Ashton, Rohrbaugh split Super Cup events.  Scott Super in Mods.  Aiello garners first of ’16.  Sever, Friedline and Fleegle return to Victory Lane.

Published: August 29, 2016

Ashton, Rohrbaugh split Super Cup events.  Scott Super in Mods.  Aiello garners first of ’16.  Sever, Friedline and Fleegle return to Victory Lane.

Jennerstown, PA   (August 27, 2016):   A crowd of over 7,000 fans were treated to great weather and great racing action Saturday evening at the Big J.   Bill Ashton and Codie Rohrbaugh captured victories in the second visit this season of the Super Cup Stock Car Series to Jennerstown Speedway during Heritage Coal/Farmers Union Co-op Night at the Races presented by Grip Clean.   Also visiting Victory Lane during Saturday Night Thunder’s regular five-division program were: Matt Sever (Martella’s Pharmacy Late Models), Gary Scott (Stoystown Auto Wreckers Modifieds), Anthony Aiello (Riggs Industries Street Stocks), Tanner Friedline (Farmers Union Co-op Chargers) and Casey Fleegle (Somerset Trust Company Fast ‘N Furious 4’s).

A record number of Super Cup Stock Car Series entrants made their way to Jennerstown Speedway Complex on Saturday to close out their 2016 campaign.  Harvey Harrison came into the evening with a 46 point lead in the series standings over fellow West Virginian Brent Nelson and 62 markers up on Jeff Zillweger from Allison Park, Pennsylvania.  In the first of two, 50-lap features, Nelson started on the front row alongside polesitter Bill Ashton from Hopwood, Pennsylvania.  Nelson led the first circuit before Ashton battled back to lead Lap 2.  Fast qualifier Larry Berg joined the leaders as the top trio began to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field.  By Lap 12, Ashton had a three car length lead over Nelson while Berg lost some distance while navigating through lapped traffic.  The first caution of the event came out with sixteen laps completed when Clair Zimmerman collided with the lapped car of Steve Harvilla in the middle of Turns 3 and 4.  Also collected in the incident were Brian Harrison, Brandon Harrison and Jason Holehouse.  On the restart, Nelson got a great jump on Ashton to retake the lead.  Harvey Harrison shuffled Ashton back another position before they completed the first lap once back under green.  On Lap 24, Berg sneaked under Ashton exiting Turn 4 to take over the 3rd spot.  By the halfway point of the race, Nelson held a second and a half lead over Harrison.  Kyle Kromer would bring out the second yellow of the race when he spun exiting Turn 4 with 27 laps in the books.  Nelson and Harrison ran side-by-side for the first lap and a half once the race was restarted before Harrison was able to edge past Nelson for the top spot.  A Brandon Harrison spin on the frontstretch brought out the yellow flag once more with 29 laps completed.  Ashton began to make the outer lane work to his advantage as he passed Berg for 3rd Place on Lap 30.  A lap later, Berg retook the position just before Kevin Kromer spun in Turn 3 to bring out another caution.  On the restart, Ashton worked to the outside of Berg through Turns 3 and 4 to move back into 3rd Place.  On Lap 34, Ashton charged past Nelson on the backstretch to take the runner-up position.  On the next trip around the Somerset County half-mile oval, Ashton regained the lead with a pass on Harrison.  Once getting by Harrison, Ashton built up a lead of a second and a half over his closest pursuer.  Ashton would go on to win his first SCSCS race over Harvey Harrison, Nelson, Berg and Stephen Cox.

Going into the second 50-lap SCSCS feature, Harvey Harrison still maintained a 46 point lead over Brent Nelson in the standings.  Jeff Zillweger had dropped to 87 points behind Harrison and fell out of contention for the series title.  All Harrison had to do was finish 6th or better and the championship was his regardless of how well Nelson fared in the last race of the season.  Nelson started on the pole alongside Zillweger.  Nelson led the first lap before a caution came out for an incident involving Brian Harrison and Brian Kaltreider before the completion of the second circuit.  Nelson would continue to lead once racing resumed, followed by Zillweger and Harvey Harrison.  Quickly making a charger from the back of the pack was Codie Rohrbaugh who was subbing for his grandfather, Larry Berg.  Rohrbaugh, who won one of two races at Jennerstown in July and swept both races last August, started in the 10th position, but took 3rd Place away from Harrison only seven laps into the event.  On Lap 8, he shot under Zillweger in Turn 3 to take the runner-up spot.  Zillweger regained the position on the next trip around the track.  The Top 3 went three-wide into Turn 1 on Lap 10 with Rohrbaugh coming out on top by the time the trio exited Turn 2.  Nelson settled into 2nd Place ahead of Zillweger.  By Lap 20, Rohrbaugh held a straightaway lead over Nelson, who was trying to hold off Zillweger, Harrison and Bill Ashton; winner of the first race of the evening.  Rohrbaugh built up a half-lap lead by Lap 30 and had lapped all but the Top 6 cars by Lap 40.  Zillweger began to challenge Nelson for the runner-up spot with eight laps remaining, but could not pull off a pass.  Up front, Rohrbaugh cruised to nearly a 17 second win  to become the only repeat winner of 2016.  Rounding out the Top 5 were Nelson, Zillweger, Harvey Harrison and Ashton.  Harrison won the 2016 SCSCS champion by 31 points over Nelson.

