Local Racing
Rudolph Caps perfect Weekend with 358 Mod Tour Win at Tri-City Raceway Park; Flick, Bish and Lawrence also Victors
FRANKLIN, PA (July 25, 2020 – Pittsburgh Racing Now): Erick Rudolph completed a Western Pennsylvania hat trick Sunday at Tri-City Raceway Park. His victory came in the first race of the year for the Outlaw Small Block Modified Tour. Also taking wins were A.J. Flick in the 410 Sprint Cars, Curtis J. Bish in the Pro Stocks, and Mark Lawrence in the Mini Stocks.
Gary Kriess, Jr. and Dan Kuriger paced the field for the start of the 25 lap Sprint Car feature event. Jeremy Kornbau and Leyton Wagner were in row two, George Hobaugh and Brandon Spithaler in row three, and Flick and Carl Bowser in row four.
Kriess jumped out to the early lead, followed by Kuriger, Kornbau, Wagner, and Flick. Flick worked his way into second by lap seven. He took aim on Kriess and the two popular drivers traded the lead several times over the next several laps. Flick set a pick in turn four and pinned Kriess behind a slower car. That enabled Flick to pull away from the veteran. Kriess got another shot at the lead on a lap 17 restart, but Flick was up to the task.
Several drivers made advances in the final laps. Sye Lynch raced into second. Bowser took third on lap 20 and Brandon Spithaer moved to fifth on the same lap.
At the checkers, it was Flick, Lynch, Bowser, Kriess, and Spithaler. Kornbau was sixth, followed by Jack Sodeman, Jr. Sodeman was the hard charger, passing ten cars during the race. Kuriger, Darin Gallagher, and Michael Bauer completed the top ten.
Spithaler, Wagner, and Kornbau were the heat winners. There was no B Main.
Kyle Fink and Jeremiah Shingledecker brought the 358 Modifieds to the green flag. Kevin Hoffman and Tom Holden were in the second row, with Dave Schrader, Jr. and Lonnie Riggs in the third stanza. Rudolph and Max Smoker held row four.
Fink and Shingledecker battled for the early lead, while Rudolph steadily moved forward. Rudolph took command in turn one with seven laps complete. Hoffman climbed into second following the second caution in the 20 lapper, but he could not mount a challenge on the fleet New Yorker.
At the finish, it was Rudolph, Hoffman, Shingledecker, Fink, and Riggs. Jimmy Holden, Rick Regalski, Jeff Schaffer, Jr., Andy Jankowiak, and Tom Holden completed the top ten.
Riggs and Rudolph took heat wins. There was no B Main.
In the Pro Stocks, Curtis J. Bish fought off challenges from his borther, Curt Bish for most of the race. However, it was Jackson Humanic who charged into second and chased him home. Curt Bish held on for third. Rod Laskey was fourth, but he was close enough to the front that he could have capitalized on the slightest mistake of any of the leaders. Blaze Myers was fifth. Then came Randy Wyant, Tyler Wyant, Pat Fielding, Brett McDonald, and Wesley McCray. Laskey and Curtis J. Bish took the preliminaries. There was no B Main.
In the Mini Stock nightcap, Mark Lawrence held off Chad Greeley. Dalton Speer and Jim Buchanan were third and fourth. It was an eventful night for Dillon Speer, who won the three previous races. He lost his primary car in heat racing, went home for his spare, and started at the tail of the field. While moving forward in the feature, his car caught fire, but it was safe to resume racing, and he brought it home in fifth. Heat winners were Lawrence and Patrick Hanlon.
Tri-City Raceway Park will be back in action next Sunday with the Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks presenting “Ray’s Race,” held in memory of R.K. Virgile. Mr. Virgile was a long-time supporter of the class and the speedway. Also in action will be the 410 Sprints, 358 Modifieds and the Mini Stocks.
IMPERIAL, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Michael Norris doesn’t race every week at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway but ‘The Crusher Kid’ may want to add a few more visits to dirt’s ‘Monster Half Mile’ in 2022 after winning the feature in night 2 of the ‘Bill Hendren Memorial’.
