Earl Paules Cashes in at
Sundance with Huge King of the Mountain Win
For the first time in ten seasons of racing
during Sundance Vacations Speedway’s “King of the Mountain”
annual showdown a repeat winner was born. Palmerton’s Earl
Paules pitted for fresh rubber on lap 100 and took the race lead
with 32 laps remaining to cash in with the $5000 payday to win
the prestigious event. Mike Nichols inherited the race lead on
lap 16 and never looked back as he rolled to his first Street
Stock victory at the speedway and Robert Fink scored his first
season-ending event in the FWD main. Capping off a championship
season, Scott Hubler took the INEX Legends top honors.
Eric Beers set the quickest time of the afternoon during time
trials and the fastest fifteen Modified time trailers were
locked in for the 150-lap main event. Matt Hirschman drew the
pole position when the top ten fastest drivers redrew for
starting positions.
Hirschman led the opening lap at the drop of the green over Zane
Zeiner, John Fortin, Justin Gumley and Larry Fisher.
Drivers began to settle into position and make a run before the
competition yellow on lap 75 for fuel. Prior to the mandatory
yellow, Gumley overtook Hirschman for the race lead on lap 57.
Hirschman regained the lead when Gumley pitted for tires during
a lap 61 yellow flag.
Earl Paules had worked his way into the second spot, just ahead
of Zeiner and Anthony Sesely. It didn’t take long for Paules to
jump to the outside and overtake Hirschman on lap 67.
Following pit stops by several drivers at the halfway mark,
Paules led over Pete Brittain, Brian DeFebo, Jimmy Zacharias and
Justin Bonsignore, who started back in twenty-first.
With the green flag back out and without pitting for fresh tires
as of yet, Paules held the point, but Fortin became the new race
leader on lap 89.
The first of three yellow flags flew when Paules lost grip and
spun in turn four. Paules headed pit side for service and was
forced to restart from the tail of the field. The second lap 100
yellow waved when Bobby Jones, Hirschman, Beers and DeFebo spun
in turn one. Beers suffered the worst damage from contact with
the fence, which forced him to retire from the event.
Fortin remained out front with Andy Walko glued to his bumper,
followed by Zeiner, Rusty Smith and Nick Pecko. Paules wasted no
time and made a strong run back toward the front and was scored
in the fourth spot on lap 111.
Paules worked over Walko to take the second spot and then
challenged Fortin for the lead on lap 118. With Paules in
command, Fortin ran second, followed by Bonsignore, Zeiner and
Hirschman. Bonsignore overtook the second spot with ten laps
remaining and ran out of time if he had anything for Paules.
Paules drove off to the $5000 payday over Bonsignore, Fortin,
Zeiner and Hirschman. The win also earned Paules a guaranteed
starting spot in the years Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium and also
a guaranteed starting spot in the seasons North/South Shootout
in Concord, NC.
Kyle Ebersole finished seventh in the event, which was good
enough to take the track points championship over Bobby Jones.
The margin of victory for Ebersole was a mere five points.
Chip Wanamaker sat on the pole position and led the early
portion of the 50-lap Street Stock feature with Harry Sager,
Brad Barbush, Brian Wozniak and Mike Nichols in tow.
B. Barbush attempted to take the race lead in turn three on lap
16. Wanamaker tried to hold the spot and contact sent Wanamaker
into a spin. Also collected were Sager, Steve Clark and Joe
Barbush, who came into the day as the points leader.
Nichols inherited the race lead and never looked back, as he
took the checkers en route to his first Sundance win over Richie
DiMarco, Todd Barbush, Clark and B. Barbush.
With his fifth place effort, Brad Barbush won his first Street
Stock championship and dedicated it to his father, Joe (known as
Frank), who passed away in 2007.
Street Stock heat race wins went to Chip Wanamaker, Harry Sager
and Brian Wozniak. Joe Barbush won the consi.
