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STEPHEN SHELPMAN EARNS THE JOSH LANGER MEMORIAL – SCHIRNHOFER, KOTELES, JACOBS, KOKOLIS ALSO WIN AT PPMS

 

Imperial, PA – (September 9, 2023) – Stephen Shelpman from Pleasant Hills was the winner of the Third Annual Josh Langer Memorial, as the Hobby Stocks took top billing on Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Other winners on the night of racing as the TMT Transportation Action Event honored the Military and First Responders were Tommy Schirnhofer from Pittsburgh in the Rohrich Automotive RUSH Late Models, Cody Koteles from Stockdale in the Pro Stocks, Joe Jacobs from West Newton in the Crawford Auto Repair Open Fours, and Gavin Kokolis from Oakdale in the All Ways Safe Young Guns. As an added attraction, Chris Schneider won the Super Late Model dash.

A field of 18 Hobby Stocks was in attendance for the Third Annual Josh Langer Memorial event, presented by All Ways Safe Flagging and Traffic Control and Driven by Fuel Required. The event honors Langer, a long-time supporter of the track who was the division’s first track champion back in 2001. Additionally, the event served as the third and final race of the Stephen W. Johnson Memorial Triple Crown Series. Stephen Shelpman led the mini-series points by five entering the event, meaning that he needed a fourth-place finish to clinch the championship. Time trials started off the evening with Logan Koteles setting the fastest time with 24.515. Two heats were run, won by Koteles and Shelpman. The dash for the top three in each heat was won by Matt Benard, as he earned the pole position for the main.

Benard and Logan Koteles led the 20-lap Josh Langer Memorial to the green flag with Koteles leading the opening lap. Third-starting Stephen Shelpman moved to second on lap 1 and closed on Koteles. Shelpman slipped by Koteles to take the top spot on lap 3. As the laps clicked by, the top three were locked into the lead battle with Benard still attached to the top two. On lap 10, Benard nosed inside of Koteles for second, but Koteles was able to remain the runner-up. By lap 14, the top three were approaching heavy race traffic as the race continued to stay green. The leaders were able to navigate the race traffic, remaining in order with Shelpman over Koteles and Benard. At the two-to-go mark, Shelpman lost his edge as he slipped high in turn one, allowing his competition to get to his back bumper. But Shelpman was able to hold on over the final laps to win the non-stop event by .973 seconds over Koteles and Benard. For the four-time track champion, it was his seventh win of the season and his 39th in the division, as he earned the $1,111 top prize. He also clinched the top spot in the Stephen W. Johnson Memorial Triple Crown Series. When asked about the lap 18 issue, Shelpman said “I was giving it all I had.” Fourth was contested closely over the distance with Garrett O'Patchin topping Adam Ferree. Tyler Fox, Marc Corio, hard charger Jonathan Koteles from 16th to eighth, Leroy Brown, and Ben Anton filled the top ten. Shelpman leads the points by seven over Logan Koteles.

Tommy Schirnhofer led the entire distance in winning the 20-lap Rohrich Automotive RUSH Late Models. Starting from the pole position flanked by Tony Musolino, Schirnhofer pulled away early as Musolino had to battle for second with Zach Gunn. They swapped the runner-up spot before Musolino finally settled into second, but as the green flag laps clicked by it was Schirnhofer building a comfortable lead. Past halfway, with the leaders approaching race traffic, Musolino began to close on the leader. Within a few car lengths at the end, it was Schirnhofer by .569 seconds over Musolino at the checkered flag. For Schirnhofer, it was his second win of the season and his 24th in the division with his first win in 2005. Cole Petrelle was third. Zach Gunn was fourth and Jake Gunn was fifth, as the brothers had won the earlier heat races. Philip Bubeck, point leader Brandon Burgoon, Ben Policz, Mike Reft, and Frank Magill rounded out the top ten. Burgoon led Petrelle by five points entering the night, and with Petrelle finishing four spots ahead of Burgoon, Burgoon now leads by a single point with two-point nights remaining.

