RGeeProductions
08-12-2012, 01:21 PM
The Mahoning Valley Speedway Triple 25s have been a windfall for drivers Zane Zeiner, Matt Hirschman and Don Wagner. In the nine features that made of the unique event, which is part to the Mahoning Modified Madness Series (MMMS), the trio has combined in winning eight, including this past Saturday night.
It was the final installment of the Triple 25s and once again a solid field of Modifieds signed in for the fan captivating show. Time trials firmed the grid for the opening race with Zeiner setting the quickest lap at 9.679-seconds, 92.985 mph.
In a heads up start Zeiner and John Bennett shared the front row and when the race began Zeiner was quick to get out first. He was not taking on many challengers either as he ruled with a respectable lead.
Although Bennett did give him a close run in the early going, Zeiner was still strong enough to keep a safe gap between them. And, with only one caution, that coming on lap 11 for a spin by Earl Paules, Zeiner used the green flag stretch to take a 1.713-second margin of victory, almost two car lengths. He has now won a feature in all four of his starts this season.
“That’s an amazing stat, especially to do that at a place like Mahoning,” said Zeiner of Bath. “I know the next two (features) aren’t going to be easy. We had zero power steering tonight and we’ll see if I’m a man or not in the next two races because it’s going to be a handful. The car had a lot of lower bite on the bottom. My hat is off to my guys, they changed motors this week and Morgantini (Racing Engines) gave us a new power plant.”
Bennett upheld second, with Nevin George, Wagner and Scott Meckes completing the top five.
“I really like the Triple 25s. When we invert the field, which is something I like, you have to race hard for 25 laps and use up the car getting it to the front,” added Zeiner.
In the second feature the first nine cars were inverted giving Chip Santee and Mike Carroll, Jr., front row honors. Santee jumped out the opening lap lead but third starting Hirschman went to the low lane in turn three on lap two and at the completion of the circuit he was now in front of the pack.
Just as the first race, this too was a fast paced affair as the caution was limited to one minor spinning incident near the end. By that time Hirschman was on cruise control and took his Bob Horn owned No. 50 to the victory.
“We started up front, in fourth, in the first one and went backwards and that wasn’t fun. In this one we took advantage of a good draw,” said Hirschman from Northampton. “I expected more action in this second feature but you never know with these things. No one has ever won two in a row in these Triple 25s and hopefully we can keep this momentum going for the next one.”
A fine run was turned in by rookie Scott Meckes who took second and fended off Zeiner in the process. Carroll and John Markovic rounded out the top five.
For the final race the invert number was 11, giving Matt Wentz and Santee the front row positions. Things got off to a rough start as Santee appeared to get bumped coming off turn two on the initial start and spun. With the oncoming traffic looking to avoid him several cars got caught up in the confusion.
For the restart Wagner, who hails from Wharton, NJ, advanced to the outside of Wentz and then powered his way into the lead on the opening lap.
This was by far the best race of the night as Zeiner soon tagged in behind Wagner and for the rest of the distance they waged a torrid dogfight. Several times Zeiner tried to sneak underneath Wagner but with no power steering and the unrelenting determination by the leader, he would have to settle for second. The win was Wagner’s fourth of the season.
Meckes nipped Wentz at the line to get his third straight top five on the night. Fifth went to Hirschman.
“There is no better small track than Mahoning Valley Speedway. The competition here and the way they are running the shows, it’s an awesome place to race,” said Wagner.
“Zane is one of the best in the business for sure and to beat him is an accomplishment. We want to win this series. Now it’s going to come down to the 100 lapper at the end of the year.”
Indeed the overall MMMS crown will be decided on the final point race of the season on October 6 in all likelihood between Zeiner and Wagner. There is a $6000 purse to be divided amongst the top six point finishers in the series. The champ will earn $2000 with $1500 to the runner-up.
“Donny (Wagner) drove a heck of a race and I’m not disappointed. We got a first, third and second tonight and we were passing cars on the top and bottom and the car was hooked up,” said Zeiner.
In Late Model action Mike Sweeney of Nesquehoning passed Geno Steigerwalt for the lead on lap two and then had to fend off Frankie Althouse in gaining his first win of the season and first at Mahoning Valley since 2007. Sweeney drives the only Ford with the class.
Steigerwalt and Althouse won heats.
