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By DINO OBERTO
(Butler Township, PA 9-15-24) Mike Sweeney of Nesquehoning continues to prove himself as a current day leader in asphalt Late Model racing. On Sunday afternoon at Evergreen Raceway Sweeney put on a driving clinic in winning the make-up August 11 DW Machine & Fabricating Late Model feature Sunday and then making it a sweep on the day with another stirring victory in the regular schedule event.
In the first main Sweeney needed only two laps before taking the lead from Marc Aigeldinger on a restart. From there on it was no backing down for the defending and four-time champion as he stretched his lead over runner-up Brian Sones to as much as six-and-a-half seconds by mid-race. Sweeney was so domineering that within a few circuits to go he was lapping into the top five.
“That’s what all the work in the shop does. We made a few changes from the last time we were here and we felt we were decent then but we still went to work and this is what we aim for, the winning results,” said Sweeney.
“Sometimes everyone thinks I’m nuts for changing things but I’m not telling them what I’m changing anymore and I’m just going to do it. I want to give a big shootout to my crew for how hard they work.”
Sones stayed second throughout the race while Aigeldinger did a nice job of rebounding from an early spin to take third. Dennis Wenner also put in a fine run with fourth while Roger Maynor rounded out the top five.
In the second feature Sweeney lined up sixth and by lap five he was running second to front runner Wenner. Two laps later and his Ford powered No. D11 was showing the way and much like he did earlier, he kept far enough ahead and only saw who was close to him when a few restarts took place.
“You’re not getting a better car then what we had here today and it even surprised me that the car was that good,” said Sweeney, now a 21 time winner at Evergreen.
“We never stopped working between features and we did a few small changes for the second feature. There was a lot of laps run today and we had to just manage the tires and we just had to take it easy and run a steady pace and I feel that’s what helped us pull away. It was a picture perfect day.”
This was Sweeney’s 79th time winning in a Late Model. He holds the record at Mahoning Valley Speedway with 56 plus has two victories at Jennerstown Speedway. Overall it was his 81st time in Victory Lane.
In the Harry’s U-Pull-It Street Stocks Bobby Kibler Jr., of Lehighton was back at the track for the first time since mid-June and although it had been a while he never missed a beat as he collected his second win of the season by holding off a very determined Gordie Buchman.
Kibler inherited the lead from point leader Mike Pollack when a rare occurrence happened. On lap eight Pollack’s motor suddenly soured and he failed to finish a race for the first time in nearly four years.
Now in the lead Kibler would work tirelessly in fending off Buchman the rest of the way. Brandon Oltra, making only his first start of the year, was a solid third.
The Himmer Graphics Four Cylinder feature was a thriller of a race as Maggie Wambold of Nazareth was able to hold off her stepdad, BJ Wambold, Johnny Bennett and Robert McNulty and go on to score her very first win at Evergreen.
Wambold started fourth and on lap nine grabbed the lead from her mom, Lyndsay Buss. It was soon after that the torrid battle for the lead began. M. Wambold had Bennett went side-by-side and quickly joining in on the fight was B. Wambold. At the same time McNulty was on all their tails which only added to the intense action being fought.
Lap after lap it was the front four turning laps under a tight cover. As M. held a slim lead B. Wambold and Bennett went into a fierce side-by-side clash with McNulty glued right behind.
Late in the going M. Wambold started drifting high through the corners due to her brakes fading. Yet the foursome continued to stay packed together. B. Wambold actually was scored the leader with four laps to go but the next time around it went back to M. Wambold. She then held on for the final tours and the exciting victory. B. Wambold nipped Bennett at the line for second while McNulty held on for fourth. Veteran Don Bauder had his best to date with fifth.
For the second time this season Savannah Romig of Allentown won in the McNulty Funeral Home Novice feature and just as she did with her first win, she would lead every lap in the process.
Romig did a great job of keeping runner-up Sarabeth Mesko at bay as the pair battled nose-to-tail the entire distance.
For the third time in four starts Tanner Jones of Glenn Garden, NJ picked up the win with the INEX Legends.
Starting fifth, Jones advanced into the lead when he slipped inside early leader Brad Lowmaster on lap 11. From there on he had his hands full as Jeffery Farrugia was persistently hounding him but it would be to no avail. From restarts to just keeping Farrugia in check, Jones stayed strong and steady to the checkers. Closely in third was the always fast Kevin Nowak.
1st Late Model feature finish make-up from 8/11 (40 laps): 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Brian Sones, 3. Marc Aigeldinger, 4. Dennis Wenner, 5. Roger Maynor, 6. Brandon Cook, 7. Brett Peters, 8. Brian Romig Jr., 9. Griffin Hendershot, 10. Tony Hilliard DNS: Brooks Smith
2nd Late Model feature finish (40 laps): 1. Sweeney, 2. Sones, Wenner, 4. Aigeldinger, 5. Cook, 6. Peters, 7. Romig Jr., 8. Maynor, 9. Hilliard DNS: Hendershot
Street Stock feature finish (30 laps): 1. Bobby Kibler Jr., 2. Gordie Buchman, 3. Brandon Ultra, 4. Brian Wozniak, 5. Charlie Castiglione, 6. Amber Knecht, 7. Geary Rinehimer Jr., 8. Anthony Tombasco, 9. Mike Pollack
Four Cylinder feature finish (25 laps): 1. Maggie Wambold, 2. BJ Wambold, 3. Johnny bennett, 4. Robert McNulty, 5. Don Bauder, 6. Tyler Skordensky, 7. Sam Ryan, 8. Michael Klotz, 9. Riley Titus, 10. Lauren Skupski, 11. Steve Tito, 12. Lyndsay Buss,
Novice feature finish (12 laps): 1. Savannah Romig, 2. Sarabeth Mesko, 3. Lexus Kutz, 4. Conner Shotwell, 5. Abby McNulty, 6. Caitlyn Makarewicz DNS: Gavin Higgins
Legends feature finish (25 laps): 1. Tanner Jones, 2. Jeffery Farrugia, 3. Kevin Nowak, 4. Chris Sinatro, 5. Jayden Glennerster, 6. Brad Lowmaster, 7. Rodney Dowless Jr., 8. Philip Alaimo V, 9. Brayton Malbeuf, 10. Colin Volpe, 11. Charlie Hodge, 12. Michael Metcalf, 13. Nick Hodge, 14. William Sipala, 15. Anthony Marsh, 16. Cliff Shaw Jr.
