MIKE COLSTEN, CHRIS WEAVER, KEITH MUDGE, RANDALL PAXTON, BRIAN DECKER

JAMES CORNELL, AND KEITH WILKINS All VISIT VICTORY LANE AT PENN CAN

A big night of racing at the Penn Can Speedway on Friday night saw

Mike Colsten pick up the win in the People's National Bank sponsored 40

lap feature that was postponed due to fog on July 1st. Keith Mudge won

the held-over Late Model event that was held before a complete show

sponsored by Main Engines. Chris Weaver became the first repeat winner

in the Modified division as he drove to his second win of the season

while Brian Decker picked up his first Sportsman triumph of the 2003

campaign. Randall Paxton won his fourth Late Model feature while James

Cornell won for the seventh time in Super Stock action. Keith Wilkins

pulled off a last lap pass to just nip Craig Decker at the line to score

his second win of 2003.

The 40 lap Don's Automotive Mall King's Royal Qualifier resumed from

the point at which the race was stopped last week with one lap in the

books. At that time, Mike Colsten was shown as the race leader, and as

the green flag waved to resume the 40 lap event, Colsten once again

jumped out front. Mike would go on to lead all 40 laps to pick up the

guaranteed starting spot in the Don's Automotive Mall/Gary's U-Pull It

King of the Can event on September 19th. Mike held off a late challenge

from Butch Tittle, who made a strong run up through the field after

starting back in 22nd starting spot. Tittle got up to second, but he was

not able to find a way past Colsten and settled for a strong runner-up

finish behind Mike, who became the ninth different winner in Modified

action this season at Penn Can. Tittle finished second trailed by Alan

Rudalavage, Chris Weaver, and Tom McGurrin. George Kostelansky, Bill

Huff, Sean Collins, Mike Nagel, and Steve Babicek completed the top ten.

Bill Huff's seventh place finish earned him the bonus for being the

highest finishing car powered by a DIRT legal 358 Modified motor.

The Late Model division held over feature saw the Late Model drivers

turn in a green to checkered run as their 20 lap feature ran off without

a caution flag. Keith Mudge picked up the win, his second of the season.

Second year driver Brent Dyer led a good portion of the event, but Mudge

was able to move past Dyer in the closing stages to take over the top

spot. Once out front, Mudge was able to open up a bit of an advantage

aboard his Benson Brothers/Stateline Tavern sponsored #35 and went on to

score the win without a further challenge. Dyer was able to hold onto

second place, his best ever finish at Penn Can. Randall Paxton came into

the event on a three race winning streak but saw that streak snapped as

he simply ran out of laps, settling for a solid third place finish. Joe

Damiano and 2002 Late Model champion Allen Coy completed the top five.

Rich King, Dave Zona, Jason Carman, Jamie Griffiths, and Lou Sparks

completed the top ten.

Steve Babicek and Sean Collins paced the 24 car Modified field to

the line of the start of the Main Engines sponsored 25 lap feature event

with Collins able to grab the edge at the start while third place starter

Chris Weaver moved into a challenging position behind Collins. Weaver

immediately began putting pressure on Collins, but Sean was able to hold

him off for the first ten laps before Chris was finally able to power

past to take over the lead. Once passed for the top spot, Collins began

to fade a bit as Brian Weaver made his way past Collins and set his

sights on his brother. The two battled side by side for several laps

with Brian actually showing as the leader of one lap, but Brian could not

find a way to complete the pass on his brother. In the closing stages of

the event, Chris was able to open up a bit of a lead on the battle for

the runner-up position between Brian Weaver and Jeff Strunk. This gave

Chris he advantage he needed to power his Ken Wilson Chevrolet/Road

Currier Service sponsored #1A across the line to become the first two

time winner in the Modified class this season. Strunk worked his way

past Brian Weaver for the runner-up position, but by that time Chris had

built an insurmountable lead and Strunk settled for a solid runner-up

finish ahead of Brian Weaver. Tom McGurrin and Alan Rudalavage rounded

out the top five finishers. Mike Colsten, Butch Tittle, Jeff Bronson,

Bill Huff, Sean Coollins completed the top ten. Huff once again

collected the Small Block bonus with his ninth place run.