Norris’ victory was his 2nd straight RUSH Late Model Touring Series win at PPMS and third in four events. Norris also won the ‘Jook George Steel City Classic’ in August and in 2020.
“Kyle (Lukon) got out there and was setting a pretty good pace,” said Norris. “I kind of got in line behind him and didn’t know if I had anything for him in clean air, but I figured once we got to lapped traffic we’d see what we’re both made of.”
Norris made his move on lap 11 and passed Lukon for the lead. Norris masterfully worked lap traffic over the remaining laps to capture the checkered flag and another win in a signature local event.
“It means a lot to win these memorials,” said Norris. “Any memorial means the person was pretty significant and were pioneers in the sport. I appreciate you guys putting this on, and I just love coming here any chance I get- I’ll run lawnmowers around here I don’t care.”
Kyle Hardy, Friday night’s winner, tried chasing down Norris over the final 17-laps but settled for second place and the RUSH Late Model Touring points lead.
“I didn’t have anything for Michael,” said Hardy. “We would have liked to have won tonight, but always have the big picture in the back of our minds. Not a bad weekend at all.”
Joe Martin was third for the second straight night. It was Martin’s fifth straight Tour podium finish, 10th straight top six, and 13th top six in the last 14 events as he maintains runner-up in the standings.
“Bill Hendren Memorial” Night 2 (30 laps, $3200 to-win): 1. MICHAEL NORRIS (51) 2. Kyle Hardy (99) 3. Joe Martin (Snyder 10s) 4. Colton Flinner (Chernik 5x) 5. Daryl Charlier (Centerline 114) 6. Logan Zarin (1z) 7. Levi Crowl (5) 8. Michael Duritsky, Jr. (90J) 9. Jacob Gunn (14G) 10. Garret Paugh (03) 11. Tony Musolino (Dobnak 42) 12. Bud Watson (225) 13. Ray Love, Jr. (08) 14. Zach Gunn (17G) 15. Tom Klein (77) 16. Tom Duratz (55D) 17. Ryan Frazee (11F) 18. Bill Kessler (09) 19. Kassidy Kamicker (72B) 20. Zach Kane (10) 21. Dan Lepro (2L) 22. Kyle Lukon (184) 23. Cole Petrelle (84) 24. Eddie Carrier, Jr. (Lukon 184X).
Non-Qualifier (6 laps, $500 to-win): 1. Philip Bubeck (Tennant 2) 2. Dave Goble (20G). DNS: Nick Love (38), Jeremy Wonderling (3J), Grant Garrison (1), Zach Morrow (Bentz 60), Tim Shaffer (45), Andrew Squatriglia (115).
WILLIAMS GROVE, PA (October 2, 2021): Carson Macedo earned his biggest career win in the 59th National Open held at Williams Grove Sppedway. He picked up $75,000, the largest payday ever doled out at the historic venue.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” Macedo said. “This is really cool. When I started coming here, I couldn’t get ahold of this place.” Well, Macedo grabbed control of the race on lap 36 and he did not let go. That was when he made the winning move in turn one, sliding past leader Logan Schuchart. “The lapped cars were holding up Logan. I just drove really hard. I slid across and the wing held me.”
Schuchart, who suffered perhaps the biggest disappointment of his budding career, was philosophical about the outcome. “All in all, two, second place finishes this weekend are pretty good for me. I’ve got a lot of years ahead of me. Carson ran a great race. I thought I could maybe rip the top on him.” But Schuchart’s attempted counter attack never materialized.
Brent Marks had the pole for the 40 lap affair. Schuchart was on his right. Sheldon Haudenschild and David Gravel were in row two. Anthony Macri and Carson Macedo continued the youth movement by starting in row three. Six-time Open champion, Donny Schatz and Justin Peck were in row four. Kasey Kahne and Lance Dewease started in row five, with James McFadden and Brian Brown in the sixth row.
Marks blasted into the lead, followed by Schuchart, Gravel, Macedo, Haudenschild, Macri, and Schatz. Before Marks could build upon his early advantage, a red flag stopped the race after just two laps. Brian Brown spun and collected Daryn Pittman, who turned over from the contact. Freddy Rahmer, Jr. was also involved in the melee. No drivers were injured, but all three were eliminated from the contest.
