Brian DeFebo added another feather in his already-filled hat of career racing accomplishments by scoring his 100th overall feature win in Saturday night’s Modified main at Mahoning Valley Speedway.

Using a restart on lap 17 to get by Kyle Strohl for the lead, DeFebo then held the spot to the finish for the memorable-making night.

“It’s awesome. Through my entire career, my mother (car owner Sophie Welsh) has always given me the best equipment. My team is as good as it gets, and they work every day of the week on making the car run so good,” said DeFebo from Victory Lane.

“We’re having so much fun down here. For years we had our struggles, but for now it’s all about some great times.”

It was his second straight and class-leading fourth victory of the season. He won his first career race in 1993 in a Thriller/Factory Stock car.

Despite having to settle for the runner-up spot, Strohl was still pleased. He was quite the worthy advocate considering the car he ran was a lesser powered Sportsman Modified.

His regular ride was not available due to a mechanical problem, and with little options to race, he turned to car owner Eric Beers, who was fine with handing over the reins of his son Austin’s No. 19 into the capable hands of Strohl. Earlier in the night, the same car had won the Sportsman feature.

Strohl started 10th and made use of a few early cautions, as well as some fancy driving, to pass cars. By lap nine, he was dueling alongside Nick Baer.

Both were on the rear bumper of race-leader Ron Haring Jr. On the 13th tour, Haring got loose in turn three and would spin from the lead. Strohl had just nipped Baer for second and was elevated to the leader position under the yellow. One lap after the restart, DeFebo took the runner-up spot.

Strohl never wavered once the race resumed as his line of resistance was working perfectly in keeping DeFebo at bay. At one point, he even set the fastest lap of the race and one of the quickest laps of the season. However, when a caution put the front two side-by-side for a restart on lap 17, it was then that DeFebo was able to conclusively snatch the lead and drive off to the century mark victory.

“I have to go back to the Bill Teel Memorial race when I was set to start alongside Austin Beers. I went to his dad and said he has to start faster but Eric (Beers) said the car won’t go. I actually used that conversation to my advantage tonight when it came to the restart between Kyle (Strohl) and myself,” said DeFebo.”

Bobby Jones, Gene Bowers and Baer rounded out the top five.

“It was an amazing piece I had to drive tonight, and I can’t thank the Beers’ family enough for letting me run the car,” said Strohl. “There were a few times when Brian was looking on both sides of me and I thought this won’t last long but we put up a fight. The car just got tight near the end and the better man won. I’m proud to have been second to Brian on his 100th win.”

In the previous Late Model race, Frankie Althouse came in as the point leader and looked ready to pad that lead with a shot at winning the night’s 50-lap main. Unfortunately Althouse’s luck turned sour when he was caught up in an accident and suffered significant damage. Mike Sweeney won that race to assume the lead in the standings.

Althouse and Co. showed their resilience though, making all the repairs to be race-ready in short order. The hard work paid off, as he picked up his third win and hurdled him back into the top point placing.

Althouse was locked in a torrid battle for second with Matt Wentz until lap 12. After finally attaining the position. he set his sights on leader Kenny Hein. Without the help of cautions, Althouse went side-by-side with Hein and raced his way past on lap 15. The rest of the way he remained perfect.

The Street Stock feature was in the hands of Todd Ahner just past midrace, and it looked as if it would stay that way. But on the final lap, Randy Schlenker made a daring inside pass in the final two corners to win his first race in just four starts this year, and also netted his first Street Stock win at Mahoning Valley in 18 years.

For the second time, Austin Beers held off Earl Paules in a thrilling battle in the Sportsman Modifieds. Beers led from the outset and would have to contend with Paules virtually every lap on route to victory.

In the 20-lap Pro 4 feature, Jake Kibler bided his time behind Bobby Kibler Sr. in a very tight fight. On the white flag circuit, J. Kibler waited no longer and executed a heart-stopping pass, which earned the veteran his 30th career Pro 4 win.

When promoter Jack Carlino announced that he was tossing in an extra $150 to win the regular 20-lap Hobby Stock feature, all drivers wanted to cash in. But none more than Trisha Connolly, who after passing Lyndsay Buss, showed that she would be the car to beat. Connolly was just too tough and went on to notch her second win of 2018.

Mahoning VALLEY Speedway

Results

Modified Feature Finish (35 Laps)

: 1. Brian DeFebo, 2. Kyle Strohl, 3. Bobby Jones, 4. Gene Bowers, 5. Nick Bear, 6. John Markovic, 7. Earl Paules, 8. Kristy Arthofer, 9. Ron Haring Jr., 10. Lou Strohl, 11. Terry Markovic, 12. Jesse Strohl, 13. Josh Scherer, 14. Wes Gilbert

Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps)

: 1. Frankie Althouse, 2. Kenny Hein, 3. Matt Wentz, 4. Jeremy Miller, 5. Mike Sweeney, 6. Jacob Kerstetter, 7. Samantha Osborne, 8. Dylan Osborn, 9. Nick Kerstetter. 10. Rick Smith

Street Stock Feature Finish (30 Laps)

: 1. Randy Schlenker, 2. Todd Ahner, 3. Jill Long, 4. Jamie Smith, 5. Mark Deysher, 6. Jared Ahner, 7. John Bennett, 8. Shayne Geist, 9. Corey Edelman, 10. Stacey Brown, 11. Jon Moser, 12. Cody Geist, 13. BJ Wambold, 14. Jeremy Scheckler, 15. Ken Erney III, 16. Matt Schlenker, 17. Bobby Kibler Jr., 18. Rick Reichenbach

Sportsman Modified Feature Finish (25 Laps)

: 1. Austin Beers, 2. Earl Paules, 3. BJ Wambold, 4. Joseph Pacovich, 5. Blair Culhane, 6. Kassidy Altemose, 7. Joe King Jr., 8. Avery Arthofer

Pro 4 Feature Finish (20 Laps)

: 1. Jake Kibler, 2. Bobby Kibler Sr., 3. Cody Kohler, 4. Jeremy Guerra, 5. Josh Kuronya, 6. Tucker Muffley, 7. Randy Schaffer

Hobby Stock Feature Finish (20 Laps)

: 1. Trisha Connolly, 2. Al Arthofer, 3. Michael Wambold, 4. Cody Boehm, 5. Travis Solomon, 6. Ryan Berger, 7. Lyndsay Buss, 8. Rich Mutarelli, 9. Kassidy Altemose, 10. Joseph Pacovich, 11. Payton Arthofer, 12. Justin Merkel, 13. Shawn Kistler, 14. Beau Drobot, 15. Tad Snyder