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 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.