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SEPTEMBER 9, 2008 • VOL 43 NUMBER 29
PERIODICALS - DATED NEWS - EXPEDITE
MAILED September 9, 2008 AT SYRACUSE, NY 13220
Andy Bachetti Lebanon Valley 200 Champion
LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY, NY…Andy Bachetti celebrates after winning his second career Lebanon Valley 200. Bachetti scored the rich victory after Brett Hearn ran out of gas with only a handful of laps remaining in the 200 lap DIRTcar Modified special event! Bachetti, driving the Albreada #34, passes the 88 of (GATER EXCLUSIVES BY KEVIN BERRYMAN) JR Heffner on the high side racing through the first and second turns.
Johnson Wins Richmond; Szegedy & Hirschman Tops in Mod Mania Chase for the Cup Begins RICHMOND INT'L RACEWAY, NY…Jimmie Johnson (below) celebrates after winning the Chevy Rock-N-Roll 400. The Chase for the Cup field was determined and making the cut were: Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.
THOMPSON INT'L, CT…Todd Szegedy (right) and Matt Hirschman claimed modified victories during the Modified Mania special at Thompson!! (JARED TILTON and MATT THACKER/ASP)
(PHOTOS BY HOWARD HODGE/JIM FEENEY)
Decker scores at rwr; ward u-r champion
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
congratulations! Jeff Rudalavage & #112 Crew On your 2008 Modified Track Championship at Penn Can Speedway
From your sponsors, fans, friends, whole family & Carley!
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Father-Son Duo Jack & Ronnie Johnson File First SDW Big-Block Entries
By Tom Skibinski WEEDSPORT, NY…Veteran driver Jack Johnson and rising star Ronnie Johnson recently submitted the first official entries to compete during Super DIRT Week XXXVII, scheduled for Oct. 7-12 2008 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. The father & son duo have each entered cars attempting to qualifying for the headline Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Rite Aid 200 for Big-Block Modifieds on Sunday, October 12, with Jack already a two-time winner (1979, ’84) and Ronnie named the rookie of the title race in 1999. Jack will also be participating in the 358-Modified preliminary events, culminating with the 29th running of the ITT IndustriesGoulds Pumps 150-lap ‘Salute to the Troops’ Mr. DIRTcar 358Modified Championship Series main event Saturday afternoon at the New York State Fairgrounds. “This year I’m fortunate to be working with Bobby Hearn as his Teo Pro Car house driver during Super DIRT Week,” revealed Ronnie, 34, who finished fourth in last October’s Rite Aid 200 steering the no. 2 W.M. Larned-Palmer's Service Center-Morris Auto Group/TEO machine. B-Day, Mickles Automotive and Bob Hackel’s Used Cars join the solid core of sponsorship support that the youngest of the Johnson clan has lined up for this year’s assault on the Moody Mile. “This will be an experimental car with my colors carrying my sponsors and my number. Bobby built it especially for trying out at Syracuse so I’m looking forward to the opportunity to give it a test run that week. We won’t know what to expect until we get there. Maybe we’ll struggle or even be the fastest car out there, its any-
body’s guess right what’s in store for us at the fairgrounds,” Johnson added. Competing in the inaugural Rite Aid 200 at the Syracuse Mile in 1972, Jack will be back aboard the familiar no. 12a TEO mount owned by Frank Witz and sponsored by Witz Roofing, Palmer's Service Center and Krug Builders. Both Johnson entries will be sporting Kevin Enders-prepared powerplants as will Jack’s no. 76A Small-Block ride owned by Alton and Carole Palmer. Since finishing eighth in his first SDW effort, Jack has qualified for all but one of the 36 previous BigBlock title events in the Salt City with 1984 his most memorable season. Not only did Johnson, now 64, capture DIRTcar’s ‘Triple Crown’ in convincing fashion, Jumpin’ Jack went one step further by becoming the first-ever driver to secure the ‘Syracuse Slam’ - CRC Qualifier in July, NYS Fair Labor Day Championship in September, CLM Winner’s Classic and Schaefer 200 during Super DIRT Week - in the same season. For more information about Super DIRT Week, including ticket order placement, lap sponsorship and vendor space availability, please contact DIRTcar Racing NE Headquarters during the week at 315/834-6606. Further newsworthy items can be found at www.superdirtcarseries.com and www.dirtcar.com while tickets can be ordered on-line by logging into https://syracuse.ticketdirector.com.
September 9, 2008 SEASON FINALE TO BOAST TRIPLE FEATURES AT ADIRONDACK; CLOCE LOOKING FOR TRACK TITLE AND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
By Billy Gibson NEW BREMEN, NY…After the originally scheduled Season Finale rained out this past Saturday, track owner Paul Lyndaker has directed his staff to postpone it to this coming Saturday. With his direction, they will be marking the end of the 2008 season in a big way. Not in the original plans but now in the new plans, the night will be highlighted with an unheard of Triple 25-lap Features for the ASA Challenger Late Models. The remainder of the night will be complimented with seasonending shows for the GotGoodCheese.com True Stocks, D&D Powersports Sport Compacts and the always entertaining Westward Painting Company Light Trucks. The call for triple Late Model feature events took place due in large part because of a scoring requirement with the ASA Member Track National Championship. Although it has been quiet through the current season, ASA Late Model chauffeur Tommy Cloce is in the running. Hailing from Canton (NY) Cloce sits second in the ASA Member Track National Standings. The only driver that stands ahead of him at the present time is Jimmy Mullins from Daleville, VA’s Franklin County Speedway. However, be it as a requirement, the declared Champion of the renowned standings must be a Track Champion at their home track and also must have
collected points from a minimum of 14 events towards the finals standings. Currently, Cloce and the rest of the Late Model division at AIS have completed 11. “We’d love to have a National Champion on the ASA level, right here from Adirondack”, quoted Track Owner Paul Lyndaker. “With his winning results this year and while he sits second in a national standing, he has surely been a compliment to our program. With the rain we’ve had this year, we feel we owe it to him to make up the events and give him a chance to run for the National title.” Although the national points will not be tallied until the following Monday, after Saturday’s events, the Speedway urges all fans to come out and cheer on all the drivers on the way to their championships as well as wish Tommy well in his drive for the National Championship. With the additional events planned the racing will begin earlier than usually planned. The first official green flag will fly at 6pm rather than 6:30. The pit gates will open at 3pm while the grandstands will do so at 4pm. Warmups for all race teams will begin at 4:30pm. For more information on the Speedway you can contact the track office at (315) 346-RACE or visit the Speedway website at www.adirondackspeedway.com.
BRP CanAm Series Returns To Woodhull ST. CATHARINES, ONT…The BRP CanAm Late Model Series returns to action on Saturday September 13 on the high banks of Vern Wasson’s Woodhull Raceway. This annual fall event starts a busy month of September for the BRP CanAm Series race teams. After a three week break in Series tour action to allow the teams finished their Series weekly business at Black Rock, McKean, and Woodhull it is September Stretch with back to back Saturday night Series tour programs at Woodhull, Little Valley, and McKean. Glenn Whritenour is writing a great chapter in his racing career story at Woodhull Raceway.
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Whiritenour is the defending race winner, winner of the BRP CanAm tour spring event at Woodhull, and earned the 2008 Woodhull 360 Late Model track championship. The Woodhull 360 late model championship gives Whritenour 100 home track bonus points the ISKY Cams BRP CanAm Series Championship Chase. The Saturday September 13 event will be the seventh trip for the Series to Woodhull Raceway. The inaugural event in 2004 was won by Ed Carley. Jeff Chesebro, current Series point leader, won in 2005. Jon Rivers was the 2006 winner. Steve Dixon and Glenn Whritenour were winners in 2007. Whritenour won the Series tour event in May. In addition to the BRP late models the September 13 show will include the Annual Lyle Sherwood Memorial, a T3 Modified Series program. Gates open at 4:30 for a 6:30 start of the racing program. Woodhull Raceway information at www.WoodhullRaceway. com and Bicknell Racing Products CanAm Late Model Series information at www.BRPCanAmSeries.com
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Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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MIKE LEATY, TONY HANBURY, JIM STEFFENHAGEN JR., KEITH BUTLER ALL TAKE FEATURE WINS AS 2008 TRACK CHAMPIONS ARE CROWNED
By Gary M. Spaid WILLIAMSON, NY…The final night of racing at Spencer Speedway came to an end with Buck Catalano picking up the championship by two points in the NASCAR Weekly Modifieds, while Tony Hanbury took the 35-lap feature victory. “Tony did everything he could do in taking the win,” commented Catalano. “I just knew where I had to finish to earn the title. The title was in my hands as the point leader going into tonight.” In the NASCAR Tour-Type Modifieds it would be Tony Hanbury taking the track title, with Mike Leaty beating out his father Jan in the 30-lap feature. “I was just glad to finish the race, yet let alone get a top three finish., stated Hanbury. In “Full Fender” action Don Stevens finished second to Jim Steffenhagen Jr. in the 20-lap feature to take home the Street Stock title. Keith Butler didn’t even have to start the race to earn the Super Six championship. He did start and he won the 20-lap feature to top off a great season. A special appearance by the Four Cylinder cars was greeted with great enthusiasm. Tim Dunn, took home the 15-lap feature win driving his Honda. The start of the 35-lap NASCAR Weekly Modified feature saw Daryl Lewis Jr. grab the early lead. The yellow flew on the second lap when Ryan Beeman looped around in the second turn. Lewis Jr. led Tony Hanbury, Chris Finocchario and Catalano. Hanbury hunted down Lewis and ducked under him on the 13th lap. Lewis drifted high in between the turns and fell back to sixth. Finocchario tried repeated times to get by Hanbury, but could not complete the pass. Hanbury came home the winner followed by Finocchario, Catalano, who just had to finish third, if Hanbury won to take the Spencer track title. Andy Jankowiak and Kevin Timmerman completed the top five finishers. “It took us some time to get going this year,” stated Hanbury. “I want to dedicate this race to Josh Wilson, one of my owners.” Catalano stated, “My hat is off to all of the champions tonight. We all want to thank the fans for supporting us this year. I only wish some of the younger drivers could have experienced racing as it was years ago, in front of bigger crowds and full race fields. I don’t know what the answer is to
that problem.” The 30-lap NASCAR TourType Modifieds ran a 30-lap season finale. Ten cars took the start. Mark Tychoniewicz took the lead at the drop of the green, with Terry Cheetham tucked onto his tail. Moving through the field was Mike Leaty, with his father Jan in Mike’s backup car. On lap 15 the yellow flew when Cheetham and Tim McMullen spun in the third turn. The restart saw Jan Leaty come from third to first down the backstretch. Son, Mike, followed Jan to take second. The two U.S. Army cars then set up a steady pace to pull away from the rest of the field. A yellow, lap 20, for a spin in the third turn by Chris Ridsdale slowed the race. The final ten laps were run under green with Mike taking the lead using an outside move around his father on lap 23. Mike cruised home to the victory followed by Jan, Tony Hanbury, Tychoniewicz and McMullen. “Dad was running my back up car so he only got two new tires, while I took four new ones,” related Mike in victory lane. “I lost my brakes in the heat race so we had some concerns tonight.” Hanbury’s third place finish was enough for him to take the Spencer Tour Modified title. The 20-lap Street Stock feature saw Jim Steffenhagen Jr. grab the lead on lap three from Roger Worden. Issues arouse during the race when Steffenhagen received the black flag for what looked like a small fire in his left front brake. The starter withdrew the black flag two laps later when all looked to have corrected itself. Only one yellow flag slowed the race, coming on lap 15, when point chaser Dan Scott spun in the third turn. On the restart Scott looped backwards into the second turn wall, but continued. Track officials sent him pit-side, ending his chase for the title, when the saw sheet metal was rubbing on his rear tires. Steffenhagen took the win, followed by Don Stevens, Phil Alhart
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Jr., Mitchell Wright and Worden. cer Speedway website for updates Stevens’s second place finish throughout the off season. FOUR CYLINDERS HEAT Winners: T. earned him the track title. The Super Six division saw Dunn, B. Dennie. Keith Butler grab the lead of the FOUR CYLINDERS: TIM DUNN, Mi20-lap finale on lap six and cruise chael Bradshaw, Kevin Miller, Matt Druar, home with the victory and the Alan Kemp, Beth Dennie, David Bradshaw, Otis Bradshaw, Bro Bradshaw, Matt Scott. 2008 Super Six title. SUPER SIX HEAT WINNERS: P. Daven“I wasn’t sure I would like this port, K. Butler. new car,” stated Butler, referring SUPER SIX: KEITH BUTLER, Ryan Hilto the former Billy Semmler Pon- legeer, Patti Davenport, Skip Powers, Jesse tiac 07. “But it all worked out well Parks, Van Grant, Craig Butler, Tammi Benin the end for us.” nett, Frank Parsons, Peter Cowell. New at track were the Four UNOFFICIAL TOP 10 IN TRACK Cylinder cars which run weekly at POINTS: 1) KEITH BUTLER 1065, 2) tracks like Wyoming Int'l, Adiron- Patti Davenport 942, 3) Jesse Parks 796, 4) dack and Genesee. A total of ten Craig Butler 667, 5) Joe Bailey 649, 6) Kris cars were on hand for this demon- Hillegeer 637, 7) Van Grant 609, 8) Tammi stration race. Tim Dunn took the Bennett 589, 9) Skip Powers 515, 10) Bill Malin 407. lead from Michael Bradshaw on STREET STOCK HEAT WINNER: J. lap eight and took home the fea- Steffenhagen Jr. ture win. STREET STOCKS: JIM STEFFENHA“We came down here to Spencer GEN JR., Don Stevens, Phil Alhart Jr., to have fun and we really enjoyed Mitchell Wright, Roger Worden, Dan Scott, ourselves,” stated Dunn. “We had Billy Semmler. UNOFFICIAL TOP 10 IN TRACK a lot of fun here tonight.” Spencer Speedway: The Spen- POINTS: 1) DON STEVENS 1006, 2) Phil cer Awards Banquet will be held Alhart Jr. 991, 3) Dan Scott 961, 4) Mitchell Friday, October 10, at the On- Wright 911, 5) Billy Semmler 661, 6) Willie tario Fire Hall on Route 104 in Strusz 563, 7) Steven Greco 541, 8) Roger Worden 233, 9) Jim Steffenhagen Jr. 212, the town of Ontario. Tickets are 10) Duke Wolanski167, 10) Tom Carino Jr. $30 each and can be purchased 167 by calling the speedway. More to NASCAR TOUR-TYPE MODIFIED follow on this event…rain held HEAT WINNERS: M. Leaty, J. Leaty. off until after the races. About TOUR TYPE MODIFIEDS: MIKE fifteen minutes following the end LEATY, Jan Leaty, Tony Hanbury, Mark of the night’s races, heavy rains Tychoniewicz, Tim McMullen, Terry hit the area…John White men- Cheetham, Matt Lees, Tom Wiest, Chris tioned plans for 2009 at Spencer. Ridsdale, Kris Hillegeer. He wants to bring back the special UNOFFICIAL TOP 10 IN TRACK events, like the MSA Supermodi- POINTS: 1) TONY HANBURY 357, 2) Mark Tychoniewicz 314, 3) Mike Leaty fieds, midgets, legend cars and 310, 4) Terry Cheetham 295, 5) Buck Catavintage racers. He also referred lano 268, 6) Tom Wiest 241, 7) Chris Ridsto having one or two NASCAR dale 240, 8) Chris Finocchario 234, 9) Kris Whelen Modified Tours and RoC Hillegeer 227, 10) Wilbur Hebing 222 qualifiers. Plans are also being NASCAR WEEKLY MODIFIEDS made to run the AMB-it transpon- HEAT WINNERS: B. Catalano, T. Hander timing and scoring system on bury. a weekly basis in 2009. Fans, with MODIFIEDS: TONY HANBURY, Chris laptops would be able to view the Finocchario, Buck Catalano, Andy Jankowscoring in the grandstands. Once iak, Kevin Timmerman, Daryl Lewis Jr., plans are finalized press releases Fred Taylor, Ryan Beeman, Erich Stritzel, Matt Lees, Scott Combs, Eddie Hawkins, will follow…Track points are all Jody London, Steve Malin, Don Pringle. unofficial until approved by NAS- UNOFFICIAL TOP 10 IN TRACK CAR. POINTS: 1) BUCK CATALANO 886, 2) This ends the 2008 oval track Tony Hanbury 884, 3) Kevin Timmerman season at Spencer Speedway, the 867, 4) Andy Jankowiak 864, 5) Ryan Bee“NASCAR Place to Race” each man 789, 6) Daryl Lewis Jr. 722, 7) Matt and every Friday throughout the Lees 697, 8) Jeff Polaski 677, 9) Terry summer. Be sure to go to the Spen- Cheetham 661, 10) Jeff Hamman 635.