George Kostelansky, Tom McGurrin, Chris Weaver, and Brian Weaver won

the four Modified heat races. Newcomer Russ Hendrickson Jr. won the

consolation event.

Brian Decker piloted his Don's Automotive Mall sponsored #9R to his

first victory of the season in the 20 lap Sportsman division feature.

Garth Tonkin Jr. led the early laps of the Sportsman feature from his

pole starting position, but mechanical failure wound end the second

generation driver's strong run. Tonkin's misfortune opened the door for

Decker, who inherited the lead and led the rest of the way to pick up the

win. Current point leader Kevin Bates drove to a runner-up finish ahead

of Chad Cook. Brandon Buck turned in a strong fourth place run, his best

ever Penn Can finish while Ken Titus completed the top five. Rookie

Shawn Mills finished sixth ahead of Mike Loney, Brett Tonkin, Dwayne

Robbins and Shawn Walker.

The Sportsman qualifying events were won by Chad Cook and Garth

Tonkin Jr.

The Late Model feature saw Randall Paxton pick up his fourth win in

his last five starts. Jason Carman grabbed the lead early on and led the

majority of the event, before Paxton was able to run him down and make

what would prove to be the winning pass. Once out front Paxton was able

to open up a lead on Carman and went on to pick up the win by a

comfortable margin. Behind Paxton, Dave Zona was able to just slip past

Carman to take the runner-up spot with Carman finishing third ahead of

Keith Mudge and Alan Coy. Rookie Bud Phillips finished sixth ahead of

fellow rookie Pete Sobol as Brent Dyer, Rick King, and newcomer Greg

Buchannon rounding out the top ten. Jason Carman and Joe Damiano won the

Late Model heat races.

James Cornell drove to his seventh win of the season in Super Stock

action. Wade Decker broke from the outside pole starting position to

lead the first 17 laps of the event, but he was not able to hold off

Cornell, who charged from ninth starting position to run down and pass

Decker in the closing stages of the event. Decker did hold on to finish

second over Chris Hunsinger, Mike Decker, and teenage rookie Chris

Strohl. Tracy Gregory, David Luff, Adam Diaz, Matt Gesford, and Paul

Rooney rounded out the top ten finishers. James Cornell and Chris Strohl

won the Super Stock heats.

The Pure Stock feature came down to a photo finish as Craig Decker

and Keith Wilkins battled literally right down to the final inches of

speedway before the flagstand. Decker started the feature in seventh and

made his way to the front of the pack, leading the majority of the event.

In the closing stages, Keith Wilkins broke out of a tight pack all

battling for position and was able to run down Decker over the closing

laps. Exiting the fourth turn on the final lap, Wilkins was able to pull

alongside Decker and the 15 lap race would now be decided by a 100 foot

drag race from the turn to the straightaway. As the two raced down the

straightaway, Wilkins was able to nose ahead by the slightest of margins.

At the flagstand, Wilkins was judged the winner by a very narrow margin

over Decker, probably less than a foot in a great finish. It was

Wilkins' second victory of the season. Charlie Gilbert, Toby Sparks, and

Kevin Davies completed the top five. Billy House, Mike Hoyte, Josh

Ellis, Rob Welsh, and Jim Ortiz completed the top ten. Kevin Davies,

Craig Decker, and Josh Ellis won the Pure Stock heats.

This Friday night is Mid-Season Championships with Championship

points on the line in all five classes. The Modifieds, Sportsman, Late

Models, Super Stocks and Pure Stocks will all be in competition in

Championship events. On Friday, July 25th, it will be Fan Appreciation

Night at Penn Can. Fans will be treated to discount admission and

reduced price concession items on this night, which will feature a full

five division racing card featuring the Modifieds, Sportsman, Late

Models, Super Stocks, and Pure Stocks. In addition, the Sportsman and

Pure Stock divisions will run their features that were postponed on July

4th, a full night of racing at a discount price. Racing gets underway

both nights at 7:15 PM sharp.

