Published: August 20, 2008 12:25 am            

CORY ISENBERG | Points races going down to the wire

The area auto racing season is beginning to wind down.

At Jennerstown, with just two races left, the points races in the super late models, street stocks and hobby stocks are all tightly contested, with each division points leader ahead by just four points.

Jason Mignogna leads Barry Awtey in the super late models, with Jim Bodziak ahead of Tom Knight Sr. in the street stocks and Eugene Zerfoss battling Steve Long in the hobby stocks.

Mark Smith won his second feature this season in the super lates last week. Tony Manganello became the first three-time winner in the street stocks and Zerfoss claimed his first checkered flag this season.

The Laurel Highlands oval will hold an expanded 75-lap feature for the super late models this week, with an increased purse for the winner with regular racing for the other two divisions.

n At Thunder Valley, D.J. Myers and Jason Vangilder each won his sixth feature of the season, Myers in the late models and Vangilder in the pure stocks.

Jim Sayler took the semi-late checkered and Brennan McCracken won the four-cylinder race in his initial visit to the track.

With two shows left, Steve Everhart leads Scott Rhodes in the late model points, 927-886, while Greg Cornell Jr. (990 points) is just ahead of Sayler (957) in the semi-lates.

Vangilder holds the lead in the pure stocks while Chris Booher paces the four-cylinder field.

n The top two classes at Bedford raced double features last Friday at the track.

Shawn Claar was a first-time winner and Jeff Rine scored his third victory in the super late models. In the limited lates, Steve Bard won his second feature while points leader Derek Byler won the other race. Daryl Whetstone ended a 30-year drought at Bedford with a street stocks win.

Points leader Charlie Walter earned his third victory in the hobby stocks while Mike Lauffer, the four-cylinder points leader, won his fifth.

Steve Everhart holds a 15-point edge over Scott Haus in the super lates points battle while Bob Jay leads Chris Chamberlain by 145 in the street stocks.

This week will be the final points race for the street stocks, hobby stocks and four-cylinders.

n Bobby Powell and Brennan McCracken were first-time winners in the Fastrack late models and four-cylinders, respectively, at Dog Hollow.

Repeat winners were Rick Strong in the late models, Jim Boyer in the street stocks and Tim Laughard in pure stocks.

There are four weeks remaining on the track’s racing calendar.

n Former two-time trucks champion Gregory Kelley won his career-first super late models feature at Motordrome.

Other winners included: Adam Kostelnik (modifieds), Jonathan Hileman (street stocks), Tracy Keller (chargers) and Ed Dinneen (American flyers). Matt Sever and Zerfoss each won a super compacts special.

n Winners at Lernerville included Jimmy Hawley in the sprint cars, Del Rougeux Jr. in the modifieds, Jared Miley in the late models and Bob Lipinski in the street stocks.

Points races end this week at Lernerville.

n Johnstown sprint car driver Dan Shetler has been traveling to Lernerville on Fridays and Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, on Saturdays.

The longer haul has brought the most success for Shetler, who stands second in the Sharon point standings with two weeks left in the season, 192 more than second-place driver Mike Kekich. Shetler is 11th in the Lernerville points.



Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.

        

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