By: Tom Ames
Somewhere down the winding road (Route 171) in Susquehanna, PA sits a little dirt track that they call, Penn Can Speedway. Very interesting track, if you have never been to this track, I suggest that you give it a try and won’t be disappointed. The promoters Al Wilcox and Reed Miller always have good car counts and the racing speaks for itself. I have been to Penn Can only two occasions before and each time the racing was close in every division, and this night proved no different. However, this event “Clash at The Can” was going too make history at the speedway with the highest paying modified show ever there at the track. With all the hype of this race roaring across the forums, and media papers and websites, you had to know it was a huge event. With the race being Co-Promoted by Brett Deyo, who has promoted the short track super nationals and also the one many have heard of, “The King of The Can”, which is a big race there, not someone who is king of sitting on the throne! This race paid $8,000 to the winner was going to be the biggest payday, for the winner, but the whole purse structure was huge as well, paying good money to start too. The payday is good for a 60-lap main event. Also racing was the 600 Excel Modifieds and the Trackside Products RoC Street Stocks.
It was a nice hot and humid morning and was planning on working, which I did for about 2 hours, as well as surf the internet, and had no intentions of heading to Penn can as it is two-hours away from me and I was broke. With that being said, my uncle who lives north of the speedway had been bugging me forever about this race, as he knew all the drivers and who is who in the modified world was going to be there. He always wants me to go, as he knows I pay attention to the races and always am quicker than him to know what drivers are driving what cars. (Well Sometimes). I was able to manage to get some money around from my awesome Grandmother and took half the day off, so I left Arkport, NY right about 3pm giving me just enough time to get there when the gates open. My uncle wanted me to go to this race so bad he paid for my way in!! He is obviously family, but that is the best part about it as it is RACING TOO!! So it is about 5:20pm and there I sit in turn one at the speedway and can’t believe it, the haulers are lined up all the way back to Rt. 171. The parking lot is crowed more than I have ever seen the last two times I was there. The numbers shooting around the crowd was that there was 80 Modifieds registered for the event, however only 66 modifieds showed up. Wait, ONLY 66!?!?! Yeah right that is one heck of a car count, not even close to what the Big Blocks bring in at the Mile anymore, so I was thinking that this show might be the biggest show I see all year. I don’t even think Hagerstown comes close in their Octoberfest races in the fall with car counts. There were drivers from New Jersey, PA, and also NY. Some of the biggest names that have ever been in a modified were there. Look at the list of those who did not qualify and heck they are all superstars! With a total of 66 cars on hand there was going to be 6 heats, holy crap this is freaking amazing and at first I didn’t know some of the drivers, but what a great PA system the speedway has and the announcers were great, I took notes all night thanks to them. My uncle Dennis gave me a lawn chair to sit in and that was cool, reminded me of Woodhull Raceway where you can sit on the bank…
The announcers said all night we are getting our money’s worth and see 6 mini-features (heats), along with 3 consolation races and then the big one, which is like 10 features in a row with all the big names there. I was very impressed; the car count was more than I expected, but the weather was great which I’m sure had some things to do with it. But more importantly Brett Deyo worked his ass off to get this event together and deserves a big hand for a successful show along with the help of Al and Reed. Two of the biggest surprises is after the heats and consolations, former 2010 ROC Dart Dirt Champion Stewart Friesen didn’t qualify and also multi-time Super DIRTcar Series champion Brett Hearn didn’t either. Of course my buddy who was there was getting drilled on, as his guy didn’t make it. However the guy my uncle was rooting for seemed to rub bumpers (so to speak) with every car close to him and he actually made the feature. Before the feature Hearn declined the buy-in option and then Danny Creeden was added to the show, Friesen was added with a provisional. The re-draw had Jimmy Horton starting on the pole that took place on the front stretch with Garth Tonkin Jr. second and Shaun Walker starting third. I have to be honest, I never heard of or seen Walker or Tonkin race before. On the start of the race it looked like Horton was sleeping and fell backwards before the start and finish line. No idea what really happened but he went backwards quick. Either way in the end Billy Decker won over this young kid, Danny Tyler who led many of the laps in the race. When Decker got by him I knew it was over for him as Decker was hooked up and he started all the way from 12th position. Jimmy Phelps started 16th and worked his way up to finish third, and it was an impressive run for him. If you have never been to this place, the modifieds just slide their cars into turn one sideways and right back on throttle, and it was always tight and close racing. I was just amused at how fast these guys were going, incredible!! This is a race that I will never forget as how I got there to see it as well as listening to Danny Tyler’s interview, as he was excited for finishing second and then not for not winning, you could tell it was mixed emotions, but the young kid did the best he could and he was impressive that’s for sure.
