Conneaut, OH (August 30, 2019): The 2019 regular season ended at Raceway 7 with five champions crowned. Darrell Bossard had wrapped up the Evergreen Lake Park Campground RUSH Late Model championship August 23. Matt Latta captured his sixth feature win of the season. Mike Potosky won his fifth Bonnell’s Collision Center E-Mod feature of the season with Mike Kinney edging out Casey Bowers for the championship by eight points (unofficial). Jamie Duncan won his fourth Campbell’s Mini Storage main event of the season but Pat Fielding had clinched the championship last week. The closest points battle of the year was in the Bonnell’s Auto Sales Economods where Kyle Miller held a nine-point lead going onto the final night of racing over Matt Alexander. Alexander won the feature but was second in his heat while Miller won his heat and wound up third in the feature, allowing Miller to hang on and clinch the championship by a single point! In the Sunnyside Farm Transit Mini Stock feature Dalton Speer crossed the finish line first but failed technical inspection due to an illegal part, so was disqualified, advancing Mark Lawrence to his fifth win of the season. Lawrence had a banner year and had secured the championship with a week to spare. At intermission Bill Taylor was honored for his fifty years of racing and all the contributions he has made to the sport over that time. Taylor, in his seventies, stated “That’s really cool” and then thanked the fans and drivers, saying “You make it fun”. He was presented with a new helmet donated by fellow competitor Troy Johnson and signed by drivers and track employees. On his way back to the pit he was greeted with a line of drivers, owners, and employees with hand shakes, reminiscent of the reception given to Dale Earnhardt after his 1998 Daytona 500 win.
The Campbell’s Mini Storage Street Stocks had Darr Diegelman and Jamie Duncan on the front row with Joe Stajnragh and 2019 champion Pat Fielding in row two. Diegelman led lap one with Duncan, Stajnragh, Fielding and David Baker filling out the top five. Stajnragh spun in turn two, slowing the race under caution and elevating Fielding to third, Baker to fourth, and Tom Teed to fifth. Douglas Eck got by Teed for fifth at lap three then at four laps two-time winner Watson spun in turn one with Charlie McMillen, Dave Snyder, and Teed getting involved and blocking the track, stopping the event under the red flag. When racing resumed it was Diegelman, Duncan, Fielding, Baker, and Eck leading the way. Eck suffered a flat right rear tire, forcing him pitside. Tony Spaghetti spun in turn four with five laps complete, climbing onto one of the infield-marking tires, also involving McMillen, Teed, and Stajnragh. At this point only seven cars remained on the track with Diegelman still leading until Duncan got by at eight laps by .074 second. Watson edged Stajnragh for fourth at ten laps. Fielding took over second at eleven laps when McMillen again spun. Being his third charged caution, he was sent pitside. The final caution was for a spin with one lap remaining by David Baker. The top five wound up as Duncan, Fielding, Diegelman, Watson, and Teed.
Garrett Calvert and two-time winner Nate Young brought the Bonnell’s Auto Sales Economod feature to green with championship contenders Kyle Miller and Matt Alexander starting sixth and fourth respectively. Coming into the final event Miller had an eleven point lead over Alexander. At lap one Calvert led Young, Kyle Reinwald, Alexander, and Miller. In turn four on lap two Young spun but did not stop. However, both Derek Connors and Bob Vogt Jr also spun, putting the race under caution with only one lap complete. Since he did not stop, Young was restored to second for the restart. This attempt at lap two had J J Bumetzrieder and and Kyle Atkins spinning in turn four. Judson Fell spun at lap four then Mike Harmon managed to spin in turn three on the pace lap as the field sped up then suddenly slowed. Nate Young got to the lead at lap five over Calvert, Alexander, Reinwald, and Miller. Atkins spun again in turn four at eight laps then Miller came to fourth at the restart and the to third at lap nine of the fifteen scheduled. Casey Harmon and Derek Connors both came to a stop in turn four with Connors heading to the pits then Harmon again stopping in turn one. The restart had Nate Young leading Alexander, Miller, Reinwald, and Calvert as the top five. With two laps remaining Young had a very narrow .085 second lead as the two raced nearly side by side. At the white flag Alexander had the lead by an even narrower .011 second. At the checkers Alexander was ahead by .069 second for his third win of the season. With Miller third, he clinched the championship by a single point after a season of close racing. The top five were Alexander, Nate Young, Miller, Reinwald, and Jarrit Young. Miller’s right front tire was deflating over the last few laps and he stated that another lap or a caution would have been the end of his championship hopes. The tire was totally flat during his championship interview. A gracious Alexander congratulated Miller on his season.
