It was hard to imagine that Earl Paules went a whole season without a Modified victory, which actually is a rarity in the career of one of the winningest drivers in eastern Pennsylvania short track pavement racing.

Running two, three and at times four different cars each week may have had a role in that too. So for the first time in three years Paules hauled just one car to the race track and it made an immediate difference as the prolific racer notched his first Modified win since late August of 2013.It turned out to be a great battle of past track champions too as Paules held off Eric Beers in winning Saturday's 35-lap feature at Mahoning Valley Speedway.Paules dashed by Calvin Carroll on lap two for lead. He then had to fend off Kyle Strohl, Jimmy Zacharias and Austin Kochenash over the next 20 laps. Zacharias did manage to get by for a brief stint at the lead but after he spun with 10 laps to go the front spot went back to Paules and from there on the outcome would be decided between him and Beers."We needed this. We decided we were going to park the Late Model and concentrate more on the Modified and it paid off tonight," said Paules, who won for the 22nd time at Mahoning in Modified and 42nd overall with the class.Point leader Don Wagner, Strohl and John Markovic rounded out the top five.In the 25-lap Late Model feature Paul Koehler Jr., rolled to his second straight win.GenoSteigerwalt held on for second but unfortunately his car came up to low at the post race inspection and he was DQ'd, giving second place to Frankie Althouse.It took an extra week to get the Opening Night Street Stock and Dirt Mod features in but for Randy Ahner Jr., and Ricky Yetter it was worth the wait as they scored respective wins to kick off their seasons.In the Street Stock feature defending champ TJ Gursky led from the pole and held the lead while Ahner Jr., kept him in his sights.By lap 18 the race for the lead became intense as Ahner went side-by-side with Gursky. Five laps later he grabbed the front spot and stayed there the final eight circuits for his 17th career class win and 30th overall.When the Dirt Mod race got underway Yetter, who started from the pole, would not relinquish the spot as he motored out-front for all 25 laps. Calling this his farewell tour, he certainly got off to a great start as he not only took the win but the early season point lead as well in the hopes of going out a champion.In the regular scheduled features for each of those divisions Jonathan Tracey passed Tiffany Wambold on lap seven and took top honors in the Street Stocks.Tyler Stangle held off a last lap charge by Cody Kohler to win the Pro 4 feature. Stangle led all 20 laps but it was no easy task.In the Hobby Stock main Shayne Geist led all but one lap and raced to the victory.Alex Greenzweig came out in defense of his Micro Stock Racing Series title by taking a sound win in the season opener for the touring class.Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps): 1. Earl Paules, 2. Eric Beers, 3. Don Wagner, 4. Kyle Strohl, 5. John Markovic, 6. Chip Santee, 7. Jimmy Zacharias, 8. Austin Kochenash, 9. Eric Kocher, 10. Rick Reichenbach, 11. Kris Graver, 12. Kevin Rex Jr., 13. Todd Baer, 14. Calvin Carroll, 15. Terry Markovic, 16. Roger Heffelfinger, 17. Mike Quinn, 18. DJ Wagner, 19. Bobby Jones, 20. JP CurryDNQ: Del MorganLate Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Paul Koehler Jr., 2. Frankie Althouse, 3. Mike Sweeney, 4. Kenny Hein, 5. Jason Zatsko, 6, Jeremy Miller, 7. Jacob Kerstetter, 8. Francis Gross III DNS: Jacob Nemeth DQ: Geno Steigerwalt1st Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Randy Ahner Jr., 2. TJ Gursky, 3. Aaron Kromer, 4. Jared Ahner, 5. Randy Schlenker, 6. Stacey Brown, 7. Zach Graver, 8. Justin Mooney, 9. Todd Ahner, 10. Gene Bowers, 11. Josh Mooney, 12. Cody Roth, 13. Jillian Long, 14. Jonathan Tracey, 15. Jason Kuhn, 16. Brian Labar, 17. Corey Edelman, 18. Jamie Smith, 19. Troy Bollinger 20. Dave Chapman DQ: Jared Ahner2nd Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Tracey, 2, Long, 3. Kromer, 4. Justin Mooney, 5. Steigerwalt, 6. Roth, 7. Jared Ahner, 8. Graver, 9. Labar, 10. Todd Ahner, 11. Stacey Brown, 12. Randy Ahner Jr., 13. Edelman, 14. Kuhn, 15. Bowers. 16. Frey, 17. Gursky, 18. Josh Mooney, 19. Smith, 20. Wambold, 21. Troy Bollinger DNQ: Randy Schlenker, Bernie Uphold, Joe Stangle, George Ramos, Jeff Larrison Jr., Logan Boyer, Paul Morgan Jr., Dave Chapman1st Dirt Mod Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Ricky Yetter, 2. Mike Stofflet, 3. Lorin Arthofer II, 4. Dave Gorbatuk, 5. Drew Reinbold, 6. Ray Deemer, 7. Aleia Geisler, 8. Tim Manieri, 9. Jack Ely, 10. Billy Lasko, 11. Bill Sittler2nd Dirt Mod Feature Finish (25 Laps: 1. Ely, 2. Stofflet, 3. Geisler, 4. Yetter, 5. Lasko, 6. Arthofer II, 7. Gorbatuk, 8. Sittler, 9. Reinbold, 10. Manieri, 11. DeemerPro 4 Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Tyler Stangle, 2. Cody Kohler, 3. JD Light, 4. Nick Baer, 5. Bobby Kibler Jr., 6. Bobby Kibler Sr., 7. TJ Kemmerer, 8. Joe Pritchard, 9. Jake Kibler, 10. Johnny Bennett, 11. Chad Miller, 12. Kailyn Beers, 13. Alton Snyder Jr.Hobby Stock Feature Finish (20 Laps): 1. Shayne Geist, 2. Tim Oswald, 3. Rich Mutarelli, 4. Kyle Krempasky, 5. Cody Geist, 6. Bob Azarowitz, 7. Collin Bollinger, 8. Ryan Green, 9. Lyndsay Buss