---

Brink doubles up at Jennerstown. Awtey, Beam and Fleegle return to Victory Lane. Novak leads the Chargers.

Jennerstown, PA (June 18, 2016): Saturday was Armed Forces Appreciation Night presented by Lockheed Martin Aero Parts. The Pittsburgh Circle Track Club was also on hand. Fans got to see an added bonus to the Saturday Night Thunder program with a make-up feature for the Modifieds. Victorious during the evening's five-division program were: Barry Awtey (Martella's Pharmacy Late Models), Chris Brink (Stoystown Auto Wreckers Modifieds - the scheduled and make-up features), Shawn Beam (Riggs Industries Street Stocks), Frank Novak (Chargers) and Casey Fleegle (Somerset Trust Company Fast 'N Furious 4's).

The Stoystown Auto Wreckers Modifieds started off the evening's racing program with a 25-lap make-up feature from last week. Saxonburg's Bernie McQuillan led the first lap before rookie Zane Ferrell took command of the lead. Third row starters Chris Brink and Adam Kostelnik quickly asserted themselves in the Top 3. Brink overtook Kostelnik for 2nd Place on Lap 6 and one lap later gained the top spot with a pass of Ferrell. Kostelnik would take the runner-up spot from Ferrell on Lap 9. By the halfway point of the event, Brink enjoyed a two second advantage over Kostelnik. That lead vanished as the caution flag flew with 16 laps completed. Kostelnik jumped to the lead on the double-file restart but would only hold the point for one circuit before Brink reclaimed the to spot. Brink would cruise to Victory Lane with Kostelnik coming home in 2nd Place, Ferrell in 3rd, McQuillan taking 4th place and Tom Golik placing in the 5th position.

Connellsville's Bobby Henry started to the outside of polesitter Joe Maruca and led the early portion of the 40-lap Martella's Pharmacy Late Model event. Teddy Gibala, who started 4th, positioned himself in the runner-up spot while the trio of Matt Sever, Barry Awtey and Garry Wiltrout tried to close on the leaders. On Lap 6, Awtey worked to the outside of Sever on the backstretch to moved into the 3rd spot. With Henry still leading the pack, Awtey made a move under Gibala on Lap 9 in a battle for 2nd. Yet, Gibala used the momentum of the outer groove to run door-to-door with Awtey for a handful of laps. Exiting Turn 2 on Lap 13. Wiltrout was able to shuffle Sever back to 5th Place. Henry enjoyed a comfortable lead while Gibala and Awtey battled behind him. Unfortunately, Henry began to slow on Lap 14 and went pitside to bring out the caution. On the single-file restart, Awtey, using his veteran skills, got a jump on Gibala to take the lead. Two laps later Wiltrout took 2nd Place from Gibala. As the laps would down, Awtey maintained a second lead over Wiltrout as a tight, three-way battle ensued between Gibala, Sever and Jeremiah Kuntz. Awtey, from nearby Jenners, would go on to take the checkers. He is the third different driver in three races to win this season, joining Sever and Wiltrout. Gibala, who has shown steady improvement since joining the Late Model ranks a couple of years ago, finished in 3rd Place followed by Sever and Kuntz. Heat race wins went to Awtey and Sever. With the feature win, Awtey extended his lead over Wiltrout to six points in the championship hunt.

After an impressive victory earlier in the evening during the Stoystown Auto Wreckers make-up feature from June 4th, all eyes were on Chris Brink. The veteran Modified pilot from Penn Run had actually been the only driver to visit Victory Lane in the three feature events this season, although his opening night win didn't stand due to being disqualified for a carburetor infraction in post-race inspection. To complete the double for the evening, Brink would have to do so from the 9th starting position. Irwin's Lou Botti started on the pole position for the 25-lap main event and led the first four trips around the Somerset County speedway. East McKeesport's Adam Kostelnik, a multi-feature and championship winner throughout Western Pennsylvania, passed Botti for the lead on Lap 5. Already in the mix at that point was Brink. Kostelnik's time in the lead was short-lived as Brink took the point position on Lap 7. Three cautions between Laps 8 and 19 bunched the field, but each time Brink was able to hold off Kostelnik on the restarts. Down the stretch, Brink pulled away to garner his second victory of the evening. Kostelnik held onto 2nd, followed by Tom Golik, Zane Ferrell and Bernie McQuillan, Golik and Ferrell won their respective heat races. Ferrell, a rookie in the division, leads the points standings by 24 markers over Joe Ballough.

