Racing Season Continues Strong At LES
Lake Erie Speedway 2012 Season Fueled By Kwik Fill
Saturday, June 2, 2012, North East, PA – Lake Erie Speedway enjoyed another great night of racing for the second race of the season in front of 5,501 fans. The night showcased the six weekly race divisions including the night’s special feature, the Plyler Overhead Door Late Model 100 featuring the TBRA series, which was rescheduled from the rain out on Opening Night.
At the start of the night was the INEX Bandolero division race, driver #2 Chase Firestone from Wattsburg, PA started strong followed behind by #97 Darrin Waldron from Stockton, NY and #33 Hayden Fogle. Driver #33 received a black flag during the race for passing the white line which is illegal for the Bandolero division drivers. Continuing the race, #32 Wesley McCray from Corry, PA pulled to the front along with #9 Donald Buell also from Corry, PA, and #24 Matt Mead from Erie, PA close behind. As motivation for falling second last week, driver McCray pulled ahead for the win of the Bandolero division with #9 Donald Buell placing second and Firestone taking home the third place position.
The Jensens Target Collision Compacts division took to the track for the second race of the night. #14 Jim Tobin from Erie, PA started strong but was quickly taken back for jumping the start. #99 Gena Thompson from Conneaut, OH lead the restart of Compacts with #25 Garrett Rammelt from Westfield, NY, Tobin, #1 Terry Akerly from North East, PA, and #81 Shane Forster from Angola, NY rounding out the top five. With Thompson, Akerly and #88 Dan Bittenger from Fredonia, NY close together coming into the tenth lap, Bittenger pulled ahead to take the lead and ultimately the win of the Jensens Target Collision Compact feature event. This was Bittenger's first ever win at Lake Erie Speedway. In second place was #96 Doug Hadley and Akerly came close behind with the third place finish.
The next race of the night was the Street Stock division at Lake Erie Speedway. #5 Jay Queen from Boston, NY led the race with #33t Tim Arthur from Cassadaga, NY close behind. The caution flag went up early for a bad start where the cars were forced to restart. Queen again lead the pack after the restart with #26 Ed McConnell from Evans City, PA and Arthur close behind. Not long into the race, Queen and the #71 of Rich Miller from Sinclairville, NY were forced to the infield for mechanical issues. Then driver #96 Greg Irish took a rough hit to the wall in turn 2 causing him to spin out in the 4th turn and end the night early as well. Another close finish brought #20 John Denny from Harborcreek, PA as the winner of the Street Stock division followed by #19 Kaity Kicinski from Hamburg, NY in second and #28 Travis Rammelt from Westfield, NY in third for the Street Stock division.
Modifieds were up next to run their first race of the season, because inclement weather forced their feature event to be canceled on Opening Night. #5 Dave Neubauer from Conneaut, OH, #1 Terry Akerly from North East, PA and #00 Adam Kostelsnick from North Huntington, PA led the opening of the Modifieds, but an early crash that involved nine of the cars in turns three and four brought out a caution. After cleaning up the wreckage, the exciting race continued as Kostelsnick pulled ahead midway through with #32 Eric McCray close behind. In the most exciting finish of the night, McCray pulled ahead for the win while Kostelsnick spun across the finish line to grab the second place spot and #17 Eric Bohrer from Harborcreek, PA avoided the spinning cars to claim the third place win.
Young Lions/ Semi Pro Feature Legends race was the first race after intermission with #1 Brandon DeBrakeleer from Mill Village, PA #14x Trey Jarrell from Martinsville, VA, and #99 Justin Bolton from Greensburg, PA in the top three positions. In a series of cautions, the one that stood out was the #99 of Bolton car went up in smoke with flames and creating a delay in the race. This ended Bolton's night after he charged up through the field from an earlier spin. After the clean up, the race continued with Jarrell and DeBrakeleer neck and neck for the continuation of the race, and the race ended with Jarrell holding off DeBrakeleer for the victory, and the #5 of Matt Hutchinson in third place.
The Pros/Masters Legends feature race was the next scheduled event with race of the night starting with #62 Jason Knox from Akron, OH, #84 Kyle Beattie from Martinsville, VA, #39 Jeremy Haudricourt from Bliss, NY, and the #140 Aaron Moyer from Parma Heights, OH in the top four positions. The #01 Matt Pappa made his move towards the front where Beattie had controlled the front of the line. Beattie and Pappa remained neck and neck for a majority of the race with Pappa making attempts to secure the front but could not pass, making Beattie the winner of the Pros/Masters Legends division with Pappa close in second and Knox in the third place position.
The Plyler Overhead Door Late Model 100 featuring the TBRA series was held tonight as a make up event for the rained out feature on Opening Night. Cars #11 Bob Weber from Clarence Center, NY, #45 Dave Heitzhaus from Strykersville, NY and #47 Scott Wylie from Blasdell, NY led the start of the race. Lap 40 brought excitement with Weber, Heitzhaus, and car #65 George Skora III from Eden, NY in the lead with Skora making moves into second place right around the halfway mark. After two quick cautions, and the race’s first double file restart on lap 51, Skora took the lead on lap 52 and stretched to a commanding lead. Similar to last week, inclement weather rolled in and caused a caution. While under several caution laps, the track was able to dry and there was an attempt to resume the race. However, just as the Plyler Overhead Door Late Models were about to take the green flag to restart the race, a downpour completely washed out the track and forced speedway officials to call the race complete at the 86 lap mark. Skora finished the race in first place with #3 Jeff Brown from Hamburg, NY in second place and Heitzhaus in third place.
Branden J. Kaczay
Executive Vice President-Business Operations
Lake Erie Speedway
(814) 725-6610 (Direct Line)
"It's not just racing...It's Racing Entertainment!"
June 2, 2012 Lake Erie Speedway Unofficial Quick Results:
Jensens Target Collision Compacts:
INEX Bandoleros:
NASCAR Street Stocks:
NASCAR Modified:
Young Lion/ Semi Pro Legends:
Pro/ Masters Legends:
Late Models