Butch Getz wins on familiar territory

Driving for the Big Creek Concrete sponsored #4jr of Ritchie Everitt would bring new

challenges for Butch Getz. He returned to Penn Can Speedway not in his big block modified but

in a 600 modified .. He wondered if the car would take to the set up or blow it out the door.

The Hoosier Tire 600 modified series pulled into Penn Can on July 11th after a 3 year

hiatus.

Twenty-four drivers signed in and would qualify with only a few having raced there

previously. Advice was asked and given thru out the pits. The long straightaways and tight turns

were a challenge for some but were quickly overcome after hot laps. The consensus among the

drivers showed in the enthusiasm to get the night started.

Cody Coons, in his rookie year, would sit on the pole for the first time of the season after

qualifying for the feature thru his heat race. Heat races were won by Mike Keppler, Rob Vivona

and Butch Getz. Coons looked to keep his Penn Forest sponsored #82 out front as long as he

could until lap #5 saw the #46 of Rob Vivona take the point. Rob is a former 600 micro driver

and joined the series this year. It hasn't taken him long to get used to not having the wing and

looks stronger has the year goes on. Mike Keppler #35k, who is the current points leader, would

find himself in the back after getting spun on lap #4. He would work his way back up thru the

field and cross the checkered in 11th place. Meanwhile Chris Stockham had taken the lead by

lap#6 with Getz closing on him every lap. A caution on lap # 13 changed the race completely.

Stockham had used up his tires fending off the hard charging Getz and the #46 of Vivona. Getz

dove to the bottom on the restart and powered the car coming out of the turn to find himself in

the top spot.

Kevin Gruber, a third year driver, managed to keep his self owned #33 in the top 6 thru

out the race. George Loux, returning to his regular #48 for the first time in a few weeks was

ecstatic on how the car handled. Loux had mechanical problems a few weeks ago and used the

#84 back up car. He wanted to thank his dad, Ken, for putting a lot of garage hours in to get the

#48 back on track. Gruber and Loux would mix it up with Coons for the last seven laps. Coons

would take fourth for his highest finish of the year. Loux would cross the line followed by

Gruber for fitth and sixth place.

By this time the top three had pulled away from the field and were having a battle of

there own. Butch Getz had to pull out all the tricks to keep Vivona and Stockham at bay. People were

standing on their feet by this time as Getz was the favorite of the night. Rob Vivona would have

to settle for second as Getz would seal the deal coming out of turn four on the last lap. Chris

Stockham would come in a respectable third. Two weeks ago he was leading the race at Thunder

Mountain and would see his night end early after hitting a yuke tire. It was a huge

disappointment since it was the biggest payout of the year. Rob Vivona had a great time in tech

and hoped to be back soon.

In his victory lane interview, Butch Getz congratulated his car owner with his second win

of the season. He also stated Penn Can put a great racing surface together for the series and was

looking forward to a return trip. It was also good to see friends again and to be back in victory

lane.

The Hoosier Tire 600 modifieds will see action on two weeks starting off at Five Mile

Point Speedway to start the mid season swing.

Feature finish

BUTCH GETZ, Rob Vivona, Chris Stockham, Cody Coons, George Loux, Kevin

Gruber, Ryan Higgs, Tyler Bartik, Joe Fanelli, Ryan Suchon, Mike Keppler. Bra.d Szulewski,

Mike Pychinka, Charlie Dibble, Dillon Stein, Aaron Bowes, Jon Lakatos, Brian Kelly, Kyle

Rochinski, Mark Schaffer, Nick Mady, Jeromy Guistwite, Eric Whitbe, Bob Skoniecki