$2K Penn-OH Stocks Win Goes To Chris Schneider On Saturday Night At Sharon Speedway

Story By: MIKE LEONE / SHARON SPEEDWAY – HARTFORD, OH – Despite a heavy thunderstorm that rolled through Sharon Speedway late in the morning leaving the facility saturated, Officials proceeded on with the “Steel Valley Thunder” program and was able to complete the third show of the month and five in eight tries during this weather-plagued season. Celebrating in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Victory Lane were Chris Schneider-Gibson Insurance Agency Pro Stocks Penn-Ohio Championship Series “Ray’s Race”, John Mollick (RUSH Sprint Cars), Ayden Cipriano-HTMA/Precise Racing Products, Joe Gabrielson (Alcon Mechanical Econo Mods), and Travis Reeher (Crown Vics). It was Virgile Iron & Steel Night as 92 cars filled the pit area.

Chris Schneider became the first repeat winner in the seven-year history of “Ray’s Race” for the Gibson Insurance Agency Pro Stocks. Schneider passed Brett Hutira on lap two and went unchallenged throughout the remainder of the 25-lap feature in the Penn-Ohio Championship Series-sanctioned event. Schneider last won the event in 2022 at Tri-City Raceway Park. For Schneider, his second win of the season was worth $2,000 and it was his milestone 20^th career win at the track.

“It’s awesome to become the first repeat winner of this event,” acknowledged the 46-year-old Lower Burrell, Pa. Thank you to Randy (Wyant) for putting this together and what a way to honor Mr. Virgile- a great guy I hear. We all miss him and want to remember him. Restarts are the key here. I think there was a lane on the top, but I wasn’t taking a chance leading the race so I just stuck on the bottom and tried to stay smooth and be steady. I want to thank the Sharon Speedway track crew; you guys are great and this track was awesome and very racy.”

Hutira, who was making his first start at Sharon in more than a year, joined Jake Dietz in bringing the 24-car starting field to green with Hutira leading the opening lap. Schneider started third and moved past Dietz on the opening lap for second. Schneider then snuck under Hutira in turn four on lap two for what would be the winning pass.

While Schneider was never seriously challenged throughout the caution-plagued event, the battle behind him was intense. Kyle Couchenour started fifth and raced into second on lap six past Hutira. Couchenour would keep Schneider in his sights as a bevy of cars battled for third including Hutira, Jackson Humanic, Bobby Whitling, Tim Bish, and Dietz. The sixth starting Whitling made the pass for good on lap 22. The event’s final caution was for Shaun Hooks with 23 laps completed.

The two-lap dash to the checkered saw Schneider cross the finish first by 0.387 seconds over Couchenour in his ICA Mechanical/Butler Truck Parts/It’s All Clean Mobile Pressure Washing/A&K Farms/Hot Dog Guys/Chuck’s Auto Shop-sponsored #55. Whitling was third over Dietz and Steve D’Apolito.

Sixth through 10^th were Humanic, Bish, 16^th starting Cody Koteles, Jason Fosnaught and 23^rd starting Christian Schneider, who earned the $100 Summit Racing Equipment Hard Charger gift card. Koteles also won a $100 Performance Bodies gift card for nosing out Fosnaught by just 0.072 seconds. Chris Schneider set fast time overall against the 29-car field in qualifying with a lap of 18.271. Heat winners were Chris Schneider, Dietz, and Whitling, while Hooks was credited with the win in the last chance B main. Tyler Wyant won the dash.

It wasn’t easy, but John Mollick remained undefeated at Sharon in the RUSH Sprint Car division. Mollick started seventh, took the lead on lap three from Brian Cressley, then had to hold off a valiant effort by ninth starting Blaze Myers in the 20-lap feature for his fourth win in four races. Mollick has now won seven of the last eight races for the RUSH Sprint Cars at Sharon dating back to last season after never winning in years prior in the division at the track! Ironically, Mollick has still yet to win this season outside of Sharon.

“I saw Blaze (Myers) on the scoreboard and knew he was going to be there,” stated the 54-year-old Toronto, Ohio winner. “I was trying to hit my marks and ended up messing up more than I should have. I got really slow there toward the end of the feature, but we got it done. Scotty (Clever) really has this car dialed in good for me and it’s working well after having to fix the car a couple weeks ago.”

Cressley and Zach Morrow led the 21-car starting field to green with Cressley powering into the lead over Morrow and fifth starting Luke Mulichak. Mollick was already up to fourth after the completion of lap one then passed both Mulichak and Morrow for second on lap two. Mollick went to the outside to claim the top spot one-lap later from Cressley.

Mulichak and Morrow would pass Cressley for third and fourth on laps four and five respectively before Cressley slowed to bring out the caution with six laps completed. When racing resumed, sixth starting Arnie Kent blew into second, while Morrow and Myers passed Mulichak for third and fourth respectively. Myers was on the move as he put a slider on Morrow to claim third on lap nine. Myers was ripping the top as he drove around Kent in turn four for second on lap 17.

