DECKER WINS "HOT SUMMER NIGHTS" AT PENN-CAN
Susquehanna, Pa....Billy Decker Made it look easy as he led wire
to wire
in his brother Randy's potent 9R machine to grab off the win in Penn
Can's
annual "Hot Summer Nights" modified special last Tuesday night. This,
along
with a very competitive Sportsman feature and a repeat winner in the
twelve
lap Late Model event had the fans on the edge of their seats for most of
the evening.
Decker, who started on the pole as a result of a redraw between
the top
three heat finishers, and his dancing partner George Kostelansky held
those
two spots for the better part of the early portion of the race. Mike
Colsten moved into the mix as he got pass third place runner John
Guernsey
on lap fourteen.
Seven laps later Colsten made his move on Kostelansky and
captured second
and it became evident that Colsten might be the only driver in the field
to
have anything for the "Franklin Flyer". A yellow one lap prior to the
half
way point for a third tangle between Rick Virkitis and Jim Witko Jr.
brought Colsten on Decker's high side for the restart as the crowd
buzzed
with anticipation.
The anticipation was dulled however as soon as the green flag
was dropped,
however as Decker had a five car length advantage as the field exited
turn
two and now it seemed a forgone that unless Decker broke nobody was
going
to get close. He didn't break and nobody got else got close except on
the
last two remaining restarts as Decker put it on cruise as his won for
the
first time at Penn Can in a number of years and for the second time this
season in his brother's car. The first being opening night at Thunder
Mountain back in April. Colsten gave chase but it proved futile and had
to
settle for strong runner-up spot. Butch Tittle got by Kostelansky late
in
the race to grab off third followed by Kostelansky in fourth and Jeff
Bronson in fifth. Sixth through tenth saw last Friday's winner, Kirk
Horton
in sixth followed by last year's track champion Brian Weaver in seventh,
two time Thunder Mountain winner George Hoffmier Jr. in eighth, Carl
Nagel
in ninth and another former track champion, Chuck Akulis in tenth. Front
runner Guernsey had a great top five finish go away when something broke
in
the rear on lap thirty-five. He wound up nineteenth.
The twenty-five Hot Summer Nights Sportsman feature saw plenty
of action,
four lead changes and some very difficult lapped traffic which in the
long
run caused one driver a shot at the win. Jerry Northrup, led the first
six
laps from his pole starting spot in the John Janus owner 39 before nine
time Sportsman winner Jim Crawn took over.
Crawn was setting a comfortable pace when Arnie Slade made his
move. Slade
who's ran well here in the past both in Street Stocks and Sportsman
racing,
made a couple of moves on Crawn and finally took over the lead on lap
sixteen. The two front runners along with the new player, Joey Grammes
all
dodged and weaved through the very heavy lapped traffic as Slade tried
desperately to hold to the lead.
As they came upon the duo of Scott Flammer and Dave Locke, Slade
got stuck
behind a not paying attention to the lap flag Locke and Grammes got his
nose under in turn three of lap twenty-two. In a jockey for position
Slade
got turned around but picked back up three spots from where he
originally
was as the yellow came out.
On the restart, a rejuvenated Crawn blew past Grammes and led
the final
three laps for his second consecutive Penn Can Sportsman win. Also on
the
restart Northrup, who'd been lurking in the wings also went by Grammes
but
couldn't get a shot at Crawn and had to settle for second. Grammes held
on
for third followed by Don Hart Jr. in fourth and the luckless Slade in
fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Tim French in sixth, Bryan Malcom
in
seventh, Tim Ross in eighth, Aaron Excell in ninth and Bill Walters in
tenth. The Sportsman cars make there third appearance at Penn Can in
September.
Alan Coy picked up win number two in the twelve lap Late Model
shoot-out
between ten of the top point cars at the track. Coy was never serious
challenged throughout the event Dan Stone finished second while Jamie
Griffiths took the third spot.
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS MODIFIED FINISH: Billy Decker, Mike Colsten,
Butch
Tittle, George Kostelansky, Jeff Bronson Kirk Horton, Brian Weaver,
George
Hoffmier Jr., Carl Nagel, Chuck Akulis, Mike Clapperton, Jeff
Rudalavage,
Jim Witko, Jerry Northrup, Garth Tonkin, Dom Roselli, Bill Reese, Alan
Kellogg, John Guernsey, Mike Nagel, Rick Virkitis, Bill Tittle, Mitch
Gibbs, Gary Smith, Glen Knapp, Jim Gabriel Jr.
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS SPORTSMAN FINISH: Jim Crawn, Jerry Northrup,
Joey
Grammes, Don Hart Jr., Arnie Slade, Tim French, Bryan Malcom, Tim Ross,
Aaron Excell, Bill Walters, Kevin Timinski, Dave Van Buren, Scott
Flammer,
Jerry Winn, Dave Locke, Brian Ace, Dave Cobb, Don Hendershot, Jim
O'hara,
Cooter Ovens, John Patchoski, Bobby Lane, Ed White.
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS LATE MODEL SHOOT-OUT: Alan Coy, Dan Stone,
Jamie
Griffiths, Dave Passetti, Larry Dilello, Jason Bedford, Brad Schafer,
Jim
O'hara, Warren Stone