RICK VIRKITIS SCORES THIRD VICTORY OF SEASON AT PENN CAN
(Susquehanna, Pa.) Richmondale, Pa's Rick Virkitis drove his Andy's Towing #77 to victory in last Friday night's Modified feature at the Penn Can Speedway on Barnes Kasson Hospital night at the speedway. The win was Virkitis' third of the season at the Susquehanna, Pa. 1/3 mile clay oval. Current point leader Al Coy won his fifth Late Model feature of the season while Jamie Shea won his eighth Super Stock feature of the season. Harry Marvin III earned his second Pure Stock feature with Bob Chapman retaking the IMCA Modified point lead with his third win of the season.
The Modified feature saw Chris Weaver and Rick Whitney pace the field to the green flag. Weaver jumped out to the early lead as the feature would see 23 consecutive laps of green flag racing at the start of the event. The lack of caution flags would not hinder the charge of Virkitis, however, as Rick found his preferred outside groove to be fast on this night. Without the aid of a caution flag, Virkitis was able to charge from his fourteenth stating position to run down and pass Chris Weaver with a power move exiting the first turn. The only caution flag of the race came on lap 23 when Chris Weaver and Rick Whitney tangled while battling for position. This closed the field up on Virkitis, but Rick had a bit of a cushion as there were two lapped cars between himself and second place running Brian Weaver.
The two lapped cars allowed Virkitis to open up just enough of an advantage on the restart that Weaver was never able to get close enough to challenge and Virkitis had his third win of the season as he ran out the remaining laps to pick up the win by a comfortable margin over Weaver. Defending champion Butch Tittle finished third with Mike Colsten charging from 23rd starting position to finish fourth. Bill Huff Rounded out the top five. Harry Marvin Jr., Tom McGurrin, Tom Hager, Brian Franko and Mike Nagel completed the top ten. Rick Virkitis, Rich Whitney, and Alan Rudalavage picked up Modified heat race wins.
The Late Model feature saw Montrose, Pa.'s Allen Coy pick up his fifth win of the season. The veteran pilot of the Snake Creek Marine/Cooley Stone sponsored #53 took advantage of four caution flags in the first four laps of the Late Model feature to advance from his seventh starting spot to challenge race leader Jim Sherman. A lap four restart would be the deciding moment as Coy bested Sherman on the restart to take over the top spot. Gene Sharpsteen also worked past Sherman for second and set off in pursuit of Coy. Sharpsteen was never able to close in on Coy as mechanical trouble developed on Sharpsteen's #7 causing him to begin to fall off the pace. On the final lap, Sharpsteen slowed dramatically which allowed Sherman to re-take second at the finish. Randall Paxton also got around Sharpsteen on the final lap for third with Sharpsteen crossing the line in fourth by a narrow margin over Joe Damiano. Positions six through ten went to Dave Zona, Dave Silvernail, Rick King, Jason Bedford, and George Leatso. Jim Sherman and Dave Zona won Late Model heats.
In Super Stock action, Jamie Shea became Penn Can's leading feature winner this season as he drove his PS Transportation/Lenox Propane/Lenox Dairy Bar #1J to victory in the 20 lap Super Stock feature. Outside polesetter Brett Spoor led the first nine laps of the event before Shea was able to take the top spot away exiting the fourth turn of lap nine. Once out front, Shea was not seriously challenged over the second half of the race. Behind Shea, a battle was raging for the second spot involving Paul Rooney, Brett Spoor, and Rick Holgate. The three battled right down to the finish with Rooney ultimately taking the second position, his best finish of the season to date. Spoor finished third with Holgate and Chris Piasecki completing the top five. Lou Sparks, Craig Trella, Dwayne Robbins, Dan Vauter, and Tracy Gregory completed the top ten. Brett Spoor and Chris Piasecki won Super Stock heat races.
Bob Chapman picked up his third feature win of the season in IMCA Modified action aboard his RC Chapman sponsored #6. Chapman grabbed the lead at the start and proceeded to lead every lap of the feature to pick up the win. This marked the second consecutive week that the IMCA Modifieds ran their feature without a caution flag. Previous week's feature winner Larry Robbins finished second with Joe Cole third. Charlie Gilbert and Rob Welsh completed the top five. Larry Robbins won the IMCA Modified heat race.
