GEORGE HILDEBRANDT, JOHN LEIBY SPLIT TWIN 20 LAP EATURES AT LAKE MOC-A-TEK

(Lakeville, Pa.) 052702 - The Memorial Day Twin 20 lap features at Lake Moc-A-Tek saw a pair of first time winners as George Hildebrandt and John Leiby each picked up their first career Lake Moc-A-Tek victories in the Slug 'n Slam Construction sponsored Twin 20 lap features. Alex Konopka won his first Sportsman feature of the season while Nick Petrilak won his second Street Stock event. Gary Schoch won his second Pure Stock feature of the season with a last lap pass, while Terry Schaffer also pulled off a last lap pass to win his fourth 250cc Micro Sprint feature of the season. The first of the Slug 'n Slam Construction Twin 20's saw longtime racing veteran George Hildebrandt drive his Hildebrandt Trucking sponsored #18 to victory. George started the 20 lap event from the pole and grabbed the lead right off the start. The early stages of the race saw action interrupted several times for minor incident which kept the field bunched up behind George. As the laps wound down, however, it became apparent that nobody had anything for Hildebrandt as George blasted across the finish line to add a Lake Moc-A-Tek victory to his resume which includes feature wins as such legendary tracks as Flemington and Nazareth. Bill Reese survived a challenge from John Leiby to finish second while Leiby settled for third in the final rundown. Joey Grammes and Dom Roselli completed the top five finishing order. Scott Frack, Alan Kellogg, Phill Recchio, Ed Strada Jr. and Brian Malcolm completed the top ten.

Following the first feature, Hildebrandt drew the #1 pill meaning that the second feature would line up heads-up. Hildebrandt and Reese paced the filed down to Kerry Graham's green flag with Hildebrandt grabbing the lead at the outset. In contrast to the first feature, the first 19 laps of the nightcap were run off without the need for a caution flag. This meant that the leaders spent considerable time racing in lapped traffic, and lapped traffic would play a major role in determining the outcome of this feature. Hildebrandt was leading but got held up just slightly by the lapped traffic, which allowed John Leiby to make a bold move to take the top spot away from Hildebrandt. The only caution of the race came on the final lap when Alan Kellogg got turned around on the frontstretch which set up a one lap dash to the finish. Hildebrandt tried to make a move on Leiby, but John's Eastlake Party Rentals #10 was too strong and Lieby earned his first career Lake Moc-A-Tek feature win. Hildebrandt capped off a solid night with a second place run while Reese took third to also complete a strong night for him. Joey Grammes was fourth with Dom Roseeli fifth. Scott Frack earned his second sixth place finish of the night ahead of Ed Strada Jr., Troy Weisenfluh, Phil Recchio, and Brian Malcolm. The Sportsman feature also found a new face in victory lane as Alex Konopka powered his Fishers Fuels sponsored #14 to victory. Alex grabbed the lead from rookie sensation Kevin Bates on a lap one restart and led the rest of the way to pick up the win. Bates held off a race-long challenge from current point leader Joey Grammes to claim the runner-up position while Grammes, who was nursing a flat pony tire in the closing laps, wound up third. Tom Laner Jr. and Jimmy Winchell were fourth and fifth respectively. Ricky Rutt, Bill Papula, Larry Hendershot, Mike Loney, and Buddy Altemose completed the top ten. The Street Stock feature saw sixteen year old Nick Petrilak pick up his second win of the 2002 season. The Greenfield Township high school student dominated the feature event as he took the lead early on aboard his Northeast Ford sponsored entry.

Several caution flags slowed the pace of the race, but each time Nick was able to open up a comfortable advantage over the field. Adam Jones chased Petrilak all the way but settled for a strong runner-up finish. Joe Krisovich, Jimmy Redner, and David Luff made up the remainder of the top five. Finishing sixth through tenth were Greg Buchannon, Brian Petrilak, Tom Cilurso, Mark Morgan and Carl Heater. Gary Schoch won his second Pure Stock feature with a dramatic last lap pass to take the victory. Schoch made the winning move on the final turn of the final laps to take the victory away from Jim Balutis, who had led the entire distance up to that point. Schoch's daring inside move netted him the victory by a scant margin over Balutis at the finish line. Floyd Schmidt finished third ahead of former Street Stock champion Frank DelNero Jr., who made his first Lake Moc-A-Tek start in several seasons and came home with a fourth place finish. Franklin Bush was sixth trailed by Eric Schmidt, Keith Villano, newcomer Ray Gara, Jay Martin and Brian Payne. The 250cc Micro Sprint feature also saw some last lap heroics as Terry Schaffer successfully executed a pass of Greg Stevens exiting the fourth turn of the final lap.

