Mid-Atlantic Modified Report – Week # 12

NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY

8/22/20 – The inaugural Ron John Koczon Classic featured 77 laps of modified racing for a $7,700 winner’s check.  Jimmy Blewitt dominated and led for 74 laps only to have his fuel pump fail on lap 75 ending his night 3 laps short of the checkered flat.  Dominick Buffalino pressured Blewitt all night long but just couldn’t make the pass until Blewitt broke on lap 74.  Buffalino vaulted into the lead past the breaking Jimmy Blewitt and drove into the New Egypt winner’s circle to take his second win of the year.

 The 77 lap feature was lead to green by Sam Martz Sr and David Van Horn.  Martz led 4 laps but then Blewitt took the lead for nearly 70 laps.  Buffalino was in second behind Blewitt for all 70 laps but applied relentless pressure and was often side by side with Blewitt.  On lap 74 Blewitt’s fuel belt broke and Buffalino took the lead for the final 3 laps and checkered flag.  Dominick Buffalo collected his second NES win of the season with the $7,700 win. 

The top five was rounded out by Mike Butler, Ryan Krachun, Davey Sammons & Mike Mahoney.

Pit Notes

The 77 lap feature was contested with only two cautions and one was for the fuel stop.   The other was for the Lee Taylor spinning in the 61 Anthony Moran entry.  The event featured some long green flag runs of 23, 17 and 37 laps.

New Egypt Speedway had 26 cars on the grounds and all 26 took the green flag.

A solid group of drivers from New York traveled south for an opportunity to win the Ron John Koczon Classic – Mike Mahaney, Danny Creeden, Tyler Dipple, Craig Mitchell and Sammy Martz.

Mike Mahaney was able to post his best finish ever at NES with a 5^th place finish coming from 14^th on the starting grid.  Tyler Dipple was the hard charger of the night with a 9^th place finish from a 25^th starting position.

The race was dominated by the big blocks of Jimmy Blewitt and Dominick Buffalo.  Both drivers separated from the field by over 2 seconds while they battled each other within a car length separation for the majority of the race.

Ryan Krachun continued his season long string of top 10 finishes at New Egypt with a 3^rd place finish in the 77 lap feature.

Another impressive finish for 2^nd year modified driver Dakota Kessler with an 8^th place finish under a different rules package and the longer race distance of 77 laps.

No points for Ron John Koczon Memorial as a special event.  The current top 5 in season points is Billy Pauch Jr., Danny Bouc, Mike Butler, Ryan Krachun and Dakota Kessler with less than 30 points separating 1^st and 5^th.

Ron John Koczon Memorial Feature (77 laps) – New Egypt Speedway 8/22/20: 

1. Dominick Buffalino 2. Mike Butler 3. Ryan Krachun 4. Davey Sammons 5. Mike Mahaney 6. Danny Creeden 7. Billy Pauch Jr. 8. Dakota Kessler 9 Tyler Dippel 10. Wade Hendrickson 11. Frank Cozze 12. JR Fulper 13. Kory Fleming 14. Jimmy Blewett 15. David Van Horn 16. Bruce Gsell 17. Jim Maher 18 Craig Mitchell 19. Chris Grbac 20. Brandon Grosso 21. PJ Oliver 22. Sam Martz 23. Bryan Kuhl 24. Lee Taylor Jr. 25. Jason Kosch 26. Ryan Simmons  

Heat Winners:  Billy Pauch Jr., Jimmy Blewett, Dominick Buffalino

The next event at New Egypt Speedway is modified twin 20’s with a full program of racing on the card for Saturday August 29 starting at 7:00 PM.

BRIDGEPORT MOTORSPORTS PARK

8/22/20 – For the first time the father son duo of Ryan Godown Sr and Jr both won their feature events on the same night.  It was Ryan Godown Sr taking the win with a heated battle over Richie Pratt Jr for the checkered flag in the modified feature while Ryan Jr took the crate feature green to checkered flag for his second win in a row at Bridgeport.

