The final encounter for both drivers and officials happened November 12th at St. John’s Social Hall. The Annual Awards Banquet was a successful event and we are now in preparation mode for Season 2012. There will be limited updates on this website from now until approximately the end of March 2012 when are new season arrives. Have a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!
Dan & Percy McDonald
Conneaut, OH (September 1, 2011) The 2011 season will end at Raceway 7 tomorrow night with regular features for all divisions that will see the 2011 champions officially crowned. Two championships have been decided but two others are one the line.
Max Blair wrapped up the Evergreen Lake Park Campground FASTRAK Late Model title in mid-August on the strength of utter domination of the class all season long. Blair wound up in Victory Lane eight nights of the 11 contested! The nights Blair did not go to the Winner’s Circle he was second twice and third once. Second place in the final standings is still up for grabs as Bill Cunningham SR took over the spot from Dave Airgood Jr last week, but only by a 38 point margin.
The Zimmer Service Center E-Mods had reigning champion Russ Dunn off to a slow start, plagued with problems throughout the first half of the season, finishing in the top five only once while Joel Watson was wracking up three wins, a second and a third. With his consistent up front finishes since his first of three consecutive wins starting July 15, Dunn has come to within 65 points of the lead. With 75 points being the most a driver can gain during a night, Watson would have to have disaster strike and not even start the feature this week. 2009 champion Percy McDonald is but five points behind Dunn, so Dunn must have a good finish to secure the runner-up spot. The veteran of a forty year racing career, Bill Taylor, has come on strong the past couple of weeks but trails McDonald by 45 points coming into the season finale.
The Campbell’s Mini-Storage Street Stocks will likely see a new champion this season as Chris Withers, who scored his first-ever Raceway 7 win on, then foll0wed it up two weeks later with win number two, holds a near insurmountable 56 point edge on past champion Ed Bolyard, winless this season. Joe Rohrer, also winless, rides fourth in the points, 45 behind Bolyard. The leading winner this season has been the all-time leading Street Stock winner at Raceway 7, Rusty Wheeler. Wheeler however, is running only sporadically, devoting the majority of his time to his burgeoning engine-building business. Wheeler has four wins on the season in seven appearances.
Jonny Boyd, with six feature wins and seven heat triumphs, leads second place by a massive 152 point margin. Second belongs to the leader’s father, John Boyd Sr! The elder Boyd scored his first win in over 40 years on July 8, but has not finished in the top spot since. Third running Bud Sergeff ran in the runner-up spot since early in the season but experienced major problems last week, failing to finish either his heat of his feature. Sergeff also has one win on the season. If the Boyds finish first and second, it will be the first time in raceway history that a father and son have accomplished the feat.
The annual awards banquet is scheduled for November 12, 2011 at the St. John’s Social Center in Girard, PA. Doors will open at 5:00 PM with dinner tentatively set for 6 PM. The awards portion of the banquet will follow dinner with entertainment to follow. Tickets will be $25. More information will be available at the Raceway 7 website at www.raceway7.com as soon as available.
Weather permitting, gates open every Friday at 5:30 PM with pill draw cut off at 7 PM and racing at 7:30 PM. VIP suites are available for rental for $250 a night which includes eight general admissions passes. Admission is set for $10 for adults, kids 5-14 are $5. 4 and under free. Pit passes are $25. For more information please visit www.raceway7.com or call the track on race day after 12 noon at 440-594-2222.
September 2nd, 2011
110, 112 & Alcohol fuel will be availale for sale.
By Jay Pees
Conneaut, OH, (August 26, 2011): Regular racing for all classes plus fireworks entertained the fans at Raceway 7 with Max Blair, Rusty Wheeler, and Carlos Aponte picking up repeat wins. Gerry Kielar got the first E-Mod win of his career in an exciting Zimmer’s Service Center E-Mod feature.
The Campbell’s Mini Storage Street Stocks were first on the track with John Phelps Jr and Art Edwards on the front row. Phelps led till the fourth turn of the first lap when Paul Schreckengost got by from row two. Shawn Fawcett spun into the mud in turn one on lap two, slowing the event for the first time. Schreckengost led the field back to green but ninth starting Rusty Wheeler was right on his rear bumper by the end of one lap under green, and was leading at the end of three laps. Only two more laps were complete before Ryan Blood slowed on the back straight, coming to a halt in turn four. Wheeler, a former track champion, led at the restart but was challenged all the way around the raceway by Tommy Fox for several laps before he was able to build a lead of five car-lengths by halfway. With five laps remaining Fox was again challenging for the front spot but Wheeler prevailed for his fourth win of the season. Fox was second with Schreckengost third, Rush Firestone fourth, and Ed Bolyard fifth.
The Zimmer Service Center E-Mods were paced by Gerry Kielar and Brian Fardink at the head of the 19-car field. Kielar led lap one with Kyle Bedell coming to second at the end of the lap. Josh McDonald spun in turn two just past halfway for the first caution of the race. After green was again on the raceway Taylor got back by Bedell and was fighting for the lead every turn of every lap. With five to go the field was again slowed as Brian Fardink spun in turn two. Point’s leader Joel Watson was fourth at this point from his ninth place starting position. Blair came to third with two laps to go but spun from the spot in the final turn. Kielar drove to his first feature win at Raceway 7 with Bill Taylor, who started his career at Raceway 7 the year it opened, finishing second. Point’s leader Joel Watson was third at the finish with Bedell winding up fourth and 2010 champion Russ Dunn fifth.
