LOCAL TRACKS: First 602 Crate Sportsman win for Loney at Big Diamond
Jun. 2—In 36 years of racing, Mike Loney of Taylor has won in a variety of cars. Street stocks. Open Sportsman. Modifieds.
Now, he can add 602 Crate Sportsman to the list.
Loney claimed the checkered flag in the 20-lap feature on "Topless Night" at Big Diamond Speedway in Minersville. Starting second, he grabbed the lead on a lap-1 restart and stayed there the rest of the way.
"Everything just worked in our favor," Loney said. "We got the lead early and was able to maintain and pull away. It was the first time we ran topless, too, first time ever we ran a car without the roof on. Maybe that's my thing. Let's leave the top off all the time."
Loney said he didn't even realize that there was no roof on the car.
"To be honest, when you're in there, you're so focused, I didn't even pay attention," Loney said. "It frees the car up, which actually helps because we're tight all the time with the Crate car. You don't have the power like you do with the other motors. It makes the car a little freer, which kind of helped me get through the corners. It just made for a better car."
This is Loney's first season driving a 602 Crate Sportsman. Steve Yankowski, father of Modified teen driver Alex Yankowski from Covington Twp., had a crate motor and offered to let Loney use it to run at Big Diamond.
"When I was running Big Diamond years ago, he helped me," Loney said. "Now we got hooked back up. We're helping his kids and in return he's helping us. It's like a big family."
Last time Loney won at Big Diamond was when he captured back-to-back Coalcracker Open Sportsman races in 2009-10.
It also is his first feature win of any kind since
June 25, 2021, in a Modified at Penn Can Speedway in Susquehanna.
"It was a long time coming. I was happy to get back to Victory Lane, I didn't win last year," Loney said. "I'm 57 now and they're harder to come by. These young kids, they're up on the wheel. They come from the go-karts and the Slingshots and they get in these big cars and they're just on it. There's a lot of talented kids out there."
Overall, it is his 62nd career victory. He has 39 in Street Stocks, 16 in Open Sportsman, six in Modifieds and now one in 602 Crate Sportsman.
"My wife and daughter still support me every week and I have guys who still help me since I started in '87. They love it just as much as I do. We put a lot of time in the shop. It takes a team effort. It's not just about the driver. I can't do it without my guys and my sponsors."
The win at Big Diamond puts Loney in fifth place in the division standings with 798 points, 210 behind leader Logan Watt. He also runs Thursdays at Bloomsburg Fair Raceway and is tied for fourth in the 602 Crate Sportsman standings with 885 points.
Results of other local drivers on "Topless Night" at Big Diamond include Scranton's Brandon Oleski finishing 14th in 602 Crate Sportsman. In the 30-lap Modified feature, Nick Rochinski of Dickson City was seventh, Doug Smith Jr. from Mount Cobb was 11th and Bobby Trapper Jr. of Scranton was 22nd.