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 (postponed from July 4th) 1. MIKE COLSTEN 2. Butch Tittle 3.

Alan Rudalavage 4. Chris Weaver 5. Tom McGurrin 6. George Kostelansky 7.

Bill Huff 8. Sean Collins 9. Mike Nagel 10. Steve Babicek 11. Mike

Clapperton 12. Dave Jenkins 13. Chris Shupp 14. Mike Frost 15. Jeff

Strunk 16. Dan Vauter 17. Brian Franko 18. Rick Virkitis 19. Jeff Bronson

20. Daryl Ellis 21. Brian Weaver 22. Mike Decker 23. John Gurnsey 24. Jim

Crawn

LATE MODELS: (postponed from July 4th) 1. KEITH MUDGE 2. Brnt Dyer 3.

Randall Paxton 4. Joe Damiano 5. Allen Coy 6. Rich King 7. Dave Zona 8.

Jason Crman 9. Jamie Griffiths 10. Low Sparks 11. Joe Damiano 12. Bud

Phillips 13. Adam MacGeorge 14. Ken Wynn 15. Pete Sobol

MODIFIEDS: 1. CHRIS WEAVER 2. Jeff Strunk 3. Brian Weaver 4. Tom McGurrin

5. Alan Rudalavage 6. Mike Colsten 7. Butch Tittle 8. Jeff Bronson 9.

Bill Huff 10. Sean Collins 11. Mike Nagel 12. Mike Frost 13. Dan Vauter

14. Daryl Ellis 15. Russell Hendrickson 16. Dave Jenkins 17. Chris Shupp

18. George Kostelansky 19. Steve Babicek 20. Jamie Shea 21. Rick Virkitis

22. Mike Clapperton 23. Roger Lewis 24. Jim Snaderson DNQ: Bob Puckett,

Billy Jenkins, Brian Franko, Mike Decker, John Gurnsey, Jim Crawn

SPORTSMAN: 1. BRIAN DECKER 2. Kevin Bates 3. Chad Cook 4. Brandon Buck 5.

Ken Titus 6. Shawn Mills 7. Mike Loney 8. Brett Tonkin 9. Dwayne Robbins

10. Shawn Walker 11. Mike Marold 12. Tom Leyshon 13. Dan Buchannon 14.

Rick Brown 15. Garth Tonkin Jr. 16. Bruce Evans Jr. DNS: Bob Lane

LATE MODEL: 1. RANDALL PAXTON 2. Dave Zona 3. Jason Carman 4. Keith Mudge

5. Allen Coy 6. Bud Phillips 7. Pete Sobol 8. Brent Dyer 9. Rich King 10.

Greg Buchannon 11.Adam MacGeorge 12. Lou Sparks 13. Joe Damiano 14. Jim

O'Hara 15. Jamie Griffiths DNS: Ken Wynn

SUPER STOCK: 1. JAMES CORNELL 2. Wade Decker 3. Chris Hunsinger 4. Mike

Decker 5. Chris Strohl 6. Tracy Gregory 7. David Luff 8. Adam Diaz 9.

Matt Gesford 10. Paul Rooney 11. Nate Evans 12. Jay Sienkevich 13. James

Millard DNS: Dave Zona

PURE STOCKS: 1. KEITH WILKINS 2. Craig Decker 3. Charlie Gilbert 4. Toby

Sparks 5. Kevid Davies 6. Billy House 7. Mike Hoyte 8. Josh Ellis 9. Rob

Welsh 10. Jim Ortiz 11. Shane Wolf 12. Dan Donnelly Jr. 13. Harry Marvin

III 14. Frank Penny 15. Bob Boynton 16. Michael Lartz 17. Brian Tiffany

18. Brad Albrecht 19. Ibvan Smith 20. Rob Sterling 21. Serafino Riggi 22.

Fred Velez 23. Bill Hawkins