After an opening night victory, Somerset's Shawn Beam has had to play bridesmaid to Lauren Butler in the Riggs Industries Street Stocks the past two weeks. The question was whether he could even the score during the division's 25-lap feature on Saturday. Ridgeley, West Virginia's Dustin Gursky started on the pole position and led the first six circuits. Making his first appearance of the season was Pittsburgh's AJ Poljak, who started the race in ninth and made his way up to 2nd Place by the third lap. Poljak drove below Gursky on the backstretch on Lap 7 to take the top spot. At this point in the race, Beam had worked his way from his 10th starting position to run in the Top 3. As the previous race winner, Butler started 12th and was pressuring Andrew Kostelnik for 4th Place at this point of the race. Butler would take the position from Kostelnik on Lap 10. On the next lap, Beam displaced Gursky for the runner-up spot. Shortly thereafter, a spin by Mike Holp brought out the first caution of the race. During the caution period, Kostelnik went to the pits; relinquishing his Top 5 position. He did return to racing action. Poljak would withstand Beam's challenge on the restart with Butler not far behind. A spin by Gursky with fifteen laps completed set up a double-file restart which again saw Poljak gain a slight advantage over Beam once racing was back under green. On Lap 19, Beam charged outside of Poljak on the exit of Turn 2 and into the lead. One lap later, Butler moved past Poljak and into 2nd Place. Behind the lead trio, Jason Holder, Anthony Aiello and Mark Houser jockeyed for the 3rd through 6th positions. On Lap 23, Aiello would shuffle Holder back to 5th Place. As the white flag flew, another spin by Holp brought out the yellow; setting up a two-lap shootout. Being the leader, Beam chose the outside line on the double-file restart. Butler, now to Beam's inside, paced slightly ahead of the leader coming to the green. With rules stating that the first row must pace equally, it appeared that she tried to slow her speed; at which point Beam put the hammer down and shot past Butler on the restart. Beam held off Butler to claim his second win of the season. Poljak took 3rd Place ahead of Aiello and Houser. Beam and Kostelnik won their heat races. With two feature wins apiece, Beam leads Butler by five points in the standings.

Jason Pritts led the Chargers to the green for their 15-lap feature. Outside polesitter Tanner Friedline from Hooversville took the lead at the drop of the green. Normalville's Frank Novak quickly got by Pritts to take over the 2nd spot by Lap 2. On Lap 7, Novak drove under Friedline exiting Turn 2 to grab the lead. At this juncture of the race, Scott Mitchell joined the mix and was running 3rd ahead of Stephen Shelpman; winner of the first two races of the season. With five laps to go, Shelpman had charged his way to 2nd Place and was doing his best to run down the leader; including dirt tracking off of the exit of Turn 4. On the last lap, Shelpman got loose off of Turn 2 and slid sideways; glancing the outside wall. He recovered, but lost the position to Friedline as Novak took the checkers. Shelpman held on to finish 3rd with Mitchell coming home in the 4th spot and Pritts completing the remainder of the Top 5. Shelpman won the division's sole heat race and leads the points standing by 14 over Novak.

