By Kayla Peting
The Penn Can Speedway was graced with beautiful weather to celebrate Fan Appreciation Night where fans were up close and personal with their favorite drivers. All five divisions were on hand to do battle as the season is rapidly approaching an end. Drivers and fans were itching to race after a rainout last Friday Night. Points are becoming critical as Championship Night is quickly approaching on September 1st.
Matt Sobiech and Travis Brockner led the way for the Stafursky Paving Modifieds out of turn 4. Alex Stanton aggressively worked off of turn two to nab the third spot from Brad Shaffer. Stanton wouldn’t stop there, working the low side of turn four to grab second from Brockner with two laps complete.Behind Stanton the battle for fourth was on with Brockner, Brad Szulewski and Danny Creeden three wide down the back stretch. As the trio shuffled out, Creeden would take over the fourth spot with Darwin Greene in tow. Creeden would move into third on lap 7, but as Greene tried to follow contact was made with Shaffer, sending Greene spinning and bringing out the first yellow. Sobiech elected for the bottom on the restart with Stanton leading the way as the pair came down the frontstretch. Creeden would move into the second spot before the yellow graced the air once again for Nick Petrilak. At first Stanton would head for the outside, then reconsidered and restarting on the bottom with 11 laps complete. The decision paid off as Stanton was able to stay ahead of Creeden on the restart, building up a two car length lead with 17 laps complete. Brett Tonkin and Kevin Hartnett were putting on a show battling for the fourth place spot with ten laps to go as the pair closed in on third place running Szulewski. Stanton would struggle with the lapped machine of Dan Burman, allowing Creeden to close in with 7 laps remaining. Just as it looked like Creeden would catch the leader, Frank Yankowski’s night came to an end with a stop at the top of turn 2, creating a five lap dash to the finish. Stanton would ace the single file restart, building up a 5 car length gap to take the checkered flags for his first win of the season. Creeden would arrive second with Hartnett eclipsing Szulewski for third and Tonkin rounding out the top 5.
Erik Hines Trucking LLC 602 Crate Sportsman would see Brett Wooster and Ned Fitch lead the field to green. Fitch would gain the upper hand out of four and through turn one, but a yellow would be thrown for Tommy Groover hitting the infield tire in turn two. Groover’s night would end early with a tow to the pits and Fitch would also head pit side. Wooster and Amanda Scholtisek would be the front row out of turn four. Scholtisek would take the early lead while Kolyn Schane would look high to slide past Wooster to take over second. Brad Weaver would follow closely behind and look low to Wooster’s inside to take third. Mike Nagel would battle with Mike Schane for fourth and Nagel would claim the spot. Lap 3 would see a caution for Brad Burman who spun in turn four, but would rejoin at the rear of the field. Scholtisek and Kolyn Schane would lead the field out of the restart zone, but the field would get together resulting in a pile up in turn one. Burman would go off on the hook while second place runner Kolyn Schane would head pit side with two flats and a destroyed rim before joining at the rear of the field. Scholtisek would lead the field in a single file restart but the lead would be brief as Weaver would work the lowline to take over the lead. Nagel would follow closely and go door to door with Scholtisek before taking over second. Mike Schane would use the speedy low line to slide into second past Nagel and Scholtisek. Ray Leonard would charge his way up to fifth past Joe Novak, Wooster, and Scholtisek. By lap 17, Weaver would begin to work through the rear of the field with Mike Schane following closely behind. Weaver would take his second win of the season followed by Mike Schane, Nagel, Alex Konopka and Leonard.
