0
0
By Dino Oberto
Photo: Evergreen FB
(Butler Township, Pa. 11-1-26) Sunday’s 25th Annual King of the Green at Evergreen Raceway was jam-packed with race cars and fans and headlining Sunday’s action-filled day was the DW Machine & Fabricating Company Late Model 100 with a track-record $8000-to-win, so it was not surprising that a stellar field of cars came out.
Despite the impressive lineup, no one could match Trevor Sanborn’s performance as the Cornish, ME, Late Model star controlled much of the 100-lap race en route to a commanding victory.
Sanborn’s skill, adaptability and resilience have made him a standout in PASS Super Late Model competition, and he highlighted his strong form with his first appearance at Evergreen, delivering a dominant performance.
“This is a really cool event, and we came done here from Maine just on a whim and we had a great car all day, there are great people here and they welcomed us with open arms, thanks to Jason (Makarewicz/track owner), Dennis (Wenner/race sponsor) and everyone involved,” said Sanborn.
Sanborn proved he was going to be tough right from the get-go. He was the quickest car in time trials and by luck of the draw started outside pole alongside Joe Mancuso and once the race began he charged into the lead and stood there throughout the race.
Much of Sanborn’s challenges came from multi-time track champion Mike Sweeney and also Evan Berretta as well as an impressive Paulie Hartwig III who was making his Late Model debut.
Berretta snagged second from Sweeney on lap 27 and did get close to Sanborn. However, Sweeney was back in the runner-up spot by lap 40 and along with him came Hartwig to third. That duo then waged a torrid dogfight while trying to hunt down Sanborn, going back and forth several times in the process.
At one point when Hartwig was second, he used everything he had to nearly get by Sanborn on a lap 44 restart, but Sanborn held his line and maintained his spot.
“Hartwig had a good restart there the one time and we just needed to get rolling, we fired off bad that one time,” said Sanborn.
Sweeney soon regained second place and again did all he could to catch and pass Sanborn. His efforts fell short, however, as Sanborn’s No. 44 grew even stronger in the closing laps.
“In longevity the car was really good. This track is really tight in the corners, and you just need a really good turning car here and we had that,” said Sanborn.
2026 Evergreen champion Nick Ross was third, Hartwig took fourth and Brian Romig Jr., rounded out the top five.
The Tour Type Modifieds ran in a 50-lap feature and for an unprecedented 11th time Matt Hirschman from Northampton claimed a King of the Green victory.
Hirschman started seventh but within the first eight laps was in the top five and fourth the next time around and after one more lap clicked off moved into third.
Leading from the outset was Bobby Jones over Jake Christman and when Hirschman was third Hartwig III followed him into fourth. Those two then ganged up on the front pair and both made their way past by the time the 17th tour went into the books.
Hirschman held off Hartwig over the remaining distance and pulled safely ahead in the closing laps to claim another King of the Green victory. The win came just one week after his 11th Race of Champions triumph.
“Getting double digits in any annual event is incredible and we just did it two weeks in a row,” said Hirschman.
“It was a great race although it’s getting to be a habit at a lot of places between Paulie (Hartwig) and myself. He runs really good and races a lot and does a similar schedule as I do so were racing with each other almost every weekend no matter where we go and he’s an up-and-comer for sure.”
Hirschman’s win, the 58th in a Tour Type Modified here, put him into a tie for number one with Brian DeFebo.
Christman came home in a solid third as he held off Roger Coss and completing the top five was Tyle Truex.
Leading up to this year’s event the track had advertised that if 40 Four Cylinders were signed in for the Barbush Auto Sales 30-lap show, the winner’s cut would bump up to $1000, and the purse would be adjusted accordingly. As it turned out that number was right on the money after the final car checked in.
Cody Geist of Lehighton brought the Geist name back to Victory Lane at Evergreen for the first time in 15 years, following the last win by his late father, Todd Geist.
Starting from the pole he navigated in the lead flag-to-flag but by no means was it ever easy as Harry O’Neill was on his tail every lap. Despite the ceaselessness that Geist was up against, he never faltered and succeeded in capturing the signature win.
Third-place finisher Joe Barbush III was also in contention during the closing laps, adding to the excitement of the close finish.