Harry Marvin III won his second Pure Stock event of the season as the Great Bend, Pa. teenager had to work hard for the victory. Marvin had to hold off the charges of current point leader Brett Spoor over the closing laps to earn the victory. Spoor pressured Marvin all the way, but could not find a way past. Marvin also received a major break when the trunk lid flew off his #8 car in the closing stages of the event, but the lid landed well out of the racing groove and no caution was thrown. Stone chased Marvin all the way before settling for a runner-up finish. Michael Lartz finished third with Nate Evans and Everett Cass rounding out the top five. Gregg Brunges, Ned Finch, newcomer Toby Sparks, Craig Decker, and Kurt Decker completed the top ten. Harry Marvin III and Michael Lartz topped Pure Stock heat racing action.
Only two more point shows remain on the Penn Can calendar, and it looks as if several of the point races are going to come down to the final night of the point season, the Penn Can Spectacular on Sept. 7th. While Brian Weaver in the Modifieds and Chad Stone in the Pure Stocks hold what appear to be secure margins, that is not the case in the other three divisions. Coming into Friday night, Allen Coy held a slim 12 point margin over Gene Sharpsteen. Things are even closer in the Super Stock ranks with Jamie Shea leading Chris Piasecki by seven markers with Brett Spoor and Dan Vauter all very much in the hunt at less than 30 points behind. The IMCA Modifieds are the closest of all as Larry Robbins held a slim one point lead over Kevin Cole and Bob Chapman going into this past Friday's racing action.
Racing continues this Friday night at 7:15 PM sharp with a five division racing card. The Modifieds, Late Models, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, and IMCA Modifieds will all be in competition. Penn Can Speedway is located on Pennsylvania Rte 171, seven miles East of Exit 230 (formerly Exit 68) off I-81. For more information regarding the Penn Can Speedway, contact the speedway office at (570)-585-9928. The race day track phone number is (570)-853-3434.
BARNES KASSON HOSPITAL NIGHT RACE SUMMARY: MODIFIEDS: 1. RICK VIRKITIS 2. Brian Weaver 3. Butch Tittle 4. Mike Colsten 5. Bill Huff 6. Harry Marvin Jr. 7. Tom McGurrin 8. Tom Hager 9. Brian Franko 10. Mike Nagel 11. Carl Nagel 12. Alan Rudalavage 13. John Gournsey 14. Mike Decker 15. Rick Whitney 16. George Kostelansky 17. Chris Piasecki 18. Mike Frost 19. Mike Frederick 20. Andy Tiffany 21. Chris Weaver 22. Chris Schupp 23. Bob Thomas 24. Brian Decker DNS: Jeff Bronson
LATE MODEL: 1. ALLEN COY 2. Jim Sherman 3. Randall Paxton 4. Gene Sharpsteen 5. Joe Damiano 6. Dave Zona 7. Dave Silvernail 8. Rich King 9. Jason Bedford 10. George Leatso 11. Jim O'Hara 12. Lou Sparks 13. Tim Paxton 14. Jason Carmen 15. Keith Mudge DNS: Jade Brewer, Jamie Griffiths
SUPER STOCKS: 1. JAMIE SHEA 2. Paul Rooney 3. Brett Spoor 4. Rick Holgate 5. Chris Piasecki 6. Ken Sparks 7. Craig Trella 8. Dwayne Robbins 9. Dan Vauter 10. Tracy Gregory 11. Randy Decker DNS: Dick Vauter, Rick Brown
IMCA MODIFIEDS: 1. BOB CHAPMAN 2. Larry Robbins 3. Kevin Cole 4. Charlie Gilbert 5. Rob Welsh 6. Billy House 7. Frank Bonham 8. Joe Cole
PURE STOCKS: 1. HARRY MARVIN III 2. Chad Stone 3. Michael Lartz 4. Nate Evans 5.Keith Wilkens 6. Everett Cass 7. Gregg Brunges 8. Ned Finch 9. Toby Sparks 10. Craig Decker 11. Kurt Decker 12. Danny Bagg 13. Brad Albrecht 14. Nate Shay 15. Mike Hoyte 16. Shane Wolff 17. Jim Ortiz 18. Jeff Cleveland DNS: Roger Salai