RGeeProductions
05-05-2013, 10:57 AM
Eric Beers has become the undisputed leader in long distance Modified features at Mahoning Valley Speedway as the Northampton star took the win in the opening round of the Modified Madness Series. In front of a full house Beers bested a stellar field to notch his eighth career 100 lap race.
Driving the Dave and Laura Delange No. 45, Beers went around early leader Chip Santee on lap 15 and then onto a convincing victory.
“The car was flawless the first 30 laps. I saw Chip (Santee) starting to tighten up at the end of that long run we had at the beginning. I took my opportunity there because if I would have waited until later I don’t think I would have got him,” said Beers, who earned $3000 for the night’s work.
Time trials locked in the top 12 cars with Chuck Hossfeld setting the quick time at 9.702-seconds at 92.764 mph. Afterwards a redraw was held and Santee drew the pole with Matt Wentz joining him on the front row. In the second row were Hossfeld and Beers.
Santee would jump out to the early lead with Wentz, Beers, Hossfeld and Nevin George in tow. Santee was showing some good power and likewise with Wentz who had both been going through a rough couple weeks.
Beers went two-wide and made the pass for second over Wentz with twelve circuits complete. He then set his sights on Santee. Advancing by way of the outside groove, he caught and then overtook Santee with the completion of lap 14.
It’s a rarity to see Beers falter after taking a race lead at Mahoning Valley and this would be no different as his Horwith Freightliner entry was riding on rails with perfectly turned laps one after another.
While Beers was cruising ahead, there waged a great battle between Santee and Hossfeld. They continued to swap second spot while running most times in a two-wide formation. George was also hanging closely with them.
Santee took second place for good after a lap 59 restart but that would be as far to the front he would go as Beers remained undisputedly in control. Those two clearly had the rest of the pack well covered, but behind them some outstanding action was unfolding.
Hossfeld had a bumper full of George and Wentz and heading into the very late stages he was dealing with Earl Paules, Matt Hirschman, John Markovic and Zane Zeiner.
Paules and Hirschman were taking a stab at Hossfeld with six laps to go. Under tight race conditions, Paules touched Hossfeld and veered hard into the turn three wall to end his night with three laps remaining.
On the final restart Hirschman made a swift move on Hossfeld and then a last ditch effort to go by Santee but fell short by a half car length at the finish. Zeiner and Markovic went past Hossfeld with two laps to go and completed the top five.
For Beers it was his second win in four starts and marked his 30th career win at the track.
“My car owners Dave and Laura Delange give me what I need to put the power down on the race track. You got guys here like Chuck Hossfeld, Matt Hirschman, Chip Santee, Donny Wagner. There are ten guys or better that could be standing here where I am and I was just the lucky that beat them tonight,” said Beers.
Lehighton’s Dave Wallace was the winner of the shortened Late Model feature that was called after time constraints and just five laps total.
After numerous crashes over the first two laps that saw several cars severally damaged, including eight after the opening circuit, race officials notified the drivers that one more caution and the event would be checkered. That race ending yellow came soon after and Wallace, who had somehow steered cleared of all the carnage and earned the win.
George Ramos and Earl Paules won Late Model heats.
Jillian Long of Slatington has always been a competitive racer and come close to winning on more than one occasion. Saturday night that all came to fruition as she drove to a much overdue first win in the Street Stock main.
Long started third and slipped to the inside of Kristy Arthofer on lap five for the race lead. She then turned back the persistent challenge of Justin Mooney in gaining the popular verdict.
Long is a 25U Signal Support Systems Specialist with the U.S. Army based at Willow Grove. She made the night perfect by also winning her heat. Jason Frey and Jamie Smith also scored prelims while Randy Schlenker annexed the consi.
In the Dirt Mods it was point leader Mike Stofflet of Mertztown taking his second win of the year.
Stofflet was running third when then leader Jeff Parker and second running JP Curry washed up the track on lap 12 while fighting for the lead in turn three. He seized the opening and took control the rest of the way. Parker recovered to finish second.
Parker and Mark Martini were heat winners.
In the 4 Cylinder Hobby Stocks, Cory Edelman of Northampton cruised to his second win of the year.
