RANDY DECKER BEATS BROTHER BILLY FOR PENN CAN SPEEDWAY WIN

Susquehanna, Pa...9/19/98...Randy Decker of Stevens Point, Pa., a long time Penn

Can competitor, out powered forty-one other Modifieds to capture his

first ever Modified last Friday night at Penn Can Speedway in the 55 lap

$4,000 to win the Pennzoil/Frito Lay sponsored Victoria Qualifier for

Modifieds on Fall Foliage Finale night.. Decker took the lead on a

strong inside move on Jeff Rudalavage on lap thirty five and survived a

late race caution to get the win, holding off his brother Billy in the

process.

Twenty-five out of the forty-two survived the cuts to start the

fifty-five lap grind with one time feature winner Kirk Horton and former

Street Stock track champion Mike Clapperton in the front row. Horton

quickly jumped out to the advantage but the "Bugchaser" was chasing him

down. Billy Decker, a winner here in August, moved quickly from his

fourth starting spot to challenge Horton for the lead. Seventeen laps

were in the books before a yellow flew for a minor spin with Horton in

the lead and Decker in pursuit.

On the restart the Parts Plus machine of a strong Jeff

Rudalavage made his presence felt as he got by a Decker to take the

runner up position. On lap nineteen Rudalavage made his move and powered

by Horton on the backstretch to assume the position in front of the

pack. Horton stayed second until lap twenty-six when Randy Decker blew

by the other Decker and Horton for second. Once there he was all over

Rudalavage. His persistence and seemingly faster car was too much for

Rudalavage as Decker made his move on lap thirty five and took control

of the race.

Once in front Decker pulled away from the field as Billy Decker

tried to wrestle second from Rudalavage. The field remained in formation

until Billy Decker finally got Rudalavage for the runner-up spot with

three to go and set sail after brother Randy. With the short time

remaining the only thing that could hamper Randy's first ever Penn Can

win would be a caution which would put Billy right on Randy's back

bumper and lo and behold that happened on the fifty-third lap. When the

race resumed Randy was equal to the task and held off Billy for a three

car length win and a guaranteed spot in the richest Small Block Modified

in the Northeast, the Victoria 200 at Fulton on October 3rd. Billy

Decker was second, Rudalavage third, Butch Tittle fourth and Horton

fifth. Sixth through tenth went to Bill Tittle, Mike Colsten, Chuck

Akulis, George Kostelansky and Paul Jensen.

Arnie Slade, who's come close on a number of other occasions at

Penn Can to winning a feature both in the Street Stocks and Sportsmen

finally got off the monkey off his back last Friday night as he

dominated the twenty-four car, twenty-five lap $1,000 to win Sportsman

event sponsored by Pennzoil. The race itself got off to auspicious start

when coming off turn four on lap two leader Dave Rumsey got turned

around and another six cars got into the melee. When the race was

restarted Slade, who started sixth assumed the point with another former

winner "Fast" Eddie White right on his back bumper.

Lap after lap Slade increased his margin over White as a great

battle for third between Greg Kovaleski, Don Hart Jr. and Tony Ross was

going on.. Only three more yellows hindered the progress of the race and

each time Slade would pull away from White and White would pull away

from the above mentioned trio plus modified driver Mike Schane in the

"Cooter" Ovens machine joining the fray. In the end it was all Slade who

romped home by eight car lengths over White for the win. Kovaleski was

third, Hart was fourth and Ross was fifth. Sixth through tenth went to

Schane, Ron Ford in the Janus #39 for seventh, Ralph Mele, Rumsey, who'd

worked his way back from the early race accident to get back to ninth

and Wink Hinkley took home tenth. Two time Sportsman winner Jim Crawn

was involved in the first lap accident and sustained enough damage not

to return.

The Four Cylinder Modifieds were also in action and it was Scott

Allen getting the measure of the small field in the fifteen lapper. Greg

Martindale led the initial lap before Allen took over and led the rest

of the way. George Howe claimed his best ever finish with a second

followed by Bruce Detro in third, Martindale in fourth and Mike Payne in

fifth.

This race concluded the 1998 season at Penn Can Speedway. The

next order of business is the banquet scheduled for December 4rd at the

Montdale Country Club in Montdale, Pennsylvania. The 1999 opener is

scheduled for April 23rd. See You then.

PENNZOIL/FRITO-LAY/FALL FOLIAGE FINALE MODIFIED FINISH: Randy

Decker, Billy Decker, Jeff Rudalavage, Butch Tittle, Kirk Horton, Bill

Tittle, Mike Colsten, Chuck Akulis, George Kostelansky, Paul Jensen,

Dick Longstreet, Rusty Harrington, Garth Tonkin, Tony Pepicelli, Alan

Kellogg, Dominick Roselli, John Guernsey, Scott Seman, Brian Weaver,

Glen Knapp, Carl Nagel, Bobby Puckett, Gary Smith, Mike Clapperton, Dan

Hineline, .DNS: Carl Reynolds DNQ: Jeremy Smith, Jim Witko, Jeff

Bronson, John Siedlecky, Dan Stone, Jason Rudalavage, Alan Rudalavage,

Chris Shupp, Keith Hoffman, Bill Clark, Doug Worthing, Mike Nagel, Rich

Tiffany, Ed Hawley, Ron Mawson Jr., Roy Shields.

PENNZOIL/FRITO-LAY/FALL FOLIAGE FINALE SPORTSMAN FINISH: Arnie

Slade, Eddie White, Greg Kovaleski, Don Hart Jr., Tony Ross, Mike

Schane, Ron Ford, Ralph Mele, Dave Rumsey, Wink Hinkley, Kevin Timmins,

, Billy Walters, Robin Oltz, Ralph Cucci, Bobby Yeager Jr., Jim O'hara,

Pudge Frabel, Carl Thornton, Dennis Dietrich, Dave VanBuren, Jim Crawn,

Joey Grammes, George Hendershot.