Jaden Brown cruises to second straight Sportsman Mod win at Mahoning Valley Speedway

In a short period of time Jaden Brown has become a reckoning force in the Sportsman Modified division at Mahoning Valley Speedway. With just five starts under his belt the 15-year talent picked up his second straight win on Saturday night, this one coming in a very strong performance as he circled the 1/4-mile paved oval virtually uncontested once the lead was his and then cruised to an uncontested victory.

            “It was really good and the car was great. I could put it anywhere I had to and it stuck no matter which lane we ran,” said Brown.

            Outside pole sitter Mia Guy would get the jump on Al Arthofer at the outset and by lap two third starting Brown was in pursuit of her.

            A lap three caution allowed Brown to restart next to Guy and then the action got back underway he had plenty of momentum running the top side to take the lead on the ensuing tour.

            “We had done some adjustments during the week and tonight was one of the few times that I felt that I can take my car to the outside and it stuck so I could run the high line and do what I had to from up there,” admitted Brown.

            Once Brown was in front it wasn’t long before it became a race for second as each passing lap his lead continued to open.

            “I felt pretty confident that I was gone and I wasn’t sure if anyone was near me or not so I was just riding,” explained Brown,

            While Brown was having his way the racing behind him was good. After yielding the lead Guy stayed second and was having her best run to date. Repeatedly she had to fend off Randy Ahner Jr., and was doing so very well until an unfortunate miscue caused her to spin from contention eight laps from the finish.

            From there Ahner Jr., held onto second spot while the top two point battlers, Jared Ahner and Paulie Hartwig III engaged closely to the end. First time starter Johnny Bennett rounded out the top five.

            The Street Stock feature saw TJ Gursky score his second win of the season but en route to his 32nd career victory it was as hard fought as could be.

            Tucker Muffley had the pole and went into the early lead and soon after Gursky and Jillian Snyder zeroed in on him and thus began a torrid three-cat battle.

            Under a tight blanket the trio dazzled the crowd with their close action. Muffley, in quest of a first ever win, was conducting the intense pace from the lead but at all times Gursky was on his outside with Snyder glued to his rear bumper.

            On lap 20 the leaders would get a breather when the caution was out for multi-car spinning incident. On that restart Muffley and Gursky lined up side-by-side. With a good head of steam going his way Gursky used the outside lane to overtake Muffley for the lead on the following circuit.

            Not about to give up the fight, however, Muffley would keep the pressure on Gursky to the finish and likewise with Snyder as the threesome crossed the finish line all within a few tenths of a second between each other.

            Rick Reichenbach and Mark Deysher also had a close battle and stayed within reach of the leader in completing the top five.

            The Pro 4 class race was one for the history books as it marked the 700th feature since beginning in 1988 and as to be expected all drivers were geared to make the special event their own. And, the race did not disappoint.

            Cody Kohler would come on top which would be his 35th career win but getting to the checkers was hard fought. Randy Schaffer, Tyler Stangle and Josh Kuronya all had stints at the lead. However, with just three laps to go Kohler got the better of Kuronya, taking the lead and going on to take the popular verdict. 

            Jacob Boehm raced to his second Hobby Stock victory of the season in what was a fatiguing 25-lap feature among the lead pack.

            John Petro pulled out to the early lead and was being chased by Boehm. Corey Edelman and Devin Schmidt came into the picture as the laps ticked off and in between the hot action was a rash of cautions, all making for a wild affair.

            Throughout it all though Petro and Boehm ran side-by-side. During the course of the thrilling duel Boehm frequently kept looking to the inside of Petro and at the mid-way point would be scored the new leader but his run to the checkers was far from over.

            Edelman and then Schmidt stepped in to challenge. With five laps to go Schmidt was making a run at Boehm but in the process there was contact and Schmidt encountered a right front flat that ended his hopes. The remaining distance Boehm would hold off his brother, Cody Boehm for the hard-fought win.    

            The Futures/Rookie Hobby Stock event had extra monetary bonuses on the line courtesy of the Kutz Racing Team and scoring a rousing overall win was Greyson Ahner thrillingly picked his way through the field in short order, leading with just three laps in and then going on to solid sixth Rookie win of the season.

            Futures point leader Brody George followed in second and earned himself an unprecedented eighth victory.              

 

Sportsman Modified feature finish (25-laps): 1. Jaden Brown, 2. Randy Ahner Jr., 3. Jared Ahner, 4. Paulie Hartwig III, 5. Johnny Bennett, 6. Al Arthofer, 7. Rick Smith, 8. Mia Guy, 9. Avert Arthofer, 10.  Troy Bollinger, 12. Peyton Arthofer

 

Street Stock feature finish (30-laps): 1. TJ Gursky, 2. Tucker Muffley, 3. Jillian Snyder, 4. Rick Reichenbach, 5. Mark Deysher, 6. Tobie Behler, 7. Matt VanSyckle, 8. Thomas Flanagan, 9. Mark Martini, 10. Jamie Smith, 11. Lonnie Behler Jr., 12. Jon Moser, 13. Todd Ahner, 14. Randy Ahner Jr., 15. Brandon Christman, 16. Rich Moser, 17. Dennis Buss, 18. Jeremy Scheckler DNS: Jacob Christman

 

Hobby Stock feature finish (25-laps): 1. Jacob Boehm, 2. Cody Boehm, 3. Trisha Connolly, 4. Nick Schaeffer, 5. John Petro, 6. Taylor Schmidt, 7. Shayne Geist, 8. Justin Merkel, 9. Travis Solomon, 10. James Tout, 11. Dave Imler Jr., 12. Nicholas Kerstetter, 13. Devin Schmidt, 14. Kip George, 15. Tony Hilliard, 16. Ralph Borer Jr., 17. Corey Edelman, 18. Mallory Kutz, 19. Tad Snyder, 20. BJ Wambold, 21. Tucker Muffley

 

Pro 4 feature finish (20-laps) 1. Cody Kohler. 2. Mark Schaffer, 3. Kadie Pursell, 4. Terry Peters, 5. Josh Kuronya, 6. Tyler Stangle, 7. Nick Baer, 8. Keith Villiano, 9. Jake Kibler, 10. Mark Fister

 

Futures/Rookie Hobby Stock feature finish (15-laps): 1. Greyson Ahner, 2. Brody George, 3. Hallie Muffley, 4. Deegen Underwood, 5. Reid Levengood, 6. Dace Kerr, 7. Gabrielle Steigerwalt, 8. Makayla Kohler, 9. Arland Moyer Jr., 10. Maggie Yeakel, 11. Adam Steigerwalt, 12. Lexus Kutz, 13. Zoey Moyer, 14. Zoe Kuchera

MVS PR