TJ Gursky of Palmerton, the 2011Street Stock champion, won the 25-lap main. For Gursky, it was a very emotion victory as it was the first time winning since the passing of his car owner, Mike Krempasky on March 9 of this year.
Gursky started seventh and worked his way into the lead with an inside pass on Gene Bowers. He then held a steady line ahead of runner-up Todd Ahner en route to the touching conquest. Gursky made certain the win was dedicated to Krempasky.
Joe Roberts, Kevin Smith and Ahner notched heat wins with Jason Frey taking the consi.
In the Dirt Mods Randy Thomas of Palmerton raced from the pole spot and on to his second ’12 win. It was nonstop also as Thomas took the win in a time of 3:38.
Point leader Kris Graver gave Thomas a good run for his money but in the end had to settle for second place cash. Thomas made a sweep of the night by winning his heat. Mike Stofflet also annexed a qualifier.
Barry Christman, Jr., of Northampton scored his third straight 4-Cylinder stock win and fourth of the year.
Christman zipped by early leader Nick Baer on lap seven and from then on it was no contest as he cruised to the win, his 26th in class. Doug Knauss was second but only after Nick Baer and Jeremy Miller failed post-race inspection. Kyle Strohl won the bonus cash as the highest front wheel driver finisher. Tyler Stangle and Baer won heats.
1st Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Zane Zeiner, 2. John Bennett, 3. Nevin George, 4. Don Wagner, 5. Scott Meckes, 6. Tyler Haydt, 7. Matt Hirschman, 8. Mike Carroll, Jr., 9. Chip Santee, 10. Bobby Jones, 11. John Markovic, 12. Matt Wentz, 13. Roger Coss, 14. Kevin Rex, Jr., 15. Eric Kocher, 16. Shawn Sitarchyk, 17. Earl Paules 18. Troy Bollinger, 19. Brian DeFebo, 20. Lou Strohl, 21. DJ Wagner, 22. Terry Markovic
2nd Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Hirschman, 2. Meckes, 3. Zeiner, 4. Carroll, 5. John Markovic, 6. Coss, 7. George, 8. Haydt, 9. Don Wagner, 10. Santee, 11. Wentz, 12. Kocher, 13. Jones, 14. Bennett, 15. Bollinger, 16. Rex, 17. DeFebo, 18. Sitarchyk, 19. Terry Markovic, 20. Paules, 21. DJ Wagner, 22. Matt Higgins, Did not start: Lou Strohl
3rd Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Don Wagner, 2. Zeiner, 3. Meckes, 4. Wentz, 5. Hirschman, 6. George, 7. Carroll, 8. Paules, 9. Jones, 10. Coss, 11. Bennett, 12. John Markovic, 13. Santee, 14. Rex, 15. DeFebo, 16. Kocher, 17. Terry Markovic, 18. Higgins, 19. Sitarchyk, 20. DJ Wagner, 21. Bollinger, 22. Haydt Did not start: Strohl Did not qualify: Tom Flanagan
Late Model Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Frankie Althouse, 3. Paul Koehler, Jr., 4. Earl Paules, 5. Kenny Hein, 6. Paul Effrig, 7. Geno Steigerwalt, 8. Mark Simon, 9. Glen Slocum, 10. George Ramos III, 11. Dave Wallace, 12. Rick Wallace, 13. Mike Kemmerer
Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. TJ Gursky, 2. Todd Ahner, 3. Josh Mooney, 4. Jillian Long, 5. Jason Frey, 6. Joe Steigerwalt, 7. Joe Mooney, 8. Willie Knappenberger, 9. Gene Bowers, 10. Kyle Strohl, 11. Randy Ahner, Jr., 12. Kevin Smith, 13. Joe Roberts, 14. Jason Kuhn, 15. Mike Garris, Sr., 16. Zach Graver, 17. Jason Beers, 18. Josh Oswald, 19. Greg Long DQ: Lonnie Behler Did not qualify: Matt May, Chris May, Ethan Rutherford
Dirt Modified Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Randy Thomas, 2. Kris Graver, 3. Mike Stofflet, 4. Mark Levy, 5. Ricky Yetter, 6. Joe Stangle, 7. Dave Thomas, 8. Ronnie Krex, 9. Bill Sitler, Jr., 10. Aleia Geisler
4-Cylinder Stock Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Barry Christman, Jr., 2. Doug Knauss, 3. Tyler Stangle, 4. Jake Kibler, 5. Kyle Strohl, 6. Dan Freundt, 7. Stone Wentz, 8. Dave Chapman, 9. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 10. Robert Miller Did not start: Jake Oswald DQ: Nick Baer, Jeremy Miller
Dino Oberto
It was the final installment of the Triple 25s and once again a solid field of Modifieds signed in for the fan captivating show. Time trials firmed the grid for the opening race with Zeiner setting the quickest lap at 9.679-seconds, 92.985 mph.
