0
0
DINO OBERTO
(Butler Township, Pa. 8-20-23) In under a 24-hour period and working off minimal hours of sleep, Austin Beers capped off his weekend of racing with a second straight win coming at Evergreen Raceway in a 50-lap Tour Type Modified feature.
The evening prior he drove the same Beers Motorsports car to victory at Chemung Speedrome in the Night Before the Glen Rod Spaulding Classic 75 with the Race of Champions Modified Series.
“It was a really great weekend and this crew did an amazing job. We did have some power steering problems but fortunately it got fixed in time for the race and ya, it was a little bit tiring with the long weekend for us but I’m very happy to get back in Victory Lane here at Evergreen,” said Beers.
Lou Strohl started on the pole and led the way and thanks to a rapid pace of green flag laps, he was able to advance to a comfortable gap over Roger Coss, Brian DeFebo, Beers and Blake Barney.
That running order stayed in line until the first caution waved with 26 laps complete. With it being a ‘cone race’ second running Coss opted to take the inside lane for the restart and go behind Strohl while Beers made the choice to procure the outside and line-up alongside the leader.
When the action resumed Strohl was again up on the wheel and showing the way while Coss and Beers began a torrid side-by-side battle. They would actually trade-off second spot several times over the next dozen laps. By lap 35 Beers then locked the position and set his sights on Strohl. And despite losing one spot Coss remained close as well as Barney.
With 10 laps remaining Beers was now hounding Strohl and as they were about to begin the 45th tour, Beers was in the motion of making a pass for the lead only to see it called back when the final caution waved at the same time.
On the ensuing restart, however, there was little doubt that Beers was going to strike again and that he did. Off the fourth turn he squeezed to the inside of Strohl and then completed the race winning pass at the opposite corner. Once in front he was perfect across the concluding laps and put the punctuation mark on his sweeping weekend.
“I always like the top here and when Roger (Coss) gave it to me on that one restart I was pretty happy for that. It didn’t work the first time but the second time I was able to get in,” said Beers.
“This was a first for us to win twice in the same weekend and it’s really sweet. This one is also for George Wambold. He was a legend and his passing this past week was sad news and we send our condolences to his entire family.”
Strohl and Coss raced hard in the closing laps in taking second. Point leader Barney was fourth while James Pritchard Jr., rounded out the top five.
“It was bittersweet and second is always good but we wanted to win. The car was super good in the beginning and then we had those two cautions and I don’t know if it just glazed the tires over but the car just got loose after that and was a bit of a handful,” explained Strohl.
“We were just riding at that point and my son Jesse was telling me on the radio to ease it up and it still felt like we were driving away when I was backing it down and I really didn’t care who took the outside at that point because I felt they had nothing for me,” he continued.
“It was a great race and it just got to free towards the end and we’ll go back and fix it and be ready for the next time.”
For Mike Sweeney, winning his third Late Model feature in five starts was one for the record books as he becomes the all-time leader in class wins among eastern Pennsylvania asphalt racers, earning his 73rd victory.
Sweeney, who is the Evergreen point leader, began an early race duel with Travis Fisher and on lap six had just cleared him for the top spot as they entered Turn 3. After making the pass Fisher then got loose and went spinning from contention.
With Sweeney now in front he was able to make headway for a bit until the waning laps when Nick Ross came charging up. The two then faced off closely to the checkers and try as he may Ross was unable to do anything but watch as Sweeney claimed his 73th combined Late Model win between Evergreen and Mahoning Valley Speedway. Massachusetts invader Mark Hudson was a solid third.
In the Street Stocks the unfortunate misfortune of Mitch Hawk, who had been leading over the first 22 laps but got turned thereafter, led to the good fortune of his teammate Dan Pawlicki who would inherit the lead and go on to score his second win of the year ahead of point leader Mike Pollack.
Pawlicki becomes the first to repeat with the class. As for Pollack his runner-up was the sixth top-5 in seven starts and helped pad his standings lead in the process.
Race #4 of Evergreen Raceway/Mahoning Valley Speedway Duel Track Series (DTS) for the 4-Cylinder Stocks was held and it would be quite the barnburner as only one caution interrupted the 40 lap contest which only intensified the battle at the front.
At the outset Michael Wambold took the early lead until TJ Kapish seized the spot on lap 11. And what has become a regular scene Micah Adams soon pulled up to challenge Kapish and the pair then weaved their way in and out of traffic while running bumper-to-bumper.
Adams, who was coming in on the strength of three consecutive wins, was trying every way possible to get by Kapish but no matter what his efforts got turned away each time.
With seven laps to go the fast pace slowed for the only time and over the next seven circuits Kapish showed no letting up and held on for his first win of the season. Adams settled for second with point leader Jimmy Ayre third.
Noah Jensen is quickly becoming the driver too tough to beat with the Rotten and Forgotten as he raced to his second straight and fourth win of 2023. Jensen held off Tommy Dawson who stayed within reach of the winner to the checkers.
Modified feature finish (50 laps): 1. Austin beers, 2. Lou Strohl, 3. Roger Coss, 4. Blake Barney, 5. James Pritchard Jr., 6. Justin Gumley, 7. Nick Baer, 8. Jacob Kerstetter, 9. Jayden Harman, 10. Jaden Brown, 11. Brian DeFebo, 12. Thomas Flanagan
Late Model feature finish (30 laps): 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Nick Ross, 3. Mark Hudson, 4. Evan Beretta, 5. Micah Adams, 6. Dennis Wenner, 7. Brooks Smith, 8. Travis Fisher, 9. Marc Aigeldinger, 10. Brian Romig Jr., 11. Roger Maynor, 12. Geno Steigerwalt DNS: Dave Imler Sr.
Street Stock feature finish (30 laps): 1. Dan Pawlicki, 2. Mike Pollack, 3. Gordie Buchman, 4. Jason Harman, 5. Mitch Hawk, 6. Amber Knecht, 7. Brandon Christman, 8. Tucker Muffley, 9. Dennis Buss, 10. Johnny Bennett, 11. Tommy Flanagan, 12. Bobby Kibler Jr., 13. Cody Geist
4 Cylinder Stock feature finish (40 laps): 1. TJ Kapish, 2. Micah Adams, 3. Jimmy Ayre, 4. Michael Wambold, 5. Travis Solomon, 6. Scott Adams, 7. Jake Kibler, 8. Dave Kerr, 9. Dave Imler Jr., 10. BJ Wambold, 11. Larry Spencer III, 12. Robert McNulty 13. Ralph Borger Jr., 14. Mackenzie Adams, 15. Maggie Yeakel, 16. Lyndsay Buss, 17. Mallory Kutz, 18. Tom Cavagnino, 19. Shayne Geist, 20. Ryan Berger
Rotten and Forgotten feature finish (25 laps): 1. Noah Jensen, 2. Tommy Dawson, 3. Dan Jensen, 4. Jon Jensen, 5. Ryan Casagrande, 6. Paige Hunsinger, 7. Moe Hunsinger, 8. Sam Jensen