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COLUMNISTS • RAMBLIN with ROWE Gary Rowe • VIEW from the ISLAND Ricky Miller • OSWEGO/ISMA SUPERS Carol Demling Haynes • On The ROAD AGAIN Mark Tiderman • NEXTEL CUP DATELINE David H. Moulthrop • SMALL BLOCK CENTRAL John Flock • SPEED READING Ford B. Eberstein • NIC’s TRAFFIC REPORT Nicole Perreault • CHASIN’ the CHECKERED Ted Schmidt • FINISH LINE CHAPLAIN Pastor David M. Wells • RACING FEVER Betty & Ed Biittig • SHIFTING GEARS Ed Biittig Jr. • LIMITED ACCESS JJ Andrews • WINGIN’ IT Rich Vleck • CHAMPIONSHIP TRAIL Chris Burgess • RACING IN RETROSPECT Jeff Ackerman • WHERE’S THE RACE? Paul Phillips • MEGAN’S MEMOS Megan Rowe • IMCA NEWS & NOTES Ed Billings • SKIPPIN’ AROUND Skip Howe • POSITIVE NEWS and NOTES Leon Andrus • RACING ON THE BORDER Patrick Mulligan • CNY DIRT REPORT Dave Medler • BROADSLIDIN’ Don Dunham • WNY RACE REPORT Dave Buchanon • LOVIN’ EVERY MINUTE OF IT Chris Marquart • Coombing the NASCAR Pits Ed Coombs • CNY DIRT NEWS and NOTES Joe Johnson MOD MAVEN Eric Zwerlien • The OUTSIDE GROOVE Don Post • SOUTHERN TIER REPORT Todd Burgess
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS/GUEST COLUMNISTS TWIN TIER TRACK TALK Tom Cummings • RUNNING WITH THE PACK Tim Packman WHAT A RIDE THIS IS Steve Post • • THE SOUTHERN REPORT Tim Johnson • CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS SHIPPING/PHYSICAL ADDRESS: ASP PHOTOGRAPHY, KEVIN BERRYMAN, LISA BINDER, ALEX & HELEN BRUCE, CHRIS BURGESS, JEFF 206 FERNCLIFF AVENUE, LIVERPOOL, N.Y. 13088 CLEMONS, DAVE COMPHER, DAVID CONDIT, ED COOMBS, PAUL R. COOPER, DERAK COVEY, PHIL CZARNECKI, DAN DeMARCO, RON DeYULIO, JIM DEVINE, DON EDDS, BOB FAIRWEATHER, HENRY GATER RACING PHOTO NEWS will NOT be responsible for any article appearing in FAIRWEATHER, JIM FEENEY, MIKE FELTENBERGER, GUY FORTIER, JANE SAUER, JOHN GRADY, print NOR do the articles reflect approval or disapproval of the newspaper. All articles are the responsibility of the contributor. This publication reserves the right to accept or reject JEFF GROMIS, JOE KMETZ, JIM HAMM, TODD HUNT, J & H PHOTO, MIKE JOHNSON, MIKE "PINER" any unsolicited material submitted for print. Letters submitted for print (subject to available JOHNSON, KUSTOM KEEPSAKES, BOB LANSING, JOHN LESKO, SCOTT LYON, ROB MARKS, CHRIS space) must be accompanied by complete name, address, phone number and signature. MARKS, DON MARKS, DAVE MAVLOUGANES, MILO McGINNIS, REED MILLER, DAVID H. MOULTHROP, EDITOR DISCRETION IS FINAL MICHELLE MULLEN, JEFF NICOL, BILL NUVER, BOB PERRAN, POST-TIME PHOTOS, RON RIGBY, DON ALL CONTRIBUTIONS (PHOTOS OR MANUSCRIPTS ARE WELCOMED) ROMEO, TED SCHMIDT, GEORGE SMITH, MIKE WATTS, P. J. WEST, WOLFORD/GOLEMBESKI
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 28
AL RUDALAVAGE WIN MODIFIED FEATURE BROTHER JEFF CROWNED CHAMPION AT PENN CAN
Hanna Claims Win at Ransomville; Full Program Rescheduled for Friday
RANSOMVILLE, NY…It had to happen - a rain out at the big R. Despite persistent efforts by track management and the drivers, the rains just would not let up forcing track officials to cancel the racing program and reschedule it for Friday, Sept. 12th. On tap will be the 50 lap DIRTcar Sportsman Series event plus the Street Stock points finale featuring twin 15 laps mains. The Bobcat of Buffalo Firehall Enduro Series, a 4/6 Cylinder Fall Enduro Series, plus the Choice Wireless Corp. 2 BBL Challenge, plus Kids Rides for first 200. The Streetstock points find just ten markers separating Chris Burek and Roger Israel with third place just 4 points
back of that. Gates will open at 6 pm, Racing begins at 7:15. Adult Admission is $12.00, Students and Senior Citizens $10.00, Kids 8-12 $6, and under 8 is Free. For additional information, contact the speedway office at (716) 791-3602. The 2009 Season Pass Sale has begun. Until Dec. 20th-Grandstand Seasons passes are just $185.00. A seasons pass includes a reserved top row seat for all scheduled events in 2009 along (SPEEDWAY PHOTO) with admission into the season Penn Can's Sportsman feature winner was Joey Colsten. Grant Hilfiger ticket holder appreciation picnic plus 2 one night passes to bring garned the Championship honors. a friend during the first couple SUSQUEHANNA, PA…Friday son long point leader Gary Kinne weeks of the season. To Purchase- night at Penn Can Speedway was claimed the title in the four cylinPump-N-Pantry Championship ders with Andy Brigham winning call the speedway office. Night with titles on the line in the race. Bobby Trapper and Darwin all divisions. The huge crowd on hand witnessed some of the best Greene brought the modified fearacing of the season in all classes ture to Gary Folk’s green flag with with Alan Rudalavage topping a Greene jumping to the early lead. WOODHULL, NY…On a SatClaiming the 2008 Woodhull strong field in the modifieds with Greene would lead the first five urday where the weather forecast Raceway Track Championships brother Jeff claiming his first ever laps before Garth Tonkin Jr slid by was to improve as the day went include the following: Billy Van- Penn Can championship. on the top side of the speedway. on it was the direct opposite as Pelt in the L.J. Kennedy Trucking Tracy Gregory took care of While all this action was taking persistent late afternoon and early 358 Modified Division. Donnie business in the late model feature place up front, Al Rudalavage, evening showers put a damper on Lawson in the S&W Awards and winning the race and the crown. Joey Grammes, Jeff Rudalavage, the final point’s night of the 2008 Photos Crate Sportsman Class. Joey Colsten held off Mike Nagel and Dan Vauter fought for spots season at the Woodhull Raceway. Glen Whritenour in the NAPA Jr for the win in the sportsman lap after lap. With virtually every other race 360 Late Model Division. Brian main event with Grant Hilfiger With Tonkin out front with a track in New York having already Knowles in the Morgan’s Auto getting the title. Frank Payne won nice lead on the field, caution cancelled due to the large weather Repair Street Stock Class. Ted the super stock feature but came would come on lap seven when front that enveloped the northeast Morseman Jr. in the Signs Plus of up short on the title with Chris Alex Tonkin slowed on the front quadrant, Woodhull looked poised Kanona Mini Stock Division. Ron Strohl finishing a close second stretch. On the restart Tonkin held to get the show into the books, Daily Jr. in the LaBarron Brothers in the race giving him the points strong only to have Al Rudalavage however Mother Nature had other Repair and Parts FWD Class. needed for the championship. In catch and pass him on lap numplans and with the cancellation For more information including one of the most entertaining fea- ber nine. Rudalavage had the car Woodhull now moves into a Spe- the weekly Woodhull Raceway tures of the night, Butch Green working in all grooves of the track cial’s Only format for the remain- Report Audio Cast go to www. did what he had to do, winning the and stayed strong the remainder of der of the 2008 race season. woodhullraceway.com. feature and taking the crown. Sea- the race. All eyes were on championship hopefuls, Jeff Rudalavage and Dan Vauter. Rudalavage worked his way through the field running comfortable in the top five. Vauter ran a smooth race as well picking off cars lap after lap. With Al Rudalavge out front Trapper, Tonkin, and Grammes were all fighting for their spots. Trapper fine run came to an end when a lap car pushed up the track and made contact messing up the rear suspension on the Trapper mount forcing him to slow his pace to finish. Al Rudalavage came home first in a race that saw only two caution flags. Grammes got to second with Jeff Rudalavage third at the finish followed by Tonkin and Vauter. Tracy Gregory was a man on a mission in the late model feature race. He had a slim point lead over Dan Snyder and would start in the fourth position. It only took Gregory two laps to get the lead with Snyder right on his tail. Dan Stone was the man on the move as he came from ninth starting position to second in only nine laps. As the cars of Gregory, Stone, Dave Zona, and Snyder made their way through traffic things got real tight with two to go in the feature when they approached a lapped car. While deciding which lane to take the cars of Gregory, Stone, and Zona took the white flag under a blanket. As they worked their way to the checker, coming out of turn four they were three wide. Gregory got the win with Stone and Zona coming across inches apart. Stone got second, Zona third. Alan Kellogg and Dan Snyder rounded out the top five. Casey Plummer and Eric Griffin brought the twenty five car sportsman field to the start of the twenty lap feature event. With early cautions keeping the pack tight, Plummer would be the early race leader until Joey Colsten motored by on lap six. With Colsten out front Mike Nagel Jr would move into the second spot on lap fourteen setting his sights on the leader. Caution brought the field back together on lap eighteen setting up a two lap dash. Colsten would remain the leader followed by Nagel, Nick Petrilak, Jeff Crambo, and Paul Strohl all looking to get the win. Coming to the checker Nagel got his car along side the Colsten racer only to come up short at the flag. Petrilak, Crambo, Justin Hol*Tickets available on a first come, first serve basis. One ticket per fan. Quantities are limited and subject to change. land, and Strohl followed the top
WOODHULL RACEWAY FALLS TO MOTHER NATURE
ATTENTION RACE FANS!
