Conneaut, OH, (June 17, 2011): The best weather conditions of the season greeted fans and competitors as they filed into Raceway 7 for the Zimmer’s Service Center UEMS feature which was set by heats run last week prior to the arrival of Mother Nature. Thompson, OH’s Jack Young prevailed over the UEMS field of E-Mods. Also on the card was a regular night of racing for the Evergreen Lake Park Campground FASTRAK Late Models, the Campbell’s Mini Storage Street Stocks, and the Son Construction Mini-Stocks. Max Blair, Chris Withers, and Jonny Boyd were repeat winners.
The UEMS Zimmer Service Center E-Mod feature was first up with the starting line-up determined by heats run last week before the rains came. Shane Crotty and Jack Young were on the front row. UEMS Point leader Joel Watson started the event from the fifth slot with second point car Bud Watson starting deep in the field at 19th. Crotty and Young ran lap one side by side with Crotty about a foot ahead at the completion of lap one. Young charged into sole possession of the lead by the time they got to the back straight on lap two. Meanwhile back in the pack Dan McDonald, Ken Zimmer and Gary Eicher tangled hard with McDonald getting some airtime. None of the three were able to continue. Crotty and Young continued their battle at the front after green with Joel Watson and opening night winner Randy Hall coming to third and fourth by lap four. Watson was second at lap seven and began closing on the leader. At halfway Watson was right behind Young but the leader then began pulling away once again. Crotty was running third with Hall holding steady in fourth and Mike Kinney fifth. The race ran green with Young leading until lap 22 when Al Brewer came to a stop in turn two for only the second caution of the event. At the green flag Hall immediately got by Crotty and Justin Carlson was flying on the outside to challenge Crotty for fourth. Kyle Bedell and Rick Pratschler tangled in turn one with three laps remaining, giving Watson and Hall another shot at Young, who was looking for his first-ever UEMS feature win. Young was up to the task with Watson settling for second, Hall third, Crotty hanging onto fourth, and Justin Carlson fifth.
Ryan Blood and Paul Schreckengost were the front row for the Campbell’s Mini Storage Street Stock feature. Don Kramer spun in turn two necessitating a complete restart. Blood lead lap one with Chris Withers, the most recent winner up to second. On lap five Withers was able to pull alongside but was unable to complete the pass. Joe Plesniak came to a halt on lap five to slow the action again. At lap six Schreckengost was back to second and was running next to the leader when lap seven was complete, gaining the spot on the back straight just as Nate Arp spun in turn two, negating the pass and putting Blood back in front for the restart. Blood held onto the lead with Schreckengost challenging until five laps to go when Withers got back by for the runner-up spot with Rush Firestone coming by for third. Coming off turn two at lap eleven Blood got loose with the field scrambling. In the confusion Schreckengost came back from fourth to lead, but only temporarily as smoke poured from his mount just a lap later. At the same time as Schreckengost exited the event Nate Arp spun, bringing caution with three laps remaining. For the green, Withers was again the leader with Rush Firestone and Joe Rohrer right behind. Only two of the three remaining laps were completed before the final yellow was shown, for Plesniak again, spinning out of turn four. Withers was able to hold on for the final dash for the win, his second in a row. Rush Firestone, Joe Rohrer, Shawn Fawcett, and Don Kramer followed second through fifth.
Max Blair, going for three wins in a row, drew the pole position for the start of the Evergreen Lake Park Campground FASTRAK Late Models with Dave Airgood outside. Blair took off with the lead while Mike Mitchell trailed. At the end of lap two Bobby Rohrer slapped the wall hard on the front straight bringing out caution. The race went green with Blair cruising in the lead until lap nine when Joe Long and Justin Kreider got together in turn four. At the restart Blair again shot out to the lead with Dave Airgood coming to second. Kreider again brought out caution at halfway, spinning in turn two. Kreider spun again just four laps later. With the white flag flying Dave Airgood attempted to dive to the inside under Mitchell but spun in turn two, setting up a one-lap dash to the checkers. Three races into the season, Blair is undefeated, with Mitchell second and John Volpe third. Kyle Zimmerman was fourth and former Steel Block Late Model champion Billy Henry was fifth.
Bud Sergeff and Jon Boyd Sr sat on the front row of the Son Construction Mini Stock feature with two-time winner and defending champion Jonny Boyd Jr starting sixth. Sergeff led lap one with Tim Gillette coming alongside at the end of the lap. At the end of two Gillette was leading with Sergeff and Boyd Jr side by side for second. In turn four on lap five, Gillette drifted high in turn four allowing Boyd to dive low and complete the pass half a lap later. Boyd then cruised to his third consecutive win over Gillette, Sergeff, Boyd Sr, and Ricky Tackett.
