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Brown wins first start for Richter at Motordrome SMITHTON – Veteran NASCAR Pizza Hut Super Late Model driver Neil Brown drove to victory in his first start for Richter Motorsports at Motordrome Speedway last Friday.

In other NASCAR Whelen All American Series action, George Nicola won the Modified feature, and his cousin Joe won the Subway Street Stock main event. Jimmy Stokes (Chargers) and Ed Dinneen (American Flyers) remained unbeaten after the second week of competition on the Smithton oval.

Long-time Richter Motorsports driver Mark Smith started on the front row of the 35-lap NASCAR Pizza Hut Super Late Model feature, alongside his new teammate Neil Brown, who started on the pole. On lap one the teammates made contact, and Smith spun in turn two, forcing a complete restart.

When the race began officially, Brown secured the lead from Paul Urso, and stayed just in front of former Champion Mark Cottone for 23 laps. While trying to fend off the advances of eighth starting Bobby Henry, who advanced to third by lap four, Cottone was losing ground to leader Brown. On lap 24, twelfth-starting Tommy Beck grabbed the runner-up spot from Cottone, after taking third from defending Champion Henry on lap 21.

With a half-straightaway of clear racetrack between himself and Brown, Beck started to cut down the lead margin. But time ran out, as Brown guided the Hunters Peterbuilt/Davies Ford Fusion to Motordrome’s victory lane; he’s now won three different teams. Brown praised his new crew, as the Spec-Engine ride was still under construction at 4pm that same afternoon. Beck was the runner-up for the second week in a row, with ninth starting Will Thomas placing third. Henry finished fourth and tenth-starting Richard Mitchell completed the top five. Beck won his heat as did previous weeks feature winner Garry Wiltrout.

Just like opening night, Bobby Shipp was the man to beat early in the Modified division feature. But on lap 4, George Nicola wrestled the lead away.

After a crash on opening night, Nicola praised his family and crew for making the necessary repairs to get his Ford to victory lane. Shipp started 08 with a pair of second place finishes when the checkered flag waved on lap 20.

Ninth-starting Adam Kostelnik, the defending Champion, made a valiant effort to challenge for second, but crossed the line in third. The younger of the Shipp Brothers, Brian, started and finished in fourth place. Jim Nicola finished fifth, as Lonnie Hoffman and Harry Opfer were victorious in the preliminaries.

The Subway Street Stock 20-lap main event had three leaders in three laps. Andrew Kostelnik and Jonathan Hileman each took a turn in front, followed by Shawn Phillips atop the scoreboard. Phillips, who started sixth, was chosen by a random drawing as the Subway Challenge driver, which enabled him to earn free Subway sandwiches for every fan in attendance. But on lap eleven; seventh-starting Joe Nicola made the winning pass, to join his cousin George as a winner in Motordrome’s “round two” of 2008. His win made Ford power three-for-three to that point in the evening. Phillips placed second, one spot away from free meatball subs for everyone. Hileman had a smooth run and a third place finish over the previous weeks winner Jason Holder, and Bill Henry. Nicola and Holder also won heat races.

Jimmy “Sideways Stokes” is now undefeated in Charger action during 2008. He won his heat race for the second-straight week, and after starting last in the feature event, he stormed into the lead on lap five. Veteran Dustin Blank led the first four laps after starting on the front row. On lap eight, defending Champion Mike Lemley took second place after starting sixth. Stokes made his second win in two attempts look easy, with Lemley coming home second, Blank third, ninth-starting Tracy Keller in fourth, and Roger Bryan fifth.

In the American Flyers, all-time leading winner Ed Dinneen fought for the lead with Jeff Halfhill, and earned the feature win in spite of an encounter with lapped traffic on the final lap. When Dinneen had to back off the throttle in turn three of the final circuit, Halfhill made a race of it again. Dinneen kept his perfect season in tact by winning the heat and the feature by only one-car-length. Halfhill was second by inches, followed by young Cody Quarrick, Paul Rosa, and veteran Larry Vance.

Motordrome rained out

MARKLEYSBURG – After dodging several of Mother’ Nature’s bullets Saturday afternoon, the track crew was packing the track, and the gates were about to open, when a sudden severe thunderstorm struck the Markleysburg oval creating a quagmire in minutes. The timing and intensity of the vicious storm left track management with no alternative but to cancel the scheduled opening at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex.

The rescheduled season opener will take place Saturday for the Victory Chevrolet Super Late Models, Commonwealth Marketing Group Late Models, Brooks Auto Group Modifieds, GNH Trucking Street Stocks and the Fort Necessity Garage Chargers.

Gates open at 4:30, hot laps begin at 6:15 and racing starts at 7:00 pm.

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