The Bonnell’s Collision Center E-Mod feature started with Randy Hall and four-time winner Mike Potosky on row one and running side by side to turn four of lap one when Potosky edged ahead. Back in the pack the battle for the points championship raged between Mike Kinney, who was one point in the lead for the championship coming into the feature, and Casey Bowers. At the end of one Kinney was third with Bowers sixth. At lap four Bowers got to fourth with Kinney taking second at lap five and Bowers powering to third. Out front Potosky was lengthening his lead to 2.710 seconds at lap seven while Kinney and Bowers were now side by side on the back straight and into turns three and four where Bowers uncharacteristically spun in turn four, hitting hard on his championship hopes. On the green it was now Potosky leading Kinney, May 31 winner Dennis Lunger, Hall, and Josh McDonald. At the halfway point Hall had moved by Lunger for third with McDonald also getting by for fourth at lap eleven. With five to go the front five were the same with Bowers back up to tenth. With three to go Bowers was eighth. The final caution came at lap seventeen when Mark Titus spun in turn two. At the checkers it was Potosky, Kinney, Hall, McDonald, and Lunger the top five. Bowers finished eighth, giving the championship to Kinney by an unofficial twenty points.
Twenty-six cars started the Evergreen Lake Park Campground RUSH Late Model feature with Jared Kane and Joe Long leading the way. Kane led to turn three when Long got by him. Then former two-time Kyle Zimmerman spun in turn four. Long took the lead in turn two on the restart, then both Kessler and Dave Airgood slowed on the back straight. Airgood, in apparent retaliation, hit Chris Withers on the pace lap for the restart and was disqualified for his actions. Yet another caution marred the attempt at lap two when Joe Howell spun in turn two. On this green Latta came to second but just past the flag stand Tyler Allison got into the front straight wall hard. Latta again took second on the restart and lap two was finally complete with Long leading Latta, Kane, Boozel, and Darrell Bossard, who had clinched the championship, his second consecutive, last week. With two complete, Joe Watson and Kessler got into the front straight wall. On lap five the race for the lead was side by side between Latta and Long on the back straight with Latta ahead by a car length at the completion of the lap. Watson then spun again in turn four at five laps. At six laps Long was again the leader over Latta, Kane, Boozel, and Bossard. Five cars piled up in turn four at lap seven including Joe DeFazio, Chad Sines, Cory Sines, Ron Boardman, and Joe Howell. Long and Latta were again side by side in turn three with Long the leader at the line. At halfway Long led Latta, Kane, Boozel, and Bossard. One lap past halfway Long slid wide in turn two, allowing Latta to get by for the lead. Watson spun for the third time at lap fourteen, sending him pitside. Howell also spun again. At sixteen, Bossard and Boozel were side by side for fourth with Bossard showing a .042 second ahead. At nineteen laps Bossard spun in turn two. The finish was Latta, Long, Kane, Boozel, and Zimmerman.
The Sunnyside Farm Transit Mini Stocks had Tricia Jacklett and Joe Romanko on the front row for the feature. Coming to green Brian McGarvie got into the front straight wall. At the end of one lap it was Romanko leading Lane Reinwald, Jessica Harvey, and Dalton Speer with Jacklett, Zoey Gill, and Wick three-wide for fifth. Harvey was second at three laps with Gill now solidly in fifth. At four laps Harvey was leading. Caution flew at six laps when Reinwald came to a halt on the back straight with Harvey leading Romanko, Speer, Gill, and Emily Stoyer back to green. Harvey and Speer were side by side on the back straight at lap six with Speer leading at halfway over Harvey, former champion Joe Campbell, Romanko, and newly-crowned points champion Mark Lawrence. Caution flew at lap eight for debris in turn one. Speer led Harvey, Campbell, Lawrence, and Romanko back to green with Campbell coming to second but then spinning in turn two at eleven laps. At the checkers it was Speer, Lawrence, Harvey, Romanko, and Emily Stoyer. In post-race inspection Speer’s car was found to have an illegal part and he was disqualified, giving the win to Lawrence and elevating Wick to fifth at the finish.
