JENNERSTOWN, Pa. — On Saturday night at Jennerstown Speedway in Pennsylvania, Tommy Baldwin Racing was back in victory lane for the third straight race — this time, with Connecticut’s rising star Mike Christopher Jr. behind the wheel.
Christopher, who was making his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start, took the lead from polesitter Tyler Rypkema with 11 laps to go in the Jennerstown Salutes 150 and held on for his first trophy.
Christopher beat Rypkema and J.B. Fortin to the finish line after 150 laps.
“I’m really happy and really proud of what Tommy Baldwin has done this year,” Christopher Jr. said. “Doug (Coby) won the last two races, and I had this scheduled and I had a lot of shoes to fill. I can’t give it up enough to the team. I have to thank everyone involved that helps out on the car, especially Tommy Baldwin.
“I’ve had a lot of fun with him over the years, but it’s just getting better. Tommy gave me an opportunity to run Tour cars, and with this being my first time coming here, I couldn’t be happier to park it here in Victory Lane.”
Rypkema led the early laps from pole position and led the field for most of the beginning stages of the race. Shortly after the mid-point, on lap 89, Jon McKennedy took the No. 79 to the top spot.
McKennedy led the field across the line to the caution flag with 50 laps to go when Kyle Bonsignore crashed. However, on the pit stop during the caution period, McKennedy had pit road trouble and shuffled back into the middle of the field.
The battle for the final 35 laps was between Rypkema and Christopher.
It was Christopher shortly after the green who put the No. 7NY out front, but Rypkema passed him for the lead with 31 laps to go and appeared to be in control. But Christopher clung closely and didn’t let him get away.
After hounding the back bumper, Christopher made the move late in the race to rocket to his first career win.
His only two previous Whelen Modified Tour starts were at Riverhead Raceway (2021) and this year’s season opener at New Smyrna Speedway, where he finished third.
“It’s hard to be mad about this,” Rypkema said. “To lead over 100 laps, we were just so tight the last run and I held Mike off the longest I could. It’s a great day for us, we led a ton of laps and we have a good notebook going for here with a solid finish.”
Fortin posted a career-best, third-place finish, while Andrew Krause and Tommy Catalano finished the top-five.
McKennedy rebounded to sixth in the last car on the lead lap at the finish, while Max McLaughlin, Justin Bonsignore, Ron Silk and Craig Lutz finished out the top-10.
“We had a stout car from the beginning,” Fortin said. “On the long green flag run, the car was coming to me. It was a killer car. Third-place finish — the first podium for me.”
In the Jennerstown Speedway house division action, Skylar Berkey was champion of Jennerstown Salutes for the first time in the Fast 4’s. Mike Sweeney captured the late model victory, while Doug Glessner was champion in the modified division.
In the pro stock feature, Kyle Burkholder earned the champion title.
The finish:
Mike Christopher Jr., Tyler Rypkema, J.B. Fortin, Andrew Krause, Tommy Catalano, Jon McKennedy, Max McLaughlin, Justin Bonsignore, Ron Silk, Craig Lutz, Eric Goodale, Austin Beers, Patrick Emerling, Timmy Solomito, Dave Sapienza, James Pritchard Jr., Kyle Ebersole, Walter Sutcliffe Jr., Kyle Bonsignore, Gary McDonald, Melissa Fifield, Spencer Davis.