RGeeProductions
10-24-2016, 09:12 AM
Mike Sweeney, Justin Mooney, Devin Schmidt, Seth Spayd are Mahoning Valley Speedway Octoberfast winners
Newly crowned Mahoning Valley Speedway Late Model champion Mike Sweeney of Nesquehoning capped off his season with a decisive victory during the 60-lap/$1500-to-win feature in Saturday’s Octoberfast 2016.
Also notching Octoberfast verdicts were Justin Mooney in the Street Stocks, Devin Schmidt with the Hobby Stocks and Seth Spayd in the All-Star Slingshots.
Sweeney, who was the reigning Octoberfast champion, drew the pole position for the start of the race with 13-year old sensation Broc Brown alongside.
However, at the drop of starter Bobby Stull’s race commencing green, Sweeney quickly made it his to loose. Jumping out to the lead he was able to put everyone far enough behind and let them sort out those positions.
Brown was near to Sweeney in the early going but once Frankie Althouse came upon him to battle for second, it allowed the leader an added advantage in gaining distance on them and the pack.
When the race reached the midway point Sweeney was now in his own league with as much as a five second lead.
Meanwhile there remained a close battle for second. Althouse had taken over runner-up with Paul Koehler Jr., Brown and Don Wagner all under a blanket.
With 20 laps to run a caution was out which would erase a nice lead of Sweeney. On the restart Wagner, who had just run 150 laps in his Modified, was second and as the resumption he was able to give Sweeney a nice battle, not for long, however.
Sweeney soon kicked in the after burners and ran away to his class leading eighth win of the year.
“We were here today for one reason and one reason only and it was mission completed said Sweeney after scoring his 46th overall career win.
“The car was really good and with the luck of the draw we started on the pole but I feel we had a decent car to win no matter where we started.”
Brown came on strong to finish second with Wagner, Chris Anderson an Althouse completing the top five.
In the 75-lap Street Stock main Justin Mooney inherited the lead when front runners Jason Kuhn and Zach Graver collided on lap 52. Once in front he was smooth and steady as he held off a hard charging Mark Martini and Jason Frey for his first win of the season.
Jon Moser scooted out to the early lead and set a good pace while holding off Aaron Kromer who was glued to his rear bumper.
Just prior to lap 50 the caution was out and Kromer used that restart of motor inside Moser for the lead. However, Moser stayed right with him and would rebound back to the front on the next go-around. Running near side-by-side, they made contact and went spinning. Officials then sent both to the rear for the restart.
15th starting Graver was now at the lead with Kuhn alongside and it would soon become a fierce battle. On lap 52 Kuhn edged into the lead from the outside lane. Not giving in Graver was working feverously to regain the spot back.
As they made their way into turn two Graver suddenly veered into Kuhn and both cars ended up crashing into the wall. Graver said he had a cut tire that caused his car to slide into Kuhn, however, there was an altercation afterwards as he left his car and headed into the driver’s window to confront Kuhn.
At this time track officials are closely reviewing the matter to determine the outcome which could ultimately cost him the class championship. Graver was DQ’d as per track rules for exiting his car while on the race track.
Mooney, third at the time, advanced to number one where he then fought hard the rest of the way. Moser and Stacey Brown rounded the top five.
“I feel bad for Jason Kuhn because that’s who should have won this race,” said Mooney. “It should have been him here and not me. One guy just seemed to turn right and put the other guy in the wall for no reason. That’s what I saw.”
This was the 13th career win for Mooney but first since 2011. The victory netted him $1500. It was also the second year in a row that a Mooney won the Street Stock portion of Octoberfast as his brother, Josh Mooney won last year’s show.
“It was a great race and it’s been way to long since we last won. Mark (Martini) ran me real clean which he always does. This was the best the car was all year and I have to thank my family for all the help and it’s good to keep our name as Octoberfast winners,” added Mooney.
In the Hobby Stocks Devin Schmidt put on a vigorous duel with Travis Solomon for the better part of 30 of the 40 lap run as they went side-by-side over most of that span.
Schmidt, who was racing on the topside, finally eked ahead for good with 10 laps to go and went on to score his second win of the season and $500 plus contingencies in the process.
Avery Arthofer came on strong in the final laps and scored runner-up honors while Solomon, Michael Wambold and Corey Edelman completed the top five.
In the All-Star Slingshots event there was no denying the impressive performance of first time Mahoning starter Seth Spayd who led every lap of the Roundy-Round 20.
Despite an impressive field of cars, Spayd showed he was the one to beat from the get-go after winning a set of heats that included him setting a new track record. In the main he started P-1 and would never look back. Dakota Kohler was second with Chris Kurtz third.
