ED LYNCH JR., KEVIN BOLLAND, BRENT RHEBERGEN, JASON JOHNS AND DON BLAKE JR. COME OUT WINNERS AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY
by Brian Spaid

June 6, 2004

   FRANKLIN, PA  …. In ideal weather conditions, Tri-City Speedway hosted another action packed Sunday night of dirt track racing as Ed Lynch Jr. (Northpointe Automotive Super Sprints), Kevin Bolland (Schwab’s Ford DIRT Modifieds), Brent Rhebergen (RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods), Jason Johns (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks) and Don Blake Jr. (Victory Lane Graphics Thundercars) scored feature wins at the Venango County half-mile oval. In addition, Terry Faas won the feature race for the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Senior Series Pro Stocks.

   Ed Lynch Jr. of Apollo, Pa., scored his second win of the season in the 20-lap Super Sprint main taking advantage of another driver’s misfortune and lapped traffic. First, Andy McKisson spun out of first place handing the lead to Lynch, then the veteran driver withstood the stout challenges of Jarod Larson late in the race as the two dueled amongst lapped cars. In the end, Lynch won his 23^rd career feature at Tri-City in his Indy Recycling J&J No. 2L.

   “We brought out our old car tonight, and this was Andy’s race,” said Lynch. “It looked like he cut the corner a little short in turn one, got in too hard and spun. Larson was a little racy at the end. He was on the cushion, and I saw him there. He showed me we could run it, so I went out there.”

   McKisson led the race from the pole position, and Lynch quickly moved into second. After an early caution for a three-car tangle in turn two, McKisson surprised the crowd by remaining in front of the crafty veteran. Then, for no apparent reason, McKisson spun all alone in turn two. Lynch flew by, and McKisson recovered with a full 360 turn to run fourth without the caution flag being displayed.

   Larson and Rob Eyler battled for second at the midpoint of the event, but Larson secured the position by the 12^th lap. After the third restart of the race, Lynch and Larson raced ahead of the field. As they neared lapped traffic with less than five laps to go, Larson actually raced outside of Lynch for the lead. Lynch would not be outdone, however, as he switched lanes and zipped through the traffic to claim the win. Larson finished second. Eyler engaged in a spirited duel with Rod George for third over the last two laps, and Eyler topped the two-time defending track champion. McKisson would up fifth. George suffered problems with his kill switch in his heat race, which relegated him to a last place start in the main, but he recovered for fourth. Larson and Eyler won the Super Sprint heats.

   Kevin Bolland of New Brighton, Pa., won his first feature of the season in the 20-lap DIRT Modified main. Bolland and Andy Priest were the class of the field in the non-stop event, as Bolland used a late-race move to trap Priest in traffic and secure his 16^th career win at Tri-City.

   “I thought the track would take rubber tonight, but it didn’t,” said Bolland beside his Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe/Cintas Uniform Bicknell No. 777 in victory lane. “Andy and I ran a good, clean race. Our cars worked well, and I saw the opportunity to take him, and it worked.”

   Dave Schrader took the lead at the drop of the green flag, but Bolland slipped under him for the lead before the completion of the first circuit. On the fourth circuit, Priest raced outside Bolland in turn two to take command. With no cautions, Priest and Bolland were able to stretch their lead to the end so that they led by nearly half a track. Their battle for the win was equally impressive. With less than five laps to go, it became obvious that Bolland’s car handled better. On the 16^th circuit, Bolland dove under Priest in turn one and trapped him behind the lapped car of Pete Simpson. Priest had to slow, which allowed Bolland to exercise his momentum and shoot into the lead. From there, it was clear sailing for Bolland with Priest in second.

   Behind the lead duo, the battles were just as intense. In the end, Chanda Reitz scored another third place finish matching her career best at Tri-City. Point leader Rex King finished fourth over Schrader. Josh Skarzenski and Del Rougeux Jr. captured the DIRT Modified heats.

   Brent Rhebergen of Clymer, N.Y., continued his mastery of the E Mod division as he piloted Bruce and Kathy Steadman’s Sharp Tool & Die Pierce No. 69 to his second win of the season and the 35^th of his career at Tri-City. After making an awesome three-wide pass for the lead, Rhebergen was peerless.

   “We went back to basics,” said the two-time defending track champion. “This is the same car from last year. We tried some different setups and shocks earlier this season, but it ran terrible. It runs well now. I knew I could make that pass stick, I just didn’t want to hit the other guys, and it worked.”

