PATRIOT SPRINT TOUR RETURNS TO PENN CAN SPEEDWAY
June 11, 2021 Kayla Peting and Nathan Aldrich
Mother Nature graced The Penn Can Speedway Friday night as overcast skies and perfect temperatures set up an exciting night of loud, thrilling action. The Patriot Sprint Tour brought the Winged Warriors for their first appearance of the season, guaranteeing an action-packed show for the strong crowd of fans. With seven divisions set to rumble everyone eagerly awaited the first green flag of the night. With the Patriot Sprint Tour returning to the speedway for the first time this year the show would bring excitement from start to finish. There can only be one winner at the end of the night however and the three heats would determine how the 15 sprints would line up. Starting position is a critical factor with the balanced field of talented Patriot drivers and Mark Smith, Denny Peebles and Paulie Colagiovanni would get a good start picking up heat wins. With heat racing concluded Danny Varin won the dash 4 cash event. With the lineup set, the 45 of Chuck Hebing would start on the pole with the 3 of Denny Peebles to his outside. Right from the get-go dirt was flying in the air, but the original start would be called back when Jeff Trombley and Mark Smith made contact on the backstretch. Trombley would be able to drive away as Smith was towed into the pits with a right rear flat. The Winged Warriors would take some courtesy laps for Smith and Peebles would find himself on the outside of row 2, moving Jordan Thomas onto the front row next to Hebing. The second try at the start had Hebing staying to the inside and zooming into the lead. Battles would ensue with several sliders being thrown. Peebles would pass Matt Farnham to take the fourth spot as the two would go back and forth swapping positions throughout the night. After suffering the early flat Smith would recover quickly, moving his way through the field as he passed Kyle Smith for eleventh on the inside. The battles would continue for Smith as he competed for several laps with Parker Evans for the tenth spot. As the battles deep in the pack began to work themselves out the sliders were mounting. Colagiovanni passed Thomas for the second spot as leader Hebring closed in on lapped traffic and the field completed lap 7. Dave Axton would put the moves on Smith for the eleventh spot, but Smith would not stand for it, throwing a slider in turn 3 and coming out of four with his spot intact. Back up-front Peebles and Farnham were still contesting the fourth spot which Farnham would finally take for good. Davie Franek quickly stepped up and looked to the inside of Peebles to claim the fifth spot. Farnham would make one last lap attempt at Thomas for third but was unsuccessful as Hebing got the feature win followed by Colagiovanni, Thomas, Farnham, Franek, Varin, Smith, Peebles, Dalton Herrick and Trombley. Penn Can always draws a strong field of Stafursky Paving SUNOCO Modified competitors and this week was no exception as handicapping began. Heat one got wild in a hurry as Alan Rudalavage, Bud Phillips and Mike Nagel Sr. headed into turn one, three wide on the first lap. Rudalavage would take the lead as Nick Petrilak moved into the second spot with Brian Malcolm moving past Nagel in turn one of lap 4. Rudalavage would win his heat to start a strong evening for Hollywood. Heat two had front row Darwin Greene and George Kostelansky side by side for the duration of the event as things got heated on lap 5. When the checkers fell it was Kostelansky winning with Greene and Mike Loney in tow. Brad Schaffer quickly took the lead over Chris Hunsinger in the final modified heat race. Hunsinger would contact the backstretch wall as Byron Worthing and Casey Plummer worked past for second. Kevin Hartnett quickly joined the party and challenged Plummer for second after getting past Worthing. In a thrilling finish Schaffer got the heat win with Plummer half a car length to his inside and Hartnett right on his bumper. Darwin Greene and Mike Nagel Sr. paced the field as Nick Folk displayed the green flag. Greene jumped out to the early lead as fifth place starter Rudalavage came forward in a hurry passing Kostelansky for third. On lap 3 Rudalavage looked to the inside of Nagel to take away the second spot and set his sights on Greene. Malcolm was also slicing his way to the front as the seventh-place starter worked Nagel for third on lap 6. After a couple tries Malcolm moved past Nagel as the next challenge came from Worthing. Hartnett got the eight spot from Schaffer as the field steadily put laps on the board. Rudalavage made his move for the lead on lap 9 as Greene drifted up into the marbles and Rudalavage quickly began to close on lapped traffic. As