PITTSBURGH'S PENNSYLVANIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:  Judy Gower  724-853-7223  jdgocar@aol.com
June 23, 2004

ZARIN AND CASTELVETER TOP TOPLESS COMPETITION TUESDAY NITE AT PPMS

IMPERIAL, PA (June 22, 2004) - Jim Zarin of Crescent Twp. put the top down and went out for a Sunday drive on Tuesday as he cruised to his first victory of 2004 in the  Late Model "Topless" Event at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.  Moon Township's Bobby Castelveter found himself "topless" in victory lane as well when he out ran his competition in the Limited Late Model 20-lap special.  Other winners Tuesday were Chris Dickson of Marietta OH in the E-modifieds, Hopewell's Craig Kamicker won the Pure Stocks, and Adam Chytil from Carnegie made his second appearance of the year a winning one in the Amateur Stock main event.

Zarin blasted into the lead from his front row start, and by the mid-way point of the race had assumed a full straightaway lead over Scott Gunn who was giving chase.  Lapped traffic was no factor for Zarin as he continued his dominating run to the checker in the non-stop 25 lap event.  Ironically, Zarin was the winner of the inaugural topless event held at PPMS exactly one year ago,  Gunn withstood the constant pressure of Dave Wade to claim the second spot, his best finish so far this season.  Wade had to settle for third with Mike Johnson fourth and Mark Banal fifth.  Steve Baker, Al Atallah, Gary Gellner, Ben Miley and Neal Isiminger rounded out the top ten.  Heat races were taken by Atallah and Banal, and Ben Miley was the Monarch Oil Hard Charger of the race.

Rebounding from a season of terrible luck, Bobby Castelveter was riding a rail throughout the Advance Auto Parts Limited Late Model main to claim his first victory of the season. Coincidentally Castelveter was also the winner of last year's inaugural Limited Late Topless event.  One caution slowed the action early in the race, but after that it was a non-stop Tuesday cruise for Castelveter who built up a half straightaway advantage by checker time.  D.J. Miller was all alone for second, with Frankie Schneider and Rich Apolito close for third and Jared Miley completed the top five.  Danny Rich was sixth, Tony Sinicrope seventh and Nick Duratz finished eighth.  Ninth and tenth were claimed by Jon Hodgkiss and Jesse Burroughs.  Hodgkiss won the heat race and Apolito was the hard charger.

The always exciting Isiminger's Pennzoil Pure Stocks were up next.  As the first lap was being recorded, the left rear wheel of last week's winner, Larry Marks, went flying through the air in turn two, ending his run, and bringing out the first caution of the event..  The race restarted with EJ Vasko still holding the lead, but it was short lived as Craig Kamicker got by on the third circuit.  Kamicker was strong and built up a healthy lead until a multi-car pile up on the front straight on lap 12 erased his advantage.  After another yellow on the next circuit, Kamicker remained in control and went on to claim his second win of the season.  Vasko ran a superb race for second with Stacie White third, AJ Poljak fourth and Darryl Robison nabbed the fifth position.  Six through ten were John Cain, Randy Bauknecht, Joe Anthony, Shawn Bryan and Nick Kocuba.  Heats were won by Stacie White and Simmons with Bauknecht claiming the Monarch Oil Hard Charger honors.

The invert put first time visitor Chris Dickson on the pole for the 15-lap E-modified feature and he immediately jumped out into the lead.  The first eight laps went caution free until the yellow was thrown for debris on the track.  One more lap was recorded before the race was stopped for a frightening collision of cars on the front straightaway.  Rocky Kugel was shaken from taking a driver's side hit, but all other drivers were reported to be okay as the tangled mess was sorted out.  Back underway, Dickson led another lap before the field slowed again for another yellow flag.  The final three laps were run in succession, and Dickson drove on to his first ever PPMS win.  Kari Gasser was the bridesmaid once more holding off Shawn Domhoff, Vince Laboon and Kurt Halbedl who settled for third, fourth and fifth.  Jim Bertges finished sixth, Joel Johns seventh, Tom Martineck eighth, Joe Pemberton ninth and Nick Cramer rounded out the top ten.  Heat races were claimed by Vince Laboon and Wayne Tessean, who developed engine problems and was not able to start the feature event.  Shawn Domhoff was the hard charger of the race.

