COLTON FRIESE WINS LEGEND FEATURE FOR BUTCH SHATZER MEMORIAL
By Judy McGee Timmons
Colton Friese started the Friese Bus Transportation/ Zachary Crouse DVM, sponsored East Coast Legend feature event in 9th position, & brought his racer to the front to take the win for the Butch Shatzer Memorial make-up race which was originally scheduled for May 31st, but canceled due to rain, on Saturday night at Path Valley Speedway in the midst of threats from Mother Nature.
Three laps were complete when top drivers, Jeremy Ott, Devin Friese & Rick Hartwig left the circuit, followed by Brad Friese with 6 laps complete. Colton Friese was running over 67 MPH as he progressed to the front, passing competitors, Wayne Dutterer Jr., Logan Carbaugh, Bill Diehl, & Dalton Friese, to claim the lead, maintaining it until the 20 lap event concluded with Colton claiming the checkered flag. Dutterer Jr., Carbaugh, Diehl & Dalton Friese held the top 5 spots at the finish.
The Macri Concrete 600 Sprints had Dylan Anderson & Aden Myers at the top of the line-up, with Anderson taking the lead & 3rd place starter, Randy Kunkle Jr., moving into 2nd on green. Haydin Ort held his 4th place starting spot while Jim Young brought his racer from 8th to 5th on the first lap, passing Haydin to take 4th by lap 2. Dakota Sheaffer reclaimed his 5th starting spot on the 2nd lap, then moved by Young to claim the 4th place running position on lap 4. Anderson, Kunkle, Myers, Sheaffer & Young remained in the top five, as they ran the oval for the remaining 14 laps in non-stop fashion with Anderson taking the green to checkered win. Kunkle ran the fastest lap traveling 77.559 MPH in 11.604 seconds.
The Kathy Baker Coldwell Banker Realty Modifieds were brought to the green by Kirk Baker & Darin Hoover, with Baker taking the lead, & holding the position for the entire 20 laps. Andrew Swope had retired his racer, pre-race, putting Johnny Bouse & Doug Oswald forward a position on green. Baker, Hoover, Sam Reeder, Todd Goss & Reese Fedder, raced in the top five for 10 laps, till Fedder did a 180 slide into turn 4, putting him to the back of the pack. Doug Oswald also encountered problems, relining behind Fedder. Bouse now moved into the top 5 spot where he remained for the final 7 laps, as Baker claimed the checkered flag, followed by Hoover, Reeder, & Goss. Baker had the best lap traveling at 69.789 MPH in 12.896 seconds.
The Friese Bus Transportation/ Zachary Crouse DVM East Coast Legends entered the track for their regular scheduled feature, with Ryan Walls Sr., & Travis McClelland sitting on the pole.
Walls Sr., took the lead as McClelland, Scott Montgomery, Logan Jones & Logan Carbaugh pulled to the top 5. Jeremy Ott started to pilot his racer to the front, taking 5th on lap 3, & passing Montgomery to take 4th on lap 10. Twelfth place starter, Colton Friese, was driving his ride through the traffic, taking control of 6th place on lap 13. Misfortune came as Friese’s racer slid into the frontstretch infield, putting him to the rear of the circuit.
The reline was Walls Sr., Jones, McClelland, Ott & Montgomery. On green, Logan Carbaugh drove by Montgomery for 5th, while Jones took the advantage to pass Walls to take the lead. Three laps were remaining, when McClelland had contact with Jones, spinning out on the backstretch, resulting in both drivers going to the back, putting Walls back in charge of the lead. Ott, Carbaugh, Montgomery & Bill Diehl had now taken over the top five, where they remained till the finish. Logan Jones had the best speed lap running 65.900 MPH in 13.657 seconds.
