Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Speedway saw a night of records set, records tied, the ladies shinning and point leaders adding to their totals.
“The Hurricane”, Earl Paules won his third Modified feature of the season and in doing so became the track’s all-time wins leader at 61 and counting. Mike Sweeney won for the third straight time with the Late Model putting him alongside Paul Koehler Jr., as tops in class victories with 53 each. In winning the Hobby Stock feature Peyton Arthofer led a trio of lady racers who finished in the top five and seasoned veterans Jon Moser and Bobby Kibler Sr., took respective verdicts in the Street Stocks and Pro 4s which led them one step closer to division championships.
In the Modified feature Paules was the pole sitter after Eric Kocher had elected to drop to the rear for the start. Once the race got underway it would become a scorching battle as Bobby Jones and Brian DeFebo where zeroed in on Paules.
As Paules did his best to protect the bottom line, Jones’ only option was to strike from the outside and he would at times be able to pull close but the leader showed the upper hand and remained solid in upholding his position.
By lap 10 DeFebo was coming on strong and began applying heavy pressure on Jones. In short order he was able to take away second place although Jones continued very close and both on the tail of Paules.
By lap 20 DeFebo had cleared Jones and was reaching in on Paules. However, when lap 23 went into the books and the leaders approached turn two, Jones saw an opening and attempted to slip in under DeFebo. Slight contact caused DeFebo to falter and when he did Jones backed down which allowed Kyle Stroh and John Markovic to zip by. DeFebo then spun on the ensuing lap which brought out the caution.
In the remaining laps Paules continued to keep his line as Strohl fought hard to unseat him. It would be to no avail though as the wily ace went under the checkers first for his 29th Modified win at Mahoning Valley and one that placed him as sole holder of overall victories at the paved ¼-mile oval at 61. Markovic, Lou Strohl and Jones completed the top five.
“We had a pole starting spot and I figured if I can’t win from there then I probably shouldn’t be here. I want to thank my mom and dad and family for coming every week and supporting me and of course all the fans. I’m glad we got this (record) over with,” offered Paules.
“Tonight I couldn’t give up the bottom and I knew if I could do that I’d be alright. This was a good race. I knew all those guys were on me and we fought hard for sure.”
The Late Model main began with Jeremy Miller out front with point leader Frankie Althouse directly behind. Matter of fact the two wasted no time in going two-wide and swapping out the front spot. At the same time Sweeney was settled behind them.
No sooner after getting to mid-race and with Althouse just ahead, a thrilling three-wide formation began with Miller high, Althouse to his left and Sweeney sticking to the bottom. By the time the lap was completed Sweeney had nosed to the front with Althouse on his tail.
They would stay that way the rest of the distance with Sweeney capitalizing for this third straight win and seventh of the season. Despite the hard loss, Althouse’s second place, his 13th runner-up in 15 starts, keeps him atop the points over Sweeney. Miller had to settle for third.
“I knew them two upfront where racing hard and they got together a little bit and moved up just enough for me to and the bottom opened up and I felt that was the only shot I had to take the lead,” said Sweeney.
“Without a doubt Frankie was the fastest car out there tonight and luck was just on our side tonight. It’s great to tie the wins record and be there alongside a guy like Paul Koehler. We’re proud of this and we’ll come back next week to try and set the mark.”
In the previous week’s Street Stock event Jon Moser had a rare DNF due to crashing out early on. After spending all week repairing the car Moser returned with a vengeance. On a lap two restart he unseated Mark Deysher for the lead and from there on made it a race for second.
Moser actually admitted afterwards that his car was far from right yet his performance looked otherwise as he was that good. It was his class leading fourth win of the season and it also help pad his point lead with four regular shows to go.
Jillian Long by far worked the hardest in attaining second place as she withstood an onslaught of opponents throughout the contest. None the less she held her won nicely and equaled her best finish to date over hard charging Shayne Geist.
Like Moser, Peyton Arthofer came back to the track after a heart wrenching crash while leading in the Hobby Stock feature. But just as this young ambitious talent showed all season long she is resilient and very good behind the wheel of a race car.
Arthofer took the lead from the outset and would never look back and had it not been for some late race cautions that bunched the field the finish would have showed her comfortably ahead at the checkers, which actually turned into a family affair. She won over her cousin, AL Arthofer. This was her class leading fourth win of 2019.
Kassidy Altemose and Trisha Connolly took third and fourth respectively making it three very brilliant lady racers finishing in the top four. Travis Solomon was fifth and with that took the point lead by two over Devin Schmidt.
Respected veteran Bobby Kibler Sr., continued on his quest for a first ever championship after winning for the second straight week and sixth time this season with the Pro 4s.
Kibler bided his time behind impressive running Josh Kuronya for the first six laps before slipping under him for the lead. He then went flawlessly the rest of the journey and beat Jeremy Guerra while in the process extended his point lead even further over Jake Kibler.
Modified Feature Finish (35-laps): 1. Earl Paules, 2. Kyle Strohl, 3. John Markovic, 4. Lou Strohl, 5. Bobby Jones, 6. Brian DeFebo, 7. Lorin Arthofer, 8. Heath Metzger, 9. Terry Markovic, 10. BJ Wambold, 11. Jake Kibler, 12. Corey Edelman, 13. Eric Kocher, 14. Nick Bear
Late Model Feature Finish (25-laps): 1. Mike Sweeney, 2. Frankie Althouse, 3. Jeremy Miller, 4. Kenny Hein, 5. Samantha Osborn, 6. Avery Arthofer, 7. Dylan Osborn
Street Stock Feature Finish (30-laps): 1. Jon Moser, 2. Jill Long, 3. Shayne Geist, 4. Randy Ahner Jr., 5. Mark Deysher, 6. Rick Reichenbach, 7. Jared Ahner, 8. Todd Ahner, 9. Randy Schlenker, 10. Mark Martini, 11. Josh Mooney, 12. Jamie Smith, 13. John Bennett, 14. Brennen Coulter, 15. Jeremy Scheckler, 16. Louie Horvath, 17. Eric Kocher, 18. Dennis Buss DNS: Aaron Kromer
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (25-laps): 1. Peyton Arthofer, 2. Al Arthofer, 3. Kassidy Altemose, 4. Trisha Connolly, 5. Travis Solomon, 6. Devin Schmidt, 7. Cody Boehm, 8. John Petro, 9. Eddie Jones, 10. Mallory Kutz, 11. Rich Mutarelli, 12. Mackenzie Adams, 13. Cody Kohler, 14. Philp Sabatine. 15. Todd Geist, 16. Tyler Nemeth, 17. Jacob Boehm, 18. Tad Snyder, 19. Jesse Bollinger
Pro 4 Feature Finish (20-laps): 1. Bobby Kibler Sr., 2. Jeremy Guerra, 3. Cody Kohler, 4. Tucker Muffley, 5. Josh Kuronya, 6. Jake Kibler, 7. Bobby Kibler Jr., 8. Tyler Stangle, 9. Matt Clark, 10. Randy Schaffer, 11. Kadie Purcell
MVS PR
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