WADE AND HALBEDL NOTCH SEASON FIRSTS AT PPMS, WHILE BURROUGHS, O'PATCHEN AND TORRENS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS

PITTSBURGH, PA (July 30) - Defending PPMS 2004 Napa Late Model Track Champion Dave Wade from Clinton collected his first feature win of 2005, along with Imperial's Kurt Halbedl, who went wire to wire in the E-Modifieds to earn his season first checkered flag.  Three time winners Saturday night at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway were Jesse Burroughs from Robinson Township in the Advance Auto Parts Limited Late Models, and Scott Township's Ron O'Patchen in the Isiminger's Pennzoil Pure Stocks.  Robby Torrens from Kennedy Township added another trophy to his collection by winning the Amateur Stock feature for the sixth time on Colussy Night at the Speedway..

The Limited Late Model Feature got off to a rough beginning when a melee on the first lap brought about a complete restart.  The second try was even worse as another incident on the back stretch sent Tommy Schirnhofer for a ride which ended up with him on his roof.  Schirnhofer was uninjured in the wild accident, and when racing resumed again Tony Sinicrope took off with the lead with Jesse Burroughs up to second by the time the first lap was finally recorded.  Sinicrope was hounded by Jesse Burroughs for the next twelve laps.  One lap later,  Sincrope's car appeared to be putting down some fluid, and Burroughs carefully got by to take away the lead.  Sinicrope made one more lap before slowing and retiring to the pits ending his great run.  Burroughs, meanwhile, was in his groove, and he went on unchallenged to the checker to claim his third feature win of the year on the big half mile.  Bobby Castelveter took runner-up honors with Kirk Young third, Nick Duratz fourth and John Cain rounded out the top five.  Six through ten were Bryan Hoffman, Joel Johns, Laura Lukon, John Hobbs and Sinicrope.  Burroughs and Schirnhofer won the heat races and Hoffman was the Monarch Oil Hard Charger.

Just like the Limited Lates, the Napa Late Models had their share of problems getting their 25-lap feature event started.  The third time proved to be the charm, but one lap later the yellow was back out again.  Each time a swift Dave Wade would get the advantage over John Flinner, and the event stayed green for two more laps before another yellow waved to slow down the action once again.  Back under green, Wade jumped back into the lead and this time began to pull away from his competition.  While Wade was cruising along with Flinner still second, Steve Baker, from eleventh, was charging through the pack picking off cars each lap, and by the eighth circuit Baker was up to third.  Baker caught Flinner, and the duo ran side by side thrilling the huge crowd, while leader Wade increased his advantage to more than a half a straightaway.  Baker finally made the pass on Flinner work coming out of turn three on the 18th lap, and he set his sights on Wade who was working through lapped traffic.  Baker closed in, but Wade was flawless, and he went on to claim his first win of 05.  The victory was Wade's seventh in the Late Models and gives him a career win total of 30 at PPMS.  Baker settled for second with Flinner third, Lynn Geisler fourth and Ed Ferree took fifth.  Lou Bradich was sixth, Michael Davis seventh, Danny Rich eighth, Jared Miley ninth, and Mike Johnson completed the top ten.  The three heat races were taken by Bradich, Baker and Rich.  Baker earned the hard charger honors.

The E-Modifieds took to the track for their 15-lap feature, and with Kurt Halbedl at the helm, the race went green to checker without a stop.  Halbedl literally flew around the wide half mile and went unchallenged the entire distance to impressively collect his first feature win of the season.  Daryl Charlier was a distant second, and last week's winner, Chuck Kennedy came from the rear of the field to take third in the non-stop event.  Mitch Basich and Bob Freshour put on a good show for fourth and fifth.  The next round of five were Dennis Niederriter, Kevin Miller, Tom Martineck, Joel Johns and Chris Basich.  Heat race wins went to Wayne Tessean and Kari Gasser.  Kennedy was the Monarch Oil Hard Charger.

Out for the first time this year was Chargin' Charlie DiLoreto, and the invert put him on the front row with Jake Simmons for the Pure Stock feature.  DiLoreto immediately jumped into the lead and he  led the next lap before Ron O'Patchen made a slick pass from third to go in front.  However, the caution came out before the lap was completed so DiLoreto retained the lead for another circuit before a determined O'Patchen got by again.  Once in front, O'Patchen opened up a comfortable distance, and he went unchallenged for the remainder of the event to claim his third feature win so far this season.  The victory, his career 66th,  breaks the tie with Lynn Geisler, and moves O'Patchen into second alone on the PPMS (all division) Career Win List.  DiLoreto ran steady to finish a comfortable second over Simmons, Craig Kamicker and Aaron Jones who completed the top five.  Six through ten were Bill Robertson, Joe Anthony, A.J. Poljak, Jeff Broniszewski and Nick Kocuba.  Tim Folmer and Robertson won the heats while Kamicker came from twelfth to fourth to earn the hard charger honors.

