SpeedSTR
07-14-2008, 10:02 PM
Nick Pecko of Vandling, PA, who recently turned 16 (July 1), was victorious in the Weikel Racewear SpeedSTR series at the Shenandoah Speedway over Rich Tobias and Ray Evernham. Willy Evernham led the field to the green after winning the first Dash presented by Bilstein shocks, but it was the 16-year-old sensation leading the first lap from his fourth place starting position. Pecko who won the Slingshot by Tobias National Championship in 2006 has quickly adapted to these high-powered vehicles. He has been on the podium 4 out of 5 races this season and his consistency and smoothness have given him an 87-point lead over Doug Rose.
Rich Tobias who started 6th wasted no time going to the front as well, Tobias explained, “I knew they would all bunch up on the bottom in turn one so I went to the top, I thought for sure we would be leading out of two, but it jammed up a bit and I had to settle in third.” Ray Evernham followed Tobias through to fourth; several laps later Tobias and Evernham would both shuffle Willy Evernham back to fourth taking over the second and third positions.
While all this was going on eighth place starter and the winner of the first Shenandoah event Gary Hieber had worked his way to fifth. Hieber could make his STR work on the top and the bottom. He set fast time in the Dashes, as well as the feature. As Evernham worked on Tobias, Hieber was sizing up the #98 and soon would take over the third position.
The action was hot and heavy in the middle of the pack as the Karting graduate Jeff Gallup of Baldwinsville, NY was working hard on the 95 of Doug Rose as Rose was looking for room to get by the USA1 of Steve Hicks. Contact was made between Gallup and Rose allowing 11th Place Starter Billy V to slip by Gallup. Meanwhile Rose dove in hard on Hicks and slid up in front to crack the top five. After the race Billy V. added “It was fun to watch Doug put that slide job on Steve, you don’t see that a lot on the pavement”
The first caution flew on lap 17, bunching the field back up. As they went back to green Tobias did all he could with cross over moves and trying the high side, but Pecko was too strong and drove off to a 0.090 margin of victory over Tobias and Evernham. Billy V. pulled an outside pass on Rose with 2 to go to grab the 4th place spot, Rose would round out the top 5.
Notes:
At intermission the fans were treated to a wonderful autograph session with Erin Crocker and Ray Evernham. Both Evernham and Crocker have grasped a hold of this series and have shown their dedicated to it’s future. The Shenandoah Staff did a great job promoting the SpeedSTR series and had a good crowd on hand as well as the local TV station. Shenandoah track director JJ James stated, “Our fans love having you guys here, the action is very intense lap after lap.”
Another Slingshot graduate, Kyle Hieber (son of Gary Hieber) drove the #17 Tobias entry to an impressive 6th place finish. Kyle also had the 5th fastest lap time in the feature event. The Boys from Speedway Entertainment have been very impressed with all the Slingshot guys that have jumped into SpeedSTR’s and have been fast and competitive right out of the box.
The Weikel Racewear STR tour is headed back to New Egypt this weekend. The previous event was very exciting with last lap passes between, Pecko, Tobias and Billy “The Kid” Pauch had the fans on the edge of their seats, with Pauch coming out victorious in the Evernham 98.
Weikel Racewear Feature Results:
1. Nick Pecko (NEP/Napa 42, Vandling, PA), 2. Rich Tobias (Lotier 7L, Hershey, PA), 3. Ray Evernham (Evernham 98, Charlotte, NC), 4. Billy Van Inwegen Jr. (Future Racing 23, Sparrow Bush, NY), 5. Doug Rose (Amrose Motorsports 95, Temple, PA), 6. Kyle Hieber (Tobias 17, Allentown, PA), 7. Steve Hicks (Hicks Motorsports USA1, Doyalstown, PA), 8. Willy Evernham (Evernham 9E, Mooresville, NC), 9. Jeff Gallup (Gallup Racing 9, Baldwinsville, NY), 10. Gary Hieber (Bucks County International 6, Langhorne, PA) 11. Erin Crocker (Erin Crocker 19, Wilbraham, MA), 12. Ken Jones (Jones Racing 8, Princeton, NJ). 13. Andy Burkhart (Burkhart Bros. 87, Temple, PA)
Bilstein dash 1 winner: Willy Evernham
Fragola dash 2 winner: Doug Rose
Check us out on the Web at www.SpeedSTR.biz
Rich Tobias who started 6th wasted no time going to the front as well, Tobias explained, “I knew they would all bunch up on the bottom in turn one so I went to the top, I thought for sure we would be leading out of two, but it jammed up a bit and I had to settle in third.” Ray Evernham followed Tobias through to fourth; several laps later Tobias and Evernham would both shuffle Willy Evernham back to fourth taking over the second and third positions.
