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By Dino Oberto
(Butler Township, Pa. 10-18-26) In the season that saw consistent top-two and top-three finishes as well as oh-so-close chances at winning, Brian Sones from Sandy Valley made the biggest race of the season the one worth waiting for in scoring his first 602 Crate Modified victory, coming in The King of the Green Day 1 at Evergreen Raceway on Sunday afternoon.
The 50-lap/$1000-to-win feature saw the veteran racer inherit the lead on lap 13 and afterwards hold off past champion Steve Shultz en route to the major verdict.
Sones, who drives the Rick Yanic owned Cars Consulting No. 54, had been a key contender all season long, yet despite the strong finishes, there was frustration as well as each race he watched 2026 track champion Micah Adams, Shultz and Bobby Jones all finish just ahead of him in weekly action.
The team though, never stopped trying to get the right set-up, constantly working on the car week in and week out, and Sunday afternoon the payoff came in the form of a King of the Green Victory.
“We put in more hours in this car than any other one we’ve had here over the years. We’d tear it apart and put it back together, always making adjustments and today we got it right,” said Sones.
“My car owner, Rick Yanic, he spends a lot of money and every time I called him that we need something he would say, ‘Ya, I think that’s a great idea,’ so this is the only way I can repay him, my mom and dad and all the people behind this team.”
A redraw after heats saw Thomas Gratten and Adams on the front row with Vinny Delany and Sones the next aisle back. When the green waved Adams blasted to the opening lap lead and on lap two Sones took hold of second place.
They then ran in a close-one-two order until lap 13 when the first caution waved for a spinning Sarabeth Mesko. It was under that same time that Adams checked into the pits for an adjustment and handed the lead over to Sones.
Shultz moved into second, and from there the two battled lap after lap. He stayed glued to Sones’ rear bumper, but Sones withstood every challenge and continued to establish himself as the car to beat.
“There’s no one else I rather have behind me than Steve (Shultz), he’s a very clean driver” said Sones.
“I was expecting this to be a dogfight between myself, Micah (Adams) and Steve. We’ve been fast all year but at the same time we’ve been struggling, and it took a lot of time and effort, but I couldn’t think of a better time to make it happen then at the King of the Green.”
Sones also netted himself a qualifier spot for Turkey Derby 53 at Wall Stadium Speedway on November 28.
AJ DeSantis was a solid third with Kaden Rodgers and Cody Boehm rounding out the top five.
Mike Pollack of Freeland capped off his championship year with a second King of the Green victory in 40-lap BNJ Construction & Roofing Stret Stock main.
Johnny Bennett was controlling his own destiny after leading from the start and moving well enough ahead to safeguard that lead. But all that changed with 10 laps to as a caution waved for debris, putting a halt to what had been a nonstop race to that point.
On the restart Bennett suddenly slowed up and brought out the caution, the cause being a right rear flat which forced him to pit and on the restart it was now Pollack showing the way which he was able to maintain for the final 10 tours.
Top contender Eric Kocher passed Brandon Oltra for second on lap 31, then set his sights on Pollack. But despite Kocher’s best efforts, Pollack held firm and went on to claim his second King of the Green title and a division-leading fourth victory of 2026.
Cory Derr had a season high third, Bennett hustled back to take fourth while Oltra completed the top five.
In the McNulty Funeral Home Novice Four Cylinders newly crowned champion Shane Elliott of Upper Lehigh put the punctuation mark on his title season by winning the final feature of the year for the class and adding his name as a King of the Green winner.
A draw for feature starting spots put Elliott on the pole and once the action commenced he quickly made it a race for second by pulling out to a comfortable lead and letting the rest of the pack fight for positions.
This marked his third win of the year, and it also earned him a guaranteed starting spot in the Barbush Auto Sales Four Cylinder King of the Green feature on November 1.
AJ Frantz and Justin Merkel Jr., had a great battle throughout the contest. Frantz moved past Merkel on lap nine then held him off the rest of the way for runner-up honors.
For the fourth time this season Caitlyn Makarwicz of Freeland took a win in the Rookie 602 Crate Modifieds, however, this one was clearly here best to date as it came in the King of the Green.
Makarewicz assumed the lead following a second restart on the open lap and then held off Zach Hummel the distance. Although Hummel kept the gap close he was not quite able to get near enough to attempt a pass as Makarewicz controlled the lead perfectly. She also earned a $100 bonus from SpeedArt Creations By Mallory as a female race winner on the day.
The East Coast Legends have always been a staple at the King of the Green and always bring a solid field of cars, but despite the strong line-up once again it was Riely O’Keefe of Manorville, NY who scored an unprecedented fourth King of the Green victory.
By luck of the draw O’Keefe started from the pole and stayed there throughout the 30-lapper. Even though Anthony Marsh was planted on his back bumper, O’Keefe never showed signs of giving in, be it through traffic or the intense pressure that Marsch continued to apply.
For O’Keefe it capped off and incredible year that saw him go undefeated at Evergreen and matter-of-fact a win streak that began in last year’s King of the Green when he swept a two-day show.
Winning the East Coast TQ Midgets feature made the long haul from Buffalo, NY well worth the effort for Josh Shultz.
Shultz had a torrid battle with Tyler Wagner until finally getting past him with seven laps to go. He then set sail and cruised to his first Evergreen victory and second of the weekend, winning the previous night at Mahoning Valley Speedway.
602 Crate Modified finish (50 laps): 1. Brian Sones, 2. Steve Shultz, 3. AJ DeSantis, 4. Kaden Rodgers, 5. Cody Boehm, 6. Vinny Delaney, 7. Scott Adams, 8. Micah Adams, 9. Marty Noll, 10. Nick Schaeffer, 11. Thomas Gratten, 12. Rick Smith, 13. Peyton Arthofer, 14. Avery Arthofer, 15. Jerry Hildebrand, 16. Sarabeth Mesko
Street Stock finish (40 laps): 1. Mike Pollack, 2. Eric Kocher, 3. Cory Derr, 4. Johnny Bennett, 5. Brandon Oltra, 6. Kenzie Adams, 7. Peyton Arthofer, 8. Dennis Buss, 9. Thomas Flanagan IV, 10. Paul Frantz WD: Colin Bollinger
Legends finish (30 laps): 1. Rieley O’Keefe, 2. Anthony Marsh, 3. Landen Herring, 4. Jack Owens, 5. Chris Sinatro, 6. Devin Thornton, 7. Kevin Nowak, 8. Nick Hodge, 9. Chris Piasecki, 10. Philip Alaimo, 11. Patrick Moore. 12. Michael Barry, 13. Mike Renn, 14. Charlie Hodge, 15. Ed Stadtlander, 16. Marissa Stewart
Novice finish (20 laps): 1. Shane Elliott, 2. AJ Frantz, 3. Justin Merkel Jr., 4. Joel Kutz, 5. Sabrina Bogert, 6. Jacob Bartuski, 7. Tanner Poweski, 8.
Rookie 602 Crate Modified finish (15 laps): 1. Caitlyn Makarewicz, 2. Zach Hummel, 3. Sarabeth Mesko
TQ finish (20 laps): 1. Jacob Shultz, 2. Tyler Wagner, 3. Blake Barney, 4. Mark Shultz, 5. Jeff Champagne, 6. Kevin Mingus, 7. Charlie Shultz, 8. Ken Hirt, 9. Craig Richardson, 10. Lexi Przyblinski, 11. Ed Windt, 12. Ozzy Carlino, 13. Mark Cinqmars
