Richard Petey Claims Twin NEETS Enduro Titles on Final Race Day
By: Dino Oberto

The NEETS Enduro cars brought the curtain down on the 2007 season at Mahoning Valley Speedway in a big way as 500 laps of racing took place between three classes.

And, it was a big day as well for Hackettstown, NJ’s Richard Petey who staked claim to a pair of titles.

Petey needed to win the 6/8 cylinder race in order to take the championship, which he did, while his top five finish in the TRUX event was good enough for the top honor with that class

The 6/8 and 4 cylinders contested in 200 lappers while the TRUX covered a 100 lap distance.

In the 6/8 cylinder division it was a great dogfight between kingpins Petey and Joe Jentile as most of the race saw these two enduro aces battle tooth and nail.

Robin Schewire had as brief stint at the helm before Howie Bott took command. By lap 43 it was the number 43 of Petey who then took over and from there out the duel was underway with Jentile.

They constantly swapped the lead while in the midst of heavy traffic. For the most part it was the traffic that played the key when the lead was being exchanged as both Petey and Jentile had to meticulously pick there way around the track by avoiding the onslaught of lapped cars.

And what a job they did too. Both needed to win the race in order to be champion. They put on an outstanding display of weaving in and out and dodging all obstacles while keeping each other in focus.

With completion of lap 125 Petey moved to the front for good and from there out worked his tail off of keeping Jentile at bay.

It was the second big car win of the season for Petey who also snapped the title streak of Jentile who was the top point-man over the past three seasons.

In 4 cylinder action the first quarter of the race saw the lead flip back and forth between Jon Smith, Scooter Graver and Ken Harper with Smith leading the major portion.

Both Harper and Smith dropped out one after the other and each time following their advancement into the lead between laps 50 and 60.

That put the race into the hands of Graver. However, on the charge was road racing specialist Sam Ryan who motored his way into the lead with 80 laps complete.

Ryan was on cruise control as he steadily began pulling away from everyone. But, just as bad luck had struck the front runner, so too did it take a hit as he picked up a left front flat and had to pit.

Graver then went back out front for the third time but as was the case the lead was not a good place to be. This time Graver was caught up with some back markers and spun with 50 laps to go.

Running second at the time was Brain Kunkle and unlike his counterparts, he was able to steer clear of any trouble as he pulled away to victory. Kunkle became the only repeat class winner this year.

The season championship for the 4 cylinders was won by Don Rogers.

In the TRUX race it was Woot Lawrence who conveniently cruised to the win. Pole sitter Harry Sager controlled the pack over the first 32 laps while holding back Lawrence and John Cozza who all raced under a blanket.

Using lapped traffic to his advantage, Lawrence was able to slip under Sager with 32 laps complete. He then had little trouble in pulling away from the field. Sager held on for second.

RESULTS :

Unique Golf 4 Cylinders (200 Laps) : 1st - 19 Brian Kunkel, 2nd - 09x Don Rogers, 3rd - 73 Dave Bentley, 4th - 168 Bob Wohlgemuth, 5th - 24 Larry Spencer, 6th - 7 Sam Ryan, 7th - 27v Mike Ventura, 8th - 17 Art Kulik, 9th - 69 Dennis Sizemore, 10th - 314 Dan Luizzi, 11th - 6 John Saccomandi, 12th - 123 Mark Spencer, 13th - 18x Sarah Snyder, 14th - 11k Kelly Kunkel, 15th - 13t Travis Schwenk, 16th - 11j Jon Smith, 17th - 18 Scooter Graver, 18th - 68 Jessica McGlynn, 19th - 83 Jared Ahner, 20th - 19x Jimmy White Jr, 21st - 51 Richard Smith, 22nd - 308 Ken Harper, 23rd - 131 Ryan Nelson, 24th - 6m Vern McLaughlin, 25th - 63 Nikki Wachs

Custom Classic TRUX (100 Laps) : 1st - 37 Woot Lawrence, 2nd - 61 Harry Sager, 3rd - 43 Richard Petey, 4th - 0 Russ Jansen, 5th - 29 Jim White, 6th - 4x Jeff Gregor, 7th - 53 Kevin Nowak, 8th - 6 Jim Wichert, 9th - 5 John Cozza, 10th - 27 Frank Katona, 11th - 38 Don Nelson, 12th - 21 Mariah Lawrence, 13th - 71 Jake Oswald, 14th - 58 Jim Badalato, 15th - 17dd Duane Eidem, DNS - 55 Rob Bader

6/8 Cylinders (200 Laps) : 1st - 43 Richard Petey, 2nd - 41 Joe Jentile, 3rd - Phil Lomonaco, 4th - 01 Jimmy White Jr, 5th - 33 TJ Kapish, 6th - 20K Kory Stevens, 7th - 5r11 TJ Stevens, 8th - 02 Pappy Herman, 9th - 1x Corey Student, 10th - 75 Howie Bott, 11th - 58 Randy Parsons Jr., 12th - 45 Rob Longo, 13th - 57 Larry Carmen, 14th - 266 Bob Kulik, 15th - 30 Ed Brown Jr., 16th - 14x Brian Brown, 17th - 116 Richard Smith, 18th - 124 Mark Spencer, 19th - 42 Drew Atchinson, 20th - 74 James Presley, 21st - 66 Nick Shaw, 22nd - 37 James Distano, 23rd - 99 Robin Schewire