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Mountain Madness from September 11th

Please keep in mind all of the victims from 9-11-01….let’s never forget!

Two more point weeks remain…….wow! It’s been a full season to say the least, with only one rain out. Is that amazing or what? Speaking of amazed, how about the car counts Sunday? Is this a hint, or just drivers wanting to get the most racing they can out of their systems before winter? Guess time will tell.

On behalf of Mountain Speedway, good luck to all of the Mountain and Mahoning drivers and teams who are heading up to Oswego for the Race of Champions. Let’s bring some gold back to Northeastern PA guys & girls! Well…on to it:

Brian Defebo not only picked up his ninth win of the season in the Balliet’s Country Corners modified 30-lapper, he also clinched his third mod championship! Congrats. After the first two weeks he was 18th in the standings! Another nice run by the young Ryan Preece, along with Mike Bohn and Steven Reed, but the driver on the fast track this week definitely has the knowledge and experience at Mountain Speedway…that’s Tommy Flanagan. The weeks he ran, Flanagan had his share of mechanical problems, but turned them around this week. Congratulations Tommy, you’re on the fast track list.

Another win by Larry Fisher proves that he is well on his way to the late model championship. Pretty much, by taking the green in the feature on the 25th, he can clinch the crown. He and Mike Rodriguez, Jr. have been very strong, and we can’t count out ‘the gas man’ (Jerry Brighthaupt) and Joe Hoffman. Speaking of Hoffman, this guy has had one up and down season for sure and also sits second in points. It’s not the third win of the season, but the third place finish Sunday puts Hoffman on the fast track in the late models. Congrats Joe!

In my opinion there couldn’t have been a better ending to the Mark Corbisiero memorial. Shaun Burd had the absolute worst, then best day! Danny Cascioli had a terrific run going, but at least he got some gas money out of the deal (for leading lots of laps). Victory lane was so emotional, I started to get teary-eyed & got out of there. Mark will truly be missed, but it is truly awesome how his memory is so alive. Congrats Wallbanger. So, who is on the fast track from this 77-lapper? That would be Rodney Gruber. Gruber had a strong 6th place finish, which may very well help change his season around & they can take that into ’06. Congrats Rodney!

How about the thrillers? Richard Petey never even led a lap, finished third & was awarded the win after post race tech! Wow, now that’s a way to retain that point lead. Another tough week for a couple of drivers, but again, we saw Oswald, Bott and Verwys with strong runs. Jeff Owler began racing part time this season at Mountain and has had a few decent finishes. The top five this week puts him on the fast track to success in the thrillers. Congrats!

Off to the 4 cyl. Thrillers. Man, these guys run 4 wide at times. The scary part is I can hear myself talk because they’re not extremely loud, LOL. Pete Verwys got the win, his fifth of the season of Joe & Joe. Meeker, Nesbitt, Adams and Shoemaker all had great runs. However, Shoemaker and Adams had problems later on and it doesn’t show their strong runs in the finishing order. The driver on the fast track this week is Jimmy White, Jr. He brought a brand new (used, but new to him) car out and had a strong 4th place run! Congrats Jimmy. One more top 5!

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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