Alan Barker Gets First Career Penn Can Speedway Victory

Story By: RYAN LEPRE / PENN CAN SPEEDWAY – SUSQUEHANNA, PA – Alan Barker of Norwich, NY grabbed the Jeff Boughton Memorial presented by MXM Motorsports win at the Penn Can Speedway on Friday night.

Barker went to the lead just after the halfway mark and rolled to the victory. Trailing Barker at the finish were Brian Malcolm of Lake Ariel, PA; Nick Petrilak of Greenfield Township, PA; Paul Rooney of Thompson, PA and Butch Getz of Kunkletown, PA.

“The team did a heck of a job putting this Hig-Fab car together for me over the winter. It’s good to be in victory lane at Penn Can.” stated Barker “It’s a good to rebound after breaking the driveline last week. The car was good low and high we were able to get the pass for the lead done on the outside. I’m just lucky to be put in this seat and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

The Boughton Memorial saw three first time winners as Randy Brokaw (602 Sportsman) and Tyler Yeagle (Street Stocks) joined Barker on the win list. Brokaw and Yeagle broke the winning streaks of Mike Schane (602 Sportsman) and Shane Wolf (Street Stocks). Other winners at the track were Jared Green (600cc Modifieds), Tommy Groover (Factory Stocks), Nick Kennedy (Four Cylinders) and Steve Simpson (Wingless Sprints).

The 20 car Modified field was brought to the green flag by Paul Rooney and Mike Loney for the 30 lap main event. Rooney took the lead at the start over Loney with Malcolm, Petrilak and Barker close behind. On a lap three restart Rooney still led but Loney fell back several spots and on the next restart it was a three car battle for second between Petrilak, Malcolm and Barker. Rooney held a solid lead as second was still up for grabs until Barker powered ahead leaving Petrilak and Malcolm to keep swapping spots between third and fourth. With a dozen laps in Barker in his Steve Klinger owned No. 77 started to chip away at the lead Rooney had in a hurry. By the next lap Barker was on Rooney’s back bumper searching for a way to get the lead. Over the next few circuits Barker tried the inside then the outside but Rooney kept him behind. At the halfway mark Rooney was the leader over Barker, Petrilak, Malcolm, Getz, Nick Rochinski, Nick Nye, Kevin Jordan, Dan Pompey and Loney. Barker charged to the outside of turns one and two and got to the outside of Rooney and they ran side by side around the 3/8 mile. Barker nosed ahead at the line and cleared Rooney going into turn one to take the lead for good on lap 18. With Barker the leader Rooney was getting tracked down by the never ending back and forth race between Petrilak and Malcolm. Track point leader Malcolm got the better of Petrilak and then zipped by Rooney as he set his sights ahead on Barker. Petrilak drove by Rooney in the final laps to take over the third position. Barker in the Jensen powered McCain Gas and Electric ride crossed the finish line a straightaway ahead of Malcolm in his Sharkey Fuels No. 119 Troyer.

“The car was good again maybe a caution would have helped but he (Barker) was fast all night.” said Malcolm “We battled back and forth with Petrilak it was a good race he just wouldn’t go away.”

Petrilak placed third in his Speed Sport Showcase No. 72.
“We need a couple little adjustments overall the car is good but here you need to be perfect there’s so many good cars.” said Petrilak “We had a good race with Malcolm back and forth giving each other plenty of room the way racing should be.”

Rooney settled for fourth after a strong run while Getz rounded out the top five the rest of the top ten were 12th starter Rochinski, last week’s winner Nye, Jordan who made his first start of the season, 19th starter Dominic Roselli and Pompey. Heat races were won by Nye and Barker.

In the 602 Sportsman event Randy Brokaw led at the end of lap one over Mike Schane and Randy Fox. The battle for the lead was tight as Schane followed in Brokaw’s tire tracks around the speedway. Meanwhile Mike Nagel Jr. was up to third but was a long distance behind the lead duo. Brokaw had gotten a few car length advantage before the caution flew twice in the final laps. The last caution set up a one lap shootout. Brokaw never made a mistake on the final lap to take the win ending Schane’s win streak and getting his first Penn Can win. Schane was second ahead of Nagel, Fox and Ryan Stone.

Promoter Chad Towner offered a bonus to drivers Mike Schane and Shane Wolf who hadn’t lost in 2019 that if they started at the back and won the race they’d get a $500 bonus. Schane turned the challenge down but Wolf took the chance at the extra payday.