Meet Driver Steve Paine
Saturday, September 20th from
12-2 pm at
RITE AID 91 Eastern Blvd., Canandaigua
First 90 fans get FREE tickets to the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series Rite Aid 200 Qualifier Race.*
(SPEEDWAY PHOTO)
Alan Rudalavage collected the Modified checkers while his brother Jeff claimed the Track Championship honors.
two across the line. The super stock point battle was the closest of all divisions with Chris Strohl, Tom Herman, and Frank Payne only points apart. The race was a good one with the top three in the points running together in a pack during the early portions of the race. While fighting for spots Herman got tangled with another car ending his night. With the race at the half way point, Payne had the lead followed by Strohl and Carl Heater. While Strohl tried different lanes to get by Payne, he knew all he needed was the second place finish for the title. Payne won, Strohl got second and the championship. Heater, Doug Polhamus, and Jim Sykes were the remainder of the top five. Mathematically five drivers had a chance to win the pure stock championship. Coming into the race Jon Carpenter had a slim lead over Butch and Rich Green. Steven Deinhardt and Harry Marvin III also had slim chances for the championship. Disaster struck the Carpenter ride with a flat tire early in the feature with Butch and Rich Green leading the pack. Carpenter got back out and started his climb to the front. Rich Green took his car pitside on lap twelve with mechanical problems. With Butch Green out front Carpenter needed to get to third for any chance at the crown. Just as it looked like he might do it, another flat tire forced him to settle for fifth place at the finish. Butch Green won the race and his second Penn Can championship. He was followed across the line by a very strong Ken Sparks, Deinhardt, and Tom Garren. The four cylinder point championship would be decided between Gary Kinne and John Hoover. Both cars started mid back in the eighteen car field. Jason Colwell took the early lead with Mike Taylor on his bumper. When Colwell drifted high Taylor took the top spot on lap three and would lead until being overtaken by Andy Brigham. Brigham then faced the challenges of two time winner Dan Wood with Taylor holding strong in third. With the checkered waving, Brigham got his first ever Penn Can win followed by Wood,
Taylor, Hoover, and Kinne. Kinne got the points need and take the four cylinder crown. PENN NOTES: Two more races left on the 2008 schedule. Next week racing will be on Saturday with big races for the late models, super stocks, pure stocks, four cylinders, CRSA sprints, and 600 modifieds. Late models will be racing for $1100 to win. Saturday gates open at 3:00, racing at 6:00. No racing Sunday September 14th. That racing program has been rescheduled for Friday September 19th. ROC Modifieds, ROC Sportsman, Dart pure stocks, and Empire Series IMCA will all be in action. 2008 Penn Can Champions: Modified: Jeff Rudalavage; Late Model: Tracy Gregory; Sportsman: Grant Hilfiger; Super Stocks: Chris Strohl; Pure Stocks: Butch Green; 4 Cylinder: Gary Kinne. MODIFIEDS: AL RUDALAVAGE, Joey Grammes, Jeff Rudalavage, Garth Tonkin Jr, Dan Vauter, Brian Weaver, Bobby Trapper, Brett Tonkin, Darwin Greene, Bill Miller, Mike Nagel, Nick Petrilak, Steve Babicek, Billy Thornton, Scott Frack, Brian Corcoran, Dave Jenkins, Mike Colsten, Dan Pompey, Mike Lartz, Mike Trautschold, Alex Tonkin, Chris Weaver. LATE MODELS: TRACY GREGORY, Dan Stone, Dave Zona, Alan Kellogg, Dan Snyder, James Cornell, Bud Phillips, Curt Tunilo Jr, Chris Hunsinger, Steve Deinhardt, Jim O'Hara, Scott Adams, Jeremy Randall. SPORTSMAN: JOEY COLSTEN, Mike Nagel Jr, Nick Petrilak, Jeff Crambo, Justin Holland, Paul Strohl, Mike Loney, Grant Hilfiger, Dwayne Robbins, Paul Rooney, Joey Grammes, Chris Piasecki, Randy Brokaw, Casey Plummer, Adam MacGeorge, Jason Carman, Dave Plummer, Bob Janesky, Richard Post, Rick Whitney, Allison Martinelli, Tom Witko, Tim Howell, Eric Griffin, Jamie Cortazar. SUPER STOCKS: FRANK PAYNE, Chris Strohl, Carl Heater, Doug Polhamus, Jim Sykes, Dave Luff, Pat Nolan, Darren Stout, Dick Koch, Andrew Alia, David Brown, Mark Hiller, Bill Metschulat, Tom Herman. PURE STOCKS: BUTCH GREEN, Ken Sparks Jr, Steve Deinhardt, Tom Garren, Jon Carpenter, Harry Marvin III, Steve Polhamus, Jim Thompson-Ortiz, Ray Lindquist, Shane Wolf, Carl Shimer, Ryan Stone, Chris Shimer, Rich Green, Brady Stark, Bimmer Gulley. 4 CYLINDERS: ANDY BRIGHAM, Dan Wood, Mike Taylor, John Hoover, Gary Kinne, Beezer Wilkie, Jason Colwell, Chris Taylor, Pat Murray, Dave Simms, Leo Shew, Barry Wallace, Andy Colwell, Rob Nober, Joe Warren, Robert Fleming, Jason Maskaly.
Qualifier
Qualifier Race
Saturday, September 20th
Canadaigua Speedway (585)-394-0961
racead3.indd 1
9/3/08 1:38:26 PM
(SPEEDWAY PHOTO)
Curt Tunilo (99) and Scott Adams (10a) in Late Model action. Tracy Gregory won the event and also garnered the Track Championship.
(SPEEDWAY PHOTO)
Champion Jeff Rudalavage (112) and Dan Vauter (85) dicing it out.
September 9, 2008
Coombing the NASCAR Pits By Ed Coombs Ed Coombs covers all three of NASCAR's premier series.
Active member of "AARWBA"
R
coombse@speedwaymedia.com
ICHMOND…As I am writing this I am sitting in a Holiday Inn Express in Richmond and I do not feel any smarter for it. Our good friend Hanna has crashed the party and its quite ugly outside with rain and wind pelting the area. Interstate 95 is closed just north of us because there are power lines across the road. With that in mind it would appear that NASCAR’s decision, with the help of local and state officials, to postpone all of the events until Sunday was a wise choice. Although it appears that the storm might clear by scheduled race time NASCAR and track officials had many things to consider. This included race teams flying in from Charlotte for the scheduled opening of the garage at 2 PM Saturday, fans getting to and staying at the track as the storm passed, and law enforcement agencies that would be busy dealing with the storms impact. It’s frustrating to be sitting in a hotel instead of going to the race but this is part of the deal with racing. It could be worse and there are people who are without power and damaged homes so one must put things in perspective. I thought it was insane when I was in Daytona in July of 1998 when they cancelled the races due to wild fires in the area which in retrospect were truly dangerous. I recall driving up the interstate in October of 1998 for the rescheduled race and the devastation from the fires was very evident on the sides of the roads as we passed burned out forests and saw homes being rebuilt. As I said before, this type of thing really puts things into perspective for me when all I want to do is whine that I am stuck in a hotel room when we should be racing. CHARITY AND FAN EVENTS…Race week in Richmond started earlier than usual for me as I arrived late Tuesday night (after being stuck at JFK airport for 8 hours!!) and drove to Emporia Virginia to work at Elliott and Hermie Sadler’s home for their annual “barn party”. In the past this had been a Sadler fan club event but this year they decided to do something different and add Elliott Sadler’s team mate Kasey Kahne, former Cup champion and ESPN commentator Dale Jarrett to the party. They also had country music performers Blake Shelton,
Gater Racing Photo News
Page
Vol. 43, Issue 28
Bucky Covington, Lee Brice, Heather Wilkins and Don Cox scheduled to perform all day long. Each fan club was allowed to sell up to 400 tickets and 25 VIP tickets (at $250 each). The VIP experience allowed them to sit right up front for the concerts, a meet and greet with all the drivers, a photograph with all of the performers and drivers, and a special edition poster autographed by all of them. Arriving in Emporia at about 1:30 AM I saw a state trooper speed trap on the interstate which surprised me due to the time and lack of traffic. However, I was told by law enforcement officials at the Sadler home that Emporia is “a traffic stop capital”. The other thing I noticed was how friendly all of the residents were to the out of town guests and that they all had that same southern drawl that the Sadler’s are well known for. When I checked into the hotel room there was a note from the Sadler’s welcoming me into town and thanking me for my support of the party. There was also an autographed 8 x 10 photo of Eliott Sadler with the note. I thought that these were very nice gestures and found out that each person who booked a room at the local hotels for the party received such a gift. Each of the drivers that participated in the barn party did so on behalf of their charitable foundations which all support many other charities. The Sadler’s have been very involved with autism charities for many years. All proceeds from the sale of tickets and food went to the foundations. I, along with a fellow writer and photographer from the Charlotte area were tasked with taking a photograph all of the fans with Kasey Kahne. We have been performing this service now for the Kahne fan club for quite a few years and it never ceases to amaze me at how some people react to meeting their favorite driver. Do you think that the “Allstate Insurance Girls” that stalk Kahne in commercials are a bit much? They’re not, people will do anything to get close to their driver. Arriving at the estate we noticed that there were already about 800 people in line two hours prior to the event starting and it was already over 90 degrees and very humid. I asked Hermie what he thought of everything and he said, “I want to thank all of the fans that come to these events and support so many good causes. It’s a really hot day today and we really appreciate what everyone is doing. We have some great fans.” Elliott said, “ I want to thank Dale Jarrett and Kasey Kahne for becoming involved with this event. It really means a lot to us for them to come on out to our home and meet our fans.” One forgets that this was actually at their home where they have almost 55,000 acres of land. The “barn” was actually a lodge where just out back were their 70 hunting dogs and their kennels. They had an air conditioned ‘green room’ that was the Sadler ‘watering hole’ with bedrooms where we stored our photography gear. In the barn itself was where the drivers sold souvenirs to the fans and they also auctioned off such things as autographed fire suits, race used and autographed shoes, stand ups and banners. Kahne’s club auctioned off a Remington shotgun that the sponsor donated. These things raised thousands of dollars for the foundations. As the fans lined up for autographs it had gotten quite warm and Kahne thanked people for waiting for his signature. “I can’t believe the support my fans have for me. This year, with the way the All Star race went for me, has been great and I owe much to my fans.” JEFF GORDON…The next evening I attended a Jeff Gordon fan club event which was held at the Marriott in downtown Richmond. With Gordon’s precarious position prior to the race I was surprised that he did such a thing but Gordon said, “I think its important to thank my
fans for their support.” It was a 3 hour event where many people came away winners of Jeff Gordon gear. They also were able to spend a few moments with Jeff and receive an autograph along with a photo of them with their driver. Jeff promoted his foundation and seemed to always be thanking everyone for attending. He appeared very comfortable with the role of being a hero to the many fans clad in Gordon attire. One thing that apparently happens at these fan events is a “best dressed contest” and the winner was a young man clad in Jeff Gordon uniform, baseball cap and sunglasses. I think it is great that many drivers do such events for their fans. It allows many to get close to their hero and the drivers appreciate the support. The fact that they tie these into fund raising for their foundations is also a good thing. I think that a well rounded person should contribute back and these drivers do in a day and age when they have become unapproachable. MORE: More information on my Richmond weekend can be found on my blog at GATERNEWS.COM.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
As the supermodified racing season winds down and some teams chase championships, other victories, the pit area for the PPG Vibrance Collection Midwest Supermodified Association will forever be a little more empty without friend and competitor Terry Gibson. Gibson lost his life in a crash earlier this year at Toledo Speedway. The Gibson family passed along this note to all of their competitors, friends and fans. "On behalf of Linda, Ryan, Lindsay, Mom and Dad, sister and brothers. I want to thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts, phone calls, flowers and donations with the loss of my brother Terrence. The shock and knots in our stomach is beginning to loosen their grip on us. Now its on to healing and getting on with life like we have to and I know Terrence certainly would want us to. While to a lot of you he wasn't blood family, he was a brother-inlaw, businessman, competitor, friend and most of all a Christian. Terrence touched a lot of people. His effect hasn't even begun to show an ounce on our day to day life. His Sunday phone call I miss already. His time here was short but time will heal our hearts and soul. Terrence was all about family so I believe that Terrence's lesson for any and all of us is to fix any family differences you may have. Its easier to say I am sorry now than to say I wished I would have. Lean on each other, cry on someone's shoulder. I know that he is in heaven with our Lord and savior and watching over our shoulders." Again thank you everybody. Yours in racing. Gene Lee Gibson #0
NORTH COUNTRY RACING AT IT'S BEST!! Caprara's Can-Am Motorsports Park
Saturday Sept 13th
7:00 PM
Pit Gates Open at 4:30 PM Grandstand 5:00 PM
ESDCA Mod Lites 25 Laps - $1,000 to win
SUNY Canton - M.R. GAEBEL - DIRT Sportsman Shootout - 30 laps- $800 to win-30 cars start SUNY Canton 4 Cylinder Open 25 laps-$500 to win;
(bring home track rules) - $300-2nd; $250-3rd; $200-4th; $150-5th; 30 cars to start
Street Stock Open 25 Laps-$500 to win (bring home track rules)
IMCA Modifieds - 20 Laps - $400 to win, Pure Stocks - 12 Laps - $200 to win NYS Route 411, LaFargeville, NY 13656 Track Phone (315)778-3407
www.canammotorsports.com
MOTORSPORTS SAFETY SYSTEMS W0!08 O N Y BU until Oct. 12, 2 Offer go
5
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Crew Helmets $59.95 each
Purchase 4 at regular price 5th is Half Price
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Required for DIRTcar NE Series Pit Stop Events
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MOTORSPORTS SAFETY SYSTEMS P.O. Box 418 Weedsport, NY 13166
315.246.0595
Page
6
September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Chris Hile Doubles Up With North Country Wins
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Chris Hile does it again…Victory No. 2 in weekend Sportsman action. LaFARGEVILLE, NY…SUNY Canton, M.R. Gaebel, Ron’s Brake and Automotive and Total Property Management presented a full night of racing at Caprara’s Can-Am on Saturday, September 06, 2008. In action were the SUNY Canton & M.R. Gaebel Sportsman Shootout, the SUNY Canton Street Stock Series along with IMCA Modifieds, Purestocks, ESDCA Mod Lites and Thunder Cars. Loren Lincoln and Chris Hile led the SUNY Canton and M.R. Gaebel Shootout to the green flag with Chris Hile picking up the early command of the race. AJ Kingsley made an early move as he moved under Matt Billings to take over the fifth position while Sammy Reakes looked to take second from Loren Lincoln. Sammy Reakes moved to the outside of Loren Lincoln coming down the front stretch to take over the second position while Mark Webb found daylight around AJ Kingsley for the fifth position. By lap nine,
Chris Hile had begun to move his way through lap traffic, which decreased his lead on the rest of the field. AJ Kingsley and Mark Olmstead moved around Matt Billings to take the fourth and fifth position while the rest of the field settled into their respective positions. As the checkered flag waved, Chris Hile would collect victory number two for the weekend while Sammy Reakes and Loren Lincoln filled out the top three. Ron Wadforth and Mike Welch led the SUNY Canton Street Stock Series to their 30 lap feature event. Ron Wadforth took over the early command of the event while Greg Belyea took over the second position and Tiger Chapman rounded out the top three. Tiger Chapman moved under Greg Belyea coming out of turn number four and coming down the back stretch to take over the second position while Dave Mannise sat just outside the top five. Dave Mannise moved around Mike Welch to take over the fifth position. Tiger Chapman
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Ryan Scott took over command in IMCA action and went on to win.
