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Mountain Madness from September 2nd

So, did everyone enjoy the final Friday night show of the season? Hey, it wasn’t bad at all! The car counts were a bit on the light side, but everyone flocked to the speedway for the late model and thriller autograph and camera night. On that note, let’s move on-

Brian Defebo not only picked up his eighth win of the season, but also added to his overall point lead, which is now 345 points over Donny Hartzell! Believe it or not, both drivers have had their share of hard luck early on in the season. For a while Steven Reed looked like the guy to beat, and as always, Tim Santee looked tough to beat. Ryan Preece continues to step it up, ripping off another top five. Although he consistently finishes in the top 10, there’s one driver who doesn’t get much mention. Ernie Dengler has ten top 10’s this season and the rookie finished sixth in Friday’s feature. Welcome to the fast track Ernie!

After last week’s caution-free late model feature how many of you thought this week would be the same way with less cars? You thought wrong! It was unfortunate to see that caution on the start, which ¾ of the field was taken out. It is believed that something mechanical went astray on the 11RT machine and from there- well, we saw the rest. No doubt, Larry Fisher put on a heck of a showing with only a few cars left. Glad to see Jackie was okay after inhaling all that great engine smoke after blowing up. So, who’s on the fast track? Well, Barry Callavini has not had a run this strong in some time. Although I’ll bet that Barry wasn’t overly excited to see Fisher come back to the speedway, he’s still put on the fast track to success at Mountain.

As always, the street stock feature was great! Congrats to ‘jumpin Jim Yamelski (as Mike Odwazny calls him) and Brad Kline. You guys remind me of the ’90 championship battle between Fey and Clark the way you run week in & week out. The fast track driver finished back in sixth, but it was a hard earned finish! Paul Frantz was taken out early, but he battled his way back and almost into the top five. Congrats Paul!

Are four lead changes in one 20-lap thriller race thrilling enough? Man, it was great to see a first time winner (Howie Bott) in victory lane. Bott took the lead on lap 10, lost it on lap 18 & then got it back on the final and most important lap. Congrats to you Dr. D! Uncle Petey and Bill Price looked very strong as well, and a tough break for Marissa Nelmes, who looked to have a strong running car. Josh Oswald earned his first hard charger pat on the back, but the driver on the fast track this week is Kevin Makarewicz. Kevin came out of the box strong and ready to go. Over the recent weeks, mediocre finishes pulled him along, but the track time and set-up is really paying off for that bunch. Congrats!

A special thanks goes out to our Mountain Madness sponsors, especially Valley Service Equipment Repair, who picked up a majority of the tab, and also J&J Contractors and CAD Visers. Without your support this thing wouldn’t exist!

Congrats to all the drivers who are ‘on the fast track’ to success at Mountain Speedway! You can pick up your awards at the photo booth after the drivers meeting on race day. See you soon at Mountain Speedway for more asphalt racing at its finest. Tune in next week for more ‘Mountain Madness’.

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