JEFF STRUNK, CHAD COOK, DAVID LUFF, JASON CARMAN, and SHANE WOLF

MID-SEASON CHAMPIONS AT PENN CAN

Last Friday night at the Penn Can Speedway, Pump 'n Pantry Stores

sponsored the Mid-Season Championship races at the Penn Can Speedway.

With Championship points on the line, the racing was intense in all five

racing divisions. Jeff Strunk drove his BPG Racing #88 to his second

feature win of the season in the 30 lap Modified feature. Chad Cook won

his fifth Sportsman feature of the season while Jason Carman won his

third Late Model feature. The 20 lap Super Stock feature went without a

caution flag with first year Penn Can regular David Luff coming home the

winner. Shane Wolf won his third Super Stock event of the 2003 season.

The 30 lap Modified Mid Season Championship event saw Mike Decker

and Brian Franko pace the field to Glenn O'Laughlin's green flag. Decker

immediately took control of the event as he powered past Franko into the

lead. Eventual winner Jeff Strunk started seventh but wasted little time

in making his way to the front f the field. Strunk found the outside

groove to his liking and made most of his passes up to enroute to the

front. By the race's halfway point, Jeff had advance to second and was

putting heavy pressure on Decker for the top spot. The two BPG Racing

teammates put on a show for the Penn Can fans as Decker utilized the

extreme inside groove of the speedway while Strunk chose the high side.

They battled side by side for several alps before Strunk was finally able

to power past into the lead. The decisive moment came on lap 23 as the

two leaders were battling in lapped traffic. Decker was forced to check

up for just a moment as a lapped car was parked right in the groove he

was running. When Decker checked up, this opened the door for Strunk,

who powered around the outside of both Decker and the lapped car to not

only take over the lead but also open up a bit of an advantage over the

field. Once out front, Strunk was not to be denied as he dashed to his

second win of the 2003 season at Penn Can. Decker did hold on for a

solid runner-up finish ahead of George Kostelansky, Butch Tittle, and

Rick Whitney, who charged from the last starting spot to finish a solid

fifth. Alan Rudalavage, Bill Huff, Brian Franko, Mike Clapperton, and

Chris Weaver completed the to ten.

Steve Babicek, George Kostelansky, and Butch Tittle won the Modified

qualifying events.

In the Sportsman ranks, Chad Cook drove his Coventry Transport

sponsored #2J to his fifth victory of the 2003 racing season. Garth

Tonkin Jr. led the early laps of the Sportsman feature as Cook raced his

way forward from his eighth starting position. Just past halfway, Cook

made what would be the winning pass as he drove past Tonkin to take over

the top spot. As Tonkin began to fade a bit, current point leader Kevin

Bates mad the move into the runner-up position and set his sights on

Cook. The two drivers who have dominated victory lane this season in the

Sportsman class were now at the head of the field once again. Over the

closing laps,. Bates was not able to make a run at Cook for the top spot

and Chad flashed across the line first to pick up the win over Bates,

gaining a couple of points in the chase for the Championship. Brett

Tonkin finished third ahead of Shawn Walker and Mike Loney. Garth

Tonkin Jr., Brandon Buck, Dwayne Robbins, Bob Lane and Brian Decker

completed the top ten.

Kevin Bates and Shawn Mills won the two Sportsman heat races.

In the Late Model Mid Season Championship event, Jason Carman made

perhaps the move of the year thus far to advance from fourth to the lead

in one sweep, then held off a determined challenge from Jamie Griffiths

over the closing laps to pick up his third feature win of the 2003

campaign. Carman over came an early race spin that sent him to the back

of the field, taking advantage of numerous caution flags during the event

to move back into contention and ultimately into victory lane. Griffiths

tried to chase down Carman over the closing laps, but Jason was too

strong and picked up the win over Griffiths. Randall Paxton drove to a

solid third place finish ahead of Keith Mudge and Joe Damiano. Rich,

King, Brent Dyer, Lou Sparks, Bud Phillips, and newcomer Tom Votra

completed the top ten.

Late Model heat races were won by Jason Carman and Jim O'Hara

The Super Stocks ran off a great feature as their 20 lap event was

run without a caution flag. Dave Zona jumped from his pole starting

position to take the Three Amigos Racing #3A out to an early lead. Zona

dominated the early stages of the event, opening up a big lead in the

first half of the event. As the race went on, it was obvious that the

handling was going away on Zona as he had picked up a bad push and was

unable to hold the car on the bottom. This allowed eventual winner Luff

to quickly close in and make a challenge for the top spot. He dropped

low under Zona on lap 17 to take over the top spot aboard his Wilkes

Barre Spring sponsored #20. Paul Rooney also made his way past Zona and

challenged Luff over the final three circuits, but Luff was up to the

challenge and kept Rooney at bay over the final laps to pick up his first

career Penn Can victory. Luff took the win over Rooney, Tracy Gregory,

Mike Decker, and James Cornell. Chris Hunsinger, Wade Decker, Chris

Strohl, Frank Bonham, and Adam Diaz completed the top ten. Zona slipped

to eleventh when he was forced to retire from the event on the final lap.

