Paulie Hartwig lll charges his way to victory in the $5,001 to win Kevin Graver Sr. Tribute race on Oct 5

A stout $45,000 Modified purse with additional bonuses was enough to draw in a full, 24 car field for the already heavily anticipated Fall Brawl at The Mahoning Valley Speedway. The season finale was dedicated to two beloved racing figures who have contributed so much to not only the Mahoning Valley racing community, but also extended their racing passion in the form of helping others at the speedway. Kevin Graver Sr. and Kevin Kromer were both pivotal parts in the local racing community, and with the help of of their families, friends, and sponsors, racers were able to compete for very generous payouts in their respective divisions. 

 Both the 101-Lap Modified event and the 30 lap Pro-4 event were held in memory of Kevin Graver Sr.. Likewise, the long time Street Stock competitor, Kevin Kromer, was honored by holding a 77-lap cone race for the Street Stocks in his name.  The 101 lap modified main event started off with the the original pole-sitter, Matt Hirschman, electing to start in the rear in an attempt to capture an additional $1,000 hard charger bonus in the event of a victory. The front row was then reshuffled to become the #41 of Nick Baer and the #8 of Earl Paules.   Paules would waste no time utilizing the outside lane to charge to the lead, taking the #19 of Austin Beers right along with him on lap one. Just a few laps in, the first yellow flag would wave, setting up for the ensuing restart with both Paules and Beers on the front row. Beers would make his way by the #8 of Paules by lap 10, which was where he would remain for the ensuing 50 laps.  A frightening incident involving the #51 of Jayden Harman who made hard contact with the front stretch wall brought out the yellow on lap 61. Fortunately, Harman exited the vehicle under his own power, and the field would shuffle back together double file for the remaining 41 laps.   By this point, it was go time for those who had been saving their equipment, especially so for Matt Hirschman who had found himself in the top ten for the first time all race. While Roger Coss was taking sole position of first place from Austin Beers, contact between the #25 of Brian Robie and the #66 of Austin Kochenash would collect the #60 of Matt Hirschman, cutting his left front tire.  From this point on, it was seemingly a two horse race, as the youngest driver of the field, Paulie Hartwig lll, emerged from the tightly contested top 5 and set his sights on the #17 of Roger Coss. Coss, to this point, had seemed untouchable since grabbing the lead from Beers, but as his tires began to fade, Hartwig lll reeled him back in with less than 15 to go. The 13 year old phenom began to apply pressure to Coss as they approached lapped traffic. Coss was using every trick he had up his sleeve to keep the #11 car at bay, using lap cars as picks and timing his corner entry, however, with two laps to go, Hartwig lll was able to give Coss just enough bumper to wash him up the track and sneak underneath for the lead. Hartwig lll would hold on for the last quarter mile to collect his first tour modified victory and come home with a $5,001 paycheck in the 101-lap Kevin Graver Sr. Tribute Race! 

 Next up were the Mahoning Valley Street Stocks to complete their 77-lap main event in memory of Kevin Kromer. Matt Kocher would lead the field to green in the 77 lap cone race in his pristine looking #12 machine. He was trailed by the #41 of Brandon Christman and the “X” car of Johnny Bennett, who would join him in separating from the rest of the field by a substantial margin.  Bennett would become the first caution of the night for the Street Stocks, as he was sent spinning in his own fluid coming out of turn 4, which resulted in a lengthy caution. With the rest of the field jumbling around with the cone race format, the front two never wavered as they would remain the top two competitors from start to finish.    With less than 5 laps to go, Kocher and Christman were bumper to bumper, approaching lapped traffic which proved to be the most opportune time for Christman to make his move, sending it three wide on the inside of the lapped traffic, capturing the lead from Kocher with 2 laps remaining. Christman would hold on to the end, capturing his second straight victory, this time, picking up the $1,077 paycheck in the Kevin Kromer Memorial feature!

The Mahoning Valley Hobby Stocks were also on the main event card, slated to run 40 laps under the lights in the season finale. The #79 of James Tout would lead the #18 of Jacob Boehm to the green flag, where he would separate himself early on, until the first yellow came out for a flat tire of the #23 of Travis Solomon. From then on, Corey Edelman would be the hard charger on the outside, capturing the lead from Tout with the #78 of Cody Boehm trailing behind him.    Contact between the #15 of Nick Kerstetter and the #88 of Terry Peters would bring out the longest yellow flag of the night, shaping up for a duel to the finish between Edelman and Cody Boehm. Boehm would take several looks to both the inside and outside of Edelman, however the #99 neon was simply too dominant for the rest of the field, capturing his first victory of the season at Mahoning Valley Speedway at the Fall Brawl!

 The Future Hobby Stock division was one of the first divisions to take the track prior to intermission for their 20 lap main event. Justin Merkel Jr. would be at the helm of the field, with the #7 of Al Gildner right alongside him. Merkel was able to get out to an early lead, however, handling issues kept him from pulling away from the #7 of Gildner.  While the poor handling race car made things difficult for Merkel, it made it twice as difficult for the #7 of Gildner to attempt a pass. At several points, Gildner had a run on Merkel, however, passing the #18 of Merkel was simply too risky, as Merkel was able to hold on for his third victory of his rookie season at Mahoning Valley Speedway! 

The Mahoning Valley Pro-4 division as provided so much excitement and enthusiasm for the fans of the speedway over the course of this season, and the Fall Brawl proved to be no different.   Entering the evening undefeated on the year, Cody Kohler had been on an absolute tear in the Pro-4 division. This would all come to an end when lap one contact between he and the #17 of Jason Finken sent the #29 of Kohler up to the turn 3 wall, where he would miss just before his car caught traction and rerouted to the inside wall coming out of turn 4. After a nasty collision with the inside wall, drama then spilled out onto the racetrack, ultimately resulting in the disqualification of Kohler, Finken, Bobby Kibler Jr., and Bobby Kibler Sr.. Randy Schaffer would inherit the lead on the following restart in the green #14 machine, where he would remain for the rest of the race to pick up the victory in the 30-lap Kevin Graver Sr. Memorial. 

MODIFIEDS:
Paulie Hartwig lll, Roger Coss, Brian Robie, Austin Kochenash, Jack Ely, Matt Hirschman, Brian Defebo, Johnny Bennett, Bobby Jones, Austin Beers, Nick Baer, Thomas Flanagan, Rod Snyder Jr., Jaden Brown, Earl Paules, Brian Romig Sr., Kevin Graver Jr., Jacob Kerstetter, Lou Strohl, Jayden Harman, Tyler Wagner, Mark Miller, Brian Shulz, Kyle Strohl

STREET STOCKS:
Brandon Christman, Matt Kocher, Frankie Althouse, Johnny Bennett, Mark Deysher, Josh Kuronya, Jamie Smith, Jon Moser, Adam Steigerwalt, Randy Green, Aaron Kromer, Jacob Boehm, Cody Geist, Jill Snyder, Mike Odwazny DQ: Shayne Geist

HOBBY STOCKS:
Corey Edelman, Cody Bame, James Tout, Jake Kibler, Ryan Graver, Jacob Boehm, Jared Frye, Brian Romig Jr., Shawn Hoffman, Nick Kerstetter, Terry Peters, Travis Solomon

PRO-4:
Randy Schaffer, Aiden Boucher, Ian Szalku, Joey Stangle, Tyler Poole, Chris Yob, Rich Pursell
DQ: Jason Finken, Cody Kohler, Bobby Kibler Jr., Bobby Kibler Sr.

FUTURES: Justin Merkel Jr., Al Gildner, Gabi Steigerwalt, Jeremy Henry, Arland Moyer Jr., Chaz Takacs

EAST COAST: Josh Patterson, Matt Janish, Kris Graver, Brian Shulz, Brandon Kressler, Mark Shulz, Don Zrinski, Graham Hughes, Ozzy Carlino, Vinny Testinaro, Howard Boss, Tyler Wagner
DNS: Bill Force Jr.


Cody Geist, Travis Solomon, Adam Steigerwalt, Cody Kohler, and Kyle Strohl are your 2024 champions at The Mahoning Valley Speedway!

To kick off the evening, the Future Hobby Stock division took to the track for their 15-lap main event. Defending series champion, Adam Steigerwalt entered the evening with a 42 point lead in the standings over Jeremy Henry, who had been making a late charge for the points lead as the weeks have been dwindling down.  The Wambold-Gildner Motorsports #7 car, driven by Al Gildner, showed great speed all throughout the day, winning his heat race by a commanding margin over Justin Merkel Jr.  All would be the same come feature time, as Gildner launched out of the number one starting position and never looked back, as he captured his fourth victory of the season. Gildner would share victory lane with another four time winner on the year, Adam Steigerwalt, who was able to defend his points lead, crowning himself as champion for the second straight season at Mahoning Valley Speedway.

The Microstock Racing Series came out in force to make up for their rained-out event from July 20. Alex Greenzweig, starting on the outside pole for the 20-lap feature, checked out from the field at the drop of the green and led every lap to capture his 14th Mahoning Microstock victory. The battle for the top five came down to the final laps of the race, where Eric Trautman secured the runner-up spot. Chad Weaver flipped his car early in the race but rallied back to finish in 3rd place. Rounding out the top five were pole-sitters Ian McGuire and Brian DaCosta. This event concluded the Microstock Racing Series season, with two races completed out of three scheduled. For the first time in Microstock Racing Series history, two champions were crowned for 2024. Alex Greenzweig and Eric Trautman tied in points and were crowned the 2024 MSRS champions.

Next up in the staging area was the Pro-4 division, coming off their outstanding performance in the Ward Crozier Memorial. There was no question who was leaving the track as the division’s champion, as Cody Kohler entered the night with a 46 point lead over Bobby Kibler Jr., who was a no show in the division’s finale.  From the jump, the 22 of Aiden Boucher and the 27 of Tyler Stangle checked out to an early lead in a tightly contested battle. To nobody’s surprise, Kohler was able to make quick work of the rest of the field using the outside groove, quickly catching the leaders. Boucher and Stangle did put up a fight, however, as it took Kohler nearly 6 laps to navigate his way past the top 2 en route to his eighth victory of the season, capping off an undefeated season as well as his 6th championship in the Mahoning Valley Pro-4 division.

Coming into the season’s points finale, Cody Geist held a 10 point lead over Brandon Christman in the Street Stock Division. After swapping cars due to mechanical issues in early practice and losing 2 points of his lead after the conclusion of Saturday’s heat races, Geist approached the feature as a do or die situation, needing to either beat Christman, or at the very least not let him out of sight.  From the drop of the green, Geist fell back on the outside, driving his brother, Shayne’s #4 car. It wouldn’t be long before he was able to find his way to the bottom, however by this point, the #41 of Christman was already ahead of him and charging to the front quickly. With Todd Ahner leading the first green flag run, he and the 12 of Matt Kocher entered a spin cycle, jamming up the entire field and setting up for a very interesting series of restarts. Coming back to green, the #41 of Christman wasted no time clearing the #46 of Josh Kuronya on the outside. By this point, Geist was already in third when the second caution came out, this time for debris on the race track. Two more cautions would follow, however, Geist never fell out of striking distance, as he was able to make his way up to the second position with less than 10 laps to go. Christman won the race in dominating fashion, however, the last car he wanted to see cross the line behind him was the #40 of Cody Geist, who was able to defend his points lead, winning his first championship in the Mahoning Valley Speedway Street Stock division!

