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Mountain Madness from August 5th

What a hot and wild weekend at Mountain Speedway. First the fans sat Through the Saturday night show in the nighttime heat, but then Mother Nature kicked it up a notch for Sunday's "Big Dog" 100-lap Street Stock Shootout. Thanks for everyone who came out and endured the long Sunday we had, and also congrats to Paul Frantz and Harry Sager on their wins! This column may evaporate over a small period of time, but please remember that it was and is meant to recognize the drivers who didn't necessarily win, but also to those who have shown success over the course of a couple of weeks, etc. Aside from all of that, gotta say thanks to too tense/kid rock himself, Mike Odwazny for all his help in the booth this weekend. It was a pleasure!

Chris Whitenight did a great job taking the Balliet's Country Corners modified win over Wayne Szerencsits Saturday…congratulations on your second win! A good run by "Lightening" Lou Strohl. Especially after having mechanical troubles with his primary car in warm-ups. Ryan Russo had another strong run and it was good to see the #27 of Hartzell back in action. The driver on the fast track this week is Marissa Niederauer. The young lady finished in the fourth spot and by doing so, held off many strong veterans at the fast track. Congratulations!

How about Jim Lamoreaux? Hard to believe that his late model win Saturday was his first of the season, isn't it? Mike Rodriguez, Jr. had another stellar run, as did Larry Fisher. The incident in the second lap was tough on a lot of equipment & hope everyone can get back soon. The driver on the fast track this week is "The Gas Man" himself, Jerry Brighthaupt. With only a handful of outings in '06, Jerry started tenth and finished in the fourth spot. That tied him with Joe Barbush, Jr. for the hard charger of the race. For the solid top five finish in only a few starts…welcome aboard Gas Man!

Wow, Josh Oswald sits second in points and notched his second career thriller victory…nice job! "Dr. Destruction", Howie Bott finished third, which was his season best in the new ride. Another great run for Ricky Ross, Jr. and K-Mac, Kevin Makarewicz as well! Always exciting, the thrillers never skipped a beat, running20-laps with only one caution. Oh yeah, the thriller Mountain Madness driver: That would have to be Mike Moyer, Jr. A rookie in the class, Mike already has one feature win and many top fives in a handful of starts. He charged from the eighth starting spot to finished second, which puts him on the fast track at Mountain Speedway!

A really tough night for the point runners in the four cylinder thrillers put a twist on another exciting finish. Joe Sherman was wrecked early on and Travis Fisher, Bob Wink and Harry Sager all had their share of problems Saturday. On the Other hand, Bill Halstead and Duane Garrison had strong runs, as did Jamie Damon and Jimmy White, Jr, who also advanced 14 spots in the race. So, that leads us to the driver on the fast track this week. By taking the win in his fourth four-cylinder start, it has to be Bobby Coco. Congratulations! The only disappointing thing was that there wasn't a burnout after the race. Then I could have said that the fans were coo-coo for Coco puffs, LOL! Maybe next time…congrats!

Don't forget, the Big Dog 100 modified race is coming on August 27th. Remember that the point's race in every division is very close at this point and can become closer yet over the weeks ahead! Congrats to all the feature & Mountain Madness winners. Also, thanks to this season's sponsor, Valley Service Equipment Repair from New Jersey. Good luck to all and tune in next week to see who is 'On the Fast Track' to success in 'Mountain Madness' at Mountain Speedway.