Fast tracks
Johnny Smith of Scranton made it back-to-back wins on the NY6A Hoosier 600 Sprint Tour. He followed up his win at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle, New York, on May 13 with a victory at Bradford Speedway on Sunday. His brother Mikey Smith, who won the tour season opener, finished second at Thunder Mountain and Bradford and leads the series standings with 348 points. ... It was a busy Memorial Day weekend for Alex Yankowski. On Friday, he finished eighth and seventh in the Twin 20 Modified races at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York. On Saturday, he placed 16th in the Dave Lape Memorial 30-lap feature at Fonda Speedway in New York. The "Thunder on the Thruway" series race was won by NASCAR Truck Series regular Stewart Friesen. On Sunday, Yankowski was 14th in the "Thunder on the Hill" series opener at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville. Finally Monday, in the Super DIRTcar Series "King of Spring 100" at Lebanon Valley Speedway, he finished seventh. ... Also in the "Thunder on the Hill" race at Grandview, Eddie Strada from South Canaan finished 17th and Trapper Jr. was 24th. ... In the weekly 30-lap Modified feature at Grandview, Strada placed 10th, Trapper Jr. 23rd and Bobby Trapper Sr. of Scranton 24th. ... Carbondale's Brett Tonkin was the top local finisher in the Modified feature at Afton Motorsports Park in New York, placing fourth. Darwin Greene of Susquehanna was ninth, Old Forge's Brian Puckett was 14th, Dan Vauter from Forest City was 17th, Hawley's Brian Mady was 19th, Bobby Puckett of Old Forge was 21st and Nick Mady from Dingman's Ferry was 22nd. ... Zack Weisenfluh of Taylor won the 600 Micro Sprints feature from the sixth starting spot Wednesday at Action Track USA in Kutztown. ... On its original schedule, Penn Can Speedway in Susquehanna was supposed to hold "Pack the Track Night" with $5 admission Friday. That has been rescheduled for July 14 as part of Fan Appreciation Night. Now, Friday is just a regular show with all classes running. Two bounties are in place. Eric Beach of Kingsley is 4 for 4 this season in Factory Stock and Wyalusing's Brett Gray has won three straight in 600cc Modifieds. If a driver wins the feature, he or she will collect the respective bounties — $600 on Beach, $200 on Gray — provided they finish on the lead lap. ... Hamlin Speedway has a regular show Saturday at 6 p.m. All divisions plus Winged 600 Sprints will be in action.
LOCAL TRACKS May 26-28 results
PENN CAN SPEEDWAY
May 26 results
MODIFIEDS — Brian Malcolm, Brett Tonkin, Alan Rudalavage, Brad Szulewski, Darwin Greene Sr., Alex Stanton, Travis Brockner, Casey Plummer, Doug Polhamus, Nick Petrilak, Alex Tonkin, Brad Shaffer, Jeremy Hamilton, Hunter Metzger, John Michael Phillips, Frank Yankowski, Alan Komar, George Kostelansky, Matt Soblech, Kevin Hartnett
602 CRATE SPORTSMAN — Brad Weaver, Mike Nagel Jr., Tommy Groover, Mike Schane, Jim O'Hara, Marty Goodwin, Ray Leonard, Ralph Mele, Kolyn Schane, Travis Rooney, Allen Kellogg, Bradley Burman, Alex Konopka, Joe Novak, Brett Wooster, Eddie Kudrako, Ned Fitch, Dave Rosa, Ralph Mele. DNS: Tim Howell
600cc MODIFIEDS — Brett Gray, Nate Oropallo, Dylan Beadle, Bumps Scutt, Brenton Miller, John Dinniny, Ali Scutt, Nolan Smith, Darwin Greene Jr., Alan Bibalo, Jeff Baldwin, Larry Furman, Jeffrey Martin, Tori Straway, Madyson Beach, Allen Bibalo
