RGeeProductions
06-16-2013, 05:37 PM
To get an idea of who will be championship contenders for this year’s Mahoning Valley Speedway Modified division you didn’t need to look past the first five finishers in Saturday night’s feature. Chip Santee, Eric Beers, Earl Paules, Nevin George and Roger Coss all ran in a tight battle with Santee emerging the winner in a battle amongst the top five in points.
For Santee, of Walnutport, he turned around weeks of frustration including earlier in the night when he had clutch issues during his heat. It marked the first time in three seasons he came out on top of a Modified feature.
He started fifth and within four laps began to wage a good battle with Don Wagner. Then after a restart on lap 10 he shot past for the lead. Wagner stayed on him until lap 18. Thereafter Santee was joined by the other top five point men and they would all run in close formation to the end.
“The last couple weeks my car was struggling and my crew busted their tails off this past week. Early today we came up for practice and blew a tire and then we had trouble with the clutch slipping during our heat (race). We even thought about scratching to the rear for the feature but decided to just go out and run as best we can,” explained Santee. “It is an awesome feeling to finally get back to winning. I love this place.”
Terry Markovic led the first two laps before being upstaged by Wagner on a lap three restart. Santee was then all over Wagner and thus began their dogfight. Wagner was having one of his better nights of the season and seemed to have Santee under cover despite the nonstop efforts. And while the front two fought for the lead, close at hand were Paules, Kevin Rex and point leader George.
On the tenth of 35 laps the third and final caution was out. When the green reappeared Santee was able to ride the high line around Wagner and assume the lead. The rest of the race was run caution free.
Paules worked hard in getting by Wagner which took until lap 19 and one circuit later saw Beers, George and Coss enter into the picture. Paules and Beers then went wheel-to-wheel while glued to Santee’s rear bumper.
With ten laps to go second spot was secured by Beers and from there on he would give Santee fits. He looked both high and low and even tried to take advantage of lapped traffic but each time Santee defended his position.
“I saw twice someone stick their nose in there and I couldn’t tell who it was. Just ahead was (lapped car) Lou Strohl and he was running strong enough that I was afraid to go to the outside because my clutch was slipping and I didn’t want to take that chance. I had no choice on the last few laps. I actually used him (Strohl) as my shield so nobody would have a shot to get around me,” noted Santee.
“I’m glad it was Eric (Beers) who was behind me. He ran a good clean race. He actually helped me out this week and gave me some pointers. He told me to go back to the basics. He’s a great friend. I want to thank him, my crew and especially my dad, this was for him on Father’s Day.”
Markovic and Beers notched heat wins.
Lehighton’s Kevin Graver, Jr., has won a lot of races at Mahoning Valley and in several divisions. Now he can also add a Late Model victory to his impressive list.
He’s a rookie this season with the class but showed his years of experience as he led every lap and with relative ease. Graver started second and out-dueled pole sitter George Ramos at the outset. He then pulled far enough ahead that runner-up Earl Paules could not mount much of a challenge. The race was reeled off without any cautions.
For Graver it marked his 38th overall career win which tied for fourth on the track’s all-time win list.
Heats wins went to Graver and Frankie Althouse.
Jason Beers of Northampton picked up his first win of the season with the Street Stocks. He started sixth and had bide his time in getting to the front as BJ Wambold and Aaron Kromer were holding down spots one and two in a torrid battle during the first dozen laps.
Thanks to a caution on lap 11 Beers was able to advance to third place and on the restart muscle his way to the front. Five laps later he was in the midst of a great contest with Jillian Long who at one point raced past him for the lead but unfortunately for her was called back thanks to a caution.
Beers made certain that would not happen again as he remained strong the rest of the way. Lonnie Behler got a season best second with Gene Bowers third. Wambold, Beers and Kromer collected heat wins while Justin Mooney annexed the consi.
In the Dirt Mods it was Ricky Yetter of Easton finally busting through for his first win of the season. Yetter has been fast and regularly amongst the front runners all year but could never close the deal when it counted most.
On this night the popular wheelman of the Brown Daub KIA No. 5 had everything go his way as he drove 20 perfect laps as the race leader in a caution free time of 3:47.589. Point leader Jeff Parker was second and Dave Thomas third.
Heat winners were JP Curry and Parker.
Kyle Strohl of Palmerton took the lead after a lap four restart from Danielle Paules and then held off Jake Kibler for his third Pro4 win of the season. Strohl also won his heat as did Dave Chapman.
Jeff Biegley of Breinigsville just edged Cory Edelman in the Hobby Stock main which was his fifth win of the year.
Ron Merlino, Jr., of Franklinville, NJ picked up the win with the 4c Super Mods.
Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps): 1. Chip Santee, 2. Eric Beers, 3. Earl Paules, 4. Nevin George, 5. Roger Coss, 6. Don Wagner, 7. Kevin Rex, Jr., 8. Matt Wentz, 9. Todd Baer, 10. Kris Graver, 11. Shawn Sitarchyk, 12. Terry Markovic, 13. Paul Frantz, 14. Lou Strohl, 15. DJ Wagner, 16. John Markovic, Troy Bollinger, 18. Tom Flanagan, 19. Bryan Sherwood
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Kevin Graver, Jr., 2. Earl Paules, 3. Paul Effrig, 4. Mike VanFossen, 5. Mike Sweeney, 6. Frankie Althouse, 7. George Ramos, 8. Kenny Hein, 9. Geno Steigerwalt, 10. Jennifer Kutz
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Jason Beers, 2. Lonnie Behler, 3. Gene Bowers, 4. Jillian Long, 5. Chip Wanamaker, 6. Justin Mooney, 7. BJ Wambold, 8. Steve Steigerwalt, 9. Jason Frey, 10. TJ Gursky, 11. Stacey Brown, 12. Jamie Smith, 13. Randy Ahner, Jr., 14. Aaron Kromer, 15. Zach Graver, 16. Kyle Strohl, 17. Jonathan Tracy, 18. Kristy Arthofer, 19. Josh Mooney, 20. Todd Ahner21. Jason Kuhn
DNQ: Joe Mooney, Joe Roberts, Willie Knappenberger, Cody Roth, Tiffany Wambold, Guy Ackerman, Cody Geist
Dirt Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Ricky Yetter, 2. Jeff Parker, 3. Dave Thomas, 4. Aleia Geisler, 5. JP Curry, 6. Mike Stofflet, 7. Mark Martini, 8. Bill Sittler, 9. Joe Stangle, 10. Drew Reinbold, 11. Ray Deemer
Pro4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Kyle Strohl, 2. Jake Kibler, 3. Dave Chapman, 4. Nick Baer, 5. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 6. Danielle Paules, 7. Cody Kohler, 8. Tyler Stangle, 9. Dou Knauss, 10. Robert Miller
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (15 Laps): 1. Jeff Biegley, 2. Cory Edelman, 3. Gunner Yost
4C Super Modified Feature Finish, (15 Laps): 1. Ron Merlino, Jr., 2. Bob Renn, 3. Steve Renn, 4. Wes Gilbert, 5. Mike Renn
Dino Oberto
For Santee, of Walnutport, he turned around weeks of frustration including earlier in the night when he had clutch issues during his heat. It marked the first time in three seasons he came out on top of a Modified feature.
He started fifth and within four laps began to wage a good battle with Don Wagner. Then after a restart on lap 10 he shot past for the lead. Wagner stayed on him until lap 18. Thereafter Santee was joined by the other top five point men and they would all run in close formation to the end.
“The last couple weeks my car was struggling and my crew busted their tails off this past week. Early today we came up for practice and blew a tire and then we had trouble with the clutch slipping during our heat (race). We even thought about scratching to the rear for the feature but decided to just go out and run as best we can,” explained Santee. “It is an awesome feeling to finally get back to winning. I love this place.”
Terry Markovic led the first two laps before being upstaged by Wagner on a lap three restart. Santee was then all over Wagner and thus began their dogfight. Wagner was having one of his better nights of the season and seemed to have Santee under cover despite the nonstop efforts. And while the front two fought for the lead, close at hand were Paules, Kevin Rex and point leader George.
On the tenth of 35 laps the third and final caution was out. When the green reappeared Santee was able to ride the high line around Wagner and assume the lead. The rest of the race was run caution free.
Paules worked hard in getting by Wagner which took until lap 19 and one circuit later saw Beers, George and Coss enter into the picture. Paules and Beers then went wheel-to-wheel while glued to Santee’s rear bumper.
With ten laps to go second spot was secured by Beers and from there on he would give Santee fits. He looked both high and low and even tried to take advantage of lapped traffic but each time Santee defended his position.
“I saw twice someone stick their nose in there and I couldn’t tell who it was. Just ahead was (lapped car) Lou Strohl and he was running strong enough that I was afraid to go to the outside because my clutch was slipping and I didn’t want to take that chance. I had no choice on the last few laps. I actually used him (Strohl) as my shield so nobody would have a shot to get around me,” noted Santee.
“I’m glad it was Eric (Beers) who was behind me. He ran a good clean race. He actually helped me out this week and gave me some pointers. He told me to go back to the basics. He’s a great friend. I want to thank him, my crew and especially my dad, this was for him on Father’s Day.”