Rudalavage worked the slower cars Malcolm closed in to challenge the leader. The fight would last for many laps as Malcolm took the inside on lap 14 and could not complete the pass. Lap 18 saw another attempt on the inside that Rudalavage fended off. While the battle for the lead raged, Petrilak quietly moved past Greene for the fourth spot with Harnett right on his heels. Malcolm changed things up on lap 19 moving to Rudalavage’s outside and taking over the lead. Malcolm would continue to work traffic as Worthing closed in on Rudalavage for second and Petrilak countered Hartnett’s moves holding on to the fourth spot. The only caution slowed the field on lap 24 as Hunsinger’s machine slowed to a stop in turn four setting up a single file restart. From the moment the green flew it was a battle for second as Malcolm sailed away from the field giving it everything he had while fighting a broken radius rod. Hartnett moved inside of Petrilak in the closing laps to take the fourth spot away and the field came to the white flag. Malcolm picked up the win with Rudalavage second and contact in turn four sending Worthing’s car sideways and to a stop. Worthing and Hartnett would be sent to the tail for the contact as Petrilak finished third. The top ten spots were completed by Greene, Nagel, Kostelansky, Alex Stanton, Loney, Jamie Bedford and Schaffer. Feature winner Brian Malcolm fought a broken radius rod for the last 7 laps of the race and almost lost the right rear tire. It was a great battle with Rudalavage who has been competing “cleanly with me for a long time” Malcolm said. Malcolm’s car rolled really well through the middle and top of turns 1 and 2 and once he found that line, he knew he had the car to beat. The late race caution was exactly what he did not want to see as he fought the swaying rear end and gave it everything he had to drive away on the restart. After picking up his first Penn Can feature win of the year Malcolm would like to thank Troyer Race Cars, Grimm Construction, Smokin Joes, Carl Mehnel Welding, NEP, Murrey Race Engines, DIG Performance, Davis Powder Coating, his Crew, Dale and Sue Smith and Jim and Deb Edwards. The A & E Tire and Auto Center 600cc Modifieds contested two heats with Jeff Baldwin and Mike Anzelone on the front row for the first. Dana Davis and Brenton Miller worked their way from fifth and sixth to challenge Baldwin for the lead on lap 3. As the trio went three wide Davis took the lead and picked up the win followed by Miller and Travis Rooney. Doug Lattner and Larry Furman brought heat two to green as Chuck Lohmeyer and Brett Gray came through the field to finish first and second with Furman in third. With their heats concluded the lineup was set for the 600cc feature event. Furman and Lohmeyer came out of turn four picking up the pace as they came to the green flag. Lohmeyer would take off with the early lead as Miller and Davis worked past Furman and began to battle each other for the second spot. Brett Gray would then join the battle for second moving past Davis as all three would challenge Lohmeyer on lap 4. As Gray and Miller got by Lohmeyer he would spin bringing out the first yellow. With the field coming back to green Miller would hold the lead over Gray with Davis in third looking inside Gray for second. Lohmeyer quickly began working his way back through the field working through cars to get back to the fourth spot over the next handful of laps. By lap 7 Lohmeyer had reentered the top 5 taking the fifth spot away from Lattner and setting his sights on Ali Scutt for fourth. Scutt would not go down easily however as she ran side by side with Lohmeyer for a trio of laps before Lohmeyer slipped past. While the battles raged on behind, leaders Miller and Gray were making their way through lapped traffic. The two would get some breathing room as the second caution came out on lap 15 for the slowing Nate Oropallo machine. Under the yellow Dinniny would also take his car pit side. Davis would go door to door with Gray for the second spot on the restart, taking the spot briefly before Gray took it back. The final yellow came on lap 17 as Lohmeyer spun in turn four and Scutt made a nice move swerving to the high side to avoid the spinning car. With only a four-lap dash left to settle the race John Glover worked past Lattner on the restart as Lohmeyer worked quickly coming from the back to get by Furman and Lattner as well. As the field crossed the finish line it was Miller winning with Gray, Davis, Scutt, Glover, Lohmeyer, Lattner, Furman, Baldwin and Anzelone. Feature winner Brenton Miller With five street stocks signed in for the SUNOCO Race Fuel sponsored feature, the fans saw 151 of Travis Brockner on the pole with the 0J of Oliver