A & E Tire and Auto Center 600cc Modifieds would have Darwin Greene Jr. and Phil Burns on the front row for the 20 lap feature. Greene would take the early lead out of turn four while John Dinniny and Alex Payne would look inside Burns to take over second and third. Nate Oropallo would look inside Burns to take fourth. Lap 3 would see the first caution of the event for Dinniny slowing along the front stretch before heading pit side. Greene would select the lowline for the restart placing Payne to his outside and after firing first Greene would take the early lead. Larry Furman, Chuck Lohmeyer and Oropallo would go three wide for third with Furman claiming the spot, but Lohmeyer would look inside Furman to take third away. Oropallo would step up to Furman’s inside to try and take over fourth, but would be unable to make the move. Payne would look outside of Greene to become the new race leader while Lohmeyer would follow closely behind battling door to door with Greene before taking over second. Lap 11 would see leader Payne catch the rear of the field. The field would spread out, but would not last as lap 17 would see a caution for Greene stopping on the back stretch. Payne would lead the field in a single file restart for the remaining three laps. Payne would take home his first win followed by Lohmeyer, Furman, Oropallo and Eric Boynton.
The Factory Stocks would have 17 cars on hand to do battle and the front row would be Rich Sharpsteen and Adam Gilbert. Out of turn four Adam Gilbert would take the early lead while Mahlon Shoemaker would look to Sharpsteen’s outside to slide into second. While Kyle Spoor would look inside Buck Mills Jr. to take over fourth. Lap 4 would see a caution for Mills slowing along the front stretch before heading pit side to return at the rear of the field. Adam Gilbert would select the outside line placing Shoemaker to his inside. Adam would take the early lead while Spoor would look high to move into second past Shoemaker. Lap 5 would see a caution for Brad Chilson spinning in between turns three and four before tacking on at the back of the field. Adam GIlbert would select the high side once again placing Spoor to his inside and out of the restart zone, Adam would take the early lead. Eric Beach would look inside John Picchio to take over sixth and a few spots back Mills would look inside Mike Chilson to move into eighth. Lap 8 would see leader Adam Gilbert catching the rear of the field while Beach would look inside Charlie Gilbert to take over fifth. The field would come to a slow for Mills spinning in between turn 3 and four. Adam Gilbert would lead the field in a single file restart and Spoor would try to capitalize off the start by looking low inside Adam Gilbert, but would not give up as the pair went door to door before claiming the race lead. Lap 13 would see a caution for Beach spinning in turns one and two before rejoining at the end of the field. Jordan Towner would also be sent to the back for contact with Beach. Spoor would lead the field in single file fashion out of the restart zone. Charlie Gilbert and Justin Slezak would battle back and forth for fourth with Charlie Gilbert claiming the spot. Mike Chilson would drive inside of Slezak for fifth, but would be unable to claim the spot. Spoor would go on to claim his first win followed by Adam Gilbert, Shoemaker, Charlie Gilbert and Slezak rounded out the top 5.
Gary’s U-Pull It 4 Cylinders was led to the green by Brian Salmini and Mike Jenks out of turn four Salmini would take the early lead, but before a lap could be counted Bryant Beach would come to a stop in turn two. Salmini and Jenks would once again lead the field once again to the green and Salmini would gain the early lead once again. Scott Beach would look inside Jenks to take over second while Andy Bolles, Bryant Beach and Collin Mills would go three wide for fifth. Before anyone could claim the spot a yellow would fly for Scott Beach spinning in turn 3 catching Jenks. Salmini would select the low line placing Mills to his outside and out of the restart zone Mills would become the new race leader. Jeff Sterling would battle door to door with Dakota Fuller. Bolles would slide low to move into second past Salmini and Sterling would follow closely behind Bolles to move into third. Bolles would head pit side with car troubles moving Sterling into second. Lap 12 would see a yellow for debris on the track and Salmini heading pit side with car issues. Mills would lead the field in a single file restart and would go on to claim the win followed by Sterling, Fuller, Jenks and Rich Wagner.
The Penn Can Speedway will be off this week for the Harford Fair, but we will be back in action on August 25th for Hall of Fame Night/ Lackawanna County Night. Where spectators residing in Lackawanna County can get in for $5 with a valid ID. The season is dwindling down and the points battles are heating up so be sure to stay up to date on all things happening at the speedway by following The Penn Can Speedway on Facebook.
