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-story by Ted Schmidt
Eynon, Pa.’s Jeff Rudalavage topped a star-studded 32 car Modified field
to pick up the win in the second race on the eight race STAR Series
Modified feature last Friday night at Penn Can. Wheeling his Dag’s Auto
Parts/WPC Warranty Companies Bicknell machine, Rudalavage collected the
$2,000 winner’s share of the purse for his efforts in the 40 lap feature
event. The CSRA 305 Sprint Cars made their first ever Penn Can appearance
with Bill Jaycox Jr. out dueling Warren Alexson to pick up his first
career feature win. Shaun Walker topped the Sportsman field for his first
win of 2007 while Jeremy Randall won his first career Late Model feature.
Jamie Batzel topped the Pure Stock feature.
With the feature line-up set by the luck of the draw, Joey Grammes
capitalized on a front row starting position to grab the lead at the drop
of the green flag. Eventual winner Rudalavage was on the move early as he
quickly advanced from his fourth starting position to run second behind
Grammes. Rudalavage was able to make what would prove to be the winning
move on the ninth lap as he got a big run out of the fourth turn and was
able to pull alongside Grammes, completing the pass to take over the top
spot.
With the first 25 laps of the 40 lap event running without a caution
flag, Rudalavage was able to open up a half straightaway lead over
Grammes as the two worked lapped traffic. A lap 25 caution for a minor
incident closed up the field and put Grammes right on Rudalavage’s rear
bumper on the restart. Rudalavage was up to the challenge as he was able
to hold off Grammes’ challenge over the closing laps. As the checkered
flag waved, Rudalavage claimed his first Penn Can win since the 2002
racing season over Grammes. Alan Rudalavage made a late change to take
the third position from Mike Nagel, who finished a strong fourth. Bill
Thornton Jr. opening night feature winner Brian Weaver drove to a sixth
place finish with Mike Gular, Craig Terrell, Jim Crawn, and Tom McGurrin
rounding out the top ten finishers.
The CSRA Sprint Cars made their first ever appearance at Penn Can,
bringing 15 of their 305 C.I. powered sprint cars for their inaugural
Penn Can appearance. The Sprint Cars put on a show for the Penn Can fans
with a tight battle for the win with the outcome of the race in doubt all
the way to the checkered flag. Middleburgh, NY’s Bill Jaycox Jr. came out
on top of an entertaining battle with Warren Alexson to score his first
career victory. Jaycox and Alexson swapped the lead back and forth with
Jaycox grabbing the lead for good on lap 18 with a perfectly executed
slide job in the third turn. Alexson tried to make a late charge but fell
just short, settling for a runner-up finish. Todd Spangler, Matt
Dermitrazzer, and Butchie Irwin rounded out the top five. Kyle Dutcher
was sixth ahead of Jami Russell. Former Sportsman division hotshoe Tom
Laner Jr. drove to an eighth place finish in his first ever sprint car
start with Chuck Alessi and Anthony Brennay completing the top ten
finishing order.
Shaun Walker drove his Walker’s Concrete Construction sponsored Bicknell
2007x machine to victory in the 20 lap Sportsman feature, his first Penn
Can win of 2007. Chris Wood grabbed the lead early and led the first nine
laps of the event before Walker made the winning pass. Walker would lead
the remainder of the event to pick up the victory over Wood. Jeff Crambo
drove to a third place finish with Dwayne Robbins and Joey Colsten fourth
and fifth respectively. Defending champion Mike Loney rebounded from an
early race spin to finish sixth with Alex Konopka and Rick Brown seventh
and eighth. Danny Creeden finished ninth in his first Penn Can start of
the season with Bill Deckelman rounding out the top ten finishers.
The Late Model division had a first time winner on Friday night as South
Gibson, Pa.’s Jeremy Randall drove his Manzer Stone sponsored entry to
his first career victory. Randall’s win was a dominating one as he passed
early race leader Brett Spoor and was able to drive away from the pack.
While Randall was having things his way up front, the closing laps of the
event featured a tight battle for second involving ne less than five
cars. With those cars fighting for position, Randall was able to open up
a straightaway lead to earn the win in only his eighth ever start. Tracy
Gregory came out on top of the runner-up battle finishing second with
Jamie Griffiths slipping past Brett Spoor on the final lap to finish
third with Spoor fourth. Bud Phillips completed the top five finishing
order. Defending champion Dave Zona finished sixth with Chad Hollenbeck,
Dan Stone, Randall Paxton, and Keith Mudge filling positions seven
through ten respectively.
