RGeeProductions
05-19-2013, 03:50 PM
Five races into the 2013 season and Eric Beers of Northampton is off to a fantastic start as he won his second straight feature and third of the year. Fresh off a 100-lap victory, Beers was able to move to the lead after a lap 18 restart and then withstood numerous attempts by Roger Coss to earn the $1800 victory.
“It’s a lot of luck and right now we have luck on our side and hope it stays there,” said Beers.
It was a family front row for the start of the race as DJ Wagner and his father, Don, brought the field to the green with. The elder of the two immediately showed his experience as he jumped out front but the son then rose to the occasion as he passed his father on lap three. This marked the first time in track history that a father and son were running 1-2 in a Modified feature.
Chip Santee had a close seat from third spot and made haste within the first four laps as he put Don Wagner back a spot and then set forth towards DJ Wagner. A two-time Mahoning champ, Santee went into a side-by-side duel after a lap seven restart and while racing from the outside lane made his way into the lead by the next go around.
DJ Wagner, a sophomore with the class, then fought right back and retook the position with the completion of lap nine. Don Wagner was able to follow and was protecting his spot which also enabled his son the keep ahead of the pack. Santee continued to show his might, however, and was insistent on getting by Don Wagner. Kris Graver was also part of the closeness as he and Santee ran two-wide while riding on Don Wagner’s tail.
On lap 18 the heated contest for second came to a sudden halt when Don Wagner and Santee made contact in turn two and several cars behind had to take evasive action. Beers and Coss eluded from the melee and when the race resumed were lined up second and third. Beers then made quick work of DJ Wagner as he surged into the lead and took Coss along with him.
“We were very lucky tonight. We started eleventh behind a lot of really good race cars. We ran the bottom on a few of the restarts and then there was that one jingle when a couple guys got together and that got us about five cheap spots and I didn’t have to pass Earl (Paules), Nevin (George), Chip (Santee) or any other of those guys because when that tangle with all them happened I was able to sneak by,” said Beers.
From there on Coss never gave Beers much breathing room as he tried several times, specifically after a few restarts, to make his way by.
“Roger (Coss) is a good racer and I he always runs you clean. He hung there with us and if the shoe would have been on the other foot I would have been chasing him,” offered Beers.
Matt Hirschman drove a steady race and was third at the finish. Earl Paules, fought his way to fourth while DJ Wagner took a career high fifth. Santee and Paules won their respective prelims.
“He (Beers) was a little better than me and he drove me real clean and I tried to race him the same way and it just makes for a better show,” said Coss. “I think the only way I could get by him is if he messed up and I heard his name for a long time I didn’t think that was going to happen so I was happy to settle for second.”
In the Late Model feature Paules of Palmerton made a strong statement that he is out to defend his class title as he was victorious for a second time this season.
Starting fifth Paules powered around early leader Paul Effrig on lap six and once in front he began to build on the lead. Effrig remained second and was fending off the likes of Rick Wallace and Mike Sweeney.
Late into the contest Sweeney hustled his way up to second but Paules was still solid by that point. However, thanks to a caution with one lap to go Sweeney was suddenly in a position to steal away the top spot as the race went to a green-white-checkered dash. Sweeney charged in on Paules from the inside and came up just shy of winning.
Effrig, Wallace and Kevin Graver, Jr., completed the top five. Paules gained maximum points by also winning his heat. Effrig also notch a qualifier.
Zach Graver of Lehighton became the fifth different winner in as many weeks with the Street Stocks. Graver had an early battle with Kristy Arthofer as they swapped the lead back and forth over the first half of the 25-lapper.
From the 14th tour on, however, it would be all Graver as he stayed out front from there on and was unchallenged in the process.
Jonathan Tracy and Josh Mooney came home second and third respectively while Arthofer and Jillian Long rounded out the first five.
Jason Beers, Arthofer and BJ Wambold won heats while Chip Wanamaker scored the consi win.
JP Curry of Saylorsburg went wire-to-wire in the caution free Dirt Mod main and in doing so earned his career first victory with a stock car. A winner many times over with Champ Karts, Curry made the switch over to the Mahoning’s Dirt class this year and has been fast from the get-go.