While all this was going on eighth place starter and the winner of the first Shenandoah event Gary Hieber had worked his way to fifth. Hieber could make his STR work on the top and the bottom. He set fast time in the Dashes, as well as the feature. As Evernham worked on Tobias, Hieber was sizing up the #98 and soon would take over the third position.
The action was hot and heavy in the middle of the pack as the Karting graduate Jeff Gallup of Baldwinsville, NY was working hard on the 95 of Doug Rose as Rose was looking for room to get by the USA1 of Steve Hicks. Contact was made between Gallup and Rose allowing 11th Place Starter Billy V to slip by Gallup. Meanwhile Rose dove in hard on Hicks and slid up in front to crack the top five. After the race Billy V. added “It was fun to watch Doug put that slide job on Steve, you don’t see that a lot on the pavement”
The first caution flew on lap 17, bunching the field back up. As they went back to green Tobias did all he could with cross over moves and trying the high side, but Pecko was too strong and drove off to a 0.090 margin of victory over Tobias and Evernham. Billy V. pulled an outside pass on Rose with 2 to go to grab the 4th place spot, Rose would round out the top 5.
Notes:
At intermission the fans were treated to a wonderful autograph session with Erin Crocker and Ray Evernham. Both Evernham and Crocker have grasped a hold of this series and have shown their dedicated to it’s future. The Shenandoah Staff did a great job promoting the SpeedSTR series and had a good crowd on hand as well as the local TV station. Shenandoah track director JJ James stated, “Our fans love having you guys here, the action is very intense lap after lap.”
Another Slingshot graduate, Kyle Hieber (son of Gary Hieber) drove the #17 Tobias entry to an impressive 6th place finish. Kyle also had the 5th fastest lap time in the feature event. The Boys from Speedway Entertainment have been very impressed with all the Slingshot guys that have jumped into SpeedSTR’s and have been fast and competitive right out of the box.
The Weikel Racewear STR tour is headed back to New Egypt this weekend. The previous event was very exciting with last lap passes between, Pecko, Tobias and Billy “The Kid” Pauch had the fans on the edge of their seats, with Pauch coming out victorious in the Evernham 98.
Weikel Racewear Feature Results:
1. Nick Pecko (NEP/Napa 42, Vandling, PA), 2. Rich Tobias (Lotier 7L, Hershey, PA), 3. Ray Evernham (Evernham 98, Charlotte, NC), 4. Billy Van Inwegen Jr. (Future Racing 23, Sparrow Bush, NY), 5. Doug Rose (Amrose Motorsports 95, Temple, PA), 6. Kyle Hieber (Tobias 17, Allentown, PA), 7. Steve Hicks (Hicks Motorsports USA1, Doyalstown, PA), 8. Willy Evernham (Evernham 9E, Mooresville, NC), 9. Jeff Gallup (Gallup Racing 9, Baldwinsville, NY), 10. Gary Hieber (Bucks County International 6, Langhorne, PA) 11. Erin Crocker (Erin Crocker 19, Wilbraham, MA), 12. Ken Jones (Jones Racing 8, Princeton, NJ). 13. Andy Burkhart (Burkhart Bros. 87, Temple, PA)
Bilstein dash 1 winner: Willy Evernham
Fragola dash 2 winner: Doug Rose
Check us out on the Web at www.SpeedSTR.biz