The rambunctious Amateur Stocks played bump tag throughout their 12-lap feature with front row starter Bob Siemon holding the point until two to go when Adam Chytil finally took command to claim the event and pick up his career first win. Ian Tomei who came from 12th got by Siemon with one to go and finished second.  Following Siemon was Eric Goldberg, and Jon Everett for fourth and fifth.  Bill Tennant was sixth, Todd Evans seventh, John Chipps eighth, Wes Wheeler ninth and Jim Moore rounded out the top ten. Robby Torrens and Tomei took the heats with Tomei also being awarded hard charger honors.

The weekly racing action will continue on the Monster Half Mile Saturday June 26, when all five divisions will be in competition. Immediately following the racing program will be another exciting demolition derby on the front straightaway.  The Twin State Auto Racing Club will also be invited guests at the Speedway.  For more information on upcoming events at the track, please call the business office during the week at 724-853-7223 or visit us on the web at www.ppms.com.

PITTSBURGH'S PA MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE RESULTS - TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2004

Late Models:  Heat Race Winners -  Al Atallah, Mark Banal
Monarch Oil Hard Charger - Ben Miley
Feature (25 Laps) - 1) Jim Zarin, 2) Scott Gunn, 3) Dave Wade, 4) Mike Johnson, 5) Mark Banal, 6) Steve Baker, 7) Al Atallah, 8) Gary Gellner, 9) Ben Miley, 10) Neal Isiminger, 11) Jim Lepro, 12) Michael Davis, 13) Dave Johnson, 14) Gary Swiger, 15) Brian Laraway, 16) Lou Bradich DNS

Limited Late Models:  Heat Race Winner - Jon Hodgkiss
Monarch Oil Hard Charger - Rich Apolito
Feature (20 Laps) - 1) Bobby Castelveter, 2) DJ Miller, 3) Frankie Schneider, 4) Rich Apolito, 5) Jared Miley, 6) Danny Rich, 7) Tony Sinicrope, 8) Nick Duratz, 9) Jon Hodgkiss, 10) Jesse Burroughs, 11) Tom Duratz

E-Modifieds:  Heat Race Winners - Vince Laboon, Wayne Tessean
Monarch Oil Hard Charger - Shawn Domhoff
Feature (15 Laps) - 1) Chris Dickson, 2) Kari Gasser, 3) Shawn Domhoff, 4) Vince Laboon, 5) Kurt Halbedl, 6) Jim Bertgess, 7) Joel Johns, 8) Tom Martineck, 9) Joe Pemberton, 10) Nick Cramer, 11) Dennis Niederriter, 12) Bill Westlake, 13) Daryl Charlier, 14) Rocky Kugel, 15) Herm Myers, 16) Wayne Tessean DNS

Pure Stocks:  Heat Race Winners - Stacie White, Jake Simmons
Monarch Oil Hard Charger - Randy Bauknecht
Feature (15 Laps)- 1) Craig Kamicker, 2) EJ Vasko, 3) Stacie White, 4) AJ Poljak, 5) Darryl Robison, 6) John Cain, 7) Randy Bauknecht, 8) Joe Anthony, 9) Shawn Bryan, 10) Nick Kocuba, 11) Bob Betz, 12) Bill Robertson, 13) Steve Webb, 14) Jake Simmons, 15) Willie White, 16) Jeff Broniszewski, 17) Greg McManus, 18) Larry Marks

Amateur Stocks:  Heat Race Winners - Robby Torrens, Ian Tomei
Monarch Oil Hard Charger - Ian Tomei
Feature (12 Laps) - 1) Adam Chytil, 2) Ian Tomei, 3) Bob Siemon, 4) Eric Goldberg, 5) Jon Everett, 6) Bill Tennant, 7) Todd Evans, 8) John Chipps, 9) Wes Wheeler, 10) Jim Moore, 11) Rich Cooper, 12) Rob Ward, 13) Jim Kosut, 14) Robby Torrens, 15) Craig Koteles