Late Model Feature Finish (60 Laps): 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Broc Brown, 3. Don Wagner, 4. Chris Anderson, 5. Frankie Althouse, 6. Jeremy Miller, 7. Geno Steigerwalt, 8. George Ramos, 9. Jacob Nemeth, 10. Mitch Hawk, 11. Lorin Arthofer II, 12. Jacob Kerstetter, 13. Rich Cooper, 14. Paul Koehler Jr., 15. Kenny Hein, 16. Travis Fisher
Street Stock Feature Finish (75 Laps): 1. Justin Mooney, 2 Mark Martini, 3. Jason Frey, 4. Jon Moser, 5. Stacey Brown, 6. Todd Ahner, 7. Corey Edelman, 8. Josh Mooney, 9. Jared Ahner, 10. Greg Long, 11. Aaron Kromer, 12. Dan Freundt, 13. Randy Ahner Jr., 14. Chip Wanamaker, 15. Logan Boyer, 16. Jonathan Tracy, 17. Jamie Smith, 18. Dennis Buss, 19. Rick Reichenbach, 20. Steve Hoffman, 21. Jason Kuhn DQ: Zach Graver DNQ: Eric Danyluk, Justin Morgan, Alan Miller
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (40 Laps): 1.Devin Schmidt, 2. Avery Arthofer, 3. Travis Solomon, 4. Michael Wambold, 5. Corey Edelman, 6. Rich Mutarelli, 7. Ryan Berger, 8. Austin Beers, 9. Blake Barney, 10. Cody Geist, 11. BJ Wambold, 12. Nicholas Kerstetter, 13. Shayne Geist, 14. Cody Kohler, 15. Jake Kibler 16. Ken Reeder, 17. Lyndsay Buss, 19. Jeff Biegley, 20. Seth VanFossen DNS: Tiffany Wambold
All Star Slingshots Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Seth Spayd, 2. Dakota Kohler, 3. Chris Kutz, 4. Brett Bieber, 5. Anthony Raisner, 6. Dale Kober, 7. Tyler Peet, 8. Cody Kline, 9. Austin Silfee, 10. Dylan Hoch, 11. Bobby Jones, 12. Kyle Herve, 13. Chris Gall, 14. CJ Fritz, 15. Henry Anderson, 16. Alex Yankowski, 17. Joe Toth, 18. Matt Mertz
Dino Oberto
Newly crowned Mahoning Valley Speedway Late Model champion Mike Sweeney of Nesquehoning capped off his season with a decisive victory during the 60-lap/$1500-to-win feature in Saturday’s Octoberfast 2016.
Also notching Octoberfast verdicts were Justin Mooney in the Street Stocks, Devin Schmidt with the Hobby Stocks and Seth Spayd in the All-Star Slingshots.
Sweeney, who was the reigning Octoberfast champion, drew the pole position for the start of the race with 13-year old sensation Broc Brown alongside.
However, at the drop of starter Bobby Stull’s race commencing green, Sweeney quickly made it his to loose. Jumping out to the lead he was able to put everyone far enough behind and let them sort out those positions.
Brown was near to Sweeney in the early going but once Frankie Althouse came upon him to battle for second, it allowed the leader an added advantage in gaining distance on them and the pack.
When the race reached the midway point Sweeney was now in his own league with as much as a five second lead.
Meanwhile there remained a close battle for second. Althouse had taken over runner-up with Paul Koehler Jr., Brown and Don Wagner all under a blanket.
With 20 laps to run a caution was out which would erase a nice lead of Sweeney. On the restart Wagner, who had just run 150 laps in his Modified, was second and as the resumption he was able to give Sweeney a nice battle, not for long, however.
Sweeney soon kicked in the after burners and ran away to his class leading eighth win of the year.
“We were here today for one reason and one reason only and it was mission completed said Sweeney after scoring his 46th overall career win.
“The car was really good and with the luck of the draw we started on the pole but I feel we had a decent car to win no matter where we started.”
Brown came on strong to finish second with Wagner, Chris Anderson an Althouse completing the top five.
In the 75-lap Street Stock main Justin Mooney inherited the lead when front runners Jason Kuhn and Zach Graver collided on lap 52. Once in front he was smooth and steady as he held off a hard charging Mark Martini and Jason Frey for his first win of the season.
Jon Moser scooted out to the early lead and set a good pace while holding off Aaron Kromer who was glued to his rear bumper.
Just prior to lap 50 the caution was out and Kromer used that restart of motor inside Moser for the lead. However, Moser stayed right with him and would rebound back to the front on the next go-around. Running near side-by-side, they made contact and went spinning. Officials then sent both to the rear for the restart.