Other classes that were racing were the 600 Xcel 600 Modifieds and these are what I like to call, “mini-mods”. They have 600 cc motorcycle engines in them and yeah, they sound just like a “crotch-rocket”, and man did they haul some serious ass! (Meant speed). They had 27 cars and all of them started the feature and they were going four-wide at times, which was amazing as they were carrying a lot of speed through the corners. The race went right down to the wire with three drivers competing for the win, on the final turn, the #15(name?) lost his left rear wheel and lost the race, letting third place running car finish second. Very exciting.
The final race of the night was the Trackside Products RoC Series, which I was following as a local guy we know who runs Blackrock speedway Bob Buono was there as well as woodhull regular Russell Morseman III. Bob was tied for the points lead going into the event and well lets just say this, he got a flat tire on like lap 4 and went to the pits and still finished in 8th place. I think he would have been higher but a car behind him always got a jump starting high and not in single file. Very impressive run anyways. Morseman ended up getting tenth. Not bad runs for the local guys I know.!
With all that said, I had a blast and this event is now history, but will still and always remain in the books as the first ever-biggest payday “Clash at the Can”. This track has two ponds on both ends of the track on the infield, which I have still never seen a car go into either one of them. The place didn’t change much from what I can remember from the last time I was there. The place was super jam-packed with people and all the fans were friendly. The food lines moved rather quickly too, and the staff needs a big thank you on that note, with a big crowd, they were ready! Oh, the food was good too, sausage and hot dog and french fries I had. Almost forgot the popcorn!!! Bathroom rating is a 7 out of 10, and that is just for the men’s room as I didn’t have a girl reporter with me to give me numbers for the women’s room, so any women out there that read this, let us know!! Just about like Fulton speedway, they also had a golf-cart, not quite the same, but at Penn Can you pay and have to walk up a hill to the stands. A gentleman was giving rides for those who needed assistance to get to the stands. That was neat as the guy almost ran over my friends as they couldn’t hear him say, “excuse me”. It was a very good time and thanks to Brett Deyo along with Penn Can Speedway Al Wilcox and Reed Miller for putting on one heck of a show with practically no flaws at all that I could see. Kudos to Brett also for getting many sponsors and awards to hand out to the drivers, full list below. I don’t think that there is a bad seat in the house. Either way I found one thing to complain about and that was just after the second heat my allergies kicked into high gear, which haven’t bothered me all year yet, and that kind of really sucked! It wasn’t until the dirt started flying, no way, who would have thought, getting dirty at a dirt track? I won’t complain, as it isn’t racing unless it is on dirt!! So if you ever want to complain about a show being too dusty anywhere, shut up and stay the heck home!!! I’m glad I didn’t, as it was very awesome to see many friends again and thanks Dennis as you made my day, as we were there to witness history! Full Results below along with all the important links for info on the World Wide Web. Get out to the races and support local racing and Keep it on “The Write Track”. Until the next time, keep your head up and keep going forward!
