Rusty Smith Takes the
Race, Ricky Ross the Championship at KIng of the Mountain
With weather fit for a king, hundreds of racers and fans alike
filled Sundance Vacations Speedway for the Saturday portion of
the 11th annual “King of the Mountain” weekend. The theme for
the evening was simple- double points, large purse and extended
laps for the final points show of the season. When it was all
said and done, Rusty Smith of Oxford, NY took an exciting Sport
Modified victory and Zane Zeiner of Bath notched a convincing
Late Model victory. Jeff Searfoss took top honors in the Factory
Stock division and Robin Johnston scored his second straight
King of the Mountain victory in the TQ Midgets.
The Sport Modified drivers took to the track for time trials.
“The Rocket”, Ricky Ross, Jr. turned the quickest lap of the
afternoon before the top ten quickest drivers redrew for
starting positions.
With double championship points on the line, Ross headed into
the feature with a 29-point advantage over Jason Hearne. In
other words, Hearne would have to be Ross by three positions to
take the title.
Ken Wooley drew the pole position and led in the early going of
the race. Ross held second following the first lap but Pete
Brittain and Mike Skarbowski overtook him.
Following a quick lap nine yellow, Brittain took command of the
show. Meanwhile, Ross climbed back to second with Anthony Sesely,
Wooley and Hearne in tow.
Sesely climbed to second and mounted a charge on the leader. He
completed the pass and took the lead on lap 19. Meanwhile, Ross
rode in the fourth spot.
A pair of lap 43 yellows flew and trouble struck Ross on the
second one when he spun exiting turn two. Luckily any other
drivers did not tag him and he headed to the pits to replace a
flat tire. The change of events put Hearne in the championship
seat. Rusty Smith was running in the second spot at the time of
the first lap 43 yellow and headed pit side for fresh rubber.
Green flag racing resumed with Sesely leading over Brittain,
Zane Zeiner and Skarbowski.
An Earl Paules spin on lap 60 brought out another caution flag
and Brittain gave up the third position to pit for tires. Barry
Callavini was running fifth at the time and he headed to the
pits as well.
Zeiner lined up behind Sesely for the restart with Skarbowski,
Hearne and Nick Pecko in the top five. Zeiner, who appeared to
have a car quicker than the leader began to apply some pressure
for the race lead.
It didn’t take long for Smith to make his way back toward the
front to challenge the front two. Following a terrific lap 85
restart for Smith, he swapped the second spot with Zeiner on
several occasions while the to tried to find a way around Sesely.
The trio raced three wide down the backstretch for the lead and
something had to give. The end result was a tangle between
Sesely and Zeiner as Smith came out with the lead on lap 94.
Uncontested after the restart, Smith went on to take his first
$2000 King of the Mountain win in a Sport Modified over Hearne.
Ross rallied to finish in the third spot, which secured his
first Sport Modified championship. Skarbowski and Pecko
completed the top five.
Justin Onderko ran the quickest time trial lap and Zane Zeiner
sat on the pole following the redraw for the 50-lap Late Model
feature. Onderko, who was trying to notch his first ever
championship, came into the day leading over Mike Sweeney.
Zeiner led the opening lap over Sweeney, Travis Fisher, Tony
Volpe and Jimmy Wismer. Wismer, a former three-time winner of
the season ending event appeared to be on a mission. First, he
overtook Volpe for fourth on lap seven. He then moved to the
third spot before challenging Fisher for second. He completed
that second place pass on lap 23.
Zeiner however was on a mission of his own and was untouched as
he drove off with the victory. Wismer settled for second,
followed by Sweeney, Lorin Arthofer and Rob Ormsbee.
Onderko finished in the seventh spot and earned his first career
track championship.
Jeff Searfoss started form the pole and led the opening circuit
of the 40-lap Factory Stock feature over Tom Cassagrande, Paul
Morgan, Jr, Joey Helburg and Todd Barbush.
Morgan, who cam into the day as the points leader held a sizable
margin over Matt Schlenker but he still needed to have a decent
showing to take the title.
