Stewart Friesen Does The Impossible, Wins Hot Summer Night From 25th Starting Spot; Tracy Gregory (Late Model) and Donnie Lawson (Crate Sportsman) Also Visit Penn Can Victory Lane
SUSQUEHANNA, PA - Stewart Friesen accomplished the impossible Tuesday night at Penn Can Speedway.
Added to the feature as a guaranteed starter from the July 14 Grandview (Pa.) Speedway event, Friesen romped from 25th starting spot to win the Don's Automotive Mall 'Hot Summer Night' 60-lap Race of Champions Dart Dirt Modified Tour event at the Susquehanna, Pa., oval. Friesen, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., led only the final lap, passing both race-long leader Alan Rudalavage and challenger Duane Howard on the outside to earn a $5,650 payday: $4,000 as the base winner's share, $1,000 for the Gambler's Challenge, $500 as the Super Summer Series co-champion and $150 as the feature's Hard Charger.
Friesen ended in a tie with Howard, of Oley, Pa., for the two-race Plant Food Company Inc.-Reading Plastic Fabricators-G&G Used Auto Parts Super Summer Series championship. Both drivers earned $500. The Super Summer Series was a co-promotion with track management team Al Wilcox and Reed Miller along with Brett Deyo.
"There were a bunch of jingles early on," Friesen said. "We were able to keep our nose clean and pick our way through. Whatever they did to this track since the last time we were here (June 8) was phenomenal. The track had bite, a good outside groove and was smooth all night."
Penn Can regular Rudalavage of Newton Lake, Pa., who led laps 1-59 from the pole starting spot, settled for runner-up pay. Grandview Speedway points leader Howard drove Chad Sinon's No. 4 from 21st starting spot to finish third, followed by sixth-starter Bobby Varin of Sharon Springs, N.Y., in Ken Saya's No. 10 and Penn Can racer Joey Grammes of Kunkletown, Pa., who started third in a car owned by his older brother Brad.
Brian Weaver of Windsor, N.Y., drove Randy Decker's No. 9R from 22nd to place sixth, followed by Ryan Godown of Ringoes, N.J., in Norm Hansell's No. 357 (up from 23rd), Jeff Strunk of Bechtelsville, Pa., who started 24th, Kevin Hartnett of Troy Pa., (recovering from an early flat) and Pat Ward of Genoa, N.Y.
Friesen struggled to qualify the Tadd Parks-owned No. 1 Teo-Pro car in his heat race due to a spark-plug wire issue and missed by one spot in a consolation, using the guaranteed starting spot to start the 60-lap main.
The race's rough-and-tumble nature allowed 16th-starter Danny Johnson, Howard and Friesen to move forward quickly. By a lap-17 fuel stop necessitated by the number of early yellow laps, Johnson sat third, behind Rudalavage and Varin. Howard was fifth with Friesen sixth.
Johnson, of Rochester, N.Y., drove Mike Payne's No. 27J into second on lap 32, but fell off the pace with mechanical issues on the 39th circuit to draw the caution. With 20 laps remaining, Rudalavage led Varin, Howard, Grammes and Friesen. On the restart, Friesen passed Grammes, igniting a four-car battle for the top spot.
When Varin's car pushed in the fourth turn on lap 55, Howard shot into second with Friesen following into third.
A caution on lap 57 set the tone for the spectacular finish. Howard, 47, drove to the inside of Rudalavage as the leaders raced under the stripe for lap 58. Meanwhile, Friesen was building momentum in the outside lane.
With the white flag flying from starter Gary Folk Jr., Rudalavage, Howard and Friesen raced virtually three-wide down the frontstretch. Friesen's high-line momentum carried him to the lead on the backstretch and he led Rudalavage to the stripe by less than a car-length for his first-ever win at Penn Can and 20th overall victory of the season.
"With three or two laps to go, I saw Alan (Rudalavage) was kind of slipping a little bit," Friesen said. "That gave Duane (Howard) the bottom. Those guys were so occupied with each other, I knew I could pick around them on the top. We ran up there earlier in the race. The top was good, but it was the long way around.
