RGeeProductions
10-09-2016, 03:27 PM
Mike Sweeney is best again in Late Models
After Todd Baer passed Terry Markovic on lap three, he then kept his foot planted on the gas and held on the rest of the way for his first win of the year while giving car owner Robert Wagner his first ever victory in Saturday night’s Modified feature at Mahoning Valley Speedway.
What was even more adding to the night’s win was the fact that Baer’s son, Nick, was his main opponent for most of the race and they were in a position to make track history as the first father/son dual to finish one-two in a Modified main at Mahoning.
However, on the final lap N. Baer got a nudge from behind and slipped out of line. That opening allowed Kyle Strohl to sneak in and take the runner-up spot while Eric Beers, who had clinched the 2016 class championship, third. N. Baer rebounded to finish fourth, which was his best finish in a Modified, while Don Wagner rounded out the top five.
T. Baer, once in front, was not only engaged in a torrid fight with his son but likewise with Jack Ely. Those two rookies put much pressure on the leader while swapping back and forth for second spot. Although they each tried numerous times to wheel around T. Baer, the veteran stayed on course to the checkers.
“We were getting a little nervous because we are going on 20 years of winning at least one race a season and we got in right down to the end,” said Baer.
“I felt someone behind me and I never knew it was Nick (Baer). The car was great and this was awesome to get the win for Robert Wagner in such a short period of time.”
For much of the race it resembled pack style racing as the entire front group was huddled closely together. As T. Baer did his part in protecting the lead, side-by-side and at times 3-wide action was going on in plentiful amounts which made for a white-knuckle race. It was that in part that allowed Strohl his runner-up spot.
“It was a very hard fought race,” admitted Strohl. “Had it not been for Nick (Baer) getting a little squirrely coming out of that final turn on the last lap I would have never been here.”
The evening’s racing marked the final day of points although for some classes there will be an additional 100 show-up points to be awarded on October 22 for the season finale Octoberfast 2016.
The Jennifer Kutz Flanagan Memorial 42 took place for the Late Models and making a huge statement towards the 2016 division championship was Mike Sweeney who went on to notch the victory and assure himself as this year’s titlist.
Sweeney just needs to take the green at Octoberfast, which he is the defending race winner, to officially earn the right as Late Model champion.
On the fourth lap Sweeney blasted past Lorin Arthofer II and from there on would leave everyone in his wake. With a long stretch of green flag laps Sweeney had built as much as a half lap lead. And, despite a caution that wiped it all away midway through the race, he had no trouble in once again maintaining himself as the premier car of the night as he again pulled away from his closet pursuer, Paul Koehler Jr., and scored his seventh win of the season.
Jacob Kerstetter had an excellent run to capture third spot while Frankie Althouse and Chris Anderson completed the top five. The race had lap money put together by the family of the late Jennifer Kutz Flannigan that was nicely disbursed throughout the field.
“First of all I want to thank the Kutz family for putting on this race. They raised a lot of lap money and we all miss Jennifer so I really want to thank them,” said Sweeney.
“The car was good tonight and just as it is has been all season. My guys are the reason behind that too. The hard work and dedication in the shop paid off and this was the goal, to win this championship. We gave up some points in the last couple weeks so we made sure we came out tonight and did everything correctly. I had to hit my marks and remember what we were racing for.”
The Street Stock feature was a barnburner that saw Jon Moser pull off a thrilling last corner pass on Rick Reichenbach.
Jamie Smith and Reichenbach had been locked in a solid one-two battle for the lead with Smith showing the way for most of the time. However, in the final nine laps Smith and Reichenbach went back and forth with the lead until five laps to go. At that point Reichenbach had the front spot but barely.
Hovering quite closely was Moser who was then able to squeeze by Smith on the final lap and then continued to charge at Reichenbach. As they reached the final turn Moser made a lunge to the inside. Despite some paint swapping he held on and took the very exciting win, his third of the year.
The Dirt Modified feature was the final show for the class and coming into the 25-lapper it was a winner take all for the championship between Billy Lasko and Ricky Yetter as three points was all that separated them.
Taking full advantage of his upfront starting spot, Yetter blasted into the lead at the drop of the green and from there on never looked back. He not only garnered his fifth win of the year but earned his second straight championship.
Josh Scherer capped off his run to the Pro 4 title in style by winning for a seventh time. Scherer took the lead after front runners Bobby Kibler Jr., and Jake Kibler collided on lap 13. Scherer, who was in the thick of the battle with that pair, narrowly escaped that wreck. He then held off Cody Kohler the rest of the way en route to his career first title.
