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MIKE POTOSKY
WINS E SERIES ALL STAR 30; ANDY BUCKLEY WINS CAREER FIRST IN PRO STOCKS
AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY September 3, 2006 FRANKLIN, PA ... Fighting off persistent rain showers from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto, which postponed Saturday’s show until Monday afternoon, Tri-City Speedway managed to run an entire program on Sunday night for the first half of the Alturnamats/Gierlach Crushing & Contracting Oil Region Labor Day Classic Weekend. Chub Frank of Sugar Grove, Pa., captured the 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series race earning $10,000 for his triumph. World of Outlaws Media Director Kevin Kovac issued a separate story on that event. In the companion show, Mike Potosky won the RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods All Star 30 for the Fame RV Center E Series, and Andy Buckley won the 20-lap William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series race for the E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks. In the E Series All Star 30, Mike Potosky of Guys Mills, Pa., started on the pole position and led every lap to capture the biggest career win of his career. With lap leader bonuses, Potosky earned over $2,000 while driving his Tech Tool/Pizza Villa Pierce No. M20 to his seventh career victory at Tri-City. It was his second win of the 2006 season. “This is the best,” said Potosky, who won his heat and the dash leading into the feature event. “I wasn’t worried about the guys behind me. If they caught me, then they’d have to get by me. There was no way I was going to lose this one.” After an opening lap, six-car accident that knocked outside polesitter Carl McKinney from contention, Potosky led from the start of the race. A total of six cautions and one red flag period slowed the pace, but Potosky was unbeatable. Jim Myers and Joel Watson ran second and third for the first third of the race. Former track champion Todd Roncaglione dove under Watson on the 12th circuit off turn four to take third. Roncaglione gave chase to Myers, and made a move under him off turn four on the 14th circuit. By halfway, Potosky led Roncaglione, Myers, Watson and Jeff Taylor. Perennial E Mod hotshoe Randy Hall, who has never won at Tri-City, was running sixth after starting 17th. On the 18th circuit, Hall made it around the outside of Jeff Taylor for fifth. One lap later, Hall dove under Watson for fourth. Then, Watson made contact with Myers spinning him out and taking Watson from contention. That shuffled the deck up front, but Potosky still held the advantage over Roncaglione and Hall. On the 24th lap, Jim Frontz rolled his car in turn three, but was uninjured. One lap after the restart, Roncaglione bobbled in turn four and Hall took advantage of the miscue to steal second. Although Hall closed on Potosky a tenth of a second each lap, there was simply not enough time for Hall to catch the fast-running Potosky. At the finish, Potosky defeated Hall, Roncaglione, Jeff Johnson and Matt Lux. Potosky, McKinney, Watson, Kevin Decker and Myers won the E Mod heats for the 53-car field. The Applebee Motorsports Dash was won by Potosky, which determined the starting lineup for the All Star 30. Russ Dunn, Hall and Tim Rhoades captured the B Mains. For years, Andy Buckley of Stoneboro, Pa., has tried to win a feature race at Tri-City. This time, it all finally came together for the popular driver as he captured his first career win at Tri-City in the 20-lap Detroit Iron Series event. Piloting his McClung Auto Body Chevrolet No. 965, Buckley fended off the stiff challenges of Mike Pegher Jr. for the victory. “Mike was tough tonight, but I’ve been waiting for this win here for a long time, and I was not gonna let him take it away from us,” said Buckley. “I’d like to thank Bobby Whitling. He shared his setup information with me. I owe him a lot for this win.” Polesitter Denny Crawford led the first two circuits of the race before Pegher slipped by him off turn two to take command. Like Pegher, Buckley raced to the front as well and was running second by the fourth circuit. The two stars then battled lap after lap for the win. On the eighth circuit, Buckley made it under Pegher in turn two, but slid wide and Pegher took the lead back. The two made the same exchange on the 10th circuit as well. Pegher could not hold back Buckley’s third charge, which occurred off turn four to complete the 11th circuit. From there, Buckley held on for the win. Pegher finished second over track champion Bobby Whitling, Gerry Bruce and Matt Thomas. Bruce, Jeff Lockhart and Buckley won the Pro Stock heat races for the 32-car field. Butch Lambert won the B Main. Tri-City Speedway will host the rescheduled second half of the Alturnamats/Gierlach Crushing & Contracting Oil Region Labor Day Classic Weekend on Monday afternoon. Featuring the World of Outlaws Late Models Series in another 50-lap, $10,000-to-win event, the program will also include the final 20-lap, $725-to-win Fame RV Center E Series of the season for the RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods and a 20-lap, $500-to-win event for the E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks. Gates open at an earlier time of 1 p.m. and racing starts at 4 p.m. Adult grandstand admission is $30. E SERIES ALL STAR 30 E MODS (30 Laps): 1. MIKE POTOSKY, 2. Randy Hall, 3. Todd Roncaglione, 4. Jeff Johnson, 5. Matt Lux, 6. Russ Dunn, 7. Brent Rhebergen, 8. Bill Thomas, 9. Dave Willoughby, 10. Russ Demspey, 11. David Atkinson, 12. Shawn Shingledecker, 13. Jim Myers, 14. Tim Engles, 15. Jamie Shetler, 16. Evan Taylor, 17. Jeff Taylor, 18. Justin Carlson, 19. Butch Lambert, 20. Jim Frontz, 21. Kevin Decker, 22. Joel Watson, 23. Carl McKinney, 24. Dale Applebee, 25. Bruce Powell, 26. Tim Rhoades, 27. Brandon Wearing, 28. Scott Pangrazio. DNQ: Dustin Eckman, Kevin Miller, Scott Stiffler, Larry Walters, Matt Swanson, Jason Johns, Bobby Whitling, Al Cressley, Tom Hagberg, Ron Roncaglione, Dennis Lundgren, Ron Seeley, Jeff Hassay, Ron Jaeger, Jim Turley, Ed Wilson, Aurie Weaver, Mike Samuelson, Rick Robinson, Jeff Walters, Arthur Edwards, Tom Martineck, Dana Wellington, Denny Nakutis, Shawn Domhoff. DETROIT IRON PRO STOCK SERIES (20 Laps): 1. ANDY BUCKLEY, 2. Mike Pegher Jr., 3. Bobby Whitling, 4. Gerry Bruce, 5. Matt Thomas, 6. Dave Ferringer, 7. Rod Laskey, 8. Jeff Lockhart, 9. Jason Fosnaught, 10. Denny Crawford, 11. Stan Woomer, 12. Butch Lambert, 13. Larry Root, 14. Rusty Kellogg, 15. Doug Iorio II, 16. Chad Myers, 17. Pat Hanley, 18. Gary Sullivan, 19. Adam Peterson, 20. Bob Sloss, 21. Jason Engles, 22. John Winters, 23. Wayne Carbo, 24. Matt Keith. DNQ: Gary Proper, Randy Wyant, Kevin Woomer, Chris Haines, Terry Wheeler, Rick Robinson, Russ Coyne, Carl Marley.
UPCOMING
EVENTS Sept. 4 – World of Outlaws Late Model Series (50 Laps, $10,000-to-win), E Mods (Fame RV Center E Series 20 Laps) and Pro Stocks (20 Laps) Sept. 8-9 – ATVA Extreme Dirt Track Nationals 2006 Sept. 17 – 10th Annual CSOnline Applefest 100 (William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series Finale), Thundercars Apple Core 20, and Lowry Auto Wrecking Full-Size Demo Derby (Gates Open at 2 p.m.; Racing Starts at 4 p.m.) |