Stafursky Paving Modifieds
WINNER – 117 – ALEX STANTON
2.) 16X-Danny Creeden 3.) 5-Kevin Hartnett 4.) 14Z-Brad Szulewski 5.) 27K-Brett Tonkin 6.) 119-Brian Malcolm 7.) 1-Darwin Greene Sr. 8.) 66M-Matt Sobiech 9.) 17-George Kostelansky 10.) D9-Dennis Clapperton 11.) 23JR-John Michael Phillips 12.) 72-Nick Petrilak 13.) 88-Alan Komar 14.) 23P-Bud Phillips 15.) 484-Travis Brockner 16.) 014-Brad Schaffer 17.) 57-Dan Burman 18.) 127-Frank Yankowski 19.) 14A-Brian Franko 20.) 73-Casey Plummer 21.) 52B-Brandon Fritsch
Erik Hines Trucking LLC 602 Crate Sportsman
WINNER – 26 – BRAD WEAVER
2.) 197-Mike Schane 3.) M7-Mike Nagel Jr. 4.) 14K-Alex Konopka 5.) 3R-Ray Leonard 6.) 30+-Brandon Oleski 7.) 70J-Joe Novak 8.) 711X-Allen Kellogg 9.) 88A-Amanda Scholtisek 10.) 11-Brett Wooster 11.) 484-Eric Bonham 12.) 10K-Kolyn Schane 13.) 44-Jim O’Hara 14.) 117-Adam Mudge 15.) 54T-Travis Rooney 16.) 0-JT McCrackin 17.) 88S-Michael Samony 18.) 55-Marty Goodwin 19.) 5T-Charlie Towner 20.) 711-Ralph Mele 21.) 16-Ned Fitch 22.) 7R-Tommy Groover DNS: 8S-Rich Sharpsteen, DQ: 00-Brad Burman
A & E Tire and Auto Center 600cc Modifieds
WINNER – 11 – BRENTON PAYNE
2.) 5-Chuck Lohmeyer 3.) 217-Larry Furman 4.) 30NN-Nate Oropallo 5.) 2H-Eric Boynton 6.) 108-Ali Scutt 7.) 314-Kyle Percy 8.) 17-Jeff Baldwin 9.) 67-Tori Straway 10.) 134-Tracy Oliver 11.) 424G-Mollie Mroz 12.) 117-Jeffrey Martin 13.) 124-Matt Cole 14.) 99K-Phil Burns 15.) 1JR-Darwin Greene Jr 16.) 12J-John Dinniny DNS 28H-Sam Hubbard, 24X-Todd Titus, 424-Devan Sieban
Factory Stock
WINNER – 23S – KYLE SPOOR
2.) 28X-Adam Gilbert 3.) 7-Mahlon Shoemaker 4.) 28-Charlie Gilbert 5.) 35H-Justin Slezak 6.) 187v-Buck Mills Jr. 7.) 28M-Mike Chilson 8.) 617-Eric Beach 9.) 10-Kevin Welch 10.) 9J-Jordan Towner 11.) 23B-Brad Chilson 12.) 74-John Picchio 13.) 62-Mike Girjatowicz 14.) 83T-Rich Sharpsteen 15.) 33D-Neil DeBlasi 16.) 2-Nate Shay DQ: 73-Steven Deinhardt
Gary’s U-Pull It 4 Cylinders
WINNER – 23 – COLLIN MILLS
2.) 56-Jeff Sterling 3.) G55-Dakota Fuller 4.) 21MJ-Mike Jenks 5.) 8W-Rich Wagner 6.) 22-David Benson 7.) 77-Brian Salmini 8.) 354-Andy Bolle 9.) 5L-Bryant Beach 10.) 21-Scott Beach DNS: 127RW-Toby Sparks Jr. 27-Ronnie Welch