RICK VIRKITIS, CRAIG TERRELL, ALLEN COY, TRACY GREGORY, AND EVERETT CASS

SHARE PENN CAN FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT

(Susquehanna, Pa.) Richmondale, Pa.'s Rick Virkitis broke through for

his first win of the 2002 season on Main Engine night at the Penn Can

Speedway. Craig Terrell won his sixth Sportsman feature of the season

while Allen Coy won his sixth also in Late Model action. Tracy Gregory

picked up the Super Stock victory, his second of the season. Everett

Cass came home the winner of the Pappy Bevans Memorial Pure Stock

feature, run in memory of the late founder of the Penn Can Speedway.

The Modified feature came to the green flag with Alan Shiffler and

Tom McGurrin pacing the field to the green flag. McGurrin worked his

Way into the lead, but immediately found himself under heavy pressure from

his BPG Racing teammate Virkitis, who had started fourth. Virkitis was

able to take the top spot from McGurrin on an early restart, and he

would go on to lead the rest of the way to bring his BPG Racing/Bicknell Race

Products #77 home to his first win of the 2002 season.

After a couple of early cautions, the Modified feature then went

caution free the rest of the distance. The lack of caution flags was a

good thing for Virkitis as he was able to drive away from the field, at

one point holding a full straightaway lead over the rest of the field.

Defending track champion Brian Weaver had charged from his twelfth

starting spot to run second behind Virkitis, but Virkitis held a

considerable lead over Weaver. Over the closing laps Weaver was able to

close the distance somewhat as both were racing in heavy lapped traffic,

but Brian was never able to get close enough to threaten Virkitis' hold

on the top spot. Virkitis took the checkered flag by about a half

straightway over Weaver. Mike Nagel crossed the line third trailed by

Jeff Bronson and Butch Tittle. Tom McGurrin, Mike Colsten, Alan

Shiffler, Mike Decker, and Larry Kelleher completed the top ten

Finishing order.

Brain Weaver's second place finish coupled with Mike Colsten's

seventh place run finds the two in a tie atop the Modified division

point standings with only three point races left to crown the 2002 track

champion.

Alan Shiffler, Rick Virkitis, and Jeff Bronson won the three

Modified heat races while Rick Whitney picked up the win in the

consolation event.

In Sportsman division action, Craig Terrell picked up his sixth win

of the 2002 season as he drove his Klinger's Kawasaki/Crawn Logging

sponsored Troyer car to victory. Rick Whitney led the first six laps

of the feature before Terrell made his way from his seventh starting

position to take the top spot away from Whitney. Once out front,

Terrell dominated the remainder of the event, taking the win without a further

challenge for the top spot. The top five running order got shuffled a

bit in post-race inspection as Whitney's mount did not pass muster and

he was disqualified. Gary Gallerie wound up finishing second ahead of Dan

Vauter, Ken Titus, and Mike Marold. Finishing sixth through tenth

respectively were Rick Holgate, Jamie Shea, Bob Lane, Bill Williams, and

Brett Tonkin.

Ken Titus and Dan Vauter won the Sportsman heat races..

Defending Late Model Allen Coy continued his quest for a successful

title defense as he piloted his Snake Creek Marine/ Cooley Stone

sponsored #53 to his sixth win of the season. Daryl Ellis and Jason

Carmen led the early laps of the feature, but Coy wasted little time in

moving into a contending position after starting tenth on the grid. Coy

inherited the lead when race leader Jason Carmen was forced to retire

from the event with apparent overheating problems. This would be the

only break Coy would need as he led the rest of the way to pick up the

win. Randall Paxton made a valiant effort over the closing laps to try

to challenge Coy, but he never got close enough and Coy went on to

victory while Paxton earned a runner-p finish behind Coy. Keith Mudge,

Joe Damiano, and Dave Zona completed the top five finishing order.

Daryl Ellis earned a sixth place finish with Jim Sherman, Jamie Griffiths, Jim

O'Hara, and Rich King seventh through tenth.

Daryl Ellis and rookie Steve Tourje won the two Late Model heat

races.

Tracy Gregory picked up his second win of the season in Super Stock

action. Gregory capitalized on a front row starting position to grab the

lead very early in the event as he drove past polesetter Ron Latwinski

to take the top spot. Gregory would lead the rest of the way to score the

win. Behind Tracy a torrid three car battle raged for the runner-up

spot as Latwinski, Brett Spoor, and Jamie Shea battled for that spot over the

closing laps with Latwinski just nosing out Spoor for second. Spoor

took third with Shea fourth. Chris Piasecki rounded out the top five. Dwayne

Robbins, Randy Metcalf, Chris Stull, Craig Trella, and Chris Hunsinger

completed the top ten.