Modified Feature Finish (100 Laps): 1. Eric Beers, 2. Chip Santee, 3. Matt Hirschman, 4. Zane Zeiner, 5. John Markovic, 6. Chuck Hossfeld, 7. Matt Wentz, 8. Roger Coss, 9. DJ Wagner, 10. Kevin Rex, Jr., 11. Nevin George, 12. Kris Graver, 13. Rick Kirkendall, 14. Bryan Sherwood, 15. Earl Paules, 16. John Bennett, 17. Eric Kocher, 18. Don Wagner, 19. Bobby Jones, 20. Terry Markovic
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Dave Wallace, 2. Pat Hargan, 3. Kevin Graver, Jr., 4. Ken Hein, 5. Mike Sweeney, 6. Frankie Althouse, 7. George Ramos, 8. Mark Simon, 9. Jennifer Kutz, 10. Tony Zatsko, 11. Geno Steigerwalt, 12. Paul Effrig, 13. Earl Paules, 14. Rick Wallace
Street Stock Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Jillian Long, 2. Justin Mooney, 3. Kyle Strohl, 4. Lonnie Behler, 5. Jason Kuhn, 6. Chip Wanamaker, 8. TJ Gursky, 9. Steven Steigerwalt, 10. Gene Bowers, 11. Josh Mooney, 12. Kristy Arthofer, 13. Jason Frey, 14. Jamie Smith, 15. Zach Graver, 16. Joe Roberts, 17. Todd Ahner, 18. Stacey Brown, 19. Jonathan Tracey, 20. Randy Schlenker
Did not qualify: Baer, Beers, Ackerman, Kromer, Geist, Roth, Stein, BJ Wambold, Tiffany Wambold
Dirt Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Mike Stofflet, 2. Jeff Parker, 3. JP Curry, 4. Aleia Geisler, 5. Ricky Yetter, 6. Dave Gorbatuk, 7. Ray Deemer, 8. Mark Levy, 9. Joe Stangle, 10. Bill Sittler, Jr. Did not start: Mark Martini
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (15 Laps): 1. Corey Edelman, 3. Jeff Biegley, 3. Jacob Oswald
Dino Oberto
Driving the Dave and Laura Delange No. 45, Beers went around early leader Chip Santee on lap 15 and then onto a convincing victory.
“The car was flawless the first 30 laps. I saw Chip (Santee) starting to tighten up at the end of that long run we had at the beginning. I took my opportunity there because if I would have waited until later I don’t think I would have got him,” said Beers, who earned $3000 for the night’s work.
Time trials locked in the top 12 cars with Chuck Hossfeld setting the quick time at 9.702-seconds at 92.764 mph. Afterwards a redraw was held and Santee drew the pole with Matt Wentz joining him on the front row. In the second row were Hossfeld and Beers.
Santee would jump out to the early lead with Wentz, Beers, Hossfeld and Nevin George in tow. Santee was showing some good power and likewise with Wentz who had both been going through a rough couple weeks.
Beers went two-wide and made the pass for second over Wentz with twelve circuits complete. He then set his sights on Santee. Advancing by way of the outside groove, he caught and then overtook Santee with the completion of lap 14.
It’s a rarity to see Beers falter after taking a race lead at Mahoning Valley and this would be no different as his Horwith Freightliner entry was riding on rails with perfectly turned laps one after another.
While Beers was cruising ahead, there waged a great battle between Santee and Hossfeld. They continued to swap second spot while running most times in a two-wide formation. George was also hanging closely with them.
Santee took second place for good after a lap 59 restart but that would be as far to the front he would go as Beers remained undisputedly in control. Those two clearly had the rest of the pack well covered, but behind them some outstanding action was unfolding.
Hossfeld had a bumper full of George and Wentz and heading into the very late stages he was dealing with Earl Paules, Matt Hirschman, John Markovic and Zane Zeiner.
Paules and Hirschman were taking a stab at Hossfeld with six laps to go. Under tight race conditions, Paules touched Hossfeld and veered hard into the turn three wall to end his night with three laps remaining.
