Mahoning Valley Speedway officially swung open its gates for the 2020 season with the first of three Test and Tune days held Saturday afternoon.

Two dozen cars representing all classes that compete at the Lehighton paved ¼-mile oval came out to shake down their mounts in preparation for Opening Day.

While everyone on hand had the main focus of working out the bugs from all of the offseason preparation, there was a special incentive in place too.

Drivers of the Modifieds, Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks ran a series of timed hot laps which awarded the fastest of the respective three classes during all Test and Tune days a guaranteed pick spot for the feature redraw on Opening Night, which is race No. 1 of the Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame Series (MVSHoFS).

Defending Modified champion Bobby Jones debuted a brand-new car, and although he only ran one timed session, he was able to lay down the fastest lap, going 10.335 seconds to beat out Heath Metzger and Wes Gilbert in the process.

Brandon Christman, who is a rookie Street Stocker, unveiled his sharp-looking No. 41 Camaro, and also revealed that he will be one to watch as he beat out the all-time wins leader in Street Stock victories - Todd Ahner - with the quick time of the day in the division.

Christman clocked in a 11.811-second lap, which was a scant .005 seconds over Ahner.

In the Hobby Stocks, sophomore driver Jesse Bollinger showed solid quickness, shooting to the top of the speed charts with a 12.180-second lap he recorded in the first round. It stuck through the second session to earn him top honors for the day.

A pair of title contenders from 2019, Jacob Boehm at 12.291 and Travis Solomon at 12.451, were second and third.

Two-time Late Model champion Mike Sweeney was shaking down his newest version of the Crazy Train D11, with steady times in the mid 10s each time out.

The 2019 ATQMRA champion got his first laps in with his new ride for the season - the potent Donna and Lenny Boyd No. 1B. Bailey was rapid right from the get-go and stayed that way throughout the day.

Also debuting were some impressive young talents, led by Gunner Zeiner in a Sportsman Modified, which was prepared by his famous racing father Zane Zeiner.

A few others who made respectable stock car outings were Corey Gulich, Paul Hartwig III, Paul French, Jr. and Mia Ray Guy. They will be part of the newly formed Hobby Stock Rookie class. As the day wore on each showed continual progress in bringing their lap time down.

Test and Tune is scheduled the next two Saturday afternoons, March 21 and 28, from noon to 4 p.m.

On April 4 at 5 p.m., the regular season is scheduled to get underway with race No. 1 of the MVSHoFS honoring Doug Hoffman and his trademark No. 60 with a 60-lap Modified feature that will pay $2,000-to-win.

There is also a $1,000 gamblers fee sponsored by Gambler Transportation of Whitehall. If a driver takes the gamble, then he or she will be paid the $1,000 dividend. 10th place pays $500.

Late Models, Street Stocks, Pro 4s, Hobby Stocks and Hobby Stock Rookies are also on the card.

Log onto the official Mahoning Valley Speedway website at www.mahoningvalley-speedway.com or on Facebook at Mahoning Valley Speedway for updated information and news.