Gage on the outside pole. Brockner would get the quick lead once the green flag waved though the air, but Gage was not going to hand the lead over that easy. Gage would keep showing his nose to Brockner but, was not able to get enough momentum to get around him. The first caution of the night would come on lap 7 of the 15-lap feature with the 41 of Nick Bonham would spin in turn four. The restart would see Brockner chose the high side, which was the lane of choice for the evening, Gage would start to the inside of the 151. Brockner would take off like a bullet, but the 0J was not giving up as he went door to door to door with the 151. Bonham would spin in turn four but would get moving again before the leaders could catch him. Shane Wolf Jr. and Abe Romanik would battle back and forth for several laps to take over the third-place spot which the 81 of Wolf Jr. would claim the spot. While that was going on, Gage would look to the inside of Brockner for one last attempt to claim the first-place spot, but as the cars came off turn four Brockner would open the gap between himself and Gage to take the win. Feature winner Travis Brockner said it was nice to start on the pole and the track state was exceptionally good for their feature event. He was confident in his car on the restarts and felt they were not a big problem for him. Brockner prefers to run later in the night as the dry slick tracks suit his driving style and pace. Travis would like to thank his brother Ryan, Parents Jeff and Laurie, the Bonham family and all of his sponsors. The factory stocks were off last week, and this week became a double points race for the 12 cars the cars that signed in. The first heat would see Alecia Towner on the pole with Jerry Fassett Jr. to her outside. The 9X of Alecia Towner would take the lead right off the green flag leaving the rest of the field to catch her. On lap seven Austin Manzer would pass Brad Chilson and Lynn Highhouse after both cars made contact one another, for the fourth spot. The first heat would end with Alecia Towner taking first followed by Jerry Fasset Jr., Lynn Highhouse, Austin Manzer and Brad Chilson. Heat two would see Mike Chilson on the pole and Tommy Groover to his outside pole. Groover would quickly take the lead with Charlie Gilbert looking to the outside of Chilson to claim the second-place spot. In turn four Gilbert would look to the inside of the 7R of Groover for first but would not be able to obtain the spot as a yellow came out. The 3 of CJ Swanson would spin in turns one and two but would end up heading pit side. On the restart, Groover would take the outside line as Gilbert would be to his inside, 7R would take the lead and not give it up. The heat two finish would go with Tommy Groover finishing first, Charlie Gilbert, Mike Chilson, Rick Glover, Caden Swanson and CJ Swanson. The factory stock feature would see Tommy Groover in first and Alecia Towner to his outside with Mike Chilson and Charlie Gilbert behind them in row two. As the green flag dropped, the field of 11 cars all raged forward as Groover would quickly take over as the leader. Battles would quickly come as Charlie Gilbert would look to the outside of Mike Chilson for the third place and would take the position. Gilbert attempted to make the pass on Alecia Towner for second, but the 9X of Alecia Towner would hold on to the spot as both chased down Groover. On lap 3 the first half of the field would begin to catch traffic as Caden Swanson in the 3S would head pit side. The first caution of the 25-lap feature came on lap 4 as the 98 of Lynn High house and the 617 of Austin Manzer would both spin in turn two before joining the rest of the field at the back. On the restart Groover would take the preferred low line with the 9X of Alecia Towner to the outside, Groover would take the quick lead once the green fell. Chilson would catch the backstretch wall and drop back several positions, while Charlie Towner in the 5T powered forward to pass Jerry Fasset Jr. for fourth place after starting in eleventh. On lap 7 the second caution of the evening in the factory stock feature, Fassett Jr. and Chilson would spin in turn four and follow up the field at the rear. Groover would take the inside lane with Alecia Towner to his outside, Groover would quickly take the lead and leaving Alecia Towner to battle door to door with Gilbert for the second spot. Gilbert and the 9X would battle for two laps before Gilbert would make the pass and begin to hunt down Groover in the lead spot. The next caution would come late in the race as Lynn Highhouse’s 98 was smoldering in turn three and would be towed to the infield. Being past the halfway point the field went single file with Groover leading the way to the