Saturday, July 3rd, was the annual open wheel extravaganza at PA Speedway. There would be a fireworks show at the end of the evening and fireworks as well during the fourth race of the Vintage Modified 2010 season.

Jim Jones set the pace with a blistering fast qualifying time of 15:98 seconds.

Chuck Peterson won the B Dash from the pole. He held off hard charging Mike Clother and Josh Peters to take a well-deserved trophy.

The A dash was won by Bobby Wheeler who started on the front row to the right of pole sitter Tom Smitham who was driving for Leonard Schmidt. Defending champion Jim Jones was a very close second.

Peterson also started on the pole for the 10-lap heat race. On his right was Josh Peters driving for Robert Rux who had taken the night off. Clother started behind them and brought out the first yellow flag when his air cleaner went airborne and, after bouncing off the windshield of Wheeler’s car, landed in pieces on the track. Unfazed Clother used the restart to make a successfully aggressive outside pass on Peterson for the lead. One lap later the engine in Peterson’s car expired trailing a large cloud of white smoke. That brought a waving red flag and the field was stopped on the back straightaway. Before the restart Clother was shown the mechanical flag due to a flat tire and was allowed to quickly change it going from first to worst as he restarted in the rear of the field. Wheeler inherited the lead and spent the remaining laps once again holding off Jones for a photo finish win.

The feature main was a 50-lap event. With Peterson’s car absent Josh Peters took over the pole position beside Tom Smitham. Wheeler and John Mustered made up the second row followed by Jones and Clother. At the green flag Jones began his customary drive to the lead, seemingly passing cars at will. Most of the other drivers knew that Jones’ car was suffering from a growling differential and couldn’t possibly last the entire 50 laps. As Jones went forward Mustered fell to the rear of the pack, a good thing as it turned out because something let loose in the rear axle of Mustered’s car causing it to spin exiting turn 4. He brushed the concrete wall with his front bumper but was able to drive the car back to the pits and onto the trailer. After the ensuing restart Jones remained in the lead ahead of Peters, Wheeler, Smitham and Clother. Around the half way point in the race Clother decided it was time to go. He worked on the outside of Smitham for several laps before he was able to complete the pass exiting turn two. Wheeler’s car was experiencing a rear wheel hop and that allowed Clother to move by him and gain another position towards the front. By this time Jones’ car was showing signs of slowing. Peters was closing in on him as Clother continued to reel in Peters. Everybody thought the ailing differential was beginning to fail. With 10 laps to go it looked like it would be a 3 way race for the win. In reality Jones’ car was just fine and he drove away leaving Clother and Peters to battle for second place. As Jones was lapping cars and racing to victory Clother eventually prevailed over Peters. Wheeler and Smitham rounded out the top 5. It was an exciting race for the participants and the fans. Jim Jones continues to lead the points race seeking his third consecutive championship.

The next race for the V Mods is at Ephrata Raceway. It should be a great night of racing marking the half way point of the 2010 season and bragging rights for the coveted mid-season champion ship trophy.