By Jean Lynch
TAMPA, FL…..2/16/08…..”I thought if we could make a race here at East Bay Raceway Park, I would be so proud,” shouted a truly excited “Lucky Louie” Krushansky out of Morgantown WF in his interview with announcer Chris Stephan in victory circle Saturday night after winning the biggest race of his career, the Open Wheel Modified Winternationals worth $8,000.
Krushansky fought hard to become the ninth different winner of the 75-lap event, which saw seven different lead changes among four drivers. His winning move coming on the bottom groove in turn three with just two laps to go when Jared Landers slipped high.
“I had never raced here before and this year, my wife Barbara and I were just going to lay on the beach for three days, then race for three days, then go home,” the winner explained. “But my wife got the flu and couldn’t come and my Daughter Misty couldn’t get off work, so the guys and I headed here with this two year old GRS race car built by , just hoping to make a feature and go home happy.”
“I cooled it for a long time, then I finally decided to go after the 50 lap mark. I’m so proud to be a winner here,” claimed the regular AMRA Road Warrior Tour Championship driver who normally runs Elkins, Roaring Knob and Tyler County Speedways.
His team includes Ray Perkins and his wife Pam, who serves as Team Manager/Runner, Kevin Bernoski and Dan Johnson. Together the team decided to use Friday night’s setup and only put two new tires on the car, adjusted the valves, added fuel and were ready to race tonight. Using a four-year old Performance Engineering race engine built by Bryan Mitchell out of Belington WV, the combination seemed perfect for “Lucky Louie” who calls himself a ‘bottom feeder’. The three times he led the race all came by powering by on the bottom groove. The crew believes the horseshoes painted on the roof of the car bring good luck, too.
Sponsors that made the trip possible for Krushansky include Dalton Brothers Lumber Co., Tri Valley Equipment, Metro Property, Key Contracting, Colors Plus Paint, Chippy’s, Finish Line Motors,
The top six drivers in accumulated points for the two previous nights drew for starting positions. Landers and Ray Guss, Jr. started in the front row and Roger Crouse and Randle Sweeney were in row two. Krushansky and Tyler Ivey made up row three.
It was Guss who led the first 29 laps before Jeff Mathews took over with an inside move in turns three and four. A mandatory fuel only stop occurred on lap 39 and when racing resumed, Landers dove inside Mathews on lap 44 in turn one and led lap 45. Krushansky led for the first time when he passed Landers on the inside in turn one on lap 57. Swopping the lead again, Landers took charge again on the front stretch, but Krushansky came back to lead the next two laps before Landers moved ahead on the outside in what he thought would be his winning move.
At this point, “Lucky Louie” thought coming home second in his biggest race was going to be OK, but Landers pushed high in turn three coming to complete lap 74 and Krushansky made his winning move on the bottom, of course.
Sweeney finished a strong third with Ivey fourth and Devin Dixon came from 23rd original starting spot and a spin on lap 43 which caused him to restart last, up to finish fifth. Rounding out the top 10 it was Ray Guss, Jr. who pitted for a flat tire on lap 39, Jeff Mathews, Darrell Nelson, Roger Crouse and Brady Short.
A total of 82 cars competed on this final night with the two C-Mains won by Vic Vena and Dakota Stephens while the B-Mains advanced Denny Schwartz, Tim Moore, Jesse Stovall, Jason Miller, Justin Meeks, Darrell Nelson, Jeff Bland and Jamie Burrows to the A-Main.