Evergreen Lake Park FASTRAK Late Models:
Heat 1: Dave Airgood. Max Blair, Kyle Zimmerman, Billy Cunningham Jr, Jamie Brown, Justin Kreider, Bob Pifer, Billy Henry
Heat 2: John Volpe, Bill Cunningham Sr, Michael Mitchell, Chad Wright, Josh Double, Bobby Rohrer, Joe Long
Feature: Max Blair, Mike Mitchell, John Volpe, Kyle Zimmerman, Billy Henry, Bill Cunningham Sr, Jamie Brown, Billy Cunningham Jr, Josh Double, Chad Wright, Justin Kreider, Bob Pifer, Dave Airgood, Joe Long, Bobby Rohrer
Zimmer Service Center E-Mods: Heats run June 10.
Heat 1: Shane Crotty, Chuck Steinle Jr, Randy Hall, Brian Douglas, Dan Davies, Mike Harmon, Bud Watson
Heat 2: Al Brewer, Jack Young, Percy McDonald, Dan McDonald, Russ Dunn, Bill Taylor, Gary Eicher
Heat 3: Joel Watson, Mike Kinney, Ken Zimmer, Justin Carlson, Kyle Bedell, Kari Gasser, Josh McDonald
Feature: Jack Young, Joel Watson, Randy Hall, Shane Crotty, Justin Carlson, Mike Kinney, Percy McDonald, Bud Watson, Brian Douglas, Kyle Bedell, Bill Taylor, Rick Pratschler, Ed Wilson, Al Brewer, Russ Dunn, Mike Harmon, Chuck Steinle Jr, Dan Davies, Josh McDonald, Ken Zimmer, Dan McDonald, Gary Eicher
Campbell’s Mini Storage Street Stocks:
Heat 1: Paul Schreckengost, Ed Bolyard, Joe Rohrer, Shawn Fawcett, Don Kramer, Steve Horvath, Joe Plesniak, David Snyder
Heat 2: Chris Withers, Ryan Blood, Rush Firestone, Rusty Wheeler, Art Edwards, Darrin Hyde, Nate Arp
Feature: Chris Withers, Rush Firestone, Joe Rohrer, Shawn Fawcett, Don Kramer, Ed Bolyard, Art Edwards, Steve Horvath, Ryan Blood, Nate Arp, David Snyder, Joe Plesniak, Paul Schreckengost, Rusty Wheeler, Darrin Hyde
Son Construction Mini Stocks:
Heat 1: Jon Boyd Sr, Tim Gillette, Rickey Tackett, Jason Easler, Joe Keney, Clair Rolex
Heat 2: Bud Sergeff, Jonny Boyd, Dave Smith, Brad Cole, Josh Hovis, Beverly Plesniak
Feature: Jonny Boyd Jr, Tim Gillette, Bud Sergeff, Jon Boyd Sr, Ricky Tackett, Jason Easler, Doug Smith, Brad Cole, Joe Plesniak, Clair Rolex, Joe Keney, Josh Hovis (DNS)
Conneaut, OH (June 3, 2011): The northeast Ohio landscape was bathed in cool but sunny air as Raceway 7 attempted to complete its second program of the 2011 season. A good crowd came out for the evening which was clear throughout and conducive for good racing. In the action on the track, Max Blair (Evergreen Lake Park Campground Fastrak Late Models) and Jonny Boyd Jr, (Son Construction Mini Stocks) both of whom had dominated their divisions on the way to the 2010 Championships, continued their romps. Joel Watson captured the Zimmer Service Center E-Mod feature, and Chris Withers got his first-ever win at Raceway 7 in the Campbell’s Mini Storage Street Stocks feature.
Newt Tackett and Dave Airgood led the Evergreen Lake Park Campground Fastrak Late Models to the green flag with reigning champion Max Blair and the veteran Bill Cunningham in row two. Tackett lead from the green with Blair coming to second by the end of lap one. On lap four Blair dropped to the low side on the back straight and was leading by the time they came out of four. Bob Pifer spun in turn two the following lap, bringing yellow over the raceway. After green Blair again started opening a big lead with Tackett and John Volpe fighting over the runner-up spot with Volpe getting alongside in the turns but not being able to complete the pass. After a yellow for a stalled car, Volpe managed to get by Tackett at the halfway point. By this time Blair had checked out, but a caution at lap 15 tightened the field for another shot at the leader. At the green cars stacked up on the straight-a-way with Bryan Salisbury coming to a stop in traffic. When the race resumed Blair once again led the way, cruising to his second consecutive win at Raceway 7 in two attempts. Volpe would up second with Dave Airgood third, Kyle Zimmerman fourth, and Tackett falling to fifth.
There will be extra Purse Money for the Mini Stock Challengers (this week and through out the season) Sponsored by Specialty Products! Regular Divisions will race for points with Gibson Fireworks making noise for the Memorial Day Weekend May 27th.
Crate Late Model fuel is not sold @ Raceway 7.
