Before a near capacity crowd at the 164th Trumbull County Fair, Rex King, Sr. scored his first win of the 2010 BRP/Hoosier Tire Modified Tour. It was his second career Modified Tour win at Expo Speedway, the track where he cut his racing teeth.
“It was extra special,” King said of his thirteenth career Mod Tour win. “It was during the fair.”
King has strong ties to Expo Speedway. He lives but five miles from the track and his business is also located nearby. He started his racing career at Expo in the early 1980’s and he even promoted four races there during the 1995 season.
“We had a lot of local people there, and I heard a lot of good comments,” he said. He heard even more of them afterwards, when he and runner-up Kevin Bolland took their cars out onto the carnival midway so the fans could see them.
There were plenty of first-time spectators in the audience. “I think everybody there enjoyed it,” King said. “We put on a good show, a little bit of passing back and forth,” he explained. “That’s what we need to do (to get new fans interested in the sport). Maybe they liked what they saw and they will come out to Sharon (Speedway) or Mercer (Raceway Park) to see us again.”
King, who raced from twelfth to second in the early stages of the race, made strong outside moves on two restarts to grab the lead away from Kevin Bolland. As to the first lead change, King said with a laugh, “I went into one on the outside (and) I was either going to win it or I was going out to the ferris wheel or something because we went in there pretty good and it held and that is what we needed.” Then after Bolland returned the favor on an intervening restart, King was able to repeat the feat. “Kevin got a good run on me for five or eight laps (and) I was chasing him pretty hard. Then, on the next restart the tire came back, had a little heat generated in it, seemed like it came back to life for me,” King added.
But, with just five laps remaining in the race, he had to fight off Bolland’s final challenge. “I thought that he might be able (to pull it off), but we got into one really good that time,” King said. “I hit my marks and I was just where I needed to be.” King was able to drive off the bottom of turn two, got some good bite, and managed to get in front of Bolland as they pair entered turn three. However, King explained that the key was his entry into the first turn. “I focused a lot on the very first entry. I wanted to make sure that I was where I needed to be.” He explained, “if I was up too high, the car was going to hang and get loose.” So, he drove in straight and then “bent” it to get around the corner.
Jeremiah Shingledecker and Kevin Bolland garnered front row starting spots for the feature, which was shortened to 30 laps due to approaching darkness. Bolland fired first and led the thundering Modifieds down the long front stretch. The crowd roared with approval as Rex King, Jr. slipped into second, followed by rookie Chris Haines and his teammate, Shingledecker. King Sr. got a great start as well, moving from twelfth to eighth on the first circuit.
While Bolland continued to lead, King Sr. methodically worked his way to the front. When the field realigned after the second caution of the race, Bolland had the pole and King Sr. was on his flank. On the restart, King Sr. made that strong outside move and gained the lead as the veterans came off turn two.
King Sr. led the next six laps, until caution slowed the field once again. This time, it was Bolland’s turn to use the outside lane to wrestle the lead away from him. Bolland would lead the next three laps, but he was pressured by King Sr. During this stage of the race, Del Rougeux, Jr. worked his way into third, while Jim Rasey, Brad Rapp, Shingledecker, and Dave Murdick fought for other top five positions.
Then, it was déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say. King used the outside line to take the lead away from Bolland on the lap 17 restart. Bolland kept pace with the new leader, while Rougeux, Rasey, Rapp continued to run in formation.
Bolland would get one last shot to overhaul the leader on a lap 25 restart. However, King was better prepared for the outside challenge, and held off Bolland the remainder of the way.
Rougeux closed in on the lead pair as the laps wound down, but he could not get close enough to pose a serious threat to them. Rasey rode home in fourth and D. Murdick finished fifth.
Tommy Kristyak came from fourteenth to sixth, followed by Gary Smoker, Shingledecker, Mark Flick and Kevin Hoffman.
Heat wins for the 31 car field went to King Sr., King, Jr., and Bolland.
There was no B Main, as the Trumbull County Fair Board graciously allowed all racers to start the feature event.
Shawn Fleeger, Rex King, Jr., Tommy Mattocks, Eric Gabany, Rob Kristyak, Ryan Hall, Don Brown, Mike Miller, Jason Longwell (DNS), Dave Reges (DNS), J.R. McGinley (DNS).
