April 27: Great Night for "The Real Deal" Kyle Strohl
Lehighton, PA -”The Real Deal” Kyle Strohl bests Lou Strohl in Saturday’s 35 lap thriller at the Mahoning Valley Speedway after a hail-mary crossover with less than three laps to go, marking the Palmerton, PA native’s first victory of the young 2024 season. Weather may have deterred some race fans on Saturday night, however, the drivers and track crew held steady and diligently worked to get the track ready for some thrilling racing. On the card for Saturday night were the Hobby Stock Futures and the three makeup features from 2023’s Fall Brawl, including the Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks, and the Pro-4 divisions. Headlining the night for the second straight week were the “Mighty” Modifieds, which certainly did not disappoint.
To kick off the evening, the Hobby Stock Futures division took the stage. Adam Steigerwalt, for the second week straight led the field to green, and once again drove away from the field. The only competition Steigerwalt had to endure was the #87 machine of Sarabeth Mesko on an early restart. From then on, Steigerwalt cruised to victory, winning his second straight 15 lap feature.
The first makeup feature of the night was the Pro-4 division, slated to run their first 25 lap feature of the season. Bob Kibler Sr. was undoubtedly the fastest car on the track when mechanical failure took him out of the race with 5 to go. Cody Kohler, who is no stranger to victory lane in the Pro-4 division, took total control of the race from then on, taking his first victory of the season in his red, white, and blue #29 Pinto.
Next on the card was the 50 lap “Cone Race” Street Stock feature which had originally been slotted for last year’s season finale. The event was highly anticipated for the division’s regulars, as Rick Wallace & family had organized a rather generous payout for the division, which did not go without appreciation from the drivers. The #05 of Austin Santee was appointed to lead the field to green, with a strong field of cars behind him. Santee would go on to lead laps early, maintaining the highly contested bottom line for the first ten to fifteen laps. With everybody fighting over the same, desired real estate, Eric Kocher saw this as an opportunity, as he slowly crept around the top 5 cars in the outside groove. Kocher, most recently dominating the season opener, maintained his course to go on to lead the remainder of the 50 lap feature whilst enduring three separate cautions. Jillian Snyder once again was following Kocher for the majority of the race, but passing the #20 car of Kocher was once again an insurmountable feat. Following Snyder, was the #56 of Frankie Althouse, putting together an impressive run after last week’s mechanical misfortune. Rounding out the top 5 were the #05 of Austin Santee and the #41 of Brandon Christman, who spent about 20 laps in the outside groove to make his way into the top 5.
The final preliminary bout to the Modifieds were the Hobby Stocks, who were scheduled for 35 laps under the lights. Leading the field to the green was the #2 car of Trisha Connolly, who had a terrific bounce back performance after a disappointing season opener, failing to finish on the lead lap. Connolly and crew made the significant and necessary adjustments to get the gray and green #2 machine in victory lane for the first time since 2022. Connolly did so with no lack of competition, as the field of four cylinders were clashing it out behind her, never leaving her with any room for comfort. While undergoing the relentless pressure of Shayne Geist’s #19, Connolly was fortunate to be up front, as there was melee ensuing behind her leading to a frightening wreck in turn 1. As the intensity picked up and traffic shuffled, the #78 of Cody Boehm, the #81jr of Michael Wambold, and the #81 of Maggie Wambold were involved in a gruesome collision which involved both Michael Wambold and Maggie Wambold having a scary collision with the turn 1 wall. Fortunately, all drivers were able to walk away from the incident, with hefty repairs to be made to their cars.
Rounding out the night for the second week straight was the 21-car stout field of Modifieds. Unlike last week’s 75 lapper, drivers only had 35 laps to make headway towards the front of the pack which was evident from the jump. Early on in the race, there was a battle for the lead right away, as the #8 of Earl Paules was able to navigate his way from his 5th starting spot and take the lead from the #51 of pole sitter, Zach Lenardo. Soon thereafter, the battle for second place intensified between the #41 of Todd Baer and #14 of Blake Barney, resulting in the race’s first caution as Baer was sent spinning through the infield. From here on out, fans witnessed two of the track’s most seasoned veterans, Earl Paules and Lou Strohl (#88) duking it out in a respectful manner for the first 15 laps of the race. On lap 16, Paules and Strohl were neck and neck when just a couple rows behind them, a three-wide move to the bottom by the #17 of Roger Coss would send the #95 of Jacob Kerstetter into the #1 of Bobby Jones resulting in the race’s second caution. Lou Strohl, who was scored just ahead of Paules at the time of the incident, would take over the race lead for the ensuing 18 laps. With about 15 laps to go, Kyle Strohl in the green #44 would navigate his way by Paules into second position. Kyle would close the distance to Lou Strohl, making several attempts to pass in both the outside and inside grooves. With less than three laps to go, Kyle Strohl was able to set up an impeccable crossover move on Lou, giving him the lead with two to go. Lou would attempt to do the same, however, Kyle was able to close the door just enough to clear his path to victory lane for the first time in 2024.
