King Of The Mountain
Races get the Sunny Treatment
On a day that could only be described as IDEAL,
especially for Autumn in the Pocono Mountains, the Mountain Speedway 7th
annual King Of The Mountain event ran under sunny, cloudless skies, with
warmer than expected temperatures, which drew a large, enthusiastic
crowd of fans to the events of the day.
With Time Trials determining the top starters for
the Modified, Late Model and Street Stock divisions, the first order of
the day was to run the respective consi’s for each division to fill out
the fields. Those were run off quickly, with only a few cautions in one
of the LM consi’s, and it was on to the feature races of the day.
The National Exchange / Specialized Vehicle
Services / C & D Landscaping/ Balliets Country Corner/ Balliet-Toole
Inc. King of the Mountain 150 led off the show, as 26 modifieds lined up
to take the green. Tim Santee’s #X-6 and Zane Zeiner’s #22 made up the
front row after the Mods re-drew for starting positions, and they ran
side by side until Zeiner took the sole lead on lap 2, with Brian
DeFebo’s Defebo Graphics #53 coming through for 2nd spot, as Santee,
Tommy Farrell #87, and Dave Sapienza’s #36 rounded out the top 5. On lap
8, Chip Wannamaker’s #87F brought out the 1st caution of the race as he
came to a stop in turn 3, and retired from the race. On the restart,
DeFebo jumped out into the lead, with Zeiner and Santee following. On
lap 16, Eddie Brunnhoelzl III’s Jamaica Brake 8x, running in 9th at the
time, pulled into the infield with mechanical trouble, and the caution
flew on lap 18 for his car to be removed from the precarious position it
was sitting in. At this point, Dave Sapienza was still running 5th, and
Sal Accardi’s Aable Auto Salvage #93 was 10th, with Dan Jivanelli’s YES
Network #12, Ken Heagy’s Buoy One Restaurant #38, and Joe Hartmann’s
Water Mill Lumber #05 running 10th through 13th respectively. On the
restart, DeFebo held the lead over Zeiner, as Sapienza moved up to 4th
spot, and Jivanelli moved quickly to 8th, but Lenny Fischer’s #85 came
to a stop right at the Start/Finish line at lap 20, and yellow was out
again. On the next restart, it was again Defebo and Zeiner fighting for
the lead, but Sapienza pulled past Santee to take over 3rd, and yellow
suddenly was out again, as an orange traffic cone mysteriously appeared
in the middle of the track in turn 4.
With that cleared up, green was out once more,
and Andy Walko’s #21 passed Santee for 4th, but two laps later, Joe
Hartmann spun in turn 1, and yellow was out again. During the yellow,
Walko was black flagged and sent to the pits, finished for the day. When
green flew once more, Defebo flew out front once more, but Sapienza was
able to fight his way under Zeiner to take over 2nd spot, while
Jivanelli moved up to 4th, with Earl Paules now 5th. On lap 27, Wes
Swartout spun on the front stretch, and yellow flew again. During the
caution, Eddie Brunnhoelzl III returned to the race. On the restart,
Defebo maintained his lead, and Paules battled Jivanelli to take 4th a
few laps later. By lap 33, Defebo had built an 8 car length lead over
Sapienza, Zeiner and Paules. On lap 37, yellow flew again for a 3 car
spin off turn 2. On the restart, Defebo held the lead, but Sapienza’s
car slipped back to 5th spot, as Zeiner took 2nd, and Jivanelli 3rd,
while Paules held 4th, but yellow flew once more on lap 40 as Lou Strohl
and Jason Arthofer came together. Zeiner took the lead on the restart,
but Defebo immediately battled back and passed Zeiner coming off turn 2
to assume the lead once more, as Paules was now up to 3rd, with
Jivanelli, Sapienza, and Barry Callavini rounding out the top 6. Defebo
once again held a comfortable lead, but on lap 47, Lenny Fisscher spun
in turn 4, and caution was out again. On the next restart, Defebo held
on to the lead once more, as Zeiner stayed with him, and Jivanelli,
Paules, and Callavini ran close behind, while Sapienza dropped back a
few spots, possibly to cool his tires. On lap 58, Paules caught and
passed Zeiner to take over 2nd, and Zeiner now had to battle Jivanelli
for the 3rd spot. Rusty Smith’s #34 was now up to 5th, as Callavini
dropped back to 6th, and Jivanelli passes Zeiner to take 3rd away. Ken
Heagy, having a great run from his 19th starting spot, is now up to 8th,
as on lap 74, Arthofer spins in turn 4, bringing out the yellow, and
spreading the field as they try to avoid his car. On the restart, Defebo
held off Paules with a block as the yellow flew one lap later for a
competition caution to allow refueling of the cars (on the track).
