6-3-22

By Nathan Aldrich

An action packed Stafursky Paving Modified feature saw Dan Vauter collect his first win

of the season at Penn Can Speedway. Alan Rudalavage and Mike Nagel Sr darted under the

green flag with Rudalavage surging out to the early lead while Travis Brockner, Darwin Greene

Sr., and Brian Malcom went three wide off the jump for fourth. Greene got the spot while just

ahead of him Nick Petrilak rocketed past Nagel on the outside. Vauter was quickly moving

through the field however, moving from eight to fourth and past Brian Malcolm by lap 3.

Rudalavage had pulled out to a full straightaway lead by the time of a lap 5 caution for Art Bray

that regrouped the field.

Rudalavage elected for the outside on the restart and powered away from Greene down

the frontstretch. Vauter took his chance to move into third getting past Petrilak on the restart,

with teammate Brett Tonkin and Malcolm following to put Petrilak back to fifth. With seven laps

in the books Petrilak battled back on the outside getting past Malcolm and Tonkin as he ripped

the cushion all the way back to Hartnett but couldn’t recover third. A three wide battle for ninth

between Casey Plummer, Brian Franko and Dan Burman ended on lap ten when Greene spun

in turn four bringing out the yellow as Franko headed pitside. Rudalavage took the outside once

again with Vauter as his dancing partner for the second restart. While the lead duo ran nose to

tail Hartnett and Malcolm dueled for fourth. Petrilak joined the battle the next lap, scooting

around both to take the fourth spot with Alex Stanton following him past Hartnett. Petrilak’s

stellar run would come to a bit of a speed bump however when his car slowed out of turn four

and rolled down the frontstretch, bringing out the third yellow on lap fourteen.

Rudalavage got the jump from the high side on the restart but Vauter hung on into turns

one and two. As the pair came down the backstretch Vauter took the lead, crossing the line to

lead the halfway point as he and Rudalavage ran nose to tail. Hartnett would make contact with

Malcolm taking the third spot in a heated exchange between the pair before Petrilak came to

another stop, with a resulting lap 17 yellow. Vauter brought the field back to green as the single

file restart had Rudalavage second, Hartnett third, Malcolm fourth and Stanton rounding out the

top five. Rudalavage got to Vauter’s inside as the pair worked turn four but couldn’t get the pass

completed. The final caution would come on lap twenty as Travis Brockner got spun around in

turn one and Stanton’s car gave out a plume of smoke coming to a stop. Tonkin would take his

machine pitside under the yellow and return for the green.

With a ten lap shootout all that remained Rudalavage and Vauter would duel fiercely until

the end. Rudalavage worked the inside on lap 22 with Vauter hanging onto the spot as Hartnett

tried to get second away from Rudalavage on the inside. Alan’s line would hold, gaining

momentum on Vauter and completing a daring slide job as the pair exited turn four with three

laps to go. As the pair ran down the frontstretch Vauter wouldn’t let rudalavage get away,

looking to his inside as the pair made heavy contact on the backstretch. The final challenge for

Vauter would be clearing a lapped car that was working the bottom as he captured his first win

of the season with Rudalavage, Hartnett, Malcolm and Bud Phillips rounding out the top five.

The Stafursky team has been strong at Penn Can this season with both Vauter and

Tonkin having visited victory lane in five races contested. Vauter has been competing in the

teams’ backup car and visited victory lane in his primary car’s first race. Dan stated he knew he

had a great car from the initial start that would let him run any lane, so he was able to navigate

traffic easier. With a bent steering wheel early on in the event the cautions gave him time to regroup and reduce the gaps. With the car feeling great as soon as they rolled off the trailer he

and his crew decided not to make any changes throughout the night. Dan would like to thank his

Crew and Family, as well as sponsors: Cougar Auto, Stafursky Paving, Stafursky Auto, Bicknell

Race Products, FCR Racing, RLE, Virbitsky Masonry, Hartnett Lettering, and Billy the Kid

Engines and Gilchrist Trucking.

602 Crate Sportsman racing began with Ned Fitch and Matt Martino on the front row.

Martino grabbed the lead as Brian Malcolm and Mike Schane charged forward from their

handicap starting spots. Malcolm darted around the outside taking the fourth spot as Schane,

Fitch and Alex Konopka raced three wide for second. Schane would get the spot as Malcolm

quickly looked to the inside, taking the second spot for himself. On the second lap Malcolm

would take the lead, using the bottom to edge past Martino. Kolyn Schane would head pistside

as a Parker Overbaugh spin brought out the first yellow on lap 6. A big pileup ensued on the

restart as Fitch lost the left front tire and cars piled in. Ray Leonard and Michael Samony would

end up hooked bumper to bumper as the safety crews went to work under the red flag.

