TWO IN A ROW FOR MIKE COLSTEN AT PENN CAN

(Susquehanna, Pa.) Mike Colsten has been the dominant driver in the

Southern Tier so far in the 2002 season, and his hot streak continued on

Friday night as he won his second consecutive Modified feature at the

Penn Can Speedway. Gary Gallerie won his first career Sportsman feature

while Allen Coy won his second Late Model feature of the season. Brett

Spoor notched his first Super Stock win of the season while Toby Sparks

was also a first time Pure Stock winner.

Chris Weaver and Carl Nagel led the Modified field down to Glenn

O'Laughlin's green flag with Nagel immediately grabbing the lead. The

ageless veteran would lead the first eleven laps of the feature, opening

up a bit of a lead over the pack during this time. The first caution

flag flew for a minor incident on lap eleven, and during this caution

Nagel's strong drive came to an end as he pulled pitside and retired

From the event, turning the lead over to his son, Mike Nagel.

Nagel would lead the next four laps, but Colsten had brought his

Don's Automotive Mall "Recycler" #51 from his eleventh starting position

to challenge Nagel for the top spot. Colsten took over the lead with a

powerful outside move in the second turn to take the lead just after

taking the crossed flags. Once out front, Colsten pretty much

controlled the rest of the event to take the win by a comfortable margin. The win

was Colsten's fifth of the season already and second at Penn Can, and it

is still early in May. Though he could not challenge Colsten for the

win, Mike Nagel turned in a strong drive to score a runner-up finish

with Chris Shupp third. Rick Virkitis took fourth place with a last lap pass

of Mike Decker, who settled for fifth in the final rundown. Bill Huff

finished sixth while George Kostelansky started in the final row but

charged up to finish seventh. Tom McGurrin, Rich Keehle, and Bob Hamm

completed the top ten finishers.

Alan Rudalavage, Mike Colsten, and Jeff Bronson won Modified heat

races.

Gary Gallerie picked up his first career feature win in the 20 lap

Sportsman feature. The Mt. Pocono, Pa. native started third but wasted

little time in getting to the front as Gallerie's Indian Motorcycles of

Scranton sponsored entry was shown as the leader of the first lap. The

second year Sportsman driver would lead every lap of the feature to pick

up the win. In the closing stages Gary had some pressure from two time

feature winner Craig Terrell, but Gallerie never faltered, forcing

Terrell to settle for a runner-up finish this time around. Brian Decker

finished third with Tom McGurrin and Sportsman rookie sensation Dan

Vauter completing the top five. Newcomer Mike Marold finished sixth

With Bob Lane, Dave Leyshon, Ted Stout, and Brett Tonkin completing the top

ten.

Dave Layshon and Gary Gallerie were victorious in Sportsman

qualifying races.

Defending Late Model track champion Allen Coy piloted his Cooley

Stone sponsored #53 to his second win of the season in the 20 lap Late

Model feature. Joe Damiano led the early stages of the event, but was

eliminated with suspension failure after only a handful of laps.

Damiano's misfortune turned the lead over to Coy, who built up a

considerable lead in the middle stages of the event. Things got

interesting in the closing laps as Coy got bottled up in heavy lapped

traffic which allowed Gene Sharpsteen, wheeling Randy Metcalf's #6M, to

close in. Sharpsteen's late run fell just short as Coy was able to hold

on for the win by a narrow margin over Sharpsteen. Dave Zona came home

third ahead of Jason Carmen and rookie Steve Tourje. Keith Mudge, Lou

Sparks, Jim Sherman, Jamie Griffith and Jim O'Hara rounded out the top

ten.

Randall Paxton and Steve Tourje split the Late Model heat races.