13-year old Avery Arthofer proved herself yet again as the talented rookie driver won her second Hobby Stock feature of the season. Arthofer grabbed the lead at the outset and then held off a determined Shayne Geist.
Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps): 1. Todd Baer, 2. Kyle Strohl, 3. Eric Beers, 4.Nick Baer, 5. Don Wagner, 6. Jack Ely, 7. Earl Paules, 8. Terry Markovic, 9. John Markovic, 10. DJ Wagner, 11. Joey Jarowicz, 12. Bobby Jones, 13. Ed Simon
Late Model Feature Finish (42 Laps): 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Paul Koehler Jr., 3. Jacob Kerstetter, 4. Frankie Althouse, 5. Chris Anderson, 6. Lorin Arthofer, 7. Jacob Nemeth, 8. Broc Brown, 9. George Ramos, 10. Kenny Hein, 11. Jeremy Miller, 12. Ryan Green, 13. Robbie Kutz, 14. George Ramos
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Jon Moser, 2. Rick Reichenbach, 3. Jared Ahner, 4. Jason Frey, 5. Jamie Smith, 6. Zach Graver, 7. Corey Edelman, 8. Josh Mooney, 9. Randy Ahner Jr., 10. Stacey Brown, 11. Jason Kuhn, 12. Todd Ahner, 13. Dan Freundt, 14. Mark Deysher, 15. Greg Long, 16. Dennis Buss, 17. BJ Wambold, 18. Kevin Weierbach
Dirt Mod Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Ricky Yetter, 2. Billy Lasko, 3. Ray Deemer, 4. Frank Parastino, 5. Charles Sabella
Pro 4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Josh Scherer, 2. Cody Kohler, 3. Johnny Bennett, 4. Jake Kibler, 5. Bobby Kibler Jr., 6. Chris Kuronya, 7. Kailyn Beers, 8. Joe Stangle
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Avery Arthofer, 2. Shayne Geist, 3. Rich Mutarelli, 4.Ken Reeder, 5. Jesse Strohl, 6. Michael Wambold, 7. Cody Geist, 8. Austin Beers, 9. Kevin Behler, 10. Jeff Biegley, 11. Ryan Berger, 12. Tiffany Wambold, 13. Nicholas Kerstetter, 14. Robert Yelsits, 15. Travis Nothstein, 16. Travis Solomon
Dino Oberto
After Todd Baer passed Terry Markovic on lap three, he then kept his foot planted on the gas and held on the rest of the way for his first win of the year while giving car owner Robert Wagner his first ever victory in Saturday night’s Modified feature at Mahoning Valley Speedway.
What was even more adding to the night’s win was the fact that Baer’s son, Nick, was his main opponent for most of the race and they were in a position to make track history as the first father/son dual to finish one-two in a Modified main at Mahoning.
However, on the final lap N. Baer got a nudge from behind and slipped out of line. That opening allowed Kyle Strohl to sneak in and take the runner-up spot while Eric Beers, who had clinched the 2016 class championship, third. N. Baer rebounded to finish fourth, which was his best finish in a Modified, while Don Wagner rounded out the top five.
T. Baer, once in front, was not only engaged in a torrid fight with his son but likewise with Jack Ely. Those two rookies put much pressure on the leader while swapping back and forth for second spot. Although they each tried numerous times to wheel around T. Baer, the veteran stayed on course to the checkers.
“We were getting a little nervous because we are going on 20 years of winning at least one race a season and we got in right down to the end,” said Baer.
“I felt someone behind me and I never knew it was Nick (Baer). The car was great and this was awesome to get the win for Robert Wagner in such a short period of time.”
For much of the race it resembled pack style racing as the entire front group was huddled closely together. As T. Baer did his part in protecting the lead, side-by-side and at times 3-wide action was going on in plentiful amounts which made for a white-knuckle race. It was that in part that allowed Strohl his runner-up spot.
“It was a very hard fought race,” admitted Strohl. “Had it not been for Nick (Baer) getting a little squirrely coming out of that final turn on the last lap I would have never been here.”
The evening’s racing marked the final day of points although for some classes there will be an additional 100 show-up points to be awarded on October 22 for the season finale Octoberfast 2016.
The Jennifer Kutz Flanagan Memorial 42 took place for the Late Models and making a huge statement towards the 2016 division championship was Mike Sweeney who went on to notch the victory and assure himself as this year’s titlist.
Sweeney just needs to take the green at Octoberfast, which he is the defending race winner, to officially earn the right as Late Model champion.