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Kyle Sharp was victorious in Pure Stock action and Can Am last week.
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Street Stock feature winner went to Tiger Chapman and crew.
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Street Stock action…Close competition like this makes for excitement.
moved to the outside of Ron Wadforth coming out of turn number two to take the lead while Kenny Hamm moved around Andy Fisk and Dave Mannise for the fourth position. Dave Mannise found daylight as he moved under Kenny Hamm and Blaine Smith to take over the third position while Ron Wadforth rode the back of Tiger Chapman’s back bumper for the lead. As the checkered flag waved, Tiger Chapman would collect the win over Kenny Hamm and Blaine Smith. In the ESDCA Mod Lite’s, Rich Townsend and Clayton Brewer took the field to their green flag. Clayton Brewer jumped out to the early lead. By lap three, Rich Townsend moved under Brewer to take over the early lead on the field. Joe Guilt moved under Kenny Gamlen to enter the top five, while Rich Townsend stretched out his lead on the field. Lowell Zehr was a man on the move as he slid under Kenny Gamlen to take over the fifth position and begin his assault on the field. On lap ten, Clayton Brewer moved under Rich Townsend coming out of turn number two to take the lead on the field. The red flag was displayed on lap ten, as Joe Guilt and Doug Williams barrel rolled their cars in turn number two, both drivers exited their cars unharmed. When racing action resumed, Kenny Gamlen made his move as he was able to take over the second position from Rich Townsend while Clayton Brewer kept his command of the field. As the checkered flag waved, Clayton Brewer would pick up the win while Kenny Gamlen and Justin Crisafulli completed the top three. Mike Cousins and Dale Jewett led the IMCA Modifieds to the green flag with Mike Cousins picking up the early lead on the field. Chris Thurston moved under Mike Cousins to take the lead on the field while Rick Duskas and Ryan Scott filled out the top five. Chris Thurston lost the handle of his car coming out of turn number four which gave Mike Cousins back the lead. Cousin’s lead was short lived as Dale Jewett moved under Mike Cousins coming out of turn number two for the lead. Ryan Scott moved around Dale Jewett on a lap ten for the lead on the field. Ryan Scott would go on to collect the win while, Dale Jewett and Mike Cousins would complete the top three. Information on the 2008 season at Caprara’s Can-Am can be found at www.canammotorsports.com or by contacting Chip Burdick at (315) 778- 3407. SUNY Canton & M.R. Gaebel SPORTSMAN SHOOTOUT: CHRIS HILE, Sammy Reakes, Loren Lincoln, AJ Kingsley, Brandon Sweet, Mark Olmstead, Todd Town, Matt Billings, Jeff Carner, Matt Hulsizer, Tom Conklin, Christine Martin, Bill Clark, Jason Parkhurst, Luke Whittaker, BJ Willard, Mark Webb, Ken Bearup, Scott Amell, Brandon Hagan, Jeff Stevenson, Brad Winters, Jordan Bennett, Bob Tefft, Kevin Gamble, Verne Harris, Katleyn Kane, Alan Fink, Dean Patterson, Jim Spano, Greg Gould, Eric Mullikin, Terry Gould. IMCA: RYAN SCOTT, Dale Jewett, Mike Cousins, John Carr, Rick Duskas, George Valenti, Shawn Kirby, Chris Thurston, Brian Holder. SUNY Canton STREET STOCK SERIES: TIGER CHAPMAN, Kenny Hamm, Blaine Smith, Mike Welch, Andy Fisk, Dave Mannise, John Eiss, Ron Hawker, Dave Pope, Todd Raabe, Nick Rizzo, Dave Fetterly, Mike Durham, Ron Wadforth, Bobby Boynton, Chuck Cushman, Greg Belyea, Russ Marsden, Ricky Breed, Mike Schultz, Nelson Bice, Scott Smith, Kevin Smith, Daryl Krebs, Chris Hogan, Ron Marsden, Frank Burnell, Phil Walker. PURESTOCKS: KYLE SHARP, Steven Gilmore, Josh Scanlon. THUNDER CARS: ROBERT MARTIN, Larry Tefft, Don Woodworth, Matt Marcinko, Ray Bechler. ESDCA MOD LITES: CLAYTON BREWERR, II, Kenny Gamlen, Justin Crisafulli, Rich Townsend, Andrew Schartner, Frank Sobotka, Jason Broedel, Rick Donovan, Rich Rainville, Matt Rainville, Mike Rainville, Mike Mullen, Mike Bruce, Dan Wilcox, Nick Graziano, Bryan Green, Lisa Thomas, Lowell Zehr, Dan Williams, Joe Guilt, Gary Jeffries.
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Chris Hile, Ron Wadforth, Jim Quinn and Joe Guilt Take Thunder Alley Wins
EVANS MILLS, NY…Caprara’s Thunder Alley Speed Park, SUNY Canton and M.R. Gaebel presented a full night of racing action on Friday, September 05, 2008. The SUNY Canton Street Stock Series, the SUNY Canton & M.R. Gaebel Sportsman Series, Mod Lites and Thunder Cars all competed in action. Christine Martin and Bob Bennett led the SUNY Canton & M.R. Gabel Sportsman Series to the green flag. AJ Kingsley took over early command of the races while Chris Hile moved under Christine Martin for the second position. Brandon Sweet quickly moved into the top three from his 12th place starting position while Bill Clark moved around Christine Martin for fourth. Chris Hile moved under AJ Kingsley to take over the lead on the field while Brandon Sweet continued to watch from his third place position. Matt Hulsizer moved under Bill Clark to take over the fifth position but Clark fought back to retain his spot. Mark Webb quickly worked through the field as he moved to the outside of Bob Bennett to take the seventh position. Loren Lincoln moved under AJ Kingsley and Brandon Sweet by lap 24 to take over the second position while Chris Hile extended his lead. AJ Kingsley moved over Loren Lincoln with two laps to go. As the checkered flag dropped, Chris Hile would pick up the win while AJ Kingsley and Brandon Sweet would complete the top three. Blane Smith and Todd Raabe led the SUNY Canton Street Stock Series to green. Todd Raabe picked up the early lead while Blaine Smith and Mike Schultz filled out the top three positions. Ron Wadforth moved under Mike Schultz to take over the third position while Todd Raabe continued to lead the field. Kevin Smith moved his way through the pack and moved under Ron Wadforth for the second position, but Wadforth fought back to maintain the position. Ron Wadforth moved under Todd Raabe to take over the lead on the field, but Raabe fought back as the two would continue their battle back and forth for the lead. Blaine Smith, who had fallen back just out of the top five, had weaved his way back through traffic to the top side of the speedway to take over the third position. Kevin Smith moved back under Blaine Smith to take over the third position while Ricky Breed worked his way under Blaine Smith to take over fourth. As the checkered flag waved, Ron Wadforth would collect the win while Todd Raabe and Kevin Smith would complete the top three. Jason Broedel and Andrew Schartner led the ESDCA Mod Lites to the green in their 25 lap feature event. Andrew Schartner took over the early race lead while Jason Broedel and Matt Magner filled out the top three. Matt Magner moved under Schartner to take over the lead on lap four while Doug Williams moved under Rick Donovan for the fifth position. Joe Guilt quickly made his way through the pack as he moved under Matt Magner to take over the lead on lap nine. Doug Williams moved under Kenny Gamlen and around Matt Magner to take over the second position in one clean sweep. Matt Magner fought back as he tried to move under Williams to take back the position but Williams had the preferred lane. On a lap 19 restart, Matt Magner and Kenny Gamlen found day light as they moved past Doug Williams to take over the second and third position. As the checkered flag waved, Joe Guilt would pick up the win while Matt Magner and Kenny Gamlen completed the top three. Kevin Bice and Robert Martin led the Thunder Car division to Matt Burdick’s green flag. Kevin Bice took over the early lead of
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Chris Hile has made Victory Lane his favorite spot to date. the race while Robert Martin filled up second. Dan Way moved under Martin to take over the second position while Jim Quinn quickly moved up through the field. Jim Quinn moved to the outside of Kevin Bice to take over the lead on the field while Robert Scott moved under Robert Martin for the fifth position. Dan Way moved under Michael Stewart to take over position number four. As the checkered waved, Jim Quinn would take the win while Kevin Bice and Robert Scott would complete the top three. Racing action will continue this Sunday, September 7, 2008 as the Street Stocks will host a Pit Stop Challenge and there will also be a 75 lap Enduro. Racing action will begin at 1pm. A complete recap of Thunder Alley’s 2008 season can be found at www.thunderalleyspeedpark.com or by contacting Chip Burdick at (315) 7783407. Thunder Alley Speedpark is located on US Rt. 11, only minutes from Interstate 81 just past the main gate for Fort Drum. SPORTSMAN: CHRIS HILE, AJ King-
sley, Brandon Sweet, Bill Clark, Loren Lincoln, Matt Hulsizer, Mark Webb, Matt Billings, Jim Spano, Alan Fink, Jeff Carner, Luke Whittaker, Christine Martin, Ken Bearup, Bob Tefft, Verne Harris, Bob Bennett, Jordan Bennett, Dan Kapuscinski, BJ Willard, Dylan Evoy, Mike Trapp, Brad Winters, Dean Patterson, Katlyen Kane. STREET STOCKS: RON WADFORTH, Todd Raabe, Kevin Smith, Blaine Smith, Ricky Breed, Mike Schultz, Dave Mannise, Ron Hawker, Greg Belyea, John Eiss, Larry Bezner, Tiger Chapman, Nate Peckham, Jeff Bridges, Nick Rizzo, Steve Woodworth, Daryl Ellis, Dan Hofmann Jr., Chuck Cushman, Daryl Krebs, Nelson Bice, Jarrod Radley, Russ Marsden, Bobby Boynton, Mike Durham, Bob Johnson, Phil Walker, Sid Harmer Jr., Dave Pope, John Kingyens. THUNDER CARS: JIM QUINN, Kevin Bice, Robert Scott, Dan Way, Michael Stewart, David Blair Jr., Frank Mitchell, Matt Marcinko, John Williams, Alan Jackson, Travis Rivers, Wendy Dodson, Robert Martin, Nick Trapp, Ryan Lancto. MOD LITES: JOE GUILT, Matt Magner, Kenny Gamlen, Frank Sobotka, Rick Donovan, Matt Rainville, Andrew Schartner, Rich Rainville, Matt Virginia, Lowell Zehr, Mike Mullen, Lisa Thomas, Rich Townsend, Bryan Green, Brenda Rice, Dan Wilcox, Tiger Chapman, Nick Graziano, Doug Williams, Jason Broedel, Clayton Brewer, Mike Rainville, Jim Tuttle, Gary Jeffries, Justin Chrisafoli, Ricky Yelle.
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Street Stock checkers were handed over to Ronnie Wadforth.
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Mini Modified feature winner was Joe Guilt last weekend.
(R. EISELE PHOTO)
Jim Quinn took the Thunder Car checkers over Kevin Bice.
All the Racing Information You Want to See!!