Brett Spoor picked up the win in the Super Stock feature. Spoor

worked past early leader Tracy Gregory to take the lead that he would

never relinquish. Gregory chased Spoor all the way bout could not find

a way past and Spoor had his first triumph of the 2002 campaign. Gregory

finished second with previous week's winner Chris Piasecki third. Craig

Trella and Dwayne Robbins finished fourth and fifth respectively. Paul

Rooney, Rick Brown, Rod Latwinski, Chris Hunsinger, and Joe Cabets

completed the top ten finishers.

Qualifying heats for the Super Stocks went to Brett Spoor and Tracy

Gregory.

Toby Sparks picked up the win in the Pure Stock feature. Two time

feature winner already this season Nate Evans led the majority of the 15

lap distance only to be felled by rear end problems on the final lap of

the feature. With Evans slowing dramatically on the final lap, Craig

Decker was also able to work past for the runner-up position with Daryl

Ellis third. Evans was able to limp his crippled mount home fourth with

teammate Tom Garren right behind in fifth. Jim Ortiz, Mark Hoyte, Kevin

Davies, Gregg Brunges, and Keith Wilkins completed the top ten.

Rob Welch and Billy House won Pure Stock heat races.

Racing continued this Friday night with a five star racing card.

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

all be on the card with a full slate of qualifying races leading up to

five big feature events. The action gets underway at 7:15PM.

PENN CAN SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY:

MODIFIEDS: 1. MIKE CLOSTEN 2. Mike Nagel 3. Chrus Shupp 4. Rick Virkitis

5. Mike Decker 6. Bill Huff 7. George Kostelansky 8. Tom McGurrin 9.

Rich Keehle 10. Bob Hamm 11. Sean Collins 12. Alan Shiffler 13. Alan

Rudalavage 14. Rick Whitney 15. 79 Rich Tiffany 16. Brian Franko 17.

Butch Tittle 18. Brian Weaver 19. Chris Weaver 20. Jeff Bronson 21. Carl

Nagel 22. Chris Ostrowsky DNS: Jim Crawn, John Gurnsey, Brian Decker

SPORTSMAN: 1. GARY GALLERIE 2. Craig Terrell 3. Brian Decker 4. Tom

McGurrin 5. Dan Vauter 6. Mike Marold 7. Bob Lane 8. Dave Layshon 9. Ted

Stout 10. Brett Tonkin 11. Dennis Latwinski 12. Bruce Evans Jr. 13. Dan

Buchannon 14. Garth Tonkin Jr. 15. Rick Holgate 16. Rick Whitney 17. Bob

Conklin 18. Kevin Timinski DNS: Jim O'Hara

LATE MODEL: 1. ALLEN COY 2. Gene Sharpsteen 3. Dave Zona 4. Jason Carmen

5. Steve Tourje 6. Keith Mudge 7. Lou Sparks 8. Jim Sharman 9. Jamie

Giffith 10. Jim O'Hara 11. Daryl Ellis 12. Brent Dyer 13. Clint Kauffman

14. George Leatso 15. Randall Paxton 16. Joe Damiano 17. Dave Silvernail

18. Rich King

SUPER STOCK: 1. BRETT SPOOR 2. Tracy Gregory 3. Chris Piasecki 4. Craig

Trella 5. Dwayne Robbins 6. Paul Rooney 7. Rick Brown 8. Rod Latwinski

9. Chris Hunsinger 10. Joe Cabets 11. Randy Metcalf 12. Mike Wilmont 13.

Rick Hand 14. Jamie Shea 15. Dick Vauter 16. Mike Mills 17. John Stanley

18. Bob Janesky 19. Gene Sharpsteen

PURE STOCK: 1. TOBY SPARKS 2. Craig Decker 3. Daryl Ellis 4. Nate Evans

5. Tom Garren 6. Jim Ortiz 7. Mark Hoyte 8. Kevin Davies 9. Gregg

Brunges

10. Keith Wilkins 11. Dave Bagg 12. Bob Albrecht 13. Rob Welch 14. Matt

Payne 15. Michael Lartz 16. Greg Druhl 17. Everett Cass 18. Billy House

DNS: Jerry Whitmarsh