The Mahoning Valley Speedway Modified division was next up for the evening, headlining the main event by running their 35-lap feature under the lights.  Kyle Strohl had entered the night with a 24 point lead over Lou Strohl.   Kyle Strohl was at the helm of the field coming to the green, as he was in great standing to defend his 2023 division championship at Mahoning Valley Speedway. From the jump, Kyle Strohl and his #44 were on point, showing great speed that hardly wavered throughout the race. The #88 of Lou Strohl, however, looked equally as strong, staying with the points leader and never letting him out of his sights. Also having a notably strong performance was the #8 of Earl Paules, who at times appeared to have something for the Strohl duo up front, but he just wasn’t able to reel them in.  About halfway through the race, lapped traffic appeared it was about to play a huge role in the battle for the lead, however, a caution was brought out just in time for the 78 of Brian Romig Jr. From then on, the race would go green to checkered, as both Kyle and Lou Strohl battled hard, but it would be Kyle Strohl coming out on top, collecting his third win on the year and winning his second consecutive championship in the Modifed division at The Mahoning Valley Speedway.

The final race of the night would be the Hobby Stock division. Travis Solomon entered the night with the division championship all but wrapped up, as he led Jake Kibler by 61 points. With the points championship in his back pocket, Travis Solomon’s only mission was to pickup his fourth victory of the season.   Starting the race from the pole position was the #79 of James Tout with the #23 of Travis Solomon on his outside. From the drop of the green, Solomon tucked in behind Tout, as just about the entire field was single file by lap 2. Jake Kibler had made his way up to the third position, knocking on the back door of Solomon. Solomon then stopped wasting time, making a hard charge to the lead, leaving James Tout to fall back to second position. Following Tout was the #71 of Jake Kibler and the #4 of Shayne Geist. Solomon never had to look back en route to his fourth win of the season, as Tout and Kibler had their hands full with the #4 of Shayne Geist, who was able to finish off the season with a third place finish. This would mark Travis Solomon’s first division Championship, which had been a long time coming as he has been chasing that feat since 2016 in the Hobby Stock Division.

OFFICAL RESULTS:
MODIFIEDS: Kyle Strohl, Lou Strohl, Earl Paules, Jaden Brown, Johnny Bennett, Jacob Kerstetter, Nick Baer, Brian Defebo, Tyler Wagner, Rod Snyder Jr., Don Wagner, Brian Romig Sr., Terry Markovic, Bobby Jones, Brian Romig Jr., Thomas Flanagan, Eric Kocher, Nick Schaeffer, Wayne Szerencsits

STREET STOCKS: Brandon Christman, Cody Geist, Frankie Althouse, Jon Moser, Gary Reinhemer, Jacob Boehm, Josh Kuronya, Greg Long, Jamie Smith, Todd Ahner, Mike Odwazny, Matt Kocher

HOBBY STOCKS: Travis Solomon, James Tout, Shayne Geist, Jacob Boehm, Jake Kibler, Nick Kerstetter, Terry Peters
PRO-4: Cody Kohler, Tyler Stangle, Joey Stangle, Kadie Pursell, Aiden Boucher, James Yons, Richie Pursell
​

Cody Kohler makes a last lap pass on the outside to claim victory in the 26-lap Ward Crozier memorial race at the Mahoning Valley Speedway on September 14th

The 26-lap Ward Crozier memorial is an annual event that just about every Pro-4 driver has circled on their calendar. The former Mahoning Valley Speedway promoter was not only responsible for the resurrection of the speedway, but he also became a fan favorite by kickstarting the Pro-4 division and piloting his coveted #26 machine for many years. 
The purse for the Pro-4 main event was a stout one at that, being primarily provided the Crozier family and organized by Croziers daughter, Dottie Farkas. From the drop of the green, Tyler Stangle wheeled his #27 machine out to an early lead while chaos ensued behind him in the top 5. Bobby Kibler Jr. and Cody Kohler were in a race of their own coming through the top 5, however, navigating through slower traffic and set course to dethrone the 27 of Stangle. It would take several green flag laps and two cautions before Kibler Jr. was able to make his way around Stangle on the outside on a lap 16 restart, but it was only a matter of time before the defending series champion, Cody Kohler made his way into second position. For the last 10 laps, it would be Kibler Jr. defending a hard charging Kohler on the outside line, seemingly holding is own until the very last lap. Kohler would make one last charge on the final lap to the outside, nosing just ahead of Kibler Jr. coming out of turn 4. Bobby Kibler Jr. held it flat to the floor in one final act of desperation, sending both cars sliding sideways over the finish line, however, Cody Kohler held the advantage, picking up yet another victory on the season along with the $750 Ward Crozier Memorial check!


The Future Hobby Stock division kicked off the main event for the evening with Justin Merkle Jr. at the pole position for the second week in a row. After coming up just short last week, Merkle would not be denied redemption, as he piloted out to an early lead over Adam Steigerwalt and never looked back. Merkle Jr. would cruise onto his second victory of the season with ease, commanding a near half track lead while Adam Steigerwalt and Sarabeth Mesko rounded out the top 3. 

The Street Stock division was slated to run 30 laps around the bullring Saturday evening, however, it would only take one lap before the whole field got shuffled around. The 45 of Todd Ahner and the 46 of Josh Kuronya led the field to green. Kuronya would drift up the track coming out of turn 4, leaving a gap for the 71 of Peyton Arthofer entering turn one. The gap would soon close, however, as Arthofer and Kuronya made contact, sending the 46 of Kuronya spinning coming out of turn 2. The incident would also collect the 41 of Brandon Christman while ending the night for Peyton Arthofer. This would then open up the door for the 56 of Frankie Althouse Jr. on the following restart, who made a quick pass for the lead out of the third spot, with Jon Moser following right behind him in the 25 car. Althouse Jr. never faltered from the lead for the remainder of the race, enduring a hard charging Jon Moser who never fell to more than a car length behind the leader. After two more late race restarts, Frankie Althouse Jr. was able to capture his third victory of the season with Jon Moser and Jillian Snyder rounding out the top three. 

The Late Model division was also on the card Saturday Evening, set to run 25 laps around the 1/4 mile. Brian Romig Jr. seemingly had the car to beat early on, setting the fastest lap time and working his way past the 0 car of Geno Steigerwalt who led the first 9 laps. Mark Hudson, the divisions current point leader, was able to keep Romig Jr. within striking distance and simply outlasted the fading 41 of Romig Jr.. Once the handling began to fade on Romig’s 41 machine, Hudson was able to navigate his way past him to pick up not only his second victory on the season, but also the track championship for 2024!

The 602 Crate Modifed division put on an absolute barn burner in their 30 lap feature. Todd Baer came into the night with a commanding point lead of 14 points, separating him from the 71 of Avery Arthofer. Todd Baer would lead early on, with his son, Nick Baer right behind him. Avery Arthofer put on an absolute clinic of a performance on the outside, battling both Baer cars simultaneously. Arthofer would take several attempts to the outside of Todd Baer, getting denied seemingly every time. Finally, the persistence of Arthofer would prove fruitful, rocketing around the 12 machine of Todd Baer to take sole position of the lead.  Once Arthofer escaped from the Baer duo, the #41 of Nick Baer spun out of turn 2, bringing out the race’s only caution. This would not be an issue for Arthofer, however, as she would outlast Todd Baer on the restart. All would be for nothing, however, as Avery Arthofer was disqualified post race for contact between she and the 41 of Nick Baer under caution. With that being said, 5-time feature winner Todd Baer was not only victorious on the night, but he was also crowned the division’s 2024 series champion just one year after his son, Nick, accomplished the same feat!

The Hobby Stock division was the final regular points race of the evening in their 25 lap feature. This was the third race of the evening to go caution free from green to checkered. The 88 of Terry Peters led the field to green with the 79 of James Tout on the outside. The 88 of Peters would float off of the bottom coming out of turn two, leaving way for the veteran driver of the 71, Jake Kibler. Kibler would take sole position of the lead, however, the 23 of Travis Solomon was hot on his trail from lap 2 to the final lap. Solomon would look to the inside just a few times, but to no avail. Picking up his second win of the year, Kibler would lead the field to checkered, leaving Solomon and Jacob Boehm to round out the top 3. 

The final show of the evening was the Junk Car race, which drew a spectacular 23 car field. Throughout the field, it was nothing short of chaos, which is exactly what the fans wanted to see for the duration of the 40 lap event. While it most certainly pays to have a fast car, these races are primarily about endurance and who can outlast and avoid the carnage. Fortunately for Evergreen Raceway’s TJ Kapish, not only was he able to avoid the chaos, he also brought a very fast race car, setting the fastest lap by nearly two tenths of a second while cruising onto victory by nearly a 8 second margin of victory!

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

PRO-4s: Cody Kohler, Bobby Kibler Jr., Randy Schaffer, Tyler Stangle, Bob Kibler Sr., Chris Yob, Ian Szalku, James Yons, Colton Breiner, Tyler Poole, Kadie Pursell, Rich Pursell, Jason Finken, Joey Stangle

FUTURE HOBBY STOCKS: Justin Merkle Jr., Adam Steigerwalt, Sarabeth Mesko, Gabi Steigerwalt, Jeremy Henry, Al Gildner, Arland Moyer Jr., Alex Kosman

HOBBY STOCKS: Jake Kibler, Travis Solomon, Jacob Boehm, James Tout, Nick Kerstetter, Terry Peters

STREET STOCKS: Frankie Althouse Jr., Jon Moser, Jill Snyder, Jacob Boehm, Jamie Smith, Brandon Christman, Shayne Geist, Matt Kocher, Todd Ahner, Josh Kuronya, Mike Odwazny, Cody Geist, Peyton Arthofer

602 MODS: Todd Baer, Nick Baer, Jacob Kerstetter, Makayla Kohler 
DQ: Avery Arthofer

LATE MODELS: Mark Hudson, Brian Romig Jr., Geno Steigerwalt, Seth Van Fossen, Brian Romig Sr. 
JUNK CAR RACE: TJ Kapish, Jim Ayre, Paul Mercante, Johnny Bennett, Todd Fulmer, AJ Light, Jason Kintzer, Brian Kunkel, Dave Imler, Ty Weist, Adam Kratzer, Ryan Williams, Steven Schlenker, Kevin Clinebell, Travis Frantz, Mallory Kutz, Eric Whitmore, Wyatt Fulmer, Aaron Moyer, Neil Kunkel, Jacob Oswald, Jacob Costenbader, Guy Ackerman


Kyle Strohl bests Hirschman, Beers, and Barney en route from the outhouse to the penthouse in the 93 lap Bill Swartz Sr. Tribute race at The Mahoning Valley Speedway on September 7

Bill Swartz Sr. was the true embodiment of a racing enthusiast. While Swartz Sr. wasn’t typically in the racing papers for being a driver, it goes without saying that he was a true cornerstone in the racing community, fielding race cars for some of racing’s biggest names for almost 5 whole decades. Bill fielded his first race car all the way back in 1957 at Mahoning Valley Speedway prior to there being a spec of asphalt on the racing surface. After a traffic accident that resulted in needing a metal hip replacement sidelined BIll’s racing career, he shifted his focus to primarily being a car owner. 
Countless victories and track championships originated from the Swartz stable, facilitating the careers of many race car drivers. Some of these drivers included Rich Landis, Tim Perry, Rod Snyder Jr., Ryan Preece, George Wambold, Kevin Rex, Ward Krozier Sr., Kenny Hein, Keith Kocher, Tim Laybourn, Cal Snyder, Carl VanHorn, Frankie Schneider, Newk Muffley, George Resh, Steve Drabick, Willard Paules, George Stiegerwalt, Jack Jones, Charlie Hansler, Ron Sauerwine, Stan Landis, Dave Bobst, Jimmy Wismer, Adam Horwith, Dale Bauer, and his son, Billy Swartz Jr.. The Swartz family, led by Bill’s son, Billy Swartz Jr., was able to put together a hefty purse which brought racers from all corners of the east coast forming a full field of ground pounding modifieds.  The Swartz family would like to thank all of their family members and sponsors that contributed towards their purse as well as all of the race teams that came out to pay tribute to one of the most prolific car owners in short track racing history.

