MCR CROWNS 2008 POINT CHAMPIONS

(E. Smethport PA)

The 2008 racing season at McKean County Raceway is coming to a fast close as it was only a few months ago it seemed MCR could not get a show in with all the rain. On Weber Hydraulic & Callahan Motion Championship night and picture perfect weather conditions saw six new champions crowned in each respective division. The 2008 MCR champions are: Max Blair, Steve Dixon, Randy Hall, Adam Sixt, Steve Mowery and Mark Schweikart.

The first championship event of the evening was the KZ102.5 Pure Stocks. Going into the evening, Curt Pastorious and Mark Schweikart paced the starting grid as the two were tied for the points going into the final night of action. Schweikart used the inside starting spot to take the lead on the opening lap but the yellow would come out on opening lap for Brad Curran and John Ellwood. Schweikart again sped away at the green and now had hard charging Duane Daniels on his rear bumper in second with Jaben Hill in third. Curran charged back to third by lap three ahead multiple season winner, Brad Derock. As lap five rolled by it was still Schweikart, Daniels and Derock in third. Derock was hounding Daniels for second and on lap nine contact between the two resulted in Daniels getting turned around, Derock would see the black flag. This put Pastorious into second with Jaben Hill back into third. Schweikart would take the restart and hold off Pastorious charges for the lead and the title to capture his first ever title at MCR. Pastorious would come in second in the event and point chase while finishing third was Jason Ely followed by Jaben Hill and Amanda Close came home fifth with her best ever finish at MCR. Heat winners for the KZ102 Pure Stocks were: Ely and Ellwood.

Just like the pure stocks, the Yum Yums Super Stocks had a tie going into the final night point chase as well. Coudersports, Dan Cobb and Smethport’s Steve Dixon were tied with 128 points a piece. Dixon would start on the outside and would use the cushion to sweep into the front position as the top two cars rounded one and two on the opening lap. Dixon would pull away by a few car lengths using the cushion to his advantage as Cobb began to feel the immediate pressure from defending champion, Jeff Chesebro. Using the outside lane also was Bruce Miller as he would move into third on lap five. Dixon was still rim riding as Cobb started to close the gap back in on the bottom of the track as Chesebro and Miller closed in on the #27c of Cobb. Miller and Chesebro would both get by Cobb on lap eleven., but Cobb would come right back and grab third from Chesebro as the only yellow would come out for Alan Wais. Dixon would again lead the field into turn one on the restart as Miller now had chances to take for the lead. With six laps to go Chesebro would give up fourth spot due to a flat tire as Miller still pressured Dixon for the lead. As the white flag waved, Miller made a power move on Dixon who had now gone to the low side of the track and as the two race into turns three and four it was Miller inching past Dixon at the line for the win. With Dixon finishing second behind Bruce Miller, he would be crowned the 2008 super stock champion. Dan Cobb fell short of winning the title by finishing in a fine third place, while ageless, Ron Baker was fourth and Paul Grigsby came home fifth. Heat winners were: Chesebro and Miller.

The Maynard Electric FASTRAK Late Models were the next championship event on the card. Third generation driver, Max Blair and defending champion, John Lacki were the front row starters. Blair had a comfortable lead going into the event and he didn’t let anyone get a shot at him as he immediately left the field in his wake. Lacki immediately slipped as Kyle Drum and Mike Wonderling Sr. was second and third. As lap five clicked off the board it was Blair, Drum, Wonderling, Jim Frank and Lacki your top five. Blair was in control of the event as Wonderling stayed within striking distance of Drum till lap 19 when the #47 of Drum would bring out the yellow for a spin. This put Wonderling on Blair’s bumper, giving the wiley veteran a shot at the youngster. It didn’t matter as Blair just jetted away from Wonderling as Lacki charged back into third. There was no denying Blair from capturing his first ever MCR title and his second FASTRAK Late Model title in a week as he was crowned the Tri City Speedway champion last Sunday. Wonderling would come home second ahead of Lacki, Kyle Zimmerman came home fourth in his first ever MCR visit and veteran, John Haggerty was fifth at the finish. Heat winners were: Wonderling and Drum

Randy Hall and Travis Asel led the John’s Collision Emods to their championship event start. Hall shot to the lead only to see Kyle Bedell bring out the first yellow for a turn three spin. Again, Hall would use the low line to his liking on the restart as John Woodward Jr. would get under Asel for second. The battle behind them was fierce with Vic Vena, Tim Peterson, Al Brewer and Darren Tarabori all battling for fifth. On lap ten, Brewer would crack into the top five as he chased down Peterson and Vena. Hall was looking good in front still with Woodward and Asel chasing after him. Tarabori and Craig Bedell would put Brewer back to seventh on lap twelve as Woodward started to slowly real in the leader Hall. Hall wasn’t having nothing to do with Woodward as he kept just enough distance ahead of the youngster as Hall would capture the win and the 2008 title. Following Hall and Woodward were Asel, Vic Vena and Tim Peterson. Heat winners were: Tarabori and Asel.

