Home    Tracks  Sanctions  Drivers   News & Stories 

                          Pictures    Links   Guestbook   Contact Us

Free Advertising until 2000

mstahl@innernet.net

STARS

 BRET EMRICK

ANDREWS WINS "PITTSBURGHER 100" BATTLE, MORAN WINS POINTS WAR!!!

Pittsburgh,PA 9-19-99

Todd Andrews of Eldred,PA captured his largest ever payday and biggest win ever Sunday pocketing $21,000 for his victory in the STARS National DirtCar Racing League sanctioned "11th Annual Pittsburgher 100" at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.

Aboard the Hamill Enterprises/Phase II Graphics/TSX/GRT Race Cars/Malcuit Racing Engines No. 42 Andrews Auto Salvage Ford Mustang, Andrews grabbed the lead for good from Donnie Moran on lap 19 racing away to a 1.5 second margin of victory for his first STARS triumph of the year and fourth career STARS win. "This is just totally awesome", said the very happy winner. "This is my biggest win ever and everything went well. We really struggled in the dash and knew we had a lot of work to get done before the main. I've got give lot of credit to my crew chief Joel Smith and the crew for getting this GRT dialed in. The car worked great". Moran came home second giving him enough points to sew up his fourth career STARS points championship to go along with his STARS crown's of 1991, 1992 and 1995. Heading into the event, Moran had to finish at least four positions better than Mike Balzano to wrap up the points before the season closer at K-C (OH) Raceway. Balzano struggled all week long getting torn up in his BORLA EXHAUST heat race on Saturday resulting in a DNF and found himself at the back-end of his PRO SHOCKS "B" Main.

Balzano then used a provisional start to make the field struggling to a 19th place finish. Chub Frank finished third in the feature event and moved 10 points ahead of Balzano for the points runner-up spot. Davey Johnson rode home fourth after starting 18th with 12th starting Booper Bare fifth followed by Mike Johnson, Steve Shaver, 17th starter Darrell Lanigan, Lou Bradich, and 25th starting Lance Elson.

At the drop of the green flag outside pole starter Frank bolted into the lead after one lap with Mark Banal Moran, Andrews and Ben Miley trailing. Moran shot underneath of Banal exiting turn four on lap 2 to grab second only to have Banal return the favor the next lap. Moran again used the same move to take second back on lap 5 and began to close on Frank. Andrews, who had started sixth, shot past Banal for third on lap 8 as Moran worked Frank taking the lead on lap 10 just as the leaders entered lapped traffic. Andrews grabbed second from Frank on lap 14 and went past Moran off of turn two to lead lap 15 only to have Moran regain the lead the next circuit.

Andrews stayed glued to Moran's back bumper as they worked through traffic and used the traffic to again take the lead on lap 19. Once in front Andrews began to pull away opening up a three second lead by lap 25 but Moran closed to within two seconds of Andrews by lap 30. The races first caution flew the next lap when Tim Hitt pulled up with a blown engine. One lap after going back to green Andrews opened up a healthy lead on Moran as Davey Johnson cracked the top five. Andrews felt no pressure from Moran for the next few laps but caution on lap 42 for a Balzano spin in turn three put Moran back on Andrews rear for the restart. Andrews again was able to pull away until the yellow waved again as Bob Salathe slowed with a broken right front suspension. One more lap was completed before the mandatory halfway fuel stop was called with Andrews, Moran, Banal, Frank and Davey Johnson first through fifth followed by Mike Johnson, Bare, Bradich, Shaver and Lanigan.

 With race back underway Banal roared past Moran for second on lap 51 and closed slightly on Andrews before the yellow waved on lap 55 when Miley blew an engine. Within five laps after going back to green Andrews had opened up a four second lead but lost that ground when Balzano slowed bringing out the caution on lap 61 and pitted for tires, an infraction according to STARS rules resulting in a one lap penalty. Andrews again showed his dominance on the restart opening up a five second lead on Banal by lap 70 who had started to loose the handle of his car. Moran grabbed the runner-up spot from Banal on lap 74 with Frank taking third one lap later. Banal slid back to the tenth spot by lap 80 and slowed the next lap bringing out the caution and pitted for tires incurring a one lap penalty. Andrews again pulled away on the restart but again his charge was slowed as Doug Dodd suffered a flat tire on lap 87 bringing out the last yellow flag of the race. Andrews and Moran pulled away from the rest of the field over the remaining laps with Andrews in front of Moran by two seconds with five to go. Moran closed slightly over the final five laps but Andrews felt no pressure as he took the checkered flag.

The $72,000 purse drew 80 drivers for the two-day event at the high-banked half mile. Elson set quick time at 19.107 seconds during time trials Saturday with Shaver, Moran, Hitt, Miley, Dan Armbruster and Mike Johnson grabbing BORLA EXHAUST Heat Race wins. PRO SHOCKS "B" Main winners on Sunday were Jim Zarin, Dodd and Bob Close while Moran scored the ISKY RACING CAMS Dash.