The caution filled Amateur Stock feature saw five cars out of fourteen starters finish the 12-lap event.  When the checker finally flew, it was lucky Robby Torrens from eleventh who survived to come out the winner of the wild and wooly event.  Torrens, with six wins on the season, was followed by Todd Evans, Bill Tennant, Gary Koteles, and Mitch Wattelet.  Credited with sixth was Ian Tomei, and the remainder of the top ten were Darren Ferguson, Eric Goldberg, Richie Cooper and Davy Lee.  Goldberg and Torrens took the two heat races and Torrens was also the Monarch Oil Hard Charger.

The month of August begins at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway with the running of the annual Isiminger's Pennzoil Pure Stock 20 on Saturday, August 6th.  Also on the racing card for the "Action Event" is the Napa Late Models, Advance Auto Parts Limited Late Models, E-Modifieds and Amateur Stocks.  August 12th is sure to be a great event at PPMS as the MACS (Mid Atlantic Championship Series) rolls onto the Monster Half Mile for the "Garin Memorial" which pays the winner of the 50-lap Late Model special event $5000.  All other weekly divisions will be on the racing program as well.  For more information on racing events at PPMS visit the web site at ppms.com, or call the Pittsburgh Business Office at 412-279-7223.

PITTSBURGH'S PENNSYLVANIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY JULY 30 RACE RESULTS

Napa Late Models
Monarch Oil Hard Charger:  Steve Baker
Heat Race Winners:  Lou Bradich, Steve Baker, Danny Rich
Feature (25 Laps):  1) Dave Wade, 2) Steve Baker, 3) John Flinner, 4) Lynn Geisler, 5) Ed Ferree, 6) Lou Bradich, 7) Michael Davis, 8) Danny Rich, 9) Jared Miley, 10) Mike Johnson, 11) Mark Banal, 12) Rich Apolito, 13) Rick Heim, 14) Jon Hodgkiss, 15) Ben Miley, 16) D.J. Miller, 17) Tim Gould, 18) Mark Moats, 19) Keith Rodriguez, 20) Jim Arcuragi, 21) Michael Martini, 22) Matt Dobnak, 23) Scott Gunn DNS, 24) Butch D'Antonio DNS

Advance Auto Parts Limited Late Models
Monarch Oil Hard Charger:  Bryan Hoffman
Heat Race Winners:  Jesse Burroughs, Tommy Schirnhofer
Feature (20 Laps): 1) Jesse Burroughs, 2) Bobby Castelveter, 3) Kirk Young, 4) Nick Duratz, 5) John Cain, 6) Bryan Hoffman, 7) Joel Johns, 8) Laura Lukon, 9) John Hobbs, 10) Tony Sinicrope, 11) Jim Stephans, 12) Larry Marks, 13) Ray Brown, 14). Tommy Schirnhofer

E-Modifieds
Monarch Oil Hard Charger:  Chuck Kennedy
Heat Race Winners:  Wayne Tessean, Kari Gasser
Feature (15 Laps) 1) Kurt Halbedl, 2) Daryl Charlier, 3) Chuck Kennedy, 4) Mitch Basich, 5) Bob Freshour, 6) Dennis Niederriter, 7) Kevin Miller, 8) Tom Martineck, 9) Joel Johns, 10) Chris Basich, 11) Kari Gasser, 12) Bobby Watt, 13) Wayne Tessean, 14) David Mercer, 15) Ben Laboon

Isiminger's Pennzoil Pure Stocks
Monarch Oil Hard Charger:  Craig Kamicker
Heat Race Winners:  Tim Folmer, Bill Robertson
Feature (15 Laps) 1) Ron O'Patchen, 2) Charlie DiLoreto, 3) Jake Simmons, 4) Craig Kamicker, 5) Aaron Jones, 6) Bill Robertson, 7) Joe Anthony, 8) A.J. Poljak, 9) Jeff Broniszewski, 10) Nick Kocuba, 11) Darryl Robison, 12) Tim Folmer, 13) Doug Iorio, 14) Steve Webb, 15) John Hobbs, 16) Don Bauerle, 17) Joey Koteles, 18) Jim Wagner, 19) Shawn Bryan, 20) Ralph Hysong DNS