Tyler Yeagle led the Street Stock event while Wolf was driving hard to move up to challenge the leader. Wolf brought out the yellow on lap six forcing him to start at the back again. Wolf was into third just a few laps later and into second before the halfway mark. Yeagle had a solid lead when Wolf got to second and increased it as the laps clicked off. The yellow flew with two to go giving Wolf another shot. Yeagle was too strong as he held off Wolf for his first Can victory. The rest of the top five were Eric Bonham, Jim Sykes and Travis Brockner

Jared Green jumped to the lead at the start of the 600cc Modified event and cruised to his first win of the season. Green in his No. 35 crossed the finish line a straightaway ahead of Bailey Boyd who was followed by Josh Mudge, Tyler Smith and Chace Scutt.

The Factory Stocks kicked off the feature events for the night and saw some early race action. Nate Hill took the lead but bobbled allowing Josh Towner to slip by as the first lap went in the books. Hill battled back and briefly took the lead again but pushed big time allowing Towner to slip back by but Tommy Groover took full advantage and bypassed them both to take the lead. Groover led the rest of the distance to take the $500 top prize over Towner, Dusty Decker, Hill and Charlie Towner.

Nick Kennedy bested Andy Bolles in the Four Cylinder main event with Jason Colwell Jr. finishing third. Steve Simpson grabbed win two on the season in the Wingless Sprints. Rounding out the action on Friday night was the Factory Stock Powder Puff event which was won by Kaylee Burns.

Notes: The fans turned out for the Boughton Memorial to honor long time track supporter Jeff Boughton. Making his return to the track after many years was Kirk Horton who was sponsored by Boughton Salvage. Several new drivers joined the action at Penn Can including top ten Modified finishers Nick Rochinski and Kevin Jordan.

Penn Can Speedway will be back in action Friday night June 14th as the Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour will be in action along with the Modifieds, 602 Sportsman, Street Stocks, Factory Stocks, 600cc Modifieds, Four Cylinders and Juniors. Hot laps will start at 7 PM and racing beginning at 7:30.

Jeff Boughton Memorial Presented by MXM Motorsports

Sunoco Racing Fuels Modified Feature Finish: Alan Barker, Brian Malcolm, Nick Petrilak, Paul Rooney, Butch Getz, Nick Rochinski, Nick Nye, Kevin Jordan, Dominic Roselli, Dan Pompey, Mike Loney, Leo McGurrin, Alan Kellogg, Kirk Horton, John Morse, Mike Nagel, Chris Hunsinger, Brad Weaver, Stanley Wilkins, Brad Shaffer.

Stone Bros. Automotive 602 Sportsman Feature Finish: Randy Brokaw, Mike Schane, Mike Nagel Jr., Randy Fox, Ryan Stone, Ray Leonard, Tyler Ward, Matt Brewer, Brandon Oleski, Jim O’Hara, Jamie Cortazar, Bumps Scutt, Frank Payne, Mark Longstreet, Gene Beadle. DNS: Tommy Oleski

Insinger Performane Street Stock Feature Finish: Tyler Yeagle, Shane Wolf, Eric Bonham, Jim Sykes, Travis Brockner, George Miller, Ned Fitch.

Leeward Construction 600cc Modified Feature Finish: Jared Green, Bailey Boyd, Josh Mudge, Tyler Smith, Chace Scutt, Nolan Smith, Eli Akshar, Ali Scutt, Travis Rooney, Ayden Morgan. DNS: Jamie Frantz, Zach Mills, Bill Johnson

Eric Hines Trucking Factory Stocks Feature Finish: Tommy Groover, Josh Towner, Dusty Decker, Nate Hill, Charlie Towner, Buck Mills, Kevin McDonald, Alecia Towner, Alan Komar, Rich Wagner, Cyrus Homer, Levi Frink, Paul Conklin.

4 Cylinder Feature Finish: Nick Kennedy, Andy Bolles, Jason Colwell Jr., Rich Wagner, Josh Wilder, Jason Colwell, Steve Motichaka, Cory Brown, Dave Bainbridge, Frank Kennedy, Lynn Highhouse.

Wingless Sprints Feature Finish: Steve Simpson, Brandon Clapperton, Bruce Evans Jr. DNS: Don Smith