By Kayla Peting
Patience Pays Off for Petrilak
By: Kayla Peting
Friday night show cased talent across all divisions as the season begins to come to a close. All five regular divisions were on the card plus the make up feature for the Gary’s U-Pull It 4 Cylinder class from July 1st. It was a night that was action packed and kept fans on the edge of their seats.
The Stafursky Paving Modifieds did not disappoint when it came to being filled with action. Mike Nagel Sr. and Travis Brockner would lead the field of 16 cars to the green flag. Brockner would gain the upperhand while Alex Stanton quickly stepped up to battle the 7M of Nagel Sr. for second. The two would battle door to door through turns one and two before Stanton would claim the spot. A little ways back Alan Rudalvage would battle with previous feature winner Darwin Greene Sr. for eighth. Rudalavage would make the low line work to his advantage as he claimed the spot. Points contender Dan Vauter would Rudalavage on the low lane and make his way into tenth place. Nick Petrilak would rise to the challenge of trying to claim second by battling with Stanton to chase down Brockner. Petrilak would use the preferred low line of the night to make his move around Stanton to take second and hunt down Brockner.
While Petrilak would begin to hunt down Brockner, Brett Tonkin would look to the inside of Mike Loney along the front stretch to take over sixth. Petrilak would use the lowside once again to take over the lead from Brockner. Points leader Kevin Hartnett would be charging through the field as he would move up to sixth. The first and only caution of the race would come on lap 8 as Nagel Sr. would come to a stop in turn four. Petrilak would take the outside line with Brockner to his inside, as the green dropped Petrilak would take the lead once again letting battles follow him. Tonkin would use the highline to make his way around Stanton and Brockner to take over second. As the field approached the halfway mark, the intensity increased. Lap 21 would see Petrilak maneuver his way through the rear of the field. Tonkin would be hot on Petrilak’s tail. With zero cars between first and second, Tonkin would throw a hail mary slider to make his way past Petrilak coming out of turn 4. Tonkin would reach the line first followed by Petrilak, however after the conclusion of the race, Tonkin was docked a position for contact with Petrilak. Petrilak would go on to claim the win followed by Tonkin, Stanton, Hartnett, and Rudalavage rounding out the top 5.
Feature winner Nick Petrilak made his second trip to victory lane this season. Petrilak saluted his crew saying “the guys gave me a great car, all of their hard work paid off tonight and I’d like to thank the track for sticking it out and letting us race”. With a track that carried a ton of bite after the rainstorm, Petrilak said he was glad they powered through the rain. At one point going as far as having the car loaded up to head out. Petrilak looks forward to the upcoming King of the Can events as he feels the car is getting better every week. He’s hoping the qualifier weekend will include a redraw spot, Keith Beach, make it happen! Nick would like to thank Sleepy Hollow Turf Equipment, GRM Excavating and Paving, Ray and Judy Short, Besten’s Auto Body and Collision and the Schane family. He would like to give his mom a shoutout and thank all of his family and fans.
The Sportsman division is heating up as the championship night approaches. With a strong field of 24 cars. Joe Novak and Jim O’Hara would lead the field to green, but a lap would not be completed as Alex Konopka, Rick Wegner Jr, and Kolyn Schane would collide in turn 2. The contact would result in the 10k of Schane going off on the hook. Marty Goodwin and Amanda Scholtisek would be sent to the tail for contact. With no laps completed, Novak and O’Hara would once again take the field to green. O’Hara would take the early lead, while Ray Leonard stepped up to go door to door with Mike Nagel Jr for third, with Nagel holding on to the spot.
Current point leader Mike Schane would utilize the low line to get around John Michael Phillips for fifth. A little further back Travis Rooney would look to the high side to maneuver his way up to 6th after passing Brad Weaver, Ralph Mele, and Phillips. Leonard was still determined to claim 3rd over Nagel Jr. and would do so by using the low side. Lap 6 saw our second caution as O’Hara came to a stop at the top of turn 4. Novak would elect for the low line with Leonard to his outside for the restart. Novak would get the early jump over Leonard to gain the lead. Mike Schane quickly looked to the inside of Nagel for third, but would be unable to claim the spot. Leonard would be able to claim the lead over Novak by using the high side as Schane moved into third just behind the lead duo. As the field worked lap 14 Schane got to the inside of Novak, claiming the second spot just as the yellow came out, slowing the field for a turn two spin.As Leonard led the way, the single file field took the green flag. Just as the battle for the lead heated up between Leonard and Schane, Mike Wilcha took a spin collecting Brett Wooster for another yellow. It wouldn’t take long for the field to be slowed again, when on lap 19 Weaver and Nagel tussled, sending both to the tail. From there on out, Leonard would maintain the lead for the final six laps with Schane hot on his tail but never finding the momentum needed to make his move. Leonard grabbed the checkered flag as Novak, Mele and Konopka completed the top 5.
