Friesen Captures Blast at the Beach & Pit Notes

The annual Short Track Super Series “Blast at the Beach” lived up to the name with hot and steamy weather, thunderstorms in the area with visible lightning on the horizon, surfboards and bikini’s in victory lane.

The 35 lap modified feature was led to green by pole sitter Matt Stangle.   Stangle held his lead for 13 laps but on the second restart of the event it was Jeff Strunk taking the led as Billy Pauch Jr moved into second and Anthony Perrego into 3rd while Stangle faded back into the pack.  By lap 15 Stewart Friesen had arrived to the top 5 in 5^th place from his 23^rd starting position.  Friesen worked his way to 2^nd place and used a final lap and monster slider on Billy Pauch Jr. that would take Friesen back to victory lane for the second Short Track Super Series win in a row and earn him the “Delaware Double Down” Bonus of $2,000 for winning STSS events at both Delaware tracks.

The 25 lap 602 Crate feature saw Joe Toth lead for the first 12 laps only to see Scott Hitchens use the lower line to make a pass for the lead on lap 12 and then checkout on the field by nearly 4 seconds to take the win.

Modified Pit Notes

36 cars attempted to qualify for the 28 car field.  The 35 lap feature was run with 5 cautions.  Track conditions were very tricky and changing throughout the night.

Stewart Friesen started 9^th and qualified 7^th in an all-star heat race and was sent to the consolation race looking for a qualifying position.  In the consolation event Friesen secured the 23^rd starting spot in the feature.  In the feature Friesen moved to 5th by lap 15 and didn’t lead the feature until the final 2 laps.   Friesen has won both STSS races at Georgetown this year and back to back Delaware state races earning him an additional $2,000 for the “Delaware Double Down” Bonus.

Mat Shepard came through the field twice due to a flat tire and secured a 4^th place finish for the 9S entry.  The defending 2019 South Region champion Shepard is still within striking distance of Stewart Friesen only 70 points behind with 2 events remaining and the final being double points.

Tyler Dipple continued his string of top 10 finishes at the STSS events with a 6^th place finish which maintains his 4^th position in the STSS season points.

Larry Wight in the 12K entry was in the same heat as Friesen and also couldn’t move to the front.  In the consolation Wight started 11^th and moved forward to 5^th but missed qualifying by one position.  Wight used a series provisional to start from the 25^th position and got things clicking in the feature to secure an 8^th place finish.

Ryan Godown jumped in the Jamie Mills 30M and got a top 10 finish with 9^th place from an 18 place starting position.

Mike Gular also had a strong back to front run with a 10^th place finish from a 22^nd place starting position.

STSS Blast at the Beach – Georgetown Speedway – 8/25/20

1. STEWART FRIESEN, 2. Billy Pauch Jr., 3.  Anthony Perrego, 4. Matt Sheppard, 5. Jeff Strunk, 6. Tyler Dippel, 7. Mike Mahaney, 8. Larry Wight, 9. Ryan Godown, 10. Mike Gular, 11. Rick Laubach, 12. Ryan Watt, 13. Ryan Krachun, 14. Alex Yankowski, 15. Jimmy Horton, 16. Matt Stangle, 17. David Van Horn Jr., 18. Richie Pratt Jr., 19. H.J. Bunting, 20. Danny Bouc, 21. Brandon Grosso, 22. Joseph Watson, 23. Ryan Riddle, 24. Danny Hiebner, 25. Jordan Watson, 26. Andy Bachetti, 27. Brandon Hightower, 28. Carson Wright.

Did Not Qualify: Scott Ambruster, Norman Short, Clay Tatman, Kevin Sockriter, Austin Hubbard, Matt Hawkins, Brett Ballard, and Ricky Johnson.