Myers, who was making his Sharon season debut, caught Mollick and pulled alongside on one occasion, but wasn’t able to clear Mollick, who took the checkered flag first by just 0.330 seconds. Mollick, who also has a Big-Block Modified win at Sharon, upped his all-time win total at the track to eight, which came in the McFadden Machine/Willy’s Car Wash/Rae Lynn Enterprises/Spring Church Car Wash/JET Engines, Scott Clever-owned #4J.

After back-to-back runner-up finishes to Mollick earlier this month, Kent settled for third after losing P2 to Myers. Mulichak was fourth. Morrow dropped to fifth as he’s now completed the top five for three straight races to go along with a third on May 17. Zack Wilson beat out 11^th starting Brandon Shughart for sixth. Fourteen-year-old rookie racer, Samantha Priest, recorded her first career top 10 finish in eighth. RUSH’s points leader, Gale Ruth, Jr., went 16th to 9^th. Charlie Utsinger was 10^th. Heat winners were Kent and Mulichak.

Making just his second start of 2025 in the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds, Ayden Cipriano led all 20 laps of the HTMA/Precise Racing Products feature. Cipriano fended off Kole Holden throughout much of the duration and ended the dominance by Chas Wolbert, who had won all four races around the circuit this season. I want to thank Russ King for letting us rent out this car and run it today; without him we wouldn’t be racing.

“I knew starting first I had to hit my marks and stay smooth throughout the race,” acknowledged the 19-year-old Hermitage, Pa. resident. “I think Kole (Holden) was a little faster than me, but I was able to keep my line straight, not mess up at all, and be able to come away with the win.”

An opening lap caution for Jackson Kristyak was all that slowed the event as the race then went green-to-checkered. Cipriano started on the pole, while Holden went fourth to second on the opening lap. Holden and Karston King then battled swapping runner-up and back and forth over the first five laps before Holden took command. Cipriano and Holden then would distance themselves from the field.

Wolbert meanwhile started in 12^th and was able to pass King on lap 13 for fourth then slipped under Darin Gallagher for third on lap 15. Back up front, Cipriano crossed the finish line first in the Novus Home Mortgage/Wheatland Steel Processing/Rudy’s Bar & Grille -sponsored #22 by 0.882 seconds ahead of Holden for his seventh career win in the division and eighth overall thanks to his first career Big-Block Modified win in 2024.

Wolbert was third over Darin Gallagher. After running in second early on, King dropped to fifth, but was still good enough for his first career top five at Sharon. JC Boyer went ninth to sixth. Jacob Rutana beat out his brother Doug for seventh as Ben Easler and Dalton Gabriel completed the top 10. Heat winners were Jacob Rutana and Kole Holden.

Ninth starting Joe Gabrielson emerged victorious in the Alcon Mechanical Econo Mod feature for the second straight week. The 20-lap feature had three different leaders and more than a half-dozen drivers in contention for the victory as Gabrielson made the winning pass on the 12^th circuit.

“They made me work for that one,” acknowledged the 37-year-old Bristolville, Ohio racer. “When I drew the invert pill, I thought it was a six and knew I couldn’t start any better than that anyways, but it was a nine. It was clean racing up front and that was fun to do race with Jake (Eucker) and Alan (Dellinger), who has the most wins in the ‘open’ (modified) cars. Jake is an awesome wheelman and I was glad to get around him. I didn’t really want to be on the top, but Jake is a master on the top so I decided to take his line and it worked out.”

Bryan Wagner took off in the lead, while Jacob Eucker went fourth to second. Wagner and Eucker battled side-by-side for the lead from laps 2-6 before Eucker nosed ahead for the lead. Veteran Alan Dellinger had made his way into second on lap eight and held the spot until Gabrielson went on by on lap 11. Coleton Longwell started 22^nd and was batting in the top five when he got too high and slapped the fence ending his fine run with 11 laps scored.

Back under green, Gabrielson made the winning pass on lap 12. Brendan Warner was subbing for Dennis Lunger, Jr., who has been battling some health complications. Warner, who had finishes of fourth and second in his own car this season, started from eighth and took over second from Eucker following a restart for a caution by Dellinger on lap 19. Gabrielson was able to keep Warner at bay by 0.846 seconds for his fourth career win in the division. Gabrielson’s 13^th overall career win at Sharon came in his MB Customs/Mullins Race Engines/Wedge Motorsports/Big Ed’s Tire-sponsored #58

Eucker was third after leading laps 6-11. Dennis Dellinger had a solid run in fourth. Wagner fell to fifth after leading the opening five laps. Don Watson was sixth over Travis Carothers, Cody Stronghart, 19^th starting Robert Simmons, and Gary Sullivan in his season debut. Heat winners over the 23-car field were Gabrielson, Warner, and Watson.

Travis Reeher made his racing debut a winning one. Reeher passed Elyn Wickham on lap nine to garner the 10-lap feature win in race number two for the Crown Vic division. Reeher was driving the #7 that was piloted to victory by Coleton Longwell in the division’s debut one-week prior.

