Four different winners at Route 93
Race #8 Route 93 Raceway Akron, Ohio
Bartos, Koepp and Bennardo JR battle for top point spots
The season is winding down and the Series made its eighth stop of the year. Route 93 raceway in Akron Ohio became the last battleground before the season finale April 19th at Bristolville. Several points battles are brewing as the Penn Ohio traveling circus tried their luck on Route 93’s American Blue King. Steve and Debbie always make the racers feel more than welcome at the track. After some hot coffee and donuts served by our hosts, the racers settled in for some Concours judging before the racing started. The stocker class had Aaron Ploskunak winning with an old school Earnhardt Wrangler car. Aaron won again in F1 with a nicely flamed blue/green Parma BRM. Steve Ploskunak won Can Am with a Parma TI22 painted white with blue and gold flames. Retro Flexi had Aaron taking his third Concours win of the day with his Reptile Monster themed car.
Concours Sponsored by Outisight Designs
Stockers: 1st Aaron Ploskunak
2nd Steve Ploskunak
3rd Dan Ebert
F-1 1st Aaron Ploskunak
2nd Steve Ploskunak
3rd Kevin Cosgrove
Can-AM 1st Steve Ploskunak
2nd Dan Ebert
3rd Aaron Ploskunak
Retro Flexi 1st Aaron Ploskunak
2nd Gil Pataky
3rd Dan Ebert
Qualifying
F1 Qualifying
CHR racing’s, Cap Henry set the standard for the field with a 4.6995. This established a new Penn Ohio record for the F1 class at RT 93. Cap used a Mike Muir built zee rail car with Fast Ones power. The Parma BRM body provided the down force and Kelly Retro tires the grip for Cap’s record run. Bud Bartos and Dave Krumnow both found the 4.7 mark to round out the top 3 in the qualifying session.
- 4.69956 Cap Henry TQ New Penn Ohio Record at RT 93
- 4.74547 Bud Bartos
- 4.79671 Dave Krumnow
- 4.80061 Dave Simerka
- 4.86240 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 4.87742 Willy Custer
- 4.88021 Mike Garrett
- 4.89909 Al Rutti
- 4.92527 Steve Koepp
- 4.93299 Mike Peskar
- 4.95123 Mike Panko
- 4.97311 Bob Foster
- 5.00165 Rick Senior
- 5.00744 Brian McPherson
- 5.02911 Aaron Ploskunak
- 5.03641 Gil Pataky
- 5.12158 Steve Ploskunak
- 5.14175 Ross Scharf
- 5.14325 Dan Ebert
- 5.16600 Kevin Cosgrove
- 5.28679 Matt Easterday
- 5.31168 Jay Sabala
- 5.31811 Larry Kowicki
- 5.42925 George Katzakis
- 5.43569 Leroy Moyer
- 5.78541 Phil Bucco
- 5.82253 Rick Easterday
Can Am Qualifying
This was Bud’s third TQ in a row for Can Am. Bud’s green machine was covered with a Parma TI 22. The JK hawk motor powered him to a nice 4.638 lap. The JK 25 chassis was done in the Bartos Chassis Shop in Amherst, Ohio. Bud’s 8 split rail chassis had just enough to hold off Willy Custer’s 4.64. Willy also used a JK Bartos chassis for the only other 4.6 run in Can Am. Cap Henry claimed the third pole position with a 4.710 effort.
