JEFF RUDALAVAGE WINS "KING OF THE CAN" EVENT AT PENN CAN

(Susquehanna, Pa.) Eynon, Pa.'s Jeff Rudalavage picked up the win in the

50 lap Gary's U-Pull it sponsored "King of the Can" feature last Friday

night at the Penn Can Speedway. The win was Rudalavage's second of the

year at Penn Can, both of which came in Gary's U-Pull It Kings Royal

Championship Series events. Kevin Jordan picked up his first Sportsman

win of the season as he drove his Sprint PCS sponsored #22 to victory

while Dave Zona came home the winner of the Topless 25 lap feature for

the Late Models, the final event on the American Race Tires Late Model

Championship Series. Buck Mills rounded out the evening with a win in

the Pure Stock feature.

By luck of the draw, Keith Hoffman and Mike Colsten paced the field

to the green flag to start the 50 lap grind. Colsten immediately took

his Don's Automotive Mall sponsored #51 to the lead and would lead the

first four laps of the event before fourth starting Rudalavage made a

challenge for the top spot. Jeff made what would prove to be the

winning pass just five laps into the event as he was able to work past Colsten

to take over the top spot. Once out front, Rudalavage was able to open up

a bit of an advantage on the field aboard his WPC Vehicle Warranty/Rent Me

Storage Trailer Precision Engine powered #112. Several cautions slowed

the pace in the first half of the event, one of which came on lap eight

for current series point leader Brian Weaver, who spun out of sixth

place while challenging to break into the top five running order. Weaver was

forced to restart at the rear of the field and was not a factor in the

race for the victory.

Misfortune would also strike Mike Colsten not too long after Weaver

as Mike began to fade back in the filed, fading back to around tenth

before making a pit stop under a caution flag. Colsten was able to

rejoin the field without losing a lap, but his shot for victory was

gone.

At the head of the field, Rudalavage continued to set the pace

While behind him the battle for the runner-up position was intensifying.

Billy Pauch and Butch Tittle spent a good portion of the race battling for

second, which allowed Rudalavage to open up a bit of a lead once again.

Pauch, who was making his first ever Penn Can start, had a DIRT legal

358 CI motor under the hood of the BRB Racing Mrs. T's Pierogies sponsored

#114. Despite racing an unfamiliar track and giving away quite a bit of

horsepower to he Big Block Modifieds he was racing with, Pauch was able

to race among the leaders the entire distance. He and Tittle swapped

the runner-up position back and forth a couple of times, but Tittle and

Pauch were racing each other and neither was able to make a run at Rudalavage.

The race's final caution flag came on lap 47 and bunched the field

for a three lap shootout to the finish. There were no changes among the

top three over this final dash to the checkered flag as Rudalavage took

the checkered flag by about three car lengths over Pauch, who was able

to drive away from Tittle on the final restart bout could not make a run at

Rudalavage. The reason for Tittle's sudden reduction in speed became

apparent at the conclusion of the event as when he drove over the scale

for post race weigh-in, the right rear tire had gone completely flat.

Luckily for Tittle the tire lasted just long enough for him to hold on

for a third place finish. Jeff Bronson finished fourth while Rick

Virkitis rounded out the top five. Keith Hoffman came home sixth while

Brian Weaver recovered from his early misfortune to finish seventh ahead

of Tom McGurrin and Larry Kelleher. Mike Colsten also recovered from

his early problems to record a tenth place finish.

The 41 Modified entries took part in four heat races which saw

Butch Tittle, Jeff Bronson, Billy Pauch, and Mike Colsten pick up the

victories. Bobby Puckett and Bobby Trapper won the twin Modified

consolations.

Butch Tittle's third place finish coupled with Brian Weaver's

seventh place run finds Tittle pulling to within 19 point of Weaver with

one race remaining on the as the Gary's U-Pull It Kings Royal Modified

Championship Series.

In Sportsman action, it was Speedsville, NY's Kevin Jordan piloting

the Gullick Racing Sprint PCS sponsored #22 to victory, his first Penn

Can triumph of the 2002 racing season. Jordan took the green flag for

the 20 lap event in fifth but quickly moved into a challenging position

as the early stages of this event saw frequent caution flags keeping the

field bunched up. Craig Terrell led some laps early on, but Jordan was

able to work pas the Penn Can Sportsman champion and eight time feature

winner to take over the top spot. Once out front, Jordan was able to

open up a bit of an advantage, but that advantage was wiped out by the

caution flag. Terrell attempted to make a late run at Jordan, but Kevin

was too strong as he took the win by a comfortable margin over second

finishing Terrell. Chad Cook finished third ahead of Gary Gallerie.

Butch Klinger limped across the line fifth after he and Ken Titus

tangled

on the final lap while racing within the top five. Mike Marold

recovered from an early race incident to finish sixth ahead of Jamie Shea and Mike

Loney. Ken Titus limped his badly damaged car across the line ninth

while Ray Purcell completed the top ten finishing order.

Kevin Jordan, Mike Marold, and Dan Vauter won Sportsman qualifying

events.

