Kunkel, Lawrence and Petey Collect "Mutha" Wins
by Tracy Chirico

Competitors and fans were greeted with a very cool but sunny day at Mahoning Valley Speedway for the final NEETS event of the season. A healthy field of 64 cars and TRUX was on hand for the "Mutha" Enduro. Fans were treated to 200 laps of racing for the 4 cylinder and 6/8 cylinder classes, as well as 100 laps of TRUX action. The day concluded with 10 lap "dash for cash" events open to the top ten drivers in points in both the 4 cylinder and 6/8 cylinder classes.

At the drivers' meeting, it was announced that this would be the last NEETS race run at Mahoning. In order to quiet potential rumors about issues between the series and the track, it was stressed that it was simply a matter of the series being discontinued at the track. NEETS is currently in search of a home for the 2008 season. The drivers' meeting was followed by a brief practice session for each of the divisions.

The 200 lap Unique Golf-sponsored 4 cylinder "Little Mutha" event took to the track first, with 25 cars taking the green flag. The event was historic in that it was the first time ever that a race that distance was run at the track. The red flag was thrown on lap 5, after the #63 of Nicki Wachs took a hard hit into the wall near the starter's stand. Another red flag came out on lap 11 for the #131 of Brian Nelson, which was blocking the pit entrance. The rest of the race went quickly, with the field stringing itself out around the track. It was not, however, without attrition. By the halfway point of the race, there were 14 cars on the track. Just after the 100 lap mark, the #314 of Dan Luizzi pulled off the track with a right front flat, but he returned quickly. When the race was over, the NEETS 4 cylinder division had its first repeat winner of the season, Brian Kunkel in the #19. Don Rogers in the #09x won the division championship.

The TRUX were next on the schedule with the 100 lap "Mutha Trucker" race. A large contingent of 11 Long Islanders made the trip to compete in the event. A total of 16 TRUX were slated to start the race, but the #55 of Rob Bader scratched due to starter problems. The #61 of Harry Sager took the early lead. It looked as though Woot Larence's day would end early in the #37, as the truck was smoking heavily from the start. Only a few laps in, however, Lawrence was still coming on strong as he and the #5 of John Cozza put on a side-by-side battle for 2nd. Lawrence would eventually work his way past Cozza and get alongside Sager, grabbing the lead on lap 31. Using the lapped #29 truck of Jim White, Cozza was able to move to 2nd. Prior to the halfway point of the race, the #6 of Jim Wichert pulled off the track, followed by Cozza. Just after the race reached halfway, the #58 of Jim Badalato pitted as well, though he returned later. Cozza would return to the track, only to go back to the pits. By lap 67, Lawrence had built up a half-track lead over the 2nd place runner. Cozza would again return to the track, this time looking strong, though he was numerous laps down. The #38 of Don Nelson Jr. pitted and returned, and Wichert returned just prior to the 75 lap mark. The #21 of Mariah Lawrence would spin around and try to rejoin traffic, spinning again in the process. The #53 of Kevin Nowak would head to the pits, as would the #21. A total of 12 trucks were still on the track at lap 85. After some contact with White in the #29, the #43 of Richard Petey would go around. Petey would correct the truck and complete the race to become the 2008 TRUX champion, while Woot Lawrence claimed victory in the race.

Next, 23 6/8 cylinder cars would come out for the 200 lap "Mutha" event. The #99 of Robin Schewire would take the early lead, but the #75 of Howie Bott would overtake Schewire several laps into the race. Schewire would go on to tag the wall along the back side of the track just as the #30 of Ed Brown also made contact with the wall in an unrelated incident between turns 1 and 2. Ed Brown would go to the pits, but later returned. The #14x of Brian Brown was smoking early, but continued to race. Under green, Ed Brown would return, slowing on the back side of the track to push Schewire's disabled car through the pit gate. Before the event had even reached the one-quarter mark, the #41 of Joe Jentile took the lead, coming from a last-place starting position. Richard Petey in the #43 and Howie Bott in the #75 would put on an intense battle for 2nd. Ed Brown would again take his car to the pits. Bott would head to the pits as well, and Petey would set his sights on the leader. On lap 72, Petey would use the lapped #01 of Jimmy White Jr. to work his way past Jentile for the lead. However, Jentile would use the now-lapped #75 of Bott to get past Petey again on lap 84. Just prior to the halfway point of the race, Ed Brown would return to the track. On lap 95, Schewire would tag the wall in an incident involving the #116. By lap 115, there were still 21 cars on the track, but several would pull off shortly thereafter, including Brian Brown. He would return on lap 124, as Petey would once again claim the lead. The red flag was thrown on lap 153 after the #74 lost its right rear wheel, which bounced across the track right in front of the leaders. Brian Brown would pit again, and return to finish the race minus the hood. When the race was over, Richard Petey was awarded both the race win and the season championship.

Fans were then treated to a 10 lap "dash for cash" for the top 10 in 4 cylinder points. The field had been determined before the day's events, and was originally scheduled to be the first event of the day. Because of time constraints (drivers were informed at the drivers' meeting that the lights would not be used, so all racing had to be complete when it got dark), the drivers agreed to hold these events after all of the points races. Only four of the 10 eligible starters came out on the track, and the #09x of Don Rogers won the race.

Of the 10 cars eligible for the 6/8 cylinder "dash for cash," 7 pulled out on the track. Officials then decided to give each and every driver an equal shot to win, lining the cars up in a single line across the entire width of the track. The 7-car line took off, and the #41 of Joe Jentile would claim the victory.

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