Evergreen Lake Park Campground RUSH Late Models:
Heat 1: Corey Sines, Andy Boozel, Jared Kane, Steve Hollabaugh, Chris Withers, Tyler Allison, Gary Troyer, Joe Watson, Khole Wanzer
Heat 2: Dave Airgood, Kyle Zimmerman, Gary Troyer, John Watson, Bill Kessler, Joe DeFazio, Alex Haight, Matt Sipes, Joe Howell,
Heat 3: Matt Latta, Darrell Bossard, Joe Long, Ron Boardman, Pete Wearing, Jacob Peterson, Chad Sines, Breyton Santee (DNS)
Feature: Matt Latta, Joe Long, Jared Kane, Andy Boozel, Kyle Zimmerman, (rest of finish not available at this time)
Bonnell Collision Center E-Mods:
Heat 1: Casey Bowers, Dan McDonald, Randy Hall, Percy McDonald, Bill Taylor, Brandon Grossman, Alan Atkinson, Howard Fraley, Hunter Hulley
Heat 2: Mike Kinney, Dennis Lunger, Mike Potosky, Jesse Gould, Josh McDonald, Brian Huffman, Mark Titus, Eric Reinwald
Feature: Mike Potosky, Mike Kinney, Randy Hall, Josh McDonald, Dennis Lunger, Jesse Gould, Brandon Grossman, Casey Bowers, Dan McDonald, Alan Atkinson, Eric Reinwald, Bill Taylor, Howard Fraley, Mark Titus, Percy McDonald, Brian Huffman, Hunter Hulley (DNS)
Campbell’s Mini Storage Street Stocks:
Heat 1: Joe Stajnragh, Jamie Duncan, Tom Teed, Douglas Eck, Tony Spaghetti, Charlie McMillen
Heat 2: Pat Fielding, Darr Diegelman, David Baker, Bill Watson, Dave Snyder
Feature: Jamie Duncan, Pat Fielding, Darr Diegelman, David Baker, Bill Watson, Tom Teed, Charlie McMillen, Joe Stajnragh, Tony Spaghetti, Douglas Eck, Dave Snyder
Bonnell Auto Sales Economods:
Heat 1: Garrett Calvert, Nate Young, Will Pinckney, Justin Chaddock, Judson Fell, Kyle Atkins, Mike Harmon
Heat 2: Jarrit Young, Matt Alexander, Derek Connors, Bob Vogt Jr, J J Bumetzrieder, Gary Murphy, Allen Phillips
Heat 3: Kyle Miller, Kyle Reinwald, Billy Cunningham, Casey Harmon, Dan McEwen, Jim Muma
Feature: Matt Alexander, Nate Young, Kyle Miller, Kyle Reinwald, Jarrit Young, Bob Vogt Jr, Garrett Calvert, Justin Chaddock, Billy Cunningham, Will Pinckney, Gary Murphy, J J Bumetzrieder, Judson Fell, Mike Harmon, Kyle Adkins, Derek Connors, Jim Muma, Allen Phillips, Casey Harmon, Dan McEwen
Sunnyside Farm Transit Mini Stocks:
Heat 1: Corey Wick, Joe Romanko, Kevin Watson, Chris Bugielski, Joe DeWoody, Mike Barr, Ana Vassen, Brian McGarvie, Pete Blaczak
Heat 2: Dalton Speer, Lane Reinwald, Joe Campbell, Mark Lawrence, Dillon Speer, Alexis Vogt, Alan Souza, Howard Goslic
Heat 3: Jessica Harvey, Emily Stoyer, Zoey Gill, Tricia Jacklett, Cale Souza, Andrew Piscarchick, Taylor Van Cise, Tristen Start
Feature: Mark Lawrence, Jessica Harvey, Joe Romanko, Emily Stoyer, Corey Wick, Joe DeWoody, Kevin Watson, Mike Barr, Alan Souza, Taylor Van Cise, Tristen Start, Cale Souza, Alexis Vogt, Ana Vassen, Tricia Jacklett, Zoey Gill, Chris Bugielski, Lane Reinwald, Howard Goslic, Andrew Piscarchick, Brian McGarvie, Dillon Speer (DNS), Pete Blaczak (DNS)