From the drop of the green flag of the 93 Lap Bill Swartz Sr. Memorial race, tension and aggression was high as Paulie Hartwig lll was shot out of a cannon, leading the 53 of Brian DeFebo and the 8 of Earl Paules early on. Defebo would soon fall back on the outside as “The Hurricane”, Earl Paules, took sole possession of P2 and immediately began knocking on the back door of Hartwig. After a lap 12 caution reshuffled the field, Hartwig would lead Paules and Matt Hirschman to the green.  After 7 laps of side by side action throughout the field, a checkup by Earl Paules and Brian DeFebo sent the rest of the field into a frenzy, causing the 03 of Jaden Brown to climb the left rear sail panel of the 19 of Austin Brown, causing significant body damage before parking it on Beers’ roof on the front stretch. Both cars were able to continue on, however, the Beers crew went through a couple rolls of duck tape to ensure the body on the 19 would stay on for the remainder of the race.  The 11 of Paulie Hartwig lll would then have Matt Hirschman lined up on his outside, holding him off for the next 8 laps until another caution was brought out by Terry Markovic in the 92. Hartwig wouldn’t be as fortunate on the lap 24 restart, however, as Matt Hirschman was able to make quick work on the outside gaining sole position of the lead for the ensuing 30 laps. While all eyes were on the 60 of Matt Hirschman, “The Real Deal”, Kyle Strohl was methodically picking off the top 10 as he had started deep in the field. Strohl would fight his way through a sea of serious competition until he had the 60 of Hirschman lined up in his crosshairs from the second position. A long green flag run was all the 44 of Strohl needed, as once he tracked down Hirschman, he wasted no time darting to the inside line where he and Hirschman would battle closely for the next five laps. Hirschman, however, surprisingly was unable to keep the momentum rolling on the high side, relinquishing the lead to Strohl and falling further back in the top 5 as the laps dwindled down. Kyle Strohl, another familiar face to victory lane at the quarter mile, was not quite out of the woods yet. While he did shoot out to a commanding lead, the long green flag run seemingly took a toll on his tires as the 19 of Austin Beers miraculously piloted his severely wounded 19 machine to second place with the “Big Red” 14 car of Blake Barney right behind him. Beers had nothing but speed while Strohl was handling a tight race car closing in on the final 10 laps. Beers would eventually track down Strohl, taking a look to the inside as they approached lap traffic. The young talent between the two front runners was certainly on display as they battled side by side, neither driver giving an inch without making any contact with one another. The 44 of Strohl seemingly found a second wind as he was able to rocket by Beers once more on the outside. Coming to the white flag with one lap remaining, Beers had one final glimpse of hope, as Strohl went to the high side to avoid lap traffic. There was a gap on the bottom line for Beers to take, however, in a display of respect for the 44 crew, Beers refrained from sending it through wide, as the move likely would’ve resulted in catastrophe for all parties involved. Coming out of turn 4, Kyle Strohl would cruise onto his third victory on the season at Mahoning Valley Speedway, this time taking home the hardware and the $4,000 paycheck in the Billy Swartz Sr. Tribute race. 

Also on the card for Saturday evening was the Street Stock division. Leading the field to green after picking up the heat win was the veteran driver of the 22 machine, Jamie Smith. Smith would lead early on, however, the relentless pressure and bumper applied by the #41 of Brandon Christman grew to be too much, setting course for Christman to check out from the rest of the field.  On a lap 14 restart, the outside line had a serious checkup, resulting in the 12 of Matt Kocher and the 18 of Cody Bame to go sliding towards the outside wall on the backstretch bringing out yet another caution. From then on, Christman would regain his substantial lead on the rest of the field, leading the ensuing 16 laps en route to pick up his second victory of the season with the 25 of Jon Moser and 71 of Peyton Arthofer rounding out the top 3. 

Justin Merkel Jr. was set to lead the field to green piloting his number 18 machine in the Future Hobby Stock 15 lap main event. After finding speed and picking up his heat race victory, Merkel would forfeit the lead, missing a shift coming to the green and falling back to third position. The 24 of Jeremy Henry and the 87 of Sarabeth Mesko would shoot out to a 5 car length gap over Merkel by the completion of the first lap. Merkel wasted no time making up for his mishap, reeling back in the leaders while they were side by side for the majority of the race. The race went caution-free green to checkered with Henry and Mesko battling closely side by side for just about all 15 laps. Coming out of turn 4 on the last lap, Mesko made one last ditch effort on the outside line, and the two came together sending Mesko towards the front stretch wall and Henry’s winning margin to less than two tenths of a second over Justin Merkel Jr.. 

Next up on Saturday nights main event were the Mahoning Valley Hobby Stocks. Lined up at the helm of the field was the #79 of James Tout with the #23 of Travis Solomon on his outside. From the drop of the green, Solomon wasted little time taking sole possession of the lead, checking out from the rest of the field while Jared Frye in his 75 machine and the 71 of Jake Kibler followed suit. A lap 17 incident between the 15 of Nick Kerstetter and the 24 of Shawn Hoffman set the field for a late-race restart. This time, it was Solomon and Frye leading the field to green and Frye put up a solid fight on the outside, however, the 23 of Solomon proved to be too strong, as he pulled away and set sail towards yet another victory on the 2024 season at Mahoning Valley Speedway. 

OFFICIAL RESULTS

MODIFIEDS: Kyle Strohl, Austin Beers, Blake Barney, Matt Hirschman, Lou Strohl, Rod Snyder Jr., Nick Baer, Bobby Jones, Brian Defebo, Don Wagner, Earl Paules, Paulie Hartwig lll, Jayden Harman, Brian Romig Sr., Brian Rygelski, Josh Mooney, Jacob Kerstetter, Jaden Brown, Thomas Flanagan, Kevin Graver Jr., Terry Markovic 

STREET STOCKS: Brandon Christman, Jon Moser, Peyton Arthofer, Cody Geist, Jamie Smith, Greg Long, Matt Kocher, Shayne Geist, Cody Bame, Josh Kuronya, Todd Ahner, Mike Odwazny

HOBBY STOCKS: Travis Solomon, Jared Frye, Jake Kibler, James Tout, Ryan Berger, Shawn Hoffman, Terry Peters, 
DQ:Nick Kerstetter DNS: Mallory Kutz

FUTURE HOBBY STOCKS: Jeremy Henry, Justin Merkel Jr., Adam Stiegerwalt, Arland Moyer Jr., Al Gildner, Sarabeth Mesko, Lexus Kutz

“Big Money” Matt Hirschman plays the waiting game and pounces late in the 81 lap George Wambold Memorial Modified Feature to take home the hardware at The Mahoning Valley Speedway! 

This past Saturday evening marked the second annual George Wambold Memorial event at Mahoning Valley Speedway. Anybody who considers themselves to be a short track racing fan in the northeast is certainly no stranger to the name George Wambold. George was a five time track champion in modified racing between the years 1971-1987, twice at Mahoning Valley Speedway and three times at Dorney Park Speedway. 

The late George Wambold left behind not only an unbelievable resume in short track racing, but also instilled the love and passion of racing into his bloodline, leaving behind multiple generations of Wambolds that still carry on his legacy and passion for the sport in local short track racing. 

The headline of the evening was the 81 lap modified race, which drew a full field of fierce competition that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats from bookend to bookend. 

The 53 of Brian Defebo led the field to green  and quickly got out to an early lead. This was until the 19 of Austin Beers and the 44 of Kyle Strohl simultaneously made a charge to become the class of the field. While the top 3 checked out from the field, the 1J of Bobby Jones was sitting comfortably, riding comfortably in the 4th position as Kyle Strohl took the helm using his coveted outside racing groove. 

The field would remain calm for the vast majority of the race until about 35 laps to go when the 95 of Jacob Kerstetter and the 88 of Lou Strohl went through a spin cycle to shuffle the field back together for a late restart. 

At the time of the caution, Matt Hirschman, undoubtedly the most dominant modified driver in Mahoning’s recent history was riding in the 7th position, likely saving his tires for a late race charge. This caution proved his method genius, as the green flag dropped, he began making light work of the rest of the field. While he was slicing and dicing through the top 5, Austin Beers was able to navigate the Beers family 19 around the 44 of Strohl, however, it wasn’t long before Hirschman had made his way to his back bumper and it was a duel to the finish. 

As the laps dwindled down, Hirchman’s strategy, to nobody’s surprise, proved fruitful as he was able to make his way past the 19 car of Beers, leading the remaining 20 laps of the 81 lap George Wambold Memorial feature picking up the $2500 paycheck as well as the Trophy provided by the Warden & Wambold family. 

The Street Stock division proved to be no slouch, either, as many fans described the event as some of the most exciting, side by side racing the division has provided in quite some time. The 22 of Jamie Smith led the field to the green on lap one of the 30 lap bout, however, it wouldn’t be long before the Geist brothers of Shayne and Cody were knocking on his door. 

Smith was able to hold onto the lead for quite some time, however, Cody Geist was able to edge past him just in time for the caution that was brought out by the 15 car of Rick Reichenbach, who was an innocent bystander in a hectic accordion effect of checkups throughout the field. The 12 Matt Kocher and the 11 of Mark Deysher were charging hard and charging fast throughout the field, each making their way into the top 5, however, green flag laps tick by quite fast at the Bullring, much to the benefit of Cody Geist who was able to pilot his pink #40 machine to victory lane for the second time this season at Mahoning Valley Speedway and take home the George Wambold Memorial hardware. 

Slated next on the main event card was the Hobby Stock division, who ran green to checkered with the 71 of Jake Kibler up front. Michael Wambold made his return to Mahoning Valley Speedway to partake in his father’s memorial race, this time behind the wheel of the #7 machine, typically driven by Al Gildner in the Futures division. Wambold showed great speed early on, clocking the second fastest lap time of the featured but his tires would soon fade, causing him to drop out of contention between the leaders of Kibler and Solomon. Kibler began the feature with the 23 of Travis Solomon hot on his tail, making several attempts for the lead throughout the bout, however, Kibler was able to fend off the faster Solomon for all 25 laps and make his way to victory lane. 

The Hobby Stock Futures have been quite the class to watch, as young drivers have been showcasing their abilities as well as their racing development throughout the season. One of the most impressive drivers of the division to date has been the 87 of Sarabeth Mesko, who throughout her first two seasons in the Futures division, has shown great speed and poise. Her consistent speed hasn’t come with much reward, however, as Mesko has always found misfortune whether it being mechanical failures or getting caught up in racing incidents. This would all change on Saturday evening as all of the cards fell perfectly in place for Mesko, as she was able to fend off both Steigerwalt Siblings on restarts, checking out to a commanding lead and capturing her ever-so elusive first career victory by a margin of over two seconds to the runner up finisher of Adam Steigerwalt. 

