7/9/2005
MUDRA WINS SUPER STOCK MID SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP;
FIDANZA, CARBONE, HOLMES, MUTKA, & WOLLABER ALSO VISIT VICTORY LANE
It was Mid Season Championship night for the Probity Construction Super Stocks at Lancaster Raceway Park last Saturday. In addition there was a full card of action packed stock car racing with the Advance Auto Parts Modifieds, Bobcat of Buffalo Late Models, Signworks SST Sportsman, Glen Campbell Chevy Street Stocks, and TQ Midgets in attendance.
The night’s action kicked off with the TQ Midgets with 15 cars taking to the Lancaster inner oval. The TQ’s were the golden children of the night as their twenty lap main event was exciting and caution free. 2004 Champion #1 Dave Wollaber, who started tenth on the night marched through the field to claim the win. His winning move was made on lap thirteen and after a brief scare in lap traffic on lap seventeen, he scored a convincing win. The win increases his point lead as he looks to repeat as the TQ Champion. #34 Chris Bandelian, who was celebrating his birthday, led the majority of the race, but could not hold on for the win. He would wind up finishing second, holding off the hard charging #2 Vinny Christiano Jr. and #9 DJ Sossong.
Next up would be the Glen Campbell Chevy Street Stocks with 29 cars taking to the track for the feature. The race was full of the usual three and four wide racing that the Lancaster Street Stocks are known for, with #23 Scott Mutka starting from the pole and staying in the lead for the entire race, capturing his first career Street Stock Feature Win. Positions two through ten were hotly contested all night, with #40 Gary Light, # 21 Jim Stein, #46 Joe Mergl, #78 Rick Widmer, current points leader #37 Frank Batista Jr., #6X Jeff Madill, #52 Dave Johnson, #42 Kyle Volk, and #8 Tom Agen capturing the final top ten finishes after swapping running positions back and forth all night.
The Signworks SST Sportsman were ready to race next. #31 Ed Grimmer was nearly the star of the show as he led nineteen laps before being passed by the dominant “Lazy 8” of Bobby Holmes. Four yellows flew and a complete restart was necessary but it was an entertaining race as nineteen cars competed for the Signworks Sportsman glory. The race had tense racing throughout and was highlighted by the fact that four of the top five drivers came from tenth or worse to finish in the top five, including Bobby Holmes in his Lazy 8 coming from last place to win after his crew changed engines after blowing their primary motor in practice.
The Probity Construction Super Stocks were up next on the agenda and were ready to race for their Mid Season Championship. All of the Super Stock drivers were brought down on the frontstretch and introduced to the packed Saturday Night crowd. After they were strapped in and ready to roll, it would be #07 Mark Hoch leading the field to green, followed by #74 Ed Collver, #34 Paul Alberti, #59 Mike Scott, and #16 Jay Mudra. The race saw the lead swap back and forth between Hoch and Collver for the first three laps, until Hoch took command of the position on lap 4. Collver would get hung out on the outside groove and would drift back in the pack. Further back in the field Mudra would be making his way to the front of the pack, patiently waiting for his chance to pass the cars in front of him. The #16 would make his way past Collver, Scott, and Alberti by taking advantage of the bottom groove. Mudra was in the second position by lap 15 and on the restart after a caution flag passed Hoch on the bottom and take the lead. The #16 would remain out front for the remainder of the 20 lap race with Hoch, Scott, #57 Doug Evans (who had started eighth), and Alberti rounding out the top five finishers. The win would be Mudra’s second of the season, second in just a week and a half, and would raise him up one spot in the championship points standings, from third to second. Just six points separate the top three in the Super Stock standings with Doug Evans in first, Jay Mudra in second, and #23 Wayne Bernhard in third. The rest of the season promises to be just as exciting as the first half with such a tight points battling brewing.
The Bobcat of Buffalo Late Models were in the lineup chute next. Starting on the inside poll of the Late Model feature would be #81 Craig Orr with #54 Tommy Reese to his outside. At the drop of the green flag Orr and Reese would remain side by side which would lead to disaster when in turn 4 when Orr, Reese and #25 Brandon Metz all collided. Orr and Reese saw the worst of the damage as their cars were all but destroyed. Metz was able to pull away but had problems all night. All of the drivers were ok, but Orr’s and especially Reese’s car suffered massive damage. A complete restart was in order and on the restart, #31 Joe Carbone jumped out to the lead followed by #99 TJ Johnson, who was battling with #2 Ron Nurmi for second. Nurmi would eventually take the second position from Johnson although he could never reign in leader Carbone. Carbone would lead from restart to finish to capture his first win of the 2005 season.
The final feature of the night would be the Advance Auto Parts Modifieds. The “Mighty Mods” had 15 cars signed in for their feature and would put on an exciting show as always. Leading the field to the green for the feature would be #1 Ron Williams and #5 Dave Wollaber. #81 Bill Mislin, #77 Sege Fidanza, and #93 Tim Mangus would round out the top five starters. After a crazy jumble of a start it would be Williams to the lead followed by Mislin, Mangus, and Wollaber. The running positions would fluctuate all night with the top five runners seemingly changing every lap for the first half of the race. Lap nine saw the first leader change of the night as Mangus, who had been hunting high and low for a way around the #1 car, finally took the lead. Fidanza and McGrath would follow the #93’s path as they claimed the second and third positions respectively. Mangus wouldn’t be in the lead for long as Fidanza was charging hard to the front, going to the outside of Mangus and taking the lead on lap 11. “Superman” Sege Fidanza would remain in the lead for the rest of the feature while Manus and McGrath would finish in second and third. Fidanza took home his third win of the season. His win tightened up the Modified points standings as just seven point separate the top three – Mangus, McGrath, and Fidanza. Congratulations to the Sege and his wife Jennifer, who recently welcomed their new baby daughter into their family.