Malcolm worked the top side to pull away from Martino on the restart while Marty

Goodwin got inside Brad Weaver for fourth. Deeper in the field Travis Rooney fended off a

challenge from Ray Leonard for ninth as the leaders worked lap 12. Goodwin would put himself

third with a pass of Nagel, bringing Konopka along to move Nagel to the fifth spot. Konopka

would take third before lap 20 but ran out of time to catch Schane as Malcolm finished the race

with nearly a half track lead. The top 5 would be Malcolm, Schane, Konopka, Goodwin and

Weaver. Feature winner Brian Malcolm is getting a lot of seat time this season holding a top 5 in

modified points as well as leading the sportsman points. Working quickly from his eighth place

starting spot Brian’s car worked well on any lane and he knew the line right alongside the inside

wall worked well for him from his heat race. While lapping a lot of cars in the feature Malcolm

said it didn’t affect him much with the driver’s doing a good job of holding their lines. Brian would

like to thank his Daughter Magda, the Konopka Family, the Soloman Family for their travel

support, Sharkey’s Fuels, Konopka Excavating, Smokin Joes, NEP Telephone and Keystone

Electrical.

A & E Tire and Auto Center 600cc modifieds opened with a bang as John Dinniny and

Devan Sieben brought the field to green. Dininny took the opening lead as Ali Scutt, Nolan

Smith, Josh Towner and Sieben ended up four wide. Towner took second as Nick Kennedy

joined the frantic fray for third. Adam Mudge and Tyler Smith got together out of turn two

bringing out the first yellow on the second lap. Dininny elected for the inside putting Josh

Towner alongside. Dinniny initially pulled ahead but Towner and Nolan Smith came up quickly,

making it a 3 wide bout for the top spot. Towner moved into the lead as Smith moved into

second. Behind that group Scutt was door to door with Roger Lewis holding onto the fourth spot

with Kennedy moving back forward taking the sixth spot from Larry Furman. Towner began to

work traffic on lap 7 before contact between Jeff Baldwin and Sieben led to a frontstretch spin

and fire in Sieben’s car.

With safety crew work complete the field came back to green single file. Jordan Towner

and Kennedy would end up facing the wrong direction in turn 4 leading to another restart. Nolan

Smith would challenge Josh Towner on the restart but couldn’t get the pass done as Tyler Smith

moved past Lewis and Dininny to get himself to third. Josh Towner would collect the checkered

flag followed by Tyler Smith, Nolan Smith, Dinniny, and Nate Oropallo. Feature winner Josh Towner, who really enjoys Talladega Nights, picked up his second win at Penn Can this season.

The top side felt really good to the former factory stock driver though he had a scary moment

rapidly approaching lapped traffic. With the hectic start Josh knew the outside worked really well

for him and he found a hole on the top with space in the early going. Josh would like to thank his

crew for all of their efforts, his family, Tommy Groover, Nate Shay Racing, Wademan Auto,

Premier Landscaping and Diggin Setups.

With a bounty on driver Tim Vandermark the Gary’s U-Pull It 4 cylinders were brought to

green by Mike Ferris and Scott Beach. Ferris picked up the early lead as Shawn Mills used the

inside to take second from Beach. Lap 3 would see Rich Wagner’s new ride head pitside for

overheating issues after stopping in turn 2. Ferris would keep the lead on the outside after the

restart as Beach and Vandermark vyed for third. Beach used the outside to keep the spot until

Dakota Fuller slowed to bring out a lap 4 yellow. Ferris restarted on the inside for the restart with

Mills leading the way as Beach worked Ferris for second. Beach to the spot on the inside and by

lap 8 Ferris had headed pitside. Vandermark worked the inside of Dylan Schantz for third past

the halfway point but Schantz held on to the spot down the backstretch. With the leaders

catching lapped traffic on lap 10 both Mills and Beach were forced out of the bottom groove.

Beach made the top line work on lap 11 taking the lead and picking up the checkered flag with

Mills, Schantz, Vandermark and Rob Sterling completing the top 5.

Feature winner Scott Beach collected his first win at Penn Can. The bounty made no

difference for the young drivers who just enjoys racing. With Ferris breaking Beach moved into

the second spot and knew he had his chance with the lapped traffic not being in his line. He and

second place driver Shawn Mills are close and enjoy competing against each other. Scot would

like to thank Kevin Whitman, his large family, French’s Auto Parts, Don Snow Trucking, Tank’s

Automotive, Casey and Bobby Jeff, and Brian Salmini. He would like to tribute his win to Bobby

Thorne.