Also making an appearance on the evening were the East Coast TQs. The night started off quite miserably for Jason Heintrich as he lost a motor in his primary car in practice. Luckily, Blu Metz just so happened to have an extra car that he was able to hop in for the feature which later proved to be an excellent decision for both parties involved.  The race started out with a scary moment as Mark Janisch flipped his car into turn one. On the restart, the 723 led until about half way throughout the race when there was a wreck involving 4 cars and ending Ozzy Carlino’s night. Hentrich relined in the 4th position and was able to make some in-car adjustments that propelled him to the front, setting up a last lap pass of Vinnie Testinaro.  

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

MODIFIEDS: Matt Hirschman, Austin Beers, Kyle Strohl, Steven Kopcik, Brian Defebo, Bobby Jones, Jaden Brown, Don Wagner, Jacob Kerstetter, Earl Paules, Nick Baer, Lou Strohl, Rod Snyder Jr., Brian Romig Sr., Tommy Wannick, Thomas Flanagan, Josh Mooney, John Bennett

STREET STOCKS: Cody Geist, Shayne Geist, Matt Kocher, Josh Kuronya, Mark Deysher, Brandon Christman, Rick Reichenbach, Greg Long, Jamie Smith, Peyton Arthofer, Frankie Althouse, Cody Bame, Todd Ahner, Mike Odwazny, John Bennett, Bobby Kibler Jr. 

HOBBY STOCKS: Jake Kibler, Travis Solomon, Michael Wambold, Nick Kerstetter, Jared Frye, James Tout, Terry Peters, Dave Kerr, Alton Snyder Jr., Mallory Kutz

FUTURES: Sarabeth Mesko, Adam Stiegerwalt, Alex Rogers, Jeremy Henry, Al Gildner, Zoe Kuchera, Gabi Steigerwalt, Steven Schlenker
DNS: Justin Merkel Jr., Chaz Takacz

EAST COAST TQ’s: Jason Hentrich, Vinny Testinaro, Graham Hughes, Adam Huff, Dave Williams, Ozzy Carlino, Mark Janisch


‘Lightning’ Lou Strohl leads all 35 laps in Saturday night’s “Fan Appreciation Night” 35-lap modified spectacle on August 10! 
Third time was, in fact, the charm for race fans and drivers at The Mahoning Valley Speedway, as Mother Nature has finally allowed racing to ensue at the 1/4 mile in Lehighton, Pennsylvania.    Headlining the card for the night were the much-anticipated mighty modifieds set to cap off the night with their 35-lap feature. Lou Strohl was at the helm of the field to take the green with Kyle Strohl lined up on his outside.   From the jump, Lou Strohl was fast out of the gate, leaving Kyle Strohl and the rest of the field in the dust. Kyle, on the other hand, had a little trouble getting going, falling back on the outside to start the race. Kyle would not falter, however, as he put on an absolute clinic on the outside line.   By lap 13, Kyle Strohl had made his way back up to second position, still just over a second behind the leader, Lou Strohl. The 44 machine would not be denied, as it took a mere 4 lap effort until fans saw side-by-side Strohl on Strohl action, with Kyle Strohl staying strong in the outside groove.    ‘Lightning’ Lou would hold strong on the inside for the entirety of the race, seemingly using up a couple lanes of race track when needed to keep the hard charging ‘Real Deal’ at bay. This would become the norm until a lap 26 caution would re-rack the field.   Cautions breed cautions, and Kyle Strohl was the unfortunate victim of circumstance after a flat RF tire would send him into the Turn 2 wall. Strohl did, however, salvage a P7 finish on the night after his crew swapped tires and made necessary repairs.   Lou Strohl would go on to lead the rest of the way, capping off his 2nd Modified victory of the 2024 season at Mahoning Valley Speedway. 

The Mahoning Valley Speedway Street Stock division was the co-main event for the night with 30 laps of bumper to bumper action. From the jump, Peyton Arthofer set course towards her most impressive outing in her #71 Street Stock to date. She would  endure constant pressure from the #4 car of Shayne Geist, however, Geist’s handle on his race car would soon fade. After a lap 21 incident between Todd Ahner and Greg Long, the field would re-rack once more.    Geist would then struggle on the outside line, giving the second position to the #56 of Frankie Althouse who brought the #41 of Brandon Christman along with him. Althouse appeared to reel in Arthofer rather quickly, however, he would also soon fade off and have no choice but to have a front row seat to Peyton Arthofer’s first career Street Stock victory! 

The Hobby Stocks were also on the schedule for the evening, making 25 laps around the circuit. Much to the surprise of race fans, and (probably) to the drivers as well, this race went from bookend to bookend without any cautions. This was everything Jared Frye could’ve asked for, as he was not only the leader at the time of the green, but he was also several car lengths ahead of second place, Dave Kerr. Kerr, coming off of a thriller win in his last go-around, was able to put together a couple attempts at Frye, however, never had the momentum or positioning to pose as a threat to Frye. Jared Frye would go on to dominate en route to his third victory of the 2024 racing season. 

 In Mahoning’s Pro-4 division, Bob Kibler Sr. would show the field the way to the green flag, however, his time at the front of the field was cut short after his son, Bobby Kibler Jr. would spin on the front stretch, bringing out the yellow. This would be all Cody Kohler needed, as he would take the lead on lap 7 from the veteran driver of the 2024. Kohler ran away and hid from the rest of the field, winning by a margin of almost 4 seconds over second place, Kibler Sr. 

The 602 Crate Modifieds put on a clinic, as fans saw the 95 of Jacob Kerstetter lead early. Kerstetter, battling a very loose race car, would forfeit the lead on lap 7 to the 71 of Avery Arthofer. The 17 of Scott Adams and the 12 of Todd Baer would make contact, bringing out the yellow. After a late race caution brought out by the 28 of Makayla Kohler, Avery Arthofer would line up ahead of Nick Baer in the 41, who made his return to racing after taking a short hiatus. Going into turn 1, Avery Arthofer went for a ride, causing an uproar of upset race fans. Baer led the final few laps of the race and guided the patented Aqua-Duck #41 machine down into victory lane for the 5th consecutive race. 

Al Gildner set sail from the pole position of the 15 lap Future Hobby Stock feature, having already been victorious twice on the season. Gildner would set great pace, checking out to an early lead, until the 91 of Justin Merkel Jr. wheeled its way around the outside groove to make several passes. Merkel, looking like a true veteran in just his first season, was able to make great progress on Gildner once he made his way to second, however, the #7 of Gildner was simply too strong as he found just a little extra speed as the race went on, going on to win his third feature of the year at Mahoning Valley Speedway.  Another footnote on this feature was the impressive charge to the front by the third place finishing 60 car, driven by Chaz Takacs. 

MODIFIEDS: 1. Lou Strohl 2. Bobby Jones 3. Don Wagner 4. Earl Paules 5. Rod Snyder Jr. 6. Brian Defebo 7. Kyle Strohl 8. Terry Markovic 9. Jayden Brown 10. Brian Romig Jr. 11. Johnny Bennett 12. Tommy Wanick 13. Brian Romig Sr. 14. Anthony Sesley 15. Nick Baer 16. Thomas Flanagan 17. Jacob Kerstetter 18. Nick Schaeffer 

STREET STOCKS: 1. Peyton Arthofer 2. Frankie Althouse 3. Brandon Christman 4. Todd Ahner 5. Cody Geist 6. Shayne Geist 7. Cody Boehm 8. Jamie Smith 9. Josh Kuronya 10. Greg Long

HOBBY STOCKS: 1. Jared Frye 2. Dave Kerr 3. Travis Solomon 4. Cody Boehm 5. Nick Kerstetter 6. James Tout 7. Al Arthofer 8. Jake Kibler 9. Ken Reeder 10. Ken Breiner 11. Stephen McDonough 12. Mike Frable 13. Michael Wambold 

PRO-4s: 1. Cody Kohler 2. Bob Kibler Sr. 3. Tyler Poole 4. Colton Breiner 5. Bobby Kibler Jr. 6. Jason Finken 7. Terry Peters 8. Kadie Pursell 9. Adam Boucher 10. Chris Yob 11. Tyler Stangle 12. Ian Szalku 13. Rich Pursell 14. James Yons DNS: Robert Derfler 

602 CRATE MODS: 1. Nick Baer 2. Jacob Kerstetter 3. Scott Adams 4. Avery Arthofer 5. Todd Baer 6. Makayla Kohler

FUTURES: 1. Al Gildner 2. Justin Merkel Jr. 3. Chaz Takacz 4. Adam Steigerwalt 5. Gabi Steigerwalt 6. Jeremy Henry 7. Sarabeth Mesko 8. Connor Shotwell 9. Savannah Romig 10. Alex Kosman 11. Liam McDonough 12. Zoe Kuchera 13. Arland Moyer Jr.


Johnny Bennett takes the field for a ‘Magic Carpet Ride’, leading all 50 laps of the Mike Krempasky Memorial Race in his shag-covered “Wooly Bully” at The Mahoning Valley Speedway!

