Paules use Sportsman car to beat Mahoning Modified field
Earl Paules ended a three-year dry spell from winning in a Modified and it came in a most alternative way, driving a car set up for Sportsman Modified competition.
The story unfolded from the night prior when Paules wrecked his primary car at Evergreen Raceway. The damage was significant enough that the car was unrepairable in time to compete at Mahoning. The team then made the decision to run the Sportsman car, which was to be driven this same night in that class by Danielle Paules.
“It was a decision to make — to support the Sportsman class — but on the same token we didn’t want to lose anything with the Modified as well. I believed this was the way to go and I felt I could do it,” explained Paules.
After bolting on the larger tires and tweaking the car to get the most of it against the more powerful counterparts, Paules relied on a means of gradual restarts and then under race conditions did a great job of keeping first John Markovic and then Brain DeFebo from surpassing for the lead and win.
“The restarts were everything, that’s all I was really worried about. I knew once we got going in front I had control and it was good. I really had control rolling the bottom and that’s what you need to do here,” said Paules, who won for the first time with the class since September 2016.
“This car has a little motor with just 350 horsepower but it’s a good car for the Sportsman division.”
The race began with Nick Baer coming from third to first with Ron Haring Jr. on his heels. On lap four Baer was nipped by Haring and which caused him to spin from the lead. Paules, third at the time, was now the race leader over Markovic.
When action resumed, Markovic made every effort possible to motor by but quite protectively Paules was keeping his line in his effort to remain the leader.
A rash of cautions between laps 15 and 25 made things interesting when it came to the restarts. Due to having the underpowered car, Paules was bringing the field to the green on a slower than usual pace which in turn allowed him to get the bite he needed to keep Markovic at bay and later DeFebo.
“I was saying to myself of all nights to have all these restarts, when I have the little motor in the car. I was actually hoping they would have gone single file,” said Paules.
“After last night (Evergreen) we were done in the dumps a little so we came in here tonight just relaxed and felt our chances of winning weren’t good at all. We came in and just drove the wheels off it.”
Interestingly despite the lack of power, Paules set the fast lap of the race at 10.445-seconds.
In the Late Model race it was another classic duel between Frankie Althouse and Mike Sweeney with Althouse getting a second win in a row and sixth of the season.
Before the aforementioned pair racing hard to the finish, Avery Arthofer was showing the way, holding off relentless dares from not only Althouse and Sweeney but Jeremy Miller as well.
Althouse had taken the lead from her on lap 13, but she was staying right with him while having to fend off Sweeney. However, her great run abruptly ended when she spun 10 laps from the end.
From then on it was Althouse having to deal with Sweeney, who stayed glued to his rear bumper.
In the Street Stocks, Mark Martini cracked the Winner’s Circle for the first time this season and first time in three years. Martini began the race 11th but was making haste in his drive toward the front.
Cody Geist, in a new and untested car, had the early lead and holding it nicely over Jared Ahner and Randy Schlenker.
Just after mid-race Geist’s car began to tighten and Schlenker grabbed the lead. Martini turned up the pressure on Schlenker and seven laps from the end he put his car out front and stayed smooth to the checkers.
Cody Kohler had a great lead swapping duel with Jeremy Guerra from laps 14 to 19 but afterward there was no denying the dominance he displayed as he went on the score in impressive win in the special 40-lap Pro 4 feature. Bobby Kibler Sr. and Jake Kibler had a torrid duel between themselves running behind Kohler but never close enough to mount a challenge. It was Kohler’s fourth win of the year and 24th of his career.
From lap two of the Sportsman Modified feature, the race was in the hands of Lorin Arthofer II as he was withstanding Kyle Strohl’s advancements and likewise Joe King Jr., who was riding closely with them.
However, just as they were approaching the white flag, Strohl got into the back of Arthofer and sent him spinning. As he was turning and trying to save his car, King came into his path and both collided resulting in race ending damage for both. BJ Wambold would be placed as the leader for the restart but on the final lap Strohl powered past and would win for the second time this season.
Rich Mutarelli was the Hobby Stock winner, his first victory in tow years.
Despite the heat and humidity that plagued the night, Mutarelli was appreciative to management for not canceling like so many other tracks did and personally thanked them when he rolled into the gates.
His gratitude was rewarded for his attendance by showing great speed all night long, winning his heat and then leading 24 of 25 laps in the feature.
Mutarelli, who won for the 14th time and can become the all-time class winner before the season ends, held off Jacob Boehm for the win.
Modified (35 laps)
1. Earl Paules, 2. Brain DeFebo, 3. Joh Markovic, 4. Kyle Strohl, 5. Josh Scherer, 6. Bobby Jones, 7. Eric Kocher, 8. BJ Wambold, 9. Corey Edelman, 10. Lou Strohl, 11. Jacob Kerstetter, 12. Ron Haring Jr., 13. Nick Baer, 14. Terry Markovic.
Late Model (25 laps)
1. Frankie Althouse, 2. Mike Sweeney, 3. Jeremy Miller, 4. Samantha Osborn, 5. Avery Arthofer, 6. Rich Cooper, 7. Todd Cooper, 8. Dylan Osborn
Street Stock (30 laps)
1. Mark Martini, 2. Randy Schlenker, 3. Jon Moser, 4. Cody Geist, 5. Shayne Geist, 6. Jared Ahner, 7. Josh Mooney, 8. Eric Kocher, 9. Jillian Long, 10. Todd Ahner, 11. Mark Deysher, 12. Jamie Smith, 13. Brennen Coulter, 14. Mike Erney, 15. Dennis Buss, 16. Jeremy Scheckler, 17. Randy Ahner Jr.
Sportsman Modified (25 laps)
1. Kyle Strohl, 2. BJ Wambold, 3. Kassidy Altemose, 4. Joe Edinger, 5. Lorin Arthofer II, 6. Joe King Jr.
Hobby Stock (25 laps)
1. Rich Mutarelli, 2. Jacob Boehm, 3. Shawn Kistler, 4. Joh Petro, 5. Payton Arthofer, 6. Al Arthofer, 7. Cody Kohler, 8. Trisha Connolly, 9. Travis Solomon, 10. Devin Schmidt, 11. Ken Reeder, 12. Austin Ahner, 13. Kassidy Altemose, 14. Jesse Bollinger, 15. Ralph Boger Jr., 16. Mallory Kutz, 17. Todd Geist, 18. Taylor Schmidt
Pro 4 (40 laps)
1. Cody Kohler, 2. Bobby Kibler Sr., 3. Jake Kibler, 4. Randy Schaffer, 5. Tucker Muffley, 6. Tyler Stangle, 7. Matt Clark, 8. Kadie Pursell, 9. Joey Stangle, 10. Jeremy Guerra