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Hoffman is “King of the Can” at Penn Can






by Ted Schmidt
SUSQUEHANNA, Pa. -- Allentown, Pa’s Doug Hoffman drove to his first career Penn Can Speedway victory on Sunday night as he picked up the win in the 50 lap, $4,000 to win Don‘s Automotive Mall/Gary‘s U-Pull It sponsored “King of the Can” event. The “King of the Can” was originally scheduled for Friday night but was postponed until Sunday due to heavy rainfall as the remnants of Hurricane Ivan passed through the area. Jamie Griffiths drove to victory in the “Topless 25” event for the Late Models which was the final race on the BRC Lazer Challenge Series. The win netted Griffiths the series championship as well. Shane Wolf closed out the 2004 racing season at Penn Can with a win in the 25 lap Pure Stock event.

The 50 lap “King of the Can” feature came to Glenn O’Laughlin’s green flag with Bobby Trapper and Brian Weaver pacing the 25 car field. As the green flag waved, Weaver immediately jumped into the lead with Trapper and Jim Gabriel Jr. in hot pursuit. Gabriel was able to make his way past Trapper and set off to challenge Weaver for the top spot. The two longtime veterans of the Southern Tier racing wars put on a show for the Penn Can fans as Gabriel was able to get the drop on Weaver on a restart, but Weaver was able to power back past Gabriel a couple of laps later.

While this battle was going on at the head of the field, Doug Hoffman was making his way from his seventh starting spot to drive his way into contention, slipping past Billy Pauch to take over the third spot behind Weaver and Gabriel. Wheeling the Kerry Hertzog Auto Sales #77 with an alcohol fired 9:1 compression motor under the hood, Hoffman’s charge to the front continued as he slipped past Gabriel to take the runner-up position. Hoffman then began to close the gap on Weaver as the race neared the halfway point.

Hoffman would make the winning pass on a lap 24 restart as Doug was able to get the drop on Weaver to take over the top spot. As the ace passed the halfway point, Hoffman was setting the pace with Weaver giving chase. With the final 24 laps of the feature running off without a caution flag, Hoffman was able to open up a bit of a lead over Weaver as the race neared its conclusion. Over the closing laps, Hoffman’s most serious challenge was lapped traffic as he encountered a heavy pack of slower cars which cost him a good deal of his lead as Weaver was able to close in to within a few car lengths once again. That would be as close as Weaver would get as Hoffman ran off the final laps of the event to pick up the win in only his second ever Penn Can appearance. With purse and lap money Hoffman’s total winnings for the evening approached $4,500.

Weaver flashed under the checkered flag about ten lengths behind Hoffman to finish second while Jeff Strunk made a late race charge to finish third ahead of Billy Pauch and And Craig Mitchell, who finished fifth in his first ever Penn Can start. George Kostelansky, Jim Gabriel Jr., Alan Rudalavage, Keith Hoffman and Jeff Rudalavage completed the top ten finishing order.

The 46 Modifieds signed in for competition took part in five qualifying heats which were won by Jim Gabriel Jr., Carl Nagel, Brian Weaver, Frank Cozze, and Craig Mitchell. Mike Colsten and Billy Pauch Jr. won the twin consolation events.

Montrose, Pa’s Jamie Griffiths drove his Ford powered #77 Late Model to victory in the 25 lap “Topless 25” as drivers ran without their roofs to add a different twist to the event. The Topless 25 was also the final race on the BRC Lazer Challenge Series and Griffiths was also crowned the champion of the series as he clinched the win in style, driving to victory in the feature event. Griffiths made the winning pass on a lap 13 restart as he was able to slip past race leader Randall Paxton to take over the top spot. Dan Stone also worked past Paxton and set off in pursuit of Griffiths. The two veteran Late Model campaigners put on a show for the Penn Can fans over the second half of the event as Stone tried every trick he knew to get around Griffiths, but Jamie was too strong and was able to keep Stone behind him to score a hard-earned victory in the season finale event for the Late Models. Stone crossed the line in the runner-up position trailed by Paxton,RJ Windhausen, and Allen Coy. Bud Phillips, Keith Mudge, Rich King, Adam MacGeorge and Erick Bonham completed the top ten finishers.