          The annual “Mike Krempasky Memorial Race” is one of the most anticipated races of the year for local race fans, and especially so for Street Stock drivers. The son of the late Mike Krempasky, Kyle Krempasky, as well as his family always makes sure that this show is one that is not only a rewarding watch for the fans, but a rewarding payout for street stock drivers. Kyle, along with the help of his family, were able to put together a stout purse, which included $1000 to win the yearly spectacle and countless other awards and monetary incentives for the street stock drivers. 
          Mike Krempasky was a staple to the local racing scene, not only as a driver at  Dorney Park Speedway, but most recently as a car owner for T.J Gursky at Mahoning Valley Speedway. It is an honor for the track to be able to host such a race in memory of Mike and it shouldn’t go without recognition how much effort Kyle, Sheila, and the rest of the Krempasky family puts into holding this race every year. 
          Bennett would set forth from the pole starting position after a top 12 redraw from the heat race results. On his outside was the #41 Camaro of Brandon Christman, who throughout the whole course of the race, never faltered from second position. This race displayed a lot of risk and seldom reward for those who “chose” the outside line on restarts, as this was a ‘cone race’ for the first 45 laps. There were only a few drivers who were able to make any progress on the field using the outside groove on Saturday night as everyone was fighting to get to the bottom line from the jump. 
          The racing was tightly contested just about all the way through the 20-car field as drivers displayed great patience the entire race. There were only three cautions which made each lane choice pivotal for the top ten, however, Bennett and Christman found themselves bumper to bumper after every restart as they set the pace on the inside groove. Christman took multiple stabs to the inside of Bennett, yielding no reward as Bennett was able to deflect each and every pass attempt, maintaining a clean and respectful level of competition. Bennett’s defense was too strong for Christman and the rest of the field, leaving Christman, Frankie Althouse, Jon Moser, and Mark Deysher to round out the top five. 
          The 602 Crate Modified division set course for their 30 lap feature that remained up for grabs until the drop of the checkered flag. Todd Baer returned to racing action at the 1/4 Bullring after taking a one week hiatus after winning his first three races of the season. This time, however, Baer was piloting the Paul French owned #12 car, which had previously been driven by Bobby Jones. Baer shot out to an early lead of nearly 8 car lengths over Geno Steigerwalt. Avery Arthofer, coming off of her first win of 2024, was able to not only navigate her way through the top 5, but was able to wipe away Baer’s impressive lead over the course of the long green flag run. Arthofer applied some serious pressure to Baer, making several attempts to the outside, but to no avail as Todd Baer was able to fend off the fastest car on the track to pick up his 4th win of the season at Mahoning Valley Speedway. 
          The Late Model division was also on display Saturday evening, as Brian Romig Jr. put on an absolute clinic of a performance by leading all 25 laps of the feature. While Romig Jr. may have picked up his first win of the season his last time out, Saturday night’s performance was quite a bit more meaningful to the young driver. The #41 car, driven by Romig Jr., was previously owned and driven by Francis Gross lll, who tragically passed away at age of 49 last year. The Romig family kept the #41 paint scheme just as it was after purchasing the car in tribute to Francis. This past weekend, Francis Gross Jr. was not only in attendance to watch his late son’s car make laps, but he got to stand in victory lane with the #41 machine for the first time with it being driven by Romig Jr.. 
          The Future Hobby Stock division was the first Mahoning division to hit the track on Saturday night, with Al Gildner taking the reins of the field and leading them to green. Gildner endured suspension troubles early on in the day, however, he was able to overcome his adversities and lead every single lap of the 15 lap feature to pick up his second victory of the season in dominating fashion. 
          The Pro-4 division, to be simply put, has been absolutely dominated this year by the #29 machine of Cody Kohler. The reigning division champion of Kohler found himself trailing the #18 of Bobby Kibler Jr. early on throughout the race, however, after making incidental contact with Kibler Jr., sending him through the spin cycle and collecting several other cars, both drivers would find themselves lined up in the rear for the ensuing restart. Kibler Jr. and Kohler would set ablaze the outside line of the 1/4 mile, making their way from the back of the pack to the front in the matter of no more than 5 laps. Kohler would eventually make his way by the #18 machine, setting sail to yet another victory on the 2024 season. 
          The Hobby Stock division had its fair share of passing, smashing, and flared tempers on Saturday evening under the lights. The coveted four cylinder division was slated for 25 laps of thrilling racing with Dave Kerr at the helm of the field to take the green flag. Kerr hasn’t had his desired start to the season, loading up a bent race car in his last two races at Mahoning, however, from the drop of the green, he was the fastest car on the track showing no signs of lingering damage on the #15 machine. The field would become strung out single file early on, however, all of that would change when the #81 of Maggie Wambold was seen making a B-line for the turn 1 wall after contact with James Tout in the #79. Fortunately, Wambold was able to make her way out of her car under her own power. While some drivers may have expressed their frustrations on the night, no smile was bigger than that of Dave Kerr, who was able to make a visit to victory lane for the first time in 2024. 

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

FUTURE HOBBY STOCKS: Al Gildner, Adam Steigerwalt, Jeremy Henry, Chaz Takacz, Justin Merkel Jr., Sarabeth Mesko, Arland Moyer Jr., Gabi Steigerwalt, Zoe Kuchera

LATE MODELS: Brian Romig Jr., Brian Romig Sr., Mark Hudson, Geno Steigerwalt, Griffin Hendershot, Tucker Muffley, Seth Van Fossen

602 CRATE MODIFIEDS: Todd Baer, Avery Arthofer, Makayla Kohler, Geno Steigerwalt, Branden Sullivan

PRO-4s: Cody Kohler, Bobby Kibler Jr., Jason Finken, Robert Derfler, Colton Breiner, Ian Szalku, Aiden Boucher, Tyler Poole, Bob Kibler Sr., Chris Yob
DNS: Joey Stangle

HOBBY STOCKS: Dave Kerr, Travis Solomon, Don Bauder, Terry Peters, James Tout, Tony Hirschman Jr., Tony Hilliard, Jake Kibler
DQ: Justin Merkel, B.J Wambold, Maggie Wambold

STREET STOCKS: Johnny Bennett, Brandon Christman, Frankie Althouse, Jon Moser, Mark Deysher, Cody Geist, Jill Snyder, Jacob Boehm, Shayne Geist, Peyton Arthofer, Jamie Smith, Rick Reichenbach, Todd Ahner, Randy Green, Josh Kuronya, TJ Gursky, Tucker Muffley, Stacey Brown, Mike Odwazny, Bobby Kibler Jr.

Jared Frye and Maggie Wambold take home the $1,000 paychecks, winning each of the Twin Feature 30 lappers in the Paul Strohl Tribute on July 6

           In the 20 lap Pro-4 feature, Cody Kohler would see himself to victory lane, making quick work of the traffic en-route to his 52nd career victory in the Pro-4 division and 53rd overall win at Mahoning Valley Speedway, tying him on the all-time win rankings with none other than Paul Koehler Jr..
           In the Future Hobby Stock division, there have only been 3 different winners to date to begin the season. That would change on Saturday night as Jeremy Henry was able to pilot his #10 machine to his first career trip to victory lane in a 15 lap shootout with Adam Steigerwalt.
          The 602 Crate Modified division returned to the ¼ mile circuit, as well, this time missing the likes of Todd Baer and Bobby Jones, leaving victory lane open for a first time winner in 2024. Avery Arthofer would seize this opportunity, taking the field by storm, not only picking up her first victory of the season, but also setting the fastest lap of the feature at an impressive 10.824 seconds. 
           The most anticipated racing of the night was the Hobby Stock division, paying tribute to the late Paul Strohl, who has been a staple to short track racing at Mahoning Valley Speedway for decades, whether it was as a driver, crew chief, or tow truck driver. The Hobby Stock division was very proud to pay tribute to Strohl, partaking in “Twin-30 Lappers” and racing for the division’s most impressive payout to-date. The ever-so generous payout was brought forth by the likes of multiple sponsors, including Todd Baer at Aquaduck Water Transport, Eric Kocher Motorsports, Paul’s Garage & Towing, Scott Lesher Contracting, Country View Diner, Tanner Strohl & Family, JD Motorsports, Dave Farkas, and Bath Supply.
            In the first feature, Maggie Wambold would see the field to green with the upcoming talent of Jared Frye on her outside. A frightening moment of the night was when the #88 of Ken Reeder got an unusual (upside down) view of the infield, as his Chevy Cavalier found itself on its lid after a lap one incident. Fortunately, Reeder came out of the wreck unscathed, however, his #88 entry was unable to continue on for the remainder of the night. From the jump, Frye was on his game, besting Wambold in the outside groove to jump out to the lead. A Frye’s route to victory was a cumbersome one at that, as he would have to endure the relentless pressure of the #4 of Cody Geist, making his return to the division he once dominated, winning two championships. Geist was unable to make the pass for $1,000, however, and Jared Frye rolled on to pick up his second win of the 2024 season. 
           In the second Hobby Stock feature, the starting grid was the result of a full field invert of the first feature’s results. From the drop of the green, chaos ensued, as it was a mad dash to get to the front of the field. Jake Kibler would see his way to the lead by the second lap with Jacob Boehm in tow. Kibler and Boehm would check out from the rest of the field, bumper to bumper for the majority of the 30 lap shootout. After a late race caution, Kibler and Boehm would tangle while battling for the lead, leaving the $1,000 up for grabs for the frontrunners Maggie Wambold, Trisha Connoly, and Corey Edelman. Wambold, being the least experienced of the trio, was able to fend off the division veterans of Edelman and Connolly en route to her biggest payout to date! 
           Also on the slate for Saturday evening was the Street Stock division, scheduled for 30 laps of side-by-side action. Brandon Christman would lead the field to green in his pristine #41 Camaro, still searching for his first win of the season. From the drop of the green, Christman was under fire on all fronts, whether it was the Geist brothers, Shayne and Cody, or the Wooly Bully “X” car driven by Johnny Bennett. Bennett was able to charge his way to the front and line up in the second position on a late race restart, however, the persistence and determination of Christman would soon pay off, as he was first across the scoring line on lap 30, picking up his first win of 2024.
           Last but not least, fans who stuck around got to witness a thriller of a Junk Car race that was run by Old School Promotions and the Strohl family. There were 21 cars on the pavement for this one, however, by the grace of junk car racing, only 9 would finish. The vast majority of the race had been dominated by the 77 of Jacob Oswald, who was the only driver to break the 13 second mark in lap times. Oswald’s domination would be short-lived, however, as he would be caught up in lapped traffic and taken out of the race on lap 26. From then on, it appeared to be a clear Ryan Williams victory until the 71s of Steven Schlenker was able to find just enough grip to surpass the 08 of Williams with 3 to go. Williams took one last look to the inside of Schlenker but to no avail. Steven Schlenker picked up the first victory of his young career in an absolute barnburner of a junk car race!

Pro-4’s- Cody Kohler
Paul Strohl Memorial HS Race #1- Jared Frye
Paul Strohl Memorial HS Race #2- Maggie Wambold
Future Hobby Stocks- Jeremy Henry
602 Crate Modifieds- Avery Arthofer
Street Stocks- Brandon Christman
Junk Car Race: Steven Schlenker​

Frankie Althouse Jr. makes it two in a row while Travis Solomon picks up his second win of the young 2024 racing season at The Mahoning Valley Speedway on June 15

Travis Solomon would find his way to the front relatively quickly in the Hobby Stock feature, taking the lead from James Tout while clocking the fastest lap of the race, at 12.146 seconds. That speed would soon waiver over the course of the 25 lap feature, as the division’s most seasoned driver, Jake Kibler would follow suit trailing him in second place. As the laps dwindled down, Kibler was noticeably faster than the 23 of Solomon, making multiple attempts to the inside that were met by the quick defense of Solomon, closing the door and keeping Kibler from attaining his first win of the season. Solomon would win the highly contested battle, leaving the 71 of Kibler and the 79 of James Tout to round out the top 3.
 
The 602 Crate Modified division took center stage for their 30 lap bout as the sun began to set over Lehighton’s ¼ mile bullring. As soon as the green flag dropped, it was a three-car battle as Todd Baer, Bobby Jones, and Nick Schaeffer put nearly a 6 car gap over the rest of the field within the first five laps. Schaeffer would eventually lose sight of the veteran duo of Jones and Baer as they went on to battle it out for the remainder of the race. While battling nose to tail for nearly 25 laps, not a single spark flew as the years of experience were shown, exemplifying what clean, respectful racing is all about. Baer never wavered to the pressure of Jones, winning his third straight Crate Modified showdown at Mahoning with a gap to second place of nearly two seconds.

The Street Stock division put on a great show, which showcased one of the most respected individuals in the pit area, Greg Long. Long has been filling the driver seat of the 2023 championship winning #97 car, which is normally driven by his daughter, Jillian Snyder. The recently “unretired” driver would lead the field to green, leading the first 20 laps of the feature while holding off the #30 of Jacob Boehm who made several attempts to unseat the wily veteran, though he remained composed and held the inside groove. The #56 of Frankie Althouse found himself in a seemingly familiar situation, capitalizing on the leaders fighting over the same real estate on the bottom, he decided to put his four hoosiers into the top lane of the race track and snuck past the duo with little to no contact. Althouse, picking up his second straight win of the season, left Long and Boehm to round out the top three and a hornets nest of cars beating and banging for top 5 finishes.

