May 2, 2009
Race Results

            Saturday night May 2 was opening night for the 2009 racing season at Marion Center Speedway and over 100 cars came to participate in the five divisions racing at the quarter-mile track between Indiana and Punxsutawney. 

            The first division to take the track was the W. G. Satterelee & Sons Street Stocks.  Corey McPherson of Tarentum earned the pole position by winning his heat race, and brought the field onto the track.  McPherson led the first five laps of the feature before Rusty Martz from Brookville took control of the race.  Martz had started seventh in the field and was the leader for lap six through to the checkered flags at the end of lap twenty.  Martz was challenged in the feature event by sixth place starter, Nick Goss of Punxsutawney.  Goss put the pressure on Martz, but Martz successfully held off Goss for the win.  Third place went to Tim White from Punxsutawney and fourth was Tim Bish of Ringgold leaving fifth place for Rich Waltman of Coolspring.  Sixth through tenth places in order went to Jeff Taylor, Chad O’Brien, Fuzzy Fields, Dave Potter, Jr., and Mike Valasek.  Martz and Bish were the heat winners. 

            The Lias Tire Latemodels were next on the track.  Dwayne Taneyhill brought the cars out of the pits and led the field for the first three laps until Sammy Stile took over the front position. Stile from Charleroi, was the leader for the next nine laps until Greg Satterlee passed Stile for the lead.  Satterlee from Rochester Mills, kept the lead for the remaining laps for the victory.  At the checkered flag it was Greg Satterlee continuing his winning ways from last season giving him six straight wins at Marion Center Speedway, and Sammy Stile finishing second.  Rod Phillips of Punxsutawney was third, Taneyhill from Bellwood – fourth, and the returning Rick Davis picked up fifth (Welcome Back Rick!).  Rick Strong was next and he was followed by Clate Copeman, Mike Blose, Matt Gaston, and George Lee for the top ten.  Lee and Dave Blazavich from Marion Center were the winners in the heats. 

            Next up were the Strictly Stocks with a new sponsor for the 2009 Season-Pikel’s Universal Auto Repair from Home, PA picked up the sponsorship of the division for this season.  The Strictly Stocks put on a good race for their new sponsor with Ray Hickok, Jr. and Brett Bingaman battling to a near photo finish.  Hickok started on the pole position and led every lap until Bingaman from Cherry Tree was able to come up from starting seventh to take the lead for laps thirteen and fourteen of the fifteen lap feature.  Hickok from Commodore was able to recover and powered his way down the front stretch to cross the finish line just ahead of Bingaman for the win.  Behind the battle of Hickok and Bingaman, Cory Kilgore from Kittanning was running third after Bingaman’s charge to the front, and he finished there ahead of Gary Furman, Jr. from New Alexandria.  Fifth place went to Justin Queen from Irvona and the rest of  the top ten were A. J. Flick, Nate Smith, Rich Anderson, Shawn Hadden, and Robin Welsh.  The Pikel’s Universal Auto Repair Strictly Stock heats were won by Hickok and Greg Buterbaugh from Clymer. 

            Then the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Limited Latemodels took the track.  John Oaks from Punxsutawney started on the pole but Rod Phillips also of Punxsutawney passed Oaks on the first lap to take the lead and hold onto it for the rest of the twenty-lap feature.  Bobby Watt from Latrobe started and finished second, and Jeff Weakland from Hastings moved up from eighth to third.  Fourth place went to Joey Valenti from Clymer and fifth was Scott Stein from Cherry Tree.  Then came Andrew Satterlee, Cheyenne Reed, Jim Whiteford, Scott Alvetro and Ron Marsh for the top ten.  John Oaks and Bobby Watt were the heat winners. 

            The last race of the night was in the Q-102 Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinder Rice Burners division.  Jason Joiner from Brookville was the winner by leading every lap in the feature.  Joiner was challenged by Craig Decker from Cherry Tree early on in the race and later by Bob Pease from Blairsville who ended in second place.  Chris Hickok from Commodore finished third and Larry Depp from Punxsutawney was fourth; Decker picked up fifth.  Sixth through tenth places went to Johnny Miller, Tyler Laughard, Joe Petyak, Tom Pavelko and Tina Weaver.  The Q-102 heats were won by Chris Hickok and Bob Pease.   

            Racing continues next Saturday at Marion Center Speedway and every Saturday night this season until we reach the Butler Auto Supply Season Championships.  Next Saturday will be the Mother’s Day Special at the track.  And don’t forget to check out the Force, Inc. Super Late Model Championship Challenge with Marion Center Speedway and Dog Hollow Speedway.

by:  Don Peffer

Cory Stivason's Photos

Late Model	Limited Late Model	Street Stock	Strictly Stock	4-Cylinder
22 - Gregg Satterlee	1P - Rod Phillips	16M - Rusty Martz	48 - Ray Hickok Jr.	619 - Jason Joiner

Results