1-315-457-0175 www.gaternews.com
September 9, 2008
Ramblin' With Rowe
CNY Dirt News and Notes
By Gary Rowe
Join Gary on a weekly tour of Northcountry racing, mixing asphalt and dirt as he adds his unique economical perspective Fans can reach Gary at: 22534 Wayside Drive, Watertown or GRowe@twcny.com
F
or this scribe the month of August was one for the record books. For the first time in 34 years of penning this column I went for an entire month, during the height of racing season no less, without having at least one column appearing in these pages. Between having to take a business trip to the left coast and the rainouts here in New York State I was only able to take in three races during the entire month of August. In fact, unbelievable as it may seem, I even missed the Advance Auto Parts stops at Brewerton, Can Am and Cornwall Speedways, races that are always must see races on my calendar. I did manage to make the concluding point races at Can Am and Thunder Alley on Labor Day Weekend. It was a drama filled final points night at Can Am as the point leaders in the modified, 358 and IMCA classes, all had their share of woes. Big block point champion, Frankie Caprara, had drive line woes that forced him to go to a back up car. Small block points champion 15 year old Larry Wight had to deal with clutch issues and IMCA point champion, Chris Thurston, had dodge several bullets while enroute to his first track championship. It is the second track championship for the Thurston family who is former owners and promotes Can Am as Chris’s dad, Bobby Thurston, Jr., won the limited late model point crown in the 1980’s. In the sportsman class 17-year-old Brandon Sweet captured the point crown, while Todd Raabe won the Street Stock point title. It is certainly encouraging to see so many youth doing so well. Not only at Can Am but even on a national level, because they are the future of our sport. Another 15 year old who continues to impress is sportsman driver Christine Martin, who scored her first podium finish at Can Am a couple of weeks back. It seems hard to believe that there are only six weeks remaining for the 2008 DIRTcar racing season here in the Northeast. Here along the St. Lawrence River Can Am has two shows remaining. This Saturday the SUNY Canton Sportsman and Street Stock Series wraps up their series races at Can Am and on Sunday the SUNY Canton Street Stock Series concludes with a 30 lap affair at Utica Rome Speedway. “I am really pleased with the way these two SUNY Canton series have come together,” Chip Burdick, general manager at both Thunder Alley and Can Am told me Saturday night. “We think that there is quite a bit to build on and so do the folks at SUNY Canton. We hope to make both series a little bit bigger and little bit better in 2009.” Ramblin’ On…After watching the finish of the postponed Nationwide Race at Richmond on Sunday night, where Richard Childress Racing driver Scott Wimmer finished second, I couldn’t help but scratch my head. “Scott will be cut loose,” at the end of the 2008-racing season David Hart, PR director at RCR, confirmed with me. While driver changes are the norm at all levels of racing I was surprised that RCR had selected Stephen Leicht to replaced Scott. Why the surprise? Because it is a puzzle to me as to why anyone would want to replace a proven seasoned veteran with a strong resume with a relatively new driver with a very weak resume and without any kind of substantial track record. Particularly when you putting him into a car sponsored by such a highly visible corporate sponsor in Holiday Inn. In 163 career starts, over an eight-year period, in the Nationwide series Scott has an average finish of 14.6. In 2007, the year that he and Jeff Burton drove the car to the series owners’ championship he had an average finish of 11.6 and, going into Sunday’s race, Scott has an average finish of 10.3 in 2008. Now compare that to Leicht’s 61 career starts where he has a career average finish of 21.4. Leicht’s big claim to fame is that he finished 7th in the 2007 Nationwide (Busch) point chase but his average finish was 20.6. Which tells me that the only reason he finished 7th in the point chase is because he showed up at more races than anyone else did. Compounding the mystery to me is why anyone would take that chance of going from a proven commodity to virtual unknown who hasn’t done anything special in any form of motorsports. Particularly when you have a full plate in trying to start up a fourth Cup team. You really don’t need the distraction of a possibly poorly performing team caused by a driver with a weak resume. As I mentioned before I am excited as can be to see so many youth entering the sport. However, I do sometimes think that they are all to often move up the ladder when they really are not ready to make the move. Thus putting them into situations that they are not only not prepared for but can never be successful in. I think about Casey Atwood who at age 19 in 2000 racing season was the Joey Logano of that year. He got involved with Ray Evernham’s team that was part of the return of Dodge to the sport and without proper experience and support, his career sputtered so that now he is picking up rides in second tier Nationwide series teams. And there are a ton of other examples of talented drivers who were either pushed along too quickly or not put into the best situation to allow them to be successful thereby destroying their budding careers long before they even got started…Last Sunday Richard Childress’s grandson, 18 year old Austin Dillon, made his Nationwide Series debut driving the RCR number 21 to a 26th place finish, two laps down. “We are not sure what is going to happen with the 21 car,” David Hart told me. “We are still looking for sponsorship for the car and if successful we will field the car. But right now our primary focus is on getting the fourth cup team up and running.” Timmy McCreadie, who drove the RCR number 21 car in 2007 for only 6 races, with an average finish of 12.0, had a great weekend at the World 100 at Eldora last weekend. T-Mac, who one columnist in last week’s National Speed Sport News called the best “pure best pure driver’s he ever seen,” timed trialed second quick but had to overcome mechanical problems to finished fifth in the prestigious event. Incidentally in reviewing the Busch/Nationwide finishes since 2000 I believe that the only drivers who had a better average finish for their first six career starts are Joey Logano, who had an 8.33 average finish and Greg Biffle with an average finish of 11.57. It was interesting to S p e e d w a y compare Timmy’s average finish over his first six career races to sevRacing this eral other high profile drivers: Clint Bowyer, 15.3; Jeff Burton, 20.33: Sunday 5pm Kahan, 23.33: Carl Edwards, Modified 50 Kasey 13.83: Matt Kenseth, 19.17; Doug lap STAR Series event Heveron, 28.67; Dale Enarnhardt Jr., 28.83. plus championship That’s all for this week. As alevents for the weekly ways cards, letters and comments divisions are welcomed at 22534 Wayside 607-775-5555 Drive, Watertown, NY 13601 or www.fivemilepointspeedway.net email @ growe@twcny.rr.com.
Five Mile Point
Gater Racing Photo News
By Joe Johnson Aspiring career scribe Joe Johnson, son of Gater Photographer Mike Johnson, attends SUNY Oswego while covering the CNY Loop. Shemp14J@yahoo.com
M
other Nature and work limited me to just one race this past week, way back on Labor Day at Rolling Wheels. I was certainly looking forward to the Patriot Sprint double at Fulton but of course tropical storms and the like had to ruin what was looking to be a good night of racing. As for the Rolling Wheels show, that was a strange one for sure. The end almost seemed like the end of a 200 lapper with so few cars left and so many of them running out of gas. I don’t know what the major factors were but the track was a bit rough which led to some of the mechanical breakdowns and there were a lot of caution laps run but I wouldn’t think guys would be running out at the end of a 100 lap race, they ran them all the time after all. The high attrition rate helped a few guys like Roy Breshnahan in seventh and Dave Rauscher in 10th have good top ten runs. Breshnahan apparently had so much fun that he plans to attempt the 200 there in a few weeks. Dale Planck had an interesting night to say the least. He broke in his heat and was forced to run the consi, he could have taken a provisional but chose to race for it. In the consi he was involved in a tangle with Alan Barker which from my vantage point looked like a good hard racing deal. Barker decided it was Planck’s fault and proceeded to ram him and wreck both cars worse than they already were. Stuff like this really irritates me; there really is no place for that stuff out there in my book. If you want to have a few words after you get to the pits, fine, get it out of your system but don’t use the car to destroy someone else’s. What makes it worse is, this was an isolated incident, it’s not like Planck and Barker get into it every night, and this has been building. Planck’s car was heavily damaged and he drove the Jeff Brownell 29x in the feature coming home a strong sixth after starting at the tail of the field. Tim Fuller and Vic Coffey were in the field which was a welcome addition, unfortunately both failed to finish the feature and were credited with 14th and 19th respectively. Fuller looked lost in hot laps but he looked like the Fuller of old in setting fast time and winning his heat. He had a tough draw and moved forward on a less than great track getting up to fourth before dropping out near the end. It was also nice to have Stewart Friesen and Frank Cozze in the field but like most of the field both failed to finish. Cozze got a flat tire, then broke the front end and went way off the tack in turn three ending his night. Friesen appeared to suffer some engine problems in his number 1 and was credited with 27th, Cozze was 26th. Billy Pauch Jr. drove the Nick Noll 6n car and struggled, getting in some tangles in the heats but he made the feature but pulled off fairly early. He was credited with 28th when all was said and done, not really the night he was hoping for. Randy Chrysler was back in the 88, small block and he failed to qualify for the feature, but it was good to see him back at the track. He is one of those real good guys that the sport needs more of. The sportsman race looked like it was going to have a great finish between Mike Ruggiero and James Friesen but the caution bug struck and Friesen never really had a fair shot at the 33 car for the win. If it would have stayed green at the end it would have been a real battle but it was not to be. Friesen’s car was good after a few laps while Ruggiero was better in the short runs and in sportsman races these days it’s best to set up for short runs. This weekend there are some options for those willing to travel to the races, at this point I am not in that position so it looks like UticaRome or bust for me. If I head to Utica for the New Yorker weekend I’m looking for a good show and hopefully the r word doesn’t push the events to a daytime race like last year. Some conflicts will probably diminish the field a little but it should be a decent show regardless. Speaking of conflicts, the Race of Champions at Oswego is in a few weeks, unfortunately the Whelen Modified tour is at Martinsville the same day so it will take an act of god or nature to bring the best drivers to the RoC. Eric Beers, Matt Hirshmann, Ronnie Silk and probably others will be at Martinsville for the NASCAR points instead of at Oswego for the most prestigious modified race of the season. Both shows will probably be good, but they could be great if they held them on different days. In any event Jan Leaty is looking to repeat and he certainly looks like the favorite right now despite a less than great season by his standards. Hirshmann would certainly become the favorite if he could attend after winning the classic weekend race and his record at Oswego over the last few seasons. With pavement modifieds struggling across the board, one would think anyone associated with them would go out of their way to schedule these races so everyone, fans and drivers alike could attend. The supermodified folks sort of worked together for the classic and it was a home run by all accounts, a little cooperation between racing entities would go a long way in keeping the sport from fading into oblivion. A few weeks back I attended the Def Leppard concert at the New York State Fair. The stands were absolutely packed and so was the front straightaway. I have to say with this being my first major concert the show was much better than any race I have seen in my lifetime. That doesn’t mean I am going to become a concert goer buy any means or that my passion for racing is dying but man what a spectacle a major concert is. Just once I would like to see a race with that type of atmosphere, I hear the Chilli Bowl is decent, the Dream and World 100 are good as well and so is the Knoxville Nationals and the Grove Open. I really have to attend one of these shows to see if they really do compare at all. Another note from that, this was the first time since I was old enough to walk that I have been to the Fairgrounds when there wasn’t a race or a race show going on. I have not been to the fair since the Labor Day race was axed and I realized why after walking about five steps into the gates. The concert made up for it but I don’t want to see the fairgrounds again without stock cars, campfires and racefans for at least the next few years. Speaking of the Fairgrounds, I am pretty happy that I don’t have to miss any classes or work shifts to go to Super Dirt Week thanks to a four day weekend that weekend. For those that know me I know it is hard to believe that I actually am happy about something but it does happen from time to time. I definitely can’t wait for Super Dirt Week, as it really is about the friendships, the campfire stories, and the gorgeous race cars. I say if you aren’t camping at the fairgrounds then you really are missing out on the full experience. That’s all for this week, being away from the track all weekend really took my thoughts away from racing and in turn some of the venom I planned on spewing was lost. I’m sure if I get to a race this weekend it will be back. As usual any questions, comments or concerns should be sent to me at shemp14j@yahoo.com, that’s all for this week and we will see you at the races.
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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Checkered Shorts from the Southern Tier
By Todd Burgess
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Todd is a Southern New York Racing Specialist, focusing on Woodhull Raceway among other stops. burgess52@mail.clarityconnect.com
or some odd reason, recently I've been spending a lot of time pondering the future of local short track racing. Given the current economy, partnered with a host of other factors which a race track owner has little or no control over, I have to admit that I'm slightly concerned. Ever rising fuel prices threaten both track owners and racers, and everyone has to admit the inevitable fact that at some point in the future, petroleum will no longer be a viable source of power for our Saturday night machines. As environmental groups become more and more microscopic in their search out activities that are not "earth friendly", auto racing will no doubt become a major focal point. It also won't be long until the Saturday night "stock" classes will have to change their rule structure in order to adapt to the type of smallengined, unibody vehicles that the auto makers have been mass producing since the early 1990's. In my mind, these are just a few of the major hurdles that will ultimately have to be dealt with if our beloved sport is to survive for another generation or two. Don't take me wrong here, in no way am I trying to be Mr. Gloom & Doom. However, I don't think anyone can deny that there are serious issues that will demand attention, sooner or later. Sooner would be better. I also don't think there is any one simple answer to the complex question, "How will short track racing survive?" The task of saving local racing does not just fall into the lap of the track owners and promoters, but involves a concerted effort from each and every person that attends the races. Car owners, drivers, track employees, officials and especially the fans must pitch in to shape racing into a future-friendly pastime. Success will command constant communication between all parties involved as to what will work best for all, and not what will serve the interests of a few. It will require track owners to take a hard look at the bottom line and for the racers and fans to understand that, as in any business, the bottom line is what drives everything else. It's not going to be easy, but if were easy and you could make millions running a little bullring in the middle of nowhere, there would be a host of late night infomercials telling you the quickest way to get rich in racing. The Japanese practice a business concept called Kaizen, which is the quest for continuous improvement. Kaizen teaches that there should always be constant improvement, no matter how small the step, as long as it's a step forward. That's how we should approach it, I believe. So before we take a few moments of soul-searching, let's go over a few notes that I took along the way. CHAMPIONSHIP SHORTS…For the second consecutive year, Mother Nature has claimed Woodhull Raceway's season ending Championship race for her own trophy case. Woodhull owner Vern Wasson didn't go don without a fight however, as he and his crew waited until well past 7:00pm to pull the plug. Almost every other track in the state had already thrown in the towel, but Wasson knew he had a pit area full of racers who wanted to get the show in. Thanks for trying Vern and look at this way- at least we know Mother Nature didn't beat you on a bluff. Given the aggressive schedule of special and open races on the calendar for Woodhull in the next five weeks, track management has stuck to the same stance that they took last year, which is that the championship races will not be made up. This is not the most popular policy amongst many of the racers in the pits, but looking at it from a business standpoint; you can understand why the show must move on. Congratulations to all the champions and keep this in mind, regardless of the rain, everyone ran the same number of races. 358 MODIFIED SHORTS…Billy VanPelt racked up yet another championship in a year that had to be almost storybook in nature for the Ted White Racing team. Billy and his brother Curt completely dominated the division as there were only three nights where someone named VanPelt wasn't standing in victory lane. It is a testament to how hard the whole team works and the cool part is they're also a great bunch to hang out with, too. These guys know how to be serious, but they could also write a complete set-up book on how to have fun. Congratulations gang! 360 LATE MODEL SHORTS…Glenn Whritenour tallied up his second championship in three years, and has also been a force on the BRP Can-Am tour this season. Last year's champ Wayne Robertson couldn't overcome an early season string of mechanical woes to make a run for back-to-back titles. It will be interesting to see what these two teams decide to do in 2009, but I personally would love to see them back at the high banks battling for another crown. Three cheers for septuagenarian Sparky Hills as he motored his #45 into the top ten in points. Sparky serves as an inspiration to all of us who can't ever imagine climbing out of a race car for good. Keep up the good work, my friend. I can't wait to see you step up and grab that trophy at the banquet! CRATE SPORTSMAN SHORTS…If you dig back through your stack of old Gaters, back to the beginning of the '08 season, you'll find where I predicted that Donnie Lawson would be a force to be reckoned with in the Crate Sportsman class this season. Lawson lived up to my words, and will be taking home his 1st ever championship trophy when the banquet hits the Painted Post Holiday Inn in November. STREET STOCK SHORTS…Brian Knowles wrapped up his first ever track title and I couldn't be happier for my old buddy, "Porkchop". I confess to being a bit biased here as Brian used to wheel one of our family's Street Stocks and I always knew he had a championship season in him, given the right equipment. Rookie Brett Marlatt kept it interesting and posted one of the most impressive rookie seasons that the class has ever seen, by finishing second. Yours truly ended up in a tie for 8th place with Jeff Smith, and I can't think of a better guy to be tied with. Rumor is that since Vern Wasson is giving two complimentary tickets to all drivers in the top ten, and being that we tied, Jeff may have to sit on my lap at the banquet. He's not getting my dessert, I can tell you that! MINI STOCK SHORTS…While much talk was made all season about the VanPelt's domination of the 358 Modified division, Mini Stock driver Ted Morseman Jr. was putting on a clinic in domination of his own. Teddy racked up an unheard of 10 feature wins and had more than a 100 point lead going in to Saturday night. Another first time champion, cool! FWD SHORTS…2007 Champion Ron Daily Jr. made it back-to back by fending off a host of killer "B's", as he edged out the #B4 of Gary Baker for the title. Baker and his two teammates made a run of it, but Daily was up to the challenge, which made for the most exciting point battle of the 2008 season. As we wrap it up for this week, keep in mind that we're all going to save local racing together, one small step at a time. I hope each and every one of you give it a few seconds of thought and ask, "What can I do to help?" Until next time, send all news and comments to burgess52@clarityconnect.coma and remember…A bad day of racing beats a good day at work.
