Mid-Atlantic Modified Report – Week 17

PENN CAN SPEEDWAY

9/26/20 – Penn Can Speedway hosted the Short Track Super Series for their 3^rd and final North region point race and the crowning of the 2020 North Region champion.  63 modified attempted to qualify for the 27 car field.

The race was led to green by Andy Bachetti and Casey Plummer.  Bachetti would take the early lead and hold off Nick Rochinski and Matt Sheppard.   Bachetti led the field for 52 laps and through 6 caution flags but after the lap 49 caution Friesen was able slide under Bachetti for the lead and drive into victory lane to take the King of the Can title and crown.

The top ten was rounded out by Andy Bachetti, Nick Rochinski, Matt Sheppard, Mike Gular, Billy Decker, Tyler Dipple, Danny Creeden, Danny Johnson and Craig Hanson.

King of Can Pit Notes

Stewart Friesen late race pass of Andy Bachetti not only won him the event but also the North region championship by a mere 2 points over Mike Gular who finished 5^th.  Friesen wins his 2^nd STSS North region title.

Mike Gular had another solid 5^th place finish from a 13^th place starting position but the North point leader coming into the Penn Can event ended up 2^nd in final points to Friesen in North region by 2 points by virtue of Friesen’s win.

Andy Bachetti, Tyler Dipple and Matt Sheppard rounded out the top 5 in North Region points. 

Nick Rochinski just returned to the driver’s seat on Friday night at Big Diamond with a 12^th place finish after an extended absence due to an injury at OCFG in August.  Rochinski made it loud and clear that he is well and has returned with a 3^rd place finish tonight at Penn Can with 63 cars on the premises for the STSS North region point finals.

Penn Can regular Danny Creeden finished 9^th from a 26^th provisional starting position.

Alan Barker continued a strong fall run with a 15^th place finish.  Barker had two consecutive wins coming into the STSS event.  The prior week he was in victory lane at Penn Can with his 77 entry and just the night before Barker got his first win at Big Diamond Speedway.

STSS Modified results @ Penn Can Speedway 9/26/20 

 1.) 44  – Stewart Friesen 2) 4- Andy Bachetti 3) 20R- Nick Rochinski 4)9S- Matt Sheppard 5) 2A- Mike Gular 6) 91- Billy Decker 7) 1- Tyler Dipple 8) 16X- Danny Creeden 9) 27J- Danny Johnson 10) 20C- Craig Hanson 11) 20S- David Schilling 12) 15- Billy Pauch Jr. 13) 9-Brett Tonkin 14) 77- Alan Barker 15) 22- Josh Nobriga 16) 77C- Casey Plummer 17) 17D-Mike Loney 18) 99L- Larry Wight 19) 3J-Joe Judge 20) 5*- Tyler Siri 21) 145-Alan Rudalavage 22) 133-Kevin Harnett 23) 02- Corey Costa 24) 22R-Randall Paxton 25) 119-Brian Malcolm 26) 15G-Butch Getz 27) 163W- Byron Worthing

BRIDGEPORT MOTORSPORTS PARK

9/25-27/20 – Saturday – Modified Triple 20’s

Triple Twenty # 1 saw Jimmy Blewett take the early lead only to have his rear break on lap 3 ending his night early after being in the lead.  Jeff Strunk inherited the lead and took command of the race until the checkered flag and right into victory lane for triple 20 # 1. 

The top 7 qualifiers for Sunday’s Danny Serrano 100 were Jeff Strunk, Mike Mahaney, Jared Umbenhauer, Davey Sammons, Tommy Sheetz, Craig Von Dohren and Brandon Grosso.

Twenty # 1 pit notes

Each of the three triple twenties had 18/19 modifieds qualifying for 7 positions in the 100 lap feature event with a total of 56 modifieds on the grounds looking to qualify for the 100 lap feature event.

Tommy Sheetz was the surprise of the night with a 5^th place qualifying position from his 13^th place starting position.  Sheetz had his big block powered T3 moving forward and holding off challenges from Craig Von Dohren and Brandon Grosso for the 5^th position.

Roger Manning recently returned to racing and this was only his 3^rd race of the season.  Manning started in 17^th position and from lap 14 and picked up a position on almost every lap to finish 8^th place and just missed transferring his 414 entry into Sunday’s 100 lap feature.  Manning will start on the pole of one of the two consolation events on Sunday.

Mike Mahaney made the long trek from King’s Ferry, NY for his second visit to Bridgeport this season.  Mahaney has quickly taken a liking to the 4/10 mile high bank facility and grabbed the 2^nd qualifying position from a 7^th place starting positon.

Twenty # 2: Dominic Buffalino and JoJo Watson brought the field to green in modified triple 20 # 2 with weekly regular Watson powering to the early lead which he held until lap 16.  Ryan Watt made his move on lap 17 and took over the lead and drove right into victory lane of twenty # 2.

