| Kevin Cywinski Rolls to Mansfield Win | Mansfield, Ohio (June 21, 2003) – Wisconsin veteran Kevin Cywinski made it two wins in a row at new tracks that the American Speed Association has visited this season by not stopping for tires and then holding off Robbie Pyle to win the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway.
Cywinski in the SK Hand Tool Chevrolet earlier this season used the same strategy at Houston Motor Speedway to record his first win of 2003. He again stopped once for fuel and then did a stop and go to run with the leaders all evening.
He will be looking to make it a hat trick at new facilities at Lake Erie Speedway in August to by winning at the three new venues for ASA. Cywinski led the final 121 laps and extended his point’s lead over Butch Miller to 107 after eight of 17 races.
The race was red flagged with five laps remaining when Gary St. Amant in the Medicine Shop Chevolet spun on the front straight and was hit by teammate Steven Leicht. The incident collected Ed Brown in the Grubbs Auto Repair Chevrolet and Greg Stewart in the Body Balance Chevrolet.
On the restart Cywinski was able to pull away from Robbie Pyle in the Citgo Chevrolet to win by .173 seconds with pole sitter Reed Sorenson in the ACDelco Chevrolet coming home third. Travis Kittleson in the Bob Steele Chevrolet and Glenn Allen Jr in the Modern Office Methods Chevrolet rounded out the top five.
Kittleson, who started 11th in the 33-car field, chased Cywinski for 75 laps and several times bumped him through the corners. On lap 294, Pyle got inside of Kittleson and the two banged doors with the Florida rookie drifting high and losing three positions.
Kittleson got into Butch Miller in the Timber Wolf Chevrolet with three laps remaining which got the Michigan veteran loose and Kittleson was able to slip past on the inside for the fourth position.
“BFGoodrich gave us an awesome tire,” said Cywinski after collecting $14,395 for his 12th win. “I kind of snookered them by not changing tires. It was tough to pass here and you had to stay upfront.
“We needed ten laps to get going, so we didn’t want to see that last caution with five laps remaining,” he said. “I found a little groove through one and two. The groove moved around all night and we were able to keep up with it.”
Pyle recorded his third consecutive podium finish after starting fourth. “We had nothing for Kevin,” he said. “So we are happy to come out of here with a second. This is close to our home and a win would have been nice here.”
Sorenson, who captured his second consecutive pole position, led the first 75 laps until most of the leaders made the first of two mandatory pit stops.
“It was really tough to pass here,” said Sorenson. “You could get a run on the bottom, but the guy on the outside would keep up the momentum.”
After the leaders pitted, Brown took the lead for the first time this season by not stopping and was chased by first time ASA competitor Kyle Jones in the Sizzle Marine Chevrolet.
Brown was passed on lap 110 when Cywinski got inside entering turn three and remained on the point until making his second and final stop. Peter Cozzolino in the A&A Manufacturing Chevrolet led from lap 119 to 128 when Cywinski and Sorenson got inside entering turn one to move to the top two positions.
A capacity crowd at the Mansfield Motorsports Speedway saw the race red flagged twic for a total of 31 minutes. The first occurred on lap 220 when Cozzolino lost a rear end and dumped fluid around the half-mile oval.
For additional information on the ASA Racing Series visit asaracing.com.
ASA Box
American Speed Association Ohio 250 Mansfield Motorsports Speedway Lap distance: .50-mile Race Saturday
1)(3) Kevin Cywinski, Chevrolet, 250 2)(4) Robbie Pyle, Chevrolet, 250 3)(1) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 250 4)(11) Travis Kittleson, Chevrolet, 250 5)(15) Glenn Allen Jr., Chevrolet, 250 6)(21) Mike Garvey, Chevrolet, 250 7)(6) Chris Wimmer, Chevrolet, 250 8)(18) Mike Cope, Chevrolet, 250 9)(7) Butch Miller, Chevrolet, 250 10)(22) Rick Beebe, Ford, 250 11)(17) Kyle Jones, Chevrolet, 250 12)(26) Donny Reuvers, Chevrolet, 250 13)(23) Chad Wood, Chevrolet, 249 14)(2) Todd Kluever, Chevrolet, 249 15)(24) Davin Scites, Chevrolet, 249 16)(15) John Dalziel, Chevrolet, 248 17)(20) Greg Stewart, Chevrolet, 248 18)(30) Ricky Turner, Chevrolet, 247 19)(31) Greg Williams, Chevrolet, 246 20)(16) Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 245, 21)(12) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, 245, accident 22)(5) Ed Brown, Chevrolet, 244, accident 23)(9) Bryan Reffner, Chevrolet, 244 24)(27) Brett Rowe, Pontiac, 242 25)(32) John Silverthorne, Chevrolet, 239 26)(29) Billy Whitaker, Chevrolet, 228 27)(28) Greg Edwards, Chevrolet, 222, radiator 28)(14) Peter Cozzolino, Chevrolet, 220, rear end 29)(19) Toby Porter, Chevrolet, 219, accident 30)(25) Kris Stump, Ford, 147, oil leak 31)(8) J. C. Beattie Jr., Chevrolet, 40, accident 32)(10) Boris Jurkovic, Chevrolet, 36, accident 33)(33) Troy Wangerin, Chevrolet, 0, engine
Race Statistics: Time of Race: 2 hours, 5 minutes, 51.067 seconds Average speed: 69.594 mph Margin of Victory: 0.173 seconds Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers Lap leaders: Sorenson, 1-75; Brown, 76-109; Cywinski, 110-118; Cozzolino, 119- 128; Cywinski, 129-250. Cautions: 8 for 51 laps
ASA Racing Series points after 8 of 17 races: 1) Cywinski, 1,465; 2) Miller, 1,360; 3) Pyle, 1,325; 4) Garvey, 1,307; 5) Sorenson, 1,298; 6) Kittleson, 1,177; 7) Allen, 1,116; 8) Kluever, 1,078; 9) Cozzolino, 1,019; 10) Wimmer, 1,013
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