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Hearn, Tremont Share Spotlight at Albany-Saratoga
(IMAGES BY DC / MRS. DC)
Brett "The Jet" sweeps both Modified features, but falls short for the Championship Title. Kenny Tremont, Jr. and Crew took that one. MALTA, NY…Two kings were crowned Friday night on Hometown Heroes Night at AlbanySaratoga Speedway. Brett Hearn swept the two 358modified features to become the winningest driver in the history of the Malta track, and Ken Tremont Jr. parlayed two second-place finishes into his 10th track championship. The final night of the points season at Albany-Saratoga turned out to be a wild one, as many of the divisions also had carryover features from a rainout the previous week, creating essentially a night of triple points. But when all was said and done, the night belonged to Hearn. By winning both 358-modified features, giving him eight wins this season, Hearn pushed his career win total to 92, moving him past the legendary Jack Johnson (90 wins) on the track's all-time win list. Jumpin' Jack had been at the top of the all-time win list for 26 years. Lou Lazzaro and Johnson both had 27 wins going into Triple 25s on the night of July 12, 1982. Johnson won two of those races to move to the top of the list, and had been there ever since. Hearn got his first win at Albany-Saratoga in 1994, when he hauled in to run a big block in a
co-feature with the Champlain Valley Racing Association 358s. He started making regular stops at the speedway the next season, and had his best year at AlbanySaratoga in 2002, when he tied the track record of 12 wins in a season, set another record with six consecutive victories and picked up his first track championship. Tremont recorded his second straight track championship and 10th of his career the hard way, without winning a feature, the first time since 2004 that he didn't make a visit to victory lane. But Tremont had five second-place finishes this season, and every time, he followed Hearn across the finish line. Hearn may have won the battle, but Tremont won the war, finishing 13 points ahead of Hearn in the final standings. While Tremont was locking up with the 358-modified crown, Mike Ketchum and Rob Langevin finished in a dead-heat for the sportsman division crown. Langevin finished second in the first feature Friday night, and then came back to win the doublepoints Ford Flex 50 in the second event. Ketchum, who lost the track championship by one point last year, finished fifth in both features to hang on to a share of the title, after starting the night with a
(IMAGES BY DC / GT SMITH)
Super tight action…2008 Champ Ken Tremont on top with Vince Quenneville, Jr. in the middle and Dave Camara on the bottom.
(IMAGES BY DC / GT SMITH)
Mike Ketchum (10%) sweeps to the high side of Joe Santoro.
22-point lead. A familiar face returned to victory lane in the first sportsman feature, as Mike Ballestero recorded his first win in two years. Ballestero, a four-time track champion who returned to racing midway through the 2008 season, tops the all-time sportsman win list at Albany-Saratoga with 32 victories. Jeremy Pitts and Lori Langevin split victories in the pro-street stock class. Pitts' win was his second of the season, while Langevin took the checkered flag for the sixth time. Kim Duell also had a night to remember, using a third-place finish in the second double-points feature to nail down the pro-street stock track championship, finishing just seven points ahead of Langevin. Duell started the night with a 26-point lead, but most of that evaporated in the first feature, when he finished ninth, while Langevin came across the finish line third. John Filarecki capped his championship campaign in style in the limited division, recording his first win of the year to lock up the track championship. John Morris Jr. won the first feature. Cullen Howe was victorious in the budget sportsman feature, his third win of the season, while Josh Rheome took the checkers.
Cottrell, Marc Johnson, Ron Proctor, Dave Camara, Ronnie Johnson, Jack Johnson. SPORTSMAN (From Aug. 29 rainout - Top 10): MIKE BALLESTERO, Rob Langevin, Chris Busta, Pep Corradi, Mike Ketchum, Rich Ronca, Neal Erickson, Tim Hartman, Andy Boniewski, Josh Hohenforst. SPORTSMAN (Double points): ROB LANGEVIN, Mike Ballestero, Mike Tholin, Rich Ronca, Mike Ketchum, Chris Busta, Tim Hartman, Neal Erickson, Scott Huber, Corey Gilligan, Dave Manny, Skip Shippee, Dick Bisson, Andy Boniewski, Stan Lemiesz, Bill Bokus, Robert Bublak, David Baranowski, Howard Gage, Joe Santoro, Pep Corradi, Tyler Curtis, Ken Anatriello, David DePaulo, Adam Tranka, Floyd Billington, Cass Bennett. PRO-STREET STOCKS (From Aug. 29 rainout - Top 10): JEREMY PITTS, Ed Thompson, Lori Langevin, Bernie Companion, William Smith IV, Mike Paquin, Daryl Carl, Kevin Van Chance, Kim Duell, Bob Schmidt. PRO-STREET STOCKS (Double points): LORI LANGEVIN, Daryl Carl, Kim Duell, Ed Thompson, Kevin Van Chance, Chucl Towslee, Walt Brownell, Bob Schmidt, Phil DeFiglio, Vinny Santoro, Johnny Rivers Jr., Greg McGill, Jake Losaw, Tom O'Connor, Mike Migliori, Pete Broderson, Jeremy Pitts, Mike Paquin, James Monroe, Randy Miller, Jeff Washburn, William Smith IV, Bernie Companion, Ron Zagata, Mike Minick, No. 0, Randy Brownell. BUDGET SPORTSMAN (Double points - Top 10): CULLEN HOWE, Frank Corradi, Pete Carlotto, Bryan Davis, Frank Hoard III, Derrick McGrew, D.J. Brundige, Dennis Pennock, Dan Boni, Mike Burdo LIMITEDS (From Aug. 29 rainout - Top 5): JOHN MORRIS JR., Yule Cook, Dan Carlton, Andy Durie, John Filarecki. LIMITEDS (Double points - Top 15): JOHN FILARECKI, Andy Durie, Dan Petronis, Mike Ostrander, Mark Lester, Yule Cook, John Morris Jr., Mark Burch, Jordan Jeffalone, Mark Dwyer, David Billings, David Cook, Mark Goss, Jon Miller, Benjamin Durie. MINI-STOCKS (Top 5): JOSH RHEOME, Jameson Tromans, Elmer Montville, John Baldwin, Justin Comes.
Vol. 43, Issue 29
East Outlasts West In Sportsman Series Holiday Thriller At Rolling Wheels
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY KBS RACING PHOTOS)
Mike Ruggiero made the long tow north pay off for the "Big Dog 30."
By Dave Medler ELBRIDGE, NY…Recently crowned Orange County Fair Speedway Champion Mike Ruggiero made the long tow north pay off as he won the "Big Dog" 30-lap Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Championship Series event on Labor Day at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park. Downstate racer Ruggiero survived yellow flags and race-long pressure from Canadian invader James Friesen to come away with his first ever win at the ‘Fast Track’ on Monday night. "I’m almost speechless," said a smiling Ruggiero. "We came up here and the last time we were running second, third, before we got wrecked by a lapped car with a couple to go, this makes up for it." MODIFIEDS (From Aug. 29 rainout (Top 10)): BRETT HEARN, Ken Tremont After a failed start went yellow Jr., Todd Stone, Mike Perrotte, Ronnie Johnfor a slowing Chris Hile, the field son, Jeff Trombley, Matt DeLorenzo, Tony went back to its original starting Kawalchuk, Keith Flach, Dave Camara. positions. When the green flew MODIFIEDS (Double points): BRETT again Ruggiero got the jump on HEARN, Ken Tremont Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, the field followed closely by front Don Ronca, Todd Stone, Mike Perrotte, Jeff row partner Friesen. Yet when the Trombley, Keith Flach, Don Mattison, Tony leaders exited turn two Friesen Kawalchuk, Mike Ronca, Elmo Reckner, pulled even with Ruggiero and as John Proctor, Vince Quenneville Jr., Jimmy they raced down the back straight into turns three and four, Friesen was scored the leader at the line. Third-generation chauffeur Friesen started to put some distance between himself and Ruggiero before he slid off the back straightaway allowing Ruggiero to blast by into the lead on the fifth go round. Friesen somehow regained control of his no. 52 machine and held onto the runner-up slot. Sammy (IMAGES BY DC / DERAK COVEY) Reakes IV, Jipp Ortiz and Steve Sportsman Co-Champions were Mike Ketchum (left) and Rob Langevin Gray ran in the top-five early on. On lap six the yellow came out (right). Each had steller seasons in 2008 at Albany Saratoga. for a slowing Eric Giguere, who soon after refired and continued at the back of the pack. Ruggiero fired first on the ensuing restart and Friesen stayed with him as the pair once again raced side-by-side for the top spot. Reakes had the best seat in the house running in third and staying within striking distance of the top two. When the race had 10 laps in the book, Ruggiero held a three car-length advantage as Friesen (IMAGES BY DC / DERAK COVEY) and Reakes were fighting it out for Back to Back Modified Champion Kenny Tremont, Jr. poses with the second. Ortiz, Jeremy Pitcher and crew after accepting his award.
Gates open at 5:00pm Race time at 7:00pm
www.canandaiguaspeedway.com
FRIDAY, SEPT. 19th and SATURDAY, SEPT. 20th
Friday: LaBatt Blue RaceFest Weekend, Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series "LaBatt Blue Light 75" and Parts Plus Street Stock Series Saturday: LaBatt Blue RaceFest Weekend, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series "LaBatt Blue 100", Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman "LaBatt Ice 45", Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Series
Steve Gray were some distance back running third through fifth. At the halfway point, lap 15, Friesen once again started reeling back in Ruggiero for the lead when the caution came out for ’08 Fulton and Cayuga County Fair Speedway Champion Pitcher. After a quick trip to the pits, Pitcher returned. Yellow flag fever continued as Steve Gray and Todd Town tangled in turn one as soon as the green lights came back on. And just when Ruggiero started to put some distance on Friesen, another caution came out one lap later, this time for a slowing Jim Johnstone. On the following restart, Ruggiero was able to open up an eight car- length advantage as Friesen, Reakes and Ortiz ran single file trying to chase down the leader. With 10 laps to go, Friesen once again started to run down Ruggiero and got within a couple carlengths. Reakes and Ortiz were still third and fourth but couldn’t gain on the top two. A quick yellow came out late in the race setting up a three lap shootout to the finish. Over those final circuits Friesen tried every trick in the book to get by Ruggiero. Coming down to the checkers Friesen went high in turn three, diamonding off the corner and ducking under Ruggiero as the pair raced to the finish. It was to no avail as Ruggiero was first across the line by threequarters of a car ahead of Friesen. Ortiz, Justin Wright and Reakes rounded out the front-five ahead of Mike Bowman, who started 28th on the 33-car grid. Kevin Ridley, Brandon Easey, Tyler McPherson and Marcus Dinkins to 10. "This win puts the icing on the cake right here," said Ruggiero, after exiting his Alex Marine, No.33. "If it wasn’t for him ( Matt Hitchcock, car owner and OCFS driver) we wouldn’t be here.” FINISH: MIKE RUGGIERO, James Friesen, Jipp Ortiz, Justin Wright, Sammy Reakes IV, Mike Bowman, Kevin Ridley, Brandon Easey, Tyler McPherson, Marcus Dinkins, Mark D'Ilario, Alan Fink, Chris Raabe, John Pietrowicz, Greg Panunte, Rob Knapp, Ben Wheeler, Chad Chevalier, Steve Gray, Dan Wiesner, Mat Williamson, Mark Dixon, David Marcuccilli, Nick Guererri, Jeremy Pitcher, Tim Currier, Jim Johnstone, Jordan Bennett, Todd Town, Loren Lincoln, Justin Sharp, Eric Giguere, Chris Hile.
September 9, 2008
Brad Rouse Wire-to-Wire In Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series Main At Merrittville
(PHOTOCHIK ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY)
Brad Rouse was the Sportsman winner after leading all 50 laps! By John Steckley THOROLD, ONT…Brad Rouse headed a Merrittville Speedway Tour-de-Force on Saturday night as the invading sportsman contingent was fed a strong dose of home cooking. Rouse, who finished fourth in the recently concluded Merrittville point race, led the division with four wins. No other driver visited Victory Lane more than twice in 2008. On Saturday, the St. Catharines pilot put his track experience to good use. Rouse grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag from his front row starting spot and led all fifty circuits. Asked to explain his dominating performance, a nonchalant Rouse explained, “We made a lot of changes earlier tonight. I guess they all worked out for us.” Rouse’s win triggered a Merrittville onslaught as local teams swept the top 13 spots. Mark D’Ilario, Greg Panunte, Tyler McPherson and Mike Bowman rounded out the top five.
Brandon Easey, Chad Chevalier, James Michael Friesen, Jim Johnstone and Mark Chiddy. Chris Raabe and Dan Wiesner entered the event deadlocked at the top of the series leader board. It was a forgettable evening for the top pair. Both drivers were forced to qualify through the consolation race and then struggled in the feature. Wiesner finished 15th, five spots ahead of his rival, as their championship chances took a hit. The Rose Webbber Memorial Weekend will be centered around the Open Wheel Lites and Classics.
