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www.mahoningvalley-speedway.comCOMING EVENTS: Season complete
2013 Awards Banquet, January 25, 2014 at the Northampton Community Center in Northampton.
Zane Zeiner Cashes In With $5G Mahoning Valley Octoberfast Victory
By DINO OBERTO
(LEHIGHTON, PA 10-26-13) When it comes to the big paying extra distance Modified races at Mahoning Valley Speedway everyone comes to expect the likes of either Eric Beers or Matt Hirschman to be vying for the win and most of those times Zane Zeiner has been in their shadow, always close but no cigar.
For Zeiner, the big one is finally his. Yes, Hirschman did lead and looked his usual strong self and then Beers assumed command and was seemingly on his way to yet another victory until Zeiner stepped it up a notch with nine laps to go and made a race winning pass. He then drove the Gary Cretty owned No. 23 Modified to a $5000 victory in the season ending Octoberfast 2013 Presented by Tom Ring’s Brown Daub KIA.
“This is great to finally get one of these 100 lap wins here,” said Zeiner from Victory Lane. “We just bided our time and saw the right opportunity to get by Eric (Beers) when it counted most.”
Not only did Zeiner score the win but his teammate, 2013 Mahoning Street Stock champion Chip Wanamaker, zipped past Beers on the final lap to take second. Austin Kochenash and Earl Paules, the only other cars running on the lead lap, completed the top five.
The 130 lap feature would take much longer than expected to run as numerous cautions consumed much of the time. However, when the lights stayed green the full house of fans was treated to some exceptional competition.
After a redraw from the four heats, Zeiner had the pole with Roger Coss alongside. When the race began Zeiner headed out front first and was quickly followed by third starting Chip Santee. After some close two-wide dueling, Santee rose to the front by lap four.
At the same time there was an immense amount of tight racing behind him. Zeiner was battling with Paules and Don Wagner while Beers and Hirschman lurked nearby.
Paules was running very strong and utilized the outside lane to pull past Zeiner and then go even with Santee for the lead which he did after a lap 14 restart. Not so quick to give up, Santee came right back on the ensuing lap and over the next dozen tours they continued a torrid dogfight.
As the leaders fought, Hirschman took advantage of cautions and did some slick maneuvers to advance on their rear bumpers by lap 26. Coming from 14th on the grid, he took second from Santee on lap 30 and then set his sights on Paules.
The race for the lead was again extreme. Paules held Hirschman at bay but not by much as they circled around the quarter mile in some very fan appealing side-by-side action. With Hirschman running the high side he finally unseated Paules at lap 51. Two laps later a caution was out and Paules pitted for tires, handing second over to Zeiner with Beers third.
On the restart Beers made quick work of Zeiner and then went after Hirschman, eventually gaining the lead on lap 64. On the next lap the yellow was back out and Hirschman used that time to make a tire change.
On the restart his day would come to an abrupt end as he was caught up in a jumble in which he collided with Mike Quinn. His car’s front end was damaged to the point that his crew was unable to get him back out in time for the restart and he would call it a night after 67 laps.
With Beers still leading, the question was would be able to go the distance without a pit stop. Likewise with Zeiner as they both elected to stay on track while everyone else made at least one stop. Not only were their tires a concern but more so with fuel due to the high number of caution laps.
Undaunted, they carried on. Beers was showing no signs of slowing nor conserving either as he was pulling away as the laps began clicking towards the finish. Then a caution with 15 laps to go would not only erase his comfortable lead but change the complexity of the race all together.
As Zeiner lined up alongside him for the restart, Beers was not pulling ahead as he previously had. Zeiner saw this as his time to strike. Taking the high groove, he eased alongside with ten laps remaining and then vaulted into first on the next go around where he would stay to the checkers.
“The longest race I had ever won here was a 76 lapper. We have been chasing these 100 lap races for a long time and this marks a huge victory for us. I can’t thank my crew and car owner Gary Cretty for all the hard work,” offered Zeiner.
“Eric (Beers) was tough out there especially towards the end but like I said we just bided our time and the right opportunity came along.”
Wanamaker, who had moved into the top five with 25 laps left to run, found a burst of power after the last restart and went head to head with Beers after Zeiner had taken the lead. It wasn’t until the final lap that he secured the spot and made it a satisfying day for the team.
“This was a great run and I owe it all to Zane (Zeiner),” said Wanamaker. “We got together this past week and worked real hard at getting everything in the car right for tonight and it was like a rocket out there. To be able to get around Eric Beers and then come home second to Zane and have a one-two finish as teammates is a gratifying feeling.”
Beers noted that his demise came from a blistering tire that caused a serious shimmy and he was just holding on near the end. His finish did however earn him a second title on the year as he collected the overall championship for the Mahoning Modified Madness Series that nicely accompanies his track title.
