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MOLLICK STEALS WIN AT PPMS

MOLLICK STEALS WIN AT PPMS

Imperial, PA (September 24, 2016)  John Mollick took advantage of Ben Policz getting caught in race traffic with two laps remaining to steal the $1,000 RUSH Late Model victory on Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.  Other winners as fans and race teams enjoyed Diehl Automotive Driver Autograph Night were Daryl Charlier in the Sportsman division, and Rocky Kugel in the RUSH Modifieds  The other three race night winners were all first time winners, with Doug Freeman winning in the Open Hobby Stocks, Justin Clark in the Young Guns, and Andy Garlinger in the Open Four Cylinders.  It was K&N Air Filter Racer Appreciation Night, as selected racers received prizes for having K&N decals on their cars.

Ben Policz and Justin Lamb led the 20 lap RUSH Late Model feature to the green flag with Policz leading from the start.  Michael Reft, John Mollick, Daryl Charlier, and Lamb took up the chase.  Mollick passed Reft for second on lap 2, as Brandon Burgoon passed Lamb for fifth.  The first caution of the event came with four laps in.  Policz took the outside on the restart, and resumed in the lead before the final caution period came on lap 6.  On the final restart, Mollick nosed ahead in turn two, but Policz regained the lead in turn three to lead lap 7.  Policz was able to pull away in the lead, continuing to show the way as the laps ticked by.  Working the backstretch on lap 17, Policz got caught in race traffic which allowed Mollick to flash by and take the lead on lap 18.  Mollick would take the win by 1.969 seconds over Policz, with Reft third and Burgoon fourth.  Steve Beatty was fifth, as Lamb, Kyle Lukon, Chuck Medved, newcomer Clinton Hersh, and Tony White completed the top ten.  Mollick’s win was his sixth of the season in the all time event 570 for the crate/limited late model class, all coming this season for the 2016 division champion.  Mollick and Burgoon took the heat race wins.

The 15 lap Sportsman feature started with Bill Robertson and Eric Piotrowski leading the field to green with Robertson taking the lead.  Fourth starting Daryl Charlier moved up to challenge, and got a nose inside on lap 4 before the first of two caution periods slowed the pace.  Charlier passed Robertson to take the lead on lap 5, with Todd Weldon passing Robertson on lap 6.  The final caution came on lap 6 when track champion Dave McManus spun and backed into the turn one wall.  Weldon challenged briefly on the restart, but Charlier pulled away over the remaining distance, winning his second of the season in the division by 5.249 seconds over Weldon.  Robertson was third, as Pat Hanley made his first visit of the season with a fourth place finish.  Piotrowski matched his best finish of the season in fifth, as Ricky Steigerwald, Jeff Broniszewski, Nick Kocuba, Robert Betz, III, and Anthony Aiello rounded out the top ten, in all time event 631 for the class.  Weldon and Charlier were heat winners.

Rocky Kugel started on the pole for the 15 lap RUSH Modified feature race and led every lap in earning the victory.  Kugel grabbed the lead at the start from start over Kyle Martell, Chelsie Kriegisch, Brian Schaffer, and Steve Slater.  Chas Wolbert entered the top five on lap 5, and passed Schaffer for fourth on lap 8.  The lone caution period slowed the event on lap 9 for Kole Holden, who pitted then returned to the event.  Kugel had a 2.4 second lead wiped out, but controlled the restart with Kriegisch moving to second and pulling up to challenge Kugel for the lead.  On the last lap, her inside challenge in turn two was her best shot at grabbing the win, but it fell short.  Kugel would take the win by .740 seconds over Kriegisch, with Wolbert, Martell, and Schaffer close behind.  Nick Ritchey, Slater, Holden, Chip Ritchey, and Jeremy Weaver filled the top ten with 15 entries on hand.  Heat winners were Kugel and Martell.

Doug Freeman held off Butch Black to win the 8 lap Hobby Stock feature.  Black got close on several occasions, including the last lap, but Freeman held on to win.

Five Young Guns took to the track for their 6 lap feature as Justin Clark led the entire distance to earn his first victory.  Kayla McManus made a brief challenge near halfway, but settled for second over Michael Jackson, Ben Anton, and Tyler Tennant.

The Four Cylinder feature started with Bill Tennant moving quickly from third starting position into the race lead.  Hoever, he slipped high in turn three and made contact with the outside wall.  The contact flattened his right front tire, and he limped to the pits with a fourth place finish.  That left Andy Garlinger to control the 8 lap distance to win over Brent Bickerstaff and Tom Anton.

Racing action continues at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 1, with the return of the winged 410 Sprints with the running of the “Racers Request 20.”  The winner will earn $2,000, as all starters will earn at least $200.  Also on the program are the RUSH Late Models racing for $1,000 to win, the open Sportsman, RUSH Modifieds, Open Hobby Stocks, Young Guns, and open Four Cylinders.  The following week, rounding out the 2016 season will be the running of the 28th Annual Pittsburgher 100, featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Series.  The 100 lap race on Saturday, October 8 will pay $20,000 to the winner.  Also in competition on Pittsburgher weekend will be the running of the Bill Hendren Memorial Race for the Sweeney Chevrolet RUSH Dirt Late Model Marquee Touring Series paying $2,500 to the winner, and the Wee Willie White Sportsman Showdown paying $2,055 to the winner.  Last Chance Qualifying races and Features will run on Saturday’s card, with preliminary qualifying events to be run on Friday night, October 7.  For all events, the gates will open at 5:00, with warm-ups at 6:00 and racing at 7:00.  Keep an eye on all developments during race nights on the track’s Twitter account at @PAMotorSpeedway including starting and finishing race lineups.  The track is located west of the city of Pittsburgh, just south of the Noblestown exit of U.S. Route 22, or 170 Kelso Road in Imperial, PA, for GPS purposes.  The track phone is 724-695-3363 on race days, or call 412-279-RACE.  For complete information please visit the track website at www.ppms.com .

Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway results for Saturday, September 24, 2016.

RUSH Late Models

Feature – 1, 60M, John Mollick. 2, 14B, Ben Policz. 3, 9R, Michael Reft. 4, 02, Brandon Burgoon. 5, B4, Steve Beatty. 6, 93X, Justin Lamb. 7, 84, Kyle Lukon. 8, 2M, Chuck Medved. 9, 16, Clinton Hersh. 10, 27, Tony White. 11, 10, Zachary Kane. 12, 12C, Daryl Charlier. 13, 09, Bill Kessler. 14, 17M, Russ Matejka.

Heat 1 – 1, John Mollick. 2, Justin Lamb. 3, Steve Beatty. 4, Daryl Charlier. 5, Tony White. 6, Chuck Medved. 7, Bill Kessler.

Heat 2 – 1, Brandon Burgoon. 2, Michael Reft. 3, Ben Policz. 4, Clinton Hersh. 5, Kyle Lukon. 6, Russ Matejka. 7, Zachary Kane.

Sportsman

Feature – 1, 14, Daryl Charlier. 2, 45JR, Todd Weldon. 3, 1B, Bill Robertson. 4, 380, Pat Hanley. 5, 7, Eric Piotrowski. 6, 4S, Ricky Steigerwald. 7, 08, Jeff Broniszewski. 8, 10, Nick Kocuba. 9, 81, Robert Betz, III. 10, 36J, Anthony Aiello. 11, 13X, Ryan Moyer. 12, W1, Jarrod Westover. 13, 114, Dave McManus. 14, 36, A.J. Poljak. 15, 30, Bob Egley.

Heat 1 – 1, Todd Weldon. 2, Nick Kocuba. 3, Ricky Steigerwald. 4, Eric Piotrowski. 5, Bob Egley. 6, Jarrod Westover. 7, Anthony Aiello. 8, Jeff Broniszewski.

Heat 2 – 1, Daryl Charlier. 2, Bill Robertson. 3, A.J. Poljak. 4, Dave McManus. 5, Pat Hanley. 6, Ryan Moyer. 7, Robert Betz, III.

RUSH Modifieds

Feature – 1, 83, Rocky Kugel. 2, 10, Chelsie Kriegisch. 3, C3, Chas Wolbert. 4, 8, Kyle Martell. 5, 41, Brian Schaffer. 6, 77N, Nick Ritchey. 7, 35, Steve Slater. 8, 2, Kole Holden. 9, 17, Chip Ritchey. 10, 35W, Jeremy Weaver. 11, 24P, Preston Cope. 12, 4, Will Schaffer. 13, 63, Jessica Kriegisch. 14, 28J, Jacob Jordan. 15, 20, Jeremy Zufall.

Heat 1 – 1, Chas Wolbert. 2, Chelsie Kriegisch. 3, Kole Holden. 4, Nick Ritchey. 5, Chip Ritchey. 6, Jeremy Zufall. 7, Jeremy Weaver. 8, Will Schaffer.

Heat 2 – 1, Kyle Martell. 2, Rocky Kugel. 3, Brian Schaffer. 4, Steve Slater. 5, Jessica Kriegisch. 6, Jacob Jordan. 7, Preston Cope.

Hobby Stocks

Feature – 1, 5, Doug Freeman. 2, 33B, Butch Black.

Young Guns

Feature – 1, 02, Justin Clark. 2, 14, Kayla McManus. 3, 89, Michael Jackson. 4, 13, Ben Anton. 5, 24, Tyler Tennant.

Open Four Cylinders

Feature – 1, R88, Andy Garlinger. 2, 53, Brent Bickerstaff. 3, 64, Tom Anton. 4, 2, Bill Tennant.

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, October 1 – The “Racers Request 20” for Winged 410 Sprints, $2,000 to win and $200 to start.  Mini Chase Race, $1,000 to win RUSH Late Models and Sportsman using Laboon race rules, plus RUSH Modifieds, Open Hobby Stocks, Young Guns, and Open Four Cylinders.

Friday, October 7 – Qualifying events for the 28th Annual Pittsburgher 100 featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Series, the Bill Hendren Memorial Race for the Sweeney Chevrolet RUSH Dirt Late Model Marquee Touring Series, and the Wee Willie White Sportsman Showdown.

Saturday, October 8 – The $20,000 to win 28th Annual Pittsburgher 100 featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Series, the $2,500 to win Bill Hendren Memorial Race for the Sweeney Chevrolet RUSH Dirt Late Model Marquee Touring Series, and the $2,055 to win Wee Willie White Sportsman Showdown.

 

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