   Shawn Shingledecker and Jamie Shetler battled for the early lead in the 15-lap affair. After working through two early cautions, the two young lions were not to be outdone by Rhebergen. On the fifth circuit off turn four, Rhebergen drove between them and the trio crossed the line three-wide. Rhebergen then pulled a slide job into turn one in front of Shingledecker, who was on the outside, to secure second. He then powered off the outside cushion in turn two to pass Shetler for first. After that impressive move, Rhebergen simply cruised the topside of the track to the win.

   Shetler, a former Pro Stock racer, continued to duel with Shingledecker until the 10^th lap when Shetler ran a solid second in Steadman and Rhebergen’s 2002 championship car. Shetler then held off Bruce Powell for his best-career finish in the E Mods. Powell was third over last week’s winner Mike Samuelson and Shingledecker. Kari Gasser and Mike Potosky won the E Mod heats.

   Jason Johns of Oil City, Pa., finally secured his first career feature win at Tri-City in the 15-lap Pro Stock main. The likeable driver led every circuit for a convincing win over the top names in the division aboard his Changing Time Telephone Service/Cranberry Beverage Chevrolet No. 31.

   “The track was dry, slick, just like I wanted,” said Johns. “It’s taken three years to get here. I knew if I kept my momentum up, I’d beat the other guys. This feels great!”

   Johns outpaced rookie Doug Iorio II off turn four to take the lead at the green flag. The race went non-stop for the first 13 circuits. While Johns raced out front, Dave Ferringer and Bobby Whitling worked their way by Iorio II for the second and third positions. The two veterans were content chasing Johns around the fast half-mile biding their time for the right moment to challenge him when two-time race winner Bruce Smith entered the picture. Smith raced into fourth on the eighth circuit, then chased down Whitling. The two drivers duked it out for the position, and even raced three-wide with Ferringer for second on the 13^th circuit.

   Two late-race cautions slowed the action, but did not deter Johns from scoring that elusive first win. After some fender-rubbing, Smith finished second, which means he finished in the top two for the last four weeks of competition. Ferringer and Whitling finished third and fourth. Doug Iorio nosed out his son at the line for fifth. Iorio II and Johns scored wins in the Pro Stock heats.

   Don Blake Jr. of Titusville, Pa., won his record fourth consecutive feature in the 12-lap Thundercar main. Breaking a mark set in 2003 by Robby Switzer, Blake held off Switzer to win once again in his Monaco Cycle Center/Townville Auto & Equipment Chevrolet No. 43.

   “He was real close,” said Blake. “I saw him in turn four near the end there. I know Robby’s coming to try to beat me.”

   Kevin Cooper led the first two circuits of the race before Curt Bish Jr. took command. Three cautions and one wild flip slowed the action for those laps. Rookie Josh Seippel flipped at the start-finish line on the third circuit after his car broke loose off turn four. Although his car was destroyed, Seippel was uninjured.

   After the restart, Blake took command with an inside move on Bish off turn four to complete the fourth circuit. Switzer then tried to pass Bish. After some fender-rubbing in turn four, Switzer managed to finally secure the spot just past the halfway point in the race. He chased down Blake and tried to pass him with two laps to go. The move failed. Heading to the white flag, Switzer’s car hopped the berm in turns three and four, which upset the balance of the car. Switzer could not recover, and settled for second. Cooper finished third over defending track champion Jeff Manners and Joe Blake.

   Terry Faas of Tarentum, Pa., won his first-ever feature race in the 15-lap Pro Stock event for the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Senior Series. The former Lernerville Speedway Pure Stock veteran held off the challenged of former DIRT Modified driver Tim Engles to score the win. Joe Yakich, Ron Spangler and Joe Drusko rounded out the top five. Engles and Faas won the heats.

   Tri-City Speedway will be in action next Sunday June 13^th with a five-star racing program that features the Northpointe Automotive Super Sprints, Schwab’s Ford DIRT Modifieds, RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods, E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks, and Victory Lane Graphics Thundercars. The DIRT Modifieds will compete in their third Coors DIRT Modified Bonus Bucks event. In addition, the first One-on-One Spectator Races of the season will be held at the end of the show. It will also be Little League Night at Tri-City as all Little League players in uniform will be admitted free into the grandstands. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission will be $10.