During interviews with the top runners during
the break, most expressed concern about needing tires soon after the
restart, as many were starting to lose the handle on their cars. At the
restart, Defebo took off, but yellow flew immediately as Arthofer’s car
crashed into the backstretch wall, ending his day with major damage.
With green out again, Defebo had his hands full with Paules. Accardi and
Zeiner, along with a few others, had pitted for new tires during the
previous caution, and they were both working hard to pass cars in the
back who were still on their original tries from the start of the race.
It soon became apparent to all that everyone would need to pit for
tires, and soon. That opportunity presented itself on lap 85, as Lenny
Fischer spun in turn 3, bringing out the caution everyone wanted, and a
few headed for the pits for fresh rubber. Defebo, who elected to stay
out, held the lead still on the restart, but Paules, Smith, Callavini
and Heagy were right with him. On lap 90, Accardi suffered a right front
flat, and stopped against he fence at the start finish line, and yellow
flew again. This gave Callavini, Smith, Heagy, and Justin Bonsignore the
opportunity to pit for fresh rubber, and they took it. Green was soon
out again, and Callavini was the only car not to return from the pits.
Defebo was still leading, but suddenly started to fade quickly to the
rear, as some of the driver’s who’d earlier gotten fresh tires started
catching up to the leaders. Paules now had the lead, but his tires were
giving up too, and he spun off turn 2 into the infield on lap 110, just
before he would have put Sapienza a lap down, giving the lead to Zeiner,
and yellow flew again. Defebo pitted for tires at this point, and Zeiner
and Jivanelli, now 1st and 2nd, took off when the green flew, leaving
Flanagan and Steve Whitt a distant 3rd and 4th. On lap 119, Mike Bohn
brought out yellow again as he spun exiting turn 4. At this point, there
was some confusion in the line up, as Sapienza appeared to be at the
tail end of the lead lap, but scoring showed he was a lap down.
Officials palced him at the rear of the field for the restart, and green
flew again, with Zeiner and Jivanelli leading the way, as Chris
Whitenight, Flanagan, and Defebo rounded out the top 5. Paules, with
fresh tires, worked his way around Flanagan and Defebo, taking 4th by
lap 127. Paules set his sights on Jivanelli, passing him, with Defebo
following, but yellow was out again on lap 130 for a spin by Whitt.
Zeiner held the lead on the restart, but yellow was out before a lap
could be completed, as Fischer spun in turn 3. On the next restart,
Zeiner had Jivanelli right on his tail, but Paules and Defebo were
battling for 3rd, and Paules easily took it, and quickly got around
Jivanelli to take 2nd, too, as Paules caught Zeiner 1 lap later to take
the lead. Defebo got by Jivanelli to take 3rd on lap 137, as Zeiner was
losing ground to Paules, who now had a 12 car length lead. Defebo caught
up to Zeiner as the laps wound down, and passed him on lap 146 to take
2nd, but Paules had a tremendous 15 car length lead at that point, and
Defebo couldn’t close it much in the last 4 laps as Paules went on for
the $4000 win and trophy, as Defebo settled for 2nd, Zeiner 3rd,
Jivanelli 4th, and Whitenight 5th.
Next up was the 75 lap Late Model race, which
saw Joe Hoffman in the #20 on the pole, with 2006 Track Champion Mike
Coll in the I-TRADE Direct #75 to the outside. Coll took the early lead,
but a 3 car spin in turn 1 brought out the first of many yellows on lap
3. Coll took the lead each time there was a restart, but there seemed to
be something in the air, as almost every 3 laps another yellow came out
for minor wrecks and spins. On the lap 10 restart, Coll lost the lead to
Larry Fisher’s #19, but 2 laps after that, yellow flew again, becoming
the story of the race. Fisher suffered some sort of mechanical troubles
at this point and retired from the race. Hoffman jumped to the front on
the next restart, with Coll sticking with him, but yellow came out for
another wreck. Hoffman and Col would wage the battle for the lead
throughout all the caution periods, as Jim Wismer‘s #7A, Don Holland
Jr.’s #59 and Eric Lutz’s Marjam Supply #36 battled their way inot the
top 5. Dave Macomber’s #42NY, and his teammate, Brian Doyle‘s Cornwell
Tools #42 machine, contended for a top 10 spot, but Doyle got caught up
in one of the many wrecks through no fault of his own, and was
eliminated on lap 31. By lap 40, the field settled down to run a string
of green flag laps, and Hoffman stretched his lead over Coll, as by now
Wismer was up to 3rd, though 10 car lengths behind Coll. On lap 49,
yellow flew again, and the pattern was repeated every few laps, with
yellow being the predominant theme of the race once more. After a
restart on lap 51, Coll got his nose under Hoffman to try to retake the
lead, but Hoffman battled back, and Coll started to fade, as his tires
seemed to be in need of replacement, with Wismer getting around for 2nd,
and a few laps later, Holland, Macomber and Lutz all passed Coll easily.