Adam Sixt and defending NE Micro Street Stock champion, Chris Austin lead the twenty car field for their final point event of the year. Sixt would jump into the lead but it wasn’t a big jump as Rich Hemphill, Austin and Dan Giboo all were within a car length of the leader on the first lap. Austin would actually take the lead over on lap two from Sixt. Sixt would come back on and lead lap five over Austin, Hemphill and Giboo as the foursome were still locked into a three and sometime four wide battle for the lead. Austin would go back to the front on lap seven only to see Sixt back in the lead a lap later and Hemphill would now be in second. Now coming into play was Jeff Hellwig as he moved into fourth behind Giboo as Austin had been bumped back to fifth. Matt Palmer would kick Austin out of the top five on lap 14. Sixt was still your leader with Hemphill, Giboo, and Hellwig battling for third. Sixt would roll on into victory lane for his fifth win of the year and the 2008 title. Hemphill finished a fine second over, Dan Giboo, Hellwig and Matt Palmer was fifth. Heat winners were: Palmer, Giboo and Rich Wojtowicz.
The Hallock Enterprises / AMSOIL Mini Stocks saw a seven point difference between James Galloway and former champion, Steve Mowery. Mowery would use the Neon power to get to the front at the start as Galloway settled in for second with Chris Parr in third. By lap five Mowery and had opened some daylight over Galloway as Levi Watson was now in third and defending champion, Daniel Cunningham was fifth. He would get around Parr for fourth on lap seven as the top three distanced themselves from rest of the field. As Mowery had opened more daylight on the field, the closing laps saw Watson close in on Galloway and make the move for second on the white flag lap to finish behind your 2008 mini stock champion, Steve Mowery. Galloway would be third with Cunningham and Parr fifth. Heat winners were: Cunningham and Watson.

MCR will now be off till Thursday, September 25 as it is the beginning night of the three day MCR Fall Classic. This year the Northern Tier Inc. Late Models will be on hand for all three nights of action and rounding out the season on September 27 with the $12,000 to win Priority Care RaceFAN 50. Last year, seventy dirt late model teams from five states and two Canadian provinces were on hand. For more information check the website out at www.mckeancountyraceway.com!


RESULTS:

KZ102 Pure Stocks:
MARK SCHWEIKART, Curt Pastorious, Jason Ely, Jaben Hill, Amanda Close, Duane Daniels, John Ellwood, Brad Curran, Fred Ely, Dave Derock and Brad Derock

Yum Yums Super Stocks:
BRUCE MILLER, Steve Dixon, Dan Cobb, Ron Baker, Paul Grigsby, Tim Schram, Jr Peters, Alan Wais, George Ritter and Jeff Chesebro

Maynards Electric FASTRAK Late Models:
MAX BLAIR, Mike Wonderling, John lacki, Kyle Zimmerman, John Haggerty, Tim Schram, Kyle Drum, Bob Kish, Bob Dorman, Jon Law, Dan Stives, Derreck Frank, Todd Sweet, Dave Norton Jr., Bert Cleer and Jim Frank.

John’s Collision Emods:
RANDY HALL, John Woodward Jr., Travis Asel, Vic Vena, Tim Peterson, Darren Tarabori, Craig Bedell, Al Brewer, Mike Eschrich, Tim Walden, Dana Wellington, Kyle Bedell, Bob Stilson, Bob Mohney, Nathan Hill and Steve Watson

NE Micro Street Stocks:
ADAM SIXT, Richard Hemphill, Dan Giboo, Jeff Hellwig, Matt Palmer, Chris Austin, Joe Layfield, Tim Bruce, Brad Bigley, Rich Wojtowicz, Tim Woodward, Chad Green, Steve Mowery, #80, Glen Layfield, Ken Shelley, Bob McKinney, Barry Tingue Jr., Chris Conkey and Brian Peterson.

Hallock Enterprises – Amsoil Mini Stocks:
STEVE MOWERY, Levi Watson, James Galloway, Daniel Cunningham, Chris Parr, Richard Kline, Dave Burdick, Dave Lowe Jr., Norm Varner, Jaben Hill