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Langhorne 75

Langhorne Speedway
April 23rd, 2009
 
Whelen Modified
Online Tour
Official Race Results

1. AJ Griffin
2. Chris O'Shell
3. Dennis Frates
4. Richie Coy
5. Corey Riley
6. Philip Eliis, Sr.
7. Mike House
8. Scott Bryant
9. Ryan Curran
10. Rich Warden
11. Matthew Wells
12. Keith Joseph
13. Rick Dutra
14. Joe Doiron
15. Charli Brown
16. Bobby Ambroceo
17. Tony Hanbury
18. Doug Beaulieu

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April 23rd, 2009
AJ Griffin wins his first at Langhorne! - by Charli Brown

AJ Griffin made a late race pass on last week's winner Chris O'Shell to win his first career victory at the Langhorne Speedway, Thursday night.

Langhorne, PA - Elmira, New York's AJ Griffin made a daring late race pass on race leader Chris O'Shell to win his first career Whelen Modified Online Tour event at the Langhorne Speedway, Thursday night.

Current point leader Richie Coy won his third NPGPro.com Pole Award with a lap time of 22.922 seconds at 157.054 Miles Per Hour. AJ Griffin was second quick followed by Dennis Frates, Bobby Ambroceo and Mike House.

At the drop of the green flag, Richie Coy quickly jumped out to the lead followed by AJ Griffin and Dennis Frates. Fourth place starter Bobby Ambroceo lost several spots while brushing up against the armco barriers as the field completed the first lap.

But by lap 10, Coy had dropped all the way back to the eighth spot as AJ Griffin led Mike House, Joe Doiron, Rick Dutra and Chris O'Shell as drivers began to show their different plans of tire strategy.

The first caution would fly on lap 19 for Joe Doiron who got up in the loose stuff exiting turn four and spun his Aroma Joe's Coffee machine out of the fourth spot and across the start-finish line as the field dove to the bottom of the race track. Doiron only made slight contact with the outside armco barriers and continued on.

AJ Griffin led the lead cars on to pit road for the first round of pit stops over Mike House, newcomer Doug Beaulieu, Richie Coy and Rick Dutra. Sixth through tenth were Bobby Ambroceo, Dennis Frates, Chris O'Shell, Tony Hanbury and Scott Bryant. Charli Brown and Keith Joseph both stayed out behind the Chevrolet Monte Carlo pace car while AJ Griffin won the race off pit road.

Brown led the field to the restart on lap 23 as the race's second caution quickly came out for Bobby Ambroceo who slipped up into the marbles and spun his Bill's Auto Repair machine from the sixth position.

Brown and Joseph quickly darted on to pit road under this yellow handing the lead back to Richie Coy who passed AJ Griffin on the previous restart. AJ Griffin and Richie Coy exchanged the lead back and forth until griffin took command on lap 29 bringing Tony Hanbury with him to second and dropping Coy back to third.

Due to the race's shorter distance of 75 laps, AJ Griffin led to the KING Design Halfway Lap over Mike House, Chris O'Shell, Tony Hanbury and Richie Coy. Sixth through tenth were Charli Brown, Joe Doiron, Rick Dutra, Dennis Frates and Corey Riley.

Tire strategy was a hot topic of discussion in the pit area and the first of the leaders hit pit road for fresh tires on lap 59 when Charli Brown pitted from the seventh position. Brown would lose a lap as the leaders raced by, but was the fastest car on the track after making his stop. But the race's third caution would be his demise as Tony Hanbury spun his Kolba Construction machine on the backstretch to trap Brown a lap down.

AJ Griffin led the field to pit road for the final round of pit stops. Richie Coy opted for left sides, while AJ Griffin, Dennis Frates and Chris O'Shell took four. Richie Coy came back around to pit again for his right side tires on the next lap and fell to the rear of the field.

Rick Dutra pitted with the leaders, but missed his pit box and passed through to lead the field to the race's final restart with just 9 laps to go. The lapped car of Charli Brown was behind him, with the second place car of newcomer Matthew Wells third in line.

Brown quickly drove to the inside of Dutra as the cars raced through "Puke Hollow" in hopes of another late race caution to get back on the lead lap. But the cars with the fresh tires were rapidly chasing him down.

Chris O'Shell took the lead from Dutra's Francis Farm Clambakes machine as they raced through the backstretch. O'Shell had AJ Griffin and Matthew Wells close behind. At one point, the field was four abreast as they raced under the starter's stand!

Langhorne normally provides late race dramatics and tonight would be no different. AJ Griffin passed the lapped car of Charli Brown as he worked the high lane to take the lead from Chris O'Shell with just five laps to go, while Dennis Frates, Corey Riley and Richie Coy battled hard for the top five positions.

AJ Griffin flashed under the double Sunoco checkered flags for his first win of the 2009 season over Chris O'Shell, Dennis Frates, Richie Coy and Corey Riley. Sixth through tenth were Philip Ellis, Sr., Mike House, Scott Bryant, Ryan Curran and Rich Warden.

"I can't believe I won this thing. Man, what a race!" exclaimed an excited AJ Griffin in victory Lane. "We all knew the tires wouldn't go the whole distance, so I've got to thank my guys for the great pit stops. This is a pretty historic race track and I'm glad to get my first win here."

Second place finisher Chris O'Shell earned the Powerade "Power Move of the Race" award while AJ Griffin took home the KING Design Halfway Leader award as well as the Mends Image Most Laps Led award. Philip Ellis, Sr. set the Fastech Race Car Bodies Fastest Lap of the Race, while Bobby Ambroceo took home the Hoosier Hard Luck award.

Next week, the Whelen Modified Online Tour heads to Mansfield, Ohio for the Craftsman Tools 100. Richie Coy holds a 159 point lead over Chris O'Shell, Charli Brown, AJ Griffin and Mike House.