Jamie Shea and Paul Rooney won the Super Stock qualifying events.

The Pure Stock feature was the Pappy Bevans Memorial Race run in

honor of LeGrande "Pappy" Bevans, the founder of the Penn Can Speedway.

Everett Cass picked up his second feature win of the 2002 season in this

very special event. It was a hard earned victory for Cass as he had to

hold off a late race challenge from Bob Boynton to pick up the win.

Cass found himself the race leader when Jim Ortiz and Craig Decker got

Tangled up while battling for the lead, taking both out of contention for

victory. Boynton charged from deep in the field after being involved in

an early race incident to get to second, but could not challenge Cass

for the top spot. Dan Babcock started dead last on the field and advanced

to third place at the finish. Shane Wolf finished fourth while newcomer

Eric Schmidt was fifth. Toby Sparks, Rob Welsh, Mike Hoyte, Greg

Brunges, and Michael Lartz completed the top ten. The finishing order

was jumbled somewhat in post-race inspection as Wade Decker and Cory

Bond both finished in the top five, but were not able to successfully pass

post-race inspection and were disqualified.

Throughout the evening, Main Engines posted $800 in bonus money.

Drivers finishing in specified positions in each feature received some

extra cash courtesy of Main Engines.

Racing continues this Saturday night at the Penn Can Speedway on

Pine Line Auto Sales night. The evening will feature a five star racing

card with the Modifieds, Sportsman, Late Models, Super Stocks, and Pure

Stocks all in action in complete shows. There will also be a bicycle

giveaway for a lucky boy and girl attending the races. Racing gets

underway at 7:15 PM.

MAIN ENGINES RACE SUMMARY:

MODIFIEDS: 1. RICK VIRKITIS 2. Brian Weaver 3. Mike Nagel 4. Jeff Brnson

5. Butch Tittle 6. Tom McGurrin 7. Mike Costen 8. Alan Shiffler 9. Mike

Decker 10. Tom Kelleher 11. George Kostelansky 13. Carl Nagel 14. Chris

Weaver 15. Jim Crawn 16. Brian Franko 17. Andy Tiffany 18. Sean Collins

19. Mik Clapperton 20. Chris Shupp 21. Troy Weisenfluh 22. Rich Keehle

23. Tom Hager 24. Rick Whitney 25. Steve Babicek 26. Alan Rudalavage

SPORTSMAN: 1. CRAIG TERRELL 2. Gary Gallerie 3. Dan Vauter 4. Ken Titus

5. Mike Marold 6. Rick Holgate 7. Jamie Shea 8. Bob Lane 9. Bill

Williams 10. Brett Tonkin 11. Garth Tonkin Jr. 12. Dennis Latwinski 13. Dan

Buchannon 14. Frank Bonham 15. Bruce Evans Jr. 16. Kevin Timinski 17.

Alex Konopka 18. Brian Decker DQ: Rick Whitney

LATE MODELS: 1. ALLEN COY 2. Randall Paxton 3. Keith Mudge 4. Joe

Damiano 5. Dave Zona 6. Daryl Ellis 7. Jim Sherman 8. Jamie Griffiths 9. Jim

O'Hara 10. Rich King 11. Brent Dyer 12. Lou Sparks 13. Steve Tourje 14.

George Leatso 15. James Cornell Jr. 16. Jason Carmen 17. Randy Metcalf

SUPER STOCKS: 1. TRACY GREGORY 2. Ron Latwinski 3. Brett Spoor 4. Jamie

Shea 5. Chris Piasecki 6. Dwayne Robbins 7. Randy Metcalf 8. Chris Stull

9. Craig Trella 10. Chris Hunsinger 11. Joe Cabets 12. Rick Brown 13.

Randy Rollison 14. Jack sTanley 15. Paul Rooney 16. Ken Taugher 17. Dick

Vauter

PURE STOCK: 1. EVERETT CASS 2. Bob Boynton 3. Dan Babcock 4. Shane Wolf

5. Eric Schmidt 6. Toby Sparks 7. Rob Welsh 8. Mike Hoyte 9. Greg

Brunges 10. Michael Lartz 11. Randy Percival 12. Kevin Davies 13. Jim Ortiz 14.

Nate Evans 15. Gary Druhl 16. Craig Decker 17. Bob Cass 18. Keith

Wilkins 19. Rich Green 20. Tom Garren 21. Bob Tyriw 22. Daryl Ellis 23. Bret

Welch DQ: Cory Bond, Kurt Decker