The Predator Mini Mods were also on the schedule on Saturday evening, returning to what is often referred to as their “Super Speedway”. The #121 of Bill Connolly showed great speed all throughout the afternoon and into the evening, topping the speed charts in both the heat race and the feature. Connolly endured little pressure en route to victory in the feature, setting the fastest lap of the bout by nearly four tenths of a second. Following Connolly across the finish line were the #5 of Brandon Kressler and the #145 of Ian McGuire.

The car count for Mahoning’s Late Model division grew slightly on Saturday night, however, the energy and action that came with them grew exponentially larger. Mark Hudson has reigned supreme over the late model division in recent history, however, after the unraveling events of Saturday’s 25 lap feature, it is safe to say that the competition has reeled him in. Hudson led the field to green after a wild series of events in the preceding heat race. Hudson would check out to familiar early lead at the drop of the green flag, but to the surprise of many, two more ‘horses’ would soon enter the race. The #2 of Seth Van Fossen and the #41 of Brian Romig Jr. would close the gap to the back bumper of the #82 while they were side by side. In the midst of the two young drivers battling for second, Romig and Van Fossen would soon find themselves each going for the same real estate which would send the pair spinning in dramatic fashion in front of the rest of the field. This would be of no issue for Romig Jr., however, as the famous saying goes, “cautions breed cautions”, he would soon find himself lined up in the third place position on a late race restart. Hudson was unable to keep his favored line as the laps wound down and the tire temperatures raised, leaving the door open for Romig Jr.’s #41 machine to sneak past him on the inside en route to his first win of 2024.

The Future Hobby Stock division saw the #54 of young Adam Steigerwalt cruise onto his third victory of the season, leaving the #87 of Sarabeth Mesko and the #10 of Rodney Breiner to round out the top three. 

Also in on Saturday night’s action was the East Coast TQ Midget division. Josh Paterson would lead the field both to the green flag on lap one and the checkered flag on lap 20. Following behind him was the tightly contested battle of the #33 of Tyler Wagner and the #42 of Brandon Kressler which ultimately resulted in frightening post race wreck which saw the #33 of Wagner going airborne and badly damaged. 

HOBBY STOCK FEATURE: 1) Travis Solomon 2) Jake Kibler 3) James Tout 4) Dave Kerr 5) Nick Kerstetter 6) Terry Peters 7) Maggie Wambold 8. Jared Frye 

​STREET STOCK FEATURE: 1) Frankie Althouse 2) Greg Long 3) Jacob Boehm 4) Johnny Bennett 5) Jamie Smith 6) Cody Geist 7) Shayne Geist 8. Brandon Christman 9) Todd Ahner 10) Josh Kuronya 11) Rich Moser 12) Peyton Arthofer
DQ: Brian Wambold Jr.

FUTURES FEATURE: 1) Adam Stiegerwalt 2) Sarabeth Mesko 3) Rodney Breiner 4) Gabi Steigerwalt 5) Jeremy Henry 6) Al Gildner 7) Liam McDonough 8. Justin Merkel Jr. 9) Zoe Kuchera 10) Connor Shotwell

LATE MODELS FEATURE: 1) Brian Romig Jr. 2) Mark Hudson 3) Brian Romig Sr. 4) Geno Steigerwalt 5) Seth Van Fossen 6) Griffin Hendershot 7) Joel Smith 8. Josh Oswald

602 CRATE-MODS FEATURE: 1) Todd Baer 2) Bobby Jones 3) Branden Sullivan 4) Nick Schaeffer 5) Kristy Arthofer 6) Makayla Kohler

ECTQM FEATURE: 1) Josh Paterson 2) Tyler Wagner 3) Brandon Kressler 4) Graham Hughes 5) Vinny Testinaro 6) Austin Santee 7) Ozzy Carlino 8. Dave Williams

MINI MOD FEATURE: 1) Bill Connolly 2) Brandon Kressler 3) Ian McQuire 4) Billy Lasko 5) Jared Rehrig 6) Gary Lerch III 7) David Sokol Jr. 8. Markus Kincaid 9) David Sokol Sr. 10) Chris Kincaid

Week 5 Recap - June 1, 2024

Lehighton, PA - Frankie Althouse powers his way around the outside groove to take the lead over Josh Kuronya to pick up his first win of the 2024 season at the Mahoning Valley Speedway!

With the annual Mike Krempasky Memorial race nearing, more and more street stocks are finding their way out of the woodworks to get tuned in for the 50 lap feature coming up on June 8th as there was a full field of cars rumbling their way around the ¼ mile on Saturday night. 
 Leading the field to the green was the 46 of Josh Kuronya, who put together his best performance to date, leading nearly two thirds of the feature before succumbing to the relentless pressure of Frankie Althouse Jr. in the outside groove. Kuronya held his own, fending off the 18 of Jacob Boehm and the 45 of Todd Ahner for nearly half of the race, clocking in at a career best 12.022 second lap time. 
 With a couple of untimely cautions and the field being shuffled around, Kuronya was then forced to deal with Frankie Althouse on his outside, and the Ripkey Racing machines of TJ Gursky and Randy Ahner Jr.. Althouse was able to practice getting around Kuronya on the outside earlier in the evening in their heat race, which was nearly identical to the 30-lap feature winning move he pulled off later in the night to capture his first win of the 2024 season.

The Pro-4 Division was slated to run 20 circuits around the quarter mile, with another healthy field of cars, which is always a promising sign for the future of the division. While there were a couple new cars present in the field, it would still be the same result for the fans, watching the 29 of Cody Kohler cruise onto yet another win, remaining undefeated on the year thus far. Following Kohler and rounding out the top three were the father-son duo of Bobby Kibler Jr. and Bobby Kibler Sr..

Todd Baer also remains undefeated in the 602 Crate Modified division, battling with the likes of Branden Sullivan and Avery Arthofer. Arthofer was able to lead many laps early on in the event, until a bold crossover move was made by the veteran, Baer. Arthofer attempted the same crossover to regain the lead, however, the car wasn’t up for the challenge as she seemed to be battling a loose race car from then on. Sullivan, the young driver out of New Jersey, was able to keep Baer within striking distance while holding off Arthofer, however, the 41 machine was on a rail, picking up its second consecutive win.

The Hobby Stock division never fails to disappoint, as fans saw the iconic Wambold #81 return to victory lane, this time with Maggie Wambold behind the wheel. Wambold started the race from the pole, yet didn’t look back as she had a Jake Kibler piloted #71 and Travis Solomon piloted #23 right on her coattails. Wambold hardly had to deal with any pressure from behind as Kibler had his own hands full battling off the likes of Travis Solomon. That would be how the top three would remain for the entirety of the race, as many cars were taken out in a lap 11 incident on the front stretch, sending a few drivers back to the pits for the night. 

One of the more notable moments of the night was when the 11 year old rookie driver, Justin Merkel Jr., climbed out of his race car in victory lane for the very first time in the Hobby Stock Futures division. Merkel had been gradually getting some seat time in the car over the first few weeks of the season, riding in the back of the pack to learn the ins and outs of piloting these front wheel drive four cylinders at Mahoning Valley Speedway. Finally, the rookie driver made the decision to push not only himself, but the car to the limit, starting in the front of the pack in both his heat and feature. The decision proved to be a great one, as Merkel looked more than comfortable, extending his lead over challengers to just about 6 car lengths at times, and cruised onto collecting his first of many to come feature wins

OFFICIAL RESULTS June 1, 2024:
Street Stocks: 1. Frankie Althouse 2. Josh Kuronya 3. TJ Gursky 4. Randy Ahner Jr. 5. Todd Ahner 6. Jacob Boehm 7. Jamie Smith 8. John Bennett 9. Randy Green 10. Brandon Christman 11. Peyton Arthofer 12. Gary Reinheimer 13. Cody Geist 14. Austin Santee 15. Rich Moser 16. Shayne Geist 17. BJ Wambold 18. Greg Long

Hobby Stocks: 1. Maggie Wambold 2. Jake Kibler 3. Travis Solomon 4. James Tout 5. Nick Kerstetter 6. Steve McDonough 7. Jared Frye 8. Dave Kerr 9. Jake Oswald 10. Dave Imler Jr. 11. Ryan Petro

602 Crate Modifieds: 1. Todd Baer 2. Branden Sullivan 3. Avery Arthofer

Pro 4s: 1. Cody Kohler 2. Bob Kibler Jr. 3. Bob Kibler Sr. 4. Terry Peters 5. Ian Szalku 6. Tyler Poole 7. Aiden Boucher 8. Kadie Pursell 9. James Yons 10. Rich Pursell DNS: Tyler Stangle, Chris Yob, Colton Breiner

Future Hobby Stocks: 1. Justin Merkel Jr. 2. Sarabeth Mesko 3. Rodney Breiner 4. Alex Rogers 5. Gabby Steigerwalt 6. Jeremy Henry 7. Al Gildner 8. Liam McDonough 9. Adam Steigerwalt DQ: Arland Moyer Jr.

East Coast: 1. Graham Hughes 2. Ozzy Carlino 3. Howard Boss 4. Adam Huff DNS: Vinny Testinaro​

Austin Kochenash scored his second career Race of Champions Modified Series win Sunday at Mahoning Valley, fending off Blake Barney, Earl Paules and Matt Hirschman for the victory.

A dramatic Race of Champions Modified Series event at Mahoning Valley Speedway came down to the finish, as Austin Kochenash scored the victory in the Spring Zing 100. Kochenash held off Blake Barney, Earl Paules and Matt Hirschman in a thrilling fight to the checkered flag, scoring his second career RoC win.“We always have a good car here in the race,” said Kochenash in victory lane. “Qualifying and the heat race, we’re usually not that great. We have the speed here. Really, the last year and a half, we’ve had a real good car when we came.Kochenash took the lead from Paules on a lap 81 restart, but Paules stayed with Kochenash the rest of the way. Soon, Blake Barney joined the fight after making some adjustments to his machine and charging his way through the field.Barney narrowly edged ahead of Paules in a side-by-side battle for second at the finish line.
“We made a call to come in, rotate our tires and work on the car to try to get it better,” said Barney. “It ended up working out, so I couldn’t be happier. We had a car that was in contention to win.
“Congrats to Austin Kochenash, he drove a great race. I tried to get him at the end, but we were all so close. If I had run into the back of him, we would have all been everywhere breaking momentum. Just not enough on the bottom for me to get under him.”“We had a really good car,” said Paules afer finishing third. “I gave it up on that one restart. I left too much of the track coming out of two.”Hirschman finished fourth, recovering from a spin on lap 62 to salvage a top-five finish. Hirschman had won the RoC season opener at Mahoning Valley earlier this year. Zane Zeiner rounded out the top five.​
SPRING ZING 100
Finish    Start    #    Competitor    Hometown    +/-
1    14    66    Austin Kochenas    Danielsville, PA    13
2    3    14B    Blake Barney     Jackson, NJ    1
3    4    8    Earl Paules     Palmertown, PA    1
4    12    60    Matt Hirschman     Northampton, PA    8
5    5    76    Zane Zeiner    Bath, PA    -
6    10    17    Roger Coss     Lafayette, NJ    4
7    1    81    Jack Ely    Northampton, PA    -6
8    11    14L    Jake Lutz    Hamburg, NY    3
9    6    73H    Paulie Hartwig     Galloway, NJ    -3
10    21    76S    Rod Snyder Jr    Lehighton, PA    11
11    27    11    Tony Hanbury    Owego, NY    16
12    16    95K    Jacob Kerstette    Allentown, PA    4
13    8    88    Lou Strohl    Lou Strohl     Palmertown, PA    -5
14    15    53    Brian Defebo    Berwick, PA    1
15    19    51    Jayden Harman    sugarloaf, PA    4
16    18    71    James Pritchard    Oak Ridge, NJ    2
17    13    22    Don Wagner    Don Wagner     Wharton, NJ    -4
18    17    3S    Daren Scherer    Binghamton, NY    -1
19    20    3B    Jaden Brown    Kunkletown, PA    1
20    2    X    John Bennett    Lehighton, PA    -18
21    22    0    Randall Richard            1
22    26    41    Todd Baer    New Tripoli, PA    4
23    9    44    Kyle Strohl            -14
24    23    29    Cody Kohler    Schnecksville, PA    -1
25    24    87    Thomas Flanagan    Bethlehem, PA    -1
26    25    40    Tommy Rought    Rome, PA    -1
27    7    1    Nick Schaeffer    Lehighton, PA    

​RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED SERIES SET FOR DIFFERENT TYPE OF EVENT AT MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
Race of Champions and Mahoning Valley Speedway Modified competitors are gearing up to return to Mahoning Valley Speedway for a unique event this Sunday, May 19. Series and Track Management are awarding “show up” points to competitors so they may lay it all on the line and go for a victory in the 100-lap event where only one (1) set of tires will be required. The race, the “Spring Zing” 100 will take center stage Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm.The event will be 100-laps and will not count caution laps with double-file racing through the completion of lap 90. Qualifying will be traditional group green-white-checker qualifying along with ten (10) lap qualifying races and a redraw. Driver’s will have to manage their tires throughout the duration of the event with no tire changes for the race.“We are looking forward to it,” stated Jack Ely from Wall, NJ, who earned his first Series victory last year at Mahoning and finished second in the season ending championship standings. “Mahoning is tricky. It can be a great track or it can jump and bite you. It’s fast and multiple groove and our Series is extremely competitive so Sunday’s race along with the Mahoning regulars will prove to be very exciting.”Qualifying for the 100-lap event will begin at 4:00pm on Sunday, May 19 along with a full card of Mahoning racing. Modified competitors are invited to practice at the track on Saturday.

MAY 11:  Lehighton, PA - Cody Geist fends off Johnny Bennett and Brandon Christman in a bumper bashing thriller to pick up his first win of the young 2024 season at the Mahoning Valley Speedway!

The Street Stock division undoubtedly had its fair share of lead changes and thrilling battles throughout the 30-lap main event on Saturday evening as bumpers were being used and limits were being tested. Brandon Christman led the field to the green with Johnny Bennett on his outside to begin the race. As the race went on, Cody Geist shuffled his way to the inside of Bennett, completing the trio of drivers who would check out from the rest of the field. Geist would go on to make his way up to the driver side door of Christman’s #41, where they would battle side by side for over ten laps with Bennett trailing. After a mid race restart, the “X” Wooly Bully of Johnny Bennett would make his way into second position, applying pressure to the rear bumper of Christman. With both cars losing grip in the midst of their battle over the long run, Geist was able to sneak his pink #40 underneath the both of them to take the lead, where he would remain to pick up his first win of the season.

The Hobby Stock division was also on the schedule, slated to run 25 circuits on the quarter-mile track. Cody Boehm led the field to the green in his #78 cavalier with the #23 of Travis Solomon on his outside. Solomon made quick work of Boehm, taking the lead by the exit of turn 2. Solomon would check out from the rest of the field, leaving a hornets nest of cars battling from third to sixth. The hard charger of the race was the #18 of Corey Edelman, who put on a clinic running his patented third groove for the entirety of the race, making his way from the thirteenth starting position into the top five.

The Pro-4 division showed up with one of the healthier fields of cars that the division has seen in quite some time. Cody Kohler was able to take the lead from pole-sitter, Aiden Boucher on the first lap from his second starting position. From here on out, Kohler wouldn’t look back because if he did, he would see the front bumper of the #18 Pinto of Bobby Kibler Jr., who would relentlessly trail him for the ensuing 19 laps. Kibler was able to close the gap to Kohler’s back bumper to less than half of a car length at times, however, Kohler would remain unfettered en route to his second victory of the season with Kibler Jr. and Aiden Boucher rounding out the top 3.

The 602 Crate Modified division took to the pavement for their 30 lap feature with Todd Baer at the helm. The #41 of Baer would take the green flag with the #51 of Jayden Harman on the outside, however, this wouldn’t last long as Baer marched away from the field from the jump. Richard Collins Jr. would see his way to second position showing great speed until mechanical issues anchored him back to a fourth place finish, leaving Avery Arthofer and Branden Sullivan to complete the top 3.

The Hobby Stock Futures division was set to take place with the 54 of Adam Steigerwalt leading the field to green for the third consecutive week. Steigerwalt, once again proved why he is the top threat in the division, leading every single lap of the 15 lap event. Steigerwalt did, however, have to endure a lot of pressure from runner-up, Rodney Breiner, who had the fastest car on the track, running a 12.248 second lap time.

Race #1 of the Microstock Racing Series at Mahoning Valley Speedway saw a great turnout of 17 Microstocks and great racing coming down to a photo finish at the end of 20 Laps. Eric Trautman beat out Alex Greenzweig by 0.048 seconds to capture his first Saturday Night Microstock Win at MVS. Kenny Dengler would round out the podium in 3rd with Anthony Wood (4th) and Billy LaRue (5th) rounding out the Top 5. 

HOBBY STOCK FEATURE: 1) Travis Solomon 2) Cody Boehm 3) Jake Kibler 4) James Tout 5) Corey Edelman 6) Trisha Connoly 7) Tony Hilliard 8)Maggie Wambold 9) Dave Kerr 10) Brian Romig Jr. 11) Dave Imler Jr. 12) Stephen McDonough 13) Michael Wambold  
STREET STOCK FEATURE: 1) Cody Geist 2) John Bennett 3) Brandon Christman 4) Rich Moser 5) Todd Ahner 6) Greg Long 7) Jamie Smith 8)Josh Kuronya 9) Peyton Arthofer 10) Dennis Buss 11) Thomas Flanagan 12) Jacob Boehm DNS: Tommy Flanagan
FUTURES FEATURE: 1) Adam Stiegerwalt 2) Rodney Breiner 3) Connor Shotwell 4) Arland Moyer Jr. 5) Ken Breiner 6) Jeremy Henry 7) Gabi Steigerwalt 8)Al Gildner 9) Sarabeth Mesko 10) Justin Merkel Jr. 11) Derek Davies 12) Liam McDonough 13) Chaz Takacz  
PRO-4 FEATURE: 1) Cody Kohler 2) Bobby Kibler Jr. 3) Aiden Boucher 4) Tyler Poole 5) Chris Yob 6) Jason Finken 7) Colton Breiner 8)James Yons 9) Kadie Pursell 10) Rich Pursell 11) Ian Szalku  DNS: Bobby Kibler Sr.
602 CRATE-MODS FEATURE: 1) Todd Baer 2) Avery Arthofer 3) Brandon Sullivan 4) Richard Collins Jr. 5) Jayden Harman 6) Deegan Underwood
Microstock Racing Series Feature Results: 1. Eric Trautman 2. Alex Greenzweig 3. Kenny Dengler Jr. 4. Anthony Wood 5. Billy LaRue 6. Harry Burd 7. Ian McGuire 8. Scott Miller 9. Wayne Krenn 10. Brian DaCosta 11. Caden Miller 12. Walker Sutphin 13. Tim Flyte 14. Tom Ervin 15. Mike Haskins 16. Logan Crout 17. Eric Platt

April 27:  Great Night for "The Real Deal" Kyle Strohl

 Lehighton, PA -”The Real Deal” Kyle Strohl bests Lou Strohl in Saturday’s 35 lap thriller at the Mahoning Valley Speedway after a hail-mary crossover with less than three laps to go, marking the Palmerton, PA native’s first victory of the young 2024 season.    Weather may have deterred some race fans on Saturday night, however, the drivers and track crew held steady and diligently worked to get the track ready for some thrilling racing. On the card for Saturday night were the Hobby Stock Futures and the three makeup features from 2023’s Fall Brawl, including the Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks, and the Pro-4 divisions. Headlining the night for the second straight week were the “Mighty” Modifieds, which certainly did not disappoint. 
 
To kick off the evening, the Hobby Stock Futures division took the stage. Adam Steigerwalt, for the second week straight led the field to green, and once again drove away from the field. The only competition Steigerwalt had to endure was the #87 machine of Sarabeth Mesko on an early restart. From then on, Steigerwalt cruised to victory, winning his second straight 15 lap feature. 

The first makeup feature of the night was the Pro-4 division, slated to run their first 25 lap feature of the season. Bob Kibler Sr. was undoubtedly the fastest car on the track when mechanical failure took him out of the race with 5 to go. Cody Kohler, who is no stranger to victory lane in the Pro-4 division, took total control of the race from then on, taking his first victory of the season in his red, white, and blue #29 Pinto. 

Next on the card was the 50 lap “Cone Race” Street Stock feature which had originally been slotted for last year’s season finale. The event was highly anticipated for the division’s regulars, as Rick Wallace & family had organized a rather generous payout for the division, which did not go without appreciation from the drivers. The #05 of Austin Santee was appointed to lead the field to green, with a strong field of cars behind him. Santee would go on to lead laps early, maintaining the highly contested bottom line for the first ten to fifteen laps. With everybody fighting over the same, desired real estate, Eric Kocher saw this as an opportunity, as he slowly crept around the top 5 cars in the outside groove. Kocher, most recently dominating the season opener, maintained his course to go on to lead the remainder of the 50 lap feature whilst enduring three separate cautions. Jillian Snyder once again was following Kocher for the majority of the race, but passing the #20 car of Kocher was once again an insurmountable feat. Following Snyder, was the #56 of Frankie Althouse, putting together an impressive run after last week’s mechanical misfortune. Rounding out the top 5 were the #05 of Austin Santee and the #41 of Brandon Christman, who spent about 20 laps in the outside groove to make his way into the top 5. 

The final preliminary bout to the Modifieds were the Hobby Stocks, who were scheduled for 35 laps under the lights. Leading the field to the green was the #2 car of Trisha Connolly, who had a terrific bounce back performance after a disappointing season opener, failing to finish on the lead lap. Connolly and crew made the significant and necessary adjustments to get the gray and green #2 machine in victory lane for the first time since 2022.   Connolly did so with no lack of competition, as the field of four cylinders were clashing it out behind her, never leaving her with any room for comfort. While undergoing the relentless pressure of Shayne Geist’s #19, Connolly was fortunate to be up front, as there was melee ensuing behind her leading to a frightening wreck in turn 1. As the intensity picked up and traffic shuffled, the #78 of Cody Boehm, the #81jr of Michael Wambold, and the #81 of Maggie Wambold were involved in a gruesome collision which involved both Michael Wambold and Maggie Wambold having a scary collision with the turn 1 wall. Fortunately, all drivers were able to walk away from the incident, with hefty repairs to be made to their cars.

