Kuntz and Awtey Victorious at Jennerstown Speedway Complex

(Jennerstown, PA)  A pair of former Champions were victorious as Jennerstown Speedway Complex’s top division of racing, the Martella’s Pharmacies RUSH Late Models competed in “double features” on Saturday, June 2.   Defending Track Champion, Jeremiah Kuntz won the make-up event, rained out from May 26^th, and five time Champion Barry Awtey won the event scheduled for Saturday.  Anthony Aiello started his campaign for “Rookie of the Year” with a win in the first feature race of 2018 for the in the Stoystown Auto Wreckers RUSH Modifieds.  Mel Wilt parked in victory lane for the first time in over ten years, following the J&J Truck Equipment RUSH Street Stock race.  Dale Kimberly was the winner in the Farmers Union Co-Op Charger division, while Andrew Pluta took the checkered flag in the Somerset Trust Company Fast 'n Furious 4-Cylinder division. 

The first of two 30-lap feature races for the Martella's Pharmacies RUSH Late Model division, was scheduled to be completed on May 26, before rain halted the racing action after the preliminary heat races.  Bryan Shipp, a winner in 2017, started from the pole position and led the first three laps.  On the fourth trip around the oval, Jeremiah Kuntz took the lead from Shipp.   On lap eight, a pair of 2017 winners crashed on the backstraight;  Teddy Gibala and Barry Awtey both sustained damage in the incident.  When racing resumed, defending Champion, Kuntz, who had started in the second position, began to pull away from the pack.  But, fourth place starter, Mike “Hollywood” Hemminger, closed in on the race leader, and a memorable battle ensued.  Hemminger took the lead on lap 21, after a spirited door-to-door fight.  Hemminger remained in position one, until lap 25 when Kuntz made another pass for the lead.  Kuntz, from Mahaffey, PA, held the top spot for the final laps to claim victory in the first race of the season, aboard the Kuntz Motors Dodge.  Hemminger placed second, with Rick Boyer finishing in third place, after starting eighth.   Awtey rallied after pit stop repairs to place fourth, and Joe Maruca finished fifth.

In the second 30-lap race, rookie Zane Ferrell led the first lap of his Late Model career, as the former Modified Champ started from the pole position.  But by lap two, the driver who started in fifth place became the leader: Barry Awtey.  In spite of damage to his car in the first race from involvement in two separate caution flag incidents, Awtey roared into the lead, and held a commanding advantage over the field.  Mike Hemminger advanced quickly from the seventh starting spot, into second.  Unlike the first race, in which Hemminger thrilled the large crowd by swapping the lead, Awtey overpowered the competition to win by a comfortable margin.  Awtey is a resident of Jenners, PA, and is the all-time leading winner at Jennerstown Speedway.   He was unchallenged to the finish line aboard the Wheeler Cattle/Stoystown Auto/Pizza Hut Chevrolet.  Awtey’s crew relished the victory after showing great determination to get the car back into winning form, between events, on the rare “double feature” night.  Hemminger ended the night with an impressive total of two second place finishes.  Awtey and Hemminger also won the heat races.   Jeremiah Kuntz placed third with former Champion Garry Wiltrout, and Rick Boyer finishing fourth and fifth. 

The apparent winner in the Stoystown Auto Wreckers RUSH Modifieds’ 20-lap feature, Chris Brink, was disqualified after his car failed the post-race technical inspection.  Anthony Aiello, one of several rookies in the division, started in tenth place and was awarded the win.  The former Street Stock Champion, from White Oak, PA, has made only a few Modified starts in his career, prior to 2018.  It was a wild affair, which included a few caution flag incidents, but all drivers walked away uninjured.  Last year’s opening day winner Tom Golik placed second in the first feature race of 2018.    Jason Busch won a heat race earlier in the night, and placed third in the feature, with Jarred Barclay and Jim Bodziak completing the top five.

On opening day 2017, young Aaron Van Fleet earned his first win in the J&J Truck Equipment RUSH Street Stock division.  As the green flag waved for the second 20-lap feature race of 2018, Van Fleet took the lead after starting on the pole.  He maintained the top spot until lap five, when veteran Mel Wilt made a pass for the lead.  Wilt, who has won multiple races in multiple divisions in his long career at Jennerstown, pulled away from Van Fleet, after starting fourth.  Josh Coughenour was the opening night winner a week prior, and dominated his competitors with ease in round one of 2018.  In round tow, after starting in ninth place, Coughenour advanced to second by lap seven.  But Coughenour never showed the strength to make a pass for the win.  Wilt, of Holidaysburg, PA, parked in victory lane for the first time in more than a dozen years, with Coughenour crossing the finish line as the runner-up. Wilt and Coughenour were also the heat race winners.  Van Fleet, veteran Rick Meehleib, and defending Champion Lauren Butler completed the top five.

The two most veteran drivers in the Farmers Union Co-Op Charger division had a race-long duel for the win, in the first 15-lap feature of the year.  Scott Mitchell and Dale Kimberly were both victorious in 2017, and they battled side-by-side and nose-to-tail the entire distance of the race.  The pair started in the front row, and Mitchell led the first 13 laps, by a very slim margin.  With two laps to go, Kimberly officially took the lead, and earned the win, which included a cash bonus, from division sponsor Farmers Union Co-op.  Mitchell, defending Champion Jason Pritts, Modified ace Adam Kostelnik, and rookie (converting from dirt track racing) Dan Jackson crossed the finish line in positions two through five.  Kostelnik, driving a Kimberly team car, and Mitchell were the heat race winners.

Although he started in seventh position, the leading winner of 2017 in the Somerset Trust Company Fast 'n Furious 4-Cylinders, led all 15-laps of the first feature race of 2018.  Andrew Pluta made all the right moves on lap one, to take the lead, and he maintained his advantage to park in victory lane.  Evan Nibert placed second after starting in eighth position.  Brian Noel, defending Champion Brent Bickerstaff, and Mike Shaulis were the top five finishers.  Pluta and Nibert won the heat races.

Saturday, June 9, will be FIRST RESPONDER APPRECIATION NIGHT presented by Somerset Trust.  All Fire Fighters, Police, EMTs, and emergency personnel will be honored with free admission (proper identification required) for the “Motor Mountain Mania” five division stock car racing program at Jennerstown Speedway Complex.  Also, the Somerset Trust Company Fast ‘N Furious 4-Cylinders will make up the May 26 feature race.  Gates open at 4pm with racing at 6pm.  Visit www.jennerstown.org for more information.