Tempers Were Flaring After Earl Paules and Austin Kochenash Won Bob “Heavy” Scherer Memorial Twin-50s at Mahoning Valley Speedway
Story By: DINO OBERTO / MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY MEDIA Photos By: WALT SMITH / RACERSGUIDE.COM
LEHIGHTON, Pa.- July 24, 2016- The late Bob “Heavy” Scherer was a hard-as-nails type of racer and there is no question he was looking down and beaming from ear to ear after a pair of twin-50 lap features run in his honor took place Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Speedway.
Earl Paules and Austin Kochenash scored the respective wins on a hot and steamy night of racing that was a classic rough and tumble short track show with intensely close action and tempers flaring afterwards. Yes, “Heavy” would have loved this.
And most of the combating centered on Kochenash who drew plenty of cheers and jeers by night’s end.
In the first 50 Kochenash was tailing leader Brian DeFebo. It was looking as though a long winless dry spell at Mahoning would soon come to an end too for one of the premier talents of Pennsylvania pavement Modified racing as DeFebo’s car was perfectly getting around.
Then on lap 24 Kochenash nipped the back of DeFebo in turn two and sent him spinning. For his part Kochenash was relegated to the rear.
“I want to apologize for that. It was just racing. He (DeFebo) got a good start and then drove into the corner a little too hard. His car seemed a little tight and he came up a little bit and I went to cross him over. When I was coming back down my front bumper got into him and I got on the brakes but it was too late. I was getting pushed from the other cars behind me and it was just unfortunate for both of us,” said Kochenash.
On the restart Bobby Jones and Earl Paules where at the front and by the time they completed the first lap under green, Paules was leading. He would hold there the rest of the way with Eric Beers, Don Wagner, Jones and John Markovic completing the top five.
“That 72 (Kochenash) he is one aggressive driver I’ll tell you that. Man he will drive the wheels right off that race car. He got into the back of (Brian) DeFebo and turned him around and that put he to the outside of Bobby (Jones) on the restart,” said Paules, who won for the 45th time in a Modified.
“He (Jones) was a little tight and was driving into my skid rail but that’s alright. He gave room too. This is a great memorial race we have for Heavy and a great track to race at.”
Paules then picked the pill for the redraw of the second 50 and pulled the number 12 for the invert. That gave Lou Strohl and DeFebo the front row. Once underway Strohl took the lead but right alongside was DeFebo with Kochenash and Kris Graver going two-wide behind them.
DeFebo worked hard to get by the leader by means of the outside lane and despite running even most of the time he could not muster enough to make a pass. Kochenash shook off Graver and would join the front two, making numerous attempts from to the inside. However, Strohl did a fine job of keeping both his pursuers at bay.
That was until lap 29 when Kochenash got a burst of power and surged into the lead. DeFebo was still behind Strohl on the outside line and they would slide back while at the same time Jones grabbed second with Graver third.
Paules was coming on strong as well and had just snagged third spot when the back end of his car broke loose and he spun in turn three, bringing out the caution that would set-up the showdown to the finish.
On the restart Jones and Kochenash went wheel-to-wheel. Jones in fact eked his way to the lead on lap 41 but Kochenash responded back the next time around.
Then in the final five laps the race hit fever pitch when Wagner made it a three car battle, applying pressure from the outside groove. He went by Jones with three laps to go and was now alongside Kochenash. Over the final two circuits he was thrusting hard to get the lead while being strained towards the wall as Kochenash was doing all he could to protect his spot.
Amazingly with limited racing room the two never touched and they reached the finish line less separated by half a car length. The win also gave Kochenash a guaranteed starting spot for this year’s Sunoco Race of Champions 250 at Oswego Speedway later tis year.
“He (Wagner) was beating on me and trying to spin me out for those last few laps. He got on the outside of me and I protected the lead. I gave him plenty of room out there,” explained Kochenash.
Wagner was clearly upset afterwards and while they parked in Victory Lane he quickly unstrapped from his car and rushed over to Kochenash who was still in his mount. Heated words were being exchanged and a brief scuffle then took place between Wagner and members of Kochenash’s crew.
“After the race he came into my window, pulling on my helmet and punching me and then he got hit. Every hero needs a villain and I guess I’m his villain. We’ll go on from this. I can’t thank Brent and Gary Wentz enough for giving me the opportunity to race their car and also the Scherer family for raising all the lap money and all that they do for this race in honor of Heavy,” added Kochenash.
Wagner said he never touched Kochenash and was just letting him know of his displeasure for the way he felt he was being forced near the wall.
“He’s (Kochenash) is a young driver and obviously he’s been taught some bad lessons by some people, I don’t know who but right now he’s making no friends in racing,” said Wagner.
“This is a sport where your longevity is because of two reasons. You earn respect from your fellow drivers or you have a lot of money. This kid is gaining no respect,” he continued.
“We’re racing for the win and I understand if you’re the leader of the race you’ll do what you have to in order to protect the lead and not move over for anybody. But that doesn’t mean running to really block the guy next to you and trying to cause damage. That’s not the way we race. We’re all blue-collar working people that like their racing on a Saturday night. We all don’t want to be fixing our cars every week because of stupidity.”