While Curry stayed out front the battle for second went right to the end with Mark Martini fending off point leader and teammate Mike Stofflet.
In the Pro4’s 13-year old Kyle Strohl of Palmerton was untouchable once he took the lead and easily cruised to his second win in four starts. The victory was his 14th in just over a year’s time. Nick Baer had a great battle with Dave Chapman to earn runner-up honors.
Jeff Biegley of Breinigsville held off a very determined effort by Scott Adams and won his second Hobby Stock race of the year.
Adams then returned later in the evening to race in the Small Car Enduro. He led every lap but it all went for naught after his car did not pass post-race inspection. The win then went to Ross Gursky of Palmerton who chased Adams all race long.
The Micro Stock Racing Series made their first appearance of the season and saw Roger Snyder of Kempton win the 15-lap main after running a spirited battle with Wayne Krenn, Walt Mueller and Bob Wagner.
Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps): 1. Eric Beers, 2. Roger Coss, 3. Matt Hirschman, 4. Earl Paules, 5. DJ Wagner, 6. Chip Santee, 7. Nevin George, 8. Don Wagner, 9. Terry Markovic, 10. Matt Wentz, 11. Joe Mooney, 12. Roger Heffelfinger, Jr., 13. Kris Graver, 14. Eric Kocher, 15. Todd Baer, 16. Kevin Rex, Jr., 17. Ron Missmer
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Earl Paules, 2. Mike Sweeney, 3. Paul Effrig, 4. Rick Wallace, 5. Kevin Graver, Jr., 6. Frankie Althouse, 7. Kenny Hein, 8. Pat Hargan, 9. Jennifer Kutz, 10. Jason Zatsko, 11. George Ramos, 12. Mike VanFossen, 13. Dave Wallace
Street Stock Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Zach Graver, 2. Jonathan Tracey, 3. Josh Mooney, 4. Kristy Arthofer, 5. Jillian Long, 6. Chip Wanamaker, 7. Steven Steigerwalt, 8. Jason Beers, 9. Gene Bowers, 10. Justin Mooney, 11. Cody Roth, 12. Jason Frey, 13. Randy Ahner, Jr., 14. Todd Ahner, 15. Jason Kuhn, 16. BJ Wambold, 17. Stacey Brown, 18. Kyle Strohl, 19. TJ Gursky, 20. Lonnie Behler Did not qualify: Randy Schlenker, Joe Roberts, Jamie Smith, Aaron Kromer, Cody Geist, Guy Ackerman, Tiffany Wambold, Justin Missmer, Jim Rost
Dirt Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. JP Curry, 2. Mark Martini, 3. Mike Stofflet, 4. Jeff Parker, 5. Ricky Yetter, 6. Aleia Geisler, 7. Dave Gorbatuk, 8. Joe Stangle II, 9. Ray Deemer, 10. Drew Reinbold, 11. Bill Sittler, Jr.
Pro4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Kyle Strohl, 2. Nick Baer, 3. Dave Chapman, 4. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 5. Tyler Stangle, 6. Robert Miller, 7. Tanner Laybourn, 8. Cody Kohler, 9. Danielle Paules
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (15 Laps): 1. Jeff Biegley, 2. Scott Adams, 3. Larry Spencer, Jr., 4. Corey Edelman
Micro Stock Feature Finish, (15 Laps): 1. Roger Snyder, 2. Wayne Krenn, 3. Walt Mueller, 4. Bob Wagner, 5. Robert McGuire, 6. Alex Greenzweig, 7. Kenny Dengler, 8. Mike Duffy, 9. Joe Pritchard, 10. Kevin Heller, 11. Tyler Wagner, 12. John Rakos, 13. Bill Darling, 14. Ron Farber, 15. Larry Ealey, 16. Nikki Carroll, 17. Kevin Hoover, 18. Joe Carroll
Small Car Enduro Finish: 1. Ross Gursky, Earl Paules, 3. Paul Strohl, 4. Bob Snyder, 5. Robert Yelsits, 6. Rodney Strohl, 7. Mikey Eckhart, 8. Larry Spencer III, 9. Ryan Chapman, 10. Colby Getz, 11. Dave Farkas, 12. Carl Altemose, 13. Lonnie Behler, Jr., 14. Kyle Strohl, 15. Tom Shupp, 16. Sam Ryan DQ: Scott Adams
Dino Oberto
“It’s a lot of luck and right now we have luck on our side and hope it stays there,” said Beers.