FINISH: BRAD ROUSE, Mark D'Ilario, Greg Panunte, Tyler McPherson, Mike Bowman, Brandon Easey, Chad Chevalier, James Friesen, Jim Johnstone, Mark Chiddy, Mat Williamson, Tom Huppenen, Nick Cupolo, Jeremy Pitcher, Dan Wiesner, John Pietrowicz, Justin Wright, Justin Sharp, Mark Dixon, Chris Raabe, Rob Knapp, Ryan Susice, Rick Bellante, Joe Middlemiss, Kevin Sharpe, Ron MacAuley, Robbie Rounce, Eric Giguere, Darrell Farraway, Jay Doerr. Heat winners: T. McPherson, M. Bowman, J. Sharp, J. Doerr. Consi: R. Bellante.
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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Erick Rudolph Claims First Empire State Modified Midget Crown at Genesee Speedway
By Rich Vleck BATAVIA, NY…On a night when the Genesee Speedway was smooth and even, so too was the competition; but Erick Rudolph would distinguish himself before the night was over. Rudolph captured the first running of the premier New York Modified Midget event, exclusive to New York State Residents. Rudolph not only took home $1,500, but also knew he had beaten a solid field. The driver of the No. 72 moved underneath Paul Habeck for the lead on lap six and never looked back, keeping a safe distance over the rest of the field. Nothing seemed to phase the youngster on the night, as he switched wings, taped a new number on the second one, had a bad redraw from the feature, and saw his lead advantage evaporate on numerous occasions throughout the 25-lap A-Main. Rudolph was able to drive his car into the corner significantly farther than the rest of the competition, giving him the ability to complete passes on the top of the speedway. As the second-generation star was slicing through to the lead, David Ferguson was following Rudolph through the holes to get into second and settle for an impressive runner-up showing. In addition to winning his heat race, Ferguson was also the quick timer by over a ¼ of a second. Eric Schwartz would score a solid third place showing, mov-
ing his way through the pack to complete the podium on the night. Zack Morgan and Nick Cooper would round out the very young top-five. Early race front-runners Paul Habeck, Todd Cummings and Dan Miller all experienced problems before the finish. On an overcast afternoon, 42 of the best modified midgets in the state invaded the 1/3-mile to compete for the largest purse in the history of NYMM. Pete Waldron scored his first win in his career in dominating fashion during the Castle Powered Late Model Feature. Waldron, of Oakfield, led all 20 laps over the top point runners, Dave DuBois and Jon Rivers, hitting his setup perfectly under the slick conditions and cruising to the win. “That track was perfect for me tonight,” said Waldron in Victory Lane. “That could not have been any better. Waldron won his heat race, earning him the pole for the event. He only had to survive a few cautions and was clear to pick up the win. Behind Waldron was the No. 012 of Dave DuBois. Because of his finish over third-place Jon Rivers, DuBois has all but locked up his first career championship at Genesee. Tim Kauffman and Donny Newton were solid to complete the top-five. Jeremy Denton picked up a long-awaited victory in the most dramatic fashion possible in the
Fall Foliage 200 SEPTEMBER 20TH & 21ST | PLATTSBURGH, NY 100 Lap Modified (358) Race 100 aiRboRne/acT SpoRTSMan Race 25 Lap diRT/cVRa SpoRTSMan plus - Renegade, WaRRioR, & BomBeR featuRes
(MICHELLE MULLEN PHOTO)
Erick Rudolph captured the 1st NY Modified Midget event for $1,500! thrilling 20-lap Power Trip Energy Drink Street Stock Feature. Denton held off Colton Chappius and Jeb Walworth, the top two in points, for the final seven laps as they trio was two and sometimes three-wide all the way to the end, as the cars all banged off one another coming the checkered flag. “That was wild,” Denton stated atop his roof in Victory Lane, as he stayed steady on the topside of the speedway, leaving the bottom lane open but getting a run each time off of the corner. Each time in the turns, Chappius, the point leader, would stab the brakes entering and then drift up the track. As the No. 60 would drift up near the No. 07 of Denton, Walworth would turn underneath both of them nearly every lap. On the final circuit, as Chappius kept his car on the inside, Walworth carved through the middle, setting up the incredible threewide finish. Denton forced his car to the inside, keeping the nose of his car just far enough ahead for the victory. Walworth was able to secure second, while Colton Chappius held on to third, meaning he only needs to start the feature next week to secure the championship. Dan Pries and Dave Downs completed the top-five. As an added bonus for the No. 07 team, Steve Austin, who used Denton’s car to run the non-winners scramble picked up the final victory, earning him his first win. Russ Wassner got out in front early and stayed there in the Professional Driver Institute Mini Stock Feature, scoring his third win of the year. Wassner moved around Duane Pingrey on lap four and held off a hard-charging Brandon Aradine on a final-lap restart. As the leaders went into turns 1 and 2, Aradine spun his No. 12b, allowing Wassner room to run to the win and setup a serious championship battle heading into next week.
Because of Aradine’s spin, he and Dan Norton, who ended up third, is now just two points ahead heading with one feature remaining. Early leader Duane Pingrey was able to capture second ahead of Norton. Sean McKeller and Aradine rounded out the top-five. P.J. Havens continued his hot streak in the DML Driveway Sealing Bandits, pacing the field for all 10 circuits to win his fourth win of the year, all in the last month. It was also his second win in a row. Tom Urban inched closer to a championship season, placing second to mean that he only needs to start the field feature of the year to clinch the title. James Maier rounded out the podium. NEW YORK MODIFIED MIDGETS: ERICK RUDOLPH, David Ferguson, Eric Schwartz, Zack Morgan, Nick Cooper, Charlie Donk, Jim Radney, Ryan Jordan, Jim Lafler, Scott Kreutter, John Smith, Amy Scott, Pat Kelly, Dan Miller, Ron Gamble, Nathan Arnold, Billy Coffey, Paul Habeck, Mike Foster, Kenny Wills, Jim Morgan, Todd Cummings, Cody Shorga. Heat Winners: Ferguson, T. Morgan, Rudolph, Habeck, Smith, Coffey. B-Main Winners: Homan, Scott. LATE MODELS: PETE WALDRON, Dave DuBois, Jon Rivers, Tim Kauffman, Donny Newton, JJ Mazur, Justin Chaddock, Brian Farnsworth, Terry Pangrazio, Ron Mogavero, Rich Hale, Bob Babbitt, Tom Baker, Billy Burd, Jason Bridge. Heat Winners: Babbitt, Waldron. STREET STOCKS: JEREMY DENTON, Jeb Walworth, Colton Chappius Jr., Dan Pries, Dave Downs, Doug Jones, Bill Kowsky, Byron DeWitt, Jason Babbitt, John Giles, Nathan Arnold, John Fry, Matt Pfalzer, Chip Wood, Carl Shetler, John Carlson, Ken Hixenbaugh. Heat Winners: Downs, Hixenbaugh. Street Stock Scramble: Round 1- Dan Pries over John Giles; Round 2- Dave Downs over Dan Pries; Round 3- Dave Downs over John Fry; Championship Round- Steve Austin over Dave Downs. MINI STOCKS: RUSS WASSNER, Duane Pingrey, Dan Norton, Sean McKeller, Brandon Aradine, Ed Neal, Samantha Burch, Brian Norton, Brett Crawford, Tom Amico. Heat Winners: Pingrey, Hull. BANDITS: P.J. HAVENS, Tom Urban, James Maier, Randy Barclay Jr., Val Stevens.
Schedule
Saturday, September 20th 2 - 5 PM practice | all divisions $5 pit admission Gates Open at 11 AM Sunday, September 21st $25 pit admission w/ CVRA. DIRT, ACT License | $30 w/o License Gates Open at 10 AM | Racing at 1PM Saturday, October 4th 200 Laps | $10,000 TO WIN ENDURO Call for rules & info | 518.561.3208
Free Admission to Grandstand on Saturday Sunday Race Day Admission Adults $18 | Kids 6-12 $5 | 5 & under FREE Exit 36 off Interstate 87 | 518.561.3208 | www.airborneparkspeedway.com
(MICHELLE MULLEN PHOTO)
Pete Waldron took his 1st career feature win in Late Model action.
(MICHELLE MULLEN PHOTO)
Jeremy Denton picked up the check and checkers for the thrilling Street Stock event.
SATURDAY SEPT. 13TH Dewert Speed & Insinger Racing Fuels Night
Lyle Sherwood Memorial T3 All Star Series 358 Modified Special, BRP 360 Late Models, Street Stocks Open
Race Time 6:45PM • Gates @ 4:30PM • $14 Admissions County Rte. 102, 20 miles west of Corning off State Rte. 417 • Woodhull, NY
Track Phone: 607-458-5275 • www.woodhullraceway.com
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Matt Kurzejewski: Two Cars, Two Divisions, Two Wins at Chemung Speedrome
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY PJ WEST)
Tony Hanbury won the Modified #1 event on Sunday at Chemung. By Carol Houssock CHEMUNG, NY…Chemung Speedrome thanked the fans for their support in a special Sunday edition of Pack the Track/Fan Appreciation Day. Fans of Matt Kurzejewski appreciated what he did on Sunday, picking up wins in the NASCAR Weekly Modified and INEX Legends features. Others celebrating with the fans included Tony Hanbury (race #2, NASCAR Weekly Modifieds), Jeff Goodwin (Super Stocks), Bob Curren (4 Cylinders), Jody Buckley (North East Mod Lites), Jesse Kent (Speedrome Juniors), and Andrew Bickford (Bandoleros). Two lucky kids won bicycles donated by the Chemung County Correction Officers Union Local 3978. Eighteen other kids won bicycle helmets donated by Sheriff Christopher Moss. Chuck Lohmeyer and JR Kent won the 2 Nascar Weekly Modified heat races that helped establish the starting lineup for the first of two 25-lap features. Pole-sitter Josh Philpott led the first 2 laps but when Tom Shiner spun in turn 2 it put the field under caution. Lohmeyer, lined up on the outside of the front row, got the better of Philpott on the restart and he took over. He had to sweat out 2 more restarts in the first few laps but, once the race stayed green, he started to pull away. That was until Tony Hanbury took over 2nd from Kent and he charged toward the front, chopping away at Lohmeyer’s lead. With 5 to go Hanbury had caught the leader. Lohmeyer bobbled in turn 4 on the 23rd lap and Hanbury made his move. Once in front he pulled away and cruised to his 9th win in 16 races. Lohmeyer’s 2nd place finish tied his career-best. Matt Kurzejewski
was 3rd, finishing ahead of Justin Petcosky and Kent. “These were old tires and I used them up pretty good getting around JR so I wasn’t sure about passing Lohmeyer until he got loose up there in 4,” Hanbury told the crowd. Hanbury drew the number 5, inverting the top 5 for the start of the 2nd 25-lap race. That put JR Kent on the pole but it was Justin Petcosky, who started 2nd, who led the way for the first 9 laps. Matt Kurzejewski got around Kent and then Petcosky, taking over the lead on the 10th lap. Chuck Lohmeyer and Hanbury remained in the top 3 but, as the race reached the halfway point, they were staying with Kurzejewski. Six laps later the leader had pulled away and Lohmeyer found himself trying to hold off Hanbury, just as he had done in the first race. That battle came to an end with 2 laps to go when Chapman and Lohmeyer spun in turn 4. With 2 of the top 5 now at the rear, Kurzejewski was reminded of the restarts he had to endure on August 9th when he got his career-first win. This one was different, with Hanbury lined up right behind him. Kurzejewski ran his race and made win #2 look easy. Hanbury was 2nd, followed by Kent, Zach Truesdail and Justin Petcosky. “It’s nice to get a win but the 2nd feels great too,” Kurzejewski said before thanking those who have supported his 2008 efforts. Brittany Jack and heat race winner Lee Sharpsteen brought the Super Stock field to the green for their 25-lap feature and Jack led early. By the 8th lap Jack, Jeff Goodwin, Chris Daugherty and Sharpsteen had pulled away from Terry Potrzebowski and Brad Mosher. When Mosher and Dylan
Terry got together on lap 10 the first caution came out. Goodwin, lined up beside Jack for the restart, got the better of her and took over the lead. Jack and Daugherty stayed with him while Sharpsteen fell back to 5th. Mosher and Jesse Snell got together working lap 12 and spun in turn 3. That set up another 2-wide restart and Goodwin held his lead. The 3rd caution came out when Arch Haner spun in turn 3 and set up a 2-lap dash to the finish. Goodwin scored the win, his 4th, and padded his point lead with his sweep. “I really want to thank all my fans who are here week after week,” Goodwin said from victory lane. Daugherty was 2nd, followed by Sharpsteen, Jack, and Terry. Defending INEX Legends champ Justin Petcosky, made a power move around pole-sitter Art Priscott and led the first lap. Newcomer Gary Burdell spun on the 3rd lap and put the race under caution. Petcosky then had Matt Kurzejewski with him in the front row for the restart but he kept him at bay when racing resumed. Kurzejewski tried several times to set up a pass on the inside of turn 3, while point leader Matt Priscott was doing the same to Kurzejewski in his quest for 2nd. As the field worked lap 9 the leaders came up some lap traffic. Kurzejewski went to the inside, Petcosky to the outside, and the lead changed hands on lap 10. Over the final half of the 20-lap race the top 3 put on a fan-pleasing display of raw talent Legends-style. Kurzejewski protected his position and held on for his 4th win, this one over Priscott, Petcosky, George Cushman and Kevin Wilkins. “That’s the most fun I’ve ever had in a race car,” an ecstatic Kurzejewski said while clutching his trophy. He went on to thank his supporters and crew. The 4 Cylinder feature had fan interest from the get-go, as the field went 3-wide off turn 2 on the first lap. Coming off turn 4 Phil Haner, who was outside AJ Lane and Richie Vanderpool, went a bit too high and tagged the turn 4 foam. Though towed, he made some quick repairs and returned to the race. On the restart Vanderpool led off turns 2 and 3 but the field nearly went 5-wide coming out of turn 4. Bob Curren, who had won his heat, was up to 2nd and got around Vanderpool and built a nice lead. Jeremy Potrzebowski got up to 2nd and started to close the gap between himself and Curren. Lap after lap Curren went high, Potrzebowski went low in turn 4, and they repeated that scenario on the final lap. Curren
Championship night ASA Late Model Challenger Series -3 Features - 3 Purses -
- 3 Winners -
- To settle ASA "National" Championship - To decide Track Champion & National Champion for LET ASA Late Models PLUS . . . True Stock Champion, Sport Compact Champion and Lite Truck Champion
Saturday, September 13th - Racing at 6:00 PM CALL (315) 346-RACE for more information! | www.adirondackspeedway.com
held on for the win, his 4th, and he chopped about 20 points off Gene Purvis’ lead. Haner won the other heat. One caution slowed the 15-lap North East Mod Lite feature. Jody Buckley got around Joe Lane, who had led the first 2 laps, on the restart and he was never challenged. Buckley, who lost his only race this year a week ago, said they made a few changes to the car. “Last week it was junk and we changed everything,” he told the crowd. Buckley beat Lane and Brinckman for his 12th feature win. Fred “Bubba” Peters wanted a win, something only Jesse Kent and Zack Curren had done in 13 weeks of Speedrome Junior action. Peters led the first 3 laps but Kent overpowered him on the 4th lap. Curren also got around Peters and began to reel in Kent. Over the final half of the race the 2 ran nose-to-tail, just as they have all season. On the final lap Curren dove to the inside of Kent in turn 2. The touched in turn 3, and it boiled down to a front stretch drag race. Kent beat him to the line by inches. For the 2nd year in a row, the title will go to one or the other this week. Both have 868 points. Both have 7 feature wins. Kent won the title last year over Curren, and both are deserving of it this year. Stay tuned. Andrew Bickford’s 6th Bandolero win moved him back into the point lead entering the final race of the year. He started the 10-lap feature 3rd but it was Ryan Polenz who led the first 3 laps. Bickford capitalized on a lap 4 restart, made his race-winning pass, and held off both Polenz and Matt Evans. NASCAR MODIFIEDS #1: TONY HANBURY, Chuck Lohmeyer, Matt Kurzejewski, Justin Petcosky, JR Kent, Josh Philpott, Zach Truesdail, Chad McDonald, Tom Shiner, Larry Jaynes, Al Chapman.