In a heads up start Zeiner and John Bennett shared the front row and when the race began Zeiner was quick to get out first. He was not taking on many challengers either as he ruled with a respectable lead.
Although Bennett did give him a close run in the early going, Zeiner was still strong enough to keep a safe gap between them. And, with only one caution, that coming on lap 11 for a spin by Earl Paules, Zeiner used the green flag stretch to take a 1.713-second margin of victory, almost two car lengths. He has now won a feature in all four of his starts this season.
“That’s an amazing stat, especially to do that at a place like Mahoning,” said Zeiner of Bath. “I know the next two (features) aren’t going to be easy. We had zero power steering tonight and we’ll see if I’m a man or not in the next two races because it’s going to be a handful. The car had a lot of lower bite on the bottom. My hat is off to my guys, they changed motors this week and Morgantini (Racing Engines) gave us a new power plant.”
Bennett upheld second, with Nevin George, Wagner and Scott Meckes completing the top five.
“I really like the Triple 25s. When we invert the field, which is something I like, you have to race hard for 25 laps and use up the car getting it to the front,” added Zeiner.
In the second feature the first nine cars were inverted giving Chip Santee and Mike Carroll, Jr., front row honors. Santee jumped out the opening lap lead but third starting Hirschman went to the low lane in turn three on lap two and at the completion of the circuit he was now in front of the pack.
Just as the first race, this too was a fast paced affair as the caution was limited to one minor spinning incident near the end. By that time Hirschman was on cruise control and took his Bob Horn owned No. 50 to the victory.
“We started up front, in fourth, in the first one and went backwards and that wasn’t fun. In this one we took advantage of a good draw,” said Hirschman from Northampton. “I expected more action in this second feature but you never know with these things. No one has ever won two in a row in these Triple 25s and hopefully we can keep this momentum going for the next one.”
A fine run was turned in by rookie Scott Meckes who took second and fended off Zeiner in the process. Carroll and John Markovic rounded out the top five.
For the final race the invert number was 11, giving Matt Wentz and Santee the front row positions. Things got off to a rough start as Santee appeared to get bumped coming off turn two on the initial start and spun. With the oncoming traffic looking to avoid him several cars got caught up in the confusion.
For the restart Wagner, who hails from Wharton, NJ, advanced to the outside of Wentz and then powered his way into the lead on the opening lap.
This was by far the best race of the night as Zeiner soon tagged in behind Wagner and for the rest of the distance they waged a torrid dogfight. Several times Zeiner tried to sneak underneath Wagner but with no power steering and the unrelenting determination by the leader, he would have to settle for second. The win was Wagner’s fourth of the season.
Meckes nipped Wentz at the line to get his third straight top five on the night. Fifth went to Hirschman.
“There is no better small track than Mahoning Valley Speedway. The competition here and the way they are running the shows, it’s an awesome place to race,” said Wagner.
“Zane is one of the best in the business for sure and to beat him is an accomplishment. We want to win this series. Now it’s going to come down to the 100 lapper at the end of the year.”
Indeed the overall MMMS crown will be decided on the final point race of the season on October 6 in all likelihood between Zeiner and Wagner. There is a $6000 purse to be divided amongst the top six point finishers in the series. The champ will earn $2000 with $1500 to the runner-up.
“Donny (Wagner) drove a heck of a race and I’m not disappointed. We got a first, third and second tonight and we were passing cars on the top and bottom and the car was hooked up,” said Zeiner.
In Late Model action Mike Sweeney of Nesquehoning passed Geno Steigerwalt for the lead on lap two and then had to fend off Frankie Althouse in gaining his first win of the season and first at Mahoning Valley since 2007. Sweeney drives the only Ford with the class.
Steigerwalt and Althouse won heats.
TJ Gursky of Palmerton, the 2011Street Stock champion, won the 25-lap main. For Gursky, it was a very emotion victory as it was the first time winning since the passing of his car owner, Mike Krempasky on March 9 of this year.