Heats for the 29 Modifieds went to Eric Mauriello, Santee, Beers and Zeiner with Jimmy Zacharis annexing the consi.
With $3000 to win, the largest Dirt Modified field since 2005 came out to contend for the cash and glory in the 60-lap affair and taking top honors was Ricky Ross Jr., who made his first ever visit to the Leighton oval his biggest career win.
Ross, who started seventh in the 24 car field, passed Ricky Yetter for the lead at the halfway mark and once in front never headed en route to the popular verdict.
At the outset Yetter was on a mission as the track fan favorite blasted into the early lead from his outside row two starting spot. From there he was cruising, even setting fast time during the feature. Earlier he sped to a new track record with a Dirt Mod at 10.247-seconds so his strong upfront run was being justified as the feature began.
Ross in the meantime got the feel for the track in a hurry. He was second by lap three but Yetter was maintaining a very comfortable distance. However, by lap 25 the gap was shortening as Ross began to reel in the leader.
Yetter was having a tire issue as a leaking right rear caused him to slowly back down which gave Ross the chance to seize the lead just as the halfway signal was given.
There would be no looking back from there on as he drove perfectly the rest of the way. Newly crowned class champion Jeff Parker eked by upstate New York ace Jessy Mueller on the final lap to get second while former champion Kris Graver, running Corey Renninger’s Big Diamond car, was fourth and Yetter, who had pitted for a new tire, blasted back through to take fifth.
Ross, Steve Searock, Dave Gorbatuk and Yetter won heats with Mueller copping the consi.
In the Street Stock finale, Stacey Brown and Chip Wanamaker swapped the lead over the first six laps. Afterwards Brown went to the helm for good and would stay the course the rest of the way, covering the 75 lap distance in a solid performance that saw him go most of the way dealing with a relentless Justin Mooney who tried repeatedly to get around.
Brown never let up his fight and held his ground from the inside lane. In the closing laps Zach Graver made a try but again it would be to no avail as Brown triumphantly took the checkers for his biggest career win which was worth $2000.
Mooney settled for third with Todd Ahner and Lorin Arthofer II rounding out the top five.
Lonnie Behler, Jillian Long, Graver and Wanamaker won their respective heats with the consi going to Jamie Smith.
Modified Feature Finish (130 Laps): 1. Zane Zeiner, 2. Chip Wanamaker, 3. Eric Beers, 4. Austin Kochenash, 5. Earl Paules, 6. Nevin George, 7. Tony Hirschman, 8. Brandon Oltra, 9. Jimmy Zacharias, 10. Roger Coss, 11. Bobby Jones, 12. Matt Wentz, 13. Ron Frees, 14. Matt Hirschman, 15. Don Wagner, 16. Mike Quinn, 17. Chip Santee, 18. Todd Baer, 19. Andrew Krause, 20. John Markovic, 21. Shawna Ingraham, 22. Eric Mauriello, 23. Lou Strohl, 24. Rick Kirkendall, 25. Eric Kocher
DNQ: Brain DeFebo, Bobby Drown, Wilton Nickerson, Bobby Wagner
Dirt Modified Feature Finish (60 Laps): 1. Ricky Ross Jr., 2. Jeff Parker, 3. Jessy Mueller, 4. Ricky Yetter, 5. Kris Graver, 6. Aleia Geisler, 7. David Hunt, 8. Mike Stofflet, 9. Steve Searock, 10. Bobby Butler, 11. Billy Lowden Jr., 12. Mark Martini, 13. Steve Folk, 14. Bill Sittler Jr., 15. Dave Gorbatuk, 16. Brad Grim, 17. Andrew Krause, 18. Matt Carman, 19. Jack Ely, 20. Dave Thomas, 21. Guy Harby, 22. Tom Cremmer, 23. Louie Mitchalk, 24. Rich Coons, 25. Bill Briggs
DNQ: Scott Adams, Frank Parastino, Tom Soldrich, Dion Naples, Scot Hulmes
Street Stock Feature Finish (75 Laps): 1. Stacey Brown, 2. Zach Graver, 3. Justin Mooney, 4. Todd Ahner, 5. Lorin Arthofer II, 6. Jillian Long, 7. Matt Wentz, 8. Kyle Strohl, 9. Lonnie Behler, 10. Kevin Kromer, 11. TJ Gursky, 12. Jonathan Tracey, 13. Steven Steigerwalt, 14. Chip Wanamaker, 15. Josh Mooney, 16. Jason Frey, 17. Mike Garris Jr., 18. Shawn Sitarchyk, 19. Howie Conk Jr., 20. Gene Bowers, 21. George Ramos, 22. Jamie Smith, 23. Austin Santee, 24. Aaron Kromer
DNQ: Willie Knappenberger, Cody Roth, Guy Ackerman, Jason Duke, Chris May, Paul Morgan Jr., Dennis Buss
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