5/11/2008

Quinn Heeds Hirschman’s Advice; Set-up was Perfect En Route to Mahoning Modified Win

   Tony Hirschman is one of the greatest asphalt Modified stars of our time. He knows every aspect that goes into a car. When he talks shop people listen.
    Mike Quinn certainly did.
    Quinn, of Ashfield, grabbed the lead away from Larry Fisher after a lap three restart and once in front was never headed as he drove the Ivan and Wanda Morgan #34 to his first win of the season.
    Prior to the win, Quinn had only mustered mediocre runs but after having Hirschman stop by to lend his expertise on his Troyer chassis, the car was perfect and so was Quinn.
    “My hat’s off to Tony Hirschman. We’d been struggling and Tony had come up and offered us his help. He pointed us in the right direction on what needed to be done with the car and it was right on the mark,” said Quinn.
    The 2007 Rookie of the Year did have a few close encounters near the end of the race with runner-up Lou Strohl but there was no denying the strong running Quinn.
    At the onset pole sitter Fisher darted out front with Bup Dreher and fifth starting Quinn in tow.
    Before a lap could be scored, however, top two point men, Brian DeFebo and John Bennett, were involved in a back straight skirmish.
    Once the racing did begin Fisher led with Dreher and Quinn close at hand.
    On lap three the yellow waved for several cars that tangled in turn three. DeFebo and Bennett were again victims only this time they weren’t able to continue on.
    Prior to the caution waving Quinn had moved into second. It was on the restart that he got a good run on Fisher and by the fourth lap he was out front and starting to put distance between him and the field.
    The fight for second waged between Fisher and Strohl. Strohl utilized a lap 15 restart to finally get past. Chip Santee then used a similar move on a restart two laps later.
    Quinn in the meantime was driving to perfection. He remained a safe distance over Strohl until a few late race yellows bunched the pack. That became Strohl’s only chance at making a pass but Quinn was just too strong.
    “It was tight racing there with Louie (Strohl) on some of those restarts. I know he got into me a little bit but I probably would have done the same thing. He ran me clean,” said Quinn.
    Second place was Strohl’s best finish since his Opening Night win as the prior two weeks had been lackluster.
    “Opening Night was awesome and then the last two weeks we were in the cellar and we just had bad nights and you’re going to have that at this little bullring but we rebounded nice,” said Strohl.
    “The restarts are sometimes your only shot and that was my shot tonight. The car was getting tight after a few laps but after that I just couldn’t stay with him (Quinn). Mike’s a good guy and I got into him a little bit but that was racing. I got off the gas and let him straighten it out and we all went on our way.”
    Don Wagner came storming over the final laps and was able to nip Santee at the line for third. In doing so it elevated him into the points lead. Bobby Jones completed the top five.
    Reigning Late Model champion Todd Stehle of Lehighton cruised to his second win in four races.
    Stehle inherited the lead after a tangle took out front runners Mike VanFossen and Lorin Arthofer II. Once in the lead it became no contest as he was a half track ahead of second place finisher VanFossen.
    Lehighton’s Jon Moser raced to his first ever Street Stock feature win. Moser was running second behind Lonnie Behler with three laps to go when suddenly the left rear wheel on Behler’s car sheared off. Moser slipped past and then held off Justin Mooney for the win.
    In Pro4 Late Model action Corey Hill of Lehighton took the lead after a lap six restart and then fended off division top dogs Randy Schlenker, Jeremy Miller and Kevin Rex en route to his first win since 2005.
    In Factory Stocks, Brian Hughes of Jim Thorpe, inherited the lead with six laps to go and then held off point leader Jason Frey for his first win of the year.
    4-Cylinder stock point leader Jon Smith from Ashfield led every lap of the 20-lap contest and held off teammate Brian Kunkle for his first win of ’08.
   Kevin Ritchie of Port Jefferson Station, NY won the 4C Super Mod feature.
    In the special Ladies Race it was Courtney VanFossen of Lehighton taking the win.



Modifieds (35): 1.Mike Quinn 2.Lou Strohl 3.Don Wagner 4.Chip Santee 5.Bobby Jones 6.Mike Sweeney 7.Bup Dreher 8.Rick Reichenbach 9.Larry Fisher 10.Paul Skodacek 11.Tom Flanagan 12.Steven Reed 13.Stacy Brown 14.Jarred Nace 15.Matt Higgins 16. Keith Mullineaux 17.Andy Szapacs 18.Todd Baer 19.Rick Kirkendall 20.John Bennett 21.Brian DeFebo DNQ: Don Holland, Jr.

Late Models (20): 1.Todd Stehle 2.Mike VanFossen 3.Frankie Althouse 4.Travis Fisher 5.Bandit Christman 6.Kristian Kalch 7.Geno Steigerwalt 8.Pat Hargan 9.Lorin Arthofer II 10.Troy Bollinger 11.Dave Imler 12.Rick Wallace DNS: Todd Geist

Street Stocks (25): 1.Jon Moser 2.Justin Mooney 3.Kristy Morone 4.Alan Schlenker 5.Randy Ahner, Jr. 6.Shawn Sitarchyk 7.Bill Hunara 8.Mike Garris, Sr. 9.Chip Wanamaker 10.Jamie Smith 11.Jay Llewellyn 12.Todd Ahner 13.Duane Eidem 14.Mark Deysher 15.Lonnie Behler 16.Joe Mooney 17.Steve Hoffman

Pro4 Late Models (20) 1.Corey Hill 2.Randy Schlenker 3.Jeremy Miller 4.Kevin Rex, Jr. 5.Mike stringer 6.Dave Chapman 7.Dennis Silfies 8.Dustin Bair 9.Chris Kuronya 10.James Newman 11.Kris Gruber 12.Barry Christman, Jr. 13.Drew Rice 14.Kevin Graver, Jr. 15.Matt Derkosh 16.Casey Creyer 17.Robert Shaeffer 18.Jason Bair 19.Justin Anderson 20.Mike Stofflet DNQ: Glen Anderson, TJ Kemmerer

Factory Stocks (20): 1.Brian Hughes 2.Jason Frey 3.Randy Ahner, Sr. 4.Kevin Trouch 5.Doug Knauss 6.Scooter Graver 7.Cody Geist 8.Devin Gibson 9.Clem Underwood 10.BJ Wambold 11.Jason Kuhn12.Kevin Behler 13.Matt May

4-Cyl. Stocks (20): 1.Jon Smith 2.Brian Kunkle 3.Ricky Kunkle 4.Bryan Creyer 5.Peter Maier 6.Jake Kibler 7.Ryan Campanella 8.Kendall Foulk 9.Gene Bowers

4C Super Mods (15): 1.Kevin Ritchie 2.Mike Crispo 3.Mike Renn 4.Steve Renn 5.Wes Gilbert