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By DINO OBERTO
(Lehighton, PA 8-26-23) Mahoning Valley Speedway’s annual Fan Appreciation Day presented by the Pizza Joint of Allentown saw the track filled with plenty of fans, over 100 race cars, 10 features and as an added bonus a special afternoon concert by High Voltage, the nation’s top AC/DC tribute band, which made for a great and enjoyable time for all.
And yes, while everyone indeed was enjoying the day-long festivities, Bobby Jones may have left as the most ecstatic among the large gathering as for the first time in his well-documented career he won
a pair of features on the same night, coming in the Modifieds and 602 Crate Modifieds.
Nick Baer will also be one to remember this night as he won for the first time in a Tour Type Modified, victorious in the nightcap rain-postponed Paul Koehler Sr., Hall of Fame Tribute.
Additionally veteran Lou Strohl capitalized on the misfortunes of Kyle Strohl and Baer in the first Modified feature with a solid runner-up and leapfrogged past both and into the division standings lead with only three races for the class remaining, two of them being show-up points and the last a regular points event.
In the regular 35-lap race for the Modifieds, Jones ran the high line and took the lead from Jacob Kerstetter on six. A half dozen laps later he was engaged in a torrid battle with L. Strohl who repeatedly ran to his outside.
At the same time Jaden Brown was keeping close pace with the leaders up until Brian DeFebo thrusted by him on lap 24 and immediately zeroed in on the front pair, making the race lead quite intense for Jones who was doing all he could to keep either from getting by.
For DeFebo, any chance at three wins in a row ended with five laps to go when he spun out of line while under tight conditions. That just left Jones to deal with L. Strohl for the remaining laps which he did with nary any room to spare.
Johnny Bennett had a career best Modified finish with third while Brown and DeFebo rounded out the top five.
Jones later jumped into his 602 Crate Modified and just as he had to deal with in the Modified feature he again was immersed in a dogfight battle, this time with Brody George as they traded the lead several times before Jones secured the spot for good with five laps to go.
It was his second win with the Crate car this season and overall career win number 60.
In the make-up Paul Koehler Sr., race, Baer had to go to his back-up car after he crashed out of the first feature and it proved very race worthy.
Starting from the pole Baer took quick control although he would have L. Strohl following extremely close. And for that matter Strohl, just as he did in the first feature with Jones, tried every unceasingly way to make a pass but Baer was not giving in.
Well into the concluding laps Baer was showing that he was ready for his first stake at collecting a victory with the Modified and he did unequivocally as Strohl backed off due to his car freeing up on him, although it was his second runner-up of the night.
K. Strohl took third with Brown and Bennett completing the top five. Baer’s win accentuates nicely along with victories in Sportsman Modifieds, 602 Crate Modifieds and Pro 4s.
Mark Hudson raced to his third straight and fourth win with the Late Models. Brian Romig Jr., was second for the sixth time in seven starts.
Jamie Smith raced perfectly out front for all 30 laps of the Street Stock feature and won for the first time since 2019. He was followed closely by point leader Jillian Snyder who remains the only driver in class with double digits in top five finishes.
Jeff Parker survived a near hit into the wall after some close racing for the lead with Xavier Sprague and then went on to record his fifth victory of the season with the Dirt Modifieds.
Corey Edelman is really hitting his stride with the Harry’s U-Pull-It-Hobby Stocks as he notched his second straight win and third of the year. In the last six races Edelman has either been first or second. It was also his record-extending 33rd division win.
Point leader Cody Boehm was second, which was his class leading 14th top five in 15 starts to date, including four runner-ups. Travis Solomon drove to a third.
In the Pro 4s Bobby Kibler Sr., got underneath Cody Kohler with three laps to go and to the checkers for the first time in four years. Colton Breiner was second while Aiden Boucher had a career best third.
In the Futures it was Al Gildner racing to a hard-fought third win of the season, having to fend off the top two in class of Adam Steigerwalt and Michael Klotz.