On the fourth lap Sweeney blasted past Lorin Arthofer II and from there on would leave everyone in his wake. With a long stretch of green flag laps Sweeney had built as much as a half lap lead. And, despite a caution that wiped it all away midway through the race, he had no trouble in once again maintaining himself as the premier car of the night as he again pulled away from his closet pursuer, Paul Koehler Jr., and scored his seventh win of the season.
Jacob Kerstetter had an excellent run to capture third spot while Frankie Althouse and Chris Anderson completed the top five. The race had lap money put together by the family of the late Jennifer Kutz Flannigan that was nicely disbursed throughout the field.
“First of all I want to thank the Kutz family for putting on this race. They raised a lot of lap money and we all miss Jennifer so I really want to thank them,” said Sweeney.
“The car was good tonight and just as it is has been all season. My guys are the reason behind that too. The hard work and dedication in the shop paid off and this was the goal, to win this championship. We gave up some points in the last couple weeks so we made sure we came out tonight and did everything correctly. I had to hit my marks and remember what we were racing for.”
The Street Stock feature was a barnburner that saw Jon Moser pull off a thrilling last corner pass on Rick Reichenbach.
Jamie Smith and Reichenbach had been locked in a solid one-two battle for the lead with Smith showing the way for most of the time. However, in the final nine laps Smith and Reichenbach went back and forth with the lead until five laps to go. At that point Reichenbach had the front spot but barely.
Hovering quite closely was Moser who was then able to squeeze by Smith on the final lap and then continued to charge at Reichenbach. As they reached the final turn Moser made a lunge to the inside. Despite some paint swapping he held on and took the very exciting win, his third of the year.
The Dirt Modified feature was the final show for the class and coming into the 25-lapper it was a winner take all for the championship between Billy Lasko and Ricky Yetter as three points was all that separated them.
Taking full advantage of his upfront starting spot, Yetter blasted into the lead at the drop of the green and from there on never looked back. He not only garnered his fifth win of the year but earned his second straight championship.
Josh Scherer capped off his run to the Pro 4 title in style by winning for a seventh time. Scherer took the lead after front runners Bobby Kibler Jr., and Jake Kibler collided on lap 13. Scherer, who was in the thick of the battle with that pair, narrowly escaped that wreck. He then held off Cody Kohler the rest of the way en route to his career first title.
13-year old Avery Arthofer proved herself yet again as the talented rookie driver won her second Hobby Stock feature of the season. Arthofer grabbed the lead at the outset and then held off a determined Shayne Geist.
Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps): 1. Todd Baer, 2. Kyle Strohl, 3. Eric Beers, 4.Nick Baer, 5. Don Wagner, 6. Jack Ely, 7. Earl Paules, 8. Terry Markovic, 9. John Markovic, 10. DJ Wagner, 11. Joey Jarowicz, 12. Bobby Jones, 13. Ed Simon
Late Model Feature Finish (42 Laps): 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Paul Koehler Jr., 3. Jacob Kerstetter, 4. Frankie Althouse, 5. Chris Anderson, 6. Lorin Arthofer, 7. Jacob Nemeth, 8. Broc Brown, 9. George Ramos, 10. Kenny Hein, 11. Jeremy Miller, 12. Ryan Green, 13. Robbie Kutz, 14. George Ramos
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Jon Moser, 2. Rick Reichenbach, 3. Jared Ahner, 4. Jason Frey, 5. Jamie Smith, 6. Zach Graver, 7. Corey Edelman, 8. Josh Mooney, 9. Randy Ahner Jr., 10. Stacey Brown, 11. Jason Kuhn, 12. Todd Ahner, 13. Dan Freundt, 14. Mark Deysher, 15. Greg Long, 16. Dennis Buss, 17. BJ Wambold, 18. Kevin Weierbach
Dirt Mod Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Ricky Yetter, 2. Billy Lasko, 3. Ray Deemer, 4. Frank Parastino, 5. Charles Sabella
Pro 4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Josh Scherer, 2. Cody Kohler, 3. Johnny Bennett, 4. Jake Kibler, 5. Bobby Kibler Jr., 6. Chris Kuronya, 7. Kailyn Beers, 8. Joe Stangle
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Avery Arthofer, 2. Shayne Geist, 3. Rich Mutarelli, 4.Ken Reeder, 5. Jesse Strohl, 6. Michael Wambold, 7. Cody Geist, 8. Austin Beers, 9. Kevin Behler, 10. Jeff Biegley, 11. Ryan Berger, 12. Tiffany Wambold, 13. Nicholas Kerstetter, 14. Robert Yelsits, 15. Travis Nothstein, 16. Travis Solomon
Dino Oberto