Jamie Batzel topped the 20 lap Pure Stock feature to earn his first win
of the 2007 season. Batzel capitalized on a front row start as he led
every lap of the feature to earn the victory. Steve Deinhardt turned in
another impressive drive to finish second behind Batzel with Butch Green,
Rich Green, and Mahlon Shoemaker rounding out the top five finishers.
Harry Marvin Jr., Charlie Gilbert, Steve Polhemus, Kevin Beach, and Corey
Bond made up the second half of the top ten.
Racing continues this Friday night with a big five division racing show.
The Central New York Mini Sprints will be in town for their first Penn
Can appearance of 2007. They will be joined by the Modifieds, Super
Stocks, Sportsman, and Pure Stock divisions. On Monday, May 28th, Penn
Can will also be in action with a big Memorial Day racing card. The STAR
Series Modifieds will be in action in a big 50 lap feature event. The
Race of Champions Sportsman Tour will see the area’s top Sportsman
drivers competing in a 50 lap, $1,200 to win feature event. The IMCA
Modifieds will make their first of four Penn Can appearances of 2007,
doing battle in a 20 lap feature event. For all of the latest news and
information, log onto the speedway’s official website at www.penncan.com.
RACE SUMMARY:
STAR SERIES MODIFIEDS (40 laps): 1. JEFF RUDALAVAGE 2. Joey Grammes 3.
Alan Rudalavage 4. Mike Nagel 5. Billy Thornton 6. Brian Weaver 7. Mike
Gular 8. Craig Terrell 9. Jim Crawn 10. Tom McGurrin 11. Rick Virkitis
12. Brian Decker 13. Mike Colsten 14. Carl Nagel 15. Butch Getz 16. Alan
Kellogg 17. Brett Tonkin 18. Chris Shupp 19. James Cornell 20. JR Crouse
21. Ken Titus 22. Bill Miller 23. Eric Bonham 24. Bob Hamm 25. Darwin
Greene DNQ: Brian Malcolm, Darrin Schuler, Billy Jenkins, Dave Jenkins,
Ricky Yetter, Brian Franko, Bernie Griffin
CRSA SPRINT CARS (20 laps) 1. BILL JAYCOX JR. 2. Warren Alexson 3. Todd
Spangler 4. Matt Demitrazzer 5. Butchie Irwin 6. Kyle Dutcher 7. Jami
Russell 8. Tom Laner Jr. 9. Chuck Alessi 10. Anthony Brennay 11. Jeff
VanSteenburg 12. Tyler Rice 13. Jeff McCaffrey 14. Matthew Shuart
15.Marshall Gogg
SPORTSMAN (20 laps) 1. SHAUN WALKER 2. Chris Wood 3. Jeff Crambo 4.
Dwayne Robbins 5. Joey Colsten 6. Mike Loney 7. Alex Konopka 8. Rick
Brown 9. Danny Creeden 10. Bill Deckelman 11. Frank Doty 12. Brian Franco
13. Paul Rooney 14. Josh Pursell 15. Dan Pompey 16. Mike Lartz 17. Russ
Zimmerman 18. Jamie Cortazar 19. Mike Nagel Jr. 20. Nick Petrilak 21.
Dave Carlin 22. Grant Hilfiger 23. Eric Griffin 24. Paul Strohl DNQ:
Robbie Fairweather, Frank Yankowski, Steve Chapple, Bob Janesky, Casey
Plummer
LATE MODEL (20 laps) 1. JEREMY RANDALL 2. Tracy Gregory 3. Jamie
Griffiths 4. Brett Spoor 5. Bud Phillips 6. Dave Zona 7. Chad Hollenbeck
8. Dan Stone 9. Randall Paxton 10. Keith Mudge 11. Jim O’Hara 12. Steve
Cummings 13. Junior Grebe 14. Rick Schaffer 15. Bill Ropp DNS: Ben
Whittaker
PURE STOCK (20 laps) 1. JAMIE BATZEL 2. Steve Deinhardt 3. Butch Green 4.
Rich Green 5. Mahlon Shoemaker 6. Harry Marvin III 7. Charlie Gilbert 8.
Steve Polhemus 9. Kevin Beach 10. Corey Bond 11. Bimmer Gulley 12. Glen
Robinson 13. Chad Stone 14. Jon Carpenter 15. Dee Ramey 16. Josh Towner
17. Ken Washburn 18. Ray Swanson |
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