"We were able to get up there and surprise them. I'm glad it was 60 laps, not 59."
The victory moved Friesen to the top of the RoC point chart by 15 markers over Ward.
Heat winners for the 36 cars in attendance were Bobby Trapper, Mike Colsten, Mike Decker and Rudalavage. Howard and Weaver split the consolations.
Tracy Gregory of Dalton, Pa., emerged victorious from a three-car battle to win the Puzo's Collision 25-lap Late Model Challenge, worth $1,000. Gregory inherited the lead on lap 12 when Dan Stone, who led the first 11 laps in dominant fashion, was collected in a spin in traffic. Stone restarted from the rear and charged forward while Ben Whitaker applied pressure to Gregory.
On the final lap, Whitaker pulled even with Gregory. However, his car pushed in turn four on the final lap, allowing Gregory to win over Stone, who raced back to second, Whitaker, Steve Deinhardt and Danny Snyder trailed.
Past Woodhull (N.Y.) and Black Rock (N.Y.) champion Donnie Lawson won the Dirt Track Digest 25-lap Crate (602) Sportsman main event. Lawson won by a comfortable margin over an intense second-place battle. Mike Nagel Jr., a track regular, was second, followed by New Egypt (N.J.) runner Jim Housworth, Adam MacGeorge and Jeff Crambo.
HOT SUMMER NOTEBOOKS: The Super Summer Series for 2010 has concluded at Penn Can Speedway. Keep posted to www.bdmotorsportsmedia.com for future plans. The next BD Motorsports Media event is set for Oct. 8-9 at Five Mile Point (N.Y.) Speedway with the third edition of the Short Track SuperNationals presented by Dart Machinery....
Legendary Southern Tier racer and president of Don's Automotive Mall Don Beagell served as the grand marshall of the Modified event....
Friesen earned guaranteed starting positions for the Short Track SuperNationals and the Aug. 24 'Super Summer Sizzler' at New Egypt with his victory....
Two sets of Dart heads were drawn from American Racer Cup membership at the driver's meeting. Craig Mitchell and Brian Truppi were the recipients....
DON'S AUTOMOTIVE MALL PENN CAN AUG. 10 HOT SUMMER NIGHT RACE SUMMARY
Race of Champions Dart Dirt Modified Tour Feature Finish, 60 laps: STEWART FRIESEN ($5,650), Alan Rudalavage, Duane Howard, Bobby Varin, Joey Grammes, Brian Weaver, Ryan Godown, Jeff Strunk, Kevin Hartnett, Pat Ward, Darwin Greene, Garth Tonkin Jr., Mike Schane, Jim Mahaney, Kirk Horton, Mike Decker, Mike Gular, Kevin Bates, Danny Johnson, Bobby Trapper, Mike Colsten, Brett Tonkin, Grant Hilfiger, Danny Creeden, Joey Colsten, Rick Laubach, Gary Tomkins.
Did Not Qualify: Kevin Hirthler, Alex Tonkin, Kevin Albert Jr., Richard Smith, Billy Van Inwegen Jr., Danny Hieber, Jeremy Markle, Danny Tyler, Dan Pompey.
Lap Leaders: Alan Rudalavage (1-59), Stewart Friesen (60)
Heat Winners: Bobby Trapper, Mike Colsten, Mike Decker, Alan Rudalavage
Consolation Winners: Duane Howard, Brian Weaver
Awards Summary
Super Summer Series Co-Champions ($500 each): Stewart Friesen & Duane Howard
Dirt Modified Complete Outer Body Kit (S&D Bodyline): Kevin Albert Jr.
