Larry Wight Claims First STSS Modified Victory at Day 2 of Sunshine Swing

Written by Cody Manmiller / STSS PR STAFF

LAKE CITY, FL – For the first time in his career, ‘Lightning’ Larry Wight earned Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco glory on Thursday night, capturing night two of the Sunshine Swing at the All-Tech Raceway in Lake City, Fla.

Wight, who rebounded from dead last to run fifth on Wednesday, took a more conventional route on Thursday, quickly launching from his fourth-place starting spot to the lead, a $5,000 paycheck and his first STSS triumph. Wight is the 35th winner all-time in series history.

“We’ve been chasing one of these races for a long time,” Wight said in Victory Lane. “We’ve been really close before with Gary Simpson’s ride, but always caught a bad break or bad luck.

“I’m really happy to get one of these races.”

Wednesday night’s runner-up finisher Billy Pauch Jr. led the field on the opening circuit of the evening’s 35-lap main event, ahead of Danny Creeden, Danny Johnson, Wight and Tyler Siri.

Wight wasted no time dispensing of the pair of Danny’s and moved into second behind Pauch by lap three. Meanwhile, Erick Rudolph was the big mover, advancing from eighth to fourth in just three circuits. One lap later, Rudolph scooted by Creeden for third.

With Wight checked out, Rudolph closed in on Pauch and then passed him for second by lap seven. The front of the field stayed the same throughout the middle of the race, but by lap 20, Rudolph had clawed to Wight’s rear bumper behind a line of lapped traffic.

Thanks to some late cautions, Wight cruised in open air, crossing the line ahead of Rudolph and Pauch.

“We had a really good piece tonight,” Rudolph commented on the front stretch. “So far, so good to start the season; we still have two more nights to get a win.”

Pauch Jr. bagged his second consecutive podium finish to start the season, cementing himself as one of the premier contenders in the division.

“You hate to go backwards from second, but we had a good car all night,” Pauch said. “This is still one of the coolest tracks out there and hopefully we can put it on the top of the podium by the end of the week.”

Johnson finished fourth, his second top-10 of the week, ahead of Creeden. Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were: David Schilling with the Wegner Automotive LS 427 “Weekend Warrior” engine, Siri, Wednesday night’s winner Matt Sheppard, Jordan Watson, who managed his second straight top-10; and Marc Johnson, who followed his podium finish from Wednesday with a 10th-place result.

An apparent first-time victory for Delaware’s Brandon Watkins was nixed in post-race tech inspection due to a helper spring violation. Watkins had led fellow First State competitor Scott Hitchens across the line in the 25-lap, $1,500-to-win event.

Hitchens is the apparent victor pending additional technical inspection on Friday morning.

Tom Princiotta, Joe Toth, Tyler Corcoran and Dylan Madsen filled out the front five.  

‘Sunshine Swing Night # 2 Results – ALL-TECH RACEWAY PARK FEB. 10, 2022

Modified Sunshine Swing Event No. 2 Feature Finish (35 laps): 1. LARRY WIGHT, 2. Erick Rudolph, 3. Billy Pauch Jr., 4. Danny Johnson, 5. Danny Creeden, 6. David Schilling, 7. Tyler Siri, 8. Matt Sheppard, 9. Jordan Watson, 10. Marc Johnson, 11. Mike Mahaney, 12. Danny Bouc, 13. Stewart Friesen, 14. Michael Maresca, 15. Alex Yankowski, 16. Billy Decker, 17. Darren Smith, 18. L.J. Lombardo, 19. Brian Pessolano, 20. J.R. Heffner, 21. Bobby Flood, 22. Peter Britten, 23 Jeff Strunk, 24. Jeff Taylor, 25. Tanner VanDoren, 26. Addison Bowman, 27. Tim Buckwalter, 28. Rick Laubach.

Did Not Qualify: Carson Wright, Nicholas Mady, Jr., Jacob Dgien, Matt Stangle, Francois Bellemare, Corbin Millar, J.R. Hurlburt, Tommy Rascoe, Matt Smith, Rusty Smith, Demetrios Drellos, Doug Snyder, Ryan Conrad, Michael Trautschold

Crate 602 Sportsman Sunshine Swing Event No. 2 Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. SCOTT HITCHENS, 2. Tom Princiotta, 3. Joe Toth, 4. Tyler Corcoran, 5. Dylan Madsen, 6. Walter J Hammond, 7. Payton Talbot, 8. Marty Kelly III, 9. Walter Hammond, Jr., 10. Johnny Bruno, 11. Craig Whitmoyer, 12. Jimmy Zacharias, 13. Addison Bowman, 14. Mike Nagel, Jr. , 15. Steve Davis, 16. RichardMurtaugh III, 17. John McPhee, Jr., 18. Jeff Watson, 19. Dave Dickey, 20. Eric Kormann, 21. Josh Allen, 22. Anthony Warren, 23. Brian Calabrese, 24. Michael Ballestero, 25. Alex Bell, 26. Kevin Chaffee, 27. Kevin Stevens.

Disqualified: Brandon Watkins

Did Not Qualify: Blaine Klinger, Gordon Smith, Jason Quenneville, Kyle Smith, Alex Layn, Bobby Watkins, Shawn McPhee, Jimmy Avery, Maverick Eldridge, Ryan Zelosko, James O’Hara, Josh Masterson, Matthew Sobiech, Tim Millman, Kenny Bock.

Still two nights remain in the 2022 edition of the STSS Sunshine Swing at All-Tech Raceway, beginning on Friday night with $6,000 up for grabs for the 40-lap feature.

Friday, February 11 – All-Tech Raceway/Lake City, Fla. – STSS Modifieds 40 laps, $6,000 to win & STSS Crate 602 Sportsman 30 laps, $2,000 to win

Saturday, February 12 – All-Tech Raceway/Lake City, Fla.  – STSS Modifieds 50 laps, $8,000 to win & STSS Crate 602 Sportsman 30 laps, $2,000 to win