Rounding out the night for the second week straight was the 21-car stout field of Modifieds. Unlike last week’s 75 lapper, drivers only had 35 laps to make headway towards the front of the pack which was evident from the jump.   Early on in the race, there was a battle for the lead right away, as the #8 of Earl Paules was able to navigate his way from his 5th starting spot and take the lead from the #51 of pole sitter, Zach Lenardo. Soon thereafter, the battle for second place intensified between the #41 of Todd Baer and #14 of Blake Barney, resulting in the race’s first caution as Baer was sent spinning through the infield.   From here on out, fans witnessed two of the track’s most seasoned veterans, Earl Paules and Lou Strohl (#88) duking it out in a respectful manner for the first 15 laps of the race. On lap 16, Paules and Strohl were neck and neck when just a couple rows behind them, a three-wide move to the bottom by the #17 of Roger Coss would send the #95 of Jacob Kerstetter into the #1 of Bobby Jones resulting in the race’s second caution.    Lou Strohl, who was scored just ahead of Paules at the time of the incident, would take over the race lead for the ensuing 18 laps. With about 15 laps to go, Kyle Strohl in the green #44 would navigate his way by Paules into second position. Kyle would close the distance to Lou Strohl, making several attempts to pass in both the outside and inside grooves. With less than three laps to go, Kyle Strohl was able to set up an impeccable crossover move on Lou, giving him the lead with two to go. Lou would attempt to do the same, however, Kyle was able to close the door just enough to clear his path to victory lane for the first time in 2024. 

RACE RESULTS:

HOBBY STOCK FUTURES: 1) Adam Steigerwalt 2) Sarabeth Mesko 3) Al Gildner 4) Jeremy Henry 5) Daniel Kaminsky 6) Arland Moyer Jr. 7) Justin Merkel Jr. 8)Connor Shotwell 9) Savannah Romig 10) Chaz Takacs

PRO-4s: 1) Cody Kohler 2) Colton Breiner 3) Bob Kibler Jr. 4) Kadie Pursell 5) Aiden Bocher 6) Rich Pursell 7) Bob Kibler Sr.

STREET STOCKS: 1) Eric Kocher 2) Jillian Snyder 3) Frankie Althouse 4) Austin Santee 5) Brandon Christman 6) Jacob Boehm 7) Jamie Smith 8)Todd Ahner 9) Tucker Muffley 10) Josh Kuronya 11) Tommy Flanagan 12) Dennis Buss 13) Bob Kibler Sr.  DNS: Randy Green, Jason Kuhn, Jon Moser, Mike Odwazny, Nate Correll

HOBBY STOCKS: 1) Trisha Connolly 2) Shayne Geist 3) Travis Solomon 4) Jake Kibler 5) Corey Edelman 6) Jacob Boehm 7) Michael Wambold 8)Maggie Wambold 9) Cody Boehm 10) Jared Frye 11) Ray Kochin DNS: Lyndsay Buss, David Imler Jr., Don Bauder

MODIFIEDS: 1) Kyle Strohl 2) Earl Paules 3) Brian Defebo 4) Lou Strohl 5) Rod Snyder Jr. 6) Blake Barney 7) Zane Zeiner 8)Roger Coss 9) Todd Baer 10) Cody Kohler 11) Jacob Kerstetter 12) Thomas Flanagan 13) Zach Lenardo 14) Terry Markovic 15) Brian Romig Sr. 16) Nick Kerstetter 17) Don Wagner 18) John Bennett  DNS: Brian Romig Jr. DQ: Bobby Jones, BJ Wambold



APRIL 20:  Fans treated to a Fantastic Opening Night at Mahoning Speedway

The ROC Modified series was set to headline the season opener at Mahoning Valley Speedway packing 26 ground-pounding modifieds onto the paved quarter-mile track for a 75 lap feature. The highly anticipated event was met with a long line of race fans filing through the gates and a long line of trailers entering the pits.     Throughout the majority of the day, it seemed to be a Jake Lutz takeover at Mahoning Valley Speedway. Lutz hasn’t made all that many starts at Mahoning Valley Speedway, however, after Saturday’s event, most would think he was a seasoned regular as he topped the speed charts during qualifying and won his respective heat race over some of Mahoning’s regulars. His impressive outing wouldn’t stop there, as he would quickly gain the lead from pole sitter, Zane Zeiner.   From here on out, sparks were flying as the 26 car field would have its fair share of bumper bashing, tire rubbing side-by-side action which included many three-wide scenarios and excitement. This excitement would breed several cautions, one of which included a frightening front stretch pileup that involved a good majority of the field, stemming from contact between the 88 of Lou Strohl who climbed the side of the 76 of Rod Snyder Jr., sending them both towards the front stretch wall. All drivers were uninjured, however, the same cannot be said for their race cars.   Lutz would go on to lead the majority of the race up until a lap 55 restart where he spun the tires coming out of the restart zone, allowing the 76 car of the 2023 ROC champion, Zane Zeiner to grab the lead on the high side. Lutz would battle back to the inside of Zeiner, however, a quick lap 56 caution shuffled him to the outside line for the ensuing restart.           Zeiner would lead the field back to green with a fierce top 5 which would include Lutz, Roger Coss, Austin Kochenash, and Matt Hirschman. With 11 laps to go, Zeiner would forfeit the lead to the 17 of Roger Coss, which dropped him back to the third position behind the 60 of Matt Hirschman. Coss held off a hard charging Matt Hirschman on the outside when a late race caution forced the field into a single-file restart with 4 laps remaining.    Coss, Hirschman, and Zeiner would make up the top 3 coming to the green with all three drivers known to always be in the mix for a long-distance victory at Mahoning Valley Speedway. When the green flag dropped, Hirschman got a tremendous jump and was able to get alongside Coss’ outside by the time they reached turn 2. Coss did all he could, making minimal contact with the 60 car, however, “Big Money” Matt Hirschman would not be denied victory in the season opener for the ROC Modified series. The top 5 would consist of Hirschman, Coss, Zeiner, Kochenash, and Kyle Strohl. 

Official Results:
Matt Hirschman, Roger Coss, Zane Zeiner, Austin Kochenash, Kyle Strohl, Jake Lutz, Paulie Hartwig lll, Jack Ely, Austin Beers, Tony Hanbury, Earl Paules, Don Wagner, Jacob Kerstetter, Terry Markovic, Lou Strohl, Daren Sherer, John Bennett, Todd Baer, George Skora lll, Thomas Flanagan, Randall Richard, Nick Schaeffer, Jayden Harman, Rod Snyder Jr., Tommy Rought, Cody Kohler, Daryl Lewis Jr.

The evening’s features began with the Hobby Stock futures division, showcasing the local, up-and-coming generation of talented racers. The field was led to the green by the 54 of Adam Steigerwalt who jumped out to an early lead in the 15 lap feature. His fate would be tested on multiple occasions, having a hard-charging 57 machine driven by Sarabeth Mesko knocking on his backdoor. Steigerwalt and Mesko checked out from the rest of the field early, with Mesko putting together seemingly her best performance to date looking for her first career win. Mesko was then tangled up in a wreck on lap 7, leaving Steigerwalt on the point and en-route to his first victory of 2024 with a margin of 3 seconds to second place.

Official Results:
Adam Steigerwalt, Jeremy Henry, Gabi Steigerwalt, Al Gildner, Sarabeth Mesko, Chaz Takacs, Arland Moyer Jr., Justin Merkel Jr., Ken Breiner, Rodney Breiner

           The Late Model feature was slotted up next for their 25 lap affair. The front row coming to the green flag consisted of the 82 of Mark Hudson on the pole, alongside the prolific 0 car driven by fan favorite, “Rock N’ Roll” Geno Steigerwalt. Once the green flag flew, that front row checked out from the rest of the field, where they would battle nose to tail in an absolute barnburner of a duel. While Hudson never faltered from the lead, the hard pressing Geno Steigerwalt never gave him room to breathe, as he never fell back more than a couple car lengths. Within the last ten laps, Hudson seemed to be battling a tight race car, allowing Steigerwalt to reduce the gap to inches. Hudson was able to hold off the 0 car, finding himself right back where he left off in 2023, in victory lane.

Official Results:
Mark Hudson, Geno Steigerwalt, Brian Romig, Brian Romig Jr., Griffin Hendershot, Josh Oswald, Seth VanFossen

         Following the Race of Champions Modifieds, fans witnessed the infamous Hobby Stock division hitting the pavement for the first time of 2024. Former division champion, Michael Wambold was appointed the pole position to kickoff the feature with Travis Solomon geared up right alongside him. Wambold came out of the gates hot, jumping to an early lead over Solomon, who managed to make up the difference by the lap 12 mark. Wambold and Solomon had a large gap to third place, Ryan Berger, when they came up on lap traffic. Wambold was quickly able to navigate through the lap cars, leaving a comfortable gap back to the 23 machine of Solomon. Wambold then cruised his way onto his first victory of the season, with Solomon and Cody Boehm rounding out the top three in the caution-free 25 lap feature. 

Official Results: 
Michael Wambold, Travis Solomon, Cody Boehm, Dave Kerr, Jake Kibler, Jared Frye, Ryan Berger, James Tout, Corey Edelman, Maggie Wambold, Bob Wink, Trisha Connolly, Kerry Boehm, Dave Imler Jr.

           To finish out the night, the Street Stock division rolled onto the track to compete in a 30 lap shootout. The 20 machine of Eric Kocher led the field to green in the pole position, jumping out to an early lead under the lights. Kocher was able to put several car lengths on the rest of the field, aside from 2023 champion, Jillian Snyder. Snyder was able to keep her 97 car within reach of Kocher, however, as the laps dwindled, she didn’t have quite enough to make the pass. Kocher would go on to take the checkered flag, leaving Jillian Snyder and the 40 car of Cody Geist to round out the top 3. 

Official Results:
Eric Kocher, Jillian Snyder, Cody Geist, Jacob Boehm, Austin Santee, Brandon Christman, Jamie Smith, Tucker Muffley, Shayne Geist, Todd Ahner, Gary Reinhemer, Josh Kuronya, Dennis Buss, Jeremy Scheckler, Frankie Althouse​

RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED SERIES SET TO BEGIN SEASON APRIL 20 AT MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY
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Race of Champions Modified Series competitors are gearing up to head to Mahoning Valley Speedway for the Series opener and so are race fans. If opening day at the 1/4-mile facility is any indication of what fans are in store for than Saturday, April 20, at 6:00pm will be one of the most anticipated start times on their 2024 schedules. Matt Hirschman and Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa., will resume their battles at what is their “hometrack”. The duo has battled each other many times on the 1/4-mile track, which has helped shape their careers. “Mahoning is fun to race,” offered Hirschman, who has become one, if not arguably the top-star in Modified racing right now. “It has multiple grooves and because of the size the track, it really levels the playing field. You have to be handling, but you also have to be patient and drive precisely to get the job done. It is a lot of fun for the driver and because of the size of the track, it’s right there in front of the fans.” Austin Beers, who was the 2021 Race of Champions Modified Series titleholder. He has also enjoyed success after continuing his family tradition of racing at the Lehighton oval. Beers claimed two Race of Champions Modified Series victories in 2024 at Chemung (N.Y.) Speedrome and is looking for his first Series victory at Mahoning. “We have been close and it’s really our home track,” stated Beers. ‘We’ve got more experience and been doing a lot of racing. Hopefully, we’ll be in contention at Mahoning and be able to come out on top.. I’m really looking forward to racing on home turf at Mahoming.” Qualifying for the 75-lap Series opener will begin at 6:00pm on Saturday, April 20 along with a full card of Mahoning racing.

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