The Factory Stock feature delivered a thrilling duel between two-time and defending King of the Green winner Jarrod Hayes and eventual winner Brandon Hubbard.
Hubbard, from Mystic, NY, stayed glued to Hayes’s rear bumper, applying relentless pressure lap after lap. His persistence paid off on the final circuit when he worked inside through turns 3 and 4 and with a burst of momentum out of the final corner, it carried him to victory.
In the Rotten-and-Forgotten main Jordon Young of Berwick did something no one else had been able to do this season, pass his father, Josh Young, for the lead.
The elder Young has been extremely dominant, winning six of seven races and when he passed Sam Jensen on lap two it appeared another Victory Lane stop was on the horizon.
However, running a close second, Jordon was able to make a pass for the top spot and would not relinquish it the rest of the way which capped off his championship year with bookending victories and one in mid-season to boot.
Second place went to Dan Jensen over his brother, Sam Jensen.
Late Model finish (100 laps): 1. Trevor Sanborn, 2. Mike Sweeney, 3. Nick Ross, 4. Paulie Hartwig III, 5. Brian Romig Jr., 6. Jarred Barclay, 7. Evan Berretta, 8. Joe Mancuso, 9. Ed Cheslak, 10. Brandon Turbush, 11. Marc Aigledinger, 12. Dennis Wenner, 13. Brett Peters, 14. Roger Maynor, 15. Geno Steigerwalt, 16. Ryan Rochelle, 17. Neil Rutt III, 18. Micah Adams, 19. Artie Perserson III, 20. Brian Doyle, 21. Michael Klotz DNQ: Owen Haupt, Brian Doyle, Rich Cooper, Jeremy McDermott
Tour Type Modified finish (50 laps): 1. Matt Hirschman, 2. Paulie Hartwig III, 3. Jake Christman, 4. Roger Coss, 5. Tyler Truex, 6. Evan Rygielski, 7. Ricky Ross Jr., 8. Jayden Harman, 9. Steve Shultz, 10. Rodney Dowless, 11. Ricky Collins, 12. Andrew Krause, 13. Jayden Brown, 14. Don Wagner, 15. Bobby Jones, 16. Blake Barney, 17. Lou Strohl, 18. Thomas Flanagan IV, 19. Brian DeFebo, 20. Joe Torchia
Four Cylinder finish (30 Laps): 1. Cody Geist, 2. Harry O’Neill, 3. Joe Barbush III, 4. Jared Frye, 5. Jacob Boehm, 6. Brooklyn Peters, 7. Shane Elliott, 8. Tyler Skordensky, 9. Rebecca Barbush, 10. Gavin Higgins, 11. Maggie Wambold, 12. Joel Kutz, 13. Jacob Knittle, 14. David Carney, 15. Sabrina Bogert, 16. Seth Nedrow, 17. BJ Wambold, 18. TJ Kapish, 19. Robert McNulty, 20. Ray Kochin, 21. Shayne Geist, 22. Dave Imler Jr., 23. Bryan Hackenburg, 24. Eric Lanou DNQ: Sam Ryan, Jeff Engler, Nick Shaeffer, Jay Skupski, Michael Wambold, Aaron Aigeldinger, Brayden Spencer, Tim Frye, Dan Marsh III, Micah Adams, Carlos Grenier, Eric Dengler, Colton Hull, Savanna Hartwig, Brooklyn DiVito, Jeff Noe
Rotten-and-Forgotten finish (30 laps): 1. Jordon Young, 2. Dan Jensen, 3. Sam Jensen, 4. Daniel “Poppy” Jensen, 5. Vince Corter, 6. John Cool, 7. Frank Del Nero Jr., 8. Josh Young, 9. Brice Jensen, 10. Grant Hilfiger
Factory Stock finish (30 laps): 1. Brandon Hubbard, 2. Jarrod Hayes, 3. Blaine Barry, 4. Scott Riggleman, 5. Scott Sipe, 6. Steve Kreitzer, 7. Stephanie Peters, 8. Cody Boehm, 9. Lakota Ade, 10. Nancy Riggleman, 11. Stepan Michel III, 12. Luke Foerster
COMING EVENTS:
Nov. 14 @ 1:00 pm 100 lap 4/6-Cylinder Enduro
Nov. 21 Evergreen Raceway Awards Banquet Edgewood in the Pins
