Pictured is Joe Skinner in victory lane with his fans
Jeremy Perry, Smethport, PA – Photos by A&S Mobile Photography
A perfect weather night for racing was just what was needed to cap off the month of July at McKean County Raceway, and the result was a fast and efficient show with plenty of action all over.
Joe Skinner and Bruno Mowery led the Costa’s Super Market Pure Stock feature to green on Friday night. Zach Hamer took control early in the race and led for more than half the race. While Hamer was leading, Skinner and Mowery ran side by side for multiple laps before Skinner finally got control of the second spot. Skinner then set his sights on the leader of Hamer for the final 6 laps of the race. Trying the low and high lines, Skinner could never get that corner exit speed to get by the leader, Hamer. On the white flag lap, Hamer seemed to be in control down the backstretch, but unfortunately, something became wrong with Hamer as he slowed considerably, allowing Skinner to get to his outside coming to the line. Skinner made the last lap pass on the outside and picked up the checkered flag, which looked like a photo finish. The race officials went to the transponder and declared that Skinner crossed the line first by 0.037 seconds. Skinner picked up his first feature win of the season at MCR.
Trever Putt has been dominant in five out of the last six races at the fairgrounds, and Friday night would be no different. The Putt brothers had the front row to themselves as they led the Nittany Mini Mart Mini Stocks to the green flag. Trever Putt would take the lead over his brother Shaine Putt early on. Trevor put down some extremely fast laps, giving himself a big lead. That was until the caution flew on lap nine, bunching the field back up. The story of the race for a bit turned to Hunter Flook. Flook started the race in the 6th spot and worked his way up to second before that caution flew. Flook, at times, had the fastest car on the track but couldn’t have enough corner exit speed to take control of the race lead. Trevor Putt went on to pick up his 5th victory of the season at MCR.
The next race saw the Kane Stebbins Construction Rush Pro Mods battle it out for 20 laps. On the front row to start the race was the point lead Zain Harvey and Tyler Oakes. Harvey, like he has done all season, went on to win in dominating fashion. During the 20-lap feature event, Harvey was the only one who ran in the 17-second range and did that nine times throughout the event. Harvey checked out of the field and won the race by 5.782 seconds, picking up his fifth feature win of the season at McKean County Raceway.
The wildest race of the night belonged to the Beaver Trucking & Excavating Sharp Mini Late Models. Terry Mealy and Brandon Blauser started on the front, with Mealy taking the lead early on. Josh Outman began the feature event in 6th and, by the first cation of the event, had himself up to 4th place. On the next restart, it seemed as if Outman might have contacted Blauser, causing Blauser to spin, bringing out the yellow. Outman was sent to the tail and had to restart dead last. The yellow flag flew again after contact between Jesse Isadore and Chris Whyte. Outman, after the yellow, still restarted outside the top five, but it was easy to see by the eye that he was the class of the field. With Mealy out front, Outman ran him down, made a power move to the outside in turns one and two, and then cruised to a 3.724-second win. This was Outman’s first feature win of the season at MCR.
The Troups Creek Heating Kids Mini Stock class was up next on the fairgrounds, with Jake Skinner and Khloe Griffin starting on the front row. Skinner took control of the race early on. Griffin, doing all she could to try and get by Skinner, had a problem in turn four, ending her night after only six laps. Skinner completed the perfect night as he won his heat race and picked up his third feature win of the season at MCR.
The final feature of the event was the McKan Trucking & PV Paving Rush Late Models. Paul Grigsby and Clayton Tarabori started on the front row, and Grigsby took the lead early on. With Grigsby and Tarabori pulling away from the field, that left a two-car battle between Dustin Waters and Jeremy Wonderling. Wonderling was driving the Bradley Mesler 87 machine on Friday night, saving his own car for the Rush Tour race Saturday night in Pittsburgh. While that battle was happening, Grigsby was finally putting an entire night together lap after lap. Chuck LaFleur started the feature event in 9th place and had his best run of the season as he passed Wonderling and Waters under green flag conditions to finish 3rd for the second time this season. But the story tonight was all about Grigsby as he led every lap of the 20-lap feature, picking up his first feature win of the 2024 season.
The McKean County raceway will take the next two Friday nights off and will return during the fair week on Wednesday, August 14th, with the main headline class being the Empire Street Stock Series. After that, the next race will be on Friday, Aug 23rd, and that will be the Todd Button Memorial for the Rush Pro Mods, which, as of right now, will pay $2,400 to win and $200 start plus other cash prize awards. For up-to-date information, please check out our website at McKeanCounty-Raceway.com or our Facebook page, McKean County Raceway.
Costa’s Super Market Pure Stock feature (15 laps) – JOE SKINNER, Zach Hamer, Mike Parmenter, Bruno Mowery, Ryan Sullivan, Barry Burritt, Matt Grigsby
Heat race winner – Joe Skinner
Nittany Mini Mart Mini Stocks feature (15 laps) TREVER PUTT, Hunter Flook, Shain Putt, Preston Cobb, Ridge Cobb, Kurt Babcock, Sherman Gage, Matt Mowery, Bill Weatherly, Joe Gillespie, Ken Weatherly, Brayden Babcock, Zak Kline, Kody Babcock – DNS
Heat race winners – Trevor Putt & Shaine Putt
Kane Stebbins Construction Rush Pro Mods feature (20 laps) – ZAIN HARVEY, Josh Wilcox, Tyler Oakes, JD Chamberlain, John Woodward Jr, Steve Watson, Nick Arnold, Josh Canfield, Caleb Heitzenrater, Bryson Hill, Tim Schram, Kevin Doud, Ryan Snyder, Kyle Babcock
Heat race winners – Tyler Oakes & Caleb Heitzenrater
Beaver Trucking & Excavating Sharp Mini Late Models feature (15 laps) – JOSH OUTMAN, Terry Mealy, CJ Sherwood, Jesse Isadore, Rob Eaton, Brandon Blauser, Donovan Sevrey, Chris Whyte, Carson Wonderling – DNS
Heat race winners – Brandon Blauser & Terry Mealy
Troups Creek Heating Kids Mini Stocks feature (10 laps) – JAKE SKINNER, Addi Chamberlain, Khloe Griffin
Heat race winner – Jake Skinner
McKan Trucking & PV Paving Rush Late Models feature (20 laps) – PAUL GRIGSBY, Clayton Tarabori, Chuck Lafleur, Jeremy Wonderling, Dustin Waters, Jacob Tubbs, Jacob Wilber, Ian Travis, Kassandra Norman, Steve Labarron
Heat race winners – Dustin Waters & Clayton Tarabori
