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Mountain Madness for May 6th. 


Friday night thunder has finally hit Mountain Speedway!  The driver (as usual) put on one hell of a show in every division.  With this new PA system and four weekly divisions, the Friday night racing will only get better.  My hat goes off to the officials from this past week.  They all help make the show run smooth, and Ed Solt proved to us that MVS lost a prize employee.

So, on that note, let's move on.

There were a record seventeen 4 cyl. thrillers, which I swear, swapped positions and paint just about every lap.  The 'regulars' in the top 5 looked strong, such as Grocholski, Verwys and Heintzelman.  It was also great seeing that sharp looking truck of John Cozza out there.  John is an enduro ace from Riverhead, NY.  Travis Fisher showed promise again this week, but got shuffled back later in the race.  Nick Adams was impressive with his second place effort as well.

So, with all of these guys mentioned, who is really on the fast track from Friday'  Well, prior to Friday, Chris Meeker started a handful of events last season, and has one start this season (now two, counting Friday).  Chris will agree, that the Ford Escort he drove was not very competitive, which was shown in his finishes.  However, Chris built a new car and brought it to the speedway Friday.  He started the feature way back in 14th, stayed out of trouble and finished on the lead lap in 8th, picking up six positions.  Chris has definitely shown us that he is on the fast track in his new ride at Mountain Speedway.

Brad Kline and Jim Yamelski put on one heck of a show in the street stocks, which seems to be the norm.  It was only a few weeks ago, where we all saw the same finish.  The only difference is that we were lacking the sun Friday night.  Scott Meckes & JR Roth also had a nice showing.  It was great to see JR back at the track after that hard hit last Sunday.  It was tough to see Dennis Buss get knocked out of the feature before he even took the green, but as they say, that's racin'.  Over the past few weeks, Paul Frantz has overcome many obstacles.  It wasn't too long ago when he was without a ride for the season.  Paul's 3rd place showing in Fridays feature (picking up 8 spots from where he started) proves that he is the street stock driver who is on the fast track.

What a modified feature it was for the 30-lap main event.  I was also impressed to see twenty straight caution free laps (much better than last week)!  Rusty Smith calmly found himself in the right situation to take the win, while Pecko had his best run so far this season (look for this guy in victory lane). 

For some time, it looked as though Defebo had it in the books, but on lap 23, that all changed when Pete Brittian drove up the back of Defebo in turn 4.  Brittian spun out, but Defebo did a great job hanging on to it.  Although he didn't win and had to settle for second, this is Brian's best finish thus far, as he's coming off two straight DNF's.  Look's like Defebo is back on the fast track at Mountain.

A familiar face hit victory lane in the late models, that being Jerry Brightaupt.  Jerry did the bump & run on Brittian in turn 1 on lap fifteen to take the top spot.  Brittian came back to finish third, and Fisher ended up fourth after a spin early on.  Joe Barbush looked like he had the car to beat for a while.  Joe also had the second fastest lap of the race.

Last week Chris Whitenight didn't race because of his deathly allergy to poison ivy.  Chris did show up at the track, but was taken to the hospital for ivy treatment.  'The Legend', Chris Smales drove Whitenight's car to a heat win, and finished seventh in the feature.  In week one, Chris had a strong run going before spinning out in the feature.

This week, Whitenight looked stronger than ever, maneuvering his way through the top five and into third.  While coming off four, on the final lap, Whitenight ran up high, literally climbing the wall, and ending up in the infield.  It was great to see Chris was all right, and also great to see that while some drivers jump through hoops, others will climb walls to please Mountain's fans!  Seriously, Whitenight's best finish of the season, along with the spectacular finish, puts Whitenight on the fast track, proving that this late model rookie is for real!

Congrats to all the drivers who are 'on the fast track' to success at Mountain Speedway!  See you soon for more Friday night thunder.  Tune in next week for more 'Mountain Madness', brought to you by Valley Service, J&J Contractors and CAD Visers, Inc.

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