By Ken Bruce
As the saying goes, the third time is a charm. Jeff Strunk hopes that is exactly what plays out for him as he reunites with car owner Glenn Hyneman to drive the iconic No. 126 for the third time in his long successful career. This time for Strunk and Hyneman it will be a little different as they plan on racing a specials only format for the remainder of 2022.
Hyneman who still has Dominick Buffalino wheeling his car at Bridgeport only wanted to race more with his fleet of modifieds and Strunk who races weekly at Grandview and Big Diamond in the No. 88Z for owner Dave Zubikowski would like to race more frequently but the team currently has spec 358 motors only and is limited to the races they can run. Hyneman has big small blocks and big blocks in his arsenal thus giving Strunk the opportunity to race in some of the bigger races in the Northeast.
This will be the third time around for the owner/driver combo who have had much success in the previous two pairings. The Strunk/Hyneman combination has produced 42 victories over the years with 2007 being the most productive year with 10 total victories. Included in those 42 victories are a total of four Freedom 76 wins. This is a great opportunity for Strunk to once again show what he can against some of the best in modified racing.
“This is definitely a good thing for me, looking forward to it” said Strunk after bringing the No. 88Z home with a sixth-place finish at Bloomsburg. “There are races I want to race really bad, and I am getting older so you don’t know if you will have that chance anymore. I have been doing the weekend thing forever and I strive to run the big races and I think this is a good thing for both of us and am excited about it.”
Being that Strunk and Hyneman are so familiar with each other, the combination should be ready to go right from the outset.
“There will be no learning time for either of us”, mentioned Strunk. “I have the guys to help me work on the cars and we know the shop already and everything should be better than ever in my opinion. I never try to burn bridges; I have known Glenn for over ten years, and we have always been friends and I have a lot of respect for him and what he has done in and for racing. He is a great businessman and a great car owner being this is our third time around, hopefully it is a charm.”
Strunk will continue to race for Dave Zubikowski at Big Diamond and Grandview weekly along with some spec 358 shows and is grateful that he has two great car owners to help him continue his racing career.
“I cannot say nothing but good things about Dave (Zubikowski), he came to my rescue for the second time last season when I had nothing going and for that I am very grateful to him”, explained Strunk. “This deal will work out good for both of us. Dave and I tried to get some other things going with engines and stuff but him doing what he does for Dillon (Steuer) as well as myself, it has really been hard on him financially. We have great people and partners who support us but running a two-car team this day and age is a whole lot with the costs of everything going up. Dave is a remarkable friend and a person in my life who has been there for me, and I am looking forward to still racing with him and winning races. I wanted to race more but with what is going on in the sport now with the motor dilemma, it has been hard, so this is the perfect time for me to get back with Glenn after him and Dom (Dominick Buffalino) have scaled back. I have always told Glenn that if he wanted to run two cars or if wanted to have a second car at the track at the big motor races, I would race for him since I didn’t have anything going on except for the spec stuff.
Strunk is very much looking forward to getting back behind the wheel at some of modifieds biggest races as the 2022 racing season continues.
“I am looking forward to getting back and driving a big block, I haven’t driven a big block since I last drove for Glenn,” said Strunk. “As a competitor, you always want to race some of the big races they have at the end of year and with Glenn I will have the opportunity to do so and hopefully we can do good and again I can’t thank both Dave and Glenn enough for giving me this opportunity. This will take some of the pressure off of Dave and I appreciate that Glenn contacted him when this was starting to happen to make sure it was good with him and I think this will be a good thing for myself, Dave and Glenn.”
Bloomsburg Battlefield Blasts:
36 cars signed in for the “Battle at Bloomsburg” Short Track Super Series combination North/South series race. Winning the four heats were Anthony Perrego, Danny Tyler, Ryan Godown and Jeff Strunk. Winning the two last chance races were JR Hurlbert and Billy Osmun III. Series Provisionals were awarded to Ryan Watt and Brandon Grosso for the south region and Danny Creeden for the north region…
Short Track Super Series owner and promoter Brett Deyo announced at the drivers meeting that after talking with teams and engine builders the series will be sticking to using steel blocks only in 2023 instead of opening up the series to allow use of aluminum blocks…
Brandon Grosso’s night came to a quick end after motor problems reared up in warmups. Car owner and Brandon’s father Rick Grosso said he believes a broken piston was the culprit. Grosso was eligible for a provisional and elected to take brother Justin’s sportsman car out for a lap to get the start money…
Feature winner Anthony Perrego set a new track record of 15.854 in winning his race…
Mike Mahaney was battling Danny Tyler for the lead in heat race #2 when he blew a right rear tire forcing him to the pits. Mahaney was able to return work his way into a qualifying spot…
Coming into Wednesday’s night race, Danny Creeden was the North Region points leader, unfortunately for Creeden, his No. 16X broke a jackshaft after contact with Randy Green forcing Creeden to drop out and try to qualify in the last chance race. Creeden was not able to qualify but did receive a provisional. After racing up to the top ten, Creeden ended up with a 13th place finish…
Although Matt Sheppard ended up the night with a fourth-place finish, it did not come easy. Sheppard had to pit in his heat race when he felt the right rear tire going soft but battled back to qualify with a last lap, fourth turn pass. Sheppard once again was forced to pit on lap six of the feature when his right front tire went flat. Sheppard put on quite a show coming from the rear to finish fourth…
Heartbreak for Matt Stangle, the Neshanic Station, NJ driver seemed to have the fastest car early in the race opening up a bit lead. But on a lap 20 restart, the No. 6 failed to take off and slowed to a stop ending his night…
Mat Williamson was pushed to the pits on lap 20 when the ignition started to act up on the Behrent’s No. 3. The Behrent’s team was able to make repairs allowing Williamson to rejoin the race and end the night with a 10th place finish…
Mike Gular ran most of the 50-lap feature race with a left front flat which hampered him on the restarts but Gular soldiered on to finish fifth…
Billy Pauch Jr made it up to third in the Rick Holsten No. 96 after starting twelfth only to drop out on lap 34 with a broken U joint…
Danny Bouc and Billy Pauch Jr tied for the Bill Brown & Company heat race hard charger award with each a plus five. The $50 ended going to Bouc who posted the fastest lap during his heat to break the tie…
Ryan Godown continued his solid season in the Short Track Super Series. Godown has finished no worse than fifth in the six STSS races he has run this season. Godown has two wins (Cherokee & Port Royal), one second (Bloomsburg), one third (New Egypt) and two fifths (Orange County & Delaware)…
Matt Sheppard is now the River Valley Builders North Region points leader over Danny Creeden, Mat Williamson, Andy Bachetti and Anthony Perrego. Next up for the North Region is the “Slate Valley 50” at Devils Bowl Speedway on Sunday June 19th…
Ryan Godown continues to lead the way in the Hurlock Auto & Speed Supply South Series over Matt Sheppard, Mike Gular, Danny Bouc & Mike Mahaney. Up next for the South Region is the “South Jersey Shootout” at Bridgeport Motorsport Park on Tuesday July 26th…
If you have any questions or comments. I can be reached at dirtracefan25@hotmail.com or on Twitter @dirtracefan25.
