When the field was reset Kochenash was now second and through a series of restarts he made some valiant attempts to sneak underneath Hirschman for the lead, successfully doing so on one of those tries only to be thwarted on the ensuing lap.
“I knew on the restarts I felt pressure from behind and we got a little crossed up a couple times but once we got going the car was great but you can never let your guard down here at Mahoning,” said Hirschman.
It would be perceptible over the final 25 tours that Hirschman had a lock as he was hitting his stride with each passing lap.
For Kochenashm he showed that 2019 has the makings of a rewarding season as he ran the entire race from no lower than third.
“We just ran the tires off near the end and the clutch began slipping early on so that hurt quite a bit and it just didn’t play out today. Second (place) is not bad and well get some money and go on to the next one,” said Kochenash.
For defending Late Model champion Frankie Althouse, his opening night win wasn’t just a repeat of the previous year that was the springboard to his title run, it was also a bit of good relief too as heading into the season he had dealt with some personal team issues and getting the win was very relieving in many ways.
The 25-lap event would run caution free and during each of those laps it was a torrid showdown between Althouse and two-time champion Mike Sweeney. Althouse had to be very shielding in keeping his place as Sweeney put quite the pressure on. Also making a strong presence was talented Broc Brown who would closely shadow the pair before settling for a respectable third.
Randy Schlenker may have won the Street Stock feature from the pole position but far and away this was an intensely fought race. Schlenker had to overcome an onslaught of aggressors from start to finish which included the likes of defending champion Mark Deysher as well as Jared Ahner and eventual runner-up Jon Moser.
They all tried relentlessly to make a pass, some winding up spinning while others, such as Moser, racing him hard right down to the wire. But despite the blitzing Schlenker held strong in notching his 33rd career win.
Dirt Mod winner Ricky Yetter was actually questionable on coming out to race as all week long he was battling the flu. However, with some proper medication he not only made it to the track but took the best remedy to overcome his malady by scoring a hard fought victory.
Yetter started from the pole but afterwards was being hounded by champion Mike Stofflet. Nose-to-tail they would battle until the final lap when Stofflet went for broke and attempted to move underneath Yetter for the lead and win. With not enough track space to pull off the pass, Yetter kept his line while Stofflet looped his car which allowed Corey Edelman to gain a career best second.
In the Pro 4 race Jake Kibler won his second straight class season opener and fourth such time of doing so. The ’18 champ was a bit lucky in his win. Cody Kohler was riding in the lead after taking the spot from Bobby Kibler Sr. on lap eight. However, when Kibler Sr., attempted to regain the position just four laps from the finish, he spun Kohler in the process and for his part was sent to the rear for the restart. J. Kibler went from third to first and on the win.
The Hobby Stock feature was a very exciting one as the race for the lead was very close between Trisha Connolly and Shawn Kistler. Connolly was holding her own nicely but as the final laps rolled around Kistler had a burst of momentum and passed her for the top spot just a few laps from the end and in doing so claimed back-to-back Opening Night victories.