Nye, Hoch, Gullo & Dressel Win On Big Rig Night At Lancaster

Story By: DAVE BUCHANAN / LANCASTER SPEEDWAY – LANCASTER, NY – Lancaster National Speedway hosted Big Rig Night presented by Mallare Enterprises on Saturday night for the X-Press Signs Stock Car Series. It was also the next-to-last night of the regular season with only one more race before the track champions are crowned for the 2017 season.

Shawn Nye of Lancaster extended his points lead in the Sunoco Sportsman with his second feature win of the season. Mark Hoch of West Seneca, N.Y. was declared the official winner of the Ken Heckler Tribute 51 for the Advance Auto Parts Street Stocks. Tim Gullo of Elmira, N.Y. picked up his third Race of Champions Super Stock feature win at Lancaster in 2017. Dan Dressel of Clarence, N.Y. grabbed his first win of the year in the Roaming Buffalo 4-Cylinders.

The 35-lap Sunoco Sportsman feature got off to rough start as outside pole sitter, Jayme Thompson, spun out while coming to the green flag. Dick Kluth couldn’t avoid her and slammed into Thompson’s stopped car. This moved division points leader Nye to the outside pole alongside Owen Bednasz for the restart.

When the green flag finally waved it was Nye getting the jump on Bednasz to take the opening lead. Bednasz ran second until lap 9 when he and Jake Lyon tangled in turn 3 after a restart. Both cars were able to continue, but they had to go to the rear of the field.

Bednasz’s misfortune moved Kevin Miller to the runner-up position. Nye and Miller were the class of the field for the rest of the race as they held the top two spots. Nye wound up leading all 35 laps to capture his second win of the season. The victory extended his points lead in the division as he earned the maximum of 70 points with the feature win plus winning his heat and leading the most laps in the feature.

Teammates Zach Truesdail and Tyler Rypkema battled fiercely for third place for most of the race with Truesdail narrowly taking the final podium position. Bednasz came back to finish fifth.

The Advance Auto Parts Street Stocks ran their longest race of the year as they paid tribute to former racer and official Ken Heckler with a 51-lap tribute race. Jerry Kosmowski and Trevor Pettit led the field of 27 Street Stocks to the green flag with Pettit taking the top spot early on.

Pettit held the lead until lap 8 when he was overtaken by Max Northem. Northem, who was celebrating his 17th birthday, led for three laps before giving way to Brian Hoffman.

Hoffman then took off from the field as he pulled out to a straightaway-sized lead. He led until the yellow flag waved lap on lap 26 for a competition caution at the race’s halfway point. That allowed officials to invert the top 11 cars following a random draw to decide how many cars were inverted.

Eric Brown was shown as the leader after the inversion followed by Ken Maltby, Pettit, Jarrod Brown and Mark Hoch. Trouble struck Mike Scott when the restarted as he lost a right side wheel when he went into turn 3. Scott had been running third before the halfway break.

Division points leader, Rich Sharpe, started 20th and he had made his way up to second place before the top 11 were inverted. That put him back in 10th place as Sharpe was on a quest for his tenth feature win of the season. It took Sharpe less than 10 laps to make his way back to the runner-up position as he moved into second on lap 34.

A caution on lap 34 set up a restart with Brown and Sharpe lined up on the front row. Sharpe took over the lead when the race resumed. A couple more caution periods slowed the race further with Jake Wylie eventually landing in second and just behind Sharpe.

Wylie took advantage of a restart on lap 42 to drive by Sharpe and take over the lead. It was at that point Sharpe starting going backwards through the field. He eventually stopped on the track on lap 44 with a flat tire.

The final seven laps were dominated by Wylie as he was the first car to cross the finish line. The win, however, was awarded to Mark Hoch after Wylie and second place finisher Brown were disqualified in post-race inspection. The win was Hoch’s first victory of the season.

Rich Pocobello was credited with second. Hoffman came back to finish third. Sharpe got a new tire and was able to come home fourth and put a lock on the 2017 Advance Auto Parts Street Stock championship with one race remaining. Trevor Pettit rounded out the top five.

The Race of Champions Super Stocks made their fourth visit of the season to Lancaster. Tommy Krawczyk and Joe Mancuso battled for the lead in the opening stages of the 30-lap feature before Mancuso developed a problem on lap 11 and he brought out the caution when he stopped on the track.

Mancuso was able to work his way back to the front of the filed thanks to his talent and a handful of caution periods. He drove back to fourth place before caution on lap 17 allowed Mancuso to catch up to the lead pack once again.

