Story By: DINO OBERTO / EVERGREEN RACEWAY – BUTLER TOWNSHIP, PA – Sunday afternoon at Evergreen raceway the DW Machine & Fabricating Late Models had the spotlight running in the Dale Fey Memorial presented by Wheels Bar and Grill in a special 50-lap/$2000-to-win feature that honored the former track champion who passed away earlier this year.
And with a stout field of cars on hand that included track regulars and a number of invaders, it still came down to the top two who dominated all season and were expected to be vying for the win and indeed that was the case as Nick Ross of White Haven held off Nesquehoning’s Mike Sweeney for the big victory.
Ross, who started on the outside of the front row by way of a redraw, blasted into the early lead over Dennis Wenner and soon began putting himself out of reach from the pack by building a virtually insurmountable lead.
For Sweeney it was a whole different case as he was mired well into the field and had to pick and claw his way frontward. And that he did, chipping away one at a time until finally getting to third place by lap 15. But Ross was setting a torrid pace by that time and was a half-track ahead of Sweeney while also staying well ahead of Wenner in second.
Ross’ big distance lead then got wiped away when Mark Hudson spun on lap 24 to bring out the caution and pull the field together for the restart. That did not bode well either as a big pile-up occurred that saw all but four cars collected.
When all was sorted out Ross would have Sweeney alongside him when the action resumed and western Pennsylvania star Jarred Barclay in third. But despite the heavy company Ross never wavered as he continued to keep the lead.
Sweeney and Barclay did exchange spots back and forth after a lap 33 restart with Sweeney regaining second for good but unable to mount a serious enough charge at Ross who would go on to win for the third time this season.
“This means so much to be able to win this race in honor of Dale. I always admired him as a driver and we talked and chatted a lot and he always gave me sound advice,” said Ross.
“From the last time we ran until now we had worked on every inch of this car and it was just so good and strong today. Mike (Sweeney) is so tough and to get a win anytime over him is hard fought. My team deserves so much credit for the work they put in.
“We had a great field of cars and a very nice purse to race for and we’ll cherish this one for sure.”
In the Street Stocks Jason Harman exhibited good speed throughout the day and it showed when he needed it most by passing Gordie Buchman for the lead 12 laps from the finish and then held off Dan Pawlicki for his second victory of the season
Buchman and Amber Knecht ran one-two in the early going before Pawlicki slipped to second and brought Harman along in third.
Harman then used the inside groove to make his way into second and eventually the lead over Buchman. The win marked his seventh with the class and fifth straight year of picking up at least one victory each season with a Street Stock.
In the season finale for the Evergreen Raceway/Mahoning Valley Speedway Dual Track Series for the 4-Cylinder Stocks there was no denying the performance of race winner Micah Adams.
Adams drew the outside front row and no sooner did the race commence he shot by pole sitter BJ Wambold and was in control the all 40 laps.
Always a contender TJ Kapish had worked his way to second but the only time he was able to get close to Adams was during restarts as thereafter it was no contest. Adams, the division point leader, notched his fifth win with one race remaining and stands to gain his first class title in the process.
Kapish settled for second with Michal Wambold, Travis Solomon and BJ Wambold rounding out the top five.
In the past month and a half of racing Tommy Dawson has made quite the statement with the Rotten and Forgottens.
Dawson went on the collect his second straight and third win which also includes three runner-ups during that span. He held off point leader Noah Jensen for the triumph and not only did he take the Sunday afternoon checkers but the night previous he won with the same car on dirt at Clinton Country Speedway and again over Jensen.
For Tyler Skordensky and the Novice division, the season just keeps getting better as he picked up his fifth win in seven starts.
Skordensky made his race winning move over Ella Sones on lap six and then cruised to a third consecutive verdict. Heading into the season finale King of the Green he simply needs to take the green and will clinch the championship.
Sones had a season best second with Sarabeth Mesko taking third.
Late Model feature finish (50 laps): 1. Nick Ross, 2. Mike Sweeney, 3. Jarred Barclay, 4. Brian Sones, 5. Micha Adams, 6. Roger Maynor, 7. Brandon Turbush, 8, Brian Romig Jr., 9. Geno Steigerwalt, 10. Mark Hudson, 11. Brooks Smith, 12. Evan Beretta, 13. Scott Adams, 14. Dennis Wenner, 15. Mark Aigeldinger DNS: Dylan Piechota
Street Stock feature finish (30 laps): 1. Jason Harman, 2. Dan Pawlicki, 3. Mike Pollack, 4. Gordie Buchman Jr., 5. Amber Knecht, 6. Mike Erney, 7. Tommy Flanagan, 8. Mitch Hawk, 9. Tucker Muffley, 10. Brian Wozniak, 11. Cody Geist, 12. Bobby Kibler Jr.
4-Cylinder Stock DTS feature finish (40 laps): 1. Micah Adams, 2. TJ Kapish, 3. Michael Wambold, 4. Travis Solomon, 5. BJ Wambold, 6. Johnny Bennett, 7. Jimmy Ayre, 8. Dave Imler Jr., 9. Dave Kerr, 10. Maggie Yeakel, 11. Ralph Borger Jr., 12. John Petro, 13. Mallory Kutz, 14. Brian Romig Jr., 15. James Gannon, 16. Larry Spencer III, 17. Scott Adams, 18. Jake Kibler, 19. Robert McNulty, 20. Brooklyn Peters DNS: Sam Ryan
Rotten and Forgotten feature finish (25 laps): 1. Tommy Dawson, 2. Noah Jensen, 3. Sam Jensen, 4. Dan Jensen, 5. Tom Jensen, 6. Jon Jensen, 7. Ryan Casagrande, 8. Hunter Sterner, 9. Paige Hunsinger
Novice feature finish (12 laps): 1. Tyler Skordensky, 2. Ella Sones, 3. Sarabeth Mesko, 4. Lexus Kutz, 5. Abby McNulty, 6. Don DeHaven