The T. A. Ward Construction 270 Micro Sprints entered the oval with Zach Glass & Bradyn Kuhn at the helm. Third place starter, Aidan Crouse, pulled to the lead on the 1st lap, till a caution came out for Jason Houtz, who came to a stop at the flagman’s stand, & was pushed to the pits. Crouse, Glass, Kuhn, Cory Myers & Teegan Kauffman were now sitting as the top runners, but as the racers rounded turn one, Kauffman & Cowan made contact, putting their racers out of control in front of racers, Stephanie Welk & Gatlin Kauffman, causing Welk to go into a flipping action, ending on the second turn barrier. The circuit went red as track medics and personale were on the scene, with the gratifying news Welk was ok & had walked from the wreckage to the ambulance on her own. Cowan, Welk, & Kauffman were retired for the evening, as Jamie Connelly also exited the track. Crouse led on the restart, followed by Glass, Kuhn, Myers, & Bradyn Paull. Myers pulled by Kuhn on lap 4 to take 3rd, where the top five remained for 7 laps, till Kuhn exited the track, putting Paull in 4th & Travis Hodge in fifth. The top drivers endured lapped traffic as they completed the final 9 laps, as Crouse took the win followed by Glass, Myers, Paull, & Hodge for the top five. Aidan Crouse had the best lap traveling 74.950 MPH in 12.008 seconds.
The Cisney Auto Parts 4 Cylinder Thunder Cars had Ronnie Garlock Sr. & Kevin Bard side by side when the flag went green, with Garlock taking the lead & Jeremy Eutzy coming from 3rd to take 2nd. Bard & Eutzy had a door to door battle as Bard pulled ahead, but lost the place back to Eutzy on lap 4. The top 3 continued to tangle, with Eutzy taking the lead on lap 5, ahead of Bard & Garlock. Garlock & 4th place runner, Roger Traxler, made contact, putting both drivers to the back. The top five rearranged as Robert McQuade moved into 3rd, followed by Terry Perry, as Parker Starr & Charlie Stallman rounded the oval wheel to wheel for 5th, with Stallman taking the spot, & continuing forward to go door to door with Perry.
Garlock & Traxler had another episode, returning Garlock to the rear & Traxler to the pits. Stallman continued his move to the front, advancing to 3rd by lap 11, where he joined Bard & Eutzy for a 3-way battle. Perry moved by McQuade on lap 15, for 4th, with Cameron Defenderfer coming from 10th to claim the top 5 position on lap 16, where they raced till the checkered flag lap, with Eutzy getting the win, as Bard, Stallman, Perry & Defenderfer crossed the line behind him. Kevin Bard had the best lap speed going 62.600 MPH in 14.377 seconds.
The Randy Burkholder Racing Supplies Strictly Stocks line-up had Kolton Martin & Jimmy Moyer at the top of the racers, with Moyer taking the lead for 4 laps, till Rusty Garlock came through the field from his 10th position to take the lead on lap 5. Jesse Matney took 3rd as Josh Norton & Martin sat in the top five. The top runners remained in their positions for 8 laps, till Robert Cutshall entered the top five on lap 14, continuing forward to pass Norton & take control of 4th. Garlock pulled ahead, gathering a marginal lead as the racers spread out, but maintained their spaces, as Garlock passed the wave of the checkered flag for the win. Garlock had the best lap piloting his racer at 62.928 MPH in 14.302 seconds.
Path Valley Returns to racing on Sunday, July 6th, hosting PA Speedweek – 410 Sprints, presented by C & D Rigging & the Wingless Super Sportsman. York Excavating will be sponsoring the Quick Time Award for the 410 racers.
On Friday, July 11th, the T.A. Ward Construction Showdown at the Bull Ring will take place with an unbelievable $2000.00 going to the winner & a full pay schedule for all 24 cars in the feature event. The smallest payout will be $200.00 to all racers finishing in 16th to 24th positions.
An awesome event like this has never been heard of, but thanks to T.A. Ward & all the sponsors, Path Valley Speedway will secure it’s title of being The Little Track with BIG Action!