Fourth Evergreen Modified Win Extends Points Lead for Paul Hartwig, Jr.

After weeks of battling Mother Nature, Christmas came early for the folks at Evergreen Raceway. Their “Christmas in August” event went off without a hitch and the children at the track even received presents from Santa Claus himself. For Paul Hartwig, Jr. of Freehold, NJ, it was also a holiday of sort, as he extended his points lead with his fourth Evergreen Modified feature win of the year. TJ Gursky of Lehighton has been close to visiting victory lane at the speedway, but came up short in the past. That’s now changed, as he sealed the deal Sunday afternoon by taking the Street Stock feature win. Tom Casagrande of Drums extended his points lead by bringing home the Factory Stock win and Sam Ryan of White Haven notched his fourth Four Cylinder victory of the year. Sue Ryan and Harry O’Neill drove to victory in the Mechanic’s races and Emily Ryan and Jen Adams notched Powder Puff race wins.

Paul Monkoski started from the pole position and led the first circuit of the 30-lap Evergreen Modified feature over Scott Adams, Paul Hartwig, Jr, CJ Lehman and Jerry Hildebrand.

Hartwig made his move to take the lead on lap eight and Adams followed through for second.

The race went caution-free until lap 29, when Hildebrand spun on the front stretch. Green flag racing resumed and Hartwig drove off to take the checkers over Adams, Monkoski, Lehman and Damon Frutchey.

Scott Adams was the heat race winner.

After taking heat race victories, TJ Gursky and Todd Ahner led the Street Stock field to the drop of the green in the 25-lap feature. Ahner led the first lap by a bumper and then Gursky fought back to regain the top spot.

The yellow flew when Justin Morgan and Scott Adams tangled in turns three and four.

Green flag racing resumed and with five laps complete, Gursky continued to show the way over Ahner, Charlie Castiglione, Steve Shultz and Greg Long.

Castiglione got by Ahner for second on lap 12 and Randy Schlenker, who had just cracked the top five, followed through to take third. Front.

Despite having two and three wide racing behind him to the checkers, Gursky kept his cool and held on for his first Evergreen Street Stock victory. Schlenker overtook Castiglione in the late going to finish second. Shultz and Ahner completed the top five.

Zach Biros led the Factory Stock field to the drop of the green flag in the 20-lap feature, yet his lead was short-lived due to him spinning out in turn two.

Green flag racing resumed with Frank Katona on the point. However, he was overtaken by Tom Casagrande once a lap was complete. Just behind the leader, Justin Morgan got by TJ Kapish and Stephanie Moyer for second. However, contact with the leader in turns one and two slowed the event and moved Kapish to the top spot.

The lap three restart was intense and Scott Sipe grabbed the lead from Kapish. Meanwhile, Casagrande began to pick off cars and make his way back toward the front. He regained the lead on lap nine and never looked back to score his fourth win of the year. Sipe, Morgan, Kapish and Katona completed the top five.

Justin Morgan and Stephanie Moyer were heat race winners.

Jay Skupski led the Four Cylinder field to the drop of the green flag in the 20-lap feature. He led the opening lap over Say Ryan, Bob Azarowicz, Ed Wildes and Frank Hughes, Jr.

Ryan wasted no time and moved into the lead with one lap complete. He began to distance himself from the field in the early going, not realizing that twelve year old Brayden Spencer was working his way through traffic behind him.

With five laps complete, Spencer got by Hughes and Skupski to take third. Shortly after he overtook Azarowicz for second and then began reeling n the leader.

Lap by lap Spencer got closer to Ryan and with six laps to go he found himself on the leader’s back bumper.

However, the strong run ended in a hurry. A pair of lapped cars tangled in front of the leader. With nowhere to go, Spencer barely clipped one of the cars and broke a rear axle, which ended his run.

Ryan held the lead over the closing laps and was pressured hard by Harry O’Neill for the win. It was his fourth win of the season. Hughes, Azarowicz and Skupski completed the top five.

Sam Ryan and Harry O’Neill were heat race winners.

The next event slated for Evergreen Raceway is “A September to Remember” Butch Barry Pro Stock Memorial. The Sunday, September 4 show will feature a 35-lap event for the Pro Stocks, in memory of Butch Barry. The Dirt Modifieds are also on the card, plus the regular Enduro program, featuring the 4-cylinders, 6/8-cylinders, Reverse Redneck and Open Comp Enduro divisions.

The track is hosting a $10 discount for Enduro pre-registration. The form is on the speedway website and must be mailed in, along with the $40 pre-registration fee. Drivers will start straight up as they pre-register, or of course register at the track on race day for $50, and they will start behind the pre-registered drivers. The transponder rental fee is $10. Drivers racing in more than one division will be charged the $10 fee and $5 for each additional division for the rental fee. Pit admission is set at $25 for Enduro teams. The regular pit fee will apply for the Pro Stock and Dirt Modified teams. There is no Pro Stock or Dirt Modified registration fee. The pit gates will swing open at 10:00 AM and the afternoon of events will kick off at 1 PM.

Drivers from the Street Stock division are invited to complete with the Pro Stocks, if they choose to do so.

All of the rules, info and the pre-registered drivers are listed on the speedway website.

The grandstands are slated to open at 12 noon and grandstand admission is just $5. Children 10 years of age and younger will be admitted for FREE.

Evergreen Raceway PR