Following heat race wins earlier in the day, Jon Smith and
Robert Fink shared the front row in the 40-lap FWD feature.
Smith shot out to the early lead, but Fink grabbed the coveted
spot on lap two.
Fink raced away with his first King of the Mountain crown over
Smith, Eric Banashefski, Brian Kunkel and Nikki Sager.
With his second place feature finish, Jon Smith wrapped up the
FWD track championship.
Johnnie Gloor IV led the INEX Legends to the drop of the green
flag and was overtaken by Derek Hopkinson before a lap was
scored. Meanwhile, Scott Hubler moved into the runner up spot
and took the race lead on lap one.
The duo swapped the top spot on three occasions throughout the
event before Hubler came out with the race lead for good on lap
20.
Hubler drove off to take both, his first King of the Mountain
crown and also his first career INEX Legends track championship.
Heat race wins went to Darren Scherer and Scott Hubler.
Sundance Vacations Speedway is just minutes from Hazleton, Pa,
located on St. John’s Road, between Routes 93 and 309.
Grandstand admission for regular events is just $10. As always,
children ages 10 and younger are admitted for free.
For further information, please visit the track site at
www.sundancevacationsspeedway.com.
Modifieds (150-Laps) 1. EARL PAULES 2. Justin Bonsignore 3. John
Fortin 4. Zane Zeiner 5. Matt Hirschman 6. Jim Zacharias 7. Kyle
Ebersole 8. Rusty Smith 9. Brian Defebo 10. Larry Fisher 11.
Nick Pecko 12. Russ Frantz 13. Todd Baer 14. Andy Walko 15.
Bobby Jones 16. Lewis Hallock 17.Daren Scherer 18. David
Schneider 19. Brian Romig 20. Anthony Sesely 21. Barry Callavini
22.Eric Beers 23. Pete Brittain 24. Harry Buchman 25. Rob
McCormick 26. Justin Gumley 27. Tommy Flanagan 28. Marissa
Niederauer DNQ: Matt Higgins, Ken Vogel, Jr., Dave Sapienza,
Lenny Fischer, Billy Weichert, Ken Darch, Adam Horwith
Street Stocks (50-Laps) 1. MIKE NICHOLS 2. Rich DiMarco 3. Todd
Barbush 4. Steve Clark 5. Brad Barbush 6. Steve Shultz 7. Brian
Wozniak 8. Mitch Hawk 9. Brian Brown 10. Todd Ahner 11. Robert
Haueisen 12. Alan Schlenker 13. Shawn Sitarchek 14. Joe Mongeau
15. Paul Morgan Jr 16. Joe Barbush 17.Chip Wanamaker 18. Robert
Fink 19. Dave Jennings 20. Harry Sager DNQ: Jim House, Josh
Mooney, Dylan Terry, CJ Lehmann, Jeff McGrath, Nick Shaw
FWDs (40-Laps) 1. ROBERT FINK 2. Jon Smith 3. Eric Banashefski
4. Brian Kunkel 5. Nikki Sager 6. Mike Kline 7. Pete Maier 8.
Justin Hughes 9. Ken Kleppinger 10. Joe Katona 11. David
Bartuski 12. Harry O'Neill 13. Jay Skupski DNS: Frank Katona
INEX Legends (30-Laps) 1. SCOTT HUBLER 2. Mark Tischler 3. Kevin
Nowak 4. Justin Grimm 5. Mike Carroll 6. Chris Young 7. Darren
Scherer 8. Brandon Michael 9. Derek Hopkinson 10. Karl Heisler
11. Tyler Hughes 12. JD Abrahams 13. Beth Scherer 14. Greg
Rittenhouse 15. Drew Weisser 16. Van Michael 17.Casey Robicheau
18. John Beatty DQ: Johnnie Gloor IV DNS: John Visconti
Source: Geno Ostrowski/Sundance
Vacations Speedway PR
Posted: October
12, 2009
