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(Lehighton 3-2-23) The 2023 season at Lehighton’s Mahoning Valley Speedway starts in just a month’s time, on Saturday, April 8, and will be highlighted by the Race of Champions (RoC) Modified Series in a 75-lap main event feature. Race time is 3:00 pm.
As with Mahoning Valley this will also be the season opening race for the RoC as well. It will also be a great tune-up for the Tour regulars in advance of the 72nd Annual Lucas Oil Race of Champions 250 set to take place April 22 at Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pa.
This race was postponed from September of last year due to weather issues and rescheduled for the 22nd of April. This means with the Mahoning date up first fans can a good glimpse of who will win the most coveted prize in all of asphalt Modified racing as the RoC regulars square off against the Mahoning Valley standouts.
The Lucas Oil Race of Champions 250 is the second longest consecutive auto-racing event in North America, second only to the Indianapolis 500.
And, if past RoC/Mahoning races are any indication it will have all the makings of highly competitive show.
Mike Leaty of Williamson, NY is the defending RoC Tour champion. Andy Jankowiak of Tonawanda, NY was the winner of the 71st Race of Champions 250. Northampton’s Matt Hirschman of Northampton – who owns 33 career wins at Mahoning – has won a record eight RoC 250s including six in a row from 2015 to 2020.
Kyle Strohl of Palmerton is the reigning Mahoning Modified champion. In 2016, then only 16 years old, Strohl became the youngest winner of a RoC event when he scored a very impressive and decisive victory at Mahoning in the 150-lap season finale.
Joining in on the night’s action will be the Street Stocks, Dirt Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Pro 4s and Futures plus the JuiceBox Division for the kids. The Dirt Modifieds are back as regular class at Mahoning for the first time since 2019.
The following week, Saturday, April 15 will see the 602 Crate Modifieds, Late Models, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Futures in action plus the Slingshots and East Coast TQ Midgets. Racing starts at 5:00 pm.
Leading up the April 8 lid-lifter will be four Test and Tunes days slated for March 18 & 25 and April 1 & 2. Test and Tune is open to any racecar will a roll cage and the proper safety equipment. The sessions will run from noon to 4:00 pm each day. It will be $25 per car and $10 per person entering the pits. Grandstands are free for those days.
The speedway highly recommends that teams attend the Test and Tune days to have their cars inspected for the forthcoming season.
Mahoning Valley Speedway will conduct a set of Spring Clean-up Days on March 4/5, and 11/12.
The RoC returns to Mahoning Valley on Saturday, May 6 with the FOAR Score Four Cylinder Dash Series. This will be part of weekend trip to Pennsylvania which will be at Evergreen Raceway on Sunday, May 7.
For more information on the RoC please contact Race of Champions Media at media@rocmodifiedseries.com and on Twitter; Instagram and Facebook; @RoCModSeries or visit their website: www.rocmodifiedseries.com
For additional news and updates on Mahoning Valley log onto the official website at www.mahoningvalley-speedway.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MahoningValleySpeedway