The Pro Stocks 15-lap feature started with Nick Kocuba and Cody Koteles on the front row, with Kocuba leading from the start. Kocuba led the first three laps before an incident in turn two brought out the first feature caution flag, in fact, the only feature caution flag of the night. Heath Close had spun, collecting Zack Stehle, with both cars eliminated. Under the caution period, Kocuba headed to the pits and surrendered the lead to heat race winner Koteles. Koteles would nose ahead of Josh Seippel as racing resumed, with point leader A.J. Poljak taking second on lap 4. Koteles would continue to show the way over Poljak, as the best battle on the track was for third with Seippel fending off Dale Tuche. Tuche would grab the final podium spot with a pass on lap 12. Koteles would win for the third time this season, his fifth in the division, and 15th at the track. Poljak added to his point lead in second. Tuche was third over Seippel and Tanya Charlier.

The Crawford Auto Repair Open Fours 10-lap feature started with Tyler Hollister and Colton McNaney leading the field to green, as McNaney led early. On lap 2, sixth-starting Kyle Janas worked his way to the lead, in search of his eighth win of the season. Crossing the line on lap 6, the Janas machine slowed and he limped to the pits, with Joe Jacobs inheriting the top spot. Jacobs led to the finish to win his first feature at the track, over Hollister, Travis Corbin, John Gill, and McNaney. Gill and McNaney were the heat winners. Ninth-place finisher Susie Rudolph leads the points by six over Hollister and ten over Janas with two nights remaining, and a special event next Saturday.

The 6-lap All Ways Safe Young Gun main was won by point leader Gavin Kokolis, notching his fifth feature victory of the season. The battle was for second, as Sadie Snatchko took the spot after swapping it with A.J. Manganello. Sumara Weaver was fourth, with Zoey Knight fifth. Snatchko won the earlier heat race.

In an unadvertised Super Late Model dash for two competitors that were on hand for practice, Tony White led early before Chris Schneider passed him on lap 5 to win the 10-lap event.

Racing action continues on Saturday, September 16, as TMT Transportation presents the five-division Action Event featuring the Sport Compact Shootout for the Open Fours, as the Vintage Modifieds make their annual visit. Another TMT Transportation five-division Action Event goes on Saturday, September 23, as the RUSH Modifieds will visit on the final night for track points. The annual Pittsburgher weekend will close out the season on Friday, September 29, and Saturday, September 30, highlighted by the running of “The Pittsburgher” for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series.

 

Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway results for Saturday, September 9, 2023

Rohrich Automotive RUSH Late Models – 18 entries

Finish position, start position, car number, driver, hometown.

1, 1, 8S, Tommy Schirnhofer, Pittsburgh

2, 2, 42, Tony Musolino, Scott Twp.

3, 4, 184, Cole Petrelle, Follansbee, WV

4, 3, 17G, Zach Gunn, McDonald

5, 5, 14G, Jake Gunn, Moon Twp.

6, 7, 4, Philip Bubeck, Colliers, WV

7, 8, 5X, Brandon Burgoon, McDonald

8, 12, 14B, Ben Policz, Rices Landing

9, 10, 9R, Mike Reft, Pittsburgh

10, 11, 05, Frank Magill, Pleasant Hills

11, 9, 72B, Kassidy Kamicker, Aliquippa

12, 14, 77, Tom Klein, Rochester

13, 16, 60H, Brian Huchko, Coraopolis

14, 13, 2L, Dan Lepro, Midway

15, 15, 15H, Bryan Hoffman, Imperial

16, 18, 2M, Chuck Medved, Imperial

17, 6, 14, Braeden Dillinger, Dawson

Did not start, 17, 18L, Chris Lander, Burgettstown

Heat 1 finish – Jake Gunn, Dillinger, Petrelle, Bubeck, Kamicker, Magill, Lepro, Hoffman, Lander.

Heat 2 finish – Zach Gunn, Musolino, Burgoon, Schirnhofer, Reft, Policz, Klein, Huchko, Medved.

 

Pro Stocks – 11 entries

Finish position, start position, car number, driver, hometown.