Marks assumed control again when the race resumed. He began to pull away from Schuchart as the laps clicked off. Marks’ bid for a second win in the Open ended when he got into a lapped car and spun in turn two. He was able to restart the race, but his quest for the victory was over.
That handed the lead to Schuchart. He was able to maintain control for the next twenty-three laps despite a second red flag on lap 12. Robbie Kendall flipped after he tangled with T.J. Stutts between turns one and two. Again, neither driver was hurt, but Kendall was done for the night.
While Schuchart led Macedo, Haudenschild, Macri, and Gravel, the battle was for the sixth spot. Schatz and Dewease were mixing things up until lap 27, when Schatz took the position once and for all.
Schuchart got into traffic and kept his advantage over Macedo. However, in the final ten laps, Macedo began to close on the leader. He made his winning move on lap 35, and led the final four laps. Schuchart made a desperate bid in the final corners, but came up a tad short.
Following Macedo and Schuchart were Haudenschild, Macri, and Gravel. Schatz was sixth. Then came Dewease, Kyle Larson, McFadden, and Brad Sweet.
Macri received a $1,000 bonus for the highest finishing PA Posse driver. Sweet grabbed $559 as the hard charger. He advanced nine positions during the race.
The heat wins were chalked up by Schatz, Macedo, Gravel, and Haudenschild. Dewease set the fast time again, this time topping Group B with a lap of 16.774 seconds. He failed to lock into the dash when Macri swept by him in turn one following a restart with two laps to go in the third heat. The B Main winner was Jacob Allen, and Devon Borden took the checkers in the C Main.
IMPERIAL, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Kyle Hardy picked up his first win at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway by grabbing the feature victory in night one of the ‘Bill Hendren Memorial’.
“What a race- it was super fun out there,” said Hardy. “I can’t thank my crew to get this car so good to where I could steer across the middle of the race track. What a car we’ve had all year.”
Hardy held off PPMS track Champion Daryl Charlier in a thrilling side-by-side battle for several laps around dirt’s ‘Monster Half Mile’.
“If you had a camera or mirror on me you’d have seen how freaked out I was just trying to get where I needed to be to win this thing,” said Hardy.
The victory was not a surprise as Hardy was the runner up when the RUSH Late Model Touring Series visited PPMS twice earlier this season for the ‘Herb Scott Memorial’ and ‘Jook George Steel City Classic’.
Charlier brought it home in second place and earned $1,500 for his efforts.
“If I’m going to finish second I guess I’ll finish second to Kyle Hardy- he’s the top dog in the crates and especially the RUSH Series,” said Charlier.
RUSH Late Model Touring Series “Bill Hendren Memorial” (30 laps, $3000 to-win): 1. KYLE HARDY (99) 2. Daryl Charlier (Centerline 114) 3. Joe Martin (Snyder 10s) 4. Eddie Carrier, Jr. (Lukon 184X) 5. Jeremy Wonderling (3J) 6. Jacob Gunn (14G) 7. Bud Watson (225) 8. Garret Paugh (03) 9. Logan Zarin (1z) 10. Levi Crowl (5) 11. Ray Love, Jr. (08) 12. Zach Kane (10) 13. Michael Reft (9R) 14. Colton Flinner (Chernik 5x) 15. Michael Duritsky, Jr. (90J) 16. Tony Musolino (Dobnak 42) 17. Zach Gunn (17G) 18. Kyle Lukon (184) 19. Ryan Frazee (11F) 20. Zach Morrow (Bentz 60) 21. Bill Kessler (09) 22. Justin Kann (66) 23. Philip Bubeck (Tennant 2) 24. Tim Shaffer (45).
DNQ: Dan Lepro (2L), Tom Duratz (55D), Grant Garrison (1), Kassidy Kamicker (72B), Tom Klein (77), Rob Coffaro (24), Dave Goble (20G), Nick Love (38), Noah Brunell (31), Zach Crawford (c4), Ben Policz (14B).
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