RGeeProductions
04-24-2016, 10:31 AM
Mahoning Valley Speedway Late Model winner Paul Koehler Jr. zeroing in on milestone; Zach Graver, Tiff Wambold and Tom Arntz grab victories
Paul Koehler Jr., of Northampton bounced back from a dismal Opening Night and scored a thrilling win in the 25-lap Late Model feature that was a real nail-bitter.
Koehler, who started fourth, snagged the lead from Jacob Kerstetter on lap three and then had a rear bumper full of Mike Sweeney. By lap 15 the previous week winner and point leader Travis Fisher was part of the fray, leaving no room for error among the trio.
When it came time for the final lap, Koehler had to make his mount a bit wide as he had both sides occupied by the opposition. Sweeney from the top and Fisher charging low.
As the group came off turn four and headed towards the checkers, Koehler eked out the win by a mere .129-second margin of victory over Sweeney and .226-second ahead of Fisher.
The win moves the defending and four time champion one step closer to a milestone 50 Late Model wins. He is now just two shy of the mark.
“It felt wonderful,” said Koehler, who has 68 overall Late Model victories. “Our car wasn’t perfect but we did what we had to and we came out on top.
“The car wasn’t good in warmups and then in the heat so for the feature we made a big change with springs and wedge.”
For the second time in as many weeks Sweeney had to settle for second. Hs car has been very fast and it’s evident that his time to win is close at hand. Likewise Fisher came on like gangbusters in the closing laps to make the race a thriller.
“I knew that Mike (Sweeney) was alongside me in (turns) one and two on the white flag lap so I kind of went a little high to protect my lead,” said Koehler.
“Then I got a little shot at the end from Travis (Fisher) but I had to do what I could to protect my position. Luckily it all worked in the end.”
Loring Arthofer II and Frankie Althouse completed the top five.
For a second week in a row Lehighton’s Zach Graver once again showed his savvy of taking to the outside lane on his way to winning the Street Stock main.
Graver stormed from 14th on the grid and with just three laps to go zipped by race long leader George Ramos en route to securing the verdict.
Ramos did an outstanding job in showing the way from the outset and by far had his best outing since entering the class last season. He was strong throughout only Graver was a tad more strength when it counted.
Kristy Arthofer, Jason Frey and Josh Mooney rounded out the front five.
From the pole position Nazareth’s Tiff Wambold led all 20 laps of the Hobby Stock feature but by no means did it come easy.
Heading into the final laps Devon Schmidt and Kyle Scisco each tried to make their way by. They were side-by-side and three wide at time. Nothing doing however as the determined Wambold would not give in and the granddaughter of legendary George Wambold won by the blink of an eye over Schmidt with Scisco right there as well.
Tom Arntz raced to victory in the All-Star Slingshot 20 lap feature. Arntz blasted right to the lead from his pole starting spot and stayed the course the rest of the way over fast closing Dakota Kohler and Cody Kohler.
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Paul Koehler Jr., 2. Mike Sweeney, 3. Travis Fisher, 4. Lorin Arthofer II, 5. Frankie Althouse, 6. Jacob Kerstetter, 7. Troy Bollinger, 8. Geno Steigerwalt, 9. Josh Oswald, 10. JR Roth, 11. Jeremy Miller, 12. Kenny Hein, 13. Chris Anderson
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Zach Graver, 2. George Ramos, 3. Kristy Arthofer, 4. Jason Frey, 5. Josh Mooney, 6. Jason Kuhn, 7. Jared Ahner, 8. Jon Moser, 9. Corey Edelman, 10. Todd Ahner, 11. Justin Mooney, 12. Mark Martini, 13. Aaron Kromer, 14. Joe Stangle 15. Rick Reichenbach, 16. Randy Ahner Jr., 17. Greg Long. 18. Stacey Brown, 19. Jonathan Tracy, 20. Chip Wanamaker, 21. BJ Wambold DNQ: Jamie Smith, Logan Boyer, Mike Piechota, Kevin Weierbach, Dennis Buss
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Tiff Wambold, 2. Devon Schmidt, 3. Kyle Scisco, 4. Michael Wambold, 5. Jesse Strohl, 6. Rich Mutarelli, 7. Ken Reeder, 8. Seth VanFossen, 9. Avery Arthofer, 10. Randy Sicher, 11. Shayne Geist, 12. Austin Beers, 13. Colton Perry, 14. Nicholas Kerstetter, 15. Cody Geist, 16. Jeff Biegley, 17. Ryan Berger, 18. Dean Strohl Sr. DNS: Dean Strohl Jr.