Dave Zona and Tracy Gregory won the Super Stock heats.

Shane Wolf drove to victory in the Pure Stock feature, his third win

of the 2003 campaign. Craig Decker led the majority of the event, but

got turned around after contact with invader Dick Stark. This tangle

opened the door for Wolf, who found himself the leader after this

incident. Current point leader Harry Marvin III challenged Wolf over the

closing laps, but Shane was not to be denied the victory as Marvin had to

settle for a second place finish behind Wolf. Charlie Gilbert, Bob

Boynton, and Keith Wilkins rounded out the top five finishing order.

Josh Ellis, Everett Cass, Bob Janesky, Frank Penney, and Billy House

completed the top ten.

The Mid-State Vintage Stock CAr Club made an appearance at Penn Can

on Friday night with 16 restored stock cars from years gone by on hand.

John McNamme made teh long tow from his Ontario home to pick up the win

in the 70's class. Jim Hillmyer won the 60's class while Dick Ackerman

won the 50's class.

This Friday night at Penn Can is Fan Appreciation Night at the

speedway. Penn Can management has a big night planned for the race fans,

a thank you for the loyal support during the 2003 season.. Despite the

fact that admission will be discounted $2, there will be a full night of

activities for the Penn Can fans. In addition to a full five division

racing card, the Sportsman and Pure Stock divisions will make up their

features that were postponed from July 4th. Also, there will be a huge

fireworks show as well, making this a full night of fireworks both on the

track and in the sky. Prices will be reduced at the concession stand as

well with all items being sold for only $1. This promises to be quite a

night of racing at Penn Can.

The Penn Can Speedway is located on Pa. Rte 171, about 7 miles East

of the Great Bend exit off I-81. For more information on the Penn Can

Speedway, log onto www.penncan.com.

RACE SUMMARY:

MODIFIEDS : 1. JEFF STRUNK 2. Mike Decker 3. George Kostelansky 4. Butch

Tittle 5. Rick Whitney 6. Alan Rudalavage 7. Bill Huff 8. Brian Franko 9.

Mike Clapperton 10. Chris Weaver 11. Chris Shupp 12. Sean Collins 13. Tom

McGurrin 14. Mike Nagel 15. Daryl Ellis 16. Brian Weaver 17. Mike Colsten

18. Steve Babicek 19. Mike Frost 20. Jim Reppert 21. Jamie Shea 22. John

Gurnsey 23. Dave Jenkins DNS: Rick Virkitis

SPORTSMAN: 1. CHAD COOK 2. Kevin Bates 3. Brett Tonkin 4. Shawn Walker 5.

Mike Loney 6. Garth Tonkin Jr. 7. Brandon Buck 8. Dwayne Robbins 9. Bob

Lane 10. Brian Decker 11. Dan Buchannon 12. Mike Marold Jr. 13. Ken Titus

14. Dave Leyshon 15. Rick Whitney 16. Bruce Evand Jr. 17. Shawn Mills

DNS: Rick Brown

LATE MODEL: 1. JASON CARMAN 2. Jamie Griffiths 3. Randall Paxton 4. Keith

Mudge 5. Joe Damiano 6. Rich King 7. Brent Dyer 8. Lou Sparks 9. Bud

Phillips 10. Tim Votra 11. Adam MacGeorge 12. Pete sobol 13. Dave Zona

14. Jim O'Hara

SUPER STOCK: 1. DAVID LUFF 2. Paul Rooney 3. Tracy Gregory 4. Mike Decker

5. James Cornell 6. Chris Hunsinger 7. Wade Decker 8. Chris Strohl 9.

Frank Bonham 10. Adam Diaz 11. Dave Zona 12. Nate Evans 13. James Millard

PURE STOCK: 1. SHANE WOLF 2. Harry Marvin III 3. Charlie Gilbert 4. Bob

Boynton 6. Josh Ellis 7. Everett Cass 8. Bob Janesky 9. Frank Penney 10.

Billy House 11. Toby Sparks 12. Kevin Davies 13. Gregg Brunges 14. Jerry

Lobbdell 15. Dicki Stark 16. Michael Lartz 17. Dan Donnelly 18. Rob Welsh

19. Ivan Smith 20. Jim Ortiz DQ: Craig Decker DNS: Matt Payne, Mike Hoyte