Story By: EVAN CANFIELD / NY PENN IMCA MODIFIED SERIES – SUSQUEHANNA, PA – The NY Penn IMCA Modified Series made its way back to Northern Pennsylvania at the Penn Can Speedway for round two of the 2022 season on Sunday, May 29th.
On a beautiful afternoon, 14 cars signed in to try their hand at the $1,000 to win prize. On a dry, slick surface, survival was the name of the game and it came down to who could get to the end first.
Aaron Benjamin and Joe Novak would start the 25-lap feature from the front row after the redraw following heat races earlier in the evening. Once the green flag waved, it wouldn’t stay that way for long, as a pileup involving Novak and a host of others in turn one would be the first big shakeup of the event. On the following restart, Benjamin would take heavy fire from heat race winner Shawn Bruce for the top spot, handing Bruce the lead by lap two.
A handful of solo spins would slow the race early, but they would help bring some cars to the front that had started near the rear of the field. Skyline Raceway Motorsports Park winner Eddie Sites would be the first driver to close in on the top spot held by Bruce, making his way to second early on. Behind Sites would be Rodney Morgan who started eighth, Keith Jack Lamphere who started from 13th, and Jake Maynard from 11th. With cars making their way to the front quickly, the race was going to be anything but easy for Bruce, who was in search of his first series victory.
The race for the lead would get intense by lap seven, as Sites would wheel the top of Bruce and Morgan would look inside, racing three wide around much of the Susquehanna, PA oval. As things were heating up, a misque getting into turn three by Bruce would send himself and Sites spinning, collecting nearly half a dozen other cars outside the top five in the process. That would hand the lead over to Morgan, a winner at Penn Can Speedway last year, closely followed by Lamphere and Maynard.
When the race resumed, Morgan and Lamphere would take off from the field, with Maynard closely behind. As laps clicked off, many cars felt the fatigue of the high temperature in the afternoon heat. The first would be Maynard, who would give up his opportunity at a top spot when his motor reached a critical point. Following him would be Eddie Sites after racing his way back into the top five a handful of laps later.
After a few more mild caution, the final laps would click down with Lamphere putting as much pressure on Morgan as he could, but wouldn’t be able to close in close enough. Morgan would go on to claim his second career NY Penn IMCA Modified Series victory, with Lamphere following in his tire tracks for second. Brad Sites, Brad Smith and Jacob McConnell would round out the top five.
The third race of the 2022 NY Penn IMCA Modified Series season will be at The Hill Speedway in Monroeton, PA on Friday, June 10th. Hometown favorite Keith Jack Lamphere will lead the points into the event with a five point advantage over Shawn Bruce, and six points ahead of Jacob McConnell and Brad Sites.
Penn Can Speedway May 29th results:
1. Rodney Morgan ($1,000)
2. Keith Jack Lamphere
3. Brad Sites
4. Brad Smith
5. Jacob McConnell
6. Shawn Bruce
7. Jason Sullivan
8. Aaron Benjamin
9. Joe Novak
10. Eddie Sites
11. Matt Roberts
12. Jake Maynard
13. Tyler Stoddard
14. Mike Stoddard
-Heat Winners: Eddie Sites and Shawn Bruce
-PEM Certificate for free set of gears: Brad Sites
-Allstar $50 Certificate: Jason Sullivan
-Bob Harris Enterprises Shock Certificates: Joe Novak and Aaron Benjamin
-Wilwood Certificates: Keith Jack Lamphere and Mike Stoddard