- 4.63841 Bud Bartos TQ
- 4.64420 Willy Custer
- 4.71007 Cap Henry
- 4.71372 Dave Simerka
- 4.73839 Steve Koepp
- 4.74118 Mike Garrett
- 4.75470 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 4.80876 Bob Foster
- 4.81735 Mike Peskar
- 4.83365 Steve Ploskunak
- 4.87206 Brian McPherson
- 4.87528 Al Rutti
- 4.88128 Gil Pataky
- 4.88150 George Katzakis
- 4.89437 Mike Panko
- 4.90553 Rick Senior
- 4.93471 Aaron Ploskunak
- 4.94222 Dave Krumnow
- 4.95488 Ross Scharf
- 4.97976 Dan Ebert
- 5.00315 Matt Easterday
- 5.09498 Larry Kowicki
- 5.16235 Joe Gerencser
- 5.17072 Leroy Moyer
- 5.22607 Kevin Cosgrove
- 5.23251 Jay Sabala
- 5.71396 Phil Bucco
- 5.72555 Rick Easterday
Stock Car Results
Racing action moved to the Akron Oval featuring one banked turn and one flat turn. Local racer Tim Burton took charge in the first heat in the 11 man round robin. Tim stretched his lead by 7 over Aaron Ploskunak and Ricky Junior after 2 heats. Tim held his lead after 3 with Aaron still in second and Dave “Shadow” Simerka in third. Tim had now moved to the outer lanes. Tim moved out to an 8 lap lead over Shadow and new third place racer Bud Bartos. Aaron P fell out the pace once he moved to the outer lanes. Bud Bartos moved to black lane and Tim to white. Bud used the lane advantage to tie Tim, with Shadow one lap behind. With Tim on a sit out, Bud pulled into the lead with 306. Shadow was just 6 down in second after 6 heats. Bud smoked out 52 laps in Orange to take a commanding lead in heat 7. Bud finished his 8 lanes with the mark to beat 406. Cap Henry needed 50 to win but managed 47 to pull into second after 9 heats. It was now Steve Koepp’s turn to beat the mark set by Bud. Steve needed 49 for the win and he did just that. His 49 in white was the high white lane total on the day. That heat put him in first place. With one heat to go, Tim Burton led all others on the track, but did not have the laps needed to crack into the top 3. Congrats to Steve Koepp on his come from behind win. Bud Bartos took second place and third went to Cap “I made Steve’s car better” Henry.
Stocker Finish
- 407 2.1399 Steve Koepp Tied Track Record for Total Laps
- 406 2.1392 Bud Bartos Fast Lap
- 404 2.1892 Cap Henry
- 397 2.1399 Tim Burton
- 393 2.1896 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 387 2.1895 Dave Simerka
- 379 2.2490 Aaron Ploskunak
- 373 2.1898 Steve Ploskunak
- 366 2.2493 Dan Ebert
- 345 2.1899 Al Rutti
- 325 2.1999 Jay Sabala
F1 Results
A Main
Dave “Shadow” Simerka and Willy Custer started the A main off with 36 laps apiece. Heat 2 found Willy all alone at the top with Shadow one down, Al Rutti and Bud Bartos 2 down. Bud used a good run in blue to tie Willy after 3 heats in. Willy struggled in black and handed over the lead to Bud in heat 4. At the half way point, Ricky JR threw his hat in the ring. He passed both Willy and Bud by one lap to claim the lead. Cap Henry, who had the very first sit out in the nine man round robin, found himself at the top of the sit out lap total board. Willy Custer and Mike Garrett both used 36 laps in heat 6 to move into podium spots. Willy was at the top followed by Bud and Mike. Cap Henry stretched his lead with heats of 36 and 37 laps among the sit out crowd. It was clear by heat 8 that Cap, with a race high 38 laps in Orange, was the class of the field. Cap’s dominating performance was “capped” off with heats of 37 and 38 laps plus the fast lap of the race 4.7298 . That lap, and his qualifying run, established new track records for the Penn Ohio on the 93 King. Big High 5 to Cap on his record setting day!!! Second, third and fourth places were separated by sections in some tight racing by the rest of the field.
- 284 4.7298 Cap Henry
- 274 4.8911 Bud Bartos
- 274 4.9413 Ricky Bennardo Junior
- 274 4.8872 Willy Custer
- 272 4.9413 Mike Garrett
- 272 4.8906 Dave Simerka
- 271 5.0500 Steve Koepp
- 271 4.9375 Dave Krumnow
- 269 5.0472 Al Rutti
B Main
The B main was another 9 man round robin. Mike Panko took the lead early with a 35 lap run in Orange. Bob Foster and Gil Pataky followed one lap down. After Heat 2 it was clear that Mike Panko was going to be one of the racers to beat in the B. Brian McPherson used a 34 to pull into second 3 laps down from Mike. Bob Foster took over the leader board in heat 3 with Brian and Aaron Ploskunak now chasing him. Based on lap averages, Mike Peskar and Panko were the leaders after 4 with Bob Foster and Aaron leading total laps. Peskar and Panko were well ahead and tied at 136 in stint 5. Bob Foster led the group on total laps at 197. Panko took a 2 lap lead over Mike P in heat 6 after Peskar ran in the black lane . Mike Peskar moved to within one lap as he moved to the yellow lane and Panko to purple in heat 7. Aaron Ploskunak set the bar at 255 when he finished his 8 heats. Mike Peskar ran a 35 in orange and watched his closest competitor fade in the black lane. Mike Panko fell victim to a tough black lane, which haunted racers all day. The final heat had Peskar in white , Panko in yellow and Foster in red. One, two and three and at the end, that is how they finished. Mike Peskar ran a 35 in white to take away any chance of Panko catching him. Bob Foster’s 34 wasn’t enough to catch Panko , but it was more than enough to hold third place. Mike Peskar ended up the B main winner and 7th overall in F1. Nice Run Mike !!!!
