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Earl Paules “Flawless” in Mountain Modified Main
By: Gene Ostrowski
May
4, 2008
Three of the four feature winners notched their first wins of the season
Sunday at Mountain Speedway. Earl Paules held off a late race charge
by Rusty Smith to notch his first modified victory of the season. After
two straight weeks of bad luck, Paul Frantz bested Todd Ahner for top
honors in the double points street stock event and Paul Koehler grabbed
his first late model victory of the season over Jim Lamoreaux. After
holding off Nick Ross, Scott Adams took his second win of the season in
the thriller feature.
Barry Callavini and Tommy Wanick III led the modified field to the drop
of the green for the much anticipated 40-lap feature. Before a lap was
complete, Wanick took the top spot.
Wanick held the lead until lap five, when fifth place starter, Earl
Paules, drove around the outside of Wanick and into the lead. At that
point, Andy Walko ran third, with Callavini fourth and Brian DeFebo
fifth.
The first of four caution periods came on lap seven when Jerry Woody
spun in turns one and two. During the same caution period, Matt
Hirschman, who was running sixth, hit the pits with a right front flat.
Hirschman did not return to the speedway.
Once green flag racing resumed, Walko began to take charge. The young
driver disposed of Wanick for second and attempted to reel in Paules. A
few circuits later, Rusty Smith made his presence known, as he passed
Kyle Ebersole and Wanick to take third.
With twenty-four laps complete, Smith grabbed second from Walko when his
car washed up the race track in turn two. The caution flew for Walko
only two laps later when he looped his car in the same turn. When the
race restarted, DeFebo was scored third with Ebersole and Wanick in the
top five.
Smith tried to work Paules for the lead over the remaining laps and moved to the inside with a last chance effort off the final turn. With the checkered flag in sight, Paules claimed the victory by a mere 0.082 seconds. DeFebo crossed the stripe third and Ebersole tied his best finish with fourth. Callavini completed the top five. “The car ran good today”, said Paules (Palmerton, PA) after edging Smith for his first modified win of the season. Along with his crew and sponsors, Paules thanked all of the fans that came out for a great day of racing. Earl Paules and Kyle Ebersole were heat race winners. Forty laps was the set distance for the double-points street stock feature. Paul Frantz and Jarred Aigeldinger shared the front row for the start and Frantz shot into the early lead. Brad Kline got around Aigeldinger and trouble struck after one lap was completed. Kline’s car pushed up the track coming out of turn four. Aigeldinger had nowhere to go and the end result was both cars collecting in a big way, which brought out the red flag. Although Aigeldinger’s car became airborne and Kline’s car was tore up badly, both drivers escaped injury. Neither one was able to continue. Frantz still held the point when green flag racing resumed. Scott Meckes held second over Richie DiMarco, Todd Ahner and Chip Wanamaker with five laps complete. Meckes finally got his chance to lead after he made an inside pass stick on lap twenty-one. However, Frantz counteracted the following lap with the same maneuver. Ahner grabbed second from Meckes just after the halfway mark and attempted several passes on the leader. Fighting a loose condition, Ahner had to settle for second behind Frantz (Schiedys, PA). Meckes held on to finish third. Wanamaker and Steve Shultz rounded out the top five. Paul Frantz and Scott Meckes were heat race winners. Ricky Ross, Jr. started on the pole in the 30-lap late model feature and fell to second behind Paul Koehler, Jr. when the green flag dropped. Roger Heffelfinger, Jr. took second on the following lap and Ross slipped to third. The three remained the same with ten laps completed. Joe Brown and Brian DeFebo held fourth and fifth. The caution flew on lap eleven when Ross spun from his third place position on the speedway. Green flag racing resumed and Heffelfinger continued to run second with DeFebo on his rear bumper. The caution waved once more. This time, for a turn three incident, when DeFebo tried to overtake second from Heffelfinger. Both drivers had to restart from the tail of the field. Jim Lamoreaux and Mike Sweeney moved to second and third after getting by Brown in the closing laps. However, Lamoreaux didn’t have enough time to reel in Koehler. Sweeney settled for third, with Earl Paules fourth. After making several pit stops to repair damage from an altercation earlier in the event, Joe Hoffman rebounded to finish fifth. Paul Koehler, Jr. and Brian DeFebo were heat race winners. Nick Ross and Bill Price, Jr. shared the front row for the start of the 20-lap thriller main event. Ross grabbed the early lead and Nick Shaw, Scott Adams and Mike Moyer, Jr. got by Price by lap five. With almost ten circuits complete, Adams grabbed second from Shaw and began to reel in Ross. Only three laps later, Adams grabbed the number one spot and began to put some distance between himself and second. Fender rubbing has become the norm in thriller competition this season and several drivers swapped paint during competition. In the end, it was Adams, who picked up his second win in his last three races. Ross finished as the runner-up, followed by Shaw, Moyer, Jr. and Price completing the top five. Mike Moyer, Jr. and Nick Shaw won heat races. The next Mountain Speedway event will take place on Saturday, May 10th with the running of the Street Stocks, Thrillers, 4 Cyl, FWDs and double features for the ATQMRA Midgets. Kids big wheel races will be held at intermission. The following day, Sunday, May 11th will showcase the return of the Sport Modifieds, Super Stocks and Legends. Being that the race is held on Mother’s Day, general admission to the speedway will be free for all moms. Modified (40-laps) 1. EARL PAULES 2. Rusty Smith 3. Brian Defebo 4. Kyle Ebersole 5. Barry Callavini 6. Tommy Wanick III 7. Lewis Hallock 8. Jerry Woody 9. Andy Walko 10. Robert Fink 11. Rich Parker 12. Jason Makarewicz 13. Tom Casagrande 14. Matt Hirschman DNS: Tom Wanick, Sr, Don Holland Late Model (30-laps) 1. PAUL KOEHLER, JR 2. Jim Lamoreaux 3. Mike Sweeney 4. Earl Paules 5. Joe Hoffman 6. Tony Volpe 7. Brian Defebo 8. Ricky Ross Jr 9. Joe Brown 10. Mike Radocha Jr 11. Todd Geist 12. Dave Luff 13. Kyle Harvell 14. Roger Heffelfinger Jr. 15. Sean Corr DNS: Augie Hahn, Dan Berlitz Street Stock (40-laps) 1. PAUL FRANTZ 2. Todd Ahner 3. Scott Meckes 4. Chip Wanamaker 5. Steve Shultz 6. Brian Wozniak 7. John Moser 8. Dan Cascioli 9. Josh Oswald 10. Keith St Clair 11. Rich Dimarco 12. Brad Kline 13. Jarred Aigeldinger Thriller (20-laps) 1. SCOTT ADAMS 2. Nick Ross 3. Nick Shaw 4. Mike Moyer Jr 5. Bill Price Jr 6. Mike Moyer Sr 7. Rob Schutter 8. Marissa Makarewicz 9. Eric Wink DNS: Wayne Lowe
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