his first win of the year and 36th overall.
Joe Steigerwalt of Lehighton took home the lion’s share of the Gene Bowers, Sr., Memorial Street Stock 100, earning $1200 for the win and an additional $750 in lap sponsor money.
Steigerwalt started from the pole and remained out front for the entire distance, fending off defending race winner Kevin Smith over the first 25 laps then for the rest of the way it was nonstop hounding from class champ TJ Gursky.
Despite several tries via restarts, Gursky was unable to make a pass as Steigerwalt was picture perfect in scoring his seventh career win and becoming the seventh different winner in eight races.
Smith was third with Todd Ahner and Hard Charger Award winner Jason Frey rounding out the top five.
There was a season high 29 cars for the regular 25-lap feature with Jason Kuhn of Lehighton pulling off a narrow win over Josh Mooney by a scant .055-second margin of victory.
Kuhn hustled the lead from Joe Roberts on lap11 and then was doing all he could to hold off the dual of Mooney and Frey. The later ran extremely close in side-by-side style. It took Mooney until lap15 to break free with Frey.
He then aimed at the leader but his intrepid effort fell ever so close. Both drivers came into the night one-two in the standings and left in the same spots.
Street Stock heat win went to Gursky, Roberts and Zach Graver with Jillian Long annexing the consi.
Mike Stofflet of Mertztown presented himself with a personal birthday gift by taking a victory in the Dirt Mod feature. Stofflet started tenth and blasted into the lead after a wild three wide battle on lap eleven with Dave Thomas and Kris Graver.
Mark Levy had led from the outset and was cruising nicely until lap nine when he lost grip and spun. Graver then out-dueled Thomas on the restart and Stofflet merged with the leaders on the next circuit. He wisely stuck to the low lane while Graver and Thomas went a groove each to his left.
As Stofflet was eking his way to the lead Thomas and Graver got coupled which sent the point leader against the front stretch wall. He did recover after going pit side.
The rest of the way Stofflet gradually pulled away for his second straight win. Dave and Randy Thomas finished second and third respectively.
Randy Thomas and Graver notched heat wins.
12-year old Kyle Strohl of Palmerton proved himself yet again as the he drove to a solid win in the 4-Cylinder Stock main, his second of the season and third overall of the year. He also has a Street Stock victory.
After taking the lead from Bobby Kibler, Jr., with a veteran-like inside move on lap five, Strohl then drove away to an impressive victory of nearly a second over runner up Jake Kibler.
What’s even more striking is he drives a front wheel powered car which is slightly less potent than the traditional rear wheel cars. Strohl showed no signs of that, winning handily in a time caution free of 4:05.
Jake Kibler and point leader Jeremy Miller won 4-Cylinder heats.
Ron Merlino, Jr., of Franklinville, NJ led every lap en route to his first 4c Super Modified win at the speedway. Second went to Mike Renn. Bob Renn took the heat win.
Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Bobby Jones, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Nevin George, 4. John Markovic, 5. Matt Wentz, 6. Brian DeFebo, 7. Chip Wanamaker, 8. Shawn Sitarchyk, 9. Scott Lesher, 10. John Bennett, 11. Troy Bollinger, 12. Terry Markovic, 13.Lonnie Behler, 14. DJ Wagner, 15. Scott Meckes, 16. Don Wagner, 17. Tom Flanagan 18. Kevin Rex, Jr., 19. Rich Moser
Late Model Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Rick Wallace, 2. Earl Paules, 3. Mike Sweeney, 4. Frankie Althouse, 5. Paul Effrig, 6. Kenny Hein, 7. Geno Steigerwalt, 8. George Ramos, 9. Dave Wallace, 10. Glenn Slocum
Street Stock Feature Finish, 100 Laps: 1. Joe Steigerwalt, 2. TJ Gursky, 3. Kevin Smith, 4. Todd Ahner, 5. Jason Frey, 6. Gene Bowers, 7. Chris parry, 8. Chip Wanamaker, 9. Jason Kuhn, 10. Jillian Long, 11. Josh Mooney, 12. BJ Wambold, 13. Steve Hoffman, 14. Joe Roberts, 15. Rich Moser, 16. Brian Labar, 17. Randy Ahner, Jr., 18. Zach Graver, 19. Kyle Strohl, 20. Eric Danyluk, 21. Bob Kibler, 22. Joe Stamm
Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Jason Kuhn, 2. Josh Mooney, 3. Jason Frey, 4. Joe Steigerwalt, 5. Chris Parry, 6. Todd Ahner, 7. Randy Ahner, Jr., 8. Long, 9. Gursky, 10. Smith, 11. Jonathan Tracey, 12. Hoffman, 13. Roberts, 14. Bowers, 15. Danyluk, 16. Strohl, 17. Wanamaker, 18. Kibler, 19. Zach Graver, 20. Moser
Did not qualify: BJ Wambold, Ethan Rutherford, Guy Ackerman, Mike Radocha, Cody Roth, Lou Strohl, Scott Kotran, Joe Stamm, Brian Labar
Dirt Modified Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Mike Stofflet, 2. Dave Thomas, 3. Randy Thomas, 4. Joe Stangle, 5. Mark Levy, 6. Kris Graver, 7. Ronnie Krex, 8. Ricky Yetter, 9. Dave Gorbatuk, 10. Bill Sittler, Jr., 11. Frank Parastino, 12. Ed Altemose
4-Cylinder Stock Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Kyle Strohl, 2. Jake Kibler, 3. Jeremy Miller, 4. Nick Baer, 5. Tyler Stangle, 6. Dan Freundt, 7. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 8. Jake Oswald, 9. Stone Wentz, 10. Tony Scheier, 11. Taya Wentz DQ: Doug Knauss
4C Super Modified Feature Finish, 15 Laps: 1. Ron Merlino, Jr., 2. Mike Renn, 3. Steve Renn, 4. Bob Renn, 5. Wes Gilbert, 6. Anthony Merlino
Dino Oberto