The handicap system employed by Jennerstown Speedway allows for great racing action as many of the consistently fast cars have to work their way through traffic. As fans have witnessed, it can lead to exciting action. Many times that is the case with the Somerset Trust Company Fast 'N Furious 4's. Johnstown's Joe Peifer started the 15-lap feature in the 5th position, but quickly made his way to the top of the leaderboard by the time the first lap was completed. On the second trip around the ultra-smooth half mile oval, outside polesitter Steve Settle had taken the lead followed by Larry Deeter and Stoystown driver Andrew Pluta who was making his first start of the season. By Lap 3, Pluta was running 2nd and set his sights on Settle. While all of the shuffling up front was going on, last week's winner Casey Fleegle was charging through the field. Having to start from the 12th spot, the Frieden's driver was up to 3rd by Lap 5. Settle appeared to have a car that could withstand all challengers. However, he came upon cars at the tail of the field running side-by-side as they exited Turn 4 on Lap 11. Settle dove below both cars and impacted the inside retaining wall of the frontstretch; causing extensive damage to his ride. Pluta held off Fleegle for the first two laps after the restart. Another caution again bunched the field. This time, with three laps remaining, Fleegle got a jump on Pluta when the green flag dropped. Cindy Rhodes, who started 10th, also made her way around Pluta once back underway. Fleegle would hold off Rhodes down the stretch to pick up his second win in a row. Pluta held onto 3rd ahead of Peifer and Brent Bickerstaff.. Heat race wins went to Fleegle, Pluta and Settle. Fleegle's win places him one point ahead of Rhodes in the championship battle with Bickerstaff only 8 markers behind the leader.

A jam-packed evening is in store this Saturday, June 25th. In addition to our regular Saturday Night Thunder five-division program, it's Autograph Night plus the Chargers will make up their June 11th feature and Saturday will see the second running this season of the Big John's Enduro 100. Admission is only $10, $8 for senior citizens and free for children 12 and under. Spectator gates open at 4PM.

LATE MODELS
Finish Driver

1. Barry Awtey
2. Garry Wiltrout
3. Teddy Gibala
4. Matt Sever
5. Jeremiah Kuntz
6. Bryan Shipp
7. Jeremy Hill
8. Todd Price
9. Scott Stern
10. Joe Maruca
11. Bobby Henry

MODIFIEDS (make-up from June 11th)
Finish Driver

1. Chris Brink
2. Adam Kostelnik
3. Zane Ferrell
4. Bernie McQuillan
5. Tom Golik
6. Jason Busch
7. Joe Ballough
8. Brad Milburn
9. Matt Panaia
10. John Gerula
11. Lou Botti

MODIFIEDS
Finish Driver

1. Chris Brink
2. Adam Kostelnik
3. Tom Golik
4. Zane Ferrell
5. Bernie McQuillan
6. Brad Milburn
7. Joe Ballough
8. Jason Busch
9. Lou Botti
10. Matt Panaia
11. John Gerula

STREET STOCKS
Finish Driver

1. Shawn Beam
2. Lauren Butler
3. AJ Poljak
4. Anthony Aiello
5. Mark Houser
6. Jason Holder
7. Andrew Kostelnik
8. Aaron Van Fleet
9. Ron Eiford III
10. Dustin Gursky
11. Mel Wilt
12. Steve Singo
13. Zac Todaro
14. Mike Holp
15. Steve Long (DNS)

CHARGERS
Finish Driver

1. Frank Novak
2. Tanner Friedline
3. Stephen Shelpman
4. Scott Mitchell
5. Jason Pritts
6. Jason Garchak
7. Paul Molnar
8. Justin Frampton
9. Joe Ruskey
10. Brandon Delano (DNS)

FAST 'N FURIOUS 4's
Finish Driver

1. Casey Fleegle
2. Cindy Rhodes
3. Andrew Pluta
4. Joe Peifer
5. Brent Bickerstaff
6. Larry Deeter
7. Scott Ahlborn
8. David Campbell
9. Eugene Zerfoss
10. Brian Noel
11. Aaron Karasack
12. Joe Laposky
13. Angie Kimberly
14. Kristin Lakin
15. Jeremy Grubbs
16. Richard Maglet
17. Steve Settle
18. Paul Koffler III
19. Joshua Grubbs
20. Mike Shaulis
21. Larry Dunmyer (DNS)
22. Wilbur Stewart (DNS)

---

Back to News