Factory Stock competitors were brought to green by Sheldon Whitman and Charlie

Gilbert. Whitman had the advantage on the jump as Jason Rhodesbegan battling to the inside

of Gilbert. On the second lap Rhodes got to Whitman’s inside and the pair went door to door. A

Whitman spin in turn 1 of lap 3 stacked the field up for a quick restart. Rhodes pulled ahead of

Gilbert picking the outside on the restart, as Whitman roared back passing Mike Welch for

fourth. Whitman would slow on the topside of turn 4 bringing on a lap 8 restart. Gilbert would pit

under caution putting Kevin MacDonald alongside Rhodes. Whitman would move back into

second on lap 12 before losing a right rear in the closing laps and heading back pit side.

Rhodes would take the win with MacDonald, Charlie Towner and Welch rounding out the field.

Feature winner Jason Rhodes couldn’t be reached for comment but is sponsored by Winsor

Acres, Rogue Studios, MR Graphics, Chris Ripley at Mcguire, Trackside Products, Leaf Birdsall

Lawncare, Holcomb and Son Firewood, JS Electric, Cardinal Lanes and the Double D’s.

The Penn Can Speedway will be back in action this Friday night with the always popular

Bike Night and a full show. With a slate of awesome action packed racing and a fast paced

show that has had fans home in time to catch the late show every week this season Penn Can

is the place to scratch your racing itch!

Stafursky Paving Modifieds

WINNER - 9 - DAN VAUTER

2.) 145-Alan Rudalavage 3.) 5-Kevin Hartnett 4.) 119-Brian Malcolm 5.) 23P-Bud Phillips 6.)

1-Darwin Greene Sr 7.) 27K- Brett Tonkin 8.) 17D-Mike Loney 9.) 73-Casey Plummer 10.)

57-Dan Burman 11.) 111J-Jamie Bedford 12.) 484-Travis Brockner 13.) 117-Alex Stanton 14.)

14-Stanley Wilkins 15.) 72-Nick Petrilak 16.) 52B-Brandon Fritsch 17.) 29-Cory Oltz 18.)

52-Brian Franko 19.) 14B-Art Bray 20.) 7M-Mike Nagel Sr DNS 17-George Kostelansky

602 Crate Sportsman

WINNER - 119 - BRIAN MALCOLM

2.) 197-Mike Schane 3.) 14K-Alex Konopka 4.) 55-Marty Goodwin 5.) 1A-Brad Weaver 6.)

M7-Mike Nagel Jr 7.) 54T-Travis Rooney 8.) 70J-Joe Novak 9.) 84-Mike Wilcha 10.) 32-Eddie

Kudrako 11.) 3R-Ray Leonard 12.) 23P-John Michael Phillips 13.) 12-Parker Overbaugh 14.)

226-Matt Martino 15.) 88S-Michael Samony 16.) 16-Ned Fitch 17.) 10K-Kolyn Schane 18.)

7R-Tommy Groover

A & E Tire and Auto Center 600cc Modifieds

WINNER - 9X - JOSH TOWNER

2.) 77X-Nolan Smith 3.) 80-Tyler Smith 4.) 12J-John Dinniny 5.) 30NN-Nate Oropallo 6.)

110-Roger Lewis 7.) 108-Ali Scutt 8.) 00-Jordan Towner 9.) 217-Larry Furman 10.) 17-Jeff

Baldwin 11.) 67-Tori Straway 12.) 1JR-Darwin Greene Jr 13.) N2-Nick Kennedy 14.) 354-Andy

Bolles 15.) 54T-Adam Mudge 16.) 167-Devan Sieben 17.) 999-Bill Johnson 18.) 176-Mollie

Mroz

Gary's U-Pull It 4 Cylinder

WINNER - 21 - SCOTT BEACH

2.) 71M-Shawn Mills 3.) 88-Dylan Schantz 4.) 107-Tim Vandermark 5.) 71RS-Rob Sterling 6.)

5-Josh Wilder 7.) 70-Chris Wesser 8.) 22-David Benson 9.) 17-Mike Ferris 10). G55-Dakota

Fuller 11.) 8W-Rich Wagner 12.) 77-Brian Salmini DNS 944-Jeremy Trunzo

Factory Stocks

WINNER - 57 - JASON RHODES 2.)27M-Kevin MacDonald 3.)5T Charlie Towner 4.)10-Kevin Welch 5.)4MK-Sheldon Whitman 6.)28-Charlie Gilbert