On lap 62, Rob Tribuzio‘s Prestigious Motors #01, Joe Barbush‘s #22, and
Mike Radocha Jr.’s #454 crashed hard in turn 4, with Tribuzio and
Barbush getting the worst of it, having to be towed off, and obviously
finished for the day. On the restart, Hoffman held his lead, and it
seemed the race would og green the rest of the way, but on lap 70, Frank
Katona spun, bringing out yellow once more, and clipping 3rd place
Holland, sending his car spinning into the infield in turn 1. It was
ruled by the officials that Holland was an innocent bystander, and he
was placed in 3rd spot for the restart. Over the last 5 laps on the
final restart, Hoffman stretched his lead over Wismer a bit each lap,
and brought his car home 1st in the end, with Wismer, Holland, Lutz, and
a hard charging Roger Maynor in the Daniels Resort/Victory Fleet
Maintenence #74 pulling off the 5th place spot at the finish.
The Street Stock 50 lapper was almost a repeat of
the LM race, with numerous yellows throughout, with former Long Islander
Scott Lehmann, running his 27 year old #16 Nova to a lead lap 9th place
finish, and Jim White Jr’s 19x finishing 3 laps down in 12th spot. Scott
Meckes , of Lehighton, PA, was the Street Stock winner.
In the 8 Cyl Thrillers race, Ricky Ross Jr. was
the winner, with William Schwarz, in his B. Sexton Site Development
Blunderbust #15, placing 6th, while Donny Oliver’s #55 was 8th, Caesar
Cunaccia’s #21 was 9th, and Chuck Deon’s #55D was 13th in the 15 car
field.
Finally, Joe Sherman’s #29 was the winner of the
4 Cylinder Thrillers, the final event of the day.
News and Notes: I spoke with Lenny Fisher, and he
told me he plans on running the full RoC tour in 2007, after enjoying a
year of traveling, and picking the races he’d like to run, rather than
chase points at Riverhead or another track. Lenny’s day at Mountain
could have been better, since he finished 15th, but he seems to be
enjoying what he’s chosen to do, and that’s more important than
anything…Brian Doyle would like to thank Dave Macomber and Cornwall
Tools for their efforts in his first ever Late Model race. Brian also
didn’t have a stellar day, finishing 18th in his second effort, but
liked getting the experience in the Late Model, since he plans to move
up to Late Models full time in 2007 at Riverhead…Peter Rotzi was running
well in the Late Model consi when he was taken out by another
competitors spin, which severely damaged his right front, and he lost
laps trying to get it fixed with limited help in the pits. Though he
came back out to try and finish, he was later black flagged for leaking
water…Both the Modified and Late Modle 2006 track champions, Eddie
Brunnhoelzl and Mike Coll respectively, didn’t have days reflective of
their seasons at Mountain, as Brunnhoelzl had mechanical woes, and Coll
lost too much ground when his tires went away before he could get a
convenient yellow to pit for new ones…The weather was some of the best
seen all year on a race day in the area, and the crowd reflected that,
filling the grandstands and running the food concession out of hamburger
buns. My cheeseburger ‘dinner’ had to be served on a hot dog bun, with
the burger cut in two, but Mountains burgers are pretty tasty, so it was
no big deal, especially when you’re hungry…Nice to see all the Long
Island Drivers participating in this weekends events at Mountain. Many
compliments were expressed in conversations I had with some, who would
like to come there again for other special events…My personal thanks
goes out to the staff at Mountain for a wonderful days experience
covering the events of the King of the Mountain weekend. Joe Callavini
and Billy Bartley have put together a very nice and helpful staff of
people…until next time, live well and be safe…We will be in Thompson
next weekend to cover the World Series of Auto Racing, and be back at
Mountain the following week to cover the NELMA race. Keep an eye on the
Jam for any breaking news on that event.
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 8, 2006