BY JOE ORSINI

FOR STAR-NEWS SPORTS

LUXEMBURG – Ninty-seven cars signed in to do battle for Championship Night at The ‘Burg Speedway.

Five drivers would claim feature trophies and five others would claim championship titles.

With Gnome Games in the house to hand out extra cash in victory lane to each race winner, the stage was set for a furious finish to the 2023 points season.

Jeremy Jacobs rolled out of the chute for the Village Kitchen IMCA Modified feature looking to protect a seven-point lead over Greg Gretz and a nine-point lead over Brad Theys.

At the drop of the green, Mark Joski grabbed command of the field.

Will Garceau quickly moved into second and tried to pressure Joski for the lead.

Garceau, however, faced pressure himself from Todd  Dart, who mounted a challenge for the runner-up spot.

Dart grabbed the spot but Garceau retook the position at the halfway mark.

A late caution restacked the deck with just 3 laps to go. Joski led Garceau, Dart, Kyle Kudick and Konnor Wilinski back to racing speeds.

Joski was able to get some breathing room on the restart as Dart and Garceau went back to fighting for second.

As the checkers flew, Joski cruised to victory, Dart secured second and Garceau had to settle for third.

With his ninth place finish, Jacobs was able to hold off Theys, who leapfrogged Gretz in the finals points to capture his first career Luxemburg title.

Cole Czarneski nabbed the rookie of the year honors.

Dylan Stedjee went into championship night with a seven-point lead over two-time champion, Shawn Havel.

The pair started the race deep in the field with Havel in row six and Stedjee right behind him in row seven.

Travis Van Straten entered the event with no designs on points but looking to claim another victory in a storied career.

He catapulted into the lead on the opening lap and held off early pressure from Kyle Frederick.

Frederick still chased the leader at the halfway mark but hit an infield tractor tire, damaging his left front suspension and ending his night early.

Frederick’s misfortune moved Cody Patten into second.

At the checkers, Van Straten walked away with the win, Patten hung on for second. Larry Karcz Jr. was third.

Stedjee ended the night with his first career championship in the stock cars.

Patten took the rookie of the year title.

Coy Vlies entered the night with a four-point lead over his father, Jeff Vlies, and nine points over defending champ Cody Rass for the IMCA Northern Sport Mod title.

Sean Falk looked to steal the spotlight as he jumped to the opening-lap lead.

Coy Vlies wasted no time moving from 11th to fifth by lap three.

Vlies was still running 5th at the halfway mark while Falk continued to lead “Devilish” Doug Maurer, Cole Slezewski and Chris Kuchta.

Slezewski utilized a daring move to overtake Maurer for second.

A late caution bunched the pack behind Falk and gave the field one last chance.

When the dust settled, Falk held on for the win, Slezewski second and Vlies third.

Coy Vlies held off his dad and was crowned both champion and rookie of the year with a season for the ages.

Jason Geyer rolled into championship night nursing a seven-point lead over a red hot Jared Spaulding in the NEW Tech Metals Unified Dirt Street Stocks.

The table was set for the championship to come down to the wire.

Bailey Laviolette took advantage of the pole position to lead the opening lap.

Caution flew early when Tony Everard, Nikki  Carter, Matt Warner and Derek Kaye were involved in an accident in turn one.

Everard and Kaye were unable to continue but Geyer used the restart to pressure Laviolette and take the lead on lap five.

Geyer continued to lead at the halfway mark but Spaulding had moved into the second spot and kept the pressure on, taking control of the race on lap 14, meaning Geyer had to keep pace to secure the title.

At the checkers, Spaulding grabbed the feature win for the third week in a row, Geyer was second and defending champ Shanon Guelette third.

Geyer hung on to grab his first career championship in Luxemburg and Michael Czarapata claimed rookie of the year.

Trever Cronick made sure there was no drama in the Murder Hornet division as he locked up the championship last week.

Second place was up for grabs though as Barney DeVares and defending champ Scott Schlafke went into championship night tied for second.

Brian Watzka, Jr. grabbed the opening lap lead from his outside front row starting spot.

James Riske quickly moved to second and gave chase.

At the halfway mark, Watzka still led while Schlafke grabbed second away from Riske.

Cronick was fourth and Carl King fifth.

Lap 15 saw the leaders hit traffic and Riske took advantage of that to work into the lead.

At the checkers, Riske hung on for the win, Schlafke was second and Cronick third.

Cronick was crowned champion and Schlafke nipped DeVares for second in the points.

Brooklyn Eisner was the “Rookie of the Year.”