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-Jeff Crambo wins Sportsman barnburner
Pat Ward drove to his first victory in nearly 20 years at the Penn Can
Speedway last Tuesday night, picking up the win in the Race of Champions
Dart Dirt Modified Series 75 lap feature as part of the Dan‘s Automotive
Mall “Hot Summer Nights“ special. Ward, who last won at Penn Can back in
1988 when he raced as a regular at the track, drove to victory aboard his
familiar John Wight owned Gypsum Express sponsored #42B, leading all 75
laps of the feature event. In the companion Sportsman Invitational, Jeff
Crambo nosed out Dan Pompey in a race that featured a great side by side
battle between Crambo and Dan Pompey with the outcome not determined
until the final turn of the final lap. Denny Decker picked up his first
Pure Stock win of the season as he claimed the win in the Homer Ferrante
Memorial Pure Stock feature.
With the feature line-up set via luck of the draw, Ward drew the lucky
number one starting position. Ward was able to take advantage of the up
front start as he was able to dash to the lead at the drop of the green
flag. A long green flag run to start the race saw Ward opening up a bit
of an advantage of Penn Can regular Jeff Rudalavage. Ward was able to
stretch his lead a bit in the early stages, but the racing at the head of
the field tightened up once the front runners entered lapped traffic by
the time the race reached the 25 lap mark.
The race’s first caution flag waved shortly thereafter as Alan Johnson,
driving the Butch Getz #15, slowed with a flat tire, forcing the caution
flag before driving to the pits for a new tire. The caution flag provided
a bit of a respite from lapped traffic for the race leaders as Ward
continued to lead the event over Rudalavage. Once again, as the laps
wound on, Ward was able to gradually move away from Rudalavage as the
race crossed the halfway mark.
The running order at the head of the field remained Ward, Rudalavage and
Ronnie Johnson when the red flag waved on lap 55 for a multi-car accident
that started with contact between fifth place running Joey Grammes and
the lapped car of Bobby Varin. The ensuing tangle eliminated several
contenders from the event as Brian Weaver, Jeff Strunk, and Stewart
Friesen were all involved in the crash and eliminated from the event with
all suffering significant damage. Joey Grammes was able to rejoin the
event still on the lead lap after some fast pit work by his Brad Grammes
led crew.
The final stretch run of the event saw no changes at the head of the
field as Ward was able to once again move away from Rudalavage. Ward
would hold the top spot all the way to the finish to collect the $4,000
victory. Rudalavage was not able to make a run at Ward over the closing
laps and settled for a solid runner-up finish with Ronnie Johnson third.
Craig VonDohren made a rare Penn Can appearance and came away with a
fourth place finish after a torrid battle for that position with current
Penn Can point leader Mike Gular, who finished fifth. Former Sportsman
division champion Kevin Bates finished sixth with Vic Coffey recovering
from an early race spin to finish seventh in his first ever Penn Can
start. Jerry Higbie, Mike Colsten, and Ryan Phelps completed the to ten
finishing order.
Jeff Crambo picked up the win in the 25 lap Sportsman Invitational, which
drew 36 of the area’s top Sportsman teams to Penn Can. Dan Pompey jumped
out to the early lead in the 25 lap feature event, which saw an early red
flag for Grant Hilfiger, who rode out a flip in the second turn. Grant
was not injured, but was done for the evening. Two time feature winner
Joey Colsten and Butch Klinger were also eliminated in this incident.
When racing resumed, Crambo made his presence known as he began to mount
a challenge for the top spot. Crambo took his Acuity Vision Center
sponsored Bicknell machine to the high side of the speedway and found the
top groove to his liking. With Pompey running the low side of the
speedway, Crambo went to work up top. The two Penn Can Speedway regulars
put on a show for the Penn Can fans as they fought for the lead, battling
side by side for several laps. With the outside groove coming in quickly,
Crambo was able to drive past Pompey and establish himself as the race
leader. Jeff was able to open up a bit of an advantage, but that was
erased on lap twenty when the racer’s final caution flag for a slowing
Josh Purcell erased that lead and set up a final five lap dash to the
finish.
On the restart, Dan Pompey made his move to go back to the lead as he
dove to the low side of Crambo off the restart to take over the race
lead. Undaunted, Crambo continued to run the high groove and was able to
pull back alongside Pompey. With the $750 winner’s share of the purse and
other perks on the line for the winner, the two were letting it all hang
out as they fought for the lead. They ran the final five laps of the
feature event side by side with Crambo steadily gaining ground. Jeff
worked the outside groove to perfection and was finally able to drive
back past Pompey for good exiting the fourth turn on the final lap.
