BUTCH GETZ EARNS FIRST CAREER MODIFIED WIN AT PENN CAN SPEEDWAY
July 18, 2020
Kunkletown native, Butch Getz, reached a milestone July 17th at Penn Can Speedway. The Big Creek Concrete sponsored #15, piloted by Getz, took the checkered flag. A driver remembers their every win but the one that always tops is the first win. Getz did just that on Fan Appreciation Night taking his first modified win of his career.
So many times, he has come close only to fall just short. He would not be denied nor would give up with out a fight. He comes from the Moc-a-Teck days and got his first sportsman win there. Now he was back in familiar territory but not with out a fight from Brett Tonkin and his teammate Joey Grammes. Throughout the race, Tonkin would go under Getz to get the inside line but the momentum the 2020 HigFab had would not be denied. “I could hear Brett in each corner but never really saw him. By lap 21, I was getting loose in the middle, so I had to slow up which put Tonkin under me. I knew I had the car to beat because it would come out of the corners perfect. At that point, it would have been my race to lose.”
Lap #29 saw lap traffic play a part right at the flaggers stand. The leaders were coming into turn #1 and maneuvered past lap cars both setting them selves up on the backstretch for a final do or die hail mary. As Getz went into turn three, he saw the lap car and knew Tonkin was right under him. It would have gone two ways. “I knew the lap car was going to do one of two things as I was coming into three, take a sharp left turn to the infield or make a right and head up the track, stated Getz, I had to get ready for either scenario if I was going to win.”
The crowd was going crazy has the lap car made the sharp left, in front of the leaders, with Getz over Tonkin by two or three car lengths. The excitement didn’t stop after victory lane or even loading the trailer for the Getz team. They were ready to settle in for the ride home but then his phone rings. It’s Jeff Strunk calling to tell him he just won at Big Diamond. What makes it a night to remember is the fact that Getz owns the car that Strunk was driving.
“I can’t thank my team enough for all they do. They give me and Joey awesome cars every week. Brad, Mike, Joe, Beck, Bupper ,Roger and Joey are a tight knit group that work together for the big picture. My daughters, Danica and Kailyn, keep me grounded and we make racing a family affair”.
So many stories come out of fan appreciation night along with some incredible give aways. The drivers and crews look forward to this night as much as the fans. The Getz team had over $2500 in giveaways. 200 shirts, 200 bracelets, candy bars and hero card were handed out. The Jared Green team gave away 2 tablets with multiple gift cards. I saw Harry Potter wands, boy and girl scooters, t-shirts and so many more items carried by the kids with a smile from ear to ear. It was overheard how a dad spent the last money he had to bring his son to the track. He knew the generosity of the Penn Can racers would make it feel like Christmas in July for his son. I can’t thank everyone enough for their efforts to make fan appreciation night what it is. I always say our racing community is by far the best n the area.
The 2020 Miss Penn Can pageant was also on the card. Tiffany Tyers promotions put together a program within a two week period and rocked the stage with Nicole Furman taking the title and representing Penn Can in the future. Thanks to Tiffany for doing an amazing job.
There was still plenty of racing left for the evening. Tyler Yeagle continues to lead the street stock division with his win over Shane Wolf and Travis Brockner. The 600cc modifieds continue the good car counts with 19 cars on hand. Dana Davis bested Adam Mudge for the win. Josh Wilder denied Jason Colwell in the 4 cylinder division. Tommy Groover continues his dominance in the factory division. Randy Brokaw was declared the winner after a dq for Brett Tonkin in the 602 Crate Sportsman division. Trevor Houghton won in the junior division.