restart zone. Once the green dropped, Charlie Towner who was running in fourth began looking to the inside of Alecia Towner for third, but quickly shut down the inside lane. Not being able to pass on the inside Charlie in the 5T would try to take the high line around Alecia and was again forced to rethink away around her 9X. The next time by the 5T would be able to get around the 9X to take the third-place spot and keep it. The checker flag would fly and Groover would cross the line first followed by Charlie Gilbert, Charlie Towner, Alecia Towner, Mike Chilson, Jerry Fassett Jr., Brad Chilson, Lynn Highhouse, Rick Glover and Austin Manzer round out the top 10. When the winner of the factory stock feature was asked how the track was running after the sprints and Groover had this to say, “it was a very different track then we are used to, it was much slicker, and we were not prepared for it.” When discussing lapped traffic, he said he used it to his advantage by walking Alecia up to the lapped car that was on the outside for him to use the inside lane. Groover was much more comfortable using the middle lane and could get a good run off the middle in the turns. He was also worried after the last caution because he had realized he had broken his rear end. The 7R would like to thank his sponsors: Dave’s Buy Rite Auto Sales, T-Shirt Shack by Vinyl Obsession, Red Barrell Cars, Wildside Graphics, T.J.’s Auto, Pops Automotive and Denny Decker Logging. The Gary’s U-Pull It 4 Cylinders saw some familiar names on the front row as last year’s Track Champion Josh Wilder started on the outside pole for the event. As he and Dakota Fuller brought the field to green the beehive behind him was stirring. Contact between Fuller and Andy Bolles sent Bolles into Rich Wagner who ended up in the turn 4 dirt berm. Under the yellow Jeff Stirling headed pit side and the field got stacked back up for the restart. The chaos continued as Tim Vandermark went three wide with leaders Wilder and Bolles on the next lap as Vandermark worked the top, Wilder the middle and Bolles was glued to the inside tires. Vandermark came out of the shuffle with the lead before Bolles came to a stop on the front stretch bringing out the lap 4 yellow. Vandermark had a good restart on the outside pulling ahead of Wilder as Doug Newbegging moved past Fuller taking 3rd on the low side. Newbegging would spin in turn 2 after making the pass and the field would restart once again with Wilder and Vandermark on the front row. Bolles had come back through the field to challenge Wilder for second on the backstretch, but Wilder would not hand the spot over easily. The two would stay side by side on lap 10 putting on a show as Bolles threw everything but the kitchen sink at Wilder. As the laps wound down Dave Nixon looked inside Rob Serling for the seventh spot, but Sterling would hold him off. Vandermark took the checkered flags to wrap up feature action for the night followed by Wilder, Bolles, Jeff Sterling, Scott Beach, Madyson Beach, Rob Sterling, Nixon, Fuller, and Tom Tomczyk. Tim Vandermark won for the second week in a row and had a huge smile on his face after climbing out of the car. When asked why he preferred the high line, since that was where you could find him, he said he used to run at Skyline and that is where it was learned, also that its easier to keep up the RPMs on the high side. Vandermark says “I love hard racing it is so much fun especially with guys like Josh Wilder and Andy Bolles”. The 107 driver would like to thank his grandpa for so much of his help and tremendous support over the last 12 years. The junior division would see Trevor Houghton and Anthony Mancini take the green, with the 10 of Houghton would take the early lead. With this being Mancini’s first season, he has started gain more and more confidence with significant improvements. Houghton would take the win with Mancini would come in second. After an event packed weekend, the fun continues with the Hot Summer Night Part 1 taking place on Monday, June 14th. The Grit Racing Series will be there with the 602 Crate Sportsman and the 600cc Modifieds and the 4 Cylinders. The 4 cylinders will be running for $1,000 to win and a $100 to take the green. Both the Grit 600cc Modifieds and the 602 Crate Sportsman are both Grit Winter National Qualifiers races. Then our normal schedule will resume on Friday the 18th, however the 4 cylinders will be off. For the Hot Summer Nights grandstand will open at 5:00PM and admission will be $13 for adults and kids 10 & under are free. Pits will open at 5:00PM and pit passes are $35 for adults and $15 for 14 and under. More information will be released later this week and you can find it on our Facebook: The Penn Can Speedway.
