Can Any
Modified Driver Stop John Bennett?
Rick Reichenbach looked
like he was about to return to Victory Lane for the first time in seven
years. It didn’t happen.
Don Wagner looked like he
would finally get a win this season. It didn’t happen.
What did take place instead
was another rousing performance by John Bennett who won for the fifth time.
Like a man on a mission
Bennett continues to forge a path to lasting glory at Mahoning Valley
Speedway as the Lehighton ace is showing no signs of letting up on his
weekly dominance. He’s either winning or finishing second and the question
seems to be is there no one able to stop him from doing more of the same.
On this ride to victory
Bennett came from ninth spot and used a lap 17 restart to overtake Wagner
for the lead. As is the case Bennett then made it a race for second.
“It was tight racing
throughout the whole field. I got hung up on the outside of Donny (Wagner)
and he and I made a little contact coming up to the green and I just barely
got by him and then we had another hard fought restart again but we ended up
on top,” said Bennett who is now one triumph away from a track record 50
career wins.
From his pole starting spot
Reichenbach got an excellent jump and then proceeded to pull away from the
pack. In second was Andy Szapacs with Wagner on his tail. It took Wagner
until lap ten to move past and once he did he began to cut away at
Reichenbach’s commanding lead.
By lap 15 Wagner as well as
Bennett were honing in on Reichenbach. Then on lap 17 disaster struck the
leader. Exiting turn two he suddenly spun and within a flash saw his victory
hopes disappear.
Wagner and Bennett now
occupied the front row and when the race restarted Bennett over powered
Wagner for the lead. It was a close call too as they touched wheels and got
a tad loose.
Wagner than stayed on
Bennett’s tail and never gave him much breathing room. Chip Santee came into
the mix over the waning laps. He and Wagner waged a torrid duel for second
while staying very close with Bennett.
“These guys are really
getting their stuff in tune now and by far there is no advantage anymore,”
said Bennett.
Santee was able to pass
Wagner with five laps to go but felt getting second was the best he could
produce on this night.
“Donny (Wagner) and I ran
real clean and that’s the way races should be. My car wasn’t quite right
tonight. If I had the car like I did last week when we won, I think it may
have been a reverse role between John (Bennett) and me, who knows,” said
Santee.
“That’s the way things end
up. He got the best of us tonight but maybe next week things will change.”
13-year old Austin
Kochenash of Danielsville is no stranger when it comes to winning races as
he is a many time victor and national champion in quarter midgets.
This year, however, the
soon to be 8th grade Honors student at Northampton Junior High School is
back to being a rookie in the Late Models. But, the kid drove like a
seasoned veteran as he held off perennial champion Todd Stehle in garnering
his career first win as a professional driver.
Kochenash started from the
pole and was quickly perused by Frankie Althouse. In near side-by-side
fashion the pair raced. Althouse even eked his way to the lead on lap 10 but
Kochenash fought right back and retook the spot on the ensuing tour.
At that point the young
lion began putting a nice gap on the rest of the field but it diminished on
lap 16 with the race’s first caution. While under the yellow Althouse ducked
into he pits to repair a faulty spark plug wire and Stehle assumed second.
Despite having the all-time
division win leader and multiple champion on his side, Kochenash proved he
was up to the challenge as he held off Stehle and took a well earned
victory.
Kochenash came within five
laps of sweeping the night too. In the make-up Late Model feature from July
11, Althouse was in the right place at the right time as he inherited the
lead with five laps to go and went on to score his third victory of the
season.
Kochenash had been leading
from the get-go and fending off point leader Stehle. Stehle was hounding him
with repeated inside attempts and tried just a bit too hard on lap 20 as he
nipped his left rear and sent him spinning.
Both Kochenash and Stehle
had to restart from the rear while third place at the time Althouse moved to
the front where he firmly stayed the rest of the way. Joe Mooney was second.
In Street Stock action
rookie Devin Gibson of New Tripoli broke through for his first class win.
Gibson passed early leader Jillian Long on lap five and then held off had
charging Randy Ahner, Jr., en route to the popular verdict.
In the July 11 make-up for
the Pro4’s, Lehighton’s Kevin Graver, Jr., raced to a convincing 2.7-second
victory over Jeremy Miller.
Graver took the lead from
Dave Chapman on lap two and once in front it was no contest. In doing so he
notched his eighth win of the season and 22nd with the class.
In the regular feature the
roles were reversed as Miller came out on top for his third ’09 victory.
Eighth starting Miller passed the strong running Gene Bowers on lap 12 and
then held off Graver over the final four laps.
Chad Jones of Ottsville made a thrilling inside move on Steve Folk with two
laps to go and went on to his third Dirt Modified win of the season.
Ron Merlino of Franklinville, NJ won the 4c Super Modified main. Merlino
took the lead on lap two and then held off Joe Jackson for the win.
Modified Feature Finish, 35 Laps: 1.John Bennett 2.Chip Santee 3.Don Wagner
4.Tom Flanagan 5.Bobby Jones 6.Lou Strohl 7.Bill Teel 8.Andy Szapacs
9.Lonnie Behler 10.Rock Reichenbach 11.Matt Higgins 12.Jarred Nace 13.James
Pritchard, Jr.
Late Model Feature Finish,
25 Laps: 1.Austin Kochenash 2.Todd Stehle 3.Kristian Kalch 4.Joe Mooney
5.Rick Wallace 6.Frankie Althouse 7.Ed Bauer 8.Todd Geist Did not start:
Chub Steigerwalt
Make-up Late Model Feature
Finish (7/11), 25 Laps: 1.Althouse 2.Mooney 3.Kalch 4.Stehle 5.Kochenash
6.Geist
Street Stock Feature
Finish, 25 Laps: 1.Devin Gibson 2.Randy Ahner, Jr. 3.Justin Mooney 4.Josh
Mooney 5.Kristy Morone Arthofer 6.Brian Labar 7.Shawn Sitarchyk 8.Paul
Effrig 9.TJ Gursky 10.Todd Ahner 11.Jillian Long 12.Mike Garris, Jr. 13.Matt
May 14.Jamie Smith 15.Jason Frey 16.Chris May 17.Adam Santee 18.TJ Kemmerer
19.Chris Smith 20.Zach Graver
Dirt Modified Feature
Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Chad Jones 2.Randy Thomas 3.Steve Folk 4.DJ Wagner
5.Alex Mayer 6.Dave Thomas 7.Bill Sitler
Pro4 Late Model Feature
Finish, 20 Laps: 1.Jeremy Miller 2.Kevin Graver, Jr. 3.Gene Bowers 4.Dave
Chapman 5.Barry Christman, Jr. 6.Jim Wismer, Jr. 7.Jake Kibler 8.Mike
Stringer 9.Dennis Silfies 10.Mike Stofflet 11.Jack Hill 12.Arland Moyer, Jr.
13.Clarence Ruppert
Make-up Pro4 Late Model
Feature Finish (7/11), 20 Laps: 1. Graver, Jr. 2.Miller 3.Wismer 4.Chapman
5.Stringer 6.Silfies 7.Bowers 8.Hill 9.Christman, Jr. 10.Kibler 11.Stofflet
12.Ruppert
4c Super Mods Feature
Finish, 15 Laps: 1.Ron Merlino 2.Joe Jackson 3.Steve Renn 4.Mike Renn 5.Wes
Gilbert Did not start: Bob Renn