    SUPER SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. ED LYNCH JR., 2. Jarod Larson, 3. Rob Eyler, 4. Rod George, 5. Andy McKisson, 6. Todd Bauer, 7. Jason Jacoby, 8. Scott Bonnell, 9. Gary Rankin, 10. Butch Beasley, 11. John Schyler, 12. Vaughn Nystrom, 13. Sheila Rankin, 14. Skip Dougherty, 15. Jeff Kasbee, 16. Randy Kriegisch, 17. Jerry Yoder, 18. Dan McEwen. DNS: Scott Groves.

   DIRT MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): 1. KEVIN BOLLAND, 2. Andy Priest, 3. Chanda Reitz, 4. Rex King, 5. Dave Schrader, 6. Chris Schiffer, 7. Josh Skarzenski, 8. Joe Crawford, 9. Del Rougeux Jr., 10. Jeremy Paup, 11. Chad Reitz, 12. Lenny Leibold Jr., 13. Travis Shingledecker, 14. Pete Simpson, 15. Russell King, 16. George Hobaugh, 17. Jay Priest, 18. Conny Allen, 19. Carl Murdick, 20. Jeremiah Shingledecker.

   E MODS (15 Laps): 1. BRENT RHEBERGEN, 2. Jamie Shetler, 3. Bruce Powell, 4. Mike Samuelson, 5. Shawn Shingledecker, 6. Mike Potosky, 7. Jim Frontz, 8. Shawn Domhoff, 9. Kari Gasser, 10. Dave Willoughby, 11. Jeff Haefke, 12. Jeff Hassay, 13. Jeff Walters, 14. Chip Mahood, 15. Kenny Smith, 16. Aurie Weaver, 17. John Lacki, 18. Fred Bratchie, 19. Russ Dempsey, 20. Art Blum.

   PRO STOCKS (15 Laps): 1. JASON JOHNS, 2. Bruce Smith, 3. Dave Ferringer, 4. Bobby Whitling, 5. Doug Iorio, 6. Doug Iorio II, 7. Joe Lockhart, 8. Gerry Bruce, 9. Rusty Kellogg, 10. Russ Coyne, 11. Bob Sloss, 12. Doug Calvert, 13. Ronnie Davis, 14. Arthur Edwards, 15. J.R. Zeigler, 16. Bob Bean, 17. Scott Myers, 18. George Kafantaris, 19. Denny Crawford, 20. John Sutley, 21. Matt Thomas, 22. Matt Keith, 23. Matt Cwynar, 24. Rod Laskey.

   THUNDERCARS (12 Laps): 1. DON BLAKE JR., 2. Robby Switzer, 3. Kevin Cooper, 4. Jeff Manners, 5. Joe Blake, 6. Curt Bish Jr., 7. Travis Norman, 8. John K. Miller II, 9. Regina Deloe, 10. Chad Myers, 11. Matt Zinz, 12. Curt Bish Sr., 13. Boyd Sullivan, 14. Wearne Cook, 15. Jay Blum, 16. Cory Botelho, 17. Jesse Deloe, 18. Josh Seippel. DNS: John K. Miller, Dave Gottschalk.

   PCTC SENIOR SERIES (15 Laps): 1. TERRY FAAS, 2. Tim Engles, 3. Joe Yakich, 4. Ron Spangler, 5. Joe Drusko, 6. Sid Haas, 7. Dick Pascorell, 8. John Muron, 9. Darrell Calvert, 10. Don Bauer, 11. Ron Phenicie Jr., 12. Ken Humanic, 13. Tom Harry, 14. Rick Perry, 15. Joe Betz, 16. Tom Knight Sr., 17. Tim Lowry, 18. Fred Casagni, 19. Jim Fike, 20. Larry Bruner.

    UPCOMING EVENTS

   June 13 – Super Sprints, DIRT Modifieds, E Mods, Pro Stocks, Thundercars and One-on-One Spectator Races (Coors DIRT Modified Bonus Bucks Event) (Little League Night – Little League Players in Uniform Receive Free Grandstand Admission)

   June 20 – Super Sprints, Ladies Modified Tour, E Mods (E Series), Pro Stocks (Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series), Thundercars and Compact Car Demo Derby (Cranberry 10-Minute Oil Change Night)

   June 27 – Super Sprints, DIRT Modifieds, E Mods, Pro Stocks and Thundercars (Coors DIRT Modified Bonus Bucks Event) (Giant Eagle/Edward Jones Investments Fireworks Extravaganza by Cartwright Fireworks)