In making the transition from dirt to asphalt racing, Ron Haring Jr., has come a long way in a short period of time.

The 28-year-old from Alburtis earned his career-first feature win on Saturday evening at Mahoning Valley Speedway which was witnessed by a packed grandstand on Brown-Daub KIA Fan Appreciation Night.For the past eight years, Haring spent his weekends running Modifieds at Grandview and Big Diamond Speedway's and with very limited results. He felt that a change was in order and during this past off season he acquired a pavement Modified and prepared himself for the tight confines of Mahoning Valley.Despite never having run on asphalt, Haring steadily adapted, keeping himself clear of trouble and learning with each lap.Now in just his sixth start he became an instant hero with his fine outing. And, taking into consideration that he held off the all-time leader in eastern Pennsylvania short track pavement wins, Brian DeFebo, there was good reason to see why he was beaming afterwards from his defining achievement."It's all the guys who help me out like my dad, Shayne and Todd Geist, Doug Bell and so many people who have supported me and it all came full circle tonight," said Haring. "When I was running on dirt I had limited help and to run here it doesn't take as much compared to that racing."The race featured a crash on lap 33 that involved most of the field. Everyone from third place back was in a tight pack. Coming into turn four, Josh Scherer, who was on the bottom lane, touched wheels with the car to his right and suddenly vaulted overtop. His car was badly damaged. Several others were also eliminated in the incident including last week's winner Kyle Strohl, Joey Jarowicz and Kris Graver, who was the only one able to return after pitting. Austin Kochenash was also blacked flag for his involvement.After the cleanup it was a single file restart with Haring, Terry Markovic, DeFebo, Bobby Jones and Eric Beers in line. With no laps to spare DeFebo was wasting little time as he stormed past Markovic and on the final lap went to the outside of the leader but was unable to make the pass, giving the unforgettable victory to Haring."I just tried to hit my marks and once I got to the lapped car I wanted to get around him as quick as I could and I was going to try and use him as a cushion but then the caution came out," said Haring. "It got very tough at the end when (Brian) DeFebo got up alongside of me."During that caution I just kept drilling in my head to stay focused."In the Late Model feature, Jacob Kerstetter notched his second career win. Getting to the checkers first though was a hard fought affairWith five laps to go Mike Sweeney went to second spot and in short order was hounding the race leader. As they went two-wide through turns one and two on the final lap, there was contact and Sweeney suddenly went into a spin. Kerstetter stayed the course and was back in front for the restart and would hold on for the exhausting win."I hated that racing incident at the end with (Mike) Sweeney. That's not how I wanted it to go but thanks to my team we showed in the past few weeks that this car has come to life and we just never gave up," said Kerstetter.In the 30-lap Street Stock feature, Jared Ahner got redemption. A week ago Ahner came up just short after leading 70 of 75 laps and had to settle for second place. This week, however, he was not to be denied.After some thrilling two-wide laps for the lead with Jillian Long, Ahner went to the front for keeps on lap 15 and remained smooth and steady to the finish over a very persistent Mark Deysher.In the Dirt Modified feature, Mike Stofflet held off Frank Parastino for his unprecedented fifth consecutive win.in the Pro 4s, Cody Kohler has got a good knack for winning of late as he outraced Kevin Stein for his third win in four starts.In the Hobby Stocks, the third time was the charm for Ryan Berger. For the third straight week, Berger was able to lead the feature but in the previous two he dropped out and had to settle for disappointing finishes due to mechanical gremlins.This time around all systems where working in sync and Berger easily outclassed the rest of the stout field to become the sixth winner in as many races.In the Micro Stocks, Tyler Wagner took the lead at the outset and then had to fend off fast charging Alex Greenzweig en route to his first win of the season with the traveling club.Modified (35 Laps)1. Ron Haring Jr., 2. Brian DeFebo, 3. Terry Markovic, 4. Bobby Jones, 5. Eric Beers, 6. Nick Bear, 7. Lou Strohl, 8. Brian Romig, 9. Gene Bowers, 10. Jack Ely, 11. John Markovic, 12. Kristopher Graver, 13. Brian Romig Jr., 14. Josh Scherer, 15. Joey Jarowicz, 16. Kyle Strohl, 17. Austin KochenashLate Model (25 Laps)1. Jacob Kerstetter, 2. Lorin Arthofer, 3. Chris Anderson, 4. Frankie Althouse, 5. Jacob Nemeth, 6. George Ramos, 7. Kenny Hein, 8. Geno Steigerwalt, 9. Jeremy Miller, 10. Robbie Kutz, 11. Mike Sweeney, 12. Dylan OsbornStreet Stock (30 Laps)1. Jared Ahner, 2. Mark Deysher, 3. Josh Mooney, 4. Corey Edelman, 5. Rick Reichenbach, 6. Jon Moser, 7. Alan Schlenker, 8. Stacey Brown, 9. Todd Ahner, 10. Jill Long, 11. Shayne Geist, 12. Lonnie Behler, 13. Steve Steigerwalt, 14. Jamie Smith, 15. Logan Boyer, 16. BJ WamboldDirt Mod (20 Laps)1. Mike Stofflet, 2. Frank ParastinoPro 4 (20 Laps)1. Cody Kohler, 2. Kevin Stein, 3. Ken Reeder, 4. Jason Finken, 5. Jeremy Guerra, 6. Tanner Laybourn, 7. Kailyn Beers, 8. Johnny Bennett DNS: Jake KiblerHobby Stock (20 Laps)1. Ryan Berger, 2. Michael Wambold, 3. Austin Beers, 4. Paul Effrig, 5. Cody Geist, 6. Devin Schmidt, 7. Tiffany Wambold, 8. Alton Snyder Jr., 9. Avery Arthofer, 10. Rich Mutarelli, 11. Kevin Behler, 12. Justin Merkel, 13.Jeff Biegley, 14. Travis Solomon, 15. Al Arthofer, 16. Nicolas Kerstetter, 17. Brayden Spencer, 18. Trisha Connolly, 19. Thomas Hunsicker Jr., 20. Todd Geist DNQ: Lyndsay Buss, Colton Perry, Travis Nothstein, Jay Visnosky, Seth VanFossenMicro Stock (15 Laps)1. Tyler Wagner, 2. Alex Greenzweig, 3. Roger Snyder, 4. Larry Ealey, 5. Wayne Krenn, 6. Tom Arntz, 7. Walt Mueller, 8. Steven Freundt, 9. Bob Wagner.