STSS Sunshine Swing Day 3 – Pit Notes (Friday Feb 11, 2022) – Mike Maresca Claims his First STSS Win at All-Tech Raceway

Mike Maresca picked up his first STSS win at All-Tech in his 3^rd race of the season at the STSS Sunshine Swing.   Friday morning Maresca’s crew put a new rear clip on his car and the car responded immediately with a heat race win from his 5^th starting position.  From there he redrew 2^nd for the 40-lap feature with Larry Wight drawing 3^rd right behind him.  Maresca tussled with Laubach for 10 laps but took command of the lead on lap 11 and that is where he stay until the checkered flag despite negotiating seven restarts on a tricky and everchanging track.  Maresca was able to keep the likes of Billy Pauch Jr; Larry Wight and Erik Rudolph behind him for 30 laps which was an achievement as all three have been around the top five for the entire sunshine swing.

The three most consistent cars for all three days have been Billy Pauch Jr, Larry Wight, and Erik Rudolph.  Wight leads the Sunshine Swing Points with 275 with Billy Pauch and Erik Rudolph tied for second with 270 points.

The usual podium contenders Friesen and Sheppard have fallen off a bit.  Except for his opening night win; Matt Sheppard has been a bit off with 7^th and 8^th place finishes on the other two nights.  Stewart Friesen started his season with an uncharacteristic hard wreck into the wall in his first race and was just off the pace on his second night with a 13^th finish from a 13^th start.  Things started to get back to normal on the 3^rd night of the Sunshine Swing as Friesen sprung back to normal in the feature with a 5^th place finish from a 17^th starting position after pitting early and going to the tail of the field.

The defending South Region STSS champion Mike Mahaney has been a bit off in the first two races of the swing but seemed to find some momentum in the 3^rd feature of the swing.  Mahaney struggled to two below par 11^th place finishes in the first two features of the Sunshine Swing.  Still struggling on night 3 through the heats and consolation Mahaney took a provisional and started 28^th.   Mahaney started to turn the corner on his 2022 season and finished 8^th from his 28^th starting position and earned the hard charger award for the night.  Look for the 2022 South Region champion to be looking for his spot on the podium for the Sunshine Swing $8,000 finale.

David Schilling has quietly made a splash with his new to the Short Track Super Series “Wegner 427 “Weekend Warrior” motor.  Schilling has qualified for all three races with a 14^th place finish on opening night and improving to a 6^th place finish on his second night out.  He was able to duplicate his 6^th place finish on the 3^rd night of the Sunshine Swing but this time from a 20^th starting position.  David noted “This motor makes very smooth power and we have adjusted the car to where I feel very comfortable all over the track.”

There are two spec 358’s on the grounds and they have been doing pretty well for themselves as both have qualified all three nights for the feature.  Veteran Tim Buckwalter and teenager Tanner Van Doren have been rim riding on the top to stay up with the bigger motors. 

602 Crate Sportsman

For the 3^rd night in row the 602 crate winner was disqualified, and the 2^nd place car awarded the win.  Matter of fact the on Wednesday night both 1^st and 2^nd were disqualified handing the win to 3^rd place Steve Davis.    Thursday saw Scott Hitchens and Friday saw Michael Ballestero awarded their wins from 2^nd due to Disqualification of the winner.

Michael Ballestero was disqualified from a top 5 on Wednesday only to benefit from a disqualification on Friday and move up from 2^nd to get the win.

One final night remains in the Sunshine Swing, as the STSS Modifieds will race for $8,000 on Saturday night.

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