(LEHIGHTON, PA 7-19-14)
Three weeks ago Eric Beers was involved in an altercation that did
something which has rarely occurred over the course of his career,
it sidelined him due to a busted left hand.
One week as a spectator was
more than he could take. Beers returned to finish a solid sixth the
next race out and was back in top form on Saturday night as he
easily went on to win for a fourth time this season. "My hand is
still a little sore but winning makes it a lot easier to deal with,"
said Beers, who has now won 40 Modified features at Mahoning Valley.
During Beers’ brief
downslide, Kris Graver emerged as the star, winning three straight
weeks and taking over as the point leader. Graver was leading yet
again but two laps after a lap 21 restart, Beers simply powered by
and drove on to victory. "Kris (graver) has been kicking everyone’s
butt the last month and I just wanted to show him that I’m still a
bit of the king and he’ll have to work harder," said Beers.
When the race began Roger
Coss took the early lead and had Lou Strohl tracking him. Kyle
Strohl and Graver raced alongside each other while in the shadows of
the front two. One of the cleanest, smoothest drivers in the
business, Coss was enjoying his best run to date. He nicely held off
L. Strohl and began to pull ahead of the pack. Graver took over
second by lap nine and was starting to reel in Coss. The first
caution waved on lap 18 when L. Strohl spun in turn two. It was a
big break for Graver as on the restart he was able to hustle by Coss.
With Graver leading there was an immediate feel of a fourth win in
the past five races. But, when Graver took over the lead, Beers also
passed Coss and then sprang right towards the front-runner.
A second and final caution
then came out with 20 laps complete. On the continuation Graver
protected his spot but Beers was able to overtake him the next time
around. Once in front there was no countering from as Beers pulled
away for the win. "I sat in the grandstands two weeks ago and
watched these guys out here and it wasn’t easy for me," admitted
Beers. "The long runs actually helped us dice through the field. Our
car was hooked up tonight." K. Graver, K. Strohl, Coss and Nevin
George completed the top five.
"Eric Beers has been doing
this longer than I’ve been alive and he had the better car. I can’t
make up excuses. We’ll just have to go home and do our homework a
little bit better and hopefully we’ll be able to come back and get
him next time," said Graver.
In the Late Model feature,
Earl Paules may not have crossed the finish line in first but he did
get the win. In an exciting three car battle, Paul Koehler beat
Paules and Mike Sweeney by a very narrow margin but unfortunately
his car did not make the specified height at the end of the race,
coming up to low, leading to his disqualification. Paules, who
nipped Sweeney by the blink of an eye, was awarded the win, his
sixth of the season.
A much improved Jacob
Kerstetter held the early lead until Koehler took control on lap
eight. Paules and Sweeney were all over him from there on. At one
point the trio even went a heart stopping three wide. In that scene
Paules actually took the lead but Koehler rebounded back the next
lap and went on to the supposed checkers, only to come up short at
post-race inspection.
In a real slugfest between
the top two area winners in Street Stocks, Todd Ahner and Chip
Wanamaker raced each other in a classic battle that went right down
to the wire. Ahner was the first to cross the finish line but like
Koehler in the Late Model race, he too was disqualified for improper
ride height and Wanamaker was elevated into first place. It marked
his second win of the season and 37th time with a Street
Stock.
It seems that
every time Jack Ely takes the lead in a Dirt Mod race he will not
give it up. Indeed that was again the case as the 16-year old picked
up his third victory of the year and led every lap in the process,
just as he did in the previous two. In what has been a breakout
year, Ely was solid in this run and was able to hold off hard
chargers Kevin Graver Jr., and Ricky Yetter en route to the win.
In the Hobby
Stocks, Corey Edelman shot past Shayne Geist on the final lap and
annexed his seventh win. S. Geist and taken the lead from his
brother Cody Geist at the midway point. Edelman in the meantime was
weaving his way through traffic. He went by Devin Gibson for second
with five to go and then zeroed in on Geist, getting the job done
with no time remaining.
