TWO
CAREER FIRST WINNERS AMONG TOP DRIVERS AT AMR
MAY
9, 2004 (KANE, PA) - Allegheny Mtn. Raceway beat Mother Nature on Sunday May
9th as it was able to get week #2 of the 2004 racing season in the books.
With
the threat of storms all day, the show was well orchestrated and ran smoothly
and quickly. Storm clouds were just to the south of the track when the final
feature event was underway.
Among the four feature winners were a pair of career first winners and
two past winners at the track.
Starting
out the evening's feature action, the Pure Stock division took the track for
their 20-lap feature which was presented by Castle Products.
Zolten Laska and Jim Hulings brought the field down to the green flag
with Hulings grabbing the lead at the start.
Laska fell into second behind Hulings but immediately started to apply
pressure on the leader. By lap
three, Laska worked his way by Hulings to take the top spot.
Meanwhile, Gary Hepler had moved up to challenge for the runnerup spot
with Jeff Biel and Mike VanZandt close behind.
With Laska still in the lead, Hepler took over second on lap 5, pushing
Hulings back to 3rd. One lap
later, VanZandt had also moved by Hulings.
Hepler started running down Laska by the halfway point with the leaders
beginning to approach lap traffic. Just
past halfway, Laska was able put a pair of lap cars between himself and Hepler
who began to see pressure from VanZandt and opening night winner Mitch Boylan.
Hepler dropped to the pits on lap 12, further giving Laska some
breathing room between himself and second place car of VanZandt.
Laska, from St. Marys, PA, continued to run a fast pace over the final
five laps, cruising to his career first feature win.
Mike VanZandt held off Boylan for second with Bill VanZandt and Jim
Hulings rounding out the top five. Heats
were won by Hulings and Hepler. With
his third place run, Boylan holds a slim 2 point lead over rookie Mike
VanZandt in the point standings after two weeks of competition.
Next
on the track was the 20-lap AbsolutePowderCoating.com Sportsman Modified
feature. Carl Mohney and Joe
Watson paced the field for the start with the two battling back and forth over
the first lap before Watson was able to finally take the lead.
Meanwhile Jeff Hellwig worked his way by Mohney on lap two before the
caution came out. On the double
file restart, Watson lined up inside of Hellwig with Hellwig able to take the
lead when the race resumed. Hellwig
held off Watson for the next two laps before a hard-charging Jim Myers worked
past Watson to grab the runnerup spot.
While Myers was fast, he wasn't able to get by Hellwig over the final
15 laps. Despite several mid race
restarts, Hellwig held on for his career first Sportsman Modified feature win.
Myers settled for second followed by Joe Layfield, Joe Watson and
Darren Tarabori. Ryan Bright and
Myers copped heat wins.
The
third feature of the evening saw Doug Walker and Joe Milstead on the front row
for the 20-lap event for the Zook Motors Mini Stocks.
Milstead grabbed the lead at the start with Walker falling into second
followed closely by Bert Cleer and Jesse Jolly.
By lap two, Dave Gausman worked his way into fourth while Milstead
continued to lead over Walker. The
race's first caution came on lap 8 with Milstead still holding off Walker.
On the restart Milstead again held the top spot followed by Walker,
Gausman, Dennis Asel and Cleer. With
the 2nd through 5th place cars battling back and forth over the mid-portion of
the race, Milstead was able to drive his own race, surviving two lap race
restarts for his first win since mid-season of 2002.
At the line it was Milstead followed by Walker, Cleer, Gausman and Asel.
Walker and Milstead were heat winners.
Opening Night feature winner Dennis Asel continues to lead the point
standings over Steve Mowrey.
The
Kane NAPA Street Stocks took to the track for the final 20-lap feature of the
evening. Ken Shelley and Chris
-Austin made up the front row for the start but by the end of the first lap,
the area's hottest Street Stock driver in the young 2004 season, John Layfield
motored by both front row cars and into the lead.
Austin took over second with Shelley in third.
By the second lap, Mike Eschrich moved up from his third row start spot
to grab the third spot from Shelley. By
lap five, opening night winner Bill Layfield moved by Eschrich to grab third
as John Layfield continued to lead over Austin.
Austin and Bill Layfield started a heated battle for the second spot by
the mid-point of the race. On lap
twelve, contact was made as the pair came onto the frontstreth out of turn
four with Austin's car forced into the wall.
This allowed Bill Layfield, Joe Layfield, Eschrich and Shelley all to
bypass Austin. While Austin was
able to continue, Bill Layfield was given a black flag for rough driving.
As the race continued, John Layfield held the top spot with his brother
Joe a ways back in second. In the
end, John Layfield went on to take the win followed by Joe Layfield, Mike
Eschrich, Ken Shelley and Chris Austin. Joe
Boylan and John Layfield were heat winners.
In the point standings, Joe Layfield's two top-5 runs have him atop the
standings with a 4 point edge over Chris Austin and Mike Eschrich who are tied
for second.
Racing
action returns to Allegheny Mtn. Raceway next Sunday May 16th, 2004 as the
270cc Micro Sprints make their first appearance of the season at the Kane area
track. Kane NAPA Street Stocks,
AMR Pure Stocks, and Zook Motors Mini Stocks make up the rest of the
4-division show. Gates open at
3:00pm with racing action getting underway promptly at 5:00pm.
AMR is located on Highland Road, south of Kane off of PA Rt. 321s.
For more information, call the track at (814) 598-9077 or visit their
website www.amraceway.com.
RESULTS
SUMMARY:
ABSOLUTEPOWDERCOATING.COM
SPORTSMAN MODIFIEDS
HEAT
1: Ryan Bright, Mt. Jewett, PA
HEAT
2: Jim Myers - Mt. Jewett, PA
FEATURE:
1.
Jeff Hellwig, Olean, NY
2.
Jim Myers, Mt. Jewett, PA
3.
Joe Layfield, Bolivar, NY
4.
Joe Watson, Smethport, PA
5.
Darren Tarabori, Galeton, PA
CASTLE
PRODUCTS PURE STOCKS
HEAT
1: Jim Hulings, James City, PA
HEAT
2: Gary Hepler, Kersey, PA
FEATURE:
1.
Zolten Laska, St. Marys, PA
2.
Mike VanZandt, Callensburg, PA
3.
Mitch Boylan, Mt. Jewett, PA
4.
Bill VanZandt, Emlenton, PA
5.
Jim Hulings, James City, PA
ZOOK
MOTORS MINI STOCKS
HEAT
1: Doug Walker, Kane, PA
HEAT
2: Joe Milstead, James City ,PA
FEATURE:
1.
Joe Milstead, James City, PA
2.
Doug Walker, Kane, PA
3.
Bert Cleer, Kane, PA
4.
Dave Gausman, Kane, PA
5.
Dennis Asel, Kane, PA
KANE
NAPA STREET STOCKS
HEAT
1: Joe Boylan, Mt. Jewett, PA
HEAT
2: John Layfield, Allentown, NY
FEATURE:
1.
John Layfield, Allentown, NY
2.
Joe Layfield, Bolivar, NY
3.
Mike Eschrich, Mt. Jewett, PA
4.
Ken Shelley, Smethport, PA