Here is the 2011 / 2012 Randy’s Raceway Modified season wrap up. We had 34 racers compete in the headline division in 15 shows during the season. Nine drivers made all 15 races. I will review the top 20 in points and also have career stats included with the summaries.
20th SAM SOBOEWSKI Sam ran with us 3 times and is Bretts buddy. He learned real quick and seemed to get better each time out.
19th LARRY SANDERS Larry made in in for 3 races this season and has been working on his tyco program trying to get the set up just right. Larry just missed the top ten on all three runs finishing 11th each time.
18th NICK WUMMER Nick ran the early part of the season before he got involved with a job that limited his attendance here. Nick races hard and had a top 10 this season.
17th KEVIN SPONAGLE Kevin started coming in later in the season and really gained some experiance on the differant tracks at Randy’s. He should be a much improved driver next season.
16th MIKE FELTENBERGER (BEAR) Mike Feltenberger also started coming in toward the middle of the season and the long time Hiester’s racer started running real well on the 8 lane. He ended the season with 1 segment win 1 top five and 5 top ten finishes.
15th SCOTT BENDER Scott Bender one of the original drivers at the Berks speedplant made enough shows to ease into the top 15 of points. He ended the year with 7 segment wins (70 career segment wins) 3 top five and 8 top 10 finishes.
14th BRETT GILMORE The defending Modified Point Champion started the season real strong and then missed several shows but still made the top 15 in points. Brett won 3 features (43 career feature wins), 45 segments (394 career segment wins) which is 1st all time. Brett had 8 top five finishes and 8 top ten runs.
13th BRIAN VANBUSKIRK Brian ran a fairly full schedule with us this season as he made the long trip across town. Brian raelly started getting his cars dialed in later in the season. He ended up with 1 top ten finish.
12th BILL BRENNER Veteran of many slot car campainges Bill Brenner had a season to remember aboard the potent Beard modifieds. About 2/3rds through the season he made a switch to the number 18 mount. Brenner won 1 feature (2 career feature wins) and 4 segments this season (49 career segment wins). He had 1 top five and 8 top ten finishes.
11th ADAM ZAPPACOSTA Adam made almost all of the shows and really began improving this year. Watch out for him in 2012 / 2013 season.
10th CORY REINHARD Cory also made some improvement this year in his #7 Eagles car. Cory ran up front and lead some heats during the year. He had 2 top ten finishes this season.
9th TONY ZAPPACOSTA Tony teamed up with long time racer Billy Decker from Nazareth as a co-driver in the Decker wrenched modifieds. He was really fast especially on the short track events. Tony won 4 segments this year which were his first wins ever. He also cracked the top 10 5 times and it is reported that he will once again be on the Decker taem for next season.
8th TOBY REINHARD Toby had a season of ups and downs but really came on strong as the season wound down. Watch out for him next season because he should start strong. Toby had 2 segment wins this season which were career firsts. He finished in the top 5 once and made the top 10 in 10 races.
7th ERIC BEARD Eric Beard is the guy who drives the longest distance to be here and race with us and we are glad he does. Eric really turned in some good runs this year and feilded 2 Modified teams again this season teaming up with veteran Bill Brenner. Eric won 13 segments this season (32 career segment wins) that ties him for 18th all time on the modified segment win list. Eric finished twice in the top 5 and 12 out of 15 races in the top 10.
6th BOB AMORE A tough season for Bob on the 8 lane but he ran real strong on the Tri-oval and the short track which he has become known for. Bob who also builds most of the modified bodies on the cars at Randy’s and other area tracks had 5 segment wins. (146 career segment wins) which is 6th all time. He finished top 5 4 times and top 10 11 times.
5th BILLY DECKER Another veteran and original racer here at Randy’s Billy Decker had a fantastic season both as a driver and builder. As a builder he fielded 2 fast cars ever week with Tony Zappacosta driving the backup car. As a driver Billy won 12 segments this season (139 career segment wins) which is 7th all time. The Nazareth resident was a top 5 racer 6 times and top 10 on 14 out of 15 chances.
4th SHELDON HIESTER Sheldon had a great year and finally cracked the winners circle as a Modified feature winner at Randy’s Raceway. The second generation racer from Shillington won 13 segments in his family operations modified team (77 career segment wins). Sheldon was in the top 5 10 times and the top 10 14 times.
3rd JIM LEVAN Reading’s Jim Levan ran strong all year switching between his coupe and newer style modifieds this season all numbered 1. Jim made it to victory lane 3 times bringing his career feature win total to 7. He won 34 segments which was 4th highest this season (158 career segment wins) for 5th place on the all time segment win list in a modified. Jim had 9 top 5’s and all 15 races were top 10 runs. He was one of three drivers this year that did that.
2nd SHANE HIESTER Shane Hiester did everything he could this year except win a modified feature. He is still searching for that career first and it will come. Who knows maybe opening day next season, stay tuned. Shane did win 40 segments this year ( 129 career segment wins) places him 6th all time 1 behind the promoter. He had 12 top 5’s and all 15 races in the top 10.
1st MARK WILLIAMS Mark Williams won the Modified point championship at Randy’s Raceway for the second time inn his career. Driving the Kenny Gilmore prepared slot cars he won 6 features (24 career feature wins) which is third all time. Mark won 79 segments which was the most this season (393 career segment wins) he is now just 1 behind Brett Gilmore for the most modified segment wins. 15 top 5’s and top 10’s made up his season.
RANDY’S RACEWAY CAREER MODIFIED WINNERS LIST- Top 10
Features- Kenny Gilmore 44, Brett Gilmore 43, Mark Williams 24, Dave Richards 10, Jim Levan 7, Little T 6, Rich Pigeon 5, Sam Heller 5, Scott Bender 4, Bob Zelano Sr 4.
Segments- Brett Gilmore 394, Mark Williams 393, Kenny Gilmore 364, Dave Richards 167, Jim Levan 158, Bob Amore 146, Billy Decker 139, Randy Haydt 130, Shane Hiester 129, Sam Heller 116.
