PAUCH JR. (MODIFIED) & WATT (SPRINT CAR) LEAD GEORGETOWN WINNERS

Billy Pauch Jr. (Modified) & Ryan Watt (USAC East Coast Sprint Car) Lead Winners on Hot Georgetown Night

Written by Chris Moore

GEORGETOWN, DE – Billy Pauch Jr. remained red hot on Friday night, securing his first L&J Sheet Metal Modified win at Georgetown Speedway of the 2020 season.

Pauch Jr. left the First State oval $3,000 richer following the 25-lap event on Blue Hen Dispose-All Night. With the victory, the Frenchtown, N.J., native took control of the track’s Sunoco Championship Series Modified point lead as well with four races remaining on the schedule for the special-events season.

A packed pit area of 115 race cars took part in the fast-paced program run in just three hours and 12 minutes on a tacky surface.

At the drop of the green flag it was the “hometown boy” Jordan Watson along with Ryan Watt leading the field into main event. At the drop of the green Watt struggled to get through turns one and two, falling all the way back to fifth.

Ryan Godown was the man to move in and challenge Watson for the lead and he would take the lead following a lap-one yellow on the restart. Watson came right back, taking the lead back on the next drop of the green by starter Joe Kriss.

Lap five saw things shake-up as Danny Bouc and Billy Pauch Jr. made contact, collapsing the front end on Bouc’s Craig and Leslie Pondish-owned No. 6.

Richie Pratt Jr., who had come from his 10th starting position, emerged as a contender in the Danny’s Pizza Pizzazz No. 51, cracking the top-five.

Pratt wasn’t done. He climbed to second on the ensuing restart before climbing over the berm in turns one and two and falling back to fifth.

After a pair of yellows, the race for the lead turned into a phenomenal one, as the top-five had broken away from the field, and ran nose-to-tail searching for racing room to move forward.

On a lap-15 restart, the race would change entirely. Watson, who was leading, pulled off the speedway with problems and on the ensuing lap, Richie Pratt Jr. who had inherited second did the same.

That left Ryan Godown and Billy Pauch Jr., to duke it out for the lead. On lap 18, Billy Jr. made a power move, driving to outside and around Godown for the lead. “The Kid’s Kid” drove off into the moonlight to grab another win in 2020 in his Rick Holsten owned No. 96.

Pauch Jr. continued to show gratuity to car owner Holsten and the team in Victory Lane.

“When you get a bunch of guys who just click, and work and work and work, this is what happens,” he said after sharing a celebratory roof dance with his son. “I don’t know what else to say. We’ve been fast everywhere and we’re having a blast doing it.”

Ringoes, N.J.’s Godown held onto the second position in the Steve Searock No. 26 car. Watt, of Boyertown, Pa., brought his Ron Roberts Racing No. 14w home with a third place finish, while Carson Wright, a Georgetown native, got a career-best fourth place finish in his family-owned No. 91. Dave Shirk of Mohnton, Pa., also had a career best Georgetown run, by rounding out the top-five.

The Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Cars made their first appearance of the 2020 season at the Georgetown Speedway in a 25-lap main. Ryan Watt’s first-ever race in a wingless Sprint Car ended in Victory Lane for his second triumph at Georgetown. The other of course, behind the wheel of his Modified.

Watt started in fourth and quickly jumped into the second on the initial start with outside pole-sitter Bill Unglert grabbing the lead.

The two separated themselves from the field, with Watt pressuring Unglert at every corner, searching for a way to get by the leader. Watt would make the move on lap five with a slide job through the first turn to take the lead.

Watt was making it look easy for much of the main event, until second-place runner Joey Biasi broke, bringing out a yellow with two laps to go. Watt answered the call on the restart, and drove away to take the checkered flag.

Old Bridge, N.J.’s Chris Allen, defending USAC East Coast champion Steven Drevicki, Billy Van Inwegen of Port Jervis, N.Y., in the Bill Gallagher No. 5G and Micro-Sprint ace Kyle Spence rounded out the top-five.

Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., ran down Matt Hill and made the move on the last lap to win the 20-lap RUSH Late Model feature paying $1,000 to win. Hill, a Georgetown native, started on the outside pole and jumped out to the lead immediately.

Hubbard, in the Klink family No. 49, took second at the halfway point after Amanda Robinson had handling issues caused by the nose piece folding under, and digging into the ground.

Hubbard began reeling in Hill in the last five laps, until he was on Hill’s bumper at the white flag. Hubbard dove to the bottom and cleared Hill and set sail for the win. Hill would hang on for second, as did Millsboro, Del.’s Robinson would hang on to round out the top-three. Joe Warren of Georgetown and Trevor Collins, from Seaford, Del., would round out the top five.

Kerry King Sr. started on the pole and won his second consecutive Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Car Club 12-lap feature event. King is now two-for-two in his Vintage car career. Rob Blann, who started in last, won the Sportsman portion of the event.

