COLARUSSO BREAKS TRACK RECORD AT JENNERSTOWN SPEEDWAY
AWTEY WINS FIFTH OF 2003, TAKES OVER LATE MODEL POINTS LEAD 

(Jennerstown, PA) Under clear skies for the first time in two weeks, race fans at Jennerstown Speedway were treated to a history making night of racing Saturday night. 

West Mifflin, PA’s Dink Colarusso entered his name into the Jennerstown Speedway record book as he crossed the finish line celebrating his eleventh consecutive victory of 2003. The win snaps the previous track record held by Steve Peles who won ten straight in 1987. 

Colarusso narrowly escaped an early race incident that gathered several cars between turns three and four. He then took the lead on lap 6 and went on to win his thirteenth Street Stock feature of the year. Colarusso, who is now on pace to break Steve Peles’ record of fifteen wins in a season, was followed by Bill Ashton, June Weyant, Jason Holder and Roger Onstead in the top five finishers. Jeff Petrini, who finished second, failed the post race tech inspection with an unapproved carburetor and was moved to last place. Colarusso and Jason Holder were the heat race winners. 

In the Rolling Rock Late Models, Barry Awtey continued his winning ways by coming up big in the fifty lap feature. While Chuckie Keslar and Bobby Henry led the majority of the race, Awtey came up and took the lead with three laps remaining. The Jenners, PA driver was followed by Bobby Henry, Mark Smith, Chuckie Keslar and Neil Brown. Awtey and Cary Todaro were the heat race winners. 

His win and Neil Brown’s fifth place finish allow Awtey to leap ahead of Brown taking the lead in the Rolling Rock Late Model division points. With a handful of races remaining on the schedule, Awtey leads the division by 6 points. 

The points lead was also swapped in the Tommy Gale/Haulmark Trailers ProTrucks. Alum Bank, PA’s Todd Price simply dominated the feature leading every lap and ran away with the checkered and the division points lead. Previous points leader Jason Lasky suffered from a lap 16 incident with Josh Coughenour and Derek Wink and finished eighth in the feature. Price now leads the division by four points. In the feature, Todd Price was followed by Marion Reno, Jr., Josh Coughenour, Jake Hounshell and Joe Furjanic in the top five.  Price made the evening complete by also winning the heat race. 

In the Jennerstown Speedway Modifieds, Irwin, PA’s Bob Bentz, Jr. continued his stay in victory lane taking his seventh win in ten races in 2003. Bentz took the lead on lap 6, survived a mid race caution and stayed ahead of the pack. Bentz, who also won the heat race, was joined by Matt Smith, Jason Busch, George Nicola and Brian Stephenson in the top five. 

Absent from the top five was Modified division points leader Paul Urso. After spinning on lap 12, Urso took a solid hit from Bernie McQuillan and was eliminated from competition. Urso’s lead is now just 8 points ahead of Bakalon. 

The Jennerstown Speedway Charger division points race is also tight and Greg Praysner took the race win and the division points lead with a last lap performance Saturday night. Heat race winner Phill “Hoss Grubbs” held the lead for every lap but the most important one as Praysner came along side, took the lead out of turn four and won by a yard. He and Grubbs were followed by Mike Stevens, Duane Noel, and Chantal Germek in the top five. 

Level Green, PA’s Greg Praysner now leads the Charger division by 2 points over Chantal Germek. 

The Pennsylvania Legacy Series returned to Jennerstown Speedway after being absent for nearly a month and returning with them was 2002 Series Champ Joey Dennewitz. P.J. Erlich was the driver to beat taking the lead on lap 4. But in the race’s later laps, Erlich began to experience handling problems and was involved in two incidents. Dennewitz took the lead on lap 19 and held on to the front spot till the end. The Akron, OH driver was followed by fellow heat race winner Kyle Martel, Chris Brink, Brett Boyer and Jayme Bolkovac in the top five finishers. 

This coming Saturday night, the Rolling Rock Late Models will be racing in the Wheeler Brothers 200 – a 200 lap feature event. This event is the final long distance NASCAR race at Jennerstown of 2003 .Plus, four other divisions will be racing in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series. Adult admission is $20 while children 12 and under will be admitted for free. 

Jennerstown Speedway, Western Pennsylvania’s Finest Motorsports Complex, is located in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of Western Pennsylvania and offers race fans up to eight divisions of racing on Saturday nights throughout the summer. For driving directions, ticket information or to learn more about the many promotional opportunities at the Laurel Highlands Oval, please visit www.jennerstown.com or call the Jennerstown Speedway business office at 814-629-6677.