RACE RESULTS:
HOBBY STOCK FUTURES: 1) Adam Steigerwalt 2) Sarabeth Mesko 3) Al Gildner 4) Jeremy Henry 5) Daniel Kaminsky 6) Arland Moyer Jr. 7) Justin Merkel Jr. 8)Connor Shotwell 9) Savannah Romig 10) Chaz Takacs
PRO-4s: 1) Cody Kohler 2) Colton Breiner 3) Bob Kibler Jr. 4) Kadie Pursell 5) Aiden Bocher 6) Rich Pursell 7) Bob Kibler Sr.
STREET STOCKS: 1) Eric Kocher 2) Jillian Snyder 3) Frankie Althouse 4) Austin Santee 5) Brandon Christman 6) Jacob Boehm 7) Jamie Smith 8)Todd Ahner 9) Tucker Muffley 10) Josh Kuronya 11) Tommy Flanagan 12) Dennis Buss 13) Bob Kibler Sr. DNS: Randy Green, Jason Kuhn, Jon Moser, Mike Odwazny, Nate Correll
HOBBY STOCKS: 1) Trisha Connolly 2) Shayne Geist 3) Travis Solomon 4) Jake Kibler 5) Corey Edelman 6) Jacob Boehm 7) Michael Wambold 8)Maggie Wambold 9) Cody Boehm 10) Jared Frye 11) Ray Kochin DNS: Lyndsay Buss, David Imler Jr., Don Bauder
MODIFIEDS: 1) Kyle Strohl 2) Earl Paules 3) Brian Defebo 4) Lou Strohl 5) Rod Snyder Jr. 6) Blake Barney 7) Zane Zeiner 8)Roger Coss 9) Todd Baer 10) Cody Kohler 11) Jacob Kerstetter 12) Thomas Flanagan 13) Zach Lenardo 14) Terry Markovic 15) Brian Romig Sr. 16) Nick Kerstetter 17) Don Wagner 18) John Bennett DNS: Brian Romig Jr. DQ: Bobby Jones, BJ Wambold
APRIL 20: Fans treated to a Fantastic Opening Night at Mahoning Speedway
The ROC Modified series was set to headline the season opener at Mahoning Valley Speedway packing 26 ground-pounding modifieds onto the paved quarter-mile track for a 75 lap feature. The highly anticipated event was met with a long line of race fans filing through the gates and a long line of trailers entering the pits. Throughout the majority of the day, it seemed to be a Jake Lutz takeover at Mahoning Valley Speedway. Lutz hasn’t made all that many starts at Mahoning Valley Speedway, however, after Saturday’s event, most would think he was a seasoned regular as he topped the speed charts during qualifying and won his respective heat race over some of Mahoning’s regulars. His impressive outing wouldn’t stop there, as he would quickly gain the lead from pole sitter, Zane Zeiner. From here on out, sparks were flying as the 26 car field would have its fair share of bumper bashing, tire rubbing side-by-side action which included many three-wide scenarios and excitement. This excitement would breed several cautions, one of which included a frightening front stretch pileup that involved a good majority of the field, stemming from contact between the 88 of Lou Strohl who climbed the side of the 76 of Rod Snyder Jr., sending them both towards the front stretch wall. All drivers were uninjured, however, the same cannot be said for their race cars. Lutz would go on to lead the majority of the race up until a lap 55 restart where he spun the tires coming out of the restart zone, allowing the 76 car of the 2023 ROC champion, Zane Zeiner to grab the lead on the high side. Lutz would battle back to the inside of Zeiner, however, a quick lap 56 caution shuffled him to the outside line for the ensuing restart. Zeiner would lead the field back to green with a fierce top 5 which would include Lutz, Roger Coss, Austin Kochenash, and Matt Hirschman. With 11 laps to go, Zeiner would forfeit the lead to the 17 of Roger Coss, which dropped him back to the third position behind the 60 of Matt Hirschman. Coss held off a hard charging Matt Hirschman on the outside when a late race caution forced the field into a single-file restart with 4 laps remaining. Coss, Hirschman, and Zeiner would make up the top 3 coming to the green with all three drivers known to always be in the mix for a long-distance victory at Mahoning Valley Speedway. When the green flag dropped, Hirschman got a tremendous jump and was able to get alongside Coss’ outside by the time they reached turn 2. Coss did all he could, making minimal contact with the 60 car, however, “Big Money” Matt Hirschman would not be denied victory in the season opener for the ROC Modified series. The top 5 would consist of Hirschman, Coss, Zeiner, Kochenash, and Kyle Strohl.
Official Results: Matt Hirschman, Roger Coss, Zane Zeiner, Austin Kochenash, Kyle Strohl, Jake Lutz, Paulie Hartwig lll, Jack Ely, Austin Beers, Tony Hanbury, Earl Paules, Don Wagner, Jacob Kerstetter, Terry Markovic, Lou Strohl, Daren Sherer, John Bennett, Todd Baer, George Skora lll, Thomas Flanagan, Randall Richard, Nick Schaeffer, Jayden Harman, Rod Snyder Jr., Tommy Rought, Cody Kohler, Daryl Lewis Jr.