Kochenash opined his perspective afterwards while at his pit.
“I was keeping the car on the bottom and he was hitting me in the bumper which was just racing. What I did to him is just racing. He’s not afraid to run anyone up to the wall but when he gets it done to him he doesn’t like it,” said Kochenash. “People just don’t like people that win, especially when they win and are half their age. He’s how old now and getting tired.”
Mike Sweeney has done it again, taking another Late Model win. Sweeney had a hard fought battle with Jeremy Miller before making his way around for the lead with eight laps to go. He then stayed smooth and steady the rest of the way for his sixth victory of the year and on a night celebrating his 36th birthday.
Jamie Smith has had his share of tough luck this season but of late there has been a turn for the better and in last night’s 30-lap feature he showed it by leading very lap and taking his first win of 2016.
Mike Stofflet rebounded yet again from a previous week mishap and drove to a resounding verdict in the Dirt Mod main.
Taking the lead from at the drop of the green, Stofflet was then able to hold steady at the front the rest of the way and although runner-up Ricky Yetter was closing in the final laps, there was no denying the sold and strong performance turned in by No. 38 winning car.
Kevin Graver Jr., has reached numerous feats during his career and Saturday night he entered one for the history books that may very well stand the test of time for years to come when he scored his record 33rd Pro 4 victory, which put him number one in class.
Graver was engaged in a torrid battle for the lead that included a three-wide battle between himself, Tyler Stangle and Josh Scherer. It wasn’t until the final four laps that he secured the lead and then drove on to the historic win.
When rookie Travis Solomon crossed the finish line first in the Hobby Stock feature, it not only was his career first win but also marked a single season record for different winners with the class as he became the 10th driver to notch a win.
1st Modified Feature Finish (50 Laps): 1. Earl Paules, 2. Eric Beers, 3. Don Wagner, 4. Bobby Jones, 5. Jack Ely, 6. Kris Graver, 7. Chip Santee, 8. Austin Kochenash, 9. Brian DeFebo, 10. Lou Strohl, 11. John Markovic, 12. JP Curry, 13. Kevin Rex Jr., 14. Nick Bear, 15. Terry Markovic, 16. Joey Jarowicz, 17. Kyle Strohl, 18.Mike Quinn, 19. Todd Baer
2nd Modified Feature Finish (50 Laps): 1. Kochenash, 2. Wagner, 3. Jones, 4. Strohl, 5. J. Markovic, 6. Graver, 7. DeFebo, 8. Beers, 9. Strohl, 10. Rex, 11. Paules, 12. Santee, 13. T. Baer, 14. Ely, 15. N. Baer, 16. T. Markovic, 17. Curry 18. Quinn DNS: Jarowicz
Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Mike Sweeny, 2.Jeremy Miller, 3. Frankie Althouse, 4. Don Wagner, 5. Robbie Kutz, 6. Jacob Nemeth, 7. Chris Anderson, 8. Kenny Hein, 9. Jacob Kerstetter 10. Paul Koehler Jr., 11. Geno Steigerwalt, 12. Paul Skodacek, 13. Lorin Arthofer, 14. Josh Oswald, 15. George Ramos
Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Jamie Smith, 2. Josh Mooney, 3. Jared Ahner, 4. Zach Graver, 5. Todd Ahner, 6. Jason Kuhn. 7. Jason Frey, 8. Rick Reichenbach, 9. Mark Martini, 10. Stacey Brown, 11. Jon Moser, 12. Corey Edelman, 13. Jon Tracy, 14. Randy Ahner Jr., 15. Greg Long, 16. Kristy Arthofer, 17. Dan Freundt, 18. Dennis Buss, 19. Eric Kocher, 20. Joe Mooney
Dirt Modified Feature Finish ( 20 laps )1. Mike Stofflet, 2. Ricky Yetter, 3. Aleia Geisler, 4. Ray Deemer, 5. Billy Lasko, 6. Dave Gorbatuk, 7. Charles Sabella
Pro 4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Kevin Graver Jr., 2. Josh Scherer, 3. Tyler Stangle, 4. Johnny Bennett, 5. Bobby Kibler Jr., 6. Brian Ahner, 7. Bob Kibler Sr., 8. Shawn Hoffman. 9. Bill Rooney, 10. Cody Kohler, 11. Kailyn Beers, 12. Jake Kibler, 13. Chase Hoffman
Hobby Stock Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Travis Solomon, 2. Ken Reeder, 3. Avery Arthofer, 4. Shayne Geist, 5. Michael Wambold, 6. Rich Mutarelli, 7. Cody Geist, 8. Sam Ryan, 9. Tiffany Wambold, 10. Ryan Berger, 11. Jesse Strohl, 12. Nicolas Kerstetter, 13. Jeff Biegley, 14. Austin Beers, 15. Devin Schm
COMING EVENTS:
July 30 @ 6:00 pm All regular track classes + Micro Stocks
Aug. 6 @ 6:00 pm All regular track classes (No Late Models) + Micro Stocks + Car Cruise
Aug. 13 @ 6:00 pm All regular track classes No Dirt Mods) + Hobby Stocks 35 laps $400-to-win + ATQMRA
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