American Racer Tire (Trackside Products): Danny Hieber
American Racer Tire (Trackside Products): Mike Gular
10 Gallons VP Racing Fuel (Trackside Products): Brett Tonkin
10 Gallons VP Racing Fuel (Trackside Products): Jeremy Markle
TWO Passes - Accord Speedway King of the Catskills: Kirk Horton
TWO Passes - Five Mile Point Speedway Southern Tier 100: Danny Tyler
DMI $100 Product Certificates: Ryan Godown
DMI $75 Product Certificates: Bobby Varin
DMI $75 Product Certificates: Joey Grammes
Grandview Speedway Starter's Stand Hard Charger ($150): Stewart Friesen (25th to first)
Jim Young Race Photos 16- by 20-inch Hard Charger Poster: Stewart Friesen
Lap 41 In Memory of Jane Kennerup ($50): Alan Rudalavage
Gambler's Challenge ($1,000): Stewart Friesen
Short Track SuperNationals Five Mile Point Speedway Oct. 9 Spot: Stewart Friesen
Super Summer Sizzler New Egypt Speedway Aug. 24 Spot: Stewart Friesen
Puzo's Collision Late Model Challenge Feature Finish, 25 laps: TRACY GREGORY ($1,000), Dan Stone, Ben Whitaker, Steve Deinhardt, Dan Snyder, Chuck Schutz, Curt Tunillo Jr., John Ritter, Jim O'Hara, Randall Paxton, Kory Fleming, Danny Tyler, Jon Rohacevich.
Dirt Track Digest Crate (602) Sportsman Feature Finish, 25 laps: DONNIE LAWSON ($750), Mike Nagel Jr., Jim Housworth, Adam MacGeorge, Jeff Crambo, Kyle Rohner, Rich Green, Anthony Perrego, Alex Stanton, Ray Bliss Jr., Chris Stevens, Tommy Johnson, Bruce Evans Jr., Joey Decker III, Kyle Van Duser, Derrick McGrew.
Super Summer Series Point Standings (FINAL)
Position Car No. Driver June 8 Aug. 10 Total
1 4 Duane Howard 60 50 110
1 1 Stewart Friesen 50 60 110
3 145 Alan Rudalavage 40 55 95
4 5J Joey Grammes 44 46 90
5 357 Ryan Godown 46 42 88
6 10 Bobby Varin 32 48 80
7 42P Pat Ward 42 36 78
8 27J Danny Johnson 55 21 76
9 5-41 Jeff Strunk 28 40 68
10 15 Brett Tonkin 48 18 66
9R Brian Weaver 22 44 66
12 53 Mike Gular 34 23 57
13 00B Gary Tomkins 36 15 51
14 42B Kevin Bates 23 22 45
15 R1-20 Rick Laubach 24 15 39
16 44 Frank Cozze 38 0 38
30 Jim Mahaney 10 28 38
88 Kevin Hartnett 0 38 38
19 51 Mike Colsten 17 19 36
7K Kirk Horton 10 26 36
21 16x Danny Creeden 19 16 35
22 1 Darwin Greene 0 34 34
23 151 Joey Colsten 18 15 33
24 176 Garth Tonkin Jr. 0 32 32
25 11P Dan Pompey 21 10 31
26 20 Brett Hearn 30 0 30
69 Bobby Trapper 10 20 30
M16 Mike Schane 0 30 30
29 66 Jerry Higbie Jr. 26 0 26
30 22 Danny Tyler 15 10 25
31 9M Mike Decker 0 24 24
32 99L Larry Wight 20 0 20
79 Jeremy Markle 10 10 20
333 Kevin Albert Jr. 10 10 20
107 Danny Hieber 10 10 20
23B Billy Van Inwegen Jr. 10 10 20
37 78 Grant Hilfiger 0 17 17
38 406R Rich Ricci Jr. 16 0 16
39 91 Billy Decker 15 0 15
2G Jim Gabriel Jr. 15 0 15
22P Billy Pauch Sr. 15 0 15
2RJ Ronnie Johnson 15 0 15
43 13Z Dave Calaman 10 0 10
12D Dave Hinsch 10 0 10
9B Brian Decker 10 0 10
14 Stanley Wilkins 10 0 10
18 Michael Weinert 10 0 10
20R Nick Rochinski 10 0 10
117 Kevin Hirthler 0 10 10
117T Alex Tonkin 0 10 10
16R Richard Smith 0 10 10