Searfoss set a blistering pace in the early going and even
though Morgan has climbed to second and applied pressure on the
leader there was no denting Searfoss his second victory of the
season in the Factory Stock finale.
Cassagrande crossed the stripe in the second spot before a wild
wreck at the finish saw Schlenker finish third, followed by
Brandon Oltra and Eric Wink.
Heat race victories went to Todd Barbush and Tom Cassagrande.
Danny Lane started form the pole position in the 25-lap ATQMRA
TQ Midget main event. He quickly lost the race lead to Robin
Johnston.
Johnston set a blistering pace in the caution-free event and
went on to take his second straight King of the Mountain victory
over Ian Cumens, Austin Fehr, Jeff Kot and Alison Cumens.
Heat race victories went to Austin Fehr and Robin Johnston.
Sundance Vacations is a national wholesale travel company that
specializes in providing wholesale travel and discount vacations
to travelers who appreciate budget-friendly travel. Founded in
1991 by John and Tina Dowd, Sundance Vacations’ mission is to
provide quality discount vacations at a fraction of the retail
rate. A destination-based discount travel program, Sundance
Vacations enables customers to enjoy discount vacations in many
popular resort areas across the United States.
Sundance Vacations Speedway is just minutes from Hazleton, Pa,
located on St. John’s Road, between Routes 93 and 309.
Grandstand admission for all regular events is just $10 for ages
11 and older. Children 10 years of age and younger are admitted
for free.
Please visit www.sundancevacationsspeedway.com for the entire
2010 schedule, point standings and up to date news and
information.
Sport Modified (100-laps) 1. RUSTY SMITH 2. Jason Hearne 3.
Ricky Ross Jr 4. Mike Skarbowski 5. Nick Pecko 6. David
Reinhardt 7. Earl Paules 8. Jerry Hildebrand 9. Barry Callavini
10. Zane Zeiner 11. Todd Baer 12. William Schneider 13. Anthony
Sesely 14. Mike Speeney 15. Dan Kurzejewski 16. Pete Brittian
17.Ken Wooley 18. Kevin Orlando 19. Pat Verwys 20. Adam Lacicero
21. Geary Rinehimer 22.Robert Geibel Jr. 23. Ron Frees DNQ: Dan
Speeney, Dennis Krupski, Dave Garfinkel, CJ Lacatavia
Late Model (50-laps) 1. ZANE ZEINER 2. Jim Wismer Jr 3. Mike
Sweeney 4. Lorin Arthofer 5. Rob Ormsbee 6. Travis Fisher 7.
Justin Onderko 8. Kyle Harvell 9. Bill Catania 10. Rob McCormick
11. Craig Lutz 12. Joe Burns 13. Rick Smith 14. Kevin Metzger
15. Adam Cox 16. John Loftus 17.Paul Skodacek 18. Elliot Wohl
19. Tony Volpe 20. Mike Coll 21. Dave Macomber
Factory Stock (40-laps) 1. JEFF SEARFOSS 2. Tom Casagrande 3.
Matt Schlenker 4. Brandon Oltra 5. Eric Wink 6. Joe Helberg 7.
Paul Morgan Jr 8. Kermit Jacoby 9. Bob Wink 10. Tom Szoke 11.
Todd Barbush 12. Richard Paciotti 13. Ken Kleppinger 14. Joe
D'Angelo 15. Keith Frankenfield 16. Kendall Foulk
ATQMRA midgets (25-laps) 1. ROBIN JOHNSTON 2. Ian Cumens 3.
Austin Fehr 4. Jeff Kot 5. Alison Cummens 6. John Darylerimdle
7. Paul Lotier Jr 8. Bob Watkins 9. Matthew Roselli 10. Dan Lane
Jr 11. John Gambuti 12. Rudy Botticher 13. JP Crossman 14. Phill
DiMario 15. Chad Parks 16. Tim Behmer
Source: Geno Ostrowski/Sundance
Vacations Speedway PR
Posted: October
10, 2010