1, 2, 1K, Cody Koteles, Stockdale

2, 5, 36, A.J. Poljak, Baldwin

3, 4, 310, Dale Tuche, Cheswick

4, 3, 84S, Josh Seippel, Franklin

5, 7, 21, Tanya Charlier, Bulger

6, 6, A22, Bill Slade, White Oak

7, 1, 10, Nick Kocuba, Burgettstown

8, 10, 32, Ron Ramsey, Acme

9, 8, 77H, Heath Close, Valencia

10, 9, 00, Zack Stehle, Pittsburgh

Did not start, 11, 114, Emmerson Laboon, Jefferson Hills

Heat finish – Koteles, Poljak, Tuche, Kocuba, Seippel, Slade, Charlier, Close, Stehle, Ramsey, Laboon.

 

Hobby Stocks – 18 entries

Finish position, start position, car number, driver, hometown.

1, 3, 17P, Stephen Shelpman, Pleasant Hills

2, 2, 64K, Logan Koteles, Stockdale

3, 1, 15, Matt Benard, Oakdale

4, 6, 25, Garrett O'Patchin, Scott Twp.

5, 4, 29, Adam Ferree, Jefferson Hills

6, 10, 39F, Tyler Fox, Pittsburgh

7, 5, 14, Marc Corio, South Fayette

8, 16, 2K, Jonathan Koteles, Stockdale

9, 12, 40B, Leroy Brown, Raccoon Twp.

10, 7, 13, Ben Anton, Jefferson Hills

11, 8, 2, Gary Koteles, Monongahela

12, 9, 64, Tom Anton, Jefferson Hills

13, 13, 44, Cameron Hollister, McDonald

14, 11, 48, Joey Brown, Raccoon Twp.

15, 17, 22, Robert Betz, South Heights

16, 14, 94, Perry Rummel, Burgettstown

17, 15, 8D3, Mike Tropeck, McDonald

Did not start, 18, 72, Cole Cochran, McDonald

Heat 1 finish – Logan Koteles, O'Patchin, Ferree, Ben Anton, Tom Anton, Joey Brown, Hollister, Tropeck, Jonathan Koteles.

Heat 2 finish – Shelpman, Benard, Corio, Gary Koteles, Fox, Leroy Brown, Rummel, did not start Betz and Cochran.

Fastest qualifier, Logan Koteles, 24.515.

 

Crawford Auto Repair Open Fours – 13 entries

Finish position, start position, car number, driver, hometown.

1, 4, 27, Joe Jacobs, West Newton

2, 1, 69, Tyler Hollister, Midway

3, 9, 2A, Travis Corbin, Colliers, WV

4, 3, 19G, John Gill, Burgettstown

5, 2, 51, Colton McNaney, West Newton

6, 5, 38C, Jakob Chipps, New Cumberland, WV

7, 7, 40, Ray Seibert, Gibsonia

8, 8, 77, Shawn Reick, Pittsburgh

9, 10, 5R, Susie Rudolph, Steubenville, OH

10, 6, 88, Kyle Janas, Coraopolis

Did not start, 11, 3K, Matt Kiesel, Verona

Did not start, 12, 187, Noah Bubeck, Colliers, WV

Did not start, 13, 513, Andrew Jones, New Florence

Heat 1 finish – Gill, Chipps, Jacobs, Seibert, Corbin, did not start Bubeck and Jones.

Heat 2 finish – McNaney, Janas, Hollister, Reick, Kiesel, Rudolph.

 

All Ways Safe Young Guns – 6 entries

Finish position, start position, car number, driver, hometown.

1, 1, 91, Gavin Kokolis, Oakdale

2, 3, 56, Sadie Snatchko, Oakdale

3, 6, 50, A.J. Manganello

4, 5, 112W Sumara, Weaver, Daisytown

5, 4, 78Z, Zoey Knight, Plum

6, 2, 29M, Cameron Hollister, McDonald

Heat Finish – Snatchko, Manganello, Kokolis, Hollister, Knight, did not start Weaver.

 

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