Allen Coy and RJ Windhausen won the heat race evens in the Late Model ranks.

The 25 lap Pure Stock feature got off to a somewhat rocky start as the early laps of the event were littered with several caution flag and a red flag period when rookie Kevin Beach flipped wildly down the backstretch. Beach was evaluated by speedway safety personnel and was taken to the hospital for a precautionary evaluation, but he was talking and alert as he was being taken from the car.

When racing resumed and settled down a bit, the battle for the lead came down to the two previous track champions at Penn Can as 2003 champ Shane Wolf and 2004 champion Charlie Gilbert found themselves locked in a tight battle for the victory. Gilbert challenged Wolf all the way, pulling alongside several times but never completing the pass. At the finish it was Wolf ending the season with a feature win over Gilbert, Darl Ellis, Keith Wilkins, and Kurt Decker. Josh Ellis, Joe Cisney, Dee Ramey, Randy Rollison, and Rob Sterling completed the top ten finishing order.

The 2004 season is now complete at Penn Can. Speedway staff and management wishes to extend their thanks to the drivers, race teams, and fans for their continued support in 2004. Planning is already underway for the 2005 season and those plans will be announced in the near future. Watch this publication for some exciting announcements regarding the 2005 racing season.

DON‘S AUTOMOTIVE MALL GARY‘s U-PULL IT “KING OF THE CAN” RACE SUMMARY:

MODIFIEDS:
1. DOUG HOFFMAN 2. Brian Weaver 3. Jeff Strunk 4. Billy Pauch 5. Craig Mitchell 6. George Kostelansky 7. Jim Gabriel Jr. 8. Alan Rudalavage 9. Keith Hoffman 10. Jeff Rudalavage 11. Mke Colsten 12. Ed Strada Jr. 13. Bily Pauch Jr. 14. Brian Franko 15. Ray Swinehart 16. Bill Thornton Jr. 17. Bobby Trapper 18. Rick Virkitis 19. Tom McGurrin 20. Frank Cozze 21. Carl Nagel 22. Joey Grammes 23. Chris Shupp 24. Chris Weaver 25. Meme DeSantis DNQ: Butch Getz, Marty Bunker, Sean Collins, Jeremy Holt, Rick Holgate, Tom Unbenhauer, Josh Beierle, Warren Kohler, Don Keefer, Alan Kellogg, Steve Babicek, Tom Hager, Pete Monroe, Sean Merkel, Amanda Spotts, John Keller, Brian Decker, Dan Vauter, Joel Batzel, Brian Malcolm

LATE MODELS:
1. JAMIE GRIFFITHS 2. Dan Stone 3. Randall Paxton 4. R J Windhausen 5. Allen Coy 6. Bud Phillips 7. Keith Mudge 8. Rich King 9. Dam MacGeorge 11. Ron Kline 12. Chad Hollenbeck 13. Wayne Schaffer 14. Joe Damiano 15. Dave Zone

PURE STOCKS:
1. SHANE WOLF 2. Charlie Gilbert 3. Darl Ellis 4. Keith Wilkins 5. Kurt Decker 6. Josh Ellis 7. Joe Cisney 8. Dee Ramey 9. Randy Rollison 10. Rob Sterling 11. Kevin Clark 12. Frank Chapman 13. Jason Harrington 14. Nate Evans 15. Def Krebs 16. Tom Garren 17. Mike Wilbur 18.Mahlon Shoemaker 19. Dick Stark 20. Denny Decker 21. Ty Hurlbert 22. Kevin Beach 23. Toby Sparks 24. Bob Mills 25. Chris Wood DNQ: Tony Canute, Lee Penney