NASCAR MODIFIEDS #2: MATT KURZEJEWSKI, Tony Hanbury, JR Kent, Zach Truesdail, Justin Petcosky, Josh Philpott, Chad McDonald, Larry Jaynes, Chuck Lohmeyer, Al Chapman, Tom Shiner. SUPER STOCKS: JEFF GOODWIN, Chris Daugherty, Lee Sharpsteen, Brittany Jack, Dylan Terry, Jesse Snell, Brad Mosher, Chuck Nichols, Arch Haner, Terry Potrzebowski. INEX LEGENDS: MATT KURZEJEWSKI, Matt Priscott, Justin Petcosky, George Cushman, Kevin Wilkins, Art Priscott, Tom Mitteer II, Brian Terrell, Tony Gullo, Brandon Michael, Andrew Stotler, John Shep-
herd, Van Michael, Cody Frantz, John Lotti, Gary Burdell, David Polenz. 4 CYLINDERS: BOB CURREN, Jeremy Potrzebowski, AJ Lane, Tom Knapp, Gene Purvis, Kurt Knapp, Phil Haner, Marcus Wood, Ricky Knapp, Jim Chimileski, Andrew Wolfe, Archie Haner, DQ: Richie Vanderpool. NORTH EAST MOD LITES: JODY BUCKLEY, Joe Lane, Paul Brinckman. SPEEDROME JUNIORS: JESSE KENT, Zack Curren, Fred Peters, Mike Ferris. BANDOLEROS: ANDREW BICKFORD, Ryan Polenz, Matt Evans, AJ Hamilton, Brent Michael.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY PJ WEST)
Matt Kurzekewski and crew celebrate his Legends and Modified wins.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY PJ WEST)
In the 1st Mod event…Tony Hanbury (43) moves past JR Kent (26).
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY PJ WEST)
Matt Kurzekewski (22) leads Tony Hanbury to the finish line in the 2nd Modified feature on Sunday afternoon.
NORTH COUNTRY RACING AT IT'S BEST!! Caprara's Can-Am Motorsports Park
Saturday Sept 13th
7:00 PM
Pit Gates Open at 4:30 PM Grandstand 5:00 PM
SUNY Canton 4 Cylinder Open 25 laps-$500 to win;
sponsored by: SUNY CANTON COLLEGE
~ 30 cars to start ~
(bring home track rules) FEATURE PURSE: 1st $500, 2nd $300, 3rd $250, 4th $200, 5th $150, 6th $125, 7th $100, 8th $90, 9th $80, 10th $75, 11th $70, 12th $60, 13th $60, 14th $55, 15th $55, 16th - 24th $50, 25th - 30th $40.
Draw for starting position - heads up start - top 12 will redraw for more information: Chip Burdick 315.778.3407; Tech Info Lloyd Larmon 315.767.7819 NYS Route 411, LaFargeville, NY 13656 Track Phone (315)778-3407
www.canammotorsports.com
September 9, 2008
Small Block Central By John Flock
G
John covers a variety of racing, both dirt and asphalt. Reach John at flock@bluefrog.com
OOD FINISH - John White’s Spencer Speedway completed their 2008 racing season in fine style. Great racing and a visit by the Tourtype Modifieds kept the large crowd entertained on the Night of Champions. Mike Leaty won the tour-type feature with a late race pass of his father, Jan. The crowd was quite vocal of their approval of the action. I asked Mike how he easily passed his dad for the checkers. “We ran both of our U.S. Army cars tonight. So as the car owner, I put four new tires on my car, and only one on Dad’s,” said Mike. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it! In the Tour-type Modifieds this year, Tony Hanbury was crowned champion of that division. The regular Modifieds had the top four drivers within a handful of points for the season crown. Tony Hanbury took the battle, with Buck Catalano winning the war and track championship by a whisper over the top five cars. Chris Finocchario would claim second spot with an inspired run. Buck Catalano, Andy Jankowiak, and Kevin Timmerman would earn top fives. Buck Catalano said, “Tony (Hanbury) did all he could do. I knew that I needed to finish third if Tony won, and that’s what I did.” RAIN, RAIN, KOTARY? - Friend Ken Parrotte had planned a trip to Fulton on Saturday night for some sprint racing. With rain blanketing most of the state, Ken stayed home and dug through his treasure chest of racing experiences. He sent along a summary of the 1963 season at Brewerton. The Tri-County Racing Association was the promoter at that time at Alvin Richardson’s quarter-mile paved oval. Dave Kotary enjoyed an unheard of season of no rain and an 85 per cent win record. Yes, seventeen features were won by that member of the Kotary clan. Joe Orso and Chico Rhines were tied for second at season’s end. You will have to ask Chico about that rivalry. The driver’s list included Ed and Willie Bloss, Eddie O’Neil, Norm House, Sam Carista, Johnny Thayer, Dave Walters, Ken Platt, and more of the top drivers of the 1960’s. Ken is looking to complete his collection for 1963 by acquiring photos of the top three – Kotary, Orso, and Rhines. If anyone has any hints, just drop me a note and I’ll get the info to Ken. Kotary’s win on June 21 was Ken’s first-ever stock car race. Yes, like the rest of us, Ken is hooked on racing. CANCEL ON THURSDAY - Bob Stapelton called his races on Thursday for Chemung’s Saturday night special. He avoided the rain and rescheduled for this past Sunday. Not all of his fans got the word, but a decent crowd showed up to see the action packed show. If you were a Matt Kurzejewski fan, you went away happy. Young Matt not only won the Legends feature, he filed away third and first place finishes on double feature night for the Modifieds. My brother Ted and I made the trip for the afternoon filled with racing. He had not been there since our last Modified trip to Eli Bodine’s track in ‘54. He wanted to see Jr. Kent show his skill and was not disappointed. Jr.’s car was not as fast as the top cars, but his skill earned him a pair of top five finishes. Ted also kept his eye on Tony Hanbury. Tony won the first feature over a strong Chuck Lohmeyer and earned a runner’s up finish to Matt K. in the second go. Chemung has two shows left in the year. Next week, they will present Championship night, and then stay silent until October 4th when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visits the Southern Tier oval. That Saturday show in October carries Sunday, October 5th as a rain date. NATIONAL CHAMPION CLOCE? - Yes, the rain spoiled the Saturday show at Adirondack Speedway. Paul Lyndaker has extended the season one more week. A visit by Dennis Huth, president of the American Speed Association, brought news that Tommy Cloce was near to a national championship for the ASA weekly tracks. To earn that title, a driver has to run at least 14 races and earn a track championship. Paul Lyndaker said, “It wouldn’t be fair to take away Tommy’s chances for the National ASA title. We are going to run a special triple-25 program this coming Saturday to allow all of our Late Model drivers to earn their national rankings.” Each feature will carry full points and separate purses. Two time feature winner Andre Roggie also has a shot at the title with his season of consistent finishes. With three good finishes, Cloce could bring the ASA National Championship home to TJ Toyota in Canton, NY. In a conversation under the raindrops, Huth added, “Adirondack is not a good track – it’s a great track. The drivers here put on a top-notch program that is drawing notice nationally. We have put together a program for the National ASA Tour that will visit Adirondack next year for the Eastern Nationals event.” Added to the scheduled NASCAR Camping World East series and the Renegade 200, this third major race from the ranks of the ASA’s top late model drivers will certainly add excitement to the 2009 season. Paul added, “Our light truck division has our strongest numbers of fans and competitors. This week’s show will add $100 to the winner’s share, and $50 to the next three finishers. Randy VanTassel, a strong supporter and car owner at the speedway, will add $100 to another racer through a random draw – the winner is not eligible, but will gain a fan in the crowd of racers when he draws the number. It’s fairly cool in this area, so we’re starting the show a bit early at 6:00pm” I asked him about a rain date. “If we need it, we will run Sunday at 2:00pm. We will run this show.” RUDY AND RICHMOND - I listened to the Cup race from Richmond on the radio. I have grown tired of all the hype about the “Race for the Chase”. I think they forgot about the race for the race. If Kyle Bush doesn’t win the title, will he feel cheated? I was pleased with David Reutimann’s efforts in both the Cup and Nationwide series events. I always peek into his pit stops to see if Buzzie is there. Am I alone with that? Send news and notes to 1272 Paddy Lane, Ontario NY 14519-9580, email flock@bluefrog.com, phone (315) 524-7080.
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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Kolby Schroder Takes Sportsman Event During Lebanon Valley Speedway's Annual Kings 200 Weekend
By Rodney Rescott WEST LEBANON, NY…The season highlight at the Valley of Speed is the Annual Kings 200 Weekend. And with Day 1 in the books, the racing at the high banks was once again in full force with the return of the ESS Sprint Car Series on it’s 25th Anniversary Season. (See ESS results elsewhere in Gater.) The Sportsman division was also on tap for a 20 lap feature event. Kolby Schroder and Jeff Kelly were on the front row for the start. Schroder took control early with Kelly in tow, but a caution flew for Ed Harkins as he made heavy contact with the front stretch wall. Schroder powered out front again on the restart holding off Kelly until the caution flew again for Kevin Winters, Wayne Keys, Paul Knox and Jim Cronk were also involved with heavy damage. The green flew again as the crowd watched rookie Chris Lynch power around the top side of turn one to jump from 4th to 2nd in one turn. The caution flew again on lap 5 for the spinning Kelly. Schroder was still in control with Lynch holding strong in 2nd when racing continued. Jeff Watson and Neil Stratton made their charge through the field to get to 3rd and 4th respectively by lap 7, but both struggled with Lynch. The battle raged for about a dozen laps until Lynch lost a radiator hose in turn 3 taking him out of the race, along with Frank Harper. But that had no effect on the finish
as the point leaders battled with themselves, letting Schroder get away, and take the win. At the checkers, Kolby Schroder scores his 1st win of 2008, Stratton crossed the line 2nd, followed by Watson, Kory Sandstedt finished a strong 4th, while Chris Tryon rounded out the top 5. The Limited Pro Stocks saw a spirited battle with an ‘unofficial’ finish. The first 5 across the line were Jay Casey, Scott Kilmer, Tim Sayers, Frank Twing, and Jay Kreutiziger Jr. The Pure Stocks were also on hand for the 1st day of the 2 day Kings 200 Weekend. In Pure Stock #1, Jesse Murphy scored his 4th win of 2008. Pure Stock #2 was captured by John Devine, his 1st in ‘08, while in Pure Stock #3, Mike Eichstedt captured his 3rd win of 2008. The Pure Stockers also had a special Boomer’s Performance Pure Stock Classic $400 to win 20 lap feature. A horrible front stretch wreck involved Paul Engwer and Phil Wood. After a lengthy red flag to remove Engwer’s destroyed car, who was shaken a bit, but ok, and Wood relegated pitside, racing resumed clean and green for the remainder of the feature. Al Relyea scored the $400 Boomer’s Performance Classic win, followed by Jesse Murphy. Kirk Stanaway weaseled his way into 3rd, Mike Eichstedt settled for 4th, while Mark Webb completed the top 5. SPORTSMAN: KOLBY SCHROEDER, Neil Stratton, Jeff Watson, Kory Sand-
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES INC.)
Limited Pro Stock winner Jay Casey holding the checkered flag.
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES INC.)
Neil Stratton (87) & Kory Sandstadt fight hard for the Sportsman spot.
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES INC.)
Sportsman winner Kolby Schroeder in Lebanon Valley's victory lane. stedt, Chris Tryon, Kale Groff, Whitey Slavin, Kyle Hoffman, Alan Houghtaling, Brett Haas, Jason Tompkins, Brian Sandstedt, Kyle