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CONCUSSION FAILS TO SLOW HAYDT AS HE WINS RoC AT MAHONING VALLEY BY JR KENNERUP ( RoC MEDIA )
Lehighton, Pa. Even after receiving a concussion 48 hours earlier Tyler Haydt knew he was going to race on Saturday night and did he ever race. Tyler who started tenth inherited the lead on lap 58 when leader Rick Kirkendall spun after making contact with Haydt entering turn one. Tyler then led the final 17 laps with ease to capture the 75 lap Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour Central Region race at the Mahoning Valley Speedway. The win marked the third RoC win out of the last four RoC races at the track for Haydt.
Last place starting CJ Jones drove a patient race to finish a distant second with Earl Paules running another consistent RoC race to finish third. Zane Zeiner who was forced to run the Ryan Russo entry in the feature started 27th and finished fourth virtually locking up the Central Region point crown with one race to go. Dave Wallace who pitted three times ended up fifth after starting 24th .
“ I’m lucky I even got to race today “ said the sore winner. “ I had a bad accident at Thompson ( in a Whelen Modified Series race ) on Thursday, I got knocked out. I got a concussion, hurt my leg. I went to the doctors yesterday and my Mom said you got to go to the doctor if you want to race on Saturday. I went yesterday ( Friday ) and the doctor said if you feel better tomorrow morning then you can go ahead and do anything you want. I was going to come here and race anyway no matter if I saw the doctor or not. “
“ It ( the car ) wasn’t perfect but we were all right “ said the race winner. “ I got lucky to be on the bottom line at times when I needed to be, everything just kind of fell together. “
Tyler started tenth and took his time in getting to the front as he didn’t enter the top five until lap 32. Tyler spoke about his race strategy. “ The car wasn’t that good and I didn’t want to abuse it getting to the front as I wanted to have something left for the end of the race. So that is why I took my time in getting to the front. The car was loose right from the beginning bit it didn’t get worse the longer the race went, it just stayed the same. It was free as I had to watch myself and do nothing crazy with throttle. “
Once Tyler entered second on lap 39 he applied pressure to the leading car of Rick Kirkendall. Tyler lost second to Rusty Smith on lap 43 but gained the spot back for good one lap later. Tyler then started to apply heavier pressure for the lead as he stuck his nose under the Kirkendall car several times. Then came the fateful 57th lap entering turn one.
“ I had a front row seat actually for everything that happened “ stated Tyler. “ I thought I was underneath him, I wasn’t up to his door or anything like that. I didn’t run up and into him, I thought he got loose going into turn one and came across me. I felt it and I didn’t see it ( the contact ) afterwards. I think it was just racing hard. “ RoC officials made the decision that it was a racing incident and that allowed Haydt to keep the lead he never gave back up. Once in front Tyler survived four more restarts to go on to the victory.
Tyler who has won two track championships here previously spoke about his success in the RoC races at Mahoning. “ I really don’t know “ said Tyler. “ I know we had a really good car back here in June and I got taken out. I guess you just have to stick it out and it helps with a little luck thrown in too. “
CJ Jones from Ottsville, Pa. elected to start last and came out of the race with a hard earned second place finish. “ I was real happy finishing second as it was a strong second “ said CJ. “ Couple more laps I wished I could have caught Tyler and finished closer to him. Not saying we had anything for him but at least close up the gap on him. Everybody raced us clean tonight and it was a good exciting race for the fans to watch. I hope all of the RoC and Mahoning fans enjoyed it. “
CJ stayed clear of most of the incidents in front of him and this enabled him to enter the top five on lap 60. CJ got tied up with a spinning lap car and third place Chaz Surman with five laps to go. The contact left mostly cosmetic body damage to the front of the Jones machine.
“ To be honest with you I’m used to starting in the back as I start there all the time by the way the points work here “ said CJ. “ We’re accustomed to starting in the back, it doesn’t bother me that much, and it allows us to put a good show on for our fans.
“ It was survival, I’m glad I got a third out of it “ said Kunkletown, Pa. driver Earl Paules who started second. “ It’s hard getting out of this place without getting banged up a little bit. I’m happy with a third as it moved us up to second in RoC region points with one race to go. “
Qualifying for the 36 Modifieds in action saw heat races won by Pete Brittain, Haydt, Paules, and Eric Beers while the twin B Mains were captured by Tommy Flanagan, III and CJ Jones.
NOTES; Another interesting evening of racing kept the fans and teams on their toes all night long. Eric Beers ran the Terry Zacharias owned 00 car on the night. Lee Sherwood in his first ever visit to Mahoning had a difficult time adjusting to the track and used a provisional to get into the feature ended up with a tenth. Good to see Jason Trinchere lead some laps in the feature in more than likely his last driving appearance of the year. Jason is the Head Engineer of the David Starr Craftsman Truck Series team and was up for the weekend only. Modified hot laps were offered before the feature and it was a blessing in disguise for Zane Zeiner. As he blew the rear end in his car and without any laps drove the Ryan Russo car in the feature. Daren Scherer didn’t even make a lap in the feature as his front end became mangled during a brake check prior to the green flag. Scott Lesher blew the engine in the final hot lap session before the heat races. Roger Heffelfinger, Jr. vacated his fourth place starting spot in the feature due to transmission troubles. Brian DeFebo who won here the week prior had an awful night as he had not one but two flat right rear tires in the B Main. Don Wagner who won the first RoC race here this year just about destroyed his car in a heat race accident. While battling for the last transfer spot Don almost spun the car coming out of the fourth turn. Don got the car straightened back out only to see the car snap back violently to the right leading him to hit the turn one wall full bore. The impact was so severe that parts of the concrete wall broke apart and the car is a write off. Even the motor was moved upwards close to six inches due to the impact. Nice runs in feature by Don Dreher and Rusty Smith as both drivers got spun out of the top five to come back to finish sixth and seventh respectively. Tough break for Chaz Surman who was third with five laps to go suffered a left front flat after contact with CJ Jones and a spinning car. DNQ’S; Ryan Russo, Andy Szapacs, Dave Correll, Jarred Nace, Don Wagner, Brian DeFebo, Tom Shupp, Scott Lesher.
CENTRAL REGION RACE # 5 FINISH; Tyler Haydt, CJ Jones, Earl Paules, Zane Zeiner, Dave Wallace, Don Dreher, Rusty Smith, Lou Strohl, Korey Rabenold, Lee Sherwood, Rod Synder, Jr., Kevin Graver, Jr., Matt Hirschman, Glen Correll, Bobby Jones, Chaz Surman, Jason Trinchere, TJ Potrzebowski, Eric Beers, Rick Kirkendall, John Markovic, Brian Labar, John Bennett, Tommy Flanagan, III, Wesley Swartout, Pete Brittain, Roger Heffelfinger, Jr., Daren Scherer.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD; CJ Jones ( 28th to 2nd )
HOOSIER RACING TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD; Britain ( 4th to 26th )
SUNOCO RACE FUELS AWARD; Smith
GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW; Shupp
TOP TEN IN POINTS PROVISIONAL USED; Scherer, Sherwood
NEXT RoC RACES; Sunday August 28th Tioga Motorsports Park - North Region Race # 6 Friday September 2nd Oswego Speedway - Central Region Race # 6 Saturday September 17th Oswego Speedway - 55TH RoC - Combined Race #1