The next event for the BRP/Hoosier Tire Modified Tour will be at Tri_City Speedway, Franklin, PA, on Sunday, July 4. The Kodiak Memorial will be presented by Atkinson Fire Safety Equipment and it will pay $2,000 to the winner. A very busy week for the Mod tour concludes with the Lou Blaney Memorial on Wednesday, July 7, at Sharon Speedway, in Hartford, OH.
BRP/Hoosier Tire Modified Tour Round Three: July 1, 2010: Expo Speedway, Cortland, OH: 30 Laps: 1. (65) Rex King, Sr., Bristolville, OH ($1500); 2. (777) Kevin Bolland, New Brighton, PA ($1000); 3. (20D) Del Rougeux, Jr., Frenchville, PA ($800); 4. (32) Jim Rasey, Southington, OH ($600); 5. (61) Dave Murdick, Slippery Rock ($550); 6. (26Z) Tommy Kristyak, Stoneboro, PA ($500); 7. (516) Gary Smoker, Mercer, PA ($450); 8. (37MD) Jeremiah Shingledecker, Polk, PA ($400); 9. (2) Mark Flick, Apollo, PA ($350); 10. (17H) Kevin Hoffman, Franklin, PA ($325); 11. (03) Mark Frankhouser, Phillipsburg, PA ($300); 12. (11R) Brad Rapp, Shippenville, PA ($290); 13. (35H) Chris Haines, Sandy Lake, PA ($280); 14. (333) Ron Eperthener, Jr., Grove City, PA ($270); 15. (6) Carl Murdick, Butler, PA ($260); 16. (75) Jeff Miller, Sarver, PA ($250); 17. (96) Mike Turner, Butler, PA ($240); 18. (45) Steve Feder, Butler, PA ($230); 19. (8J) Dean Pearson, Harrisville, PA ($225); 20. (X) Jeremy Paup, Polk, PA ($220); 21. (88) Shawn Fleeger, Butler, PA ($210); 22. (165) Rex King, Jr., Bristolville, OH ($205); 23. (69) Tommy Mattocks, Franklin, PA ($200); 24. (3E) Eric Gabany, Mercer, PA ($200); 25. (00) Rob Kristyak, Bristolville, OH ($200); 26. (B4) Ryan Hall, Grove City, PA ($200); 27. (71B) Don Brown, Butler, PA ($200); 28. (72) Mike Miller, Chicora, PA ($200). DNS Jason Longwell ($100), Dave Reges ($100) and J.R. McGinley ($50).
The Modified Tour, Inc. would like to thank the 2010 series sponsors: Bicknell Racing Products; Hoosier Racing Tire Corp.; Sunoco Racing Fuel – Bazell Oil Co., Inc.; World Racing Group – DIRTcar; Approved Toilet Rentals, Inc.; Behrent’s Speed Center, Inc.; Bert Transmission; Big Daddy’s Speed Center Inc.; Engles Trucking Services, Inc.; Bilstein Shocks – Fastline Performance; Fast Axle, LLC; Frankland Racing Supply; ISC Racers Tape; Hall’s Safety Equipment Corp.; Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG); Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Inc.; King Brothers; Kirkey Racing Fabrication Inc.; Landrum Spring; McCool’s Signs and Graphics; Motorsports World; Oyler Photos & More; Pennsylvania Army National Guard; Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP; Preist Enterprises, Inc.; Pro Shocks; RaceQuip; Ray’s Racing Collectibles; Red Bear Hand Cleaner; Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants; Slippery Rock Sportswear; Smokey’s; SpeedBear Fasteners; Turbo Start Batteries; Ultra-Shield Race Products; Valken Wheels; Wedge Motorsports, LLC; Winters Performance Products Inc.; and Wrisco Industries Inc.
The Modified Tour, Inc. racing series is a non-profit organization established in 1998 to give the V-8 Modifieds in the Western Pennsylvania area the opportunity to compete for higher purses and for a seasonal point fund. It has had great success at bringing the local cars together at tracks throughout the tri-state area and in expanding the profile for this exciting brand of motorsports.