MIKE CLAPPERTON, KEVIN BATES, RANDAL PAXTON, JAMES CORNELL AND HARRY

MARVIN III VISIT VICTORY LANE AT PENN CAN

(Susquehanna, Pa.) Friday night saw another action packed card of Stock

Car Racing at the Penn Can Speedway with plenty of side by side racing.

Several feature races saw the outcome in doubt right up until the final

checkered flag with the winner not being determened until the final turn

of the final lap. Mike Clapperton picked up his first career Penn Can

Modified feature win in a hard fought feature that aw he and Rick

Virkitis swap the lead back and forth several times before Clapperton

just nosed out Virkitis at the lane for the victory. Clapperton became

the seventh different winner in as many Modfiied features run this season

at Penn Can. The Sportsman division also saw a tight battle as current

point leader Kevin Bates just managed to nose out thee time winner Chad

Cook to earn his second win of the season. Randall Paxton win his second

Late Model feature with a late race pass while James Cornell won his

fourth Super Stock feature of the season. Harry Marvin III won his third

Pure Stock feature of the season.

The 30 lap Modified feature saw Mike Clapperton drive his Reynolds

Auto Supply sponsored #M16 from fifteenth starting position to pick up

his first career Penn Can Speedway Modified feature win. Clapperton's

win was also the first of the season for a car powered by a DIRT legal

258 C/I. Motors. Between the winner's share of the ourse and the $250

Small Block bonus he collected, Clapperton enjoyed a very profitable

night as he took home in excess of $1,400.

The early stages of the Modified feature saw both Steve Babicek and

Chris Shupp lead the early stages as Clapperton was making his way toward

the front from his fifteenth starting position. Clapperton made most of

his early moves on the top side of the fast, smooth racing surface as he

made his way forward into a contending position behind race leader Rick

Virkitis as the race neared its halfway point. A lap 14 restart saw

Clapperton take his first lead of the event as he was able to get

alongside Virkitis and beat him out of the turn enough to be shown as the

leader as the field came past the halfway point of the 30 lap event.

The second half of the event saw some great racing between

Clapperton and Virkitis. Clapperton found the outside groove of the

speedway to his liking as he could keep his Small Block powered machine

wound out up top, while Virkitis chose the low side to try to find a way

past. The two battled side by side for many laps as Virkitis would pull

alongside and even ahead of Clapperton in the middle of the turns, but

Mike's superior momentum up high exiting the turn each time allowed him

to power back past Virkitis down the straightaway. They battled this way

all the way to the finish in a good, hard race for the lead that saw

plenty of side by side racing action between the two talented veterans,

yet not once did they touch or make contact, a tribute to the skills of

both drivers. Virkitis made a final bid for victory on the last lap, but

came up just short exiting the fourth turn and settled for a solid

runner-up finish behind Clapperton in n exciting race. Behind the battle

for the win, Alan Rudalavage raced to a third place finish ahead of

George Kostelansky and Bill Huff. Tom McGurrin finished sixth ahead of

point leader Brian Weaver while Steve Babicek, Chris Shupp, and Brian

Franko completed the top ten.

Mike Nagel, Brian Franko, and Rick Virkitis won the Modified heat

races.

In Sportsman division action it was current point leader Kevin Bates

picking up his second win of the season at Penn Can as he wheeled his

Stag Construction & Excavation/Penns Best Trucking sponsored Bicknell

2003X to his second win of the 2003 racing season. Bates took advantage

of several early caution flags that kept the field bunched up to advance

from his eighth starting position to take over the lead, driving past

early leader Brett Tonkin and Bob Lane to assume the top spot.. While he

would lead the remainder of the event, it was far from an easy win for

the sixteen year old driver from lake Ariel, Pa. as he had to contend

with three time winner already this season Chad Cook, who had charged

from eleventh starting spot to second behind Bates and was now putting

considerable pressure on the teenager for the top spot. Over the final

half of the race, Cook threw everything he had at the youngster as he

tried both the high and low grooves to try to find a way past Bates. The

youngster was up to the challenge as he never made a mistake that would

have opened to door for Cook. Chad ran with Kevin all the way to the

finish but he could never find a way past and Kevin went on to score the

win by the narrowest of margins over Cook. Brett Tonkin, Bob Lane and

Mike Loney rounded out the top five. Shawn Mills finished sixth ahead of

Ken Titus,, Rick Whitney, Ted Stout, and newcomer Bob Lineman Jr.

Bruce Evans Jr., Brett Tonkin, and Kevin Bates took wins in the

three Sportsman heat races while Anthony Reggie won the consolation.

Randall Paxton picked up his second consecutive victory in the Late

Model feature event as he drove his Bernie's Auto Recycler sponsored 22R

to victory. Randall cemented the win with a lap 15 pass of race leader

Jason Carman to take over the top spot. Once out front, Randall was able

to drive away from the field and ran off the final five laps without a

challenge to pick up the victory. Behind Paxton, Dave Zona pulled off a

late race pass of Carman to take second position while Carman crossed the

line in third. Joe Damiano finished fourth while 2002 track champion

Allen Coy scored a fifth place finish in his first start of the 2003

racing season. Jamie Griffiths, Jim O'Hara, rookie Bud Phillips, Jason

Bedford, and Keith Mudge completed the top ten.

Randall Paxton and Joe Damiano won the Late Model heat races.

James Cornell picked up his fourth win on the season in the Super

Stock feature as he drove his Colors Inc/Tepco sponsored entry to

victory. Cornell started eighth but was able to make a charge to the

lead in the early going as he drove past impressive first year Penn Can

campaigner David Luff to take over the top spot prior to the halfway

point. Once out front, Cornell would lead the rest of the way, but Luff

would continue to apply pressure all the way but could not find a way

past and settled for a second place finish. Ed McKernon made his first

start of 2003 and picked up a third place finish while Brett Spoor came

out on top of a battle with Tracy Gregory for fourth with Tracy settling

for fifth. Mike Decker was sixth trailed by Jason Schlafer and Chris

Hunsinger. Gary Roberts made his first start of the season and finished

ninth with Paul Rooney rounding out the top ten.