It was a family front row for the start of the race as DJ Wagner and his father, Don, brought the field to the green with. The elder of the two immediately showed his experience as he jumped out front but the son then rose to the occasion as he passed his father on lap three. This marked the first time in track history that a father and son were running 1-2 in a Modified feature.
Chip Santee had a close seat from third spot and made haste within the first four laps as he put Don Wagner back a spot and then set forth towards DJ Wagner. A two-time Mahoning champ, Santee went into a side-by-side duel after a lap seven restart and while racing from the outside lane made his way into the lead by the next go around.
DJ Wagner, a sophomore with the class, then fought right back and retook the position with the completion of lap nine. Don Wagner was able to follow and was protecting his spot which also enabled his son the keep ahead of the pack. Santee continued to show his might, however, and was insistent on getting by Don Wagner. Kris Graver was also part of the closeness as he and Santee ran two-wide while riding on Don Wagner’s tail.
On lap 18 the heated contest for second came to a sudden halt when Don Wagner and Santee made contact in turn two and several cars behind had to take evasive action. Beers and Coss eluded from the melee and when the race resumed were lined up second and third. Beers then made quick work of DJ Wagner as he surged into the lead and took Coss along with him.
“We were very lucky tonight. We started eleventh behind a lot of really good race cars. We ran the bottom on a few of the restarts and then there was that one jingle when a couple guys got together and that got us about five cheap spots and I didn’t have to pass Earl (Paules), Nevin (George), Chip (Santee) or any other of those guys because when that tangle with all them happened I was able to sneak by,” said Beers.
From there on Coss never gave Beers much breathing room as he tried several times, specifically after a few restarts, to make his way by.
“Roger (Coss) is a good racer and I he always runs you clean. He hung there with us and if the shoe would have been on the other foot I would have been chasing him,” offered Beers.
Matt Hirschman drove a steady race and was third at the finish. Earl Paules, fought his way to fourth while DJ Wagner took a career high fifth. Santee and Paules won their respective prelims.
“He (Beers) was a little better than me and he drove me real clean and I tried to race him the same way and it just makes for a better show,” said Coss. “I think the only way I could get by him is if he messed up and I heard his name for a long time I didn’t think that was going to happen so I was happy to settle for second.”
In the Late Model feature Paules of Palmerton made a strong statement that he is out to defend his class title as he was victorious for a second time this season.
Starting fifth Paules powered around early leader Paul Effrig on lap six and once in front he began to build on the lead. Effrig remained second and was fending off the likes of Rick Wallace and Mike Sweeney.
Late into the contest Sweeney hustled his way up to second but Paules was still solid by that point. However, thanks to a caution with one lap to go Sweeney was suddenly in a position to steal away the top spot as the race went to a green-white-checkered dash. Sweeney charged in on Paules from the inside and came up just shy of winning.
Effrig, Wallace and Kevin Graver, Jr., completed the top five. Paules gained maximum points by also winning his heat. Effrig also notch a qualifier.
Zach Graver of Lehighton became the fifth different winner in as many weeks with the Street Stocks. Graver had an early battle with Kristy Arthofer as they swapped the lead back and forth over the first half of the 25-lapper.
From the 14th tour on, however, it would be all Graver as he stayed out front from there on and was unchallenged in the process.
Jonathan Tracy and Josh Mooney came home second and third respectively while Arthofer and Jillian Long rounded out the first five.
Jason Beers, Arthofer and BJ Wambold won heats while Chip Wanamaker scored the consi win.
JP Curry of Saylorsburg went wire-to-wire in the caution free Dirt Mod main and in doing so earned his career first victory with a stock car. A winner many times over with Champ Karts, Curry made the switch over to the Mahoning’s Dirt class this year and has been fast from the get-go.
While Curry stayed out front the battle for second went right to the end with Mark Martini fending off point leader and teammate Mike Stofflet.
