BRIAN WEAVER DRIVES TO VICTORY, CHAMPIONSHIP AT PENN CAN
(Susquehanna, Pa.) Conklin, NY's Brain Weaver drove to victory in
the 35 lap Pump 'n Pantry Championship feature last Friday night at the
Penn Can Speedway. Brian's sixth feature win of the seaon coupled with
Mike Colsten's sixth place finish allowed Weaver to clinch his second
consecutive Modified championship at Penn Can. Rick Whitney won his
first Sportsman of 2002 while Randall Paxton won his third Late Model
feature. Brett Spoor became a three time winner as he passed newly
crowned champion Jamie Shea in the closing stages to win his third Super
Stock feature. Toby Sparks capped off a championship season with his
third Pure Stock feature win of the season.
Going into the 35 lap Pump 'n Pantry Championship feature for the
Modifieds, Mike Colsten held a 16 point advantage over Weaver, meaning
that he needed to finish fourth or better to clinch the championship. In
order to have a chance at the championship, Weaver had to win the
feature
and have some help as Colsten could still close him out by finishing
fourth or better. Weaver took the green flag from ninth starting
posiion
and worked his way steadily toward the front, driving past Jeff Bronson
to take over the lead on lap 14. Once out front Weaver was in total
control as he was able to drive away from Bronson and open up a big
lead.
Behind Weaver, the story was Colsten, who was mired back in eighth
place
and not really able to move forward as he and Tom McGurrin battled many
laps for the seventh spot befor McGurrin was able to establish himself
in
that position.
Over the closing stages Colsten did get a couple of breaks that
made
the championship chase interesting over the closing laps. Jeff
Bronson's
terrible luck continued as a flat tire cost him second place, then Buff
ran into tire problems as Bill was another car between Weaver and
Colsten. This would move Colsten up to sixth, but he could not gain any
positions over the closing laps and Weaver drove the Decker Logging #9R
under the checkered flag to capture the win and the championship.
George
Kostelansky chased Weaver across the line for a solid second place
finish
while Brian Franko turned in one of his best drives of the season to
finish third. Tom McGurrin and Mike Nagel completed the top five
finishing order. Mike Colsten, Carl Nagel, newcomer Jim Gabriel Jr.,
Jim Crawn and Steve Babicek completed the top ten finishing order.
Mike Colsten, Brian Weaver, Tom McGurrin, and Jeff Bronson won the
four Modified heats while Doug Worthing won the consolation event.
In the Sportsman division it was Rick Whitney who piloted his
Whitney Stone sponsored #114 to his first win of the 2002 racing season.
Whitney drove from tenth starting position to take over the lead just
ten
laps into the Sportsman feature. Once out front, Whitney then had to
contend with a strong challenge from 2002 track champion Craig Terrell,
who had clinched the championship0 the previous week. With the
championship already sewn up, Terrell was looking to cap off his season
with another victory as he pressured Whitney hard over the closing laps.
Despite the pressure from the champion, Whitney never opened the door
for
Terrell and picked up his first win of the season on Championship Night.
Terrell challenged all the way before settling for a solid runner-up
finish. Gary Gallerie finished third ahead of teenagers Dan Vauter and
Brett Tonkin. Ken Titus, Bob Lane, Mike Loney, Bill Williams and Bob
Conklin completed the top ten finishing order.
Mike Marold, Alex Konopka, and Brett Tonkin took top honors in
Sportsman heat races.
PUMP 'N PANTRY CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT RACE SUMMARY:
MODIFIEDS: 1. Brian Weaver 2. George Kostelansky 3. Brian Franko 4. Tom
McGurrin 5. Mike Nagel 6. Mike Colsten 7. Carl Nagel 8. Jim Gabriel 9.
Jim Crawn 10. Steve Babicek 11. Alan Rudalavage 12. Sean Collins 13. Tom
Hager 14. Chris Shupp 15. Mike Decker 16. Alan Kellogg 17. J.R. Crouse
18. Bill Huff 19. Troy Weisenfluh 20. Jeff Bronson 21. Rich Whitney 22.
Brian Malcolm 23. Rick Virkitis 24. Andy Tiffany 25. Jeff Rudalavage 26.
Doug Worthing
SPORTSMAN: 1. RICK WHITNEY 2. Craig Terrell 3. Gary Gallerie 4. Dan
Vauter 5. Brett Tonkin 6. Ken Titus 7. Bob Lane 8. Mike Loney 9. Bill
Williams 10. Bob Conklin 11. Eric Bonham 12. Josh Beierle 13. Kevin
Timinski 14. Mike Marold 15. Alex Konopka 16. Brian Decker 17. Bob
Thomas
18. Garth Tonkin Jr. 19. Jamie Shea 20. Ray Pursell 21. Bruce Evans Jr.
22. Mark Hanichak 23. Dennis Latwinski DND: Dan Buchannon
LATE MODEL: 1. RANDALL PAXTON 2. Dave Zona 3. Allen Coy 4. Jason Carmen
5. Jamie Griffiths 6. Joe Damiano 7. Keith Mudge 8. Brnet Dyer 9. James
Cornell Jr. 10. Steve Toourje 11. Daryl Ellis 12. Jim O'Hara 13. Jim
Sherman 14. George Leatso 15. Lou Sparks
SUPER STOCK: 1. BRETT SPOOR 2. Jamie Shea 3. Chris Piasecki 4. Dwayne
Robbins 5. Tracy Gregory 6. Denny Decker 7. Paul Rooney 8. Wade Decker
9.
Joe Cabets 10. Chris Hunsinger 11. Ron Latwinski 12. Rick Brown 13. Ken
Tougher 14. Ken Wynn 15. Mike Wilmont 16. Fred Velez 17. Craig Trella
PURE STOCK: 1. TOBY SPARKS 2. Nate Evans 3. Harry Marvin III 4. Randy
Percival 5. Michael Lartz 6. Daryl Ellis 7. Everett Cass 8. Kurt Decker
9. Mahlon Shoemaker 10. Floyd Schmidt 11. Tom Garren 12. Brad Albrecht
13. Matt Payne 14. Jim Ortiz 15. Craig Decker 16. Lee Penny 17. Rob
Welsh
18. Shane Wolf 19. Mike Hoyte 20. Kevin Davies 21. Dave Bagg 22. Keith
Wilkins 23. Bret Welch 24. Bob Boynton 25. Gregg Brunges 26. Jerry
Whitmarsh