Gursky started seventh and worked his way into the lead with an inside pass on Gene Bowers. He then held a steady line ahead of runner-up Todd Ahner en route to the touching conquest. Gursky made certain the win was dedicated to Krempasky.
Joe Roberts, Kevin Smith and Ahner notched heat wins with Jason Frey taking the consi.
In the Dirt Mods Randy Thomas of Palmerton raced from the pole spot and on to his second ’12 win. It was nonstop also as Thomas took the win in a time of 3:38.
Point leader Kris Graver gave Thomas a good run for his money but in the end had to settle for second place cash. Thomas made a sweep of the night by winning his heat. Mike Stofflet also annexed a qualifier.
Barry Christman, Jr., of Northampton scored his third straight 4-Cylinder stock win and fourth of the year.
Christman zipped by early leader Nick Baer on lap seven and from then on it was no contest as he cruised to the win, his 26th in class. Doug Knauss was second but only after Nick Baer and Jeremy Miller failed post-race inspection. Kyle Strohl won the bonus cash as the highest front wheel driver finisher. Tyler Stangle and Baer won heats.
1st Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Zane Zeiner, 2. John Bennett, 3. Nevin George, 4. Don Wagner, 5. Scott Meckes, 6. Tyler Haydt, 7. Matt Hirschman, 8. Mike Carroll, Jr., 9. Chip Santee, 10. Bobby Jones, 11. John Markovic, 12. Matt Wentz, 13. Roger Coss, 14. Kevin Rex, Jr., 15. Eric Kocher, 16. Shawn Sitarchyk, 17. Earl Paules 18. Troy Bollinger, 19. Brian DeFebo, 20. Lou Strohl, 21. DJ Wagner, 22. Terry Markovic
2nd Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Hirschman, 2. Meckes, 3. Zeiner, 4. Carroll, 5. John Markovic, 6. Coss, 7. George, 8. Haydt, 9. Don Wagner, 10. Santee, 11. Wentz, 12. Kocher, 13. Jones, 14. Bennett, 15. Bollinger, 16. Rex, 17. DeFebo, 18. Sitarchyk, 19. Terry Markovic, 20. Paules, 21. DJ Wagner, 22. Matt Higgins, Did not start: Lou Strohl
3rd Modified Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Don Wagner, 2. Zeiner, 3. Meckes, 4. Wentz, 5. Hirschman, 6. George, 7. Carroll, 8. Paules, 9. Jones, 10. Coss, 11. Bennett, 12. John Markovic, 13. Santee, 14. Rex, 15. DeFebo, 16. Kocher, 17. Terry Markovic, 18. Higgins, 19. Sitarchyk, 20. DJ Wagner, 21. Bollinger, 22. Haydt Did not start: Strohl Did not qualify: Tom Flanagan
Late Model Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Frankie Althouse, 3. Paul Koehler, Jr., 4. Earl Paules, 5. Kenny Hein, 6. Paul Effrig, 7. Geno Steigerwalt, 8. Mark Simon, 9. Glen Slocum, 10. George Ramos III, 11. Dave Wallace, 12. Rick Wallace, 13. Mike Kemmerer
Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. TJ Gursky, 2. Todd Ahner, 3. Josh Mooney, 4. Jillian Long, 5. Jason Frey, 6. Joe Steigerwalt, 7. Joe Mooney, 8. Willie Knappenberger, 9. Gene Bowers, 10. Kyle Strohl, 11. Randy Ahner, Jr., 12. Kevin Smith, 13. Joe Roberts, 14. Jason Kuhn, 15. Mike Garris, Sr., 16. Zach Graver, 17. Jason Beers, 18. Josh Oswald, 19. Greg Long DQ: Lonnie Behler Did not qualify: Matt May, Chris May, Ethan Rutherford
Dirt Modified Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Randy Thomas, 2. Kris Graver, 3. Mike Stofflet, 4. Mark Levy, 5. Ricky Yetter, 6. Joe Stangle, 7. Dave Thomas, 8. Ronnie Krex, 9. Bill Sitler, Jr., 10. Aleia Geisler
4-Cylinder Stock Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Barry Christman, Jr., 2. Doug Knauss, 3. Tyler Stangle, 4. Jake Kibler, 5. Kyle Strohl, 6. Dan Freundt, 7. Stone Wentz, 8. Dave Chapman, 9. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 10. Robert Miller Did not start: Jake Oswald DQ: Nick Baer, Jeremy Miller
Dino Oberto