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Koczon is Dandy in
Yankee Classic Tri-Track Race at NES
New Egypt, NJ (July 3, 2010) –
Ron John Koczon of New Egypt, NJ was on top of
his game on Saturday night as he captured the Yankee Classic 40-lap
Tri-Track Series event, sponsored by H & H Gas. It was certainly
Koczon’s night as he won the first heat of the evening, drew the pole
starting spot and then led 35 of the 40 laps in the feature to win for
the first time in two years. Koczon held off 4-time champ Billy Pauch
over the second half of the race by consistently hitting his marks lap
after lap and never making a mistake.
“I always dreamed about racing against these guys when I was a kid,”
stated an excited Koczon in victory lane, “This is great to be able to
win in front of all of the people who make all this possible.”
Koczon drew the pole and brought the 27
car field down to the green chased by many of the top drivers in the
northeast. Koczon was strong early, but an early race decision almost
cost him as he elected to restart on the inside several times despite
how well his car was working on the outside. On lap 7 it finally bit
him as Mike Barone raced around the outside of him and took the lead
for the next 5 laps till the yellow appeared again on lap 12. With
Pauch and now Jimmy Horton applying the pressure, Koczon felt the
urgency and wasted no time getting back by Barone and into the lead as
Horton made it 3 wide for the top spot. Horton ran Koczon hard till
halfway when Pauch slid up in front of Horton for second. Now it was
Pauch’s turn as he threw everything he knew at Koczon only to see the
likeable young chauffeur continue to charge around the outside.
With 7 laps to go, Pauch pulled up on Koczon’s rear bumper and tried a
slider move in turn two, only to have Koczon drive back around him
into the lead. This would prove to be Pauch’s last chance as he lost
ground that he could not make up. Koczon cruised around the top to the
checkered flag for his 4th career win at NES.
Pauch came home second with Horton losing the motor
as he crossed the line in third. Mike Hendershot drove a great
race finishing 4th while Willie Osmun completed the top five.
Rounding out the top ten were Gary Butler, Barone, Tad Cox, Frank
Cozze Jr. and last week’s winner Bobby Drayton.
In the Rislone URC Sprint Series event, Randy West of Boyertown, PA
withstood an all-out Bonzai slider move by JJ Grasso in the final two
turns to get his first ever win at NES. West grabbed the lead in the
opening laps and was the best in lapped traffic as he set a torrid
pace. He seemed to have second place Justin Collett covered when
Grasso ran the two down in the final five laps, sliding up in front of
Collett in turn 4 for second with two laps to go, setting the stage
for the final lap dramatics. Grasso, a five time winner at New Egypt
in his career, brought the crowd to their feet as he blasted under
West going into turn 3 in a move so daring that he slid all the way
out to the fence near the pit gate in turn four nearly hitting the
guardrail. West calmly let him blow on the inside, maintained his
line and drove back under him in turn four for his first win of 2010.
Grasso never let off and somehow threw the car backwards keeping him
out of the fence and shot back across the track on two wheels
finishing second much to the delight of the crowd. Collett crossed the
line in third, chased by Josh Weller and former NES hotshoe Kenny
Meisner. Former New Egypt SS Sprint standout Art Liedl finished sixth,
followed by Curt Michael, Davey Sammons, last years winner
Trevor Lewis and Kyle Purks.
The popular Big Bang Bonanza Modified Match Races saw Wade Hendrickson
winning the first 4 in a row, pocketing $200, before falling to Sam
Martz. David Van Horn then took care of Martz in the very next race,
winning three before being beaten by Rick Laubach.
This left Laubach to challenge the lone driver left, Billy Pauch.
Pauch won the 2 lap showdown and the final race purse of $500.
Next Saturday night, July 10,
New Egypt Speedway presents a full card of racing featuring the
Big-Block Modifieds along with the Crate-1 Sportsman, the FASTRAX Late
Models and the TSRS 305 Sprint Cars, beginning at 6pm. Gates open at
4pm with warm-ups starting at 5:15pm. For more
information about these events, call the speedway office at (609)
758-1900 or log on to www.newegyptspeedway.net.
NES RESULTS 7/3/10
MODIFIED RESULTS
Heat 1: 1. Ron John Koczon 2.
Sam Martz 3. Mike Hendershot 4. Brian Truppi 5. Wade Hendrickson 6.
Gary Butler
Heat 2: 1. Tom Carberry 2. Richie Pratt
Jr. 3. Keith Hoffman 4. Ryan Forte 5. Mike Barone 6. Frank Cozze
Heat 3: 1. Jimmy Horton 2. Rick
Laubach 3. Billy Pauch 4. Frank Cozze Jr. 5.
Tommy Carberry Jr. 6. Willie Osmun
B-Main: 1. Bob Drayton 2. John
Miloszar 3. David Van Horn 4. Tim Tanner Jr. 5. Mark Forte Jr. 6. Tad
Cox
Provisionals: Sean Merkel, Ryan Watt,
Clay Butler
Feature (40 Laps): 1. Ron John Koczon 2. Billy
Pauch 3. Jimmy Horton 4. Mike Hendershot 5.
Willie Osmun 6. Gary Butler 7. Mike Barone 8. Tad Cox 9. Frank Cozze
Jr. 10. Bob Drayton 11. David Van Horn 12. Ryan Watt 13. Clay Butler
14. John Miloszar 15. Frank Cozze 16. Tom Carberry 17. Tim Tanner Jr.
18. Sean Merkel 19. Ryan Forte 20. Mark Forte Jr. 21. Richie Pratt Jr.
22. Wade Hendrickson 23. Keith
Hoffman 24. Sam Martz 25. Brian Truppi 26. Tommy Carberry Jr.
DNS: Rick Laubach
DNQ:
Dominick Buffalino, John Dixon, Steve Haggan, John Salvatore Jr.
URC RESULTS
Heat 1: 1. Jonathan Swanson 2. Kenny
Meisner 3. Davey Sammons 4. Josh Weller 5. Curt Michael 6. Kramer
Williamson
Heat 2: 1. Scott Pursell 2. Randy West
3. Robbie Stillwaggon 4. Art Liedl 5. Trevor Lewis 6. Chris Coyle
Heat 3: 1. J.J. Grasso 2. Bill
Unglert 3. Justin Collett 4. Nick Schlauch Jr. 5. Kevin Nouse 6. Kevin
Darling
B-Main: 1. Kyle Purks 2. Mark Bitner 3.
Tim Hogue 4. Rory Janney 5. Andy Best 6. Tim
Higgins
Provisional: Nick Bardsley
Feature (25 Laps): 1. Randy West 2. JJ Grasso 3. Justin Collett 4.
Josh Weller 5. Kenny Meisner 6. Art Liedl 7. Curt Michael 8. Davey
Sammons 9. Trevor Lewis 10. Kyle Purks 11. Mark Bitner 12. Jonathan
Swanson 13. Scott Pursell 14. Nick Schlauch Jr. 15. Robbie Stillwaggon
16. Tim Hogue 17. Andy Best 18. Tim Higgins 19. Kevin Nouse 20. Chris
Coyle 21. Nick Bardsley 22. Kevin Darling 23. Bill Unglert 24. Kramer
Williamson 25. Rory Janney
DNQ: Kevin Welsh, Chris Weiss, Mike
Kostic |
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