BRIAN WEAVER OPENS PENN CAN MODIFIED SEASON WITH VICTORY
(Susquehanna, Pa.) Defending Penn Can Speedway modified champion Brian
Weaver picked up where he left off last season as he picked up the win
In the season opener for the Mighty Modifieds at Penn Can. Brain Decker made it a sweep of the open wheel divisions as he picked up his first ever victory in the Sportsman feature. Jamie Griffiths came home the winner of the Late Model feature while Chris Piasecki took top honors in the Super Stocks. Daryl Ellis was the Pure Stock winner on a chilly Friday evening.
In the early stages of the 40 lap Modified feature it didn't look
like it was going to be Weaver's night as he got caught up in an early
race incident as he was trying to race his way to the front after
starting twelfth in the feature. Rick Virkitis drew the pole and led
the early laps of the feature, holding off a strong challenge from Bobby Hamm for the top spot. Virkitis and Hamm battled for several laps as the two #77 cars went at it for the top spot.
The feature took an unexpected turn when Virkitis got crossed up in the first turn and spun out of the lead, turning the top spot over to Chris Schupp. Just as happened to Weaver, Schupp also had to battle his way back from early adversity as Chris had worked his way as high as second before a tangle with a lapped car put him at the back of the
field. Chris was able to fight his way back to second and inherited the top spot when Virkitis spun out of the lead.
This left Schupp the race leader over Weaver and Tom McGurrin as
The laps wound down. Schupp was able to open up a bit of a lead on Weaver on the restart but mechanical problems would prove to be his undoing as suspension failure ended his strong run. When Schupp retired, this turned the top spot over to Weaver, who led the rest of the way to score the win. McGurrin and Mike Nagel spent the closing laps locked in a tight battle for the runner-up position with McGurrin managing to hold off Nagel for second with Nagel finishing third. Alan Rudalavage finished fourth while Rich Keehle turned in a strong drive to finish fifth. George Kostelansy, Mike Decker, Bill Huff, Rick Virkitis, and Rick Whitney completed the top ten.
Chris Schupp, Bob Hamm, and Rick Virkitis were Modified heat
winners. The Modified consolation was cancelled due to the cold weather in an effort to run the show off as quickly as possible.
The Sportsman division opened their point season in fine style as
they ran off a non-stop 20 lap feature. Brian Decker won his first open wheel feature as he led the entire 20 lap distance to pick up the
feature win aboard his Decker's Logging sponsored #9B. Brian started on the outside pole and beat polesetter Dan Vauter into the first turn to take the lead, which he held the rest of the way. Vauter, a rookie in the Sportsman division, pressured Decker most of the way before a flat left rear tire took him out of contention for victory in the closing laps. Mt. Pocono, Pa.'s Gary Gallerie drove his Indian Motorcycles sponsored #79 to a runner-up finish behind Decker trailed by Tom McGurrin, Craig Terrell, and Bob Lane. Rick Whitney, Jim O'Hara, Dennis Latwinski, Bruce Evans Jr., and Dan Vauter rounded out the top ten finishing order.
Dan Vauter and Tom McGurrin won the qualifying heats in the
Sportsman division.
Jamie Griffith picked up his first win of the 2002 season in
the Late Model division. Jamie started the feature on the pole, but it
was far from an easy win as the closing laps of the feature saw a three
way battle for the top spot between Griffith, Dave Zona, and defending
track champion Allen Coy. The top three raced in tight formation
throughout the second half of the race with Griffith holding on to pick
up the win over Zona and Coy, who charged from 13th starting position to finish third. Jim O'Hara and Rick King rounded out the top five
finishing order. Dave Silvernail, Jim Sherman, Randall Paxton, Al
Whittaker, and Keith Mudge made up the second half of the top ten
finishing order.
Late Model heat race victories were shared by Dave Zona and Rich
King.
The Super Stock feature saw Chris Piasecki pick up the win, his
first of the season. Piasecki passed Brett Spoor to take over the top
spot, opening up a comfortable advantage over Spoor in the closing laps; Spoor finished second ahead of Ron Latwinski, opening night winner Randy Metcalf, and Paul Rooney. Ken Sparks finished sixth in his first start of 2002 while Rick Brown, Mike Mills, Joe Cabets, and Jamie Shea completed the top ten. Shea drove Nate Evans' car in the feature after his own car was sidelined with mechanical problems.
Brett Spoor and Tracy Gregory won the Super Stock heat races.
Daryl Ellis was awarded the victory in the Pure Stock feature after a final lap incident involving the first and second place cars as they battled for the lead. Ellis was in the right place at the right time as he was awarded the victory. Nate Evans finished second with Everett Cass third. Rob Welch and brother Brett Welch completed the top five. Randy Percival, Tom Garren, Gary Druhl, Roger Salai and newcomer Wayne Hunting rounded out the top ten.
Pure Stock qualifiers went to Nate Evans and Rob Welch.
Racing continues this Friday night at Penn Can. All five regular
divisions will be on hand with the Modifieds, Sportsman, Late Models,
Super Stocks and Pure Stocks all on the card. Racing gets underway at
7:15 PM sharp.
PENN CAN SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY:
MODIFIEDS: 1. BRIAN WEAVER 2. Tom McGurrin 3. Mike Nagel 4. Alan
Rudalavage 5. Rich Keehle 6. George Kostelansky 7. Mike Decker 8. Bill
Huff 9. Rick Virkitis 10 Rick Whitney 11. JR Crouse 12. Mike Colsten 13. Chris Ostrowsky 14. Alan Kellogg 15. Chris Schupp 16. Jeff Bronson 17.John Guernsey 18. Alan Shiffler 19. Butch Tittle 20. Sean Collins 21. Bob Hamm 22. Eric Bonham 23. Chris Weaver DNS: Carl Nagel
SPORTSMAN 1. BRIAN DECKER 2. Gary Gallerie 3. Tom McGurrin 4. Craig
Terrell 5. Bob Lane 6. Rick Whitney 7. Jim O'Hara 8. Dennis Latwinski 9. Bruce Evans Jr. 10. Dan Vauter 11. Dan Buchannon 12. Rick Holgate 13.Dave Leyshon 14. Brett Tonkin 15. Kevin Timinski DNS: Sean Collins
LATE MODEL: 1. JAMIE GRIFFITH 2. Dave Zona 3. Allen Coy 4. Jim O'Hara 5.Rich King 6. Dave Silvernail 7. Jim Sherman 8. Randall Paxton 9. Al
Whittaker 10. Keith Mudge 11. Randy Metcalf 12. Jason Carmen 13. Lou
Sparks 14. Carl Sivernail 15. Clint Kauffman 16. Steve Tourje 17. George Leatso 18. Joe Damiano
SUPER STOCK: 1. CHRIS PIASECKI 2. Brett Spoor 3. Ron Latwinski 4. Randy
Metcalf 5. Paul Rooney 6. Ken Sparks 7. Rich Brown 8. Mike Mills 9. Joe
Cabets 10. Jamie Shea 11. Mike Wilmont 12. Dennis Robbins 13. Earl
Zimmer 14. Craig Trella 15. Tracy Gregory DNS: John Evans
PURE STOCK: 1. DARYL ELLIS 2. Nate Evans 3. Erverett Cass 4. Rob Welch
5. Bret Welch 6. Randy Percival 7. Tom Garren 8. Gary Druhl 9. Roger
Salai 10. Wayne Hunting 11. Michael Lartz 12. Bob Albrecht 13. Toby
Sparks 14. Chad Stone 15. Craig Decker 16. Mark Hoyte DNS: Keith
Wilkins, Kevin Davies.