FACTORY STOCK — Eric Beach, Jason Rhodes, Josh Towner, Kevin MacDonald, Charlie Gilbert, Rich Sharpsteen, Justin Slezak, Brad Chilson, Darren Davies, Adam Gilbert, Kevin Welch, Justin Lovejoy, Jordan Towner, Billy Shoemaker
FOUR-CYLINDERS — Jeff Sterling, Bryant Beach, Brian Salmini, Josh Wilder, Scott Beach, Rich Wagner, Mike Jenks, Jesse Lovejoy, Andy Bolles, Rob Sterling, Davd Benson, Ronnie Welch, Toby Sparks Jr., Michael Girjatowicz, Dakota Fuller, Collin Mills
LIMITED SPORTSMAN — Charlie Towner, Amanda Scholtisek, Paul Conklin
604 CRATE LATE MODELS — Brett Marlatt, Mike Epler, Aaron Miller
May 28 results
NY PENN IMCA SERIES KC COLE MEMORIAL — Rodney Morgan, Eddie Sites, Brad Sites, Rich Michaels, Tyler Stoddard, Jacob McConnell, Gary Roberts, Tyler Belcher, Shawn Bruce, Rick Watt, Lance Conley, AJ Hunsinger, Jake Maynard, Matt Roberts
STREET STOCKS — Shane Wolf Jr., Brian Rhodes, Damon Decker, Gene Sharpsteen, Mark Griffin, Jacob Ingham, Jerry Fasset Jr., Mike Wilcox
602 CRATE SPORTSMAN — Mike Nagel Jr., Mike Schane, Tommy Groover, Brad Weaver, Ray Leonard, Kolyn Schane, Charlie Towner, Alan Komar, Alex Konopka, Marty Goodwin, Mark Shupp, Ned FItch, Brett Wooster, Eddie Kudrako, Josh Fedo, Todd Titus
FACTORY STOCK — Buck Mills Jr., Rich Green, Kevin MacDonald, Justin Slezak, Charlie Gilbert, Rich Sharpsteen, Luke Mills, Todd Sutliff, Eric Beach, Jason Rhodes, Justin Lovejoy, Josh Towner, Mahlon Shoemaker, Brad Chilson, Ray Leonard Jr., Jordan Towner, Kyle Spoor, Adam Gilbert, DNS: Billy Shoemaker
FOUR-CYLINDER — Collin Mills, Brian Salmini, Tim VanDermark, Jeff Sterling, Bryant Beach, Justin Pope, Andy Bolles, Josh Wilder, Dakota Fuller, Scott Beach, Rich Wagner, Rob Sterling, Ron Welch, Jesse Lovejoy. DNS: Mike Jenks
HAMLIN SPEEDWAY
May 27 results
JUNIOR SLINGSHOTS (20 Laps): Christofer Tittle; Trevor Houghton; Darian Danyluk; Braxton Dembek; Brayden Traver; Jakoby Thompson; Preston Trautschold
ALL-STAR SLINGSHOTS (20 Laps): Andrew Turpin; Tucker Jones; Griffin Hendershot; Brad Crandall; Dylan Hahn; Shelby McLaughlin; Cole Armstrong; Austin Kroboth; Hunter Handelong; Patrick Weiss; David Luethe; Garrett Chillot; Sophia Spear; AJ Lord; James Hendricks; Lydia Novarro; Chris Laureigh; Derrick Brown; Brayden Granger; Marissa Lord
XCEL 600 MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): John Martinsky Sr.; Jordan Tittle; Brandon Graner; Olivia Schmeltzer; Thomas Nettleship; Gene Hartrum; Justin Maylath; Tim Bauer
ROOKIE 600 SPRINTS (20 Laps): Ryan Rochelle; Vincent Gueci; Abel Engler; Richard Ptaszynski; Karter Kunsman; Clayton Brown; Ted Meixsell; Nate Freed; Thomas Granville
WINGLESS 600 SPRINTS (20 Laps): Pat Bealer; Michael Nolf; Chris Kurtz; Evan Nolf; Connor Mirabelli; Shelby McLaughlin; Zachery Bealer; Jordan Tittle; Kate Mattern; Vincent Gueci; John Martinsky; Jared Lilly; Adam Sadlo; Randy Nolf; Morgan Rochelle; Tony Parlanti; Nate Freed; Preslyn Brown
STAGE ONE MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): Colin Cox; Joel Price; Anthony Wood; Gavyn Krupp; Chad Riddle; Owen Cassel; Samantha Maguire; Jake Moyer; Peyton Knecht; Peyton Cassel; Paul Ennes; Matthew Ennes; Stephen Ennes; Leroy Sorenson; Troy Maurizzio
SCOTT WALSH covers motor sports for The Times-Tribune. Contact him at swalsh@timesshamrock.com; 570 348-9100 ext. 5109; and follow him @swalshTT on Twitter.
SCOTT WALSH covers motor sports for the Times-Tribune. Contact him at swalsh@timesshamrock.com; 570 348-9100 ext. 5109; and follow him @swalshTT on Twitter.