Patriot Sprint Tour Feature Finish (25 Laps): WINNER- 45 - Chuck Hebing 2) 10-Paulie Colagiovanni 3) 79-Jordan Thomas 4) 7NY-Matt Farnham 5) 28F-Davie Franek 6) 00-Danny Varin 7) M1-Mark Smith 8)3-Denny Peebles 9) 29-Dalton Herrick 10) 3A-Jeff Trombley 11) 32-Kyle Smith 12) 61-Parker Evans 13) 2-Dave Axton 14) 41-Chase Moran 15) 67-Steve Glover
STAFURSKY PAVING MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH WINNER – 119 - BRIAN MALCOLM 2) 145-Alan Rudalavage 3) 72-Nick Petrilak 4) 1-Darwin Greene 5) 7M-Mike Nagel Sr. 6) 17-George Kostelansky 7) 117-Alex Stanton 8)17D-Mike Loney 9) 111J-Jamie Bedford 10) 014-Brad Shaffer 11) 73-Casey Plummer 12) 24X-Matt Cole 13) 63-Byron Worthing 14) 5-Kevin Hartnett 15) 49-Kenny Sparks 16) 23P-Bud Phillips 17) 15JR-Chris Hunsinger 18) 484-Eric Bonham 19) 713-Mike Walsh
SUNOCO RACE FUEL STREET STOCK FEATURE WINNER - 151 - TRAVIS BROCKNER 2) OJ-Oliver Gage 3) 81-Shane Wolf Jr. 4) 85-Abe Romanik 5) 41-Nick Bonham
FACTORY STOCK FEATURE WINNER- 7R- TOMMY GROOVER 2) 28-Charlie Gilbert 3) 5T-Charlie Towner 4) 9X-Alecia Towner 5) 28M-Mike Chilson 6) 78-Jerry Fassett Jr. 7) 23B-Brad Chilson 98-Lynn Highhouse 9)4-Rick Glover 10)617-Austin Manzer 11) 3S-Caden Swanson DNS 3-CJ Swanson
A&E TIRE AND AUTO 600CC MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH WINNER - 29 - BRENTON MILLER 2) 28-Brett Gray 3) 138-Dana Davis 4) 108-Ali Scutt 5) 72-John Glover 6) 5-Chuck Lohmeyer 7) 101-Doug Lattner 217-Larry Furman 9) 17-Jeff Baldwin 10). 911-Mike Anzelone 11) 30NN- Nate Oropallo 12) 777-CJ Jochum 13) 167-Mollie Mroz 14) 12-John Dinniny 15) 1JR- Darwin Greene Jr 16) 2K-Brian Salamini 17) 54T-Travis Rooney DNS 4MK-Sheldon Whitman
GARY’S U PULL IT 4-CYLINDER FEATURE FINISH WINNER - 107 - TIM VANDERMARK 2) 5-Josh Wilder 3) 354-Andy Bolles 4) 56-Jeff Sterling 5) 21-Scott Beach 6) 5B-Madyson Beach 7) 71-Rob Sterling 76-Dave Nixon 9) G55-Dakota Fuller 10) 62X-Thomas Tomczyk 11) 29-Doug Newbegging 12) 8W-Richard Wagner 13) 944-Jeremy Truizo
JUNIORS FEATURE FINISH WINNER- 10- Trevor Houghton 2) 3- Anthony Mancini