A & E Tire and Auto Center 600cc Modifieds found some new faces in new places as Nate Oropollo borrowed Brian Johnson’s machine to take the green flag. With Larry Furman as his dancing partner, Oropallo grabbed the quick lead before Furman charged back. With Furman taking over the lead, Adam Mudge worked the inside of Tyler Smith to take over fourth. Mudge would next set his sights on Nolan Smith for third. With the top 4 cars bunched up Furman held the lead at halfway. Nolan Smith and Mudge would get the better of Oropallo, but couldn’t get past Furman as the race’s only caution came on lap 15 for the slowing machine of Roger Lewis. As the laps wound down Mudge, Nolan Smith and Furman darted around the speedway three wide for the lead. Furman would put up a full fight, holding the lead until Mudge threw the hail mary in turns three and four, making it stick to collect back to back checkered flags for his first time at Penn Can. Furman collected second as Nolan Smith, Tyler Smith and Oropallo completed the top 5.
Feature winner Adam Mudge took back to back wins at Penn Can for his first time. While it’s a streak Mudge hopes to continue, he admits this wasn’t one he expected to win. Battling Smit and Furman, Mudge threw the hail mary at the end and felt it stick. He didn’t make any changes from heat to feature, but said the track was very fast after the rain. Adam would like to thank Bill Johnson for loaning him a left rear for the race, and his Brother Josh for his help. He looks forward to running into championship night head on and will decide on King of the Can after that.
With only two points races remaining, points leaders Charlie Gilbert and Jason Rhodes completed the front row for the Factory Stock main event. Rhodes grabbed the lead off the drop of the green, leading wire to wire. A lap 4 yellow for the slowing of Kevin MacDonald would regroup the field, but Rhodes had the car to beat. After catching lapped traffic on lap 8, Rhodes would take the checkers with a half lap lead at the finish. Gilbert, Charlie Towner, Kevin Welch and Brandon Gumaer completed the top 5. Feature winner Jason Rhodes fought a cushion that was pushed about as high as it could go, as the track and weather made for a slippery surface that challenged the point leader. Though his long days don’t help with the rainy conditions, Rhodes couldn’t be disappointed with a night that ended in Victory Lane. Jason would like to thank his sponsors: Winsor Acres, Rogue Studios, MR Graphics, Chris Riley at McGuire, Trackside Products, Leaf Birdsall Lawncare, Holcomb and Son Firewood, JS Electric, Cardinal Lanes and the Double D’s.
The Gary’s U-Pull It 4 cylinders picked up double duty as they made up a rained out feature from earlier in the season. Rob Sterling and Brian Salmini led the way as Salmini moved into the early lead. Tim Vandemark used the outside momentum to take hold of the third spot from Jeff Sterling, while Wilder lurked behind. Rob Sterling would take over the second spot on the outside with Jeff Sterling working Vandemark’s inside for third. With Salmini catching lapped traffic with 6 to go his lead would not diminish. Salmini collected the checkered flag with Rob Sterling, Vandemark, Jeff Sterling and Wilder rounding out the top 5.
Josh Storms and Jeff Sterling brought the second feature to the green flag as Sterling pulled ahead down the frontstretch. Tim Vandemark wrestled the second spot from Storms with Josh Wilder right in his tracks as Jason Seymour rolled to a stop on the backstretch. Sterling opted for the outside on the restart, pulling away as Wilder looked to the outside of Vandermark for second. The move would cost Wilder some momentum as Rich Wagner took away the third spot. As Sterling came down the front stretch to complete lap 4 the car slowed, leading to the second yellow and sending him to the tail. With the new front row of Vandermark and Wagner, Vandermark got the jump as Salmini worked Wagner for second. Sterling’s run would come to an end on lap 7 as he headed to the infield just before halfway.