STATS – OPEN WHEELMODIFIEDS - EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK – SATURDAY, 2/16/08
Top 6 in Points are Locked into A Main – 1)Jared Landers 2)Tyler Ivey 3)Louie Krushansky 4)Ray Guss, Jr. 5)Randle Sweeney 6)Roger Crouse
1st Heat – 1)Jeff Mathews 2)Tim Moore 3)Eric Bruce 4)Marty Hiser 5)Mike Spatola, III 6)Dale Mathison 7)Mike Wedelstadt 8)Derek Groomer 9)Ralph Groomer 10)Steven Miller
2nd Heat – 1)Randy Hall 2)Denny Schwartz 3)Kenny Johnson 4)Jason Miller 5)William Harrison 6)Shane Burrows 7)Mark Herbert 8)Dennis Haven 9)Mark Noble 10)Joey Jensen
3rd Heat – 1)Tim Hancock 2)Kent Robinson 3)Austin Sanders 4)Robbie McClain 5)Frank Marshall 6)Bruce Harvey 7)Rich Michael 8)Matt Miller 9)Darrell George 10)Ricky Arms
4th Heat – 1)Gary Cook, Jr. 2)Jesse Stovall 3)Scott Drake 4)John Bradley 5)Dale Kelley 6)Vic Vena 7)Kevin DeYoung 8)Don Lamb 9)Devin Gilpin 10)Julie McDermid DNS
5th Heat – 1)Chad Evans 2)Darrell Nelson 3)Rich Robinson, Jr. 4)Curt Gelling 5)Terry McClintock 6)Tim Barrett 7)Terry Haven 8)Rich Lofthus 9)Charles Patrick
6th Heat – 1)Dave Cain 2)Perry Brown 3)Devin Dixon 4)Jeff Bland 5)Bobby Dixon 6)Dakotah Stephens 7)Thomas Sigler 8)Matthew Fetterhoff 9)Derek Hanson
7th Heat – 1)Dave Hess, Jr. 2)Justin Meeks 3)Wayne Hammond 4)Dave Groves 5)Butch Weisser 6)Kevin Maddox 7)Rob Fuqua 8)Rick Auckland 9)Gary Eicher
8th Heat – 1)Brady Short 2)Jamie Burrows 3)Ben Stephens 4)Shane Sabraski 5)Nate Caruth 6)Rick Conoyer 7)Alex Boerner 8)Jordan Whitehead 9)Mike Harrison
1st C – Main (Top 4 go to back of 1st B) – 1)Vic Vena 2)Mark Noble 3)Rich Michael 4)Mike Wedelstadt 5)Kevin DeYoung 6)Matt Miller 7)Darrell George 8)Dennis Haven 9)Shane Burrows 10)Bruce Harvey 11)Dale Mathison 12)Ralph Groomer 13)Derek Groomer 14)Devin Gilpin 15)Mark Herbert 16)Don Lamb DNS 17)Steven Miller DNS 18)Joey Jensen DNS 19)Ricky Arms DNS 20)Julie McDermid DNS
2nd C – Main (Top 4 go to back of 2nd B) – 1)Dakotah Stephens 2)Rick Auckland 3)Thomas Sigler 4)Terry Haven 5)Kevin Maddox 6)Matthew Fetterhoff 7)Derek Hanson 8)Alex Boerner 9)Rick Conoyer 10)Rob Fuqua 11)Tim Barrett 12)Charles Patrick 13)Rich Lofthus DNS 14)Jordan Whitehead DNS 15)Gary Eicher DNS 16)Mike Harrison DNS
1st B – Main (Top 4 go to back of A inside row) – 1)Denny Schwartz 2)Tim Moore 3)Jesse Stovall 4)Jason Miller 5)Scott Drake 6)Kent Robinson 7)Mark Noble 8)Mike Spatola, III 9)Frank Marshall 10)Austin Sanders 11)William Harrison 12)Mike Wedelstadt 13)Dale Kelley 14)Vic Vena 15)Kenny Johnson 16)Robbie McClain 17)John Bradley 18)Eric Bruce 19)Marty Hiser DNS 20)Rich Michael DNS
2nd B – Main (Top 4 go to back of A outside row) – 1)Justin Meeks 2)Darrell Nelson 3)Jeff Bland 4)Jamie Burrows 5)Rick Auckland 6)Bobby Dixon 7)Dave Groves 8)Dakotah Stephens 9)Butch Weisser 10)Devin Dixon 11)Terry Haven 12)Ben Stephens 13)Wayne Hammond 14)Rich Robinson, Jr. 15)Curt Gelling 16)Shane Sabraski 17)Thomas Sigler 18)Perry Brown 19)Terry McClintock 20)Nate Caruth
2 Provisionals – 1)Devin Dixon (Past Champion) 2)Dale Kelley (Highest in points for East Bay)
A – Main (75 Laps) – 1)Louie Krushansky 2)Jared Landers 3)Randle Sweeney 4)Tyler Ivey 5)Devin Dixon 6)Ray Guss, Jr. 7)Jeff Mathews 8)Darrell Nelson 9)Roger Crouse 10)Brady Short 11)Gary Cook, Jr. 12)Jesse Stovall 13)Jamie Burrows 14)Chad Evans 15)Dale Kelley 16)Tim Moore 17)Jeff Bland 18)Jason Miller 19)Randy Hall 20)Denny Schwartz 21)Dave Cain 22)Tim Hancock 23)Justin Meeks 24)Dave Hess Jr. DQ
TAMPA, FL…..2/16/08…..”I thought if we could make a race here at East Bay Raceway Park, I would be so proud,” shouted a truly excited “Lucky Louie” Krushansky out of Morgantown WF in his interview with announcer Chris Stephan in victory circle Saturday night after winning the biggest race of his career, the Open Wheel Modified Winternationals worth $8,000.
