Sodeman, Unverzagt, Dietz, and Cipriano Win at Tri-City Raceway Park; Maskal and Urey Split Twin Mini Stock Features
(Franklin, PA August 14, 2022): Jack Sodeman, Jr. picked a perfect time to score his first victory of the season in the Shawgo Real Estate LLC 410 Sprint Cars. With his point lead shrinking, Sodeman changed the narrative by beating his challenger, A.J. Flick, in both the heat and feature events! Plus, veteran racer Sid Unverzagt, Jr. took his first victory at Tri-City Raceway Park in the Donovan & Bauer Auto Group 358 Modifieds.
Also grabbing wins were Tyler Dietz in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Pro Stocks and Ayden Cipriano in the RUSH Sportsmen Modifieds. Sharing the glory in the 4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks were Levi “the Rascal” Maskal and Matt Urey.
The twenty-five lap feature for the Shawgo Real Estate LLC 410 Sprint cars started with Bob Felmlee and Brandon Matus sharing the front row. Matus led the first round of the big oval, but Felmlee took control on lap two. He built an advantage in the early going, but his competition was gaining on him as the field approached halfway.
Soon after the crossed flags were displayed, Matus and third-starting Jack Sodeman, Jr. caught the leader. Sodeman took second from last year’s champion on lap fourteen. One lap later, Sodeman went by Felmlee for the lead. Matus followed him into second at that point, but Sodeman began to pull away from him.
With the laps winding down, Sodeman continued to lead despite his engine sounding sour. At the white flag, A.J. Flick passed Matus for second. However, Sodeman held on for the win.
The victory was Sodeman’s first of the season at Tri-City Raceway Park and his fourth all-time. The multi-time champion currently leads Flick by twenty-five points.
“With seven to go (the engine) picked up a miss,” Sodeman explained after the event. “But, I’m the one that pays the bills, and we needed a win.” He later added, “we will know for sure tomorrow what is wrong with it.”
Behind Sodeman at the finish was Flick, who was second in the race and also in the championship standings. Defending kingpin, Matus, matched his best finish of the season, with a third. Last week’s winner, Carl Bowser, was fourth, with Felmlee fifth.
The lone heat race for the Shawgo Real Estate LLC 410 Sprint Cars was won by Jeremy Weaver.
A happy Sid Unverzagt, Jr. raced to his first career win at Tri-City Raceway Park in the the non-stop Donovan & Bauer Auto Group 358 Modified feature. Unverzagt and Eric Beggs led the field to the green with Unverzagt taking the lead. Unverzagt pulled away from the pack as Beggs was feeling pressure for the second spot from fifth-starting Garrett Krummert. At lap nine, Krummert passed Beggs for second, but Unverzagt had a lengthy advantage at the time.
Lap after lap, Krummert gained ground on the leader. With two laps remaining, Krummert was right on Unverzagt’s back bumper. With Unverzagt glued to the low groove, Krummert gave it his best shot to make the the outside line work for a pass. Krummert would have to settle for a close second though.
Beggs had the best finish of the season in third. Tom Glenn made his first appearance count with a fourth place finish. Jimmy Holden was back in his regular ride and came home in fifth.
Taking the preliminaries for the Donovan & Bauer Auto Group 358 Modifieds were Eric Beggs and Tom Glenn.
An added attraction to the racing program on this night was the RUSH Sportsmen Modifieds. It was their first appearance at the speedway in two years, Fourteen cars signed in, with the heat races going to Jacob Jordan and Lucas Canon.
Ayden Cipriano won the draw for the pole position, and Canon joined him on the front row, Cipriano led the twenty-lap main form start to finish. Second through fourth changed hands, with J.C. Boyer holding the second spot over double-duty Krummert and Canon before the caution waved for the first incident on lap six.
Through another restart on lap seven, Cipriano continued to show the way. Fifth-starting Ben Easler was on the move, taking second from Boyer on lap eleven. The final caution period on lap seventeen slowed the pace, setting up a side by side restart in the three-lap dash for the victory.
Cipriano took his second checkered flag of the weekend by holding off the challenges from Easler over the final three rounds. He earned $1,000 for the triumph, courtesy of Turn Four Toilets.
Behind Easler in second were Boyer, Krummert, and Eric Gabany.
The redraw for the fifteen lap feature for the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Pro Stocks saw the top spots going to the last two eligible drivers, Jason Johns and Joey Zambotti. With just a handful of starts at Tri-City on his resume, Zambotti outgunned the fourteen-time winner, Johns, for the early lead.