Crambo picked up the victory by a scant car length margin over Pompey.
Invader Brad Brightbill ran a strong race to finish third with Mike Lartz
and Danny Creeden completing the top five. Former Super Stock standouts
Chris Stull and Jim Howard finished sixth and seventh with Justin Holland
eighth anead of teenage sensation Larry Wight and Gary Card Jr.
The Pure Stocks were added to the Hot Summer Nights card this year for
the first ever running of the Homer Ferrante Memorial Race. That event is
dedicated to the memory of former pure Stock driver Homer Ferrante, who
passed away during the winter months in a work related accident. Through
the hard work of the friends and fans of Homer Ferrante, this memorial
race was put together. They raised a great deal of lap money and bonus
awards which saw 14 of the 23 starters receiving some bonus or lap money
on top of the purse.
Denny Decker raced to victory in the 25 lap Homer Ferrante Memorial
feature. Tom Garren brought out a brand new car for this event and
grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag. Garren would lead the
first nine laps of the event before Decker was able to work past after a
torrid side by side battle for the top spot. Once out front, Decker would
lead the remainder of the event to pick up the victory and the $400
winner’s share of the purse plus lap money. Rich Green charged from the
back of the pack after an early race incident to finish a close second
behind Decker with Steve Deinhardt third. Early race leader Tom Garren
and Chad Stone completed the top five. Norm Whittemore, John Cooper Jr.,
Jon Carpenter, Mahlon Shoemaker and Dee Ramey completed the top ten
finishers.
Racing continues this Friday night with a big racing card featuring the
Modifieds, Sportsman, Late Models, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Four
Cylinder Stocks. All six divisions will take part in a full show of
racing action of the fast, smooth Penn Can oval. Racing gets underway at
7:15 PM. For all of the latest news and up to date information, log onto
the speedway’s official website at www.penncan.com
DON’S AUTOMOTIVE MALL HOT SUMMER NIGHTS RACE SUMMARY
RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIEDS: 1. PAT WARD 2. Jeff Rudalavage 3. Ronnie
Johnson 4. Craig VonDohren 5. Mike Gular 6. Kevin Bates 7. Vic Coffey 8.
Jerry Higbie 9. Mike Colsten 10. Ryan Phelps 11. Jeff Heotzler 12. Wade
Decker 13. Joey Grammes 14. Dan Vuater 15. Bobby Varin 16. Cark Nagel 17.
Garth Tonkin Jr. 18. Brian Weaver 19. Jeff Strunk 20. Stewart Friesen 21.
Billy Thornton 22. Ken Titus 23. Alan Johnson 24. Alan Rudalavage 25.
Mike Nagel 26. Bobby Trapper DNQ: Brett Tonkin, Chad Cook, Darwin Greene,
Brian Franko
SPORTSMAN: 1. JEFF CRAMBO 2. Dan pompey 3. Brad Brightbill 4. Mike Lartz
5. Danny Creeden 6. Chris Stull 7. Jimmy Howard 8. Justin Holland 9.
Larry Wight 10. Gary Card Jr. 11. Mike Dimorier 12. Tim Howell 13. Alex
Konopka 14. Mike Nagel Jr. 15. Shawn Mills 16. Josh Purcell 17. Mike
Loney 18. Ed White 19. Paul Rooney 20. Chris Wood 21. Mike Austin 22.
Brian White 23. Joey Colsten 24. Butch Klinger 25. Grant Hilfiger 26.
Casey Plummer DNQ: Eric Griffin, Jeff Leslie, Steve Yankowski, Paul
Strohl, Sam Dwy, Chance Spoonhower, Christine Martin, Randy Brokaw, Mike
Senecal, Ray See Jr.
HOMER FERRANTE MEMORIAL PURE STOCKS: 1. DENNY DECKER 2. Rich Green 3.
Steve Deinhardt 4. Tom Garren 5. Chad Stone 6. Norm Whittemore 7. John
Cooper Jr. 8. Jon Carpenter 9. Mahlon Shoemaker 10. Dee Ramey 11. Rich
Talada 12. Kurt Decker 13. Doug Stack 14. Josh Ellis 15. Toby Sparks 16.
Shane Wolf 17. Harry Marvin III 18. Josh Towner 19. Mike Coddington 20.
Nate Shay 21. Ryan Stone 22. Eric Beach 23. Charlie Gilbert
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