Very
persistent and sometimes quite heavy rain showers began to
fall late in the afternoon during
practice, Jennerstown Speedway was able to get the full
program in the books, which delayed the start one half
hour. Day Ford of Monroeville presented the night's
racing which included twin 20's
for the Day Ford Street Stocks. Dink Colarusso seems to be
picking up where he left off last season as the defending
point champion made it a clean sweep in winning both feature
events. Other winners on this hot summer night were Barry
Awtey (Wheeler Brothers Super Late Models), Mel Wilt (New
Enterprise Stone and Lime Late Models), Kyle Martel (PA
Legacy Series), Duane Noel (Somerset Furniture Sales
Chargers), and Patrick Parlock (Advance Auto Parts Hobby
Stocks).
Jason Holder took the lead at
the start of the first 20-lap feature with Josh Dunmyer
close behind. Dink Colarusso started deep in the field and
by the midway point made it up to the third place spot, only
to find himself nearly a straightaway behind Holder and
Dunmyer. Colarusso would eventually catch and pass Dunmyer
then with two laps to go made the move passed Holder for the
top spot. Colarusso went on to take his third straight win
of the season in the caution free event. Holder and Dunmyer
finished second and third respectively followed by Adam
Kostelnik and Dave Tavormina in the top five.
The second feature saw rookie
Richard Beam, in only his third night of racing, get the
jump on Tom Knight, Sr. for the early lead. Beam held the
lead for the first eight laps when Dunmyer fought his way
past on the outside to take the lead. The yellow would fall
on lap 9 for a spinning Beam in turn four. On the restart
Holder would get the jump over Dunmyer to take the lead, but
right behind was Colarusso who made his way up to third from
his twelfth starting spot. Dunmyer got loose and made
contact with the turn one wall on lap 11 to bring out the
final caution flag of the event. Colarusso took the lead
from Holder on lap 12 but could not distance himself as
Holder stayed in his tracks to the finish. One last chance
on the final lap saw Holder look to the outside but could
not make the move as Colarusso would take home his second
trophy of the night with Holder once again finishing in the
runner up spot. Rich Nicola jumped into Jim Nicolas car
for the feature events after losing a wheel in his heat race
which sent the car hard into the wall, finished a strong
third with Kostelnik and Tavormina in the top five. Holder
and Colarusso took the heats.
Jayme Bolkovac took the lead
from polesitter Todd Goble at the start of the super late
model feature which slowed on lap 3 for Kyle Martel who's
car came to a stop at the end of the front stretch.
Bolkovac kept the lead on the restart ahead of Cary Todaro
and Mark Poole. The red flag flew on lap 4 when contact
between Todaro and Poole sent both head on into the
backstretch wall severely damaging both cars and collecting
Jason Lasky and Steve Comer in the process heavily damaging
their cars as well. Todaro and Poole were both transported
to a local hospital for observation. After track crews made
an extensive cleanup, the race would restart with Barry
Awtey taking the lead from Bolkovac as Garry Wiltrout
followed right behind Awtey. The two would check out from
the field, as the remainder of the race would be caution
free. Wiltrout could get to the back bumper of Awtey but
never make a serious challenge for the lead. The best
battle on the track would be for the fifth spot with Jeff
Dunmyer and Neil Brown battling door-to-door for countless
laps as Snooky Williams following close behind waiting
patiently for his chance to make a move. In the end Awtey
would hold off Wiltrout to take his first feature win of the
season. Point leader Bobby Henry finished a distant third
followed by Mark Smith in fourth and Brown, who eventually
got past Dunmyer for fifth. Awtey and Wiltrout took the
heat race wins.
Mel Wilt has struggled so far
this year but got the jump over Jacob Coffin at the start of
the late model feature event and set out to the early lead.
Rick Boyer and Todd Price would close in on Wilt giving fans
the looks of a good three-car battle for the lead. But
neither driver could mount a serious attack on the leader as
Wilt would lead wire to wire in the caution free event to
take his first career win in a late model. Boyer held off
Price for second with Dusty Rhoads and Wade Champeno
rounding out the top five. Wilt also won the heat race.
Brett Boyer took
the early lead in the PA Legacy Series 25-lap feature event
with Jayme Bolkovac moving up fast from her mid pack
starting spot. Bolkovac would take the lead on lap 8 with
Kyle Martel and P.J. Ehrlich following behind and dropping
Boyer to fourth. Those three would put on a great show
often going three wide for the race lead, but going three
wide can also result in misfortune. Coming out of turn four
three wide on lap 17, the cars of Bolkovac and Ehrlich made
contact with both making hard contact with the front stretch
wall right under the starter's
stand. Both drivers climbed out ok but the cars were
heavily damaged. That handed the lead to Kyle Martel on the
restart. While running in the top five, point leader Dave
Campbell spun in turn 2 four laps from the finish and was
hit hard by Kep Causer, ending the night for both drivers.
Martel would not be challenged on the restart and go on to
take his second win of the season. Boyer came back to
finish second followed by Chris Brink, Andrew Wylie and Ed
Butler in the top five. Chris Brink and Bolkovac won the
heat races.
Duane Noel passed
Rick Phillips on lap 2 of the 15-lap charger feature event
and would soon feel the pressure from Scott Bowman, who came
from his seventh starting spot to second in only a handful
of laps. The yellow flag was displayed on lap 6 as Andrew
Kostelnik spun in turn 2. On the restart Bowman got the
jump on Noel for the lead, but Noel would take back the lead
on the following lap and hold on to take his third win of
the season. Bowman followed close behind in second with
Phillips, Stephen Mock and Mike Stevens rounding out the top
five. Mock won the heat race.
Jim Biss looked
like he was on his way to a career first win in the hobby
stock feature event. After jumping out to a sizeable lead
at the start, the cars of Jeff Zillweger, Greg Lohr and
Patrick Parlock would close the gap near the midway point to
make it a four car battle for the lead. Parlock got passed
Lohr then eventually Zillweger into second but the laps were
quickly disappearing. With only two laps remaining Parlock
made the high side pass on Biss for the lead and go on to
take home his second win of the season. Biss held onto
second with Lohr coming home third as Zillweger faded to a
fourth place finish. Dennis Roles rounded out the top
five. Parlock won the lone heat race.
Next Saturday,
Jennerstown Speedway presents 'Fan
Appreciation Night' at the Laurel
Highlands Oval. A regular five-division program of the
NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series along with the PA Legacy Series
will be on tap as well as a driver autograph session on the
front straightaway. Fans will be admitted for only $3 and
also be treated to a spectacular fireworks display at the
end of the racing program. Main gates open at 4:30 with the
first green flag to fall at 6:00. For more information on
this event or any other on the schedule contact the speedway
office at 814.629.6677 or visit
www.jennerstown.com.