10/29/17 - Mahoning Valley Octoberfast wild Late Model main to Lorin Arthofer

Todd Ahner and Todd Geist tops in Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks


Mahoning Valley Speedway’s Octoberfast 2017 was well rounded by the Late Models, Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks which provided fans with an abundance of exciting feature races.

There was the Late Model 60 which ended in a wild multi-car tangle and photo finish that saw Lorin Arthofer II cross the line backwards and just ahead of Frankie Althouse.

The Street Stock 75 race came down to a pair of veteran stars going nose-to-tail at the checkers. Todd Ahner held off determined Mark Deysher for his first win in two years.

Capping off the amazing night was the Hobby Stock 50. Long time Mahoning fixture Todd Geist used his years of experience to hold back first time starter Austin Gustafson for the victory.

In the Late Model show it seemed evident that leading was a tough spot to hold onto. Frankie Althouse and 2017 champion Mike Sweeney exchanged the helm while being closely pursued by Broc Brown. This trio put on a dazzling battle as the laps clicked on.

After Sweeney went back to the front on lap 36 the next time around Althouse was being strained from behind which caused him to be pushed underneath Sweeney’s back bumper and nearly lifting his Ford’s rear wheels of the ground. While trying to save from spinning Sweeney drifted high on the back straight and hit the wall. Officials deemed there was help from Arthofer.

The race was over for the reigning Octoberfast champ while Arthofer went to the rear for the restart. Leading when the action got back underway was Althouse but it would only last four laps as Brown made contact and both cars went to the back afterwards.

Geno Steigerwalt was now at the front and a lap later George Ramos was shown as the leader. That was also short lived too as Arthofer had charged back and took advantage of a lap 43 restart to move ahead, bringing Brown with him.

From then on it was a nip and tuck battle until the fateful last lap. As Arthofer was holding back Brown, Althouse was able to slip by third running Jacob Kerstetter and that’s when the gloves came off.

Brown tried to go under Arthofer in turn four and the process all heck broke loose. Arthofer lost control and went sideways while Brown was hard on the breaks. Althouse drove the very top of the track to avoid the mayhem.

Coming to the stripe all eyes watched in awe as Arthofer was nearly turned backwards. Brown was still trying to go low while Althouse remained topside. As they crossed the line scoring showed Arthofer with the very slight advantage and was deemed the winner.

More chaos followed as cars where spinning and wrecking in the confusion. After the dust settled Victory Lane went on with winner Arthofer, however, Althouse protested the outcome. After further in detail review the ruling stayed in favor of Arthofer.

Brown, unfortunately, was placed in last spot for an after race incident in the pits.

In the Street Stock event Shayne Geist was making a statement with a solid hold on the lead as he showed the way and with authority over the first 52 laps.

But, Deysher was turning up the pressure and thanks to a restart on the 52nd go, he unseated Geist for the lead. The two-time class champ was now in position to earn his first win of the season but Ahner, who was also trying to end a winless streak, had his sights set on the same big prize.

Ahner stayed glued to Deysher until four laps to go when he worked inside and picked up the lead and win. Deysher would have to settle for second with Geist third.

The Hobby Stock 50-lapper began with champion Austin Beers in command. Handily Beers was making this a race for second but as the 29th lap rolled around he developed a flat which allowed first time starter Gustafson to pick up the lead.

In second spot was Todd Geist who was biding his time against the newcomer. On lap 32 he waited no longer and drove to inside of Gustafson. The rest of the way Geist showed his years of experience as he steadily kept ahead for the checkers.

Gustafson, the 2017 Chemung Speedrone 4-Cylinder champion, took a very respectable runner up in. Shawn Kistler, Michael Wambold and Beers completed the top five.



Late Model Feature Finish (60 Laps): 1. Lorin Arthofer II, 2. Frankie Althouse, 3. Geno Steigerwalt, 4. Austin Santee, 5. Jeremy Miller, 6. Jacob Kerstetter, 7. George Ramos, 8. Brandon Turbush, 9. Mike Sweeney, 10. Dylan Osborn, 11. Kenny Hein, 12. Broc Brown



Street Stock Feature Finish (75 Laps): 1. Todd Ahner, 2. Mark Deysher, 3. Shayne Geist, 4. Aaron Kromer, 5. Stacey Brown, 6. Alan Schlenker, 7. Jared Ahner, 8. Rick Reichenbach, 9. Corey Edelman, 10. Zach Graver, 11. Josh Mooney, 12. BJ Wambold, 13. Jamie Smith, 14. Ken Erney III, 15. Cody Geist, 16. Jillian Long, 17. Kevin smith



Hobby Stock Feature Finish (50 Laps): 1. Todd Geist, 2. Jacob Gustafson, 3. Shawn Kistler, 4. Michael Wambold, 5. Austin Beers, 6. Justin Merkel, 7. Jack Ely, 8. Avery Arthofer, 9. Ryan Berger, 10. Ken Reeder, 11. Travis Solomon, 12. Al Arthofer, 13. Lyndsay Buss, 14. Colton Breiner, 15. Jeremy Guerra, 16. Cody Geist, 17. Rich Mutarelli, 18. Beau Drobot, 19. Corey Edelman, 20. Tucker Muffley, 21. Samantha Osborn, 22. Shaye Geist DNQ: Kevin Kruczek, Arland Moyer Jr.



Dino Oberto