Markovic and Beers notched heat wins.
Lehighton’s Kevin Graver, Jr., has won a lot of races at Mahoning Valley and in several divisions. Now he can also add a Late Model victory to his impressive list.
He’s a rookie this season with the class but showed his years of experience as he led every lap and with relative ease. Graver started second and out-dueled pole sitter George Ramos at the outset. He then pulled far enough ahead that runner-up Earl Paules could not mount much of a challenge. The race was reeled off without any cautions.
For Graver it marked his 38th overall career win which tied for fourth on the track’s all-time win list.
Heats wins went to Graver and Frankie Althouse.
Jason Beers of Northampton picked up his first win of the season with the Street Stocks. He started sixth and had bide his time in getting to the front as BJ Wambold and Aaron Kromer were holding down spots one and two in a torrid battle during the first dozen laps.
Thanks to a caution on lap 11 Beers was able to advance to third place and on the restart muscle his way to the front. Five laps later he was in the midst of a great contest with Jillian Long who at one point raced past him for the lead but unfortunately for her was called back thanks to a caution.
Beers made certain that would not happen again as he remained strong the rest of the way. Lonnie Behler got a season best second with Gene Bowers third. Wambold, Beers and Kromer collected heat wins while Justin Mooney annexed the consi.
In the Dirt Mods it was Ricky Yetter of Easton finally busting through for his first win of the season. Yetter has been fast and regularly amongst the front runners all year but could never close the deal when it counted most.
On this night the popular wheelman of the Brown Daub KIA No. 5 had everything go his way as he drove 20 perfect laps as the race leader in a caution free time of 3:47.589. Point leader Jeff Parker was second and Dave Thomas third.
Heat winners were JP Curry and Parker.
Kyle Strohl of Palmerton took the lead after a lap four restart from Danielle Paules and then held off Jake Kibler for his third Pro4 win of the season. Strohl also won his heat as did Dave Chapman.
Jeff Biegley of Breinigsville just edged Cory Edelman in the Hobby Stock main which was his fifth win of the year.
Ron Merlino, Jr., of Franklinville, NJ picked up the win with the 4c Super Mods.
Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps): 1. Chip Santee, 2. Eric Beers, 3. Earl Paules, 4. Nevin George, 5. Roger Coss, 6. Don Wagner, 7. Kevin Rex, Jr., 8. Matt Wentz, 9. Todd Baer, 10. Kris Graver, 11. Shawn Sitarchyk, 12. Terry Markovic, 13. Paul Frantz, 14. Lou Strohl, 15. DJ Wagner, 16. John Markovic, Troy Bollinger, 18. Tom Flanagan, 19. Bryan Sherwood
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Kevin Graver, Jr., 2. Earl Paules, 3. Paul Effrig, 4. Mike VanFossen, 5. Mike Sweeney, 6. Frankie Althouse, 7. George Ramos, 8. Kenny Hein, 9. Geno Steigerwalt, 10. Jennifer Kutz
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Jason Beers, 2. Lonnie Behler, 3. Gene Bowers, 4. Jillian Long, 5. Chip Wanamaker, 6. Justin Mooney, 7. BJ Wambold, 8. Steve Steigerwalt, 9. Jason Frey, 10. TJ Gursky, 11. Stacey Brown, 12. Jamie Smith, 13. Randy Ahner, Jr., 14. Aaron Kromer, 15. Zach Graver, 16. Kyle Strohl, 17. Jonathan Tracy, 18. Kristy Arthofer, 19. Josh Mooney, 20. Todd Ahner21. Jason Kuhn
DNQ: Joe Mooney, Joe Roberts, Willie Knappenberger, Cody Roth, Tiffany Wambold, Guy Ackerman, Cody Geist
Dirt Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Ricky Yetter, 2. Jeff Parker, 3. Dave Thomas, 4. Aleia Geisler, 5. JP Curry, 6. Mike Stofflet, 7. Mark Martini, 8. Bill Sittler, 9. Joe Stangle, 10. Drew Reinbold, 11. Ray Deemer
Pro4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Kyle Strohl, 2. Jake Kibler, 3. Dave Chapman, 4. Nick Baer, 5. Bobby Kibler, Jr., 6. Danielle Paules, 7. Cody Kohler, 8. Tyler Stangle, 9. Dou Knauss, 10. Robert Miller
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (15 Laps): 1. Jeff Biegley, 2. Cory Edelman, 3. Gunner Yost
4C Super Modified Feature Finish, (15 Laps): 1. Ron Merlino, Jr., 2. Bob Renn, 3. Steve Renn, 4. Wes Gilbert, 5. Mike Renn
Dino Oberto