- 272 4.988 Mike Peskar
- 267 4.999 Mike Panko
- 265 5.051 Bob Foster
- 261 5.050 Brian McPherson
- 261 5.109 Ross Scharf
- 258 5.047 Steve Ploskunak
- 256 5.109 Rick Senior
- 255 5.101 Aaron Ploskunak
- 254 5.210 Gil Pataky
C Main
The 9 man C main started slowly with Dan Ebert and Larry Kowicki tied at 31. Jay Sabala, Leroy Moyer and Matt Easterday followed at 30 laps. Heat 2, Dan ran the race high 34 laps in green and fast lap of the C main. That gave him a 3 lap cushion that he never gave up the rest of the race. Jay took early control of second until heat 5 when Matt Easterday started his late race charge. Mid race Dan and Jay were cruising in first and second. Matt got in a battle for the third place spot with Larry Kowicki and Kevin Cosgrove. He was able to shake those chasers to catch and pass Jay by one lap to take over second in heat 6. Heat 7 and 8 Jay was able to enjoy lane advantage in blue and green while Matt fought purple and black. That gave Jay a 2 lap cushion for the final heat. Dan had finished the race with 255. Both Jay and Matt needed 36 plus to beat Dan. They would settle for second and third in a nice side by side race.
- 255 5.108 Dan Ebert
- 251 5.222 Jay Sabala
- 250 5.269 Matt Easterday
- 241 5.332 George Katzakis
- 241 5.269 Kevin Cosgrove
- 224 5.488 Phil Bucco
- 215 5.770 Rick Easterday
- 208 5.270 Larry Kowicki
- 233 5.550 Leroy Moyer
Overall F1 finish
- 284 4.7298 Cap Henry
- 274 4.8911 Bud Bartos
- 274 4.9413 Ricky Bennardo Junior
- 274 4.8872 Willy Custer
- 272 4.9413 Mike Garrett
- 272 4.8906 Dave Simerka
- 272 4.9881 Mike Peskar
- 271 5.0500 Steve Koepp
- 271 4.9375 Dave Krumnow
- 269 5.0472 Al Rutti
- 267 4.9999 Mike Panko
- 265 5.0511 Bob Foster
- 261 5.0503 Brian McPherson
- 261 5.1094 Ross Scharf
- 258 5.0472 Steve Ploskunak
- 256 5.1097 Rick Senior
- 255 5.1089 Dan Ebert
- 255 5.1017 Aaron Ploskunak
- 254 5.2109 Gil Pataky
- 251 5.2224 Jay Sabala
- 250 5.2698 Matt Easterday
- 241 5.3321 George Katzakis
- 241 5.2697 Kevin Cosgrove
- 224 5.4881 Phil Bucco
- 215 5.7702 Rick Easterday
- 208 5.2705 Larry Kowicki
- 115 5.5390 Leroy Moyer
Can-Am Results
A Main
Mike Garrett, Dave Simerka and Bud Bartos all started the A main with 36 laps and had 3 others chasing with 35. Bud pulled out into the lead with an amazing run of 37 in green during heat 2. Ricky and Shadow followed by 2 laps. Willy Custer entered the 9 man affair in red with a nice run of 36. Heat 3 it was clear both Willy and Bud had the cars to beat. By heat 4, Willy and Bud had anyone close 3 laps down. Bud on the total lap board and Willy on the sit out board. Cap Henry, Shadow, Mike Garrett and Steve Koepp were all in a hotly contested battle for the third podium spot. Willy was slightly behind Bud after 7 heats. Bud would finish with 286 in heat 8. But Willy turned up the after burners on his Fastones tuned motor. His 38 in the Orange lane set the stage for his win in the final heat. Meanwhile Cap and Steve K were tied for the final podium spot with Shadow one lap down. Willy stayed out of harms way and cruised home the winner of the A main and overall positions. Bud sat on the sidelines and watched first escape him but took a solid second place finish. The third place fight came down to sections. All 4 racers with a chance for third were in the center lanes. Mike Garrett’s late charge with a 37 was enough to overtake Shadow for fifth. Cap and Steve both ran 36 lap totals to hold Mike at bay. When the power went off Cap had Steve by sections for the third spot. Good tight racing guys, well done.
