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4/25/2008 – The saying usually goes, “April showers, bring May Flowers” and showers is what was in the forecast for almost the whole state of New York for Friday. I was going just south of the New York border into Pennsylvania to a 3/8ths of a mile racetrack they call Penn Can Speedway. This nice little bullring sits in Susquehanna, PA, which is a remote location being right in the hilltops, and the scenery was beautiful, along the river and all around the track. I was hoping to see some great racing for their season opener and that the rains would stay north and the show would go on. I didn’t know what to expect, so here is my rundown of the activities and my journey to this facility for the first time.
I left my house exactly at 4pm in the afternoon and had a few sprinkles hit the windshield on the highway en route to the track. I was getting worried, especially with the price of gas; I didn’t want to waste a trip if the races were to get cancelled. It was two hours and fifteen minutes and a total of 141 miles later I was on route 171 about 7 miles to go to the track. I checked my trip meter on my car and it seems like it was more than seven miles I think, but darn it all, I never thought I would find the place. Route 171 is very narrow road and no room to pull off the road and has many hills in the road as well. I came around one corner and suddenly I seen a cloud of dust sweeping across the road and I knew right then and there I was close!
I came up to the track and seen the sign and pull into the track and noticed that the dust was just from the parking lot with all the fans and haulers waiting in line and also parking. I was nervous, thinking I missed some races, but no fear I had not.
I didn’t see a sign on where to go to get in to the pits, so I just followed the haulers and racecars and I was soon at the pit shack to sign in. Just past the pit shack they have a place it seemed to me that the drivers were registering, and I didn’t see the pit shack until I went around a hauler, darn I was lost…. I was able to meet Mrs. Kennerup who signed me into the pits and I was off to see the track and the layout. I first walked over to the pits, which is behind the back stretch to check out the pit board and see the lineup posted for the order of events. I was pumped; the track looked very smooth and unique in its own way. I took some pictures of the track and then made my way over to the grandstands by walking around the top of the track in turns one and two going to the gate.
This is really awesome; I get up to the gate and the lady sitting on the grandstand side watching the gate so that people who don’t belong in the pits can’t sneak in. I get up to it, and BAM; she opens it up for me to get through, very nice gesture and I said thank you very much. In my opinion, it only takes a minute to be nice to someone and it only takes a minute to say thank you and give respect where respect is due. THANK YOU!
I made my way up to the concession stands to check out the place and also to see what is on the menu and see what else they have to offer. I notice the picture booth as well as a booth for the people who do the video at the speedway. At this time I was thinking about making it up to the tower to find Reed Miller (co-promoter of the race track) to see where I can sit and get a good view of the track. I get there and find out that he is in the infield taking pictures; I am already thinking that; man this guy really gets into the races. I finally get into the tower and meet Leon Andrus who announces there and also Brett Deyo, who was on hand as well taking partial duties with the microphone. I also had the privilege to meet J.R. Kennerup as well. all three of these people are very well known for the columns and articles that they write in Area Auto Racing News and the Gater Racing News paper publication. Wow I could not believe that I was in the same room with these guys, I was excited to see some racing now.
The night started out with Millard Hall singing the National Anthem right from the tower. I thought that was very cool as some tracks just play it over the loud speaker from a cassette tape or this day in age from a compact disc.
On to the racing action, as that is what I was there for in the first place. There were a total of 102 racecars on hand for the nights action. The sponsor of the night was Boughton Auto Salvage Night for the season opener. I was amazed at how many race cars were there and that I was going to see sail panels on Modifieds, an experience that everyone needs to see.
I was pumped to see this place and just could not wait any longer to see cars on the track. Sitting in the tower I notice that there are two small ponds in the infield, one in each end. I was wondering if I was going to see some cars go in there, as they have big tractor tires along the inside of the track to keep drivers from going to the extreme low groove. I never did get to see that happen which was a good thing, but a few people told me that there has been a few get into the ponds in the past.
First up was the Late Models and let me say this, they are a completely different car compared to the Modifieds and I haven’t seen many Late Model races, and they are fast!
At the start of the first heat, they roared down the front stretch and by the time the cars got to turn four to complete lap one they were going three-wide going to the line! I realized that one of there main Late Model drivers was not there, who is Dan Stone, and I realize that name from being in the results for some World of Outlaw races. Reed told me that he will be coming back to the speedway as Penn Can is his home track; apparently he was off chasing the WoO tour.
The Modifieds put on one heck of a show throughout the whole night, heat wins went to the cars of Ken Titus, Jeff Rudalavage, Alan Rudalavage and also Mike Colsten. In the third heat, it was looking as if Alan Rudalavage was going to be the man to beat as he had almost a whole straightway lead when taking the checkers. The track was super smooth other than a minor rut that showed up during the night in turn two, but I’m sure the track crew will fix that.