A quick turnaround for Penn Can as they will get the track ready for a Tuesday night race. July 21st will set the stage for ”Hot Summer Night”. The Sunoco Fuels Insinger Performance modifieds will race for a $3000 to win, $300 to take the green 40 lap feature. The factory stock division winner claims a $1000 payday. The Grit 600cc modified tour will be in town for an American Racer/Hoosier tire showdown. The 4 cylinders will race for a winners share of $375 and an unheard of $100 to take the green. The Gates open at 5 and racing action will begin with hot laps at 6:30. All info can be found on our website at penncanspeedway.net
SUNOCO RACING FUELS INSINGER PERFORMANCE MODIFIEDS
WINNER – 15 – BUTCH GETZ
2)15-Brett Tonkin 3)5j-Joey Grammes 4)17d-Mike Loney 5)63-Byron Worthing 6)54-Paul Rooney 7)117-Alex Stanton 8)119-Brian Malcolm 9)29-Leo McGurrin 10)44-Aleia Geisler 11)16r-Richard Smith 12)42-Nick Pecko 13)51-Joey Colsten 14)72-Nick Petrilak 15)014-Brad Schaffer 16)151-Bailey Boyd 17)111j-Jamie Bedford 18) 71-Jimmy Zacharias 19)713-Mike Walsh DNF 20)138-Sean Beardsley21)7m-Mike Nagel jr. 22)145-Alan Rudalavage 23)80-Duane Hiller 24)26jr-Brad Knapp 25)125-Ray Reynolds 26)15jr-Chris Hunsinger
INSINGER PERFORMANCE & STONE BROTHERS AUTOMOTIVE 602 CRATE SPORTSMAN
WINNER – B17 – RANDY BROKAW
2)71-Jimmy Zacharias 3)m16-Mike Schane 4)3r-Ray Leonard 5)3f-Frank Payne 6)14k-AJ Konopka
7)14aj-AJ Miller 8)138-Sean Beardsley 9)125-Ray Reynolds 10)30+-Brandon Oleski
11)16-Ned Fitch 12)8-Tom Rudalavage 13)m14-Moose Gulley 14)74d-David Von Boren
15)-32-Eddy Kudrako DNF 16)4-Jim O’Hara 17)544j-Jeremy Warren 18)88-Alan Komar
19)m7-Mike Nagel jr. 20)22x-Tommy Oleski 21)99jr-Devon Zona DQ 22)27k-Brett Tonkin
INSINGER PERFORMANCE STREET STOCK
WINNER – 33 – TYLER YEAGLE
2)81-Shane Wolf 3)151-Travis Brockner 4)98p-Steve Polhamus 5)84-Eric Bonham
6)six-Jimmy Sykes 7)77x George miller DNF 8)KP1-Doug Polhamus 9)8w-Richard Wagner 10)20jr-Dusty Decker
FACTORY STOCK
WINNER – 7R – TOMMY GROOVER
2)Alecia Towner 3)22m-Stanley Matthews 4)3-CJ Swanson 5)13-unknown 6)93/4-Amanda Bringham 7)1x-Dan Stevens DNF 8)22-Jay Smalley 9)12-Casey McPherson
DNS 10)5t-Charlie Towner
600CC MODIFIED
WINNER – 138 – DAN DAVIS
2)Adam Mudge 3)29-Jared Green 4)28-Brett Gray 5)99-Jacob Waibel 6)9-Mark Golden
7)80-Tyler Smith 8)54-Travis Rooney 9)101-Doug Lattner 10)77x-Nolan Smith 11)56-Devon Green 12)343-Mike Frye 13)4mk-Sheldon Whitman DNF 14)42-Casey Plummer 15)15-Samantha Mills 16)33-Zack Mills 17)0-im Frantz 18)911 Mike Anzelone 19)35-Bretton Miller
4 CYLINDERS
WINNER – 5 – JOSH WILDER
2)301-Jason Colwell 3)2-Scott Miller 4)21-Josh Amatuccio 5)20-Dan Nichols 6)17b-Cheyenne Bump 7)n2-Nick Kennedy 8)72-James Havens 9)8x-Jessica Velez 10)14c-Phil Clapper 11)354-Andy Bolles 12)56-Jeff Sterling 13)24-Jason Colwell Sr. 14)61-Dan Doster 15)22c-Charles Matthews 16)17Z-Mike Ferris DNS 17)David Fox jr. 18)22jr-Dalton Matthews