Tittle Opens Penn Can Title Defense With Opening Night Win
Defending track champion Butch Tittle took the first step in his
defense of the 2000 Modified championship at the Penn Can Speedway as he
picked up the opening night victory last Friday night. Jamie Griffiths
returned to racing after a work related accident left him unable to race
in 2000. His return was a successful one as Jamie picked up the Late
Model victory. Other opining night winners were Jamie Shea in the Street
Stocks, Chad Stone in the Pure Stocks, and Randy Hall in the IMCA
Modifieds.
Despite cool evening temperatures, plenty of race starved fans
turned out to check out the opening night action. They were not
disappointed as all classes featured some excellent racing and the entire
show was completed just before 11 PM.
The feature race line-ups were set by a blind draw among the top
heat race finishers. By luck of the draw, Jeff Bronson and Carl Nagel
paced the field to the green flag. At the drop of the green, Tittle was
on the move from his fourth starting position, wasting little time in
taking over the top spot. Once out front, Tittle was in charge of the
event as he would lead the rest of the way. Behind Tittle, the action
was hot and heavy for second spot. Brian Davis, wheeling the Kostelansky
#J17 and Brian Weaver in the Decker Logging #9R were locked in a wild
battle for the runner-up position. The two swapped the position back and
forth several times with plenty of contact between the two as they
battled for the runner-up spot. A couple of late caution flags bunched
the field but each time Tittle was able to move away from the torrid
battle for second. Tittle's Tri State Locating Service sponsored "Z" car
crossed the line for the win. Davis and Weaver made heavy contact
exiting the fourth turn with Weaver managing to just edge out Davis at
the line. Jeff Bronson and Bill Huff completed the top five. Finishing
in the second half of the top ten were Carl Nagel, Brian Franco, Chris
Schupp, Mike Decker, and Rick Whitney.
Modified heat race winners were Kirk Horton, George Kostelansky,
Brian Davis, and Harry Marvin Jr. Brian Franco was the consolation
winner.
The Late Model feature saw a storybook finish as a sentimental
favorite picked up the opening night victory. Jamie Griffiths was forced
to set out the 2000 season after being injured in a work related
accident. On Friday night, Jamie made his return to racing at Penn Can,
and it turned out to be a very successful return as Jamie picked up the
feature win. The race was marred by a hard backstretch crash which did
serious damage to the cars of Dave Passetti, Jim Sherman, and Randall
Paxton. During the resulting red flag, the leader at that time, Gene
Sharpsteen, retired from the event, turning the lead over to Griffiths.
Over the final laps of the race, Griffiths and former champion Al Coy
battled I heavy lapped traffic for the top spot. Griffiths was able to
hold off Coy over the final laps to score a popular and emotional win.
Coy finishes second trailed by rookie Joe Damiano, Al Whittaker, and Jim
O'Hara.
Gene Sharpsteen and Jamie Griffiths were Late Model heat race
winners.
Jamie Shea drove his Lenox Dairy Bar/Lenox Propane sponsored #J1 to
the opening night victory in the Super Stock(formerly known as Street
Stock) class. Shea started fifth and wasted little time in making his
way to the front of the filed, grabbing the top spot from polesetter and
early leader Chris Piasecki jut before the halfway point. Once out
front, Shea was able to open up an advantage and drove uncontested to the
opening night win. Piasecki finished second ahead of Gary Roberts, Dan
Vauter, and Tracy Gregory.
Super Stock heat winners were Brett Spoor and Dan Vauter.
The opening night win in the IMCA Modified class went to Randy Hall.
Hall found the extreme outside groove around the Penn Can oval to his
liking, utilizing that groove to advance from his seventh starting
position to take the win. Hall and Mike Smith spent most of the middle
stages of the event battling for the top spot with Hall picking up the
win. One mistake by Smith would cost him two positions as Mike got too
high exiting the second corner and lost that spot to Steve Harman, who
finished second. Bob Chapman also slipped by for third with Smith coming
home fourth. Frank Bonham completed the top five.
Qualifying events for the IMCA Modifieds were won by Hall and
Hartman.
Chad stone came home the winner of the opening night Pure Stock
feature. Chad advanced from his sixth starting position to pick up the
win. He was challenged over the closing laps by Jim Ortiz, but Stone was
too strong and Ortiz settled for second in a close finish. Nate Evans,
Bob Warner, and Bob Tyriw completed the top five. Heat races were won by
Chad Stone and Scott George.
Racing continues this Friday night at Penn Can starting at 7:15 PM.
All five regular divisions will be in action with the Modifieds, IMCA
Modifieds, Late Models, Super Stocks, and Pro Stocks will all be in
action.
PENN CAN SPEEDWAY OPENING NIGHT RACE SUMMARY:
MODIFIEDS: 1. BUTCH TITTLE 2. Brian Weaver 3. Brian Davis 4. Jeff Bronson
5. Billy Huff 6. Carl Nagel 7. Brian Franco 8. Chris Schupp 9. Mike
Decker 10. Rick Whitney 11. Mike Frederick 12. Mike Nagel 13. Harry
Marvin Jr. 14. George Kostelansky 15. Garth Tonkin 16. John Gurnsey 17.
Kirk Horton 18. Rich Keehle 19. Tom McGurrin 20. Mike Colsten 21. Alan
Kellogg 22. Rick Virkitis 23. Alan Rudalavage 24. Alan Shiffler 25. Bob
Hamm
IMCA MODIFIEDS: 1. RICH Hall 2. Steve Hartman 3. Bob Chapman 4. Mike
Smith 5. Frank Bonham 6. Gil Sharpsteen 7. Charlie Gilbert 8. Jason
Moncosky 9. Kevin Cole 10. John Conway
LATE MODELS: 1. JAMIE GRIFFITH 2. Alan Coy 3. Joe Damiano 4. Al Whitaker
5. Jim O'Hara 6. Keith Mudge 7. Dave Silvernail 8. Jade Brewer 9. Rich
King 10. Jason Carren
SUPER STOCKS: 1. JAMIE SHEA 2. Chris Piasecki 3. Gary Roberts 4. Dan
Vauter 5. Tracy Gregory 6. Pete Gullick 7. Craig Trella 8. Brett Spoor 9.
Dwayne Robbins 10. Chris Hunsinger
PURE STOCKS: 1. CHAD STONE 2. Jim Ortiz 3. Nate Evans 4. Bob Warner 5.
Bob Tyriw 6. D. Bagg 7. Gene Welch 8. Keith Wilkins 9. Harry Marvin III
10. Scott George