ALAN RUDALAVAGE WINS FEATURE, BRIAN WEAVER CLINCHES CHAMPIONSHIP AT PENN

CAN ON FRIDAY NIGHT

(Susquehanna, Pa.) Alan Rudalavage piloted his BPG Racing/Pennstar Bank

sponsored #145 to his second feature win of the season on Friday night at

the Penn Can Speedway on Pump 'n Pantry Championship Night. Brian

Weaver clinched his third consecutive Modified championship with a soild

fifth place run which was good enough to clinch the title. Rookie Shawn

Mills closed out an outstanding rookie season in the Sportsman division

with his first Sportsman victory at Penn Can while Kevin Bates claimed

the Sportsman division championship in his first year of full time

competition at Penn Can. Joe Damiano claimed his second Late Model

feature in two weeks while Dave Zona took the Late Model championship by

a single point over Randall Paxton. Chris Hunsinger scored his second

Super Stock feature of the season while James Cornell clinched Super

Stock championship. Harry Marvin III was the Pure Stock winner with

Shane Wolf picking up the Super Stock championship.

The 30 lap Championship Event for the Modifieds came to the pot with

Chris Shupp and Mike Frost pacing the field with Frost grabbing the early

lead. Rudalavage moved up quickly form his fifth starting position to

take over the top spot on a seventh lap restart. Once out front

Rudalavage dominated the remainder of the event, opening up a big lead in

the middle stages of the event. A caution flag with five laps to go for

Chris Shupp's trip off the third turn bank closed up the field, but Alan

was able to once again drive away from the filed. The win was the second

of the season for the Chapman Lake, Pa. based veteran and moved Alan into

the runner-up position in the final point standings. Mike Clapperton

picked up the bonus for being the highest finishing car powered by a DIRT

legal Small Block motor with his second place finish. Tom McGurrin, Mike

Nagel, and Brian Weaver completed the top five finishers. Jamie Shea

finished sixth ahead of Mike Colsten and invader Jeff Rudalavage. Chris

Weaver and Mike Frost completed the top ten finishers.

The three Modified heat races were won by Mike Colsten, Alan

Rudalavage, and Mike Clapperton.

With his fifth place finish, Brian Weaver clinched his third

consecutive Modified track championship at the Penn Can Speedway.

Wheeling the Decker Logging #(R, Weaver started ninth and drove a steady,

conservative race to clinch the championship with a fifth place finish.

In a display of sportsmanship, the Decker Logging team turned their

second car over to Bill Huff for the evening. Bill was sitting fifth in

points, but was without a ride for the evening. Despite being in a tight

championship battle themselves, the Decker Logging team graciously

allowed Huff to use their second car for the evening.

In the Sportsman division, rookie Shawn Mills picked up his first

career Penn Can Speedway victory. Frost drove from his sixth starting

position to the lead in the very early stages of the event. He would

never relinquish that lead as Shawn led the remainder of the event to

pick up the win. Sportsman rookie Rick Brown turned in his best run of

the season to record a runner-up finish while Ken Titus, Mike Loney, and

Kevin Bates rounded out the top five finishers. Chad Cook, Brett Tonkin,

Dwayne Robbins, Arnie Slade and Bob Conklin completed the top ten.

Kevin Bares' fifth place finish allowed the seventeen year old high

school student to clinch the 2003 Sportsman track championship in his

first full year of competition. Both Bates and his challenger for the

championship, Chad Cook had a tough go in the feature event. Bates

narrowly escaped a trip out of the ballpark when he got crowded up onto

the outside dirt bank in the first turn when an incident developed in

front of him. Cook, meanwhile, was forced pitside with a flat right

front tire. They recovered from their respective problems to finish

fifth and sixth with Bates earning the championship over Cook.

Chad Cook, Dwayne Robbins, and Mike Loney won the Sportsman

qualifying events.

In the Late Model feature, Old Forge, Pa.'s Joe Damiano picked up

his second feature win of the season. The win came in dramatic style as

he made what would prove to be the winning pass with only two lap

remaining. Five time feature winner Randall Paxton had led the majority

of the event, but pushed up the track in the first turn just a bit which

opened the door for Damiano who took advantage of the opening and drove

past Paxton into the lead. Damiano would lead the final two laps of the

event to pick up the win. Paxton hung on to finish second while Brent

Dyer crossed third. After a heat race crash, Dave Zona charged from the

back of the field to finish fourth while Jason Carman rounded out the top

five. Jim O'Hara, Larry DeLello, Allen Coy, Keith Mudge, and Lou Sparks

were sixth though tenth respectively.

With his fourth place finish, Dave Zona managed to hang onto his

point lead to pick up the 2003 track championship by a single point over

Paxton. The drama started early in the evening as Zona got swept up in a

heat race crash which put him at the rear of the field for the Late Model

feature. The turning point came with just two laps remaining as Damiano

took the top spot from Paxton. At almost the same time, Zona worked past

Carman for fourth. By gaining one spot and having his challenger lose

one spot, this allowed Zona to claim the championship by a single point.

Brent Dyer and Jason Carman won the Late Model heats.

