Jennerstown results

JENNERSTOWN, PA - RIS - Defending ASA ACDelco Challenger Series Champion Tony Raines took time off from his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series chores to stop by Jennerstown Speedway and and collect the winners share of the purse in the Jennerstown 300.

With just 39 laps left in the race, Raines took the Gillund Enterprises Pontiac to the outside of veteran Mike Miller's AFC 1000/ Uniseal Pontiac and held on for the win. Raines collected $12,610 for the days work in a race that was decided by pit and tire strategy. Raines chose to it with 100 laps remaining while Miller had pitted fifty laps earlier. The fresher tires on Raines' Pontiac proved to be the difference as Raines closed on Miller under caution and then on lap 260 he went to the outside. the two cars raced side-by-side for nearly the entire lap before Raines was able to edge ahead.

"This was a lot of fun," Raines commented afterwards. "I felt like this place owed me one. I've had races here that I should have won but didn't. The car was perfect. This was a tough race. But I know that Mike (Miller) is a good driver and I knew he would hold his line in the corner and race me clean."

As part of the tradition that goes with the Jennerstown win, Raines doffed the cowboy hat of the late Jennerstown promoter 'Piney' Lakey.

"I always wanted to wear that hat," Raines said. "Last year we had a great season and won the championship, this shows that I earned that championship."

Miller said his strategy before the race was to make three stops for tires, and that the team made a spring change before the race that resulted in the car becoming loose towards the end.

"We monitored the guys that pitted early," he said. "We found that after 20 laps their times would fall of to what they were running before they put on new tires. Our original plan was to stop for right side tires twice and left sides once, maybe we should have. I was trying to catch Tony (Raines) on the restarts, but I couldn't get to the outside. I made a mistake by giving him the outside line."

Pole sitter Gary St. Amant led the first lap in the Wynn's Chevrolet, but Kevin Cywinski passed him on lap 2 and assumed the point for the next 118 laps. St. Amant was involved in an incident that cost him two laps on the 83rd circuit when his end climbed up on the front of another car and he was left sitting there helplessly while the field passed him by. The race was slowed by 16 cautions for a total of 81 laps.

Perhaps the fastest car on the track for the entire race was the St Louis Gear/Royal Machine Pontiac of Rick Beebe. Beebe lost two laps early in the event and then charged through the field twice as he made up both laps and finished in the fourth spot. Harold Fair put the Car Quest/ACDelco/Dana Pontiac in third at the checkers.

1996 ASA ACDelco Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie of the Year Kevin Cywinski finished in the ninth spot to preserve his position atop the points. Dave Sensiba used a fifth place finish to close the gap on Cywinski to just 27 markers after four of the 20 events scheduled for 1997.

The next stop on the ASA ACDelco Challenge Series will be a doubleheader at Tri-City Speedway and Berlin Raceway on June 6 and 7.

John Kaiser, Racing Information Systems

Jennerstown Speedway - RIS - Provisional results for the ASA ACDelco Challenge Series, Jennerstown 300: Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps -- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- ----- 1 2 Tony Raines Gillund Enterprises/Justice Bros PONT 300 2 18 Mike Miller South East Air Service PONT 300 3 81 Harold Fair Car Quest/ACDelco/Victor Reinz PONT 300 4 23 Rick Beebe St Louis Gear/Royal Machine PONT 300 5 6 Dave Sensiba Engineered Polymer/W MI Auto AuctPONT 300 6 07 Jack Landis Adirondak/Lyndaker/Maisto/N.YoderFORD 300 7 52 Scott Hansen AFCO Racing Products PONT 300 8 32 Ted Smokstad Corp. Auto/SMS Parts PONT 300 9 1 Kevin Cywinski Coleman Racing Products PONT 300 10 31 Rick Miller Precision Chassis CHEV 300 11 26 Bill Baird Spee-Dee Pop Popcorn/Saturn Mach CHEV 300 12 55 Tim Sauter (R) Leo M/S/Wehr/Racing Adventures PONT 299 13 51 Brandon Sperling Sperling Motorsports CHEV 299 14 8 Mike Garvey AFCO Racing Products PONT 299 15 56 Brett Bell Wunder-Bar/Red Line Oil FORD 299 16 7 Gary St Amant Wynn's/W Michigan Chevy Dealers CHEV 298 17 3 Harold Fair Jr American Red Cross CHEV 298 18 58 Billy Turner Sanifill/Central Fiber PONT 297 19 72 Junior Hanley Skillman Motorsports PONT 297 20 84 Bob Senneker Lane Auto/JR Automation/Mr GasketFORD 297 21 40 Peter Cozzolino McDonalds/Raabe Ford FORD 297 22 98 Todd Forbes Axle Handler/Ridgeway FORD 294 23 11 Doug Mayr(R) No Touch Car Care/Aqua Splash CHEV 294 24 66 Kurt Hough (R) New Plaestine Drywall PONT 292 25 33 Brad Loney Bunsaver/Hunter's Spec/Flexsteel PONT 285 26 79 Mike Cofer (R) Black & Decker Versa Pack PONT 272 27 35 Buddy Schrock Big A Auto Parts/UniDial CHEV 256 28 5 Steve Holzhausen Structural Transport FORD 252 29 48 Joe Nott Valvoline/Allan Nott Toyota/RaabeFORD 240 30 0 Tom Jones Jones Motorsports PONT 208 31 88 Mike Eddy GM Goodwrench Service/HRE PONT 180 32 86 Aaron Hough Lee's Inn and Suites PONT 171 33 28 Tim Taylor(R) EMAS Inc/RPS/D-A/Speedway Auto PONT 150 34 80 Greg Freed Detroit Wrecker/Dearborn Hts PlumCHEV 85 35 12 Robbie Pyle Dick's Auto Parts/Classic Trans PONT 82 36 87 Steve Carlson(R)Baker Enterprises/Clean Burn PONT 47 37 93 Alec Pinsonneault Build-A-Mold/Trimplas/Moldplas PONT 41 (R)= Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie Candidate Time of Race : 2 hrs 25 min 1 sec Average Speed : 64.793 mph Margin of Victory : .317 secs Lap Leaders : St Amant, Hanley, Cywinski, Raines, Sensiba, Miller Cautions : 16 for 81 laps Track Length : 0.5220 Miles John Kaiser RIS/AL