Over the first month of the season Kyle Strohl had respectable runs but from a team perspective they were not all that pleased with the car and kept chasing the set-up. They made headway the previous week with a very competitive third place run during the Race of Champions 75-lap feature and on Saturday evening all fell into place as Strohl led flag to flag in caution free race and earned a hard-fought verdict over Austin Beers and Bobby Jones.
“This is a really big confidence booster for us. Our car was loose coming into the night and we made some adjustments and with a little luck we were able to hold them guys off,” said Strohl after notching his 17th career Modified victory.
Strohl’s first Modified win of the season was a barnburner event as he had to fend off the likes of Beers and Jones over the waning laps. The trio dazzled the crowd with their amazing high speed proximity of each other and as they blazed toward the checkers finished under a blanket with Strohl able to hold off his opponents by the narrowest of margins.
“I knew the top runners where coming and I had protect the bottom and the high side at the same time but we got it done and it’s great to pull off a win,” emphasized Strohl.
Early on Nick Baer was giving Strohl a good battle and continued to do so through the first 20 laps. But after Baer’s car began to tighten Jones and Beers slipped by and began their assault on Strohl.
Strohl certainly had his hands full with Jones and Beers who tracked him ever so tightly. When they arrived to the white flag Jones and Beers where side-by-side and bearing down heavily on Strohl but he remained protective and confident in securing the win.
“I can hear those guys all the while and I knew I just had to keep my guard up. I’m very proud of my guys and very proud of how we’ve improved each week and I can’t wait to get back here for the Ward Crozier Tribute in two weeks,” noted Strohl.
For the fourth time in five races this season Beers has had to settle for second spot. Bear took fourth with Brian DeFebo rounding out the top five.
“It was definitely an exciting race between Kyle, Bobby and I running three wide, splitting lapped cars and running through the field was a lot of fun. Kyle ran a perfect line and I feel I needed just a few more laps,” said Beers.
The Sportsman Modified feature was a race that also came down to the wire and coming out on top of the thrilling event was Avery Arthofer.
Arthofer worked very hard for this one as she had to fend off a flurry of others and was locked in a tight battle with a number of opponents the entire time.
She engaged in some very close two-wide action with Randy Ahner Jr., and then after shaking free of that tussle her sights were set on leader Troy Bollinger.
Once again she would interlock in a two-by-two fight which Bollinger and she would swap back and forth. Her determined effort paid off when she took control for good with five laps to go but had to stave off a late race charge by first time starter Jayden Brown who came on like gangbusters as well as Ahner Jr.,
All three finished the race barely ahead of each other with Arthofer collecting her second career Sportsman Modified win and 10th overall.
The 30-lap Street Stock feature was conducted in a cone race format and sophomore driver Brandon Christman parleyed his outside row one restart position on lap six into a win.
Under a caution on that circuit Christman chose to take the outside lane for the ensuing restart which put him second to leader Jamie Smith. When the action resumed Christman darted past Smith for the lead and there would be no looking back from then on as he soundly drove ahead of the pack the rest of the way.
Randy Ahner. Jr., also utilized the cone restart to his advantage which assisted him to a runner-up finish. Thomas Flanagan ran a note-worthy race, staying near the front the whole time and eventually ending with a fulfilling third place tally.
In the Hobby Stock feature Jacob Boehm scored his first victory of the season, turning in a stellar run in the process. Boehm used a lap four restart to go past then leader Dave Imler Jr., and soon showed that it would be a race for second as he was able to keep a nearly two-car length distance from those behind him.
For the most part that would be BJ Wambold who for the third straight week improved from fourth to third and now second. Nick Schaffer had his best effort to date, taking third at the finish.
When Jake Kibler rolled under starter Frank Mertz’s checker flag in the Pro 4 feature it not only was his first win of 2021 but an unparalleled 40th with the division.
When the green flag dropped to commence the 20-lap affair Kibler quickly took control and would never look back en route to his record extending win. And while he was cruising out front there was a remained a hot battle for second that went to Randy Schaffer over Cody Kohler.
Deegen Underwood raced to not only his second Rookie Hobby Stock win but an overall victory as well in the event that pairs his class and the Futures together.
Underwood jumped into the lead from his outside front row starting spot and stayed well ahead of the pack for the distance. At the checkers he outdid a strong running Reid Levengood, also a Rookie class driver. Brody George in the meantime took top honors in the Futures division for a fourth time in five starts.
Modified Feature Finish (35-laps): 1. Kyle Strohl, 2. Austin Beers, 3. Bobby Jones, 4. Nick Baer, 5. Brian DeFebo, 6. Jesse Strohl, 7. Don Wagner, 8. John Markovic, 9. Carl Altemose, 10. Devin Schmidt, 11. Cody Kohler
Sportsman Modified Feature Finish (25-laps): 1. Avery Arthofer, 2. Jayden Brown, 3. Randy Ahner Jr., 4 Paul Hartwig III, 5. Mia Guy, 6. Jared Ahner, 7. Bobby Butler, 8. Troy Bollinger, 9. Paul French Jr., 10. Payton Arthofer, 11. Frankie Althouse, 12. DJ Wagner
Street Stock Feature Finish (30-laps): 1. Brandon Christman, 2. Randy Ahner Jr., 3. Thomas Flanagan, 4. Jamie Smith, 5. Mark Deysher, 6. Tucker Muffley, 7. TJ Gursky, 8. Jon Moser, 9. Mark Martini, 10. Jill Snyder, 11. Rick Reichenbach, 12. Shayne Geist, 13. Todd Ahner, 14. Jason Gould, 15. Jacob Christman, 16. Logan Boyer, 17. Rich Moser, 18. Tobie Behler, 19. Cody Geist, 20. Lonnie Behler Jr., 21. Jeremy Scheckler
Pro 4 Feature Finish (20-laps): 1. Jake Kibler, 2. Randy Schaffer, 3. Cody Kohler, 4. Kadie Purcell, 5. Robert Derfler, 6. Travis Solomon, 7. Josh Kuronya, 8. Tyler Stangle
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (25-laps): 1. Jacob Boehm, 2. BJ Wambold, 3. Nick Schaffer, 4. Corey Edelman, 5. Trisha Connolly, 6. Taylor Schmidt, 7. Cody Boehm, 8. James Tout, 9. Dave Imler, 10. Al Arthofer, 11. Slade Darragh, 12. Kevin Behler, 13. Lyndsay Buss, 14. Ralph Borger JR. 15. Travis Solomon, 16. Tad Snyder, 17. Mallory Kutz, 18. Nickolas Kerstetter, 19. Justin Merkel, 20. Devin Schmidt, DNS: Ed Herman
Futures/Rookie Hobby Stock Feature Finish (12-laps): 1. Deegan Underwood, 2. Reid Levengood, 3. Adam Steigerwalt, 4. Jared Green, 5. Brody George, 6. Gary Lerch, 7. Josh Dise, 8. Tyler Aleckna, 9. Zoe Kuchera, 10. Lexus Kutz, 11. Maggie Yeakel, 12. Greyson Ahner, 13. Makayla Kohler, DNS: Dave Kerr
MVS PR
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