Mike Franz led the first 5 laps from the pole position with Richie Pratt taking over the lead on lap 6.  On lap 18 Godown took over the lead from Richie Pratt as the two drivers separated from the rest of the field.  Godown just couldn’t shake Pratt who would take the lead back temporarily with sliders which Godown would counter with crossovers.  On the last lap Godown Sr. was able to pull away and take the checkered flag into victory lane for his second win this season at Bridgeport.

The modified top 5 was rounded out with Richie Pratt Jr., Billy Pauch Sr., Tommy Beamer and Alex Yankowski.

In the crate 602 Feature it was Ryan Godown Jr leading from green to checkered flag for his second win in a row at Bridgeport.

The 602 crate top 5 was rounded out by Wayne Weaver, Brad Roberts, Steve Kemery and Jim Gallagher. 

Modified Pit Notes

Ryan Godown Sr and Ryan Godown Jr won on the same night for the first time.  It was only Godown Jr’s 3^rd win in his career so this father son win came amazingly fast considering how difficult it is winning in modified and Crate at Bridgeport on any given week.  Godown Sr picked up his second Bridgeport win of the season while Godown Jr picked up his second Bridgeport win in a row. 

Ryan Godown Sr now has the distinction of being the first driver to win in modified at Bridgeport this season with both a spec small block and a big block.  Godown Sr damaged his spec 358 at Big Diamond the night before so had to opt to the big block out of necessity since the small block was broken.  The backup car took Godown to the winner’s circle.

 Matt Stangle got a 6^th place finish that was long overdue for the 6 team.  Stangle’s car has been extremely good in recent weeks only to have mechanical issues and flat tires retire them in the past 5 weeks while running in the top 5 or top 10. 

A couple of Bridgeport long time regulars have posted top 10 finished for two consecutive weeks with their big block modified entries.  Tommy Beamer has secured a 4^th and 9^th while Neal Williams has ran 7^th two consecutive week which is a vast improve from early in the season for both drivers.  It looks like the big blocks are figuring out the high bank 4/10 mile.

Alex Yankowski had another good outing in his brand new big block modified.  Yankowski was able bring home a 5^th place finish and a top 5 for the second week in a row.

25 modifieds were on the grounds and 24 were able to take the green for the feature.

Billy Pauch Sr continues to be relatively untouchable no matter where he starts in the field.  Pauch has two wins and two thirds so far this season.

Point Standings are still tight for Pauch Sr as Pratt, Yankowski and Godown Sr have also averaged top 5 finishes and are all within 34 points of Pauch. 

Bridgeport Modified Feature – 8/22/20 (30 Laps)

Winner – Ryan Godown Sr., 2. Richie Pratt, Jr., 3. Billy Pauch, Sr., 4. Tommy Beamer, 5. Alex Yankowski, 6. Matt Stangle, 7. Neal Williams, 8. Jimmy Horton, 9. Danny Bouc, 10. Briggs Danner, 11. Ryan Watt, 12. Cale Ross, 13. Clay Butler, 14. Ron Roberts, 15. Mike Franz, 16. Rich Rutski, 17. Rocco Infante, 18. Billy Lasko, 19. John Parkenham, 20. Jim Bobbitt, 21. Joseph Watson, 22. Willie Osmun, 23. Bobby Firth, 24. Brandon Hightower, DNS – Stan Frankenfield, Jr. 

Next event for Bridgeport is the modifieds with a full weekly racing program on Saturday August 29 with racing starting at 7:00.

GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY

8/22/20 – The modified 30 lap feature was led to green by Richie Hitzler and Dan Waisempacher.  Hitzler bolted to the led and lead the field for the first 10 laps.  On lap 11 Brent Kressley charged to the lead with his signature high side outside pass. On lap 15 Duane Howard moved into 2^nd from his 14^th starting position but Kressley was already checked out by 2.5 seconds and the next 15 laps were all green flag.  Kressley cruised through the lapped traffic and into victory lane for his second Grandview win of the season.

The top was rounded out by Duane Howard, Mike Gular, Rick Laubach and Kyle Weiss in the Tom Umbenhauer # 5 entry.

