With his class-leading fifth win of the season, Kris Graver moved one step closer to a second Modified championship with a solid rout in Saturday night’s 35-lap feature at Mahoning Valley Speedway.

The victory also gave the 24-year-old star his 50th overall Mahoning win and second in a row. Graver had won the ATQMRA TQ main the week before.

“We have been struggling a little bit of late with this new right side tire compound, but I feel we’re on to something right now, and we’ll keep working on it,” said Graver.

“Being this young, to get 50 career wins is incredible. You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and I can’t thank my crew enough. Everyone has been working so hard, and we’ll see how the rest of the season goes from here.”

Graver was sixth on the starting grid while Nick Baer used a restart on lap seven to take over the lead.

Graver persisted to give Baer a hard, clean run and finally got his way with the conclusion of lap 15.

“Normally, if my car is good and I can get to the front, I will be patient. But the lane was there alongside Nick (Baer), and I was in the front before long,” said Graver. “He didn’t make it easy, that’s for sure, but I appreciate that he ran me clean.”

Over the remaining laps, Graver was on cruise control and went on to the win.

With four point-paying races remaining, Graver holds the edge over Brian DeFebo, but admitted that he is never really looking further than the race at hand.

“I don’t think about the championship. I just come here to win every week and the points will take care of themselves,” said Graver.

Late Model winner Jeremey Miller missed the call to the green the week prior when his steering failed while in the staging area. Miller clearly made up for lost time, as he grabbed the lead at the start and never relinquish it over the 25-lap distance.

In Street Stock, Jared Ahner picked up his second win of the season.

Ahner worked feverishly to gain the lead over Jamie Smith which he did thanks to the aid of a restart on lap 18. Smith, though, would not taper off and remained just a half-car length of Ahner.

Not only was Ahner having to deal with Smith, but Stacey Brown as well, who was making things very intense as the race was coming to a close.

Steven Steigerwalt was also in the mix and made the final laps thrilling. On the concluding tour, Ahner was still keeping a slight edge on Smith while Steigerwalt nosed by Brown. When the group reached the finish line it was under a blanket, with Ahner just barely holding on for the exhilarating verdict.

Mike Stofflet’s 12th Dirt Mod victory of the season, and 30th with the class, not only continued his amazing drive, but sealed his name into the record books as the 2017 champion.

Johnny Bennett wasted no time in grabbing the lead in the Pro 4 main, and remained there the rest of the way for his third win.

The Hobby Stocks ran a pair of features, the first a make-up from Aug. 19, which was claimed by point-leader Austin Beers, and then the regular run show, that saw rookie Trisha Connolly score for her second win this year.

Modified (35 Laps)

1. Kris Graver, 2. John Markovic, 3. Joey Jarowicz, 4. Brian DeFebo, 5. Ron Haring Jr., 6. Gene Bowers, 7. Bobby Jones, 8. Kyle Strohl, 9. James Pritchard, 10. Nick Bear, 11. Lou Strohl, 12. Terry Markovic, 13. Roger Heffelfinger, 14. Jacob Kerstetter, 15. Josh Oswald

Late Model (25 Laps)

1. Jeremy Miller, 2. Frankie Althouse, 3. Lorin Arthofer, 4. Jacob Kerstetter, 5. Mike Sweeny, 6. Dylan Osborn, 7. George Ramos, 8. Austin Santee, 9. Kenny Hein

Street Stock (30 Laps)

1. Jared Ahner, 2. Jamie Smith, 3. Steven Steigerwalt, 4. Stacey Brown, 5. Alan Schlenker, 6. Cody Geist, 7. Jill Long, 8. Mark Deysher, 9. Corey Edelman, 10. Jon Moser, 11. Todd Ahner, 12. Eric Kocher, 13. Rick Reichenbach, 14. Ken Erney III, 15. BJ Wambold, 16. Shayne Geist, 17. Steve Hoffman, 18. Dennis Buss

Dirt Mod (20 Laps)

1. Mike Stofflet, 2. Bill Sittler, 3. Patrick Corrigan, 4. Vincent Fegley Jr., 5. Corey Edelman

Pro 4 (20 Laps)

1. Johnny Bennett, 2. Kevin Stein, 3. Briggs Danner, 4. Bobby Kibler Jr., 5. Jake Kibler, 6. Ken Reeder, 7. Randy Schaffer

Hobby Stock (25 Laps)

Make-up 8/19

1. Austin Beers, 2. Devin Schmidt, 3. Al Arthofer, 4. Michael Wambold, 5. Beau Drobot, 6. Ryan Berger, 7. Avery Arthofer, 8. Justin Merkel, 9. Jacob Boehm, 10. Travis Solomon, 11. Samantha Osborn, 12. Todd Geist, 13. Paul Effrig, 14. Nikolas Kerstetter, 15. Rich Mutarelli, 16. Keith Boehm, 17. Trisha Conley, DNS: Shawn Kistler, Colton Breiner

Hobby Stock (25 Laps)

Regular race

1. Connelly, 2. Wambold, 3. Effrig, 4. Schmidt, 5. Beers, 6. Markel, 7. Al Arthofer, 8. Osborn, 9. Drobot, 10. Berger, 11. Peyton Arthofer, 12. Buss, 13. Jacob Boehm, 14. Nicholas Kerstetter, 15. Keith Boehm, 16. Jeff Biegley, 17. Solomon, 18. Altemose, 19. Avery Arthofer DNS: Mutarelli