- 289 4.769 Willy Custer
- 286 4.722 Bud Bartos
- 282 4.828 Cap Henry
- 282 4.827 Steve Koepp
- 281 4.828 Mike Garrett
- 280 4.878 Dave Simerka
- 278 4.878 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 275 4.827 Bob Foster
- 275 4.941 Mike Peskar
B Main
Young Gun Aaron Ploskunak and Old School Al Rutti started the B main with 35 each. Al moved to a sit out and Aaron scored another 35 in heat 2. With 3 heats in the books, Aaron continued his run followed by Gil Pataky and Dave Krumnow who were both 4 laps down. Aaron moved to his sit out and Dave K took over the lead followed by Gil and Mike Panko. Stint 5 Mike Panko moved to the top of the board on total laps. Al Rutti took the lead over the Father-Son Ploskunak team by one lap for racers taking sit outs. Mike P was still the lap total leader after 6 with Al and Aaron tied for sit out racers. Heat 7, Aaron made the most of blue lane to move ahead of Al by 3 and Steve by 4. Aaron scored another 35 in purple to keep a comfortable lead going into the final heat and tough black lane. Al fell one lap back from Steve for second after Steve ran 35 in orange to catch and overtake Al. Final heat, leader Aaron ran in black, Steve in white and third place Al in orange. Aaron raced smart and clean in the last heat to take the checkered flag with a great 273 lap total; that gave him the win and 10th place overall in Can Am. Al ran 35 in orange with no deslots to overtake Steve P for second by one lap. Steve settled for third behind Al and his son, Aaron.
- 273 4.878 Aaron Ploskunak
- 271 4.937 Al Rutti
- 270 4.887 Steve Ploskunak
- 266 4.941 Dave Krumnow
- 265 4.999 George Katzakis
- 259 4.937 Mike Panko
- 256 5.000 Rcik Senior
- 242 5.062 Brian McPherson
- 197 4.999 Gil Pataky
C Main
The C main was a ten man round robin. Matt Easterday pulled out to the early lead over Dan Ebert and Larry Kowicki in heat one. Dan used green lane and a 34 to take the lead in Stint 2 followed by Matt and Jay Sabala. Dan increased his lead by 6 over Jay and led the group that hadn’t taken sit outs after 3 heats. Heat 4 found Ross running a 34 in green in his march up the leader board. After 5 heats it was apparent that the race would be won by either Ross or Dan. Dan struggled in black and purple which opened the door for Ross. Dan finished the race with 261 in heat 8. Heat 9 Ross ran a C main high, 35 laps in orange, to lock down his chances for the win. Matt Easterday and Larry Kowicki battled for third with one lap separating them. The final heat Ross only needed 29 for the win, but he didn’t let up and scored 34 laps in the heat. Ross ended the race with 266 and the C Main victory. Matt’s 33 laps in yellow was enough to take third away from Larry in the segment. Dan Ebert watched from the sidelines and brought home a second place.