Heat race winners were Richie Hitzler, Brett Kressley from 8^th, Duane Howard and Ron Kline.  Consolations went to Dylan Swinehart and Brad Brightbill in the Breitenstein Motorsports # 14.

36 modifieds were on the grounds competing for 28 starting spots on the grid for the 30 lap feature event.

T. P. Trailers Modified Feature (30-laps) 8-22-20:

1. Brett Kressley, 2. Duane Howard, 3. Mike Gular, 4. Rick Laubach, 5. Kyle Weiss, 6. Ron Kline, 7. Louden Reimert, 8. Ryan Grim, 9. Jeff Strunk, 10. Kevin Hirthler, 11. Jared Umbenhauer, 12. Craig Von Dohren, 13. Justin Grim, 14. Doug Manmiller, 15. Brad Brightbill, 16. Brad Grim, 17. Brett Gilmore, 18. Dillon Steuer, 19. Richie Hitzler, 20. Colt Harris, 21. Darrin Schuler, 22. Dan Waisempacher, 24. Dylan Swinehart, 25. Eric Biehn, 26. Craig Whitmoyer, 27. Ray Swinehart, 28. Kenny Gilmore.

DNQ: Mark Kratz, Mark Levy, Ryan Lilick, Carroll Hine III, Bobby Gunther Walsh, Ron Myers, Bobby Trapper Jr. and Ron Haring Jr.

Brett Kressley scored a dominate victory for his second win of the season.  Last week Kressley was disqualified due to a postrace rule infraction after the heat races.  Kressley’s DQ placed him on the outside looking in at feature time last week.  He started off a bit rocky in this week’s heat race as he got sent to the back of the field for contact.  Nonetheless Kressley just came through the field again using his signature high side passing to secure the 4^th handicapped position. Once back in the feature this week; Kressley used his 9^th place handicapped starting position to rocket to the front and take the lead on lap 11 and then checkout on the field for his second win of August.

Duane Howard appears to be quietly picking up momentum in the points chase.  He added a second place finish this week to a 3^rd and 1^st in the past 2 weeks.  Meanwhile the two cars in front of Howard in the points finished out of the top 10 this week ; Von Dohren, 12^th and Manmiller, 14^th.  Howard has moved into second place in the point standings and with 3 races to go  and appears to be poised to make a bid to defend his 2019 Grandview championship and win the championship for a second year in a row.

Point standings continue to be led by 1.) Craig Von Dohren, 2.) Duane Howard, 3.) Doug Manmiller 4.) Jared Umbenhauer, 5.) Jeff Strunk.

Racing action continues at Grandview Speedway on Saturday August 22 with the 10^th point race and a Tripleheader program featuring the modifieds, sportsman and excel 600 modifieds with racing starting at 7:30.

BIG DIAMOND SPEEDWAY

8/21/20 – Ray Swinehart led the field to green and the first 4 laps until a strong Duane Howard leaped into the lead were he stayed until a lap 24 restart where both Billy Pauch Jr and Jeff Strunk passed him for the lead.  When the restart settled in it was Strunk taking command of the lead over Pauch and Howard.  Billy Pauch Jr battled Strunk using the high side while Strunk stayed low but Pauch could never completed the pass on Strunk.  Some late cautions re-racked the field but Strunk had no problems holding his lead right into victory lane for his second win of the season in the 15S entry of Butch Getz.

In victory lane when asked by announcer Dino Oberto if he felt ready for the Coalcracker after winning the Prelude to Coalcracker Strunk responded “I’ve got 17,000 reasons to be ready for the Coalcracker.”

Heat winners were Corey Merkle, Jared Umbenhauer and Ray Swinehart.  Consolation was won by Andy Burkhart.

The top 10 was rounded out by Billy Pauch Jr., Mike Gular, Craig Von Dohren, Duane Howard, Brett Kressley, Rich Laubach, Jared Umbenhauer, Kevin Graver Jr., and Craig Whitmoyer in 10^th.

Jeff Strunk got his second Big Diamond win of the season joining Alex Yankowski and Mike Gular who also have 2 wins.  The last 3 Big Diamond races in a row were all the 2^nd win for each driver – Yankowski, Gular last week and Strunk this week.