The top 7 qualifiers for Sunday’s 100 lap feature were Ryan Watt, Danny Bouc, JoJo Watson, Dominic Buffalino, Peter Britten, Frank Cozze and Billy Pauch.

Twenty # 2 pit notes

Bridgeport’s weekly competitor Neal Williams just missed qualifying with an 8^th place finish in a battle with Billy Pauch, Anthony Perrago and Richie Pratt Jr for the final transfer spot.  Billy Pauch got the final sport sending Williams, Perrago and Pratt to the consolation.  Pratt made a strong charge on the final 2 laps going above the cushion but a flat tire finished his bid for the final transfer spot.

Frank Cozze was in a lap 1 tangle which sent the 401 to the pits for a flat tire.  Visibly smoking Cozze continued to charge back to the front and moved into the 6^th qualified position from 15^th after returning from changing his flat tire.

Twenty # 3 – Justin Grim led the first 6 laps but tracked down by Jimmy Horton on lap 6 who then proceeded to check out on the field.  Ryan Krachun pitted for a flat tire on lap 2 and the 29 entry proved to be one of the most dialed in entries on the grounds as he proceeded to move from 17^th to 2^nd place after pitting for a flat tire.

The top 7 qualifiers for twenty # 3 were Jimmy Horton, Ryan Krachun, Duane Howard, Dillon Steuer, Rick Laubach, Justin Grim and JR Heffner.

Twenty # 3 Pit Notes

Justin Grim made his first visit to Bridgeport during Friday night’s practice session. It was well worth the practice time; as Grim picked up right where he left off at Grandview this season on Saturday with a 6th place finish and qualified position in the 100 lap feature. Justin has met many challenges this year at Grandview and has succeeded at each one; from staying up front when handicapped; moving forward in the heat race; and moving forward in the feature and on top of that he added qualifying for the 76er. So it wasn’t extremely surprising to see the 61 go to a brand new track and qualify from the heat race with 56 cars on the grounds. The progression has been outstanding as Justin Grim continues on with his breakout season.

Briggs Danner made a strong bid for a qualifying position but fell one sport short with an 8^th place finish from his 13^th place starting position.  Briggs had a busy night as he also was the winner of the East Coast 360 sprint car feature.  Briggs will be on the front row of the modified consolation tomorrow.

Alex Yankowski had a flat tire and visible vibration from mud in his wheels and his 11^th place finish puts the 84Y entry in the consolation qualifier tomorrow.

Ryan Krachun went above the cushion and it stuck as he drove from 17^th to a 2^nd place finish.  Krachun noted “I knew it would either stick or end up in the loose stuff and into the wall.  Fortunately for us it stuck.”  Ryan has been fast since Friday as he was 2^nd quickest of 39 at practice on Friday.  Krachun seems to have the Bridgeport 4/10 figured out and the 29 entry dialed in for the Danny Serrano 100.

Sunday – Modified Consolation Qualifiers

The consolations were on Sunday with 2 consolations of 18 & 17 cars scheduled.  13 drivers made the call in each consolation with 4 drivers securing positions in the 100 lap feature event.

Briggs Danner led the consolation # 1 from green to checkered flag followed by Jimmy Blewett, Anthony Perrago and Matt Stangle.  Just missing the field in the 5^th position was Wad Hendrickson.  Roger Manning was in a qualified position but unlucky timing put him to the back of the field after a rain delay but he still moved through the field for a 6^th place finish but a DNQ nonetheless.  Joe Toth had racing contact which lead to heavy wall contact and his day was ended with a trip on the hook back to the pits.

Consolation 2 was also a green to checkered run by the pole sitter Eric Korrman who was followed by Ryan Godown, Neal Williams and Alex Yankowski in the final qualifying position.  Richie Pratt had a whole weekend of almost qualifying but ended up in 5^th position and the first alternate or the highly likely scenario that Pratt will get a track provisional.

Sunday – Modified Pit Notes

Ryan Krachun won the cash dash for the pole position and $600 bonus.  On Sunday Krachun continued to be one of the fastest cars on the grounds for the entire 3 days of racing.   The cash dash set the top 9 starting positions for the 100 lap feature event.  Cash Dash results:

1. Ryan Krachun
2. Jimmy Horton
3. Mike Mahaney
4. Danny Bouc
5. Jeff Strunk
6. JoJo Watson
7. Ryan Watt
8. Duane Howard
9. Jared Umbenhauer

Modified Match Races

An entertaining 12 driver modified match race was won by Mike Mahoney.  Dillion Steuer won his first 10 matches against all the cash dash entries above with the addition of Dominic Buffalino & Duane Howard.  After 10 wins in the outside lane Steuer just couldn’t hold off Mike Mahaney who won the 11^th and final match race.  Postrace Steuer stated “Unfortunately we underestimated how much fuel we would burn in the match races and on the last few races it started to stumble through the corners on the steep banking.  Still proud of what we accomplished winning the first 10 races.  Congrads to Mike Mahaney on the win.” 

