Fayette County well represented at Motordrome
The racing at Motordrome Speedway this season has been outstanding. Ever since the track opened its gates way back in April for the 37th time, the drivers put on a great show for the fans every Friday night. Some of those competitors are seasoned pavement veterans. A few are rookies. Others switched over to asphalt from dirt tracks. Several of the drivers experiencing blacktop competition for the first time are from Fayette County.
Prominent among those pilots is Paul Koffler, Jr., of West Leisenring. Paul was a star at Farmington Speedway for years before deciding to make the switch to the Motordrome asphalt. He was fast from day one, and it was obvious to fans that he had experience. It was later revealed that Paul won 60 features at Farmington, and was a 5-time division champion.
“I just wanted to try something different,” noted Paul, regarding his change of tracks. “I love racing at Motordrome. It’s clean racing, and the car stays much nicer. But racing dirt teaches you a lot, because you’re always sideways. You learn how to drive.”
It didn’t take Koffler Jr. long to find his way around the Smithton oval. Within a few short weeks of his Super Compact debut, he was celebrating in victory lane. In addition to his feature win, Paul has earned five top-five feature finishes, and has placed in the top ten fifteen times in 2009. He also won a heat race, and currently sits fifth in the point standings.
When he wasn’t racing at Farmington, he was the crew chief on Shawn Pilla’s Super Late Model at Motordrome. Paul’s mechanical expertise helped Pilla achieve many top five and top ten finishes through the years. The Connellsville driver won a career first feature earlier this season. Koffler, 37, is also employed by Pilla at Carry All Products near Mt. Pleasant.
For the Kofflers, racing is a family affair. Paul Koffler, Sr. made a few Super Compact appearances before suffering engine failure last week. The son of Paul Koffler, Jr., Paul Koffler III, also races in the division. He’s won three heat races, has finished in the top ten eleven times, and is presently ninth in the standings. He also has three feature wins at Farmington on his racing resume.
Candy Koffler, the wife of Koffler, Jr., is a five-time Powder Puff champion at Farmington, where her husband serves as a flagman on Saturday evenings.
Cousins Sean Rich, of Perryopolis, and Mark Tringes Jr., from Belle Vernon, are having fun racing at Motordrome as rookies in the Super Compact class. They run numbers 46 and 47 respectively. Both are huge fans of the racing movie “Days of Thunder”, released in 1990. The number 46 and color combinations used by both were taken from the popular film. The drivers also compete in the special enduro races at Motordrome. Tringes ranks 10th in the Super Compact point standings, while Rich is 12th.
Rich, 18, a 2008 Laurel Highlands graduate, races a 1995 Grand Am. “I like racing at Motordrome,” he said. “It’s pretty good.” Sean was involved in a front straight crash in Sunday’s enduro race, and was transported to the hospital for a checkup. In a Tuesday evening conversation, Sean stated he was very sore, but otherwise okay. He’s going to attempt to repair his racecar for Friday’s show.
The 16-year-old Tringes, a junior at Belle Vernon High School, competes in a 1991 Chevy Cavalier. He credits Street Stock driver Jon Hileman with giving him help and advice. Mark’s dad, Mark Tringes, Sr., also enters enduro races on a regular basis, and fares very well.
Other new Fayette County Super Compact drivers at Motordrome include Kevin Keffer, of Connellsville, who ran a few races at Jennerstown Speedway last year; Scott Ahlborn, also of Connellsville, who was the second place finisher in Sunday’s enduro; and Ken Ashton, Jr., the nephew of Street Stock driver, Bill Ashton. Ken accomplished a top ten finish in his racing debut, but unfortunately, totaled his machine the next week during an encounter with the first turn wall.
Steve Settle, from West Leisenring, has had a very successful first year in the Charger division. Settle purchased Mike Lemley’s championship car during the off-season, and has accumulated four top five and nine top ten finishes racing a part time schedule. Those statistics include a feature victory, and a heat race win.
“Mike sold me a good car,” he said. “It’s fun to drive, but a lot of work. I work road construction all over the Eastern seaboard, and really don’t have the time to work on it like I should.”
Settle, 45, is also a veteran of Farmington Speedway, where he won a track championship.
Jon Scott, a resident of Lake Lynn, is a rookie in the Charger class where he ranks ninth in the point standings.
Dave Dragovich can be reached at somersetdave@comcast.net