STARS National DirtCar Racing League Race Report (for 9/18-9/19/99)

Race No. 30-1999 Race Season-"11th Annual Pittsburgher 100"

Pitts. PA. Motor Speedway-Pittsburgh,PA-1/2 Mile Oval

$72,000 Purse-$21,000 To Win-100 Lap Feature

(Showing Finish Pos.,Start Pos.,Car#,Driver,Laps,Purse,Reason Out)

1. (6) #42 Todd Andrews 100 $21,035 Running

2. (1) #99 Donnie Moran 100 $7,100 Running

3. (2) #1* Chub Frank 100 $5,080 Running

4. (18) #79J Davey Johnson 100 $3,500 Running

5. (12) #00 Booper Bare 100 $3,000 Running

6. (10) #2J Mike Johnson 100 $2,500 Running

7. (7) #30 Steve Shaver 100 $2,000 Running

8. (17) #29 Darrell Lanigan 100 $1,500 Running

9. (13) #5 Lou Bradich 100 $1,300 Running

10. (25) #17 Lance Elson 100 $1,200 Running

11. (23) #4 Ed Ferree 100 $1,230 Running

12. (27) #84B Steve Baker 100 $1,220 Running

13. (11) #14 Jack Pencil 100 $1,170 Running

14. (5) #1C Lynn Geisler 99 $1,200 Running

15. (16) #1K Jim Kutas 99 $1,150 Running

16. (15) #71C R.J. Conley 99 $1,140 Running

17. (20) #72 John Mason 99 $1,170 Running

18. (4) #T8 Mark Banal 99 $1,170 Running

19. (26) #E1 Mike Balzano 97 $1,140 Running

20. (19) #1Z Jim Zarin 96 $1,040 Running

21. (20) #04D Doug Dodd 86 $1,040 Tire

22. (21) #04 Bob Close 61 $1,040 Handling

23. (8) #99M Ben Miley 55 $1,000 Engine

24. (14) #RG3 Bob Salathe 49 $1,000 Suspension

25. (24) #75 Bart Hartman 41 $1,040 Handling

26. (28) #9C Doug Crawford 40 $1,040 Handling

27. (9) #61 Dan Armbruster 31 $1,000 Cooling

28. (3) #68 Tim Hitt 31 $1,060 Engine

TIME OF RACE: 1 Hr. 5 Mins.

YELLOW FLAGS: Seven-Laps 31,42,49,55,61,81,87

RED FLAGS: None

LAP LEADERS: Three-Frank1-9;Moran 10-14,16-18;Andrews 15,19-100

STARS "ROOKIE OF THE RACE": None

OUTERWEARS CO. "HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE": D. Johnson

PROVISIONAL STARTERS: Elson,Balzano,Baker,Crawford

CAR COUNT: 80

FAST QUALIFIER: Elson 19.107 secs.

BORLA EXHAUST HEAT RACE WINNERS: Shaver,Moran,Hitt,Miley,

Armbruster,M. Johnson

SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE HEAT RACE BONUS WINNER: Hitt ($50)

ISKY RACING CAMS DASH WINNER: Moran

PRO SHOCKS "B" MAIN WINNERS: Zarin,Dodd,Close

SUMMARY

Qualifiying: 1)#17 Lance Elson 19.107; 2)#1C Lynn Geisler 19.285; 3)#68 Tim

Hitt 19.672; 4)#28B Dick Barton 19.689; 5)#42 Todd Andrews 19.770; 6)#19

Gary Stuhler 19.889; 7)#93X John Flinner 19.890; 8)#E1 Mike Balzano 19.947;

9)#76 Dave Wade 19.990; 10)#1* Chub Frank 20.028; 11)#4 Ed Ferree 20.078;

12)#75 Bart Hartman 20.108; 13)#T8 Mark Banal 20.156; 14)#99 Donnie Moran

20.175; 15)#1U Matt Urban 20.196; 16)#99M Ben Miley 20.246; 17)#00 Booper

Bare 20.275; 18)#5 Lou Bradich 20.300; 19)#30 Steve Shaver 20.306; 20)#49

Brian Ruhlman 20.340; 21)#14 Jack Pencil 20.346; 22)#72 John Mason 20.380;

23)#61 Dan Armbruster 20.381; 24)#2J Mike Johnson 20.387; 25)#71R Rod

Conley 20.391; 26)#8 Dennis Curry 20.395; 27)#1K Jim Kutas 20.404; 28)#D2

Nolan Dalton 20.410; 29)#75M Mel Minnick Jr. 20.421; 30)#79J Davey Johnson

20.460; 31)#RG3 Bob Salathe 20.507; 32)#6 Jim Lepro 20.534; 33)#82 Andy

Fries 20.615; 34)#67 Rick Dawson 20.638; 35)#29K Ken Schaltenbrand 20.644;