The 100 lap modified feature and Speedster A Main will be rescheduled for early November with details to follow on Bridgeport Motorsports Website.

BIG DIAMOND SPEEDWAY

9/25/20 – The modified 25 lap feature saw Alan Barker and Dan Hineline bring the field to green.  It was Alan Barker going green to checkered flag in this caution free non-stop 8 minute feature event.  Barker parked his 16B entry in victory lane for the first time at Big Diamond Speedway.

In victory lane Barker stated “In one race my season turned 180 degrees.  We came to PA because of the situation in our home state of New York.  Every week we would go home with our head down talking about how tough these PA guys are.  It was great to turn it around tonight.  The green to checkered caution free feature was huge to our success but I still keep looking back.”

The modified top 10 was round was rounded out by points leader Mike Gular in second, followed by Louden Reimert, Duane Howard, Craig Von Dohren, Alex Yankowski, Kris Graver, Jeff Strunk, Rick Laubach and Dan Hineline.

The Modified Heat Races were won by Alan Barker and Duane Howard.

Big Diamond 9/25/20 – 25 lap modified feature

1. Alan Barker, 2. Mike Gular, 3. Louden Reimert, 4. Duane Howard, 5. Craig Von Dohren, 6. Alex Yankowski, 7. Kris Graver, 8. Jeff Strunk, 9. Rick Laubach, 10. Dan Hineline, 11. Matt Stangle, 12. Nick Rochinski, 13. Doug Hendricks, 14. Dillon Steuer, 15. Mike Lisowski, 16. Scott Albert, 17. Brett Gilmore, 18. Frank Yankowski, 19. Shawn Light, DNS Craig Whitmoyer

Modified Pit Notes

Alan Barker picks up his first Big Diamond feature win in only his 5^th start this season.  His prior finishes were DNQ, 17^th, 18^th, & 10^th.  Barker also picked up his first heat race win of the season.  A week ago Barker also got his first win of the season in the # 77 entry at Penn Can Speedway.  Looks like things are turning around everywhere for Barker.

Nick Rochinski returned behind the wheel of his 20C modified entry for the first time since early August due to a racing related injury at OCFG in the Deter Schmidt #5.  Nick Rochinski was pleased to be back behind the wheel of his family owned 20C.  Mad Max McLaughlin was behind the wheel of the 20C as a substitute driver while Rochinski was recovering.

Mike Gular continues to push forward toward his first Big Diamond point championship.  Gular finished 2^nd place from a 10^th place starting position.  Gular also extended his point lead over 2^nd place Craig Von Dohren to nearly 100 points with only one point event remaining.

Louden Reimert’s strong 3^rd place finish was his best of the season.  The 19 year old driver has emerged with consistent finishes in this pandemic shorten season and is demonstrating by his 6^th place point standing at Big Diamond with one week of points remaining and a 9^th place in the points standings at Grandview that he is someone to keep an eye on the rest of this season and into the 2021.

Big Diamond’s next event is on Friday October 2 featuring modifieds and a full program of racing starting at 7:30 PM.

Current Big Diamond Modified point standings are:

1. Mike Gular                          1606
2. Craig Von Dohren            1552
3. Jeff Strunk                          1530
4. Alex Yankowski                 1313
5. Rick Laubach                      1240

GEORGETOWN SPEEDAY

9/25/20 – No racing scheduled

Current Georgetown Modified point standings are:

1. Billy Pauch Jr.     432
2. Ryan Watt           384
3. Danny Bouc        349
4. Jordan Watson  293
5. Rick Laubach      280

Georgetown’s next scheduled event is Friday October 2^nd featuring the USAC East Coast Sprints, modifieds and a full card with racing at 7:30.

NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY

9/26/20 – No modified racing.

New Egypt 2020 final modified point standings: 

1. Danny Bouc                        462
2. Mike Butler                         438
3. Ryan Krachun                    418
4. David Van Horn                 406
5. Dominic Buffalino            403

New Egypt’s next event is the All Star Cup Shootout 100 on Saturday October 3 with modified 100 lap feature and a regular program of racing starting at 6:00 PM.

DELAWARE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

9/26/20 – No racing this week.

Next up at Delaware International Speedway is the Camp Barnes Benefit race on Saturday October 3 with modifieds and a full program of racing starting at 4:00 PM. 

DIS Final Modified Point Standings are:

1. Jordan Watson      935
2. HJ Bunting               775
3. Carson Wright        602
4. Brandon Watkins  545
5. Jordan Justice        538

GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY

9/26/20 – No racing scheduled this week.

Final Grandview Modified point standings are:

1. Craig Von Dorhen             3153
2. Duane Howard                  2906
3. Doug Manmiller                2694
4. Jared Umbenhauer         2691
5. Jeff Strunk                          2669

Grandview’s final event of the season is the Thunder on the Hill “Modified Treat or Treat Triple 20’s” and the sportsman division on Saturday October 17 with racing 6:00 PM.