Wagner would work Vandemark in the ensuing laps, as the pair rubbed rails off turn 4 and Wagner took the lead. Vandemark would maintain the second spot until David Benson went off on the hook after stopping in turn 4. Under pace laps Wagner would be penalized one spot for rough riding. Vandermark would be the first to the checkers as Wagner, Salmini, Wilder and Storms completed the top 5. Vandemark has had a string of bad luck up to Friday night. He wasn’t sure how the car was going to handle the track after the rain delay. Everything was going good until the car started fading away, stated VanDemark. He is ready for Friday night to battle for the championship. As always he would like to thank his grandpa for all the hard work he puts into the car every week. He would also like to thank his family and friends for their continued support.
The action continues this Friday with the conclusion to a thrilling season with Championship point night. It all comes down to one race. Who will be crowned 2022 Penn Can Track Champion? Don't worry though, racing will still be happening at the speedway as we have our King of The Can “win and you’re in” qualifier. Then we round out the racing season with the King of the Can weekend. Be sure to stay up to date on all that is happening by following our Facebook page: The Penn Can Speedway or on our website thepenncanspeedway.com.
Stafursky Paving Modifieds
WINNER - 72 - NICK PETRILAK
2.) 27k-Brett Tonkin 3.) 117-Alex Stanton 4.) 5-Kevin Hartnett 5.) 145-Alan Rudalavage 6.) 9-Dan Vauter 7.) 10-Darwin Greene Sr 8.) 119-Brian Malcolm 9.) 23P-Bud Phillips 10.) 17D-Mike Loney 11.) 484-Travis Brockner 12.) 119X-Doug Smith 13.) 73-Casey Plummer 14.) 52B-Bandon Fritsch 15.) 84Y-Brian Franko 16.) 7M-Mike Nagel Sr. DNS 11A-Paul Rooney
602 Crate Sportsman
WINNER - 3R - RAY LEONARD
2.) 197-Mike Schane 3.) 70J-Joe Novak 4.) 7-Ralph Mele 5.) 14K-Alex Konopka 6.) 23JR-John Michael Phillips 7.) 55-Marty Goodwin 8.) 27-Cory Zeigler 9.) 16-Ned Fitch 10.) 88-Alan Komar 11.) M7-Mike Nagel Jr. 12.) 32-Eddie Kudrako 13.) 1A-Brad Weaver 14.) 6X-Joe Wilgus 15.) 54T-Travis Rooney 16.) 14B-Alan Coy 17.) 88A-Amanda Scholtisek 18.) 3D-Brett Wooster 19.) 84-Mike Wilcha 20.) 44-Jim O’Hara 21.) 10K-Kolyn Schane 22.) 22W-Rick Wegner Jr. DNS 226-Matt Martino, 7R-Tommy Groover
A & E Tire and Auto Center 600cc Xcel Modifieds
WINNER - 54T - Adam Mudge
2.) 217-Larry Furman 3.) 77X-Nolan Smith 4.) 80-Tyler Smith 5.) 999-Nate Oropallo 6.) 17X-Josh Towner 7.) 17-Jeff Baldwin 8.) 215-Frank Mills 9.) 167-Devan Sieben 10.) 67-Tori Straway 11.) 110-Roger Lewis 12.) 84-Ted Mills 13.) 176-Mollie Mroz DNS 1JR-Darwin Greene Jr
Factory Stock
WINNER - 57ND - JASON RHODES
2.) 28-Charlie Gilbert 3.) 5T-Charlie Towner 4.) 10-Kevin Welch 5.) 7K-Brandon Gumaer 6.) 27M-Kevin MacDonald 7.) 23B-Brad Chilson 8.) 23S-Kyle Spoor
4 cyl Makeup Feature from 7/1/22
WINNER - 77 - BRIAN SALMINI
2.) 71-Rob Sterling 3.) 107-Tim Vandemark 4.) 56-Jeff Sterling 5.) 5-Josh Wilder 6.) 21-Scott Beach 7.) 66-Josh Storms 8.) 22-David Benson 9.) M1-Mike Girjatowicz 10.) 7F-Rich Wagner 11.) 27-Jason Seymour 12.) G55-Dakota Fuller
Gary’s U-Pull It 4 Cylinders
WINNER - 107 - TIM VANDEMARK
2.) 7F-Rich Wagner 3.) 77-Brian Salmini 4.) 5-Josh Wilder 5.) 66-Josh Storms 6.) M1-Mike Girjatowicz 7.) 71-Rob Sterling 8.) 21-Scott Beach 9.) 22-David Bensn Jr. 10.) 56-Jeff Sterling 11.) G55-Dakota Fuller 12.) 27-Jason Seymour 13.) 11-Adam Delgrosso
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