Joseph Tracy won his second Little Lincoln feature event of the season. Tracy who started in seventh, grabbed the lead on a late race restart and never relinquished it. Matt White, and Jordan Herbert would round out the top-three in the 12-lap event.

Robert Smith made a late race pass to get by Ryan Efford and get his first win of the 2020 season. Efford settled for second with Shane Clogg hanging on for third. Two-time winner Dale Elliott charged to fourth while J.R. Bergman rounded out the top five.

Chris “Tippy” Martinez got his second consecutive and third overall Delmarva Charger win of 2020. Martinez got by Chris Myers in the early going, winning a non-stop 12-lap feature by over a straight-away. Myers would came home in the runner-up position with Ashley Merritt rounding out the top-three.

Racing resumes at Georgetown Speedway on Tuesday, Aug. 25 with the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco ‘Blast at the Beach’ featuring a $6,000-to-win, 35-lap Modified event plus STSS Crate 602 Sportsman, Delaware Super Trucks and Delmarva Chargers.

Georgetown Speedway, originally constructed by Melvin L. Joseph in 1949, is located at the intersection of Route 113 and Speedway Road in Georgetown, Del., just miles from the Delaware beaches and less than a 40-minute drive from Ocean City, Md.

A website is live for the speedway at www.thegeorgetownspeedway.com. Like Georgetown Speedway on Facebook, follow @thegtownspdwy on Twitter, e-mail georgetownspeedway@gmail.com or contact the speedway hotline at 302.563.GTWN (4896).

BLUE HEN DISPOSE-ALL NIGHT RACE SUMMARY – GEORGETOWN SPEEDWAY JULY 24, 2020

L&J Sheet Metal Modified Feature Finish (25 laps): BILLY PAUCH JR., Ryan Godown, Ryan Watt, Carson Wright, Dave Shirk, John Willman, Ryan Riddle, Mark Pettyjohn, Kevin Sockriter, Ted Reynolds, Trent Van Vorst, H.J. Bunting, Richie Pratt Jr., Jordan Watson, Joseph Watson, Ryan Krachun, Jordn Justice, Tom Solderich, Danny Bouc, Greg Nailor, Ray Swinehart.

Did Not Start: Norman Short

Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Car Feature Finish (25 laps): RYAN WATT, Chris Allen, Steve Drevicki, Billy Van Inwegen, Kyle Spence, Bill Unglert, Ryan Quackenbush, Craig Pelligrini, Christian Bruno, David Swanson, Bruce Buckwalter, Heidi Hedin, Jason Cherry, Joey Biasi, Zach Burd, Jonathan Swanson.

RUSH Late Model Feature Finish (20 laps): AUSTIN HUBBARD, Matt Hill, Amanda Whaley-Robinson, Joe Warren, Trevor Collins, Nick Davis, Dana Walker, Geoff Carey, Jerry Barker, Robert Smith, Joe Pete, Charles Schawver, Kerry King Jr., Ben Scott, Brandon Sturgis, Mark Pettyjohn, Billy Thompson, DJ Elzey.

Did Not Start: Zac Weller

Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Car Feature Finish (12 laps): KERRY KING, Jamie Eicholz, Andy Cassel, Roscoe Clough, Harold Sylvester, John Burton, Dave Parsons, Jamie Schirmer, Rob Blann (Sportsman Winner), David Tucker I, Art Workman, David Tucker II, Don Davidson, Terry Chaney, Glenn Lyon, Thomas Hughes, Dave Schamp, Kelly Putz, Eddie Eichholz, Robert Paczkowski.

Little Lincoln Feature Finish (12 laps): JOSEPH TRACY, Matt White, Jordan Herbert, Kirk Lawson, Todd Sammons, Shawn Smith, Brian Piercy, Bunky White, Wayne Seaton, John Walters, Scott Calhoun.

Delaware Super Truck Feature Finish (12 laps): ROBERT SMITH, Ryan Efford, Shane Clogg, Dale Elliott, J.R. Bergman, Matthew Smith, Bill Dean, Jerry Hill, Thomas ‘Action’ Jackson, Cory Sapp, Mark Townsend, Michelle Jackson, Trent Marine, Adam Smart, Billy Lockwood, Dick Beauchamp.

Delmarva Charger Feature Finish (12 laps): CHRIS “TIPPY” MARTINEZ, Chris Myers, Ashley Merritt, Joe Waters, Chris Carroll, Jeffery Tubbs, Paul Gary, Hunter Bensel, John Bailey, Randy Merritt, Jay Lowman.

News from Delaware’s Historic Georgetown Speedway

Media Contact: Brett Deyo – georgetownspeedway@gmail.com or 302.563.4896 (GTWN)

For Immediate Release/July 25, 2020