By: Mike Milliron
Jennerstown, PA - August 18, 2001 - It was Mark Smith and
Richard Mitchell scoring wins Saturday night at Jennerstown
Speedway, as JLG Industries presented "Twin 50" Wheeler Bros./AC
Delco Late Model division features during the NASCAR Weekly
Racing Series program. Other divisional winners were Todd Price
in Jennerstown Pro Trucks, Tracy Colarusso in Brown Timber &
Land Street Stocks, P.J. Ehrlich in Cover Insurance Agency/PA
Legacy Series, and Jason Holder in Jennerstown Chargers.
The race was hot and heavy for the largest field of the season,
even before the first of two Late Model division feature races,
as Mark Smith bested twenty-nine other drivers to set the 'Fast
Time' in qualifying, earning him an extra $1,000 dollars. He
then set the stage for the first feature by picking a number
eight pill, which inverted the first four rows of the field.
Having to start back in eighth place was no detriment to Smith,
as he used the outside lane to perfection to work his way to the
front of the field. Shawn Beam set the early race pace, until
Smith finally tracked him down. Once in the lead by the halfway
mark of the race, Smith was a man on a mission, as the
Meyersdale, PA driver took control and ran away with the first
Late Model feature win. The remaining top five drivers were
Bobby Henry, Rich Mitchell, Shawn Beam, and Neil Brown.
The second Late Model feature was even more interesting, as the
top ten finishing drivers from the first race were inverted,
making the exchange of positions more challenging for the
perennial front runners. Defending divisional champion Barry
Awtey led the field to the green flag, and maintained the lead
until lap eleven. That's when Richard Mitchell, who was making
only his second appearance of the season, came on to make his
presence known. The Bruceton Mills, WV pilot showed that he
still has the right stuff to put on a show, as he went on to
lead the remaining laps en route to his first feature win of the
season. Divisional points leader Neil Brown race a fine race to
finish in second, and extend his points lead over Mark Smith,
who experienced tire trouble late in the event, and had to
settle for a fourteenth place finish. The remaining top five
finishers were Barry Awtey, Jeff Dunmyer, and Bobby Henry.
Todd Price made it five wins in a row, as he battled with Marion
Reno, Jr. for most of the race before taking the lead on lap
twenty-one of the twenty-five-lap event. The remaining battle
was for second as Reno and Josh Coughenour maintained a side by
side battle to the finish line, with Reno collecting second and
Coughenour coming home in third. George Nicola finished fourth
with Aaron Will completing the top five. Heat races were won by
Marion Reno, Jr. and Todd Price.
It was a two car battle throughout most of the twenty five lap
Brown Timber & Land Street Stock event, as Adam Kostelnik and
Tracy "Dink" Colarusso displayed a level of sportsmanship rarely
seen in stock car racing. After lap four the two cars pulled
away and exchanged the lead three times, while never making
contact with each other. Colarusso lead the final five circuits,
with Kostelnik glue to his rear bumper all the way to the
checkered flag. Finishing close behind in third was Todd Knight,
while Chris Deyarmin won a two-car battle with Carl Trevarrow to
finish fourth and fifth respectively. Heat races were won by
Todd Knight and Tracy Colarusso.
P.J. Ehrlich scored his first career feature win in the Cover
Insurance Agency/PA Legacy Series, as he dominated the
twenty-five lap event. Ehrlich used a front row starting
position to jump out to the lead on lap two over Ricky Anderson,
who put up a valiant effort, actually taking the lead back from
Ehrlich for a couple of laps. On lap eight Ehrlich retook the
lead and would not be challenged for the remainder of the event.
Joey Dennewitz got by Anderson on lap eleven for the runner-up
position, which he led to the finish line. Jayme Bolkovac, Ricky
Anderson and Marshall Biddington rounded out the top five.
Pete Walrath looked to be the top banana in the special
twenty-five lap Jennerstown Charger event. That was until Jason
Holder decided to take over the lead on lap sixteen, which he
then held to the checkered flag. Greg Praysner also got by
Walrath, who wound up dropping out of the race allowing June
Weyant, Justin Lasky, and Jeff Petrini to also get by for top
five finishes. Heat races went to Jason Holder and Greg Praysner.
Gregory Lohr of Hooversville, PA won the Men's Enduro race.
Terry McCoy finished in second, while Ken Henry, Bob Johnson and
Chad Painter survived to finish in the top five.
Next week Jennerstown Speedway welcomes the American Speed
Association (ASA) to the Laurel Highlands Oval as they present
the "Pennsylvania 300" next Sunday, August 26, 2001. Practice
and qualifying on Saturday, August 25 will begin at 1 p.m. with
an adult admission price of $5.00. Spectator gates for Sunday's
event will open at 10 a.m. with the general adult admission
price being $20.00; reserved seating is also available.
Complete
Race Results and Stats... |