One driver for the night was doing double duty in both the Modified division and also in the Sportsman class. This was a driver who I had to watch, it was interesting to see if he could actually pull of two wins in one night of racing. The driver was Grant Hilfiger racing the no.78 numbered Modified and Sportsman. He had some bad luck in the Modified feature and was a dnf. He had way better luck in the Sportsman’s class by taking the checkered flag for the night. This topic has come up many times with drivers racing in the headline class and then dropping down to a lower level class. Some don’t mind it and others are for it, personally if you want to race in more than one class, it should be up to the drivers and also to the track. Tonight it didn’t bother me much as the Sportsman cars were almost just as fast at the Modifieds, and with the chassis being similar, I’m sure it wasn’t that much of a transition to get out of one car to go to the other. But for some reason I’m thinking that this might have been a bit of an advantage as it might help set the second car up.
The Super Stocks were on the track, and I noticed they do look a bit different than the Pro Stocks that I usually see that run the DIRT tour, but that didn’t matter, as the action was tight and close on every race they had. Wow they are fast and totally sliding those cars wickedly into the corners. Side-by-side racing is what everyone wants to see and with this class, everyone was able to see just that. The Pure Stocks were just as good, and I love these two classes, as they are some of my favorite racing to see. Usually these teams are out there racing for fun and racing with the family and that is what racing is all about.
In closing, I would recommend to anyone that this track is a must see, as the night was over by 11:15 p.m. and I was in the car heading out by 11:30p.m. The night ran smooth and there never really was any downtime, which is a good thing for the fans in attendance. When you do get to the speedway, be sure to talk with Reed Miller, as he does a lot for the track and also the website, he has a guestbook on the webpage, for drivers, fans, crew members, car owners to express their opinions and Reed moderates the board and it is a great way to let your track promoter(s) a feel on how the show is put on. Check it out right on the website here www.penncan.com . This year marks the 12th year of operation at the track, and to me that season has started on a good note. No delays, no arguments and it seemed to me that all the cars that they teched all passed.
I want to point out, that many think they can run a racetrack from there keyboard, and have their own opinions on what they think promoters should do. I can say this, which many people don’t understand what it takes to make a show move on. I saw it first hand by being in the tower on Friday night, that there are many things behind the scenes that goes on to make the racing possible. You have scorers and lap counters as well as handicappers and obviously the announcers. Leon Andrus was very exciting to listen to all night behind the microphone, and Brett Deyo, is just amazing as he just has what it takes and it all comes natural for him. Keep up the great work Brett!
This is one of a kind racetracks and by being greeted with open arms and given great hospitality I am defiantly making plans to return to this speedway as the staff and personnel on hand are great people! So when ever you’re in the area, be sure to check out this nice little racetrack and have fun!! I want to thank everyone there for letting my get the experience of watching a race at Penn Can. Full Results are below.
Thank You PENN CAN SPEEDWAY!!!! For any and all comments you can reach me at tomames@dirttrackdigest.com
Race Results from 4/25/2008
Boughton Auto Salvage Modified Feature: Jeff Rudalavage, Al Rudalavage, Craig Terrell, Dan Vauter, Butch Tittle, Joey Grammes, Mike Nagel, Mike Colsten, Mike Gular, Wade Decker, Ken Titus, Dave Jenkins, Brian Weaver, Mike McCollum, Billy Thornton, Joel Batzel, Mike Lartz, Dan Pompey, Joe Krisovich, Alex Tonkin, Matt Latwinski, Darwin Greene, Brett Tonkin, Chad Cook, Grant Hilfiger, Bobby Trapper, DNS Bill Miller, DNQ, Jim Corcoran, Justin Andrews, Scott Frack, Troy Gibson, J.J. Bunnell, Brian Franko, Jason Andrews, Steve Babicek, Chris Weaver, Bernie Griffin, Brian Corcoran
Boughton Auto Salvage Late Model Feature: Tracy Gregory, Alan Kellogg, Dave Zona, Randall Paxton, Jeremy Randall, Danny Snyder, Adam McGeorge, James Cornell, Bud Phillips, Chad Hollenbeck, Ben Whithaker, Curt Tunello Jr, Scott Adams, Bill Ropp, Adam Diaz, DNS Chris Hunsinger
Boughton Auto Salvage Sportsman Feature: Grant Hilfiger, Nick Petrilak, Jeff Crambo, Paul Rooney, Joey Colsten, Eric Griffin, Paul Strohl, Stanley Wilkins, Bob Janesky, Dwayne Robbins, Jim Hughes Sr, Jamie Cortazar, Mike Nagel Jr, Jason Carman, Nick Rochinski
Boughton Auto Salvage Super Stock Feature: Frank Payne, Chris Strohl, Tom Herman, Doug Polhamus, Pat Nolan, Nate Shay, Jason Bartsch, Tommy Groover, John Lewis, Bill Metschulat, Andrew Alia, Mark Hiller, Tyler Yeagle, Dick Koch, Matt Holmes, Fred Christ, David Brown, Jim Sykes, Darren Stout
Boughton Auto Salvage Pure Stock Feature: Jon Carpenter, Harry Marvin III, Tom Garren, Steve Palhamus, Ray Lindquist, Glen Robinson, Butch Green, Carl Shimer, Rich Green, R.C. Henry ,Jim Thompson Ortiz, Josh Towner, Chris Shimer, Ray Swanson.
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