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By DINO OBERTO
(Lehighton, PA 5-6-23) Zach Lenardo was in the right place at the right time when the talented upstart raced to his career first 602 Crate Modified win Saturday evening at Mahoning Valley Speedway.
Nick Bear was leading the race while Bobby Jones was close behind. However, as they were making their way around to complete lap 19, Jones made contact that sent Baer into a spin. Afterwards both drivers had to restart from the rear.
Lenardo, who had been in a close battle with Greyson Ahner, was now the leader and would make then make perfect laps to the finish en route to his unforgettable night. He made a sweep of the evening’s races by also winning his heat and is now the new point leader too.
A graduate of Quarter Midgets, this was only the eighth start for Lenardo in a Modified and prior to this his best finish had been a third coming last year during his rookie season.
Ahner can also boast a good night even though he finished second. On April 22 during the Evergreen Raceway/Mahoning Valley Speedway Dual Track Series race he had a hard hit into the wall that caused significant damage. After long hours to repair the car Ahner showed it was worth the effort as he raced in the top five from the outset and held on for a fine runner-up tally.
Brody George, James Blewett and Baer rounded out the top five.
Over the first two Street Stock events of the season Jon Moser was in contention each time only to have misfortune strike late in the going.
Nothing doing this time around as the four-time class champion took advantage of his pole staring spot and held off Jillian Snyder the entire 30 lap distance for a what was a well gratifying win and the 40th overall of his career.
With a record four Pro 4 titles including the past three in a row Cody Kohler has long been established as leader in the class. He can how add even more high mark stats to what has been nothing short of a very impressive career with the division
When Kohler picked up the win on Saturday it not only was his third straight, keeping him undefeated on the season, but more notably it was a class record 45th victory. And he can also add yet another record as dating back to last season he has collected six consecutive victories in a row.
Terry Peters followed Kohler across the finish line for second with Kadie Pursell third.
After winning the Harry’s U-Pull-It Hobby Stock championship in 2017, Michael Wambold had not raced much at all due to medical issues.
With a clean bill health now Wambold has returned to fold and showed he hasn’t lost his step. Despite his car being down slightly with a cylinder, Wambold showed it mattered not as he kept his No. 81 at the front for the whole race and held off hard chargers Jacob Boehm and Travis Solomon en route to his return to Victory Lane.
In the Futures main Gabrielle Steigerwalt won for the second straight time and just as before she annexed the win over her brother Adam Steigerwalt.
The night concluded with a Junk Car race and collecting the win was Kevin Behler.
602 Crate Modified Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. Zach Lenardo, 2. Greyson Ahner, 3. Brody George, 4. James Blewett, 5. Nick Baer, 6. Ryan Fisher, 7. Bobby Jones, 8. Carsten DiGiantomasso, 9. Deegen Underwood, 10. Makayla Kohler
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 laps): 1. Jon Moser, 2. Jillian Snyder, 3. Logan Boyer, 4. Todd Ahner, 5. Rick Reichenbach, 6. Jamie Smith, 8. TJ Gursky, 9. Thomas Flanagan, 10. Jacob Boehm, 11. Josh Kuronya, 12. Kyle Strohl, 13. Cody Geist DQ: Tommy Flanagan, Randy Green
Pro 4 Feature Finish (20 laps): 1. Cody Kohler, 2. Terry Peters, 3. Kadie Pursell, 4. James Yons, 5. Richie Pursell, 6. Ken Reeder DNS: Colton Breiner
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. Michael Wambold, Jr., 2. Jacob Boehm, 3. Travis Solomon, 4. Cody Boehm, 5. Jared Frye, 6. Don Bauder, 7. Trisha Connolly, 8. Maggie Yeakel, 9. BJ Wambold, 10. Dave Kerr, 11. Jake Kibler, 12. Shayne Geist, 13. Ed Herman, 14. Nick Schaeffer, 15. Mike Horn, 16. Mallory Kutz, 17. Parker Ahner, 18. Jacob Oswald DNS: Corey Edelman
Futures Feature Finish (15 laps): 1. Gabrielle Steigerwalt, 2. Adam Steigerwalt, 3. Adam Heckman, 4. Rodney Green, 5. Michael Klotz, 6. Chaz Takacs, 7. Al Gildner, 8. Sarabeth Mesko, 9. Russ Breiner, 10. Arland Moyer Jr., 11. Lexus Kutz, 12. Ryan Kresge DNS: Barry Fulton