The visiting Micro Stocks made where part of the card, running in the Doug Hoffman Memorial and taking a dominating win was Alex Greenzweig far ahead of Chad Weaver and Roger Snyder.
Modified feature finish (35 laps): 1. Bobby Jones, 2. Lou Strohl, 3. Johnny Bennett, 4. Jaden Brown, 5. Brian DeFebo, 6. Rod Snyder Jr., 7. Zach Lenardo, 8. BJ Wambold, 9. Brian Romig Sr., 10. Don Wagner, 11. Jacob Kerstetter, 12. Frank Parastino, 13. Jesse Strohl, 14. Thomas Flanagan, 15. Terry Markovic, 16. Kyle Strohl, 17. Nick Baer, 18. Cody Boehm
Make-up 7/15 Modified feature finish (50): 1. Baer, 2. L. Strohl, 3. K. Strohl, 4. Brown, 5. Bennett, 6. Jones, 7. Wagner, 8. Snyder Jr., 9. Markovic, 10. Kerstetter, 11. Romig Sr., 12. DeFebo, 13. Flanagan, 14. Boehm DNS: Matt Hirschman
602 Crate Modified feature finish (25 laps): 1. Bobby Jones, 2. Brody George, 3. Nick Bare, 4. Zach Lenardo, 5. Nick Schaeffer, 6. Deegen Underwood, 7. Branden Sullivan, 8. Avery Arthofer, 9. Peyton Arthofer, 10. Makayla Kohler
Late Model feature finish (25 laps): 1. Mark Hudson, 2. Brian Romig Jr., 3. Seth VanFossen, 4. Geno Steigerwalt, 5. Brooks Smith
Street Stock feature finish (30 laps): 1. Jamie Smith, 2. Jillian Snyder, 3. Austin Santee, 4. Rick Reichenbach, 5. Josh Mooney, 6. TJ Gursky, 7. Jacob Boehm, 8. Eric Kocher, 9. Mark Deysher, 10. Todd Ahner, 11. Randy Green 12. Kevin Kromer. 13. Josh Kuronya, 14. Tucker Muffley, 15. Tommy Flanagan 16. Bobby Kibler Jr., 17. Marissa Louden DN: Logan Boyer
Dirt Mod feature finish (20 laps): 1. Jeff Parker, 2. James Counterman Jr., 3. Michael Toth, 4. Xavier Sprague DNS: Izzy Lowden
Pro 4 feature finish (20 laps): 1.8. Bobby Kibler Jr., 2. Colton Breiner, 3. Aiden Boucher, 4. Kadie Pursell, 5. Cody Kohler, 6. James Yons, 7. Richie Pursell, 8. Bobbo Kibler Jr., 9. Terry Peters
Hobby Stock feature finish (25 laps): 1. Corey Edelman, 2. Cody Boehm, 3. Travis Solomon, 4. Maggie Yeakel, 5. Michael Wambold, 6. Jake Kibler, 7. Nate Correll, 8. Mallory Kutz, 9. Adam Heckman, 10. Lyndsay Buss, 11. Jared Frye, 12. Jacob Boehm, 13. Don Bauder, 14. Dave Kerr, 15. James Tout, 16. Nicholas Kerstetter
Futures feature finish (15 laps): 1. Al Gildner, 2. Adam Steigerwalt, 3. Michael Klotz, 4. Chaz Takacs, 5. Lexus, 6. Sarabeth Mesko. 7. Savannah Romig, 8. Shawn Fenstermacher, 9. Zoe Kuchera, 10. Connor Shotwell, 11. Gabrielle Steigerwalt, 12. Eddie Geiger Jr. DNS: Barry Fulton
Micro Stock feature finish (20 laps): 1. Alex Greenzweig, 2. Chad Weaver, 3. Roger Snyder, 4. Ian McGuire, 5. Eddie Geiger Jr., 6. Scott Miller, 7. Caden Miller, 8. Logan Crout, 9 Lydia Snyder