- 266 5.058 Ross Scharf
- 261 5.101 Dan Ebert
- 255 5.102 Matt Easterday
- 252 5.159 Larry Kowicki
- 245 5.383 Jay Sabala
- 236 5.156 Kevin Cosgrove
- 234 5.328 Joe Gerencser
- 221 5.597 Rick Easterday
- 215 5.487 Phil Bucco
- 109 5.282 Leroy Moyer
Can Am Overall Finish
- 289 4.7699 Willy Custer A main winner
- 286 4.7229 Bud Bartos TQ Fast Race Lap
- 282 4.8282 Cap Henry
- 282 4.8278 Steve Koepp
- 281 4.8281 Mike Garrett
- 280 4.8782 Dave Simerka
- 278 4.8788 Ricky Bennardo Junior
- 275 4.8275 Bob Foster
- 274 4.9412 Mike Peskar
- 273 4.8782 Aaron Ploskunak B main winner
- 271 4.9375 Al Rutti
- 270 4.8876 Steve Ploskunak
- 266 5.0587 Ross Scharf C main winner
- 266 4.9410 Dave Krumnow
- 265 4.9995 George Katzakis
- 261 5.1017 Dan Ebert
- 259 4.9376 Mike Panko
- 256 5.0001 Rick Senior
- 255 5.1021 Matt Easterday
- 252 5.1596 Larry Kowicki
- 245 5.3286 Jay Sabala
- 242 5.0627 Brian McPherson
- 236 5.1596 Kevin Cosgrove
- 234 5.3286 Joe Gerencser
- 221 5.5976 Rick Easterday
- 215 5.4877 Phil Bucco
- 197 4.9992 Gil Pataky
- 109 5.2820 Leroy Moyer
Retro Flexi Results
A Main
It was decided to run 4 and 5 man mains with the shortage of racers and marshals for the Flexi race. After one heat it was clear that the race was between Steve Koepp and Bud Bartos. Steve’s 25 in the first heat vaulted him to the front. Stint 2 Steve continued his one lap lead over Bud. Dan Ebert trailed by 3 laps in third. Heat 4 Bud used lane advantage to move into a tie with Steve. Steve moved back into sole possession of the lead in Stint 4 with a nice run in the green lane. Bud came back to tie when Steve ran into problems in blue. Steve entered the lower lanes and Bud moved to the center lanes. This opened the door for Bud’s move for the lead. His 25 in green and race high 26 in blue proved to be the winning formula. The checkered flag waved and Bud took down the win with Steve in second followed by Dan for third.
- 192 Bud Bartos
- 187 Steve Koepp
- 184 Dan Ebert
- 171 Leroy Moyer
- 141 Aaron Ploskunak
B Main
The B main had Al Rutti taking a one lap lead over Gil Pataky at the start. The second heat Al pulled away from the pack. Al didn’t break a sweat with his commanding lead. Gil P and Jay Sabala locked in a battle for second until heat 6. Jay found the red lane not to his liking. Gil took over the second spot and never looked back. The race turned into a snooze fest until heat 8. Al needed a 25 to catch Bud and 20 to beat Steve Koepp. But Al’s hawk motor had other ideas. With about 30 seconds left, Al’s car started to slow. His final 2 laps were 2 seconds slower than his earlier pace. Al limped in at the buzzer with enough for the B Main win and overall second place. It was an exciting way to finish a long day of racing.
- 188 Al Rutti
- 179 Gil Pataky
- 176 Jay Sabala
- 74 Steve Ploskunak
Flexi Retro Overall Finish
- 192 4.6597 Bud Bartos A Main Winner, Fast Lap of Race
- 188 4.7184 Al Rutti
- 187 4.7186 Steve Koepp
- 184 4.8323 Dan Ebert
- 179 4.9992 Gil Pataky
- 176 5.0505 Jay Sabala
- 171 5.1016 Leroy Moyer
- 141 5.0000 Aaron Ploskunak
- 74 5.1610 Steve Ploskunak
Summary
Thanks to Steve and Debbie for being such great hosts. The food is always over the top at Route 93. No one can say they go away hungry. Everyone hopped in the chow line and not one Foo Foo over the delicious food. Special shout out to all day Race Director Dan Myers for hanging with us for 12 plus hours. Also thank you’s to Aaron Ploskunak for stepping in and helping with Concours and picture taking. Plus a hats off, to Cap Henry for jumping in and helping with tech in. The extra set hands sure helped make the tech process go much quicker, thanks again.
Thanks to Parma, Route 93, Steve Koepp and Ralph Thorne Racing for prizes and awards. See everyone in 2 weeks at Bristolville Center Raceway. Thanks again to everyone for a great day of racing.
Next Month
April 19, 2014
Bristolville Center Raceway
6220 St Rt 45
(Corner of 45 & 88)
Bristolville, OH 44402
(330) 889-3206
(330) 219-9198 cell