36)#84B Steve Baker 20.669; 37)#9C Doug Crawford 20.678; 38)#04D Doug Dodd

20.690; 39)#31 Denny Chamberlain 20.709; 40)#99T Ricky Thomas 20.745;

41)#4X Alex Ferree 20.751; 42)#33 Aaron Scott 20.772; 43)#32L Greg Lucas

20.812; 44)#84 Rodney Sweitzer 20.818; 45)#1T Travis Geisler 20.823; 46)#1Z

Jim Zarin 20.826; 47)#880 Todd Ritchey 20.842; 48)#0 Rodney Combs 20.846;

49)#J7 Jeff Henry 20.860; 50)#75G John Gill 20.943; 51)#18 John Britsky

20.944; 52)#59 Bill Cunningham 20.961; 53)#54 Chris Angelicchio 20.963;

54)#W7 Thomas Ware 20.965; 55)#83R Scott Rhodes 20.999; 56)#71C R.J. Conley

21.057; 57)#12 Cortney Clewell 21.085; 58)#29 Darrell Lanigan 21.126;

59)#21 Frank Poniatowski 21.129; 60)#09 Bob Wearing Sr. 21.315; 61)#35 Mike

Cecere 21.374; 62)#11 Pete Loria 21.380; 63)#7 Dave Troutman 21.428; 64)#80

Bryan Durig 21.459; 65)#84S Jim Stephans 21.461; 66)#04 Bob Close 21.471;

67)#14W John Watson 21.486; 68)#55 Bill Knepper 21.493; 69)#07R Brent

Rhebergen 21.541; 70)#8S Tom Shirnhofer 21.577; 71)#87R Chad Ruhlman

21.607; 72)#25 Len Dobrosielki 21.656; 73)#34 Bobby Bertges 21.849; 74)#44

Mark Moats 21.943; 75)#77 Rick Heim 22.116; 76)#21M Matt Sherlock 22.123;

77)#7A Bill Adler 22.226; 78)#64 Drew Koteles 22.330; 79)#2 Brian Laraway

22.362; 80)#5K George Kowatic NT

BORLA EXHAUST Heat #1: Shaver,Banal,Salathe,Rd. Conley,Cecere,

Elson,Rhodes,Flinner,Crawford,Watson,Bertges,Lucas,Henry,Laraway

(Top 3 advance to feature)

BORLA EXHAUST Heat #2: Moran,L. Geisler,R.J. Conley,Dodd,Gill,Curry,

Knepper,B. Ruhlman,Lepro,Sweitzer,Loria,Moats,Balzano,NS-Kowatic

(Top 3 advance to feature)

BORLA EXHAUST/SCOTT PERFORMANCE WIRE Heat #3: Hitt,Pencil,

Kutas,Urban,Fries,Clewell,Rhebergen,Wade,Chamberlain,Britsky,T.

Geisler,Heim,Troutman (Top 3 advance to feature)

BORLA EXHAUST Heat #4: Miley,Frank,Lanigan,Mason,Barton,Dawson,

Zarin,Thomas,Cunningham,Sherlock,Schirnhofer,Durig,NS-Dalton (Top 3

advance to feature)

BORLA EXHAUST Heat #5: Armbruster,Bare,Andrews,E. Ferree,A. Ferree,

Minnick Jr.,Ritchey,Schaltenbrand,Stephans,Adler,Poniatowski,

Angelicchio,C. Ruhlman

BORLA EXHAUST Heat #6: M. Johnson,Bradich,D. Johnson,Baker,Close,

Hartman,Scott,Combs,Wearing Sr.,Ware,Dobrosielki,Koteles,Stuhler (Top

3 advance to feature)

ISKY RACING CAMS Dash: Moran,Frank,Hitt,Banal,L. Geisler,Andrews

(Finish determines first three rows of feature)

PRO SHOCKS "B" Main #1: Zarin,Mason,Flinner,Rd. Conley,Cecere,

Rhodes,Thomas,Bertges,Sherlock,Lucas,Henry,Cunningham,Crawford,

Watson,Laraway,Barton,NS-Elson,Dawson,Schirnhofer,Durig,Dalton (Top

2 advance to feature)

PRO SHOCKS "B" Main #2: Dodd,E. Ferree,Gill,A. Ferree,Curry,Ritchey,

B. Ruhlman,Balzano,Sweitzer,Knepper,Minnick Jr.,Lepro,Moats,Loria,

Schaltnebrand,NS-Stephans,Adler,Poniatowski,Angelicchio,C. Ruhlman,

Kowatic (Top 2 advance to feature)

PRO SHOCKS "B" Main #3: Close,Hartman,Combs,Stuhler,Rhebergen,

Chamberlain,Scott,Clewell,Wade,Baker,Wearing Sr.,Fries,Britsky,Ware,

Urban,Heim,Dobrosielki,Troutman,NS-T. Geisler,Koteles (Top 2 advance