NEW EGYPT, NJ – Veteran Wade Hendrickson and young Justin Grosso were victorious in the twin twenty program at the New Egypt Speedway Saturday night. For Hendrickson, it was his second win of the 2023 season while Grosso made his third trip to victory lane this year.
In the regularly scheduled modified feature, polesitter Paul Mancini took control of the race from the drop of the green flag as Kevin Borden ran second and Clay Butler third. Lining up fifth, Hendrickson quickly made his presence known, cracking the top three on lap three. Powering into second one lap later, Hendrickson had the Michael Brothers #51M running to perfection as he set his sights on leader Mancini.
Appearing as though he might track down the young talented driver, the large crowd in attendance found it quite surprising that even though he cut into Mancini’s lead, the deficit was not shrinking as the race entered the halfway mark. With no caution flags over the second half of the race, it looked as though Mancini would record his first career win, but on lap sixteen the Mancini Homes #7M began to slow with a flat tire. Exiting the track on the backstretch, Mancini’s misfortunes gave Hendrickson the lead and the eventual win. Brandon Grosso brought the Grosso Homes #32 home second as John McClelland had his best run of the season taking third. Current points leader Ryan Godown was a strong fourth as Billy Pauch Jr rounded out the top five. Filling positions six thru ten were, Borden, Dom Buffalino, Jack Butler, Danny Bouc, and Dakota Kessler.
In the feature postponed from July 29th, twenty three cars lined up for the start with Kessler grabbing the lead on lap one. His reign lasted but one lap as Buffalino charged into the number one slot on lap two. With Jack Butler second, Justin Grosso, who had been experiencing driveline issues throughout the night began to show his hand. Slipping into third on lap six, he began to set his sights on the Butler #5 as Buffalino continued to set a very fast pace around the racy Route 539 oval.
A caution with five laps remaining slowed the pace and gave Grosso the opportunity he was looking for as on the restart, he charged under Butler to grab second. Quickly closing the gap between himself and Buffalino. Grosso continued to run the low groove looking for the slightest of openings. Finding what he was looking for with the white flag flying, Grosso completed the pass under the Vaclavicek #3V to take the lead and the win.
Godown had another top five finish taking third with Louden Reimert fourth and Pauch fifth. Brandon Grosso filled the number six spot in the finishing order with Jack Butler seventh, Bouc eighth, Hendrickson ninth, and D J Hunt tenth.
In the twenty lap NEWS headliner, Brenden Hires took the lead at the drop of the green flag and never looked back as he scored his third win of the season. Defending track champion Mick D’Agostino slid into second on lap four and was trying his best to track down the Hires #2, but the young driver had the car set up to perfection never faltering one iota as he took the win. Finishing behind D’Agostino in third was current point leader Rich Mellor as Heidi Hedin, and Shea Wills rounded out the top five.
Bill Liedtka continues to impress the fans in attendance as he won his fourth feature of the season in the fifteen lap Street Stock main event. Scott Freed led the first three laps of the event before giving way to Liedtka as current point leader Vern McLaughlin ran second. The two veterans of the division ran hard over the final ten laps with Liedtka able to score career win number forty two. T G Hewett had a good run coming from thirteenth to take third with Brian Ludwig fourth and early leader Freed fifth.
It was another exciting four cylinder feature and recording his first career win was Garrett Mull. Being scored the leader on lap one gave Mull the head start he needed before the competition came knocking at his door. Running a higher groove than most, Mull made it work to his advantage holding off his peers and taking the well deserved win. Bob Drayton IV had his best run of the season finishing second with Dom Antonelli third, current point leader Doug Ashford fourth, and Lee Allen fifth.
Next up on the schedule will be Plumstead PBA First Responders Night. In competition will be the Modifieds, Crates, NEWS Sprinters, and the 4 Cylinders. It will also mark the end of the modified points race.
Modified Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1.) WADE HENDRICKSON 2.) Brandon Grosso 3.) John McClelland 4.) Ryan Godown 5.) Billy Pauch Jr. 6.) Kevin Borden 7.) Dominick Buffalino 8.) Jack Butler 9.) Danny Bouc 10.) Dakota Kessler 11.) Clay Butler 12.) Jimmy Horton 13.) Justin Grosso 14.) Chris Grbac 15.) DJ Hunt 16.) Frank Venezia 17.) Jesse Leiby 18.) Paul Mancini 19.) Steve Davis 20.) Phil Cox 21.) Louden Reimert 22.) Cale Zangli 23.) David Burns
Modified Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1.) JUSTIN GROSSO 2.) Dominick Buffalino 3.) Ryan Godown 4.) Louden Reimert 5.) Billy Pauch Jr. 6.) Brandon Grosso 7.) Jack Butler 8.) Danny Bouc 9.) Wade Hendrickson 10.) DJ Hunt 11.) John McClelland 12.) Dakota Kessler 13.) Clay Butler 14.) Frank Venezia 15.) Paul Mancini 16.) Chris Grbac 17.) Kevin Borden 18.) Jimmy Horton 19.) Jesse Leiby 20.) Phil Cox 21.) Cale Zangli 22.) Steve Davis 23.) David Burns