ST. JOHNS, Pa. -- There’s no denying that 2003 will be the year of Brain Defebo. He has emerged as one of the top rated Modified drivers throughout the region and Sunday was again proof of that as he raced to Mountain Speedway’s annual 100-lap King of the Mountain.

The 2003 track champion gave confirmation of his outstanding dominance of the paved third mile oval by coming from last starting spot to claim the win.

Defebo has always excelled when it comes to end of the year events and this particular one had added meaning since it came in his Modified car. In seasons past he had won all the big shows in Late Model and Thriller cars but to win the KoM in the Modified was gratification for the perennial champion.

Mike Adams laid down the fast time during Saturday qualifying and set out on the 100-lap journey as the early pace setter.

With the exception of a handful of cautions for minor incidents, the race was run off in a fast and competitive fashion.

Adams was extremely smooth while leading and kept the field in check over the first 50 laps.

By mid race Cal Snyder had moved into second and was keeping close tabs on Adams. At the same time Defebo, who had been mired in the pack, began to mount his charge.

It wasn’t until lap 60 that he first stepped foot into the top five. Ten laps later the race turned in a three car battle between Adams, Snyder and Defebo. Snyder proved to be handful for the champ as another ten laps clicked off before he finally motored his way to second.

Now with his sights clearly set on Adams, Defebo quickly went to work in reeling in the race leader and at the lap 84 mark Defebo was powering his way around Adams.

From there it was no contest as he tallied his 11th Modified win of the year.

Defebo capped off his great 11-win Modified season by adding a sweet Late Model win to his victory belt scoring the KoM 75-lapper.

For those who dared to lead this race proved to be survival of the fittest. With some very heavy hitters getting a stab at leading it was no easy task or in most instances lucky.

Pole sitter Jim Wismer, Jr., had the first try but was forced to pit under a lap nine yellow because of a flat. The front spot then got handed over to Jerry Brighthaupt but Chola Shay impressively took control.

It soon became a very tight battle between that pair and ’03 champ Tyler Haydt. All three, however, saw their front run come to a spinning halt when they all collided after a restart on lap 19.

The lead now went to Dave Wallace and not like his counterparts he was having a much better run and was looking quite stout. That was until Larry Fisher reeled him in and was turning up the pressure. By lap 30 they were nose-to-tail and coming up on the halfway mark Fisher nudged Wallace sending both into a spin.

The newest lead man was now 16th place starter Defebo. Unlike the others, Defebo encountered no problems with the exception of Fisher who was poising a threat late in the race. It appeared that Fisher was going to mount a challenge but under a caution with two laps to go he suddenly stalled due to a fuel pick-up problem and retired to the pits.

That left it smooth sailing for Defebo the rest of the way.

175 laps and two huge wins on the same day truly give Defebo the justification to be called King of the Mountain.

It looked like the 50-lap Street Stock feature was coming down to a shoot-out between Brad Kline and Bobby Geiger but with six laps to go they tangled and dashed any hopes of winning.

In the right place at the right time was Jennifer Kutz who was riding third at the time and took over the lead and remained steady for the final half-dozen laps.

“I can’t believe this. This is amazing to win this race,” and elated Kutz said while beaming from Victory lane. “I knew something was going to happen between those two so I just hung back and let them duke it out.”

Geiger started from the pole but spun out on the opening lap and had to battle from the back throughout the 50-lap trek. Newly crowned champion Kline in the meantime held the lead from the start and was cruising until ten laps to go which is when Geiger zeroed in on the leader.

After some close wheel-to wheel dicing Geiger tried to ease ahead from the outside line but both cars where running to close and made contact. Geiger’s great run came to and end via the hook while Kline was placed at the rear.

For the final circuits Kutz was in control and took the crown as “Queen” of the Mountain.

Paul Frantz dominated the 25-lap Factory Stock main. He started from the pole and stayed perfect over the entire distance beating out Mike Odwazny for his first KoM win. It was his fourth straight win 10th and overall of the year.

RESULTS

MODIFIEDS
(100): 1.Brain Defebo 2.Mike Adams 3.Cal Snyder 4.Ken Heagy 5.Joe Hartman 6.Billy Eastman, Jr., 7.Brain Romig 8.Matt Higgins 9.Billy Swartz 10.Lou Strohl 11.Scott Lesher 12.Jim Wismer, Jr. 13.Bup Dreher 14.David Koroleski 15.Troy Bollinger 16.Donny Hartzel 17.John Hager DNS: Alan Decker

LATE MODELS
(75): 1.Brain Defebo 2.Alan Moyer 3.aaron Higgins 4.Dave Wallace 5.Chola Shay 6.Dave Christman 7.Larry Fisher 8.Paul Monkoski 9.rick Wallace 10.Roger Maynor 11.Chris Burge 12.Jerry Brighthaupt 13.Doug Yanders 14.Tom Spencer 15.Tyler Haydt 16.Jim Wismer, Jr. 17.Eric Kippycash 18.Todd Giest 19.Myron Haydt 20.John Swerdon DNQ: Josh Labach, Brain Sheard, David Zeigleheim, AJ Scaglione, Joe Masessa

STREET STOCKSS
(50): 1.Jennifer Kutz 2.Shaun Burd 3.Jim Yamelski 4.Paul Frantz 5.Brandon Stowell 6.Mike Kowalczuk 7.Brad Kline 8.Robert Fink 9.Paul Shadacek 10.Mathias Hoffman 11.Ron Babula 12.Scott Meckes 13.Richard Smith 14.Bobby Geiger 15.Dean Kline, Jr. 16.Scott Lehman 17.Adam Lacicero 18.Robert Geibel 19.Dan Jensen 20.Briand Jones 21.Scott Breiner

FACTORY STOCKS
(25): 1.Paul Frantz 2.Mike Odwazny 3.Amber Levandowski 4.Chris Parry 5.Sue Collins 6.Lori Collier 7.Jim Erbrink 8.Chris Toole

UPCOMING: 10/12 – NEETS Championship 250-lap $1000 to win, $2500 lap money

10/19 – Mark Corbisiero Street Stock Memorial + Mods & LMs
REGULAR SHOW ADMISSION PRICING: Adults - $8.00, Seniors & Handicap Persons - $6.00, Kids
6-12 - $4.00, 5-years old and under are free.