Bryan Shipp started on the pole position for the 30-lap Martella’s Pharmacy Late Models feature.  His fellow front row starter, Bobby Henry, ran in 2nd Place behind Shipp for the first two laps before giving way to points leader Barry Awtey, who started in 6th.  On Lap 8, Matt Sever worked to the outside of Henry to take over the 3rd spot.  By Lap 13, the Top 3 were running virtually nose-to-tail.  As they crossed the line to mark the halfway point of the race, Awtey began to look to the inside of Shipp for the lead.  Sever took the high line in Turn 3 to get around Awtey for 2nd Place on Lap 17.  Two laps later, Sever squeezed under Shipp to take over the lead.  Sever held on to collect his fourth win of 2016.  Shipp came home in 2nd Place; his best finish in his rookie season.  Awtey finished 3rd ahead of Garry Wiltrout and Henry.   Awtey and Teddy Gibala won their heat races.  Sever’s win enabled him to close within 23 point of Awtey in the championship hunt.

The 25-lap Stoystown Auto Wreckers Modified feature got off to a rough start.  Contact between front row starters Joe Ballough and Jarred Barclay sent Ballough’s mount towards the Turn 2 outer wall.  Ballough’s machine then came down across the track and collected Matt Smith, Carter Mook, Tom Golik and Chris Brink.  Brink, who has nine victories this season and was second in points coming into the evening, and Smith, making his first start of 2016, were not able to continue in the event.  Gary Scott took the lead on the restart with Lou Botti and Barclay in tow.  Botti would lose the runner-up spot to Barclay on Lap 4 and one lap later another position to points leader Zane Ferrell.  Golik recovered from the second lap incident to take 4th Place away from Botti on Lap 8.  At the halfway mark, Ferrell began to pressure Barclay for 2nd Place by running the outer lane.  Just as they were about to complete the fifteenth lap, Ferrell shot to the inside of Barclay to take over 2nd.  Ferrell began to close dramatically on Scott as the leader encountered the tail of the field on Lap 21.  Scott was able to withstand the challenge to garner his first-ever victory at Jennerstown Speedway.  The 65-year old racing veteran from Irwin has a Superman theme on his racecar and showed the 7,000 fans in attendance his Superman T-shirt under his racing suit during Victory Lane celebrations.  Ferrell held the runner-up position with Golik coming home in 3rd Place, Barclay in 4th Place and Mook taking the last Top 5 position.   With Brink’s misfortunes, Ferrell was able to extend his points lead to 39 with two races remaining.

Kelly Shaulis led the first lap of the 25-lap Riggs Industries Street Stock feature before Dustin Gursky took the point on Lap 2 with Mel Wilt also getting by Shaulis to take over 2nd Place.  One circuit later, defending champion Anthony Aiello took the 3rd spot from Shaulis after starting the race in 7th.  By Lap 8, the Top 6 were engaged in a tight battle which also included Andrew Kostelnik, points leader Shawn Beam and Adam Kostelnik.  Wilt held the runner-up position until Lap 10 when he got shuffled back to 5th Place by Aiello and the Kostelniks.  On Lap 11, Aiello started to work to the outside of Gursky for the lead.  Gursky pushed high in Turn 4, opening the door for Aiello to cut underneath him and cross the line in 1st Place to complete Lap 12 while Andrew Kostelnik also took advantage to move into 2nd Place.  One lap later, Gursky lost 3rd Place to Adam Kostelnik.  Gursky fell another spot in the standings on the next lap as Beam made his way up to 4th Place.  The swapping of positions behind them allowed Aiello and Andrew Kostelnik to open up a half of a straightaway lead on the rest of the pack by Lap 17.  Will Ashton spun just in front of the leaders between Turns 3 and 4 to bring out the yellow with 21 laps in the books.  Aiello kept Andrew Kostelnik at bay on the restart and beat Kostelnik to the finish line by two car lengths to pick up his first win of the season.  Adam Kostelnik held onto 3rd Place ahead of Beam.  Wilt fought back late in the race to take 5th Place from Gursky.   After coming into the event three points behind Beam in the division standings, Andrew Kostelnik now leads Beam by one point.

