Jennerstown, PA Sep 02, 2008 - The Bill Awtey 40-lap invitational feature for the Street Stock division at Jennerstown was a special event that all the drivers wanted to win. At the end of the evening the man who earned that honor was Adam Kostelnik of East McKeesport.
Kostelnik took the lead from younger brother Andrew of North Braddock on lap
33 and was first to cross the line. Andrew held on to finish second. Teddy
Gibala of Coulter finished third with Joe Nicola and Richard Nicola
finishing fourth and fifth.
"What makes this real special tonight is Bill Awtey. There wouldn't be
Street Stocks if it wasn't for him," said Kostelnik. "It's an honor to win
on Bill Awtey's night.
Andrew Kostelnik finished well enough to win the first points championship
of his career.
"I've learned from my brother, he's won so many championships and just
teached me a lot over the years," said Kostelnik at the end of the evening.
"He just told me to keep my head cool and calm and go out there and get what
you can get."
With his father being honored as a pillar of the racing community, Barry
Awtey of Jenners piloted his number 75 Super Late Model to victory. The win
was Awtey's third of the season. Finishing second was Robby Marhefka of
Windber. Marhefka fought off a hard-charging Jason Mignogna of Greensburg
who finished third while Garry Wiltrout of Somerset and Mike Smith of Akron,
OH completed the top five.
"I wanna thank all the people that stopped to see my dad. This is really
special to him," Awtey said from victory lane. "This one's for my dad."
Mignogna secured the first points championship of his career with his third
place finish.
"It was a good night overall. Not the outcome we wanted, but we're happy
with where we finished," said Mignogna. "We gained a lot of experience
traveling to a lot of different tracks throughout the mid to late 90's, but
it's nice to do well here at home."
Matt Sever of West Newton won a career first feature in the Hobby Stock
division. Sever took the lead from Steve Long of Rockwood on lap seven and
held the spot the rest of the way to the finish. Long would go on to finish
second. Eugene Zerfoss of Acosta finished third with Larry Dunmyer of Elton
and Clifford Zerfoss of Jennerstown rounded out the top five.
"It feels really great. You know we've been coming up here a long time and
it's starting to payoff now," said Sever. "Hopefully next year we'll be
back."
With his second place finish Long clinched the first track championship of
his career.
"I thought there was a chance, but, you know, you never know what can
happen," said Long. "Last year we won here eight times and broke the
division record and still didn't win it."
Champions Night was the final weekend of racing at Jennerstown for this
season. Visit www.jennerstown.com for updates during the offseason.
