Mid-Atlantic Modified Report – Week 5

NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY

NES kicked off their 2020 season with their Firecracker 40 modified event.  Great weather greeted the drivers, fans and officials for their first event of the 2020 season. 

Pole sitter Wade Hendrickson lead the field until defending NES champion Billy Pauch Jr took the lead on a lap 10 restart.  On a lap 19 restart Pauch couldn’t fire due to a mechanical failure and Bouc took over the lead.  Danny Bouc was able to hold off Davey Sammons in 2^nd and Frank Cozze in 3^rd to take his 12^th career win at New Egypt Speedway.  Mike Butler was heading for a 4^th place finish when the car slowed on the final lap and Butler dropped to 13^th.   Dominic Buffalino grabbed a solid 4^th place finish after being involved in a lap 16 incident with Cale Ross.  Dakota Kessler came home with a 5^th place finish from a 13^th place starting positon.   The top ten was rounded out by Wade Hendrickson, Jimmy Blewett, Ryan Krachun, Steve Young and Brandon Grosso.

The next event at New Egypt Speedway is 4^th annual Mr. Crate Classic on Saturday July 11 with racing at 7:00 PM.

BRIDGEPORT MOTORSPORTS PARK

7/05/20 – Nearly 100 cars in 4 divisions were in attendance for the Bridgeport Motorsports Park’s 2^nd race the “All American 40” on their brand new high banked 4/10 mile “The Kingdom of Speed.”

Ryan Godown had the good fortune of drawing the pole for the second week in a row with Billy Pauch Sr. on the outside pool.  Godown lead the first 25 laps with Tim Buckwalter & Ryan Watt in hot pursuit and all three drivers were throwing sliders, cross overs and using a variety of lines low, middle and high too numerous to count.   Sparks were flying off of Buckwalter and Watt several times as they made wall contact and battled each other to track down the leader Godown.  Buckwalter assumed the lead on lap 25 but Watt and Godown were still in pursuit.  Watt may be in a small block but he is still a beast on the high side and took over second from Godown.  The only yellow of the 40 lap feature was on lap 13 for a Danny Bouc flat tire.  Rich Laubach and Bill Pauch pulled off on lap 33 but without caution.  The 3 cars of Buckwalter, Watt and Godown checked out from the rest of the field.  On lap 40 it was a red hot Timmy Buckwalter winning on his first visit to the new Kingdom of Speed at Bridgeport Motorsports. 

Buckwalter had weekend bookend modified wins on Friday and Sunday at Big Diamond and Bridgeport with a 4^th place in the middle of the weekend at Grandview.

The top ten was rounded out by Strunk, Von Dohren, Cozze, Pratt, Danner, Stangle and Krachun.

29 modifieds were on the grounds to qualify for the 24 car field.

Next up at Bridgeport Motorsports Park is a regular weekly program on Sunday July 12 with Modifieds, 602 Crates and Street Stocks.

BIG DIAMOND SPEEDWAY

7/03/20 – Rain, rain go away; it did and the Big Diamond faithful were rewarded with some good racing that started after 9:00 PM.  The pits were busy early in the modified feature as two incidents on lap 4 involved 7 cars including the top 2 in points – Gular and Von Dohren who went to the pits on the hook at lap 4 and both came out to the tail of the field without losing a lap.  Mike Lisowski held the lead for 11 laps but overheated his tires as he was under pressure from Tim Buckwalter who took the lead on lap 12.  Buckwalter couldn’t checkout on the field due to 4 late cautions that kept bunching the field up.  On every restart Buckwalter had Jeff Strunk right next to him in a Butch Getz 15x ride for the night.  Buckwalter was just too hook up and in the end he rolled to a 2 second margin of victory over Struck, Kressley, Fitzpatrick and Von Dohren to take the $4,000 first place prize.