The restart following the first caution cost Zambotti his lead, as Tyler Dietz passed him entering turn three to become the new leader. A caution on the next lap gave Zambotti another chance, but Dietz went on to score his first win at the track.
Zambotti was a close second over Johns, Charlie McMillen, and Aden Boozel. Point leader Pat Fielding withdrew late in the race and was credited with eighth place.
A pair of Tylers–Wyant and Dietz–prevailed in the heat races for the Hovis Auto and Truck Supply Pro Stocks.
The 4 Your Car Connection Mini Stock division competed in two feature events. The twelve lapper that opened the program was a hold over from the rain-shortened August 7 event.
In that race, Bodey McClintock and Matt Urey brought the field to the green flag. McClintock led from the start, but several racers got together in the first and second turns on the opening lap. They all managed to keep moving, so the green light stayed on. McClintock remained out front for the first three trips around the speedway before the point leader, Levi Maskal, raced by.
Maskal the Rascal led the led the remainder of the contest without interruption for his fifth victory of the season over Todd Hanlon, Dalton Speer, McClintock, and Adam Aley.
The night’s regularly scheduled feature event closed out the racing program. Dalton Speer and Tyler Ellenberger brought the field to the green, with Speer leading the first round before the most serious incident of the night occurred, Dillon Thorne lost a wheel exiting turn four, with his car spinning and rolling over.
Another tangle came on the attempted restart.
From there, Speer continued to lead before being challenged by by Matt Urey. Urey passed Speer for the lead on lap four and raced to his second win of the year. Maskal, Speer, Chad Greeley, and Mike Barr rounded out the top five.
In the 4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks, Levi Maskal and Matt Urey split the heat race wins.
Remember that the World of Outlaws Late Models will return to Tri-City Raceway Park next Sunday, August 21. Joining them will be the 4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks, with additional money on the line. They will race for $700 to win and $70 to start.
Then, on August 28, the Shawgo Real Estate LLC 410 Sprint Cars will take on the stars of the FAST Series (formerly the Fremont Attica Sprint Tour). Details are being finalized for that race, but you can be sure that extra money will be on the line. Also on the card that evening will be 305 Sprint Cars, and the 4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks. Plus, the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Pro Stocks will compete in a pair of features, as the make-up race from August 7 will be part of the program.
Further information about Tri-City Raceway Park can be obtained by calling the track office at 724-967-4601, or by e-mailing the office at tricityracewaypark2020@gmail.com. Or, you can check the web at Tri-CityRacewayPark.com, or the Facebook page at Tri City Raceway Park. Tri-City Raceway Park is located just a few miles north of Franklin, PA, at 3430 State Route 417 in Oakland Township.
Shawgo Real Eastat LLC 410 Sprints: Jack Sodeman, Jr., A.J. Flick, Brandon Matus, Carl Bowser, Bob Felmlee, Leyton Wagner, Logan McCandless, Jeremy Weaver, Brent Matus.
Donovan & Bauer Auto Group 358 Modifieds: Sid Unverzagt, Jr., Garrett Krummert, Eric Beggs, Tom Glenn, Jimmy Holden, Austin Eyler, Kevin Hoffman, Lonny Riggs, Jimmy Parenti, Jr.
RUSH Modifieds: Ayden Cipriano, Ben Easler, J.C. Boyer, Garrett Krummert, Eric Gabany, Jacob Jordan, Jacob Rutana. Cole Edwards, Doug Rutana, Lucas Canon, Cory Riffe, Jordan Ehrenberg, Brandon Ritchey.
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply pro Stocks: Tyler Dietz, Joey Zambotti, Jason Johns, Charlie McMillen, Aden Boozel, Tyler Wyant, Gary Miller, jr., Pat Fielding, Aaron Smith, Doug Iorio, II.
4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks (makeup feature form 8-7-22): Levi Maskal, Todd Hanlon, Dalton Speer, Bodey McClintock, Adam Aley, Thomas Warren, Dillon Thorne, Tyler Ellenberger, Chad greeley, Paul Marsh, Jr., Kevin Wice, Matt Urey, D.L. Macrae, Ben Aley (DNS).
4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks (regular feature): Matt Urey, levi Maskal, Dalton Speer, Chad Greeley, Mike Barr, Paul Marsh, Jr., Kevin Wice, D.J. Macrae, Todd Hanlon, Thomas Warren, Adam Aley, Tyler Ellenberger, Bodey McClintock, Cody Baughman, Dillon Thorne, Rick Feely (DNS).