Billy Pauch Jr picked up his second top five finish in row since switching back to his family owned # 15 entry.

Ryan Howard led the first 24 laps only to lose the lead Jeff Strunk and Bill Pauch Jr. on a restart and then Howard faded from the leaders but held on for a 5^th place finish.

Matt Stangle came into tonight looking for a change in some bad luck he’s had for the last week.  Last week Stangle fell out of 3 features in a row from 2^nd, 3^rd and 9^th due to 2 flats and electrical problems.  Despite a new week; the bad luck continued for Stangle as racing contact put him straight into a yuke tire on the back straight away and a DNF trip on the hook back to the pits ended his heat race.  Stangle got back out for consolation but found himself in 13^th on the grid with 6 spots available for the feature.  Stangle was in 7^th and within a qualifying spot but he was spun by contact from the rear and fell back to last.  By lap 7 Stangle was back in 5^th and ended up with the 23^rd qualifying position for the feature.  Stangle was able to maintain a perfect record of qualifying for all the Big Diamond point events to date and make the feature lineup.  Overheating issues caused Stangle to pull off on lap 21 for a DNF and 18^th place finish in the feature. 

The 2018 Big Diamond Champion Ryan Godown returned for the first time this year for the Prelude to the Coalcracker.  Godown missed qualifying in his heat by 1 position and was leading in the consolation event only to have ignition problems retire him to the pits while leading.  Godown had a rare DNQ due to ignition problems which also plagued him at Bridgeport last Saturday during the feature dropping him from 3^rd to 15^th. 

Current Big Diamond point standings finds Mike Gular staying in first place followed by Craig Von Dohren, Jeff Strunk, Alex Yankowski and Rick Laubach.

Big Diamond Modified 25 lap Feature Results – 8/21/20:

1. Jeff Strunk, 2. Billy Pauch Jr, 3. Mike Gular, 4. Craig Von Dohren, 5. Duane Howard, 6. Brett Kressley, 7. Rick Laubach, 8. Jared Umbenhauer, 9. Kevin Graver Jr, 10. Craig Whitmoyer, 11. Shawn Fitzpatrick, 12. 13. Shawn Light, 14. Louden Reimert, 15. Doug Hendricks, 16. Frank Yankowski, 17. Alan Barker, 18. Ray Swinehart, 19. Matt Stangle, 20. Ryan Krachun, 21. Alex Yankowski, 22. Kris Graver, 23. Cory Merkel, 24. Dillon Steuer 25. Andy Burkhart.  

Did Not Qualify – Tim Apgar, Dan Hineline, Nate Brinker, Jim Bobbitt, Ryan Godown, Cliff Quinn and Scott Albert.  

Big Diamond’s next event are the modifieds and a full regular program of racing on Friday August 28^th starting at 7:15.

PENN CAN SPEEDWAY

8/21/20 – No modified racing this week.

Penn Can’s next event is the Patriot Sprint Tour 360 Sprints, modifieds and a full regular program of racing on Friday August 28^th starting at 7:15.

Current Modified point standings are:

1. Brett Tonkin       1235
2. Brian Malcolm   1106
3. Nick Petrilak       1095
4. Mike Loney         1089
5. Butch Getz          1002

DELAWARE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

8/22/20 – Rainout 2^nd week in a row.

Next up at Delaware International Speedway are the USAC Sprints, modifieds and a full program of racing on Saturday night September 05 starting at 7:00 PM.

Current DIS Modified Point Standings are:

1. Jordan Watson      790
2. HJ Bunting              660
3. JoJo Watson          520
4. Carson Wright       507
5. Brandon Watkins  505

GEORGETOWN SPEEDAY

8/22/20 – No scheduled racing event.

Current Georgetown Modified point standings are:

1. Billy Pauch Jr.     261
2. Ryan Watt           236
3. Danny Bouc        210
4. Jordan Watson  188
5. HJ Bunting           170

Georgetown’s next scheduled event is Tuesday August 25^th featuring the STSS Blast at the Beach with modifieds and 602 Crate Sportsman on the card with racing at 7:15. Lig