For the second week in a row and third time in the past four weeks, Bobby Jones scored the Modified victory at Mahoning Valley Speedway and in each of those runs had Kyle Strohl chasing him to the line.

In this latest version it would be a unique circumstance that allotted Jones the chance to park in Victory Lane for 54th time in his career.

With 16 laps to go Brian DeFebo went from third to first, passing Strohl and then leader John Markovic. Markovic yielded second place to Strohl two laps later and Jones went by him the next time by.

It became a very tight contest with the trio of DeFebo, Strohl and Jones not only racing for the win but all coming into the night in a close matchup in the standings and with only three regular season events to go.

DeFebo was maintaining a good line in fending off his counterparts. Jones had moved to second, just barely on lap 29, while both he and Strohl continued their pursuit of the leader. However, with just four laps to go the race would take a dramatic twist.

On the front straight Jesse Strohl and Cody Kohler made contact and brought out the caution. While the field slowed up DeFebo’s left front tire suddenly gave out and he had to pull into the pits. The front spot then went to Jones who was able to narrowly hold back Strohl for the checkers.

“I saw something happen with Brian (DeFebo) and then saw that Kyle (Strohl) was trying to go under him so I just went to the outside, it was starting to open up,” explained Jones upon taking second place. “Then when that caution came out he was sparking and I thought, no way.”

Strohl, a two-time winner this season, has continually been running strong but regrettably had to yet again settle for the runner-up spot.

“He’s (Strohl) always good and he’s hungry right now. We’re finishing in front of him it seems every time too and I know that’s not fun for him but right now it just happens to be our lucky time and we’re going to roll with it as long as we can,” said Jones, who padded his point lead with the victory.

In Sportsman Modified action Avery Arthofer was a class act in picking up her second win of the season.

Arthofer started on the outside of the front row and would take the lead from Randy Ahner Jr., after just one lap. Afterward it was as if she had cruise control on her mount as she steadily pulled from the field lap after lap and quite energetically too. Her laps times where quickest of all drivers and the victory came in a convincing manner over Mia Guy.

Jillian Snyder’s Street Stock win over Todd Ahner can easily be considered the best race of the night as she did not make the winning pass until few inches from the finish in the caution-free 30-lap affair.

Ahner was the leader from the outset. However, ninth starting Snyder, who has been extremely fast over the last month, was blazing her way up through the pack and with seven laps to go took hold of second spot.

By that point it looked as if Ahner had control of the race but clearly Snyder was far from done with her frontward charge. As the laps got closer to the finish so too did Snyder on Ahner and on the last three tours they were now side-by-side. The final lap saw the pair dead even and they stayed that way until approaching the checkers which at that moment Snyder eked ahead for the electrifying victory, her second of the year.

In the Pro 4’s it was a fierce battle between two very competitive rivals as Jake Kibler and Cody Kohler went nose-to-tail all 20 laps.

Kibler was having to be very defensive throughout the journey as he was under constant pressure but he held his ground and despite a last lap restart was able to maintain his stance and register his second win of 2021 and 46th overall.

For Taylor Schmidt the long overdue wait is finally over as he connected with his career first Mahoning win in the 25-lap Hobby Stock main. Schmidt passed Nick Schaeffer with four laps remaining and went on to the unforgettable victory.

Makayla Kohler made a heads-up move on the final lap and in doing so was able to win her fourth Futures/Rookie Hobby Stock feature win of the season. Adam Steigerwalt took second which earned him his third Rookie win.

Modified feature finish (35-laps): 1. Bobby Jones, 2. Kyle Strohl, 3. John Markovic, 4. Lou Strohl, 5. Nick Baer, 6. Rod Snyder Jr., 7. Cody Kohler, 8. Terry Markovic, 9. Brian DeFebo, 10. Jacob Kerstetter, 11. Johnny Bennett, 12. Al Arthofer, 13. Jesse Strohl, 14. Tommy Flanagan DNS: Matt Higgins; Sportsman Modified feature finish (25-laps): 1. Avery Arthofer, 2. Mia Guy, 3. Randy Ahner Jr., 4. Jaden Brown, 5. Johnny Bennett, 6. Rick Smith, 7. Paulie Hartwig III, 8. Jared Ahner, 9. Peyton Arthofer; Street Stock feature finish (30-laps): 1. Jillian Snyder, 2. Todd Ahner, 3. Mark Martini, 4. Lonnie Behler Jr., 5. TJ Gursky, 6. Randy Ahner Jr., 7. Jon Moser, 8. Tucker Muffley, 9. Mark Deysher, 10. Jamie Smith, 11. Brandon Christman, 12. Tobie Behler, 13. Jeremy Scheckler, 14. Rich Moser, 15. Dennis Buss, 16. Thomas Flanagan; Pro 4 feature finish (20-laps): 1. Jake Kibler, 2. Cody Kohler, 3. Randy Schaffer, 4. Kadie Pursell, 5. Terry Peters, 6. Josh Kuronya; Hobby Stock feature finish (25-laps): 1. Taylor Schmidt, 2. Nick Schaeffer, 3. Jacob Boehm, 4. Cody Boehm, 5. BJ Wambold, 6. Devin Schmidt, 7. Trisha Connolly, 8. Justin Merkel, 9. Cody Geist, 10. Ralph Borger Jr., 11. Nicholas Kerstetter, 12. Larry Spencer, 13. Corey Edelman, 14. Travis Solomon, 15. Mallory Kutz, 16. James Tout, 17. Tad Snyder; Futures/Rookie Hobby Stock feature finish (12-laps)

: 1. Makayla Kohler, 2. Adam Steigerwalt, 3. Maggie Yeakel, 4. Josh Dise, 5. Gabrielle Steigerwalt, 6. Brody George, 7. Lexus Kutz, 8. Deegen Underwood, 9. Dave Kerr, 10. Greyson Ahner, 11. Zoe Kuchera, 12. Zoey Moyer DNS: Reid Levengood, Jared Green.