Krushansky fought hard to become the ninth different winner of the 75-lap event, which saw seven different lead changes among four drivers. His winning move coming on the bottom groove in turn three with just two laps to go when Jared Landers slipped high.
“I had never raced here before and this year, my wife Barbara and I were just going to lay on the beach for three days, then race for three days, then go home,” the winner explained. “But my wife got the flu and couldn’t come and my Daughter Misty couldn’t get off work, so the guys and I headed here with this two year old GRS race car built by , just hoping to make a feature and go home happy.”
“I cooled it for a long time, then I finally decided to go after the 50 lap mark. I’m so proud to be a winner here,” claimed the regular AMRA Road Warrior Tour Championship driver who normally runs Elkins, Roaring Knob and Tyler County Speedways.
His team includes Ray Perkins and his wife Pam, who serves as Team Manager/Runner, Kevin Bernoski and Dan Johnson. Together the team decided to use Friday night’s setup and only put two new tires on the car, adjusted the valves, added fuel and were ready to race tonight. Using a four-year old Performance Engineering race engine built by Bryan Mitchell out of Belington WV, the combination seemed perfect for “Lucky Louie” who calls himself a ‘bottom feeder’. The three times he led the race all came by powering by on the bottom groove. The crew believes the horseshoes painted on the roof of the car bring good luck, too.
Sponsors that made the trip possible for Krushansky include Dalton Brothers Lumber Co., Tri Valley Equipment, Metro Property, Key Contracting, Colors Plus Paint, Chippy’s, Finish Line Motors,
The top six drivers in accumulated points for the two previous nights drew for starting positions. Landers and Ray Guss, Jr. started in the front row and Roger Crouse and Randle Sweeney were in row two. Krushansky and Tyler Ivey made up row three.
It was Guss who led the first 29 laps before Jeff Mathews took over with an inside move in turns three and four. A mandatory fuel only stop occurred on lap 39 and when racing resumed, Landers dove inside Mathews on lap 44 in turn one and led lap 45. Krushansky led for the first time when he passed Landers on the inside in turn one on lap 57. Swopping the lead again, Landers took charge again on the front stretch, but Krushansky came back to lead the next two laps before Landers moved ahead on the outside in what he thought would be his winning move.
At this point, “Lucky Louie” thought coming home second in his biggest race was going to be OK, but Landers pushed high in turn three coming to complete lap 74 and Krushansky made his winning move on the bottom, of course.
Sweeney finished a strong third with Ivey fourth and Devin Dixon came from 23rd original starting spot and a spin on lap 43 which caused him to restart last, up to finish fifth. Rounding out the top 10 it was Ray Guss, Jr. who pitted for a flat tire on lap 39, Jeff Mathews, Darrell Nelson, Roger Crouse and Brady Short.
A total of 82 cars competed on this final night with the two C-Mains won by Vic Vena and Dakota Stephens while the B-Mains advanced Denny Schwartz, Tim Moore, Jesse Stovall, Jason Miller, Justin Meeks, Darrell Nelson, Jeff Bland and Jamie Burrows to the A-Main.
