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by Mike Milliron
Jennerstown, PA (May 4,
2002) – Jennerstown Speedway started off their 2002
NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge racing
season with a fantastic display of stock car racing as
Pepsi/Hoosier Tire/Mid Atlantic/Somerset Candy presented
Fan Appreciation Night. Feature winners included Neil
Brown in the Wheeler Bros./AC Delco Late Models, Dave
Marrow in the Tommy Gale/Haulmark Trailers Pro Trucks,
Tracy “Dink” Colarusso in the Cenwest Street Stocks,
Travis Smith in the Mountain 96.5 Chargers and Joey
Dennewitz in the Cover Insurance Agency/PA Legacy
Series. Ken Stabley, Jr. won the Super Mini Cup Series
feature event, while Pat Parlock picked up the Men’s
Enduro win.
The night started off right
for Neil Brown as he started on the pole of the Wheeler
Bros./AC Delco Late Model feature, and fended off heavy
pressure from his competitors to capture his first
feature win of the 2002 season. Throughout the 50-lap
event Brown was in control of the front position and
proved his championship performance of 2001 was no
fluke. His first challenger was Barry Awtey who applied
the heat in the first half before Brad Creighton took
over the second spot and renewed the challenge. A late
race caution bunched up the field, giving Creighton one
last chance at the lead but Brown proved to be too
strong and held on for the feature win. Finishing
behind Creighton in third was Awtey while fourth went to
Bobby Henry and rounding out the top five was Mark
Cottone. Heat race wins went to Mark Cottone and Barry
Awtey.
The Tommy Gale/Haulmark
Trailers Pro Truck feature event looked to be a runaway
win for Dave Marrow, until the Wall, PA native realized
that Josh Coughenour was closing the gap very quickly.
Coughenour actually caught and passed Marrow on lap 22
of the 25-lap feature, but Marrow was not to be denied
and recaptured the lead on the following lap. Their
side-by-side battle allowed Todd Price and Aaron Will to
run them down creating a four-way fight to the finish.
At the checkers it was Marrow winning by a narrow margin
over Coughenour, with Will finishing in third, followed
by Price and Marion Reno, Jr. rounding out the top
five. The heat race win went to Todd Price.
The Cenwest Street Stock
feature event seemed to be turning into a two-car battle
between George Nicola, Jr. and defending champion Adam
Kostelnik. That is, until the two front runners made
contact forcing them into the pits for repairs. That
opened the door for Tracy “Dink” Colarusso to take over
the lead position, which he held onto till the finish
line. Richard Nicola came home in second, while Mike
Davis finished in third, followed by David Tavormina and
Jason Holder in fifth. Adam Kostelnik replaced three
flat tires and returned to the track to finish in the
sixth position. Heat race wins went to Kostelnik and
George Nicola, Jr.
The Mountain 96.5 Charger
division saw a first time winner as Travis Smith took
advantage of a first place starting position to lead all
12 laps of the feature event. Smith gave credit to his
uncle, Wheeler Bros./AC Delco Late Model pilot Mark
Smith for showing him how to race on the outside groove,
where he maintained his advantage to the checkered
flags. Following close behind in second was Curtis
Stewart, Jr., Michael Gillot in third, with Phil Grubbs
and Justin Lasky rounding out the top five. Heat race
win went to Curtis Stewart, Jr.
The Cover Insurance
Agency/PA Legacy Series saw a newcomer make a big
impression as Kyle Martel used his first start to rocket
into a big lead over defending Rookie of the Year Joey
Dennewitz. The race looked to be over as Martel
continued to extend his lead until a late race spin
relegated him to the back of the pack. That gave the
lead to Dennewitz as he held onto the lead for the final
laps. Chris Brink had a fine run to finish in the
second position while Martel rebounded from his spin to
finish third. Brett Boyer and Art McElhinney, Jr. both
had great runs also to finish out the top five. Heat
race win went to Joey Dennewitz.
The first Men’s Enduro
race of the season saw a great two-car battle erupt
between Greg Lohr and Pat Parlock, as the two drivers
worked their way by the intense traffic throughout the
entire 50-lap race. In the end it was Parlock winning
by a two-car length margin over Lohr, making it one of
the closest modern-era Enduro race finishes in speedway
history.
Next Saturday, May 11,
Stan’s Transmission Service presents the NASCAR Weekly
Racing Series presented by Dodge racing program,
featuring five division racing plus the opened wheel
Grand American Modifieds, along with the first Ladies
Enduro race of the season. The speedway will honor all
the Mom’s in attendance by offering them half off of the
general admission ticket price. There will also be a
Craft Show featuring homemade gift items. The Craft
Show will run 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. For more information
please contact the speedway office at 814.629.6677 or
visit our website at
www.jennerstown.com
Complete
Race Results... |
