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(Lehighton, PA 6/17/00) It took 3 years for Sibel to make it to victory lane but it was worth it. On a night that appeared to be threatened by rain Bruce Sibel made his first trip to victory lane. " During the practice runs the car seemed to be sticking wherever I wanted to put it" said Sibel. "When the clouds started to darken I figured, great, tonight I have a car that can win and now we're going to get rained out" But lady luck was smiling over Mahoning Valley tonight and as quickly as the skies darkened they cleared up. At the start of the feature event Sibel was in position to be starting on the outside pole next to D/A modified Ace Jason Trinchere who was filling in for Sibel's team mate Bill Ward. At the drop of the green flag Sibel powered past Trinchere jumping out into the lead going into turn one. In an event that ran caution free Sibel dominated the race leading every lap. By the drop of the checkered flag Sibel had the win over the second place car of Fred Delibero with Trinchere edging out Dan McCauley for third and fourth respectively.

(Drums, PA 6/11/00) If you asked NESCAR driver Bruce Sibel what he thought of his first impression of Pocono Mountain Speedway when he first arrived he would have been hesitant to give a thumbs up approval. If you asked now he will tell you he can't wait to go back. "When I first unloaded the car I took a walk on the track and was a litle concerned as to how the car would handle on the unfamiliar surface. By the end of the second practice session I was biting my tongue because I felt I had a car to win but did not want to seem over confident" Sibel said. As would soon be seen Sibel did have the car dialed in and was planning on giving hometown favorite Jimmy Ayre a run for his money. Sibel started the qualifying race in the third position and by the end of lap three had moved into the lead. With four laps to go in the heat race the caution flag came out for a spinning Fred Delibero. On the restart Jimmy Ayre was on the gas and was able to make the pass on Sibel on the last lap. The remainder of the field scrambled as Damon Podulka spun coming out of turn four. As the cars tried to avoid Podulka, Dusty Baker glanced off the wall just beyond the Styrofoam barriers causing damage to her car but managed to cross the finish line.

The start of the feature race saw Jimmy Ayre dominating the race in a fashion he is all to familiar with. Ayre and Sibel seemed to have the only cars hooked up and soon seperated from the rest of the field. With ten laps to go in the feature race the only caution came out for a flying tire from the #08 of Dan McCauley. The restart was what Sibel needed to try to make the pass on Ayre. At the drop of the green Sibel and Ayre ran side by side until coming out of turn 2 at which time Sibel jumped out into the lead. The lead would be short lived though as Ayre made the final pass on Sibel in turn four and would never look back again. Sibel tried running high and low lines but could not make up the distance before Ayre took the checkered flag.

(Lehighton PA 6-3-00) The driver was familiar but the car looked different. Thats what mini cup fans were saying this past Saturday when former MASCAR North Champion Jack McMurtrie returned to victory lane after capturing the mini cup feature event at the 1/4 mile oval of Mahoning Valley Speedway. When TAMCO Racing found themselves in need of a driver to fill in for the vacationing Bill Ward who other should they call on but the former owner of the TAMCO #22, Jack McMurtrie. McMurtire showed that he hasn't lost his winning style when he jumped out into the lead on the first lap when pole sitter Dan McCauley began having mechanical problems. McMurtrie found that the win was not going to go unchallenged. From the drop of the green flag fellow TAMCO Team member Bruce Sibel remained on the tail of McMurtrie. With three laps to go Sibel attempted a low pass on McMurtrie and got a little loose allowing the third place car of Ray Podulka to close in. Sibel then dropped back in line until the white flag lap and tried again to make a move on McMurtrie. This time Sibel almost pulled it off at the finish line as McMurtrie drifted high and Sibel dropped underneath. At the line it was McMurtrie by 4 feet. Although Sibel wanted the win he was glad to see a TAMCO car back in victory lane. This was the first win for TAMCO since September of 1999.

(Hopatcong, N.J. 5-19-00) In the wake of major business changes the TAMCO Race Team has reorganized and has a change in personnel. With much reluctance driver and primary sponsor, Tim Manser has found that business commitments have forced him to trim back Team TAMCO. Manser will no longer be piloting the #33 TAMCO sponsored car and has sold the car to another N.J. based team. Manser will be leaving veteran driver Bruce Sibel and rookie Bill Ward as the primary team drivers.

At this time TAMCO will still be the primary sponsor on the #11 and #22 cars. With Manser leaving the seat of the #33 he will have more time to devote to his business and hopefully will still be able to fill in on a part time basis in the absence of Ward and Sibel.