On the final restart Hirschman made a swift move on Hossfeld and then a last ditch effort to go by Santee but fell short by a half car length at the finish. Zeiner and Markovic went past Hossfeld with two laps to go and completed the top five.
For Beers it was his second win in four starts and marked his 30th career win at the track.
“My car owners Dave and Laura Delange give me what I need to put the power down on the race track. You got guys here like Chuck Hossfeld, Matt Hirschman, Chip Santee, Donny Wagner. There are ten guys or better that could be standing here where I am and I was just the lucky that beat them tonight,” said Beers.
Lehighton’s Dave Wallace was the winner of the shortened Late Model feature that was called after time constraints and just five laps total.
After numerous crashes over the first two laps that saw several cars severally damaged, including eight after the opening circuit, race officials notified the drivers that one more caution and the event would be checkered. That race ending yellow came soon after and Wallace, who had somehow steered cleared of all the carnage and earned the win.
George Ramos and Earl Paules won Late Model heats.
Jillian Long of Slatington has always been a competitive racer and come close to winning on more than one occasion. Saturday night that all came to fruition as she drove to a much overdue first win in the Street Stock main.
Long started third and slipped to the inside of Kristy Arthofer on lap five for the race lead. She then turned back the persistent challenge of Justin Mooney in gaining the popular verdict.
Long is a 25U Signal Support Systems Specialist with the U.S. Army based at Willow Grove. She made the night perfect by also winning her heat. Jason Frey and Jamie Smith also scored prelims while Randy Schlenker annexed the consi.
In the Dirt Mods it was point leader Mike Stofflet of Mertztown taking his second win of the year.
Stofflet was running third when then leader Jeff Parker and second running JP Curry washed up the track on lap 12 while fighting for the lead in turn three. He seized the opening and took control the rest of the way. Parker recovered to finish second.
Parker and Mark Martini were heat winners.
In the 4 Cylinder Hobby Stocks, Cory Edelman of Northampton cruised to his second win of the year.
Modified Feature Finish (100 Laps): 1. Eric Beers, 2. Chip Santee, 3. Matt Hirschman, 4. Zane Zeiner, 5. John Markovic, 6. Chuck Hossfeld, 7. Matt Wentz, 8. Roger Coss, 9. DJ Wagner, 10. Kevin Rex, Jr., 11. Nevin George, 12. Kris Graver, 13. Rick Kirkendall, 14. Bryan Sherwood, 15. Earl Paules, 16. John Bennett, 17. Eric Kocher, 18. Don Wagner, 19. Bobby Jones, 20. Terry Markovic
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Dave Wallace, 2. Pat Hargan, 3. Kevin Graver, Jr., 4. Ken Hein, 5. Mike Sweeney, 6. Frankie Althouse, 7. George Ramos, 8. Mark Simon, 9. Jennifer Kutz, 10. Tony Zatsko, 11. Geno Steigerwalt, 12. Paul Effrig, 13. Earl Paules, 14. Rick Wallace
Street Stock Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Jillian Long, 2. Justin Mooney, 3. Kyle Strohl, 4. Lonnie Behler, 5. Jason Kuhn, 6. Chip Wanamaker, 8. TJ Gursky, 9. Steven Steigerwalt, 10. Gene Bowers, 11. Josh Mooney, 12. Kristy Arthofer, 13. Jason Frey, 14. Jamie Smith, 15. Zach Graver, 16. Joe Roberts, 17. Todd Ahner, 18. Stacey Brown, 19. Jonathan Tracey, 20. Randy Schlenker
Did not qualify: Baer, Beers, Ackerman, Kromer, Geist, Roth, Stein, BJ Wambold, Tiffany Wambold
Dirt Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Mike Stofflet, 2. Jeff Parker, 3. JP Curry, 4. Aleia Geisler, 5. Ricky Yetter, 6. Dave Gorbatuk, 7. Ray Deemer, 8. Mark Levy, 9. Joe Stangle, 10. Bill Sittler, Jr. Did not start: Mark Martini
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (15 Laps): 1. Corey Edelman, 3. Jeff Biegley, 3. Jacob Oswald
Dino Oberto