After three weekends full of rain, Mahoning Valley Speedway was finally able to bring cars back onto the pavement this past Saturday for Race No. 1 of the Doug Hoffman Poker Series.

In the process, a family rivalry started on the front row with Tyler Wagner and his uncle — Don Wagner — who battled back and forth for the lead position.

The first 13 laps ran smooth with only one caution, which during the restart saw Jaden Brown move to third followed by his grandfather Earl Paules. Being it was a 50-lap race, Brown — from Kunkletown — waited for the right time to save his tires and make his way through. With seven laps to go, he passed T. Wagner for the win.

A win at Mahoning Valley Speedway wasn’t something new to Brown.

“Having the cones on the track moving the grove made things difficult, so we had to make adjustments for the night but mostly left the car from how we ran for the Race of Champions at the season opener,” he said.

“We had to play it smart, and hope it all fell the right way. I have to thank all my family, crew and sponsors for all the help they have given me.”

In the Late Model division, Nick Ross of Mountain Top showed his dominance by taking home both the heat and feature win — leading every lap with only two cautions. A hard battle for second between teammates Brandon Cook and Marc Aigeldinger ultimately ended with Aigeldinger the runner-up.

The Street Stock Division was nothing short of excitement. Hard-charging Josh Kuronya led early with Gary Reinehimer Jr. right behind waiting to make his move. But it was Jacob Boehm instead who snuck in to take second position, later leading to a caution coming out. Because there were cones out on the track due to seepage issues, Jim Thorpe’s Randy Ahner Jr. knew he had to play it smart to keep moving his way up to the front, ultimately taking over the lead on lap 25 after Boehm got loose on the back stretch.

Hobby Stock driver Shanyne Geist played defense to Michael Wambold for 20 laps, both pulling away from the rest of the field before Geist got caught in lapped traffic running the outside. Wambold made a bold move and darted to the inside, going three wide to take over the lead.

Pulling away, Wambold took home his seventh career feature win.

In the Pro 4s, Bobby Kibler Jr. of Lehighton showed no mercy, setting his car up for success this year. Kibler started on the pole position, but Randy Schaffer put pressure on him. The heat was on for third as Ian Szalku and Bob Kibler, Sr. battled it out leading to the first caution. Kibler Jr. and Kibler Sr. then faced off going into lap six. Leading every lap on the 20-lap feature, the younger Kibler took home his second victory of the season.

Modified (50 Laps)

1. Jaden Brown, 2. Tyler Wagner, 3. Rod Snyder Jr., 4. Lour Strohl, 5. Earl Paules, 6. Kyle Strohl, 7. Don Wagner, 8. Roger Coss, 9. Brian Romig Jr., 10. Nick Baer, 11. Mark Miller, 12. Mark Miller, 13. Brian Romig Sr, 14. Jacob Kerstetter, 15. Cody Boehm, 16. John Bennett, 17. Terry Markovic, 18. Brian DeFebo

Late Model (25 Laps)

1. Nick Ross, 2. Marc Aigeldinger, 3. Brandon Cook, 4. Brian Romig Jr., 5. Michael Delong, 6. Seth Van Fossen

Street Stock (40 Laps)

1. Randy Ahner Jr, 2. Adam Steigerwalt, 3. Brandon Christman, 4. Cody Boehm, 5. Jill Snyder, 6. Cody Geist, 7. Jon Moser, 8. Randy Green, 9. Frankie Althouse, 10. Gary Reinhimer, 11. Josh Kuronya, 12. Jared Frye, 13. Jamie Smith, 14. Jacob Boehm

Hobby Stock (35 Laps)

1. Michael Wambold, 2. Travis Solomon, 3. Shayne Geist, 4. James Tout, 5. Ken Reeder, 6. Sarabeth Mesko, 7. Dave Imler, Jr., 8. Jr Merkel, 9. Jeremy Henry, 10. Al Gildner, 11. Arland Moyer.

Pro 4 (20 Laps)

1. Bobby Kibler Jr, 2. Randy Schaffer, 3. Cody Kohler, 4. Bob Kibler, 5. Jake Kibler, 6. Tyler Poole, 7. lan Szalku, 8. Robert Derfler, 9. Rich Pursell, 10. Kadie Pursell