In the Pro4’s 13-year old Kyle Strohl of Palmerton was untouchable once he took the lead and easily cruised to his second win in four starts. The victory was his 14th in just over a year’s time. Nick Baer had a great battle with Dave Chapman to earn runner-up honors.
Jeff Biegley of Breinigsville held off a very determined effort by Scott Adams and won his second Hobby Stock race of the year.
Adams then returned later in the evening to race in the Small Car Enduro. He led every lap but it all went for naught after his car did not pass post-race inspection. The win then went to Ross Gursky of Palmerton who chased Adams all race long.
The Micro Stock Racing Series made their first appearance of the season and saw Roger Snyder of Kempton win the 15-lap main after running a spirited battle with Wayne Krenn, Walt Mueller and Bob Wagner.
Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps): 1. Eric Beers, 2. Roger Coss, 3. Matt Hirschman, 4. Earl Paules, 5. DJ Wagner, 6. Chip Santee, 7. Nevin George, 8. Don Wagner, 9. Terry Markovic, 10. Matt Wentz, 11. Joe Mooney, 12. Roger Heffelfinger, Jr., 13. Kris Graver, 14. Eric Kocher, 15. Todd Baer, 16. Kevin Rex, Jr., 17. Ron Missmer
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Earl Paules, 2. Mike Sweeney, 3. Paul Effrig, 4. Rick Wallace, 5. Kevin Graver, Jr., 6. Frankie Althouse, 7. Kenny Hein, 8. Pat Hargan, 9. Jennifer Kutz, 10. Jason Zatsko, 11. George Ramos, 12. Mike VanFossen, 13. Dave Wallace
Street Stock Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Zach Graver, 2. Jonathan Tracey, 3. Josh Mooney, 4. Kristy Arthofer, 5. Jillian Long, 6. Chip Wanamaker, 7. Steven Steigerwalt, 8. Jason Beers, 9. Gene Bowers, 10. Justin Mooney, 11. Cody Roth, 12. Jason Frey, 13. Randy Ahner, Jr., 14. Todd Ahner, 15. Jason Kuhn, 16. BJ Wambold, 17. Stacey Brown, 18. Kyle Strohl, 19. TJ Gursky, 20. Lonnie Behler Did not qualify: Randy Schlenker, Joe Roberts, Jamie Smith, Aaron Kromer, Cody Geist, Guy Ackerman, Tiffany Wambold, Justin Missmer, Jim Rost
Dirt Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. JP Curry, 2. Mark Martini, 3. Mike Stofflet, 4. Jeff Parker, 5. Ricky Yetter, 6. Aleia Geisler, 7. Dave Gorbatuk, 8. Joe Stangle II, 9. Ray Deemer, 10. Drew Reinbold, 11. Bill Sittler, Jr.
Pro4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Kyle Strohl, 2. Nick Baer, 3. Dave Chapman, 4. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 5. Tyler Stangle, 6. Robert Miller, 7. Tanner Laybourn, 8. Cody Kohler, 9. Danielle Paules
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (15 Laps): 1. Jeff Biegley, 2. Scott Adams, 3. Larry Spencer, Jr., 4. Corey Edelman
Micro Stock Feature Finish, (15 Laps): 1. Roger Snyder, 2. Wayne Krenn, 3. Walt Mueller, 4. Bob Wagner, 5. Robert McGuire, 6. Alex Greenzweig, 7. Kenny Dengler, 8. Mike Duffy, 9. Joe Pritchard, 10. Kevin Heller, 11. Tyler Wagner, 12. John Rakos, 13. Bill Darling, 14. Ron Farber, 15. Larry Ealey, 16. Nikki Carroll, 17. Kevin Hoover, 18. Joe Carroll
Small Car Enduro Finish: 1. Ross Gursky, Earl Paules, 3. Paul Strohl, 4. Bob Snyder, 5. Robert Yelsits, 6. Rodney Strohl, 7. Mikey Eckhart, 8. Larry Spencer III, 9. Ryan Chapman, 10. Colby Getz, 11. Dave Farkas, 12. Carl Altemose, 13. Lonnie Behler, Jr., 14. Kyle Strohl, 15. Tom Shupp, 16. Sam Ryan DQ: Scott Adams
Dino Oberto