All-Star Slingshot Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Tom Arntz, 2. Dakota Kohler, 3. Cody Kohler, 4. Joe Toth, 5. Matt Mertz, 6. Henry Anderson, 7. Hunter Smith
Dino Oberto
Paul Koehler Jr., of Northampton bounced back from a dismal Opening Night and scored a thrilling win in the 25-lap Late Model feature that was a real nail-bitter.
Koehler, who started fourth, snagged the lead from Jacob Kerstetter on lap three and then had a rear bumper full of Mike Sweeney. By lap 15 the previous week winner and point leader Travis Fisher was part of the fray, leaving no room for error among the trio.
When it came time for the final lap, Koehler had to make his mount a bit wide as he had both sides occupied by the opposition. Sweeney from the top and Fisher charging low.
As the group came off turn four and headed towards the checkers, Koehler eked out the win by a mere .129-second margin of victory over Sweeney and .226-second ahead of Fisher.
The win moves the defending and four time champion one step closer to a milestone 50 Late Model wins. He is now just two shy of the mark.
“It felt wonderful,” said Koehler, who has 68 overall Late Model victories. “Our car wasn’t perfect but we did what we had to and we came out on top.
“The car wasn’t good in warmups and then in the heat so for the feature we made a big change with springs and wedge.”
For the second time in as many weeks Sweeney had to settle for second. Hs car has been very fast and it’s evident that his time to win is close at hand. Likewise Fisher came on like gangbusters in the closing laps to make the race a thriller.
“I knew that Mike (Sweeney) was alongside me in (turns) one and two on the white flag lap so I kind of went a little high to protect my lead,” said Koehler.
“Then I got a little shot at the end from Travis (Fisher) but I had to do what I could to protect my position. Luckily it all worked in the end.”
Loring Arthofer II and Frankie Althouse completed the top five.
For a second week in a row Lehighton’s Zach Graver once again showed his savvy of taking to the outside lane on his way to winning the Street Stock main.
Graver stormed from 14th on the grid and with just three laps to go zipped by race long leader George Ramos en route to securing the verdict.
Ramos did an outstanding job in showing the way from the outset and by far had his best outing since entering the class last season. He was strong throughout only Graver was a tad more strength when it counted.
Kristy Arthofer, Jason Frey and Josh Mooney rounded out the front five.
From the pole position Nazareth’s Tiff Wambold led all 20 laps of the Hobby Stock feature but by no means did it come easy.
Heading into the final laps Devon Schmidt and Kyle Scisco each tried to make their way by. They were side-by-side and three wide at time. Nothing doing however as the determined Wambold would not give in and the granddaughter of legendary George Wambold won by the blink of an eye over Schmidt with Scisco right there as well.
Tom Arntz raced to victory in the All-Star Slingshot 20 lap feature. Arntz blasted right to the lead from his pole starting spot and stayed the course the rest of the way over fast closing Dakota Kohler and Cody Kohler.
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Paul Koehler Jr., 2. Mike Sweeney, 3. Travis Fisher, 4. Lorin Arthofer II, 5. Frankie Althouse, 6. Jacob Kerstetter, 7. Troy Bollinger, 8. Geno Steigerwalt, 9. Josh Oswald, 10. JR Roth, 11. Jeremy Miller, 12. Kenny Hein, 13. Chris Anderson
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Zach Graver, 2. George Ramos, 3. Kristy Arthofer, 4. Jason Frey, 5. Josh Mooney, 6. Jason Kuhn, 7. Jared Ahner, 8. Jon Moser, 9. Corey Edelman, 10. Todd Ahner, 11. Justin Mooney, 12. Mark Martini, 13. Aaron Kromer, 14. Joe Stangle 15. Rick Reichenbach, 16. Randy Ahner Jr., 17. Greg Long. 18. Stacey Brown, 19. Jonathan Tracy, 20. Chip Wanamaker, 21. BJ Wambold DNQ: Jamie Smith, Logan Boyer, Mike Piechota, Kevin Weierbach, Dennis Buss
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Tiff Wambold, 2. Devon Schmidt, 3. Kyle Scisco, 4. Michael Wambold, 5. Jesse Strohl, 6. Rich Mutarelli, 7. Ken Reeder, 8. Seth VanFossen, 9. Avery Arthofer, 10. Randy Sicher, 11. Shayne Geist, 12. Austin Beers, 13. Colton Perry, 14. Nicholas Kerstetter, 15. Cody Geist, 16. Jeff Biegley, 17. Ryan Berger, 18. Dean Strohl Sr. DNS: Dean Strohl Jr.
All-Star Slingshot Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Tom Arntz, 2. Dakota Kohler, 3. Cody Kohler, 4. Joe Toth, 5. Matt Mertz, 6. Henry Anderson, 7. Hunter Smith
Dino Oberto