AKULIS SCORES IMPRESSIVE WIN AT PENN CAN SPEEDWAY

Susquehanna, PA...Chuck Akulis of Windsor, New York and recent

inductee into the DIRT Motorsports Hall Of Fame scored an impressive win

in the thirty lap Modified headliner last Friday night at the Penn Can

Speedway. Akulis, who came from the fourteenth starting spot to take

over the top spot from Jeff Bronson on a lap thirteen restart, out

dueled his team mate and last week's winner Jeff Rudalavage for the two

car length win.

The first leader of the event was pole sitter Garth Tonkin but

his place at the head of the field was quickly taken by former Street

Stock and multi-time feature winner here at Penn Can, Randy Decker who

took over on lap three. The first of many caution periods came when

Tonkin got a little sideways in turn three in front of a pack of cars.

In the ensuing melee both Mike Nagel, who had an outstanding run last

week,

and Mike Fredrick both went to the pits with major front end damage.

On the restart, Bronson flexed his muscle and put his Chrysler

powered mount ahead of Decker for the top spot. Meanwhile Akulis had

moved into the show position by lap eight quickly followed by

Rudalavage. Jim Witko Jr. and Billy Huff caused the next yellow as they

came together in turn two on lap nine. The restart proved beneficial to

Akulis and Rudalavage who moved into second and third respectively. Two

more yellows flew before Akulis

took over the top spot after dogging Bronson for a couple of laps.

Rudalavage was Akulis' shadow as the pair spent the rest of the event

outdistancing themselves from the rest of the field.

Only once more did the yellow come out when veteran George

Kostelansky had

something break in turn four and he coasted to a stop with the whole

rear end of the car sitting down on the tires on lap twenty. Over the

last ten laps Rudalavage hounded Akulis but the thirty-nine year veteran

was equal to the task and beat his stable mate by two car lengths when

the checkers flew. Bronson took a strong third while the Tittle

brothers, Bill in fourth

and Butch in a come from the back twice effort completed the top five.

Sixth through tenth went to Carl Nagel, Decker, Witko Jr., Glen Knapp

and Kelleher.

The twenty lap Late Model feature was all Curt Tunilo. After

having his problems last week, Tunilo showed the field his back bumper

as he took the lead from pole sitter Jamie Griffiths on the second lap

and never look back allowing the field to catch up only on restarts. The

real battle of the event was behind Tunilo as Griffiths had his hands

full with multi-time Late Model champ Warren Stone, Rick Holgate, Keith

Stone and Dan Stone as they all diced for positions two through six.

Warren Stone was all over Griffiths during the mid part of the

race but Griffiths was equal to the task and actually pulled away from

the tight running pack to make a challenge at Tunilo late in the race.

Griffiths actually got to Tunilo's rear deck but in the end had to

settle for a

strong runner-up showing. Warren Stone held on for third while Holgate

and Keith Stone completed the top five.

The twenty lap Street Stock feature saw the only repeat winner

from opening night as Frank Bonham charged through the pack from his

supposedly unlucky thirteenth starting spot to claim the victory. Former

Pure Stock champion Chuck Boman was the race's early pace setter

followed closely by a strong running Mike Buchek. Bonham cleared the mid

pack traffic to move into third by lap six. A sixth lap yellow proved to

be a boon for Bonham as he snuck by Buchek for the runner-up spot with

Boman still heading the pack.

Bonham finally asserted himself on lap fourteen when he went by

Boman coming down the front stretch to score the lap as the leader of

the race. A dramatic turn of events late in the race saw third place

runner Jamie Shea get tangled up with two cars who had spun out. Shea's

car was significantly damaged that he had to retire. While waiting for

the restart to take place Boman's right rear tire went flat and he too

had to take it to the pits leaving pole sitter Paul Rooney back up into

second. Last year's Pure Stock champ Mike Decker, who also had to pit

because of a flat tire early in the race came back to get Rooney on the

white flag lap but by then Bonham had opened up a comfortable distance

and coasted home with the win. Decker grabbed of a second for his best

finish as a Street Stock followed by

Rooney for third while Dick Vauter and Buddy Piccolini completed the top

five finishers.

The fifteen lap Pure Stock saw third year driver Adam Diaz best

the field. Once again Bill Karp had the measure of the field but once

again lady luck played a role as Karp had his machine quit on him on lap

six handing the race to Diaz who had started on the pole and was running

second. Wayne Merritt gave chase to Diaz but fell short and had to

settle for second.

Newcomer Scott Chapman ran a strong third while the Cole cousins, Joe

and Kevin rounded out the top five.

The Dwarf Cars were also on hand for their first of many

appearances and the ageless veteran Gordie Isham put on a clinic as he

easily outdistanced youngsters Alan Barker and Dennis Copp for the win.

CAN COMMENTS: Akulis' win was his first at Penn Can since the

mid point of last year. He and Bonham both came from the seventh row to

claim their respective wins. Mother Nature was again present with a

little spritzing but it didn't affect the track. The Pine Line/Parts

Plus cars of Akulis and Rudalavage looking awfully strong during the

early going of 1998. The Street Stock of Chris Hunsinger gets my vote as

the best appearing in that

class. Where is the other Randy Decker. The threatning weather kept the

number of Dwarf Cars down. For Five Mile Point flagger Joe Cole it was

his first top five as a driver. Two first time winners in the first two

weeks in the Pure Stocks as the field continues to grow.

Is there any class of local racing that Gordie Isham hasn't driven in

and will his next Dwarf Car number be #318 after his first Modified

number back in the early sixties. Next week it will be B. K. Norris

Distributors night with the a 7:30 start.

MODIFIED FINISH: Chuck Akulis, Jeff Rudalavage, Jeff Bronson,

Bill Tittle,

Butch Tittle, Carl Nagel, Randy Decker, Jim Witko Jr., Glen Knapp, Larry

Kelleher, Alan Rudalavage, John Siedlecky, Rick Virkitis, Mike Colsten,

Al

Jubinski, Frank Yankowski, Dan Stone, Bob Hamm Jr., Jason Rudalavage,

Billy

Huff, Craig Jackson, George Kostelansky, Garth Tonkin, Mike Frederick,

Rusty

Harrington, Mike Nagel.

LATE MODEL FINISH: Curt Tunilo, Jamie Griffith, Warren Stone,

Rick

Holgate, Keith Stone, Dan Stone, Marty Bunker, Larry Dilello, Alan Coy,

Jim

O'Hara, Gene Sharpsteen, Jason Bedford, George Leatso, Brad Shaffer,

Dave

Zona, Dave Passetti.

STREET STOCK FINISH: Frank Bonham, Mike Decker, Paul Rooney,

Dick Vauter,

Buddy Piccolini, Sean Collins, Joe Damiano, Mike Buchek, Mike Loney,

Brian

Taylor, Ken Winn, Paul Gulick, Dan Podwika, Ken Sparks Jr., John Greene,

Glenn Wilcox, Chuck Boman, Jamie Shea, Craig Terrell, Chris Hunsinger,

Tony Nalachi, Paul Fyfe.

PURE STOCK FINISH: Adam Diaz, Wayne Merritt, Scott Chapman, Joe

Cole,

Kevin Cole, Dwayne Robbins, Randy Testa, Rich Keehle, Bill Karp, Ed

Finch.

DWARF CAR FINISH: Gordie Isham, Alan Barker, Dennis Copp, Scott

Tourje,

Chad Cook, Brian Terrell, Mark Cook.