Chris Hunsinger picked up his second win of the season in the 20 lap

Super Stock Championship event. The pilot of the Nunzi's Automotive

sponsored #15Jr. took advantage of his outside pole starting position to

jump to the lead early and lead the entire 20 lap distance. While he led

the entire 20 lap distance, it was far from an easy win as over the

closing stages Hunsinger was under heavy pressure from five time winner

Tracy Gregory. Gregory pressured Hunsinger all the way, but could not

find a way past as Hunsinger never deviated from his preferred groove.

Chris found the outside groove of the speedway to his liking and he ran

that groove, which left the low side open for Gregory. Tracy was able to

pull alongside Hunsinger entering the turns, but Hunsinger's momentum in

the outside groove allowed him to get off the turn better and maintain

his lead all the way to the finish. In a show of sportsmanship, Gregory

came to victory lane to offer his congratulations ton Hunsinger. Mike

Decker finished third while James Cornell, who needed only start the

feature to earn his first Penn Can championship, clinched the

championship with a fourth place run. Paul Rooney completed the top

five. Brett Spoor was sixth ahead of Nick Petrilak, Wade Decker, rookie

Chris Strohl, and Dan Pompey.

Chris Hunsinger and Chris Strohl won the Super Stock heat races.

Harry Marvin III closed out the Pure Stock point season with a

feature win as he held off a determined challenge from Shane Wolf to pick

up his third feature win of the season. Wolf's second place finish

clinched his first ever Pure Stock championship. Bob Boynton Sr.,

Charlie Gilbert, and Darwin Greene rounded out the top five finishers.

Josh Ellis, Dan Donnelly Frank Penney, Keith Wilkins and Mark Shipman

were sixth though tenth respectively.

Shane Wolf, Darwin Greene, and Harry Marvin III won the three Pure

Stock heats.

While the point season is complete, there are still two big nights

of racing at the Penn Can Speedway. On Friday night, the final race on

the Don's Automotive Mall North South Series is scheduled as the

Sportsman, Super Stocks, and Pure Stocks will all be on the card. With

many of the area tracks closed, look for a strong field in all three

classes. On Friday, September 19th, the curtain comes down on the season

with the running of the $5,000 to win "King of the Can" Championship

event for the Modifieds. The Late Models will also be on the September

19th card to run their second annual "Topless 25."

For more information on the Penn Can Speedway, call the speedway

office at 570-585-9928 or log onto the track's website at

www.penncan.com.

PUMP 'N PANTRY CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT RACE SUMMARY:

MODIFIEDS 1. ALAN RUDALAVAGE 2. Mike Clapperton 3. Tom McGurrin 4. Mike

Nagel 5. Brian Weaver 6. Jamie Shea 7. Mike Colsten 8. Jeff Rudalavage 9.

Chris Weaver 10. Mike Frost 11. Sean Collins 12. Doug Worthing 13. Bill

Huff 14. Ed Strada Jr. 15. George Kostelansky 16. Steve Babicek 17. Chris

Shupp 18. Mike Decker 19. Brian Franko 20. John Gurnsey

SPORTSMAN: 1. SHAWN MILLS 2. Rick Brown 3. Ken Titus 4. Mike Loney 5.

Kevin Bates 6. Chad Cook 7. Brett Tonkin 8. Dwayne Robbins 9. Arnie Slade

10. Bob Conklin 11. Paul Rooney 12. Bob Lineman Jr. 13. Shaun Walker 14.

Dan Buchannon 15. Bob Lineman Sr. 16. Tom McGurrin 17. Brian Decker 18.

Brandon Buck 19. Tim Votra 20. Matt Latwinski 21. Garth Tonkin Jr. DNS:

Tim Votra

LATE MODEL: 1. Joe DAMIANO 2. Randall Paxton 3. Brent Dyer 4. Dave Zona

5. Jason Carman 6. Jim O'Hara 7. Larry DeLello 8. Allen Coy 9. Keith

Mudge 10. Lou Sparks 11. Adam MacGeorge 12. Rich King 13. George Leatso

14. Steve Tourje 15. Pete Sobol 16. Bud Phillips

SUPER STOCK: 1. CHRIS HUNSINGER 2. Tracy Gregory 3. Mike Decker 4. James

Cornell 5. Paul Rooney 6. Brett Spoor 7. Nick Petrilak 8. Wade Decker 9.

Chris Strohl 10. Dan Pompey 11. Adam Diaz 12. Jim Hughes 13. Carl Heater

14. Nate Evans 15. Billy Price 16. Paul Strohl 17. James Millard 18.

David Luff 19. Jerry Liford

PURE STOCK: 1. HARRY MARVIN III 2. Shane Wolf 3. Bob Boynton 4. Charlie

Gilbert 5. Darwin Green 6. JoshEllis 7. Dan Donnelly Jr. 8. Frank Penney

9. Keith Wilkins 10. Mark Shipman 11. Billy House 12. Bob Tyriw 13.Tom

Garre 14. Kevin Davies 15. Nate Evans 16. Randy Rollison 17. Michael

Lartz 18. Serafino Raggi 19. Craig Decker 20. Ken Wynn 21. Rob Welsh DNS:

Brian Mills