Up next for Lancaster Raceway Park is one of the fan favorites. On Saturday, July 16th Glen Campbell Chevy presents “Robosaurus” and the Street Stock Mid Season Championship. The Advance Auto Parts Modifieds will have the night off. Robosaurus – the fire breathing, car crunching, dinosaur transformer – will delight fans of all ages. For more information contact Lancaster Raceway Park at (716) 759-6818 or visit their website at www.lancasterracing.com.
LANCASTER RACEWAY PARK RESULTS
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIEDS
Heat Winners – Bill Mislin, Tim Mangus
Feature –
1. (4) SEGE FIDANZA #77
2. (5) Tim Mangus #93
3. (6) Tom McGrath #12
4. (2) Dave Wollaber #5
5. (7) Karl Hehr #59
6. (1) Ron Williams #1
7. (3) Bill Mislin #81
8. (11) Lee Sherwood #95
9. (13) Billy Putney #88
10. (8) Bobby Holmes #22
11. (10) Kenny Troyer #66
12. (12) Sean O'Neill #7
13. (16) Kevin Lewis #27
14. (14) Mark Tychoniewicz #01
15. (9) Brett Scherrer #80
16. (15) Eddie Murray #37
DNS: Bill Torrisi #7NY
BOBCAT OF BUFFALO LATE MODELS
Heat Winners – T.J. Johnson, Joe Carbone
Feature –
1. (3) JOE CARBONE #31
2. (7) Ron Nurmi #2
3. (5) T.J. Johnson #99tj
4. (6) George Skora, III #65
5. (8) Mike Ticco #65sr
6. (10) John Julicher #09
7. (13) Scott Skora #56
8. (9) Tim Windnagle #61
9. (4) Mark Pennell #18
10. (14) Brandon Metz #25
11. (11) Scott Nurmi #20
12. (12) Darryl McKay #22
13. (1) Craig Orr #81
14. (2) Tommy Reese #54
SIGNWORKS SST SPORTSMAN
Heat Winners – Frank Booker, Jr., Ed Grimmer
Feature –
1. (19) BOBBY HOLMES #8
2. (1) Ed Grimmer #31
3. (12) Bill Hebing #14
4. (11) John Barber #01
5. (10) Jeff Hamman #9x
6. (5) Jim Pierce #26
7. (8) Eddie Murray #37
8. (2) Don Wylie #97
9. (7) Mike Shields #3
10. (3) Frank Booker, Jr. #22
11. (15) Neal Dietz, Jr. #84
12. (16) Russ Gian #9
13. (4) Sherri Hogan #74
14. (13) Mike Mitchell #29
15. (9) Justin Shepker #60
16. (14) Ed Weber #4
17. (17) Dave Johnson #6
18. (18) Jack Grainy #57
19. (6) Jerry Gradl, Jr. #2
PROBITY CONSTRUCTION SUPER STOCKS
Heat Winners – Mark Hoch, Ed Collver
Feature –
1. (5) JAY MUDRA #16
2. (1) Mark Hoch #07
3. (4) Mike Scott #59
4. (8) Doug Evans #57
5. (3) Paul Alberti #34
6. (2) Ed Collver #74 <#49>
7. (7) A.J. Cole #7
8. (6) Wayne Bernhard #23
9. (9) Ed Lechner #8
10. (10) Tom Carney #25
11. (11) Chris Pennell #18
GLEN CAMPBELL CHEVROLET STREET STOCKS
Heat Winners: Scott Mutka, Rick Widmer, Frank Batista Jr.
Feature:
SCOTT MUTKA, Gary Light, Jim Stein, Joe Mergl, Rick Widmer, Frank Batista Jr., Jeff Madill, Dave Johnson, Kyle Volk, Tom Agen, Jim Offhaus, Bobby Hanel Jr., Pete Hackett, Russell Knutsen, Bob Blaszak, Wayne Lavis, John Shurmatz, Tim Garlock, Dennis Pieczynski, Jim Bryant, Andy Jankowiak, Tom DeVille, Paul Tessier, Joe Light, Mike Fedele, Shane Porter, Robert Dobuchi Jr., Mark Pew, Don DeVille
T.Q. MIDGETS
Heat Winners: Chris Bandelian, Vinny Christiano Jr.
Feature: DAVE WOLLABER, Chris Bandelian, Vinny Christiano Jr., DJ Sossong, AJ Hessler, James Michael Friesen, Eric Rudolph, Doug Gordon, Shawn Szejnar, Mel Raab, Mike Blair, Charlie DiRosa, Justin Mapes, Dan Lawrence, Jamie Collard
Source: Lori Overdorf/Lancaster Raceway Park PR
Posted: July 11, 2005