With 10 laps to go Mancuso was once again in second place and looking to challenge Krawczyk for the lead. On lap 23, Mancuso and Krawczyk made contact in turn 4, which spun out Krawczyk and forced Mancuso to the rear of the field.

This gave the lead to RoC Super Stock Series points leader Tim Gullo. Gullo was able to cruise for the final seven laps to score his third Super Stock win at Lancaster in 2017. Robert Fink of Naticoke, PA finished second with Ryan Lagoda, Joel Gleason and Jeff Whalen rounding out the top five.

Dan Dressel led all 25 laps to win the Roaming Buffalo 4-Cylinder feature, but the bigger story was the battle for the division championship. Jason Anasiewicz led Bobby Woch by six points at the start of the night. Both drivers were in the same heat race, and Woch won the race to pick up five bonus points. Anasiewicz had his right rear wheel fall off during the heat race and was unable to finish. This shrank his lead to one point for the feature.

Woch started sixth for the main event while Anasiewicz had to start 14th. It took Woch just 10 laps to move into second place behind his teammate, Dressel. Anasiewicz meanwhile methodically worked his way through the field to move into third place with five laps to go. With Woch finishing second and Anasiewicz in third, it unofficially gives Woch a five point lead heading to Season Championship Night.

Lancaster National Speedway closes out the regular season for the X-Press Signs Stock Series on September 9 with Season Championship Night. The track champions will be crowned in all three weekly divisions plus the NYPA TQ Midgets will also be in action. Racing starts at 6:30 p.m. The rain date for Season Championship Night is Sunday, September 10 at 2 p.m.

About Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway: Founded in 1959, Lancaster National Speedway and Dragway, WNY’s Premier Motorsports and Event Facility, is a multi-use facility located on 77 acres just outside of metropolitan Buffalo, N.Y. The facility features a 1/8-mile drag strip, a 1/2-mile oval track and hosts several non-motorsports events such as car shows and concerts. For the latest information on Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway check out our website www.lancasternationalspeedway.com. Additional information for racers and fans can be found on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LancasterSpeedway) and on Twitter (@LancasterSpdwy).

RESULTS

SUNOCO SPORTSMAN

Heat Winners: Kevin Miller, Shawn Nye, Jeff Brown

Feature: SHAWN NYE, Kevin Miller, Zach Truesdail, Tyler Rypkema, Owen Bednasz, Mark Pennell, John Barber, Jeff Brown, Tim Nies, Jake Lyon, Mike Meyers, Sherri Hogan, Mike Rogers, Katy Knoll, Bobby Weber, Russ Gian, Dave Kozlowski, Tony Carbone, Dick Kluth, Jayme Thompson DNS: Wayne Baker

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS

Heat Winners: Rich Sharpe, Mike Scott, Brian Hoffman, Andy Cryan

Consi winner: Lou Carbone

Feature: MARK HOCH, Rich Pocobello, Brian Hoffman, Rich Sharpe, Trevor Pettit, Keith Flanigan, Tommy Wentland, Tommy Krawczyk, Garrett Cleversley, Ken Maltby, Jerry Kosmowski, Frank Prell, Max Northem, Lou Carbone, Matt Druar, Jarrod Brown, John Carlson, Mike Dalfonso, Jr., Mike Scott, Jay Canonico, Tim Garlock, Andy Cryan, Jason Dieter, Jerome Hruby DNS: Gino Pinto DQ: Jake Wylie, Eric Brown DNQ: Mike Dalfonso, Sr., Steve DeCapua, Lexi Wilson

ROAMING BUFFALO 4-CYLINDERS

Heat Winners: Dan Dressel, Bobby Woch

Feature: DAN DRESSEL, Bobby Woch, Jason Anasiewicz, Dave Brunka, Chris Pennell, Jimmy Pierce, Russ Hartke, Casey Pew, Kayla Joseph, Tom Lalomia, Jr., Joe Brunka, Zen Katrij, Jr., Mark Annis, Jr., Josh Schosek, Dave Milbrand, Charles Palmer

RACE OF CHAMPIONS SUPER STOCKS

Heat Winners: Tommy Krawczyk, Tom Barron

Feature: TIM GULLO, Robert Fink, Ryan Lagoda, Joel Gleason, Jeff Whalen, Josh Hunter, Mark Spencer, Bobby Schosek, Tommy Krawczyk, Rob Misczak, Joe Mancuso, Vern Hedderick, Dave Machuga, Tom Barron, Aaron Higgins