Chris Strohl, James Cornell, and Brett Spoor won the Super Stock

heats.

The Pure Stock feature also saw a great battle for the win as Harry

Marvin III, Charlie Gilbert, Keith Wilkins, and Shane Wolf all had a shot

at victory in the closing stages. The final five laps of the event saw

Marvin leading, as Gilbert made the move past Wilkins and Wolf to run

second before a caution flag with two laps remaining set up a dash to the

finish. Gilbert was able to get underneath Marvin in the corners a

couple of times, but Marvin had the preferred high groove and was able to

keep his momentum around the top to hold onto the lead. Gilbert made a

final dive in the last turn but could not wrest the lead away from Marvin

and Harry went on to score this third win of the season by just a bit

over Gilbert in an exciting race. Behind them, Wolf was able to slip

past Wilkins in the closing stages to take third with Wilkins crossing

the line in fourth. Craig Decker rounded out the top five. Toby Sparks,

Dan Babcock, Michael Lartz, Mike Hoyte, and Kevin Davies completed the

top ten.

... Round two of the Don's Automotive Mall North South Series

sponsored by Gary's U-Pull-It moves to the Penn Can Speedway on Tuesday

June 24th. The second leg of the series will feature the area's best

sportsman, super stock, and pure stock drivers all on the

same track. The series brings together the area's best drivers for a

special mid-week racing card.. The purses for the series races are all

very good with positions paying very well throughout the finishing order.

All starting positions in the heats are by luck of the draw. Feature

positions are also by draw by the qualified drivers. Rules for the series

follow the Thunder Mountain and Penn Can rule books with DIRT rules also

being allowed. Hoosier or American Race Tires are permitted. Sportsman

must run the DIRT sportsman tire if they plan to run Hoosiers.

Action continues at the Penn Can Speedway this Friday night with a

full five star racing card. The combination Big Block/Small Block

Modifieds, Sportsman, Late Models, Super Stocks, and Pure Stocks will all

see action in a full slate of qualifying events leading up to five big

feature races. Racing action gets underway at 7:15 PM. The Penn Can

Speedway is located in Susquehanna, Pa. about seven miles South of

Binghamton, NY. Penn Can Speedway is located on Pennsylvania Rte 171,

about 7 miles East of Exit #230 off I-81.

RACE SUMMARY:

MODIFIEDS: 1. MIKE CLAPPERTON 2. Rick Virkitis 3. Alan Rudalavage 4.

George Kostelansky 5. Bill Huff 6. Tom McGurrin 7. Brian Weaver 8. Steve

Babicek 9. Chris Shupp 10. Brian Franko 11. Rick Whitney 12. Sean Collins

13. Mike Nagel 14. Mike Colsten 15. Daryl Ellis 16. Brian Decker 17. Bob

Conklin 18. Ralph Mele 19. Roger Lewis 20. Mike Frost 21. Doug Rose 22.

Chris Weaver DNS: Dave Jenkins

SPORTSMAN 1. KEVIN BATES 2. Chad Cook 3. Brett Tonkin 4. Bob Lane 5. Mike

Loney 6. Shawn Mills 7. Ken Titus 8. Rick Whitney 9. Ted Stout 10. Bob

Lineman Jr. 11. Dwayne Robbins 12. Bob Lineman Sr. 13. Anthony Reggie 14.

Mike Marold 15. Joe Wielgosz 16. Dave Leyshon 17. Rick Brown 18. Frank

Bonham 19. Dan Buchannon 20. Brian Bray 21. George Howe 22. Brian Decker

23. Bruce Evans Jr. 24. Garth Tonkin Jr. DNS: Shawn Walker, Brandon Buck

LATE MODEL: 1. RANDALL PAXTON 2. Dave Zona 3. Jason Carman 4. Joe Damiano

5. Allen Coy 6. Jamie Griffiths 7. Jim O'Hara 8. Bud Phillips 9. Jason

Bedford 10. Keith Mudge 11. Rich King 12. Brent Dyer 13. Adam MacGeorge

14. Pete Sobol 15. Lou Sparks 16. Steve Tourje 17. Ken Wynn DNS: George

Leatso

SUPER STOCK: 1. JAMES CORNELL 2. David Luff 3. Ed McKernon 4. Brett Spoor

5. Tracy Gregory 6. Mike Decker 7. Jason Schlafer 8. Chris Hunsinger 9.

Gary Roberts 10. Paul Rooney 11. J.T. McKernon 12. Adam Diaz 13. Ken

Taugher 14. Kurt Decker 15. Nate Evans 16. Eric Bonham 17. Brain MacRabie

18. Chris Strohl 19. Ron Latwinski 20. Randy Teets 21. Wade Decker 22.

Joe Sienkiewich DNS: Matt Gesford

PURE STOCK: 1. HARRY MARVIN III 2. Charlie Gilbert 3. Shane Wolf 3. Keith

Wilkins 5. Craig Decker 6. Toby Sparks 7. Dan Babcock 8. Michael Lartz 9.

Mike Hoyte 10, Kevin Davies 11. Josh Ellis 12. Dan Donnelly Jr. 13. Matt

Payne 14. Dave Bagg 15. Rob Sterling 16. Brad Albrecht 17. Gary Druhl 18.

Tom Garren 19. John Evans 20. Brian Mills 21. Billy House 22. Everett

Cass DNS: Frank Penney, Sheppard Blodgett