Von Dohren moved into first place in the points while Strunk’s solid 2^nd place run moved him into second in points.  Gular had to pull off with 7 to go and fell from 1^st to 3^rd in the points.  60 points separate 1^st to 3^rd so it’s still a very tight point’s battle.

Shawn Fitzpatrick started the season with a DNQ but has recorded a 2^nd and 4^th place finish in the last two points races and currently sits 6^th in the season long points.

Next up for Big Diamond is a regular program with $4,000 to win for modifieds on Friday July 10 with racing @ 7:45 PM.

GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY

7/04/20 –   The big one happened at the throw of the green flag with the pole sitter Ron Meyers losing the handle and spinning in front of the field.  It was a low speed big one but did collect and damage nearly half the field and scramble the starting grid.  With an outside pole start Kevin Hirthler was able to run green to checkered flag for his first win of the season.  What a difference a week can make as Hirthler went from a DNQ last week to victory lane this week.  CVD got collected in the lap 1^st lap incident and after a trip to pits ran from last to 5^th place. 

The top 5 behind Hirthler was Jared Umbenhauer, Doug Manmiller, Timmy Buckwalter and Craig Von Dohren.

34 cars competed for 28 starting spots on the grid for the 30 lap feature.

It is only the second week of the season and the points race is already a barnburner with 4 cars within 30 points of one another.  Manmiller has two 3^rd place finishes which nets him the points lead by 6 points over CVD in 2^nd position and only 10 points over Umbenhauer in 3rd.  Last year’s champion Duane Howard is just 28 points back in 4^th and the top 5 in points is rounded out by Brett Kressley.

Coming up this Saturday July 11^th at Grandview Speedway is Modifieds and Sportsman with racing starting at 7:30 PM.

PENN CAN SPEEDWAY

7/03/20 – The 21 car modified feature came down to a spirited two car battle with Alan Rudalavage holding off Nick Petrilak for the win.   The top 5 was rounded out by Byron Worthing, Richard Smith and Alex Stanton.  Leo Fotopoulos made a rare appearance from New York and grabbed a 10^th place finish.

Points standings after 6 events has Brett Tonkin with a 75 point advantage over Brian Malcom followed by Nick Petrilak, Mike Lonely and Butch Getz rounding out the top 5 in points.

Last week’s triple 20’s saw three point events in one night.  Unfortunately a broken steering box ruined an important points night for Byron Worthing.  Byron came into the event last week as the point’s leader and after the triple point features he dropped to 15^th in points.  A solid 3^rd place finish this week moved Worthing back up to 10^th place in the season points.

Penn Can’s next event is on July 10 and racing starts at 7:15 with Modifieds and a full regular program of racing on the card for the night.

DELAWARE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

7/04/20 –   It was meant to be.  HJ Bunting won the pole position and was quicker than the Watson Brothers today in qualifying.  Jordon Watson got close mid-race but Bunting was able to carry a 1 second lead to the finish line and win his first race of the 2020 season at the 4^th of July Freedom Special.  The top 5 was rounded out by Jordon Watson, Joseph Watson, Ryan Riddle and Brandon Watkins.

Other weeks the Watson Brothers run 1 -2 or 2-1 depending on the top Watson that day.  But they were running 2-3 with HJ Bunting in the #1 spot at the 4^th of July Freedom Special.  It was meant to be.

HJ Bunting won this one for his long time car owner & friend Jake Marine who pasted this February at a race track in Florida.

The season point standings closed up a little; but remain the same with Jordan Watson the point leader, followed by Joseph Watson in second and HJ Bunting holding down 3^rd in points.

DIS will get back to action in 2 weeks on Saturday night July 18^th featuring modfieds and full card of regular classes with racing starting at 7:15.

GEORGETOWN SPEEDAY

7/03/20 – Georgetown’s next scheduled event is Friday July 24^th featuring USAC sprints, Modifieds, 602 Crates, Crate Late Models and full card of Georgetown support classes.