STATS – OPEN WHEELMODIFIEDS - EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK – SATURDAY, 2/16/08
Top 6 in Points are Locked into A Main – 1)Jared Landers 2)Tyler Ivey 3)Louie Krushansky 4)Ray Guss, Jr. 5)Randle Sweeney 6)Roger Crouse
1st Heat – 1)Jeff Mathews 2)Tim Moore 3)Eric Bruce 4)Marty Hiser 5)Mike Spatola, III 6)Dale Mathison 7)Mike Wedelstadt 8)Derek Groomer 9)Ralph Groomer 10)Steven Miller
2nd Heat – 1)Randy Hall 2)Denny Schwartz 3)Kenny Johnson 4)Jason Miller 5)William Harrison 6)Shane Burrows 7)Mark Herbert 8)Dennis Haven 9)Mark Noble 10)Joey Jensen
3rd Heat – 1)Tim Hancock 2)Kent Robinson 3)Austin Sanders 4)Robbie McClain 5)Frank Marshall 6)Bruce Harvey 7)Rich Michael 8)Matt Miller 9)Darrell George 10)Ricky Arms
4th Heat – 1)Gary Cook, Jr. 2)Jesse Stovall 3)Scott Drake 4)John Bradley 5)Dale Kelley 6)Vic Vena 7)Kevin DeYoung 8)Don Lamb 9)Devin Gilpin 10)Julie McDermid DNS
5th Heat – 1)Chad Evans 2)Darrell Nelson 3)Rich Robinson, Jr. 4)Curt Gelling 5)Terry McClintock 6)Tim Barrett 7)Terry Haven 8)Rich Lofthus 9)Charles Patrick
6th Heat – 1)Dave Cain 2)Perry Brown 3)Devin Dixon 4)Jeff Bland 5)Bobby Dixon 6)Dakotah Stephens 7)Thomas Sigler 8)Matthew Fetterhoff 9)Derek Hanson
7th Heat – 1)Dave Hess, Jr. 2)Justin Meeks 3)Wayne Hammond 4)Dave Groves 5)Butch Weisser 6)Kevin Maddox 7)Rob Fuqua 8)Rick Auckland 9)Gary Eicher
8th Heat – 1)Brady Short 2)Jamie Burrows 3)Ben Stephens 4)Shane Sabraski 5)Nate Caruth 6)Rick Conoyer 7)Alex Boerner 8)Jordan Whitehead 9)Mike Harrison
1st C – Main (Top 4 go to back of 1st B) – 1)Vic Vena 2)Mark Noble 3)Rich Michael 4)Mike Wedelstadt 5)Kevin DeYoung 6)Matt Miller 7)Darrell George 8)Dennis Haven 9)Shane Burrows 10)Bruce Harvey 11)Dale Mathison 12)Ralph Groomer 13)Derek Groomer 14)Devin Gilpin 15)Mark Herbert 16)Don Lamb DNS 17)Steven Miller DNS 18)Joey Jensen DNS 19)Ricky Arms DNS 20)Julie McDermid DNS
2nd C – Main (Top 4 go to back of 2nd B) – 1)Dakotah Stephens 2)Rick Auckland 3)Thomas Sigler 4)Terry Haven 5)Kevin Maddox 6)Matthew Fetterhoff 7)Derek Hanson 8)Alex Boerner 9)Rick Conoyer 10)Rob Fuqua 11)Tim Barrett 12)Charles Patrick 13)Rich Lofthus DNS 14)Jordan Whitehead DNS 15)Gary Eicher DNS 16)Mike Harrison DNS
1st B – Main (Top 4 go to back of A inside row) – 1)Denny Schwartz 2)Tim Moore 3)Jesse Stovall 4)Jason Miller 5)Scott Drake 6)Kent Robinson 7)Mark Noble 8)Mike Spatola, III 9)Frank Marshall 10)Austin Sanders 11)William Harrison 12)Mike Wedelstadt 13)Dale Kelley 14)Vic Vena 15)Kenny Johnson 16)Robbie McClain 17)John Bradley 18)Eric Bruce 19)Marty Hiser DNS 20)Rich Michael DNS
2nd B – Main (Top 4 go to back of A outside row) – 1)Justin Meeks 2)Darrell Nelson 3)Jeff Bland 4)Jamie Burrows 5)Rick Auckland 6)Bobby Dixon 7)Dave Groves 8)Dakotah Stephens 9)Butch Weisser 10)Devin Dixon 11)Terry Haven 12)Ben Stephens 13)Wayne Hammond 14)Rich Robinson, Jr. 15)Curt Gelling 16)Shane Sabraski 17)Thomas Sigler 18)Perry Brown 19)Terry McClintock 20)Nate Caruth
2 Provisionals – 1)Devin Dixon (Past Champion) 2)Dale Kelley (Highest in points for East Bay)
A – Main (75 Laps) – 1)Louie Krushansky 2)Jared Landers 3)Randle Sweeney 4)Tyler Ivey 5)Devin Dixon 6)Ray Guss, Jr. 7)Jeff Mathews 8)Darrell Nelson 9)Roger Crouse 10)Brady Short 11)Gary Cook, Jr. 12)Jesse Stovall 13)Jamie Burrows 14)Chad Evans 15)Dale Kelley 16)Tim Moore 17)Jeff Bland 18)Jason Miller 19)Randy Hall 20)Denny Schwartz 21)Dave Cain 22)Tim Hancock 23)Justin Meeks 24)Dave Hess Jr. DQ
