A pair of Pennsy boys (Kenny Brightbill of Sinking Spring and Keith Hoffman of Whitehall) were the big winners in the headlining Modified Division, splitting a twin 20 bill on Twins Night at New Egypt Speedway.
It took Brightbill a mere three laps to grab the lead in the first of the twin 20-lap Modified features, with Billy Pauch and Keith Hoffman in quick pursuit. The hot trio ran hard and heavy-footed around the half-mile tri-oval, but Brightbill ultimately had the upper hand. It was an easy cruise under the black-and-white for Brightbill, recording his 25th career win at New Egypt. Pauch, Hoffman, Bob Drayton and opening night winner Mark Bitner followed Brightbill under the flag.
In the second 20-lapper, fans were treated to a wild run of spot-swapping with Rick Grosso Jr., Pauch, Brightbill, Frank Cozze and eventual winner Hoffman pulling out all the stops. Although action was halted when Korey Keimig barrel-rolled in turn two with four to go, the race was far from over. On the final lap, in the final turn, Hoffman gave up a three-car lead over Pauch when his car jumped the cushion. Pauch came up inches short of unseating the rebounding Hoffman at the stripe. Brightbill, Cozze and Darren McCaughey were three through five.
Stan Ploski III of Ringoes grabbed the lead on lap 2 and powered to his first career victory in the 20-lap Sportsman event. G.R. Smith was second, Tom Tomasko was third, Scott Reid was fourth and Jim Scherer, fifth.
In the Super Stock event, "Super" Mario Page of Somerset blasted his new Bernheisel car straight into victory lane to record his third career win. Gary Butler was second for the third consecutive week, with Al Cheney III, Pat Freiberger and Pat Conaway rounding out the top five.
There was a new winner in the Mid-State Communications Rookie Series with Stockton’s Rick Yard taking the checker over Keith Plumstead, division points leader Bill Tanner IV, Anthony Tramontana and Fred Monk.
The Herman’s Trucking Lightning Lap awards for fastest lap in a feature event were won by Brightbill (Mods, 17.278), Ploski (Sportsman, 18.645) and Page (Super Stock, 19.766). Earlier in the night, Frank Cozze broke the existing Modified track record with a lap of 16.978.
Next week at New Egypt Speedway, Pioneer Pole Buildings of Pennsylvania presents a full card of big-block Modifieds, Sportsman, Super Stocks and Rookies starting at 5:30 p.m. Gates open at 2:30 p.m. Adult admission is $14, children ages 7-12 get in for $4, and kids age 6 and under enter free.
For more information, call the speedway office at (609) 758-1900.