15th starting Graver was now at the lead with Kuhn alongside and it would soon become a fierce battle. On lap 52 Kuhn edged into the lead from the outside lane. Not giving in Graver was working feverously to regain the spot back.
As they made their way into turn two Graver suddenly veered into Kuhn and both cars ended up crashing into the wall. Graver said he had a cut tire that caused his car to slide into Kuhn, however, there was an altercation afterwards as he left his car and headed into the driver’s window to confront Kuhn.
At this time track officials are closely reviewing the matter to determine the outcome which could ultimately cost him the class championship. Graver was DQ’d as per track rules for exiting his car while on the race track.
Mooney, third at the time, advanced to number one where he then fought hard the rest of the way. Moser and Stacey Brown rounded the top five.
“I feel bad for Jason Kuhn because that’s who should have won this race,” said Mooney. “It should have been him here and not me. One guy just seemed to turn right and put the other guy in the wall for no reason. That’s what I saw.”
This was the 13th career win for Mooney but first since 2011. The victory netted him $1500. It was also the second year in a row that a Mooney won the Street Stock portion of Octoberfast as his brother, Josh Mooney won last year’s show.
“It was a great race and it’s been way to long since we last won. Mark (Martini) ran me real clean which he always does. This was the best the car was all year and I have to thank my family for all the help and it’s good to keep our name as Octoberfast winners,” added Mooney.
In the Hobby Stocks Devin Schmidt put on a vigorous duel with Travis Solomon for the better part of 30 of the 40 lap run as they went side-by-side over most of that span.
Schmidt, who was racing on the topside, finally eked ahead for good with 10 laps to go and went on to score his second win of the season and $500 plus contingencies in the process.
Avery Arthofer came on strong in the final laps and scored runner-up honors while Solomon, Michael Wambold and Corey Edelman completed the top five.
In the All-Star Slingshots event there was no denying the impressive performance of first time Mahoning starter Seth Spayd who led every lap of the Roundy-Round 20.
Despite an impressive field of cars, Spayd showed he was the one to beat from the get-go after winning a set of heats that included him setting a new track record. In the main he started P-1 and would never look back. Dakota Kohler was second with Chris Kurtz third.
Late Model Feature Finish (60 Laps): 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Broc Brown, 3. Don Wagner, 4. Chris Anderson, 5. Frankie Althouse, 6. Jeremy Miller, 7. Geno Steigerwalt, 8. George Ramos, 9. Jacob Nemeth, 10. Mitch Hawk, 11. Lorin Arthofer II, 12. Jacob Kerstetter, 13. Rich Cooper, 14. Paul Koehler Jr., 15. Kenny Hein, 16. Travis Fisher
Street Stock Feature Finish (75 Laps): 1. Justin Mooney, 2 Mark Martini, 3. Jason Frey, 4. Jon Moser, 5. Stacey Brown, 6. Todd Ahner, 7. Corey Edelman, 8. Josh Mooney, 9. Jared Ahner, 10. Greg Long, 11. Aaron Kromer, 12. Dan Freundt, 13. Randy Ahner Jr., 14. Chip Wanamaker, 15. Logan Boyer, 16. Jonathan Tracy, 17. Jamie Smith, 18. Dennis Buss, 19. Rick Reichenbach, 20. Steve Hoffman, 21. Jason Kuhn DQ: Zach Graver DNQ: Eric Danyluk, Justin Morgan, Alan Miller
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (40 Laps): 1.Devin Schmidt, 2. Avery Arthofer, 3. Travis Solomon, 4. Michael Wambold, 5. Corey Edelman, 6. Rich Mutarelli, 7. Ryan Berger, 8. Austin Beers, 9. Blake Barney, 10. Cody Geist, 11. BJ Wambold, 12. Nicholas Kerstetter, 13. Shayne Geist, 14. Cody Kohler, 15. Jake Kibler 16. Ken Reeder, 17. Lyndsay Buss, 19. Jeff Biegley, 20. Seth VanFossen DNS: Tiffany Wambold
All Star Slingshots Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Seth Spayd, 2. Dakota Kohler, 3. Chris Kutz, 4. Brett Bieber, 5. Anthony Raisner, 6. Dale Kober, 7. Tyler Peet, 8. Cody Kline, 9. Austin Silfee, 10. Dylan Hoch, 11. Bobby Jones, 12. Kyle Herve, 13. Chris Gall, 14. CJ Fritz, 15. Henry Anderson, 16. Alex Yankowski, 17. Joe Toth, 18. Matt Mertz
Dino Oberto