The evening’s features began with the Hobby Stock futures division, showcasing the local, up-and-coming generation of talented racers. The field was led to the green by the 54 of Adam Steigerwalt who jumped out to an early lead in the 15 lap feature. His fate would be tested on multiple occasions, having a hard-charging 57 machine driven by Sarabeth Mesko knocking on his backdoor. Steigerwalt and Mesko checked out from the rest of the field early, with Mesko putting together seemingly her best performance to date looking for her first career win. Mesko was then tangled up in a wreck on lap 7, leaving Steigerwalt on the point and en-route to his first victory of 2024 with a margin of 3 seconds to second place.
Official Results: Adam Steigerwalt, Jeremy Henry, Gabi Steigerwalt, Al Gildner, Sarabeth Mesko, Chaz Takacs, Arland Moyer Jr., Justin Merkel Jr., Ken Breiner, Rodney Breiner
The Late Model feature was slotted up next for their 25 lap affair. The front row coming to the green flag consisted of the 82 of Mark Hudson on the pole, alongside the prolific 0 car driven by fan favorite, “Rock N’ Roll” Geno Steigerwalt. Once the green flag flew, that front row checked out from the rest of the field, where they would battle nose to tail in an absolute barnburner of a duel. While Hudson never faltered from the lead, the hard pressing Geno Steigerwalt never gave him room to breathe, as he never fell back more than a couple car lengths. Within the last ten laps, Hudson seemed to be battling a tight race car, allowing Steigerwalt to reduce the gap to inches. Hudson was able to hold off the 0 car, finding himself right back where he left off in 2023, in victory lane.
Official Results: Mark Hudson, Geno Steigerwalt, Brian Romig, Brian Romig Jr., Griffin Hendershot, Josh Oswald, Seth VanFossen
Following the Race of Champions Modifieds, fans witnessed the infamous Hobby Stock division hitting the pavement for the first time of 2024. Former division champion, Michael Wambold was appointed the pole position to kickoff the feature with Travis Solomon geared up right alongside him. Wambold came out of the gates hot, jumping to an early lead over Solomon, who managed to make up the difference by the lap 12 mark. Wambold and Solomon had a large gap to third place, Ryan Berger, when they came up on lap traffic. Wambold was quickly able to navigate through the lap cars, leaving a comfortable gap back to the 23 machine of Solomon. Wambold then cruised his way onto his first victory of the season, with Solomon and Cody Boehm rounding out the top three in the caution-free 25 lap feature.
Official Results: Michael Wambold, Travis Solomon, Cody Boehm, Dave Kerr, Jake Kibler, Jared Frye, Ryan Berger, James Tout, Corey Edelman, Maggie Wambold, Bob Wink, Trisha Connolly, Kerry Boehm, Dave Imler Jr.
To finish out the night, the Street Stock division rolled onto the track to compete in a 30 lap shootout. The 20 machine of Eric Kocher led the field to green in the pole position, jumping out to an early lead under the lights. Kocher was able to put several car lengths on the rest of the field, aside from 2023 champion, Jillian Snyder. Snyder was able to keep her 97 car within reach of Kocher, however, as the laps dwindled, she didn’t have quite enough to make the pass. Kocher would go on to take the checkered flag, leaving Jillian Snyder and the 40 car of Cody Geist to round out the top 3.
Official Results: Eric Kocher, Jillian Snyder, Cody Geist, Jacob Boehm, Austin Santee, Brandon Christman, Jamie Smith, Tucker Muffley, Shayne Geist, Todd Ahner, Gary Reinhemer, Josh Kuronya, Dennis Buss, Jeremy Scheckler, Frankie Althouse
RACE OF CHAMPIONS MODIFIED SERIES SET TO BEGIN SEASON APRIL 20 AT MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY Race of Champions Modified Series competitors are gearing up to head to Mahoning Valley Speedway for the Series opener and so are race fans. If opening day at the 1/4-mile facility is any indication of what fans are in store for than Saturday, April 20, at 6:00pm will be one of the most anticipated start times on their 2024 schedules. Matt Hirschman and Austin Beers of Northampton, Pa., will resume their battles at what is their “hometrack”. The duo has battled each other many times on the 1/4-mile track, which has helped shape their careers. “Mahoning is fun to race,” offered Hirschman, who has become one, if not arguably the top-star in Modified racing right now. “It has multiple grooves and because of the size the track, it really levels the playing field. You have to be handling, but you also have to be patient and drive precisely to get the job done. It is a lot of fun for the driver and because of the size of the track, it’s right there in front of the fans.” Austin Beers, who was the 2021 Race of Champions Modified Series titleholder. He has also enjoyed success after continuing his family tradition of racing at the Lehighton oval. Beers claimed two Race of Champions Modified Series victories in 2024 at Chemung (N.Y.) Speedrome and is looking for his first Series victory at Mahoning. “We have been close and it’s really our home track,” stated Beers. ‘We’ve got more experience and been doing a lot of racing. Hopefully, we’ll be in contention at Mahoning and be able to come out on top.. I’m really looking forward to racing on home turf at Mahoming.” Qualifying for the 75-lap Series opener will begin at 6:00pm on Saturday, April 20 along with a full card of Mahoning racing.