http://www.bdmotorsportsmedia.com/ - Brett Deyo Motorsports Media
http://penncan.com/ - Penn Can Speedway
http://www.xcelchassis.com/index.htm - Xcel 600 Modified Series
http://www.rocdirt.com/ - Race of Champions Dart Dirt Tour
Mods/Sportsman/Street Stocks
CLASH AT THE CAN RACE SUMMARY - JUNE 7, 2011
Clash at the Can Race of Champions Dirt Modified Tour Feature Finish, 60 laps: BILLY DECKER ($8,050), Danny Tyler, Jimmy Phelps, Duane Howard, Matt Sheppard, Tim McCreadie, Mike Gular, Danny Johnson, Jeff Strunk, Wade Hendrickson, Nick Rochinski, Shaun Walker, Bobby Varin, Stewart Friesen, Pat Ward, Rick Laubach, Kevin Albert Jr., Doug Manmiller, Roy Bresnahan, Kevin Bates, Alex Tonkin, Brett Tonkin, Joey Grammes, Mike Colsten, Danny Creeden, Kevin Hartnett, Garth Tonkin Jr., Alan Rudalavage, Keith Hoffman, Mike Nagel Jr., Ryan Watt, Jimmy Horton.
Did Not Qualify: Bobby Trapper Jr., Alan Johnson, Darwin Greene, Mike Sabia, Justin Holland, Dan Pompey, Larry Wight, Dave Gerhart, Jamie Batzel, Tommy Scheetz Jr., Bobby Trapper Sr., Billy Van Pelt, Clinton Mills, Ken Titus, Craig Von Dohren, Michael Storms, Jeff Crambo, Mike Trautschold, Mike Lartz, Lance Willix, Butch Tittle, Dale Planck, Brian Weaver, Brett Hearn, Joey Colsten, Rob Bellinger, Rusty Smith, Mike Schane, Glenn Strunk, Kenny Peoples Jr., Allan Kellogg, Billy Pauch Jr., Grant Hilfiger, Ryan Phelps.
Lakey's Tavern Lap leaders: G. Tonkin Jr. (1-12), Tyler (13-47), Decker (48-60)
Manmiller Electric Heat Winners ($50 each): Walker, Decker, G. Tonkin, Hendrickson, Nagel Jr., A. Tonkin
Dirt Track Digest Consolation Winners: Sheppard, Howard, Hartnett
Hard Charger ($100): Tim McCreadie (24th to 6th)
American Racer Tire Giveaway: Decker
Dart Heads Drawing: Walker
BFP Specialty Gift Certificate (Draw, 6th-10th-place finishers): Gular, seventh
Mirabito Travel Center Subway Sub: Decker
Selinsgrove Speedway Icebreaker TWO FREE Passes for March 2012: Decker
New Egypt Speedway Friends of Mike Guaranteed Spot: Decker
Shiley Fabrication Hard Luck Award (front and rear bumpers, left and right rubrails): Nagel
Trackside Products Race of Champions Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 laps: HARRY MARVIN III. Butch Green, Ken Sparks Jr., Brenton Miller, Earl Zimmer, Shane Wolf Jr., Dave Pope, Bob Buono, Kevin Boynton, Russell Morseman III, Buck Mills, Kris Shimer, Paul Harrington, Nick Robinson, Matt Spencer, Chad Stone, Dave Predmore, Karl Shimer, Rich Powell, Doug Polhamus, Nick Nye, Gene Sharpsteen, Dan Babcock, Don Russell Jr.
Did Not Start: Jason Butler
XCel 600 Modified Feature Finish, 20 laps: ALEC BARTHOLOMEW, Richie Hitzler, Jeromy Guistwite, Nick Mady, Butch Getz, Chris Stockham, Brian Mady, Pasco Tomaino, Cody Coons, Kevin Rex, Aaron Bowes, Burrows Micheal, Sean Weiss, Kevin Rex Sr., Ryan Higgs, Brad French, Arielle Roldan, Mark Howanitz, Kailee DiMorier, Jon Horn, Steven Sherwood, Madison DiMorier, Paul DeRuyter, Mike Keppler, Joe Fanelli, Ryan Mohr, Cory Coons.
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