Josh Double took the immediate lead in the Evergreen Lake Park Campground FASTRAK Late Model feature with Adam Sixt second and Max Blair coming to third at lap two. At the end of four laps Sixt spun from second place in turn four, slowing the event. For the restart it was Double at the front with 2011 champion Blair second and George Kowatic third. Last week’s winner Josh Holtgraver was fourth for the restart. After another caution at lap four, Double went wide in turn two, allowing both Blair and Holtgraver to get by for the top spots. Caution again flew at lap nine with Blair leading Holtgraver, George Kowatic, and Bill Cunningham Sr. A three car pileup In turn one at the restart again slowed the action at the restart. Bill Cunningham Sr came to third on lap twelve and pulled alongside Holtgraver for second as caution again flew. For the restart with seven to go Holtgraver and Cunningham were again side by side behind the leader. Cunningham moved to second at the green but Blair was on his way to his eighth win of the season. With two laps remaining Justin Kreider again spun in turn one, then Joe Long spun in turn four for the final cautions of the race. The veteran Cunningham wound up second. Holtgraver faltered in turn two with two to go, allowing Double to slip back by for third. After Holtgraver in fourth, Kyle Zimmerman was fifth.
John Boyd Sr was on the pole for the start of the Son Construction Mini Stock feature with Carlos Aponte next to him. Both drivers were looking for their second wins of the season. Point’s leader Jonny Boyd was ninth at the start with last week’s winner John Schenker starting twelfth. Aponte took off to the early lead over Boyd Sr but Boyd experience engine problems and rolled to a stop in turn one at lap four. At the green 2009 champion Ed Huge was second and Dale Haines third. At the restart, fourth running Jonny Boyd immediately moved to third, then took over second at lap six just as caution again flew for, this time for Joe Keney, stuck in mud after spinning in turn one. At this restart Zach Downs got by Boyd Jr as caution again flew, this time for Khole Wanzer, stalled in turn two. At halfway Huge and Aponte were battling for the lead with Downes and Boyd right behind. With three to go Boyd Jr regained third and then got second with one lap remaining. Aponte was able to maintain his lead, winning his second of the year over Boyd, Huge, Downes, and Dale Haines.
Evergreen Lake Park FASTRAK Late Models:
Heat 1: Russ Dunn, Billy Cunningham Jr, Josh Holtgraver, Max Blair, Bill Cunningham, Will Thomas, Bryan Salisbury, Joe Long
Heat 2: Kyle Zimmerman, Jamie Brown, Justin Kreider, Matt Latta, Wendell Pinckney, Bob Pifer, Justin Smith, Joe DeFazio
Heat 3: Josh Double, George Kowatic, Adam Sixt, Bob Rohrer, John Volpe, Chad Wright, Bob Craig
Feature: Max Blair, Bill Cunningham Sr, Josh Double, Josh Holtgraver, Kyle Zimmerman, John Volpe, Russ Dunn, Jamie Brown, George Kowatic, Bob Craig, Bryan Salisbury, Chad Wright, Bob Rohrer, Wendell Pinchney, Bob Pifer, Will Thomas, Joe DeFazio, Justin Smith, Justin Kreider, Joe Long, Matt Latta, Billy Cunningham Jr, Adam Sixt.
Zimmer Service Center E-Mods:
Heat 1: Joel Watson, Bill Taylor, Kyle Bedell, Robbie Blair, Gary Eicher, Russ Dunn, Ken Zimmer, Wade Slaney, Mike Harmon, Ed Wilson
Heat 2: Percy McDonald, Chuck Steinle Jr, Brian Fardink, Gerry Kielar, Dave Lyon, Josh McDonald, Mike Kinney, Chuck Steinle Sr, Dan McDonald
Feature: Gerry Kielar, Bill Taylor, Joel Watson, Kyle Bedell, Russ Dunn, Robbie Blair, Percy McDonald, Gary Eicher, Mike Kinney, Ken Zimmer, Brian Fardink, Josh McDonald, Chuck Steinle, Wade Slaney, Chuck Steinle Jr, Dave Lyon, Ed Wilson, Mike Harmon, Dan McDonald (DNS)
Campbell Mini Storage Street Stocks:
Heat 1: Shawn Fawcett, Rusty Wheeler, Chris Withers, Ryan Blood, Brent Coleman, Joe Rohrer, Steve Horvath, Jason Black, Randy Wyant, Rush Firestone
Heat 2: Paul Schreckengost, Tommy Fox, Ed Bolyard, Art Edwards, John Phelps Jr, David Snyder, Art Gilchrist, Chris Dann, Alex Anderson
Feature: Rusty Wheeler, Tommy Fox, Paul Schreckengost, Rush Firestone, Ed Bolyard, Chris Withers, John Phelps Jr, Joe Rohrer, Shawn Fawcett, Steve Horvath, David Snyder, Alex Anderson, Mark Thompson, Art Gilchrist, Art Edwards, Chris Dann, Jason Black, Randy Wyant, Ryan Blood
Son Construction Mini Stocks:
Heat 1: Carlos Aponte, Jamie Wrightsman, Wes Stull, Dale Haines, Doug Smith, Ryan Brenner, Joe Longenecker, John Schenker, Joe Keney, Khole Wanzer
Heat 2: Jonny Boyd, Ed Huge, Zach Downes, Tim Gillette, Brad Cole, John Boyd Sr, Mitch Stokes, Jason Easler, Bud Sergeff
Feature: Carlos Aponte, Jonny Boyd, Ed Huge, Zach Downes, Dale Haines, Wes Stull, Jason Easler, Tim Gillette, Ryan Brenner, Brad Cole, Doug Smith, Mitch Stokes, Joe Keney, John Boyd Sr, Joe Longenecker, Khole Wanzer, Jamie Wrightsman, John Schenker, Bud Sergeff (DNS)
