Milton's Mark Pettyjohn crowned Three State Flyers Series champion
Milton's Mark Pettyjohn was crowned the 2013 Three State Flyers Series late-model champion at the Dec. 1 annual awards banquet and champion celebration at the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, W.Va. Pettyjohn received the championship trophy and a point fund check from Nininger’s Tire and Auto Service of Brunswick, Md., during the lavish awards banquet.
“This is my first championship, and it feels very good,” said Pettyjohn, the 30-year-old son of legendary driver Eddie Pettyjohn. “I am honored to be a champion of this series and having the opportunity to race against so many good drivers from all over the East Coast.”
One of the Mid-Atlantic region’s top super late-model drivers, Pettyjohn ventured out to speedways in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, competing against more than 160 of the East Coast’s top professional and semi-professional drivers in a 21-race schedule at nine different speedways.
“We hadn’t originally planned to follow any track or series points this season,” said Pettyjohn. “We started out by winning the series opener at Winchester Speedway and followed it with wins at Hagerstown and Hesston speedways. By early July, we found ourselves on top of the Three State point standings and after accessing the races for the rest of the year, we decided to go and try to win the championship.”
With the closest track on the circuit more than four hours away from his home base in Milton, the miles and hours on then road during the season quickly added up.
“I couldn’t have done this without the help of Dale Lomas and Crosswinds Motel in Rehoboth Beach,” said Pettyjohn. “Once Dale came on board in 2012, it really allowed us to start competing in more events in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
Pettyjohn had seven feature wins including the season-ending Sunoco Fall Classic at Natural Bridge Speedway in Virginia Oct. 5 that paid $10,000 to win, the biggest payday of his career. Pettyjohn led all drivers in the Three State Series with four feature wins.
The pit crew has also played a vital role in Pettyjohn’s successful season. Brian Wright of Linden, Va., and Mike Eikenberry, Why Holding, and James Bartleson, all of Georgetown, came together as a team, giving their driver the edge to win the championship.
In addition to Crosswinds Motel, other sponsors include Hitchen Brothers Trucking, BERT Transmissions, Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic, Allen Bradley of Schaeffer’s Racing Oil, Swartz Race Cars and R2C Air Filters.
Pettyjohn will now begin to prepare for another season on the road.