The initial announcement came as a shock to both Sibel and Ward who expected Manser to be a contender in this years championship battle. Manser earned rookie of the year honors in 1999 with two feature wins in the second half of the season.

Mahoning Valley Speedway Gets A Facelift

By Dino Oberto

(Lehighton, PA 4-20-00) There may not have been any racing over the Easter holiday at Mahoning Valley Speedway but there was still plenty of action going at the Ľ-mile oval.

For the first time since the original asphalt was laid down in 1970, the speedway has received a complete resurfacing. Repaving the track is just another in the long line of constant efforts by the Mahoning management to keep the facility both racer and fan friendly. Of all the asphalt tracks in the northeast region, Mahoning Valley is the only one in the to be completely repaved in recent years.

A brand new racing surface now awaits drivers when the action gets back underway on Sunday April 30 at 2:00 p.m. Because of the new blacktopping, the speedway is holding a special practice session for all competitors on Saturday, April 29 from noon to 4:00. Pit gates will open at 11:00.

Eastern Industries of the Lehigh Valley prepared a custom mix of asphalt. Eastern Industries is the same company that did the work on Nazareth Speedway and have used the same process in the mixing of the asphalt as what is in use at the world’s fastest one-mile oval.

Bruce George, owner and operator of Bruce George Paving and Excavating of Kunkletown and whose son Nevin George is a former Mahoning D/A Modified champion and now competes regularly on the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour, preformed the work.

According to engineers on the project the new surface should indeed be much easier on tire wear and drivers should notice a much better bite.

The track has taken on a whole new look now that it is repaved. Because of the new blacktop and the work done towards the bottom side of the track, there is an additional eight more feet of racing room.

Current Modified champion Rod Snyder, Jr., was on hand to inspect the work and came away quite impressed.

“It’s beautiful. They did a fantastic job and it really does look a whole lot different now. From what I can tell the competition in all classes is going to be equal and there is definitely going to be a lot more passing. We really didn’t have any problem with tire wear before it was paved so now we should really be able to get the most out of our tires. We’ll be able to go faster and get better adhesion,” said Synder.

And what better way to christen the new surface then with the first running of the Penn/Jersey Series 50-lap feature for Late Models paying $1000 to win. For the first time the Late Model division will be running in a series pitting the finest Mahoning Valley Late Model regulars going against the same from New Jersey’s Flemington Speedway.

Rick Wallace was the opening day Late Model winner and is looking forward to the challenge between the two tracks.

“I think it’s great for the division,” said Wallace, the 1995 Mahoning Late Model champ. “This class has really gotten strong in he past few years and it was just fitting that we could run a Penn/Jersey Series. We go a little faster down there (Flemington) but I think it should be very competitive between the two tracks.”

Along with the Penn/Jersey Late Model race Mahoning’s others classes will see action including the Modifieds, D/A Mods, Street Stocks and 4-Cylinders plus the Min Cups and Tobias Slingshots.

Mahoning Valley Speedway is located two miles west of Lehighton on route 443. For more track information you call the track office at 570-386-1225.

(Roxbury Twp. N.J.) The Ledgewood Mall in Roxbury Township, New Jersey was the site of the annual "Racing Spectacular For DARE" race car show this past weekend. Power boats, drag cars, modifieds, mini-cup cars and go-karts were just some of the classes of vehicles entered in the show with more then seventy entries in all. The New Jersey team of "TAMCO Racing" took first place in the category of legend cars, mini-cup cars and slingshot cars. Members of Team TAMCO spent the weekend distributing literature on their home track, Mahoning Valley Speedway and the newly formed NESCAR Mini-Cup Series. Former MASCAR North Mini Cup, Rookie of the Year, Tim Manser was on hand to sign autographs while teammates Bruce Sibel and Bill Ward gave the fans an inside view of the mini-cup cars and answered questions on the fast rising hobby of motorsports. Team TAMCO will be starting the season this coming weekend with opening day of practice at Mahoning Valley Speedway on March, 11.

(Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) The offices of TAMCO Racing announced today that they are looking at expanding the race team with an addition of a third car. TAMCO Crew Chief, Bill Ward told team owner, Tim Manser that he is looking to purchase the 1996 Townsend car of former MASCAR North Champion Jack McMurtrie. Ward said that he is currently negotiating the deal with McMurtrie and plans to be in the car by the second practice session at Mahoning Vally on March 15^th. The colors of Wards new car is undecided as of this time however it should be ready by the opening day of the season. Until the running of the car Ward will still be handling the duties of crew chief however the team is actively looking for a volunteer to assume the duties.

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