The Late Models ran their 25 lap feature without roofs as the event

was billed as the "Topless 25." The Topless 25 was the final race on

the American Race Ties Series for the Late Models. Dave Zona picked up the

win in the Topless 25 as he drove past early race leader Dan Clark just

prior to the halfway point in the event. Once out front, Zona was able

to drive away from the field as he dominated the remainder of the event

to pick up the feature win over Clark. Jim Howard, Jason Carmen, and

Randall Paxton completed the top five finishing positions. Al Whitaker,

Jim O'Hara, Ray Taylor, Jim Sherman, and Lou Sparks were sixth through

tenth respectively.

Dan Clark and Dave Zona won the two Late Model heat races. With

His fifth place finish, Randall Paxton was crowned the champion of the

American Race Tires Late Model Series. Race winner Dave Zona finished

second in series points.

Buck Mills picked up his second win of the 2002 season in the Pure

Stock feature. Mills started on the pole and led all 15 laps of the

feature to score the victory. Mills had his hands full throughout the

event as Bob Boynton pressured him all the way. With just two lap

remaining in the event, Boynton got under Mills coming down the

backstretch but was unable to complete the pass as the caution flag

waved for a minor incident behind them. This would be as close as Boynton

would get to the lead as Mills controlled the restart and held off

Boynton over the final two laps to pick up the win by a narrow margin

over Boynton. Denny Decker worked past Shane Wolf in the closing stages

to finish third with Wolf fourth. Nate Evans rounded out the top five

finishing positions. Michael Lartz finished sixth ahead of 2001 Pure

Stock champion Chad Stone, who picked up the ride in the Billy House #5H

and finished seventh. Daryl Ellis, Bret Welch, and Tom Garren completed

the top ten.

Track champion Toby Sparks and point runner-up Nate Evans won the

two Pure Stock heat races.

The 2002 racing season is now complete at Penn Can. The final

Order of business on the schedule is the annual awards banquet which will be

held at the Montdale Country Club on January 18th, 2003. Tickets are

available by contacting the speedway office at (579)-585-9928.

The staff and management of the Penn Can Speedway would like to

extend their thanks to all of the race teams and race fans for their

support during the 2002 racing season. Planning for the 2003 racing

season is already underway with several major announcements expected in

the upcoming months. Look for announcements regarding the upcoming

season shortly in this publication.

RACE SUMMARY:

GARY'S U-PULL IT KING OF THE CAN MODIFIEDS (50 laps) - 1. JEFF

RUDALAVAGE 2. Billy Pauch 3. Butch Tittle 4. Jeff Bronson 5. Rick Virkitis 6. Keith

Hoffman 7. Brian Weaver 8. Tom McGurrin 9. Larry Kelleher 10. Mike

Colsten 11. Alan Rudalavage 12. Brian Franko 13. Steve Babicek 14. Jim

Gabriel 15. J. R. Hurlbut 16. Bobby Trapper 17. Carl Nagel 18. Rick

Whitney 19. Jim Mahaney 20. Mike Nagel 21. George Kostelansky 22. Paul

Jensen 23. Mike Decker 24. Bobby Puckett 25. Tom Hager

Heat 1: Tittle, Weaver, Hoffman, Virkitis, A. Rudalavage

Heat 2: Bronson, C Nagel, Jensen, Hurlbut, Kostelansky(scratched)

Heat 3: Pauch, M. Nagel, J. Rudalavage, Franko, Whitney

Heat 4: Colsten, Mahaney, Gabriel, Kelleher, McGurrin

Consi 1: Puckett, Hager

Consi 2: Trapper, Babicek

Provisional: Kostelansky (2nd car-first car scratched), M. Decker

DNQ: Darren McCaughney, Doug Worthing, Troy Weisenfluh, Gordie Isham,

John Gurnsey, Tad Cox, Dave Jenkins, Rick Holgate, Colin Jackson, Sean

Collins, John Ferguson, Billy Decker, Ryan Godown

SPORTSMAN: 1. KEVIN JORDAN 2. Craig Terrell 3. Chad Cook 4. Gary

Gallerie 5. Butch Klinger 6. Mike Marold 7. Jamie Shea 8. Mike Loney 9. Ken Titus

10. Ray Pursell 11. Chris Clemmons 12. Dennis Latwinski 13. Ted Stout

14. Bob Lineman 15. Bob Lane 16. George Kostelansky 17. Randy Thomas 18.

Mike ilmont 19. rick Whitney 20. Brett Tonkin 21. Howard Buchannon 22. Dan

Vauter 23. Bob Grasic

LATE MODEL TOPLESS 25: 1. DAVE ZONA 2. Dan Clark 3. Jim Howard 4. Jason

Carmen 5. Randall Paxton 6. Al Whitaker 7. Jim O'Hara 8. Ray Taylor 9.

Jim Sherman 10. Lou Sparks 11. Jamie Griffiths 12. R. J. Windhausen 13.

Keith Mudge 14. Brent Dyer DNS: Joe Damiano, James Cornell Jr.

PURE STOCKS: 1. BUCK MILLS 2. Bob Boynton 3. Denny Decker 4. Shane Wolf

5. Nate Evans 6. Michael Lartz 7. Chad Stone 8. Daryl Ellis 9. Bret

Welsh 10. Tom Garren 11. Gary Mills 12. Lee Penny 13. Harry Marvin III 14.

Kevin Davies 15. Toby Sparks 16. Kurt Decker