“That was fun,” expressed the 29-year-old Greenville, Pa. driver. “Coleton (Longwell) did a lot of talking to get me in the car tonight so thanks to him. This was the first time out for me after watching him for a long time. In the heat race I was just trying to figure the car out as I had never drove a car on the track before. He told me to quit driving it like your girlfriend and throw it in there so I figured I had to.”

Reeher drove away on the final lap and took the checkered flag first by 2.009 seconds ahead of Wickham. Brian Krepps was third as Makenzie Gracey completed the finish in her debut. Krepps won the heat race.

There will be NO racing over the Independence Day holiday. Racing will return in a big way July 11-12 when the World of Outlaws Late Model invade for two complete shows. The Econo Mods will be the support division on Friday night and the RUSH Sprint Cars on Saturday night.

Gibson Insurance Agency Pro Stocks Penn-Ohio Championship Series “Ray’s Race” (25 laps, $2,000 to-win): 1. 55-CHRIS SCHNEIDER[3]; 2. 299-Kyle Couchenour[5]; 3. 7W-Bobby Whitling[6]; 4. 27-Jacob Dietz[2]; 5. 84-Steve D’Apolito[7]; 6. 17-Jackson Humanic[4]; 7. 11B-Tim Bish[9]; 8. 1K-Cody Koteles[16]; 9. 25-Jason Fosnaught[12]; 10. 56-Christian Schneider[23]; 11. 7B-Matt Bernard[17]; 12. 0-Larry Kugel[13]; 13. 12MT-Trevor McCann[18]; 14. 51-Michael Miller[10]; 15. 23-Shaun Hooks[19]; 16. 68-Andrew Hammond[24]; 17. 8C-Russ Coyne[21]; 18. 1-Jacob Wheeler[14]; 19. 4-Brett Hutira[1]; 20. 25G-Andrew Gordon[22]; 21. 14-Scott Stiffler[11]; 22. 20J-Chase Lambert[8]; 23. 44-Rusty Wheeler[15]; 24. 12M-Scott Malone[20]. DNQ: 1C-Corey MacQueen, 28-Dalton Gabriel, 96GB-Garrett Bowser, 11T-Tyler Wyant, 3-Paul Davis.

RUSH Sprint Cars (20 laps): 1. 4J-JOHN MOLLICK[7]; 2. 41-Blaze Myers[9]; 3. 9-Arnie Kent[6]; 4. 55-Luke Mulichak[5]; 5. 68-Zach Morrow[2]; 6. 1-Zack Wilson[8]; 7. 29-Brandon Shughart[11]; 8. 21N-Samantha Priest[3]; 9. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[16]; 10. 23-Charlie Utsinger[4]; 11. 213-Lucas Roessner[13]; 12. 21-Grayson Bayle[10]; 13. 54-Devon Deeter[21]; 14. 63L-Wyatt Long[12]; 15. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[18]; 16. 1T-Ricky Tucker III[14]; 17. 501-Matt Urey[17]; 18. 2R-Rich Womeldorf[15]; 19. 48T-TJ Rosario[19]; 20. 62-Brian Cressley[1]; 21. 57C-Cooper Fritz[20]

HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds (20 laps): 1. 22-AYDEN CIPRIANO[1]; 2. 2-Kole Holden[4]; 3. C3-Chas Wolbert[12]; 4. 23-Darin Gallagher[6]; 5. 165K-Karston King[3]; 6. 12-JC Boyer[9]; 7. 57R-Jacob Rutana[5]; 8. 46R-Doug Rutana[7]; 9. 711-Benjamin Easler[11]; 10. 333G-Dalton Gabriel[10]; 11. 00-Rob Kristyak[8]; 12. 70B-Nolan Burns[14]; 13. 12S-Troy Pinch[13]; 14. 00K-Jackson Kristyak[2]. DNS: 22P-Madilynn Pinch.

Alcon Mechanical Econo Mods (20 laps): 1. 58-Joe Gabrielson[9]; 2. 71L-Brendan Warner[8]; 3. 64-Jacob Eucker[4]; 4. 17-Dennis Dellinger[5]; 5. 56-Bryan Wagner[2]; 6. 71A-Don Watson[7]; 7. 89C-Travis Carothers[10]; 8. 36-Cody Stronghart[11]; 9. 4RJ-Robert Simmons[19]; 10. 47S-Gary Sullivan[12]; 11. 14-Dan McEwen[1]; 12. 9G-Arianna Samuelson[17]; 13. 15-Eric Nellis II[14]; 14. 24R-Derrick Randolph[15]; 15. 31-Seth Brenot[13]; 16. 10-Derek Tessean[21]; 17. 40R-Clay Ruffo[23]; 18. 8-Jonathan Davis[20]; 19. 17D-Alan Dellinger[3]; 20. 44R-Bobby Robinson[16]; 21. 7-Coleton Longwell[22]; 22. 35-Rick Wilson Jr[18]; 23. 83-Jeremy Double[6].

Crown Vics (10 laps): 1. 7-TRAVIS REEHER[1]; 2. 919-Elyn Wickham[2]; 3. 4-Brian Krepps[3]; 4. 34G-Makenzie Gracey[4]