Polesitter Justin Frampton and Jason Pritts brought the field to the green for the 15-lap Farmers Union Co-op Charger feature.  Pritts would take the initial lead of the race only to lose the position to Tanner Friedline on Lap 2.  Pritts lost the 2nd position to Steve Long one lap later.  Long held the 2nd spot for three laps before points leader Stephen Shelpman took over on Lap 5.  Halfway through the race, Friedline held a half of a straightaway lead over Shelpman.  Shelpman’s hopes for victory seemed to go up in smoke with two laps to go as smoke poured from his ride; bringing out the caution.  Shelpman’s crew would go to work for what turned out to be a leaking valve cover.  On the restart, Frank Novak tried to squeeze under Friedline in a 3-wide battle for the lead with Long slightly ahead on the outside.  Long’s car was hit, spinning him in the middle of Turns 1 and 2.  Paul Molnar and Emily Shaulis were collected in the incident.  Friedline was able to continue on in the event.  Shelpman, who had not lost a lap, was able to rejoin the field after repairs to his engine.  Friedline would hold the top spot on the restart ahead of Scott Mitchell and Pritts.  The rookie from Hooversville would lead the final two laps to collect the checkers for the second time this season.  Rounding out the Top 5 were Mitchell, Pritts, Shelpman and Joe Geary. making his first start of the season.   Shelpman leads Mitchell by 55 points in the Charger standings.

The start of the 15-lap Somerset Trust Company Fast ‘N Furious 4’s feature race saw a five-wide battle for the point position going into the first turn of the event.   From his fourth starting position, Brent Bickerstaff from Herminie squeaked by to take the initial lead of the race.  Points leader Casey Fleegle, who started in 8th, was up to 2nd Place by the completion of the first lap and took the lead from Bickerstaff on Lap 2.  Andrew Pluta, who started 9th, took the 2nd spot from Bickerstaff on Lap 6 with a pass in Turn 3.  Cindy Rhodes joined the mix and took 3rd Place from Bickerstaff on Lap 8 and set her sights on Pluta and 2nd Place.  While Rhodes pressured Pluta for the 2nd spot, Fleegle continued to extend his lead.  On Lap 11, Rhodes was able to complete the pass of Pluta for the runner-up position, although still a considerable distance behind the leader with four laps to go.  On the last lap, Paul Koffler III shot under Pluta on the backstretch to take over 3rd Place.  Up front, Fleegle beat Rhodes to the line by half of a straightaway to collect his fifth win of the season.  Koffler held off Pluta to finish in 3rd.  Bickerstaff came home in the 5th spot.  Fleegle gained four points on Koffler; increasing his lead to 81 in the championship for the 4-cylinder compacts.

This Saturday, September 3rd, Saturday Night Thunder is presented by Martin’s.   On tap at Jennerstown Speedway Complex will be the track’s regular five-division program.  Admission is only $10, $8 for senior citizens and free for children 12 and under.  Spectator gates open at 4PM.

SUPER CUP STOCK CAR SERIES – Race #1
Finish        Driver

1.         Bill Ashton
2.         Harvey Harrison
3.         Brent Nelson
4.         Larry Berg
5.         Stephen Cox
6.         Jeff Zillweger
7.         Trent Gossar
8.         Ben Ebeling
9.         Kyle Kromer
10.         Brandon Harrison
11.         Tom Gossar, Jr.
12.         Jason Schue
13.         Jason Holehouse
14.         Kevin Kromer
15.         Clair Zimmerman
16.         Brian Harrison
17.         Steve Harvilla
18.         Brian Kaltreider

SUPER CUP STOCK CAR SERIES – Race #2
Finish        Driver

1.         Codie Rohrbaugh
2.         Brent Nelson
3.         Jeff Zillweger
4.         Harvey Harrison
5.         Bill Ashton
6.         Stephen Cox
7.         Ben Ebeling
8.         Trent Gossar
9.         Kyle Kromer
10.         Jason Holehouse
11.         Tom Gossar, Jr.
12.         Jason Schue
13.         Brian Kaltreider
14.         Brian Harrison