Stevens and Schaffer put on a show as Terry worked all over Schaffer for several laps but Stevens managed to hold him off. The two encountered heavy lapped traffic on the final lap, which gave Schaffer the opening he needed as he went low while Stevens went high around a lapped car. This allowed Schaffer to make the pass and take the victory in the final 100 yards before the finish. Stevens's strong run ended with a second place finish while Eric Palmer, Ed Krupa, and Frank Venezia rounded out the top five. Ralph Utter Jr., Mike Rasley, Alan Shiffler, Richie Drake, and Darrell Cobb made up the remainder of the top ten. Racing continues this Saturday night at Lake Moc-A-Tek. The 358 Modifieds. Sportsman, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, and 250cc Micro Sprints all see action in a full slate of qualifying event leading up to five big features. On Saturday, June 15th the Central New York Mini Sprints invade Lake Moc-A-Tek for their first of two appearances during the 2002 season.

Racing gets underway promptly at 6 PM. The Lake Moc-A-Tek Speedway is located just off PA Rte 590 approximately seven mile East of Hamlin, Pa. To get to the speedway, take Exit 17 (Formerly Exit #5) off I-84 and go toward Hamlin. At the stoplight, (Hamlin Corners), turn right onto Pa. Rte 590 and travel approximately 7 miles. At the Lake Moc-A-Tek Speedway sign turn right and follow the signs which lead right into the speedway's parking lot. For further information regarding racing action at Lake Moc-A-Tek, contact the speedway office at (610)-863-0297. The race day weather hotline is (570)-226-5602.

SLUG 'N SLAM CONSTRUCTION NIGHT RACE SUMMARY: 358 MODIFIED #1: 1. GEORGE HILDEBRANDT 2. Bill Reese 3. John Leiby 4. Joey Grammes 5. Dom Roselli 6. Scott Frack 7. Alan Kellogg 8. Phil Recchio 9. Ed Strada Jr. 10. Brian Malcolm 11. Troy Weisenfluh 12. Bill Grammes 13. Tom Oleski 14. Nick Barassi 15. Brian Cobb 16. Everett Haubrich 17. Joe Uliana 18. Jason Rudalavage 19. Barry White 20. Ralph Henneforth 21. Josh Beierle 22. Gary Griffin 358 MODIFIED #2: 1. JOHN LEOIBY 2. George Hildebrandt 2. Bill Reese 4. Joey Grammes 5. Dom Roselli 6. Scott Frack 7. Ed Strada Jr. 8. Troy Weisenfluh 9. Phil Recchio 10. Brian Mlcolm 11. Bill Grammes 12. Tom Oleski 13. Everett Haubrich 14. Brian Cobb 15. Josh Beierle 16. Joe Uliana 17. Jim Corcoran 18. Nick Barassi 19. Alan Kellogg 20. Barry White 21. Gary Griffin 22. Ralph Henneforth SPORTSMAN: 1. ALEX KONOPKA 2. Kevin Bates 3. Joey Grammes 4. Tom Laner Jr. 5. Jim Winchell 6. Ricky Rutt 7. Bill Papula 8. Larry Hendershot 9. Mike Loney 10. Buddy Altemose 11. Brian Ace 12. Bill Reese 13. Butch Getz 14. Bill Moyer 15. Mike VanTassel 16. Tom Gervasi 17. Matt Kaminskis 18. Steve Kyzer 19. Troy Moyer 20. Rocky Rosetti 21. Jeff Geake STREET STOCK: 1. NICK PETRILAK 2. Adam Jones 3. Joe Krisovich 4. Jim Redner 5. David Luff 6. Greg Buchannon 7. Brian Petrilak 8. Tom Cilurso 9. Mark Morgan 10. Carl Heater 11. Neil DiBlasi 12. Jim Hughes 13. Ed Kudrako 14. Eric Moon 15. Pat Duffin 16. Jerry VanTassel 17. Gary Surch 18. Bill Price Jr. 19. Grant Hilfiger 20. Gene Beadle 21. Tony Ferri PURE STOCK: 1. GARY SCHOCH 2. Jim Balutis 3. Floyd Schmidt 4. Frank DelNero 5. Frank Bush 6. Eric Schmidt 7. Keith Villano 18. Ray Gara 9. Jay Martin 10. Matt Payne 11. Mike Spinks 12. Jon Walsh 13. Jeff Simko 14. Ted Mills Jr. 250CC MICRO SPRINT: 1. TERRY SCHAFFER 2. Greg Stevens 3. Eric Palmer 4. Ed Krupa 5. Frank Venezia 6. Ralph Utter Jr. 7. Mike Rasley 8. Alan Shiffler 9. Rachie Drake 10. Brian Cobb 11. George Kinney 12. Car 616 13. Michelle Conway 14. Rich McKay 15. Amanda Weiss 16. Geoff Quackenbush 16. Nolan Mosier 17. Stephanie Stevens 18. Kevin Nolf 19. Davie Franek