13-year old Broc Brown becomes youngest driver to win a Late Model feature

During the drivers meeting prior to the start of the Saturday’s meet, Mahoning Valley Speedway race director Tim Santee indicated to all that there will be 100 show-up points awarded to all those who come to the season ending Octoberfast. And, although the final points race is listed as October 1, that incentive for the October 22 big stakes event could have major implications for both title hopefuls and throughout the finishing order of the top-10 rundown.

Eric Beers, however, may be the exception to all that as the season-long point leader racked up his seventh win of the year and easily extended his ranking at number one, so much so that he is virtually untouchable heading into those final two races.

Beers used a lap 23 restart to overtake John Markovic and then cruised over the final 11 tours for 18th top five in 21 starts.

“We got lucky on that restart. There was a little bit of speedy dry down in turn two and I knew Johnny (Markovic) was going to hit it first. He wiggled up the track and gave me just enough room,” said Beers, who registered his 52nd Mahoning Modified win.

The race was not just about Beers by no means. When the action got underway Terry Markovic, who was driving a second car for Earl Paules, darted quickly into the lead and was shadowed by his brother John and it was indeed a crowd pleasing showdown between the two class act drivers.

After several close laps of side-by-side, J. Markovic eased into the lead on lap 15 but T. Markovic was still flanking along. Also in on the action was Kris Graver while lucking not far back were Beers and Zane Zeiner.

“It brought back a lot of memories for me seeing the Markovic’s racing up front. Johnny was leading and Terry was second and I was thinking back to when I was a little kid watching them winning races down at Dorney Park and I was holding off for a couple minutes until I realized I had to get up front and see what we got,” said Beers.

Once Beers got focused he then made his charge and was running third by lap 20. Then when Nick Baer smacked the wall in turn one that brought out the caution on lap 23, it would be that restart were Beers would make the race winning move.

“Terry (Markovic) ran a great race and it was good to see him running up front and Johnny (Markovic) alongside battling for the lead made it a great show,” said Beers.

“It’s been a wonderful year and we want to finish out strong and keep it going. That Octoberfast race is my Achilles heel, I got to win that one.”

Beers has led in each of the past three Octoberfast races but ended in third place at the finish.

J. Markovic took second spot for his best effort of the year while Paules had a great late race dogfight with Graver to secure third. Rounding out the top five was Austin Kochenash.

13-year old Broc Brown drove like a seasoned veteran as he captured his career first Mahoning Late Model win and became the youngest winner with the class in doing so.

Brown was in a race-long battle with some heavy hitters as he clashed with the likes of stalwarts twice and even three times his age.

He started third but was running next to leader George Ramos once the race commenced. In the thick of the battle was Don Wagner who would maneuver into the front spot by lap nine. Paul Koehler Jr., also added himself to the mix but all the while the talented upstart showed no signs of being intimidated by the more accomplished drivers.

Brown raced with all out intent of reaching the front of the pack and gave Wagner a great duel in the process. Using the outside lane as his line of attack, he worked each lap with confidence and delivered a sterling performance in taking the lead with eight laps to go.

Brown had never led a feature lap at Mahoning Valley until then and wasn’t about to give it up either and despite a strong effort in the final laps by Frankie Althouse, the win was evident for the rising star.

Between 2000 and 2010 Mark Deysher dominated the Street Stocks with win after win and a pair of class titles to boot.

Deysher then took off the next few years before getting back in the saddle just a few weeks ago and his return to action came full circle as he scored his first win since 2008. Deysher jumped out front at the get-go and would then work tirelessly to fend off Dan Freundt for the verdict.

Billy Lasko outlasted Ricky Yetter for his fourth Dirt Mod win of the season and in doing so took over the point lead with one race to go. Lasko led every lap although Yetter was hovering all over him the entire time making for a very thrilling run to the checkers.

Pro 4 point leader Josh Scherer passed Kailyn Beers on lap three and then stayed the course the remaining distance en route to his sixth win of the season. The victory gives him a solid lead heading into the final point race next Saturday as Scherer looks to sew up his career first championship. Cody Kohler gave Scherer a nice run for his money in taking runner-up honors.

Austin Beers started out the night by winning his heat race. He then carried that momentum into the feature by leading all 20 laps and earned his career first stock car win in a hard fought battle over Ryan Berger.

Beers, who is the son of Modified kingpin Eric Beers, had a handful of Berger lap after lap but the young lion hit his marks perfectly each time by and held on for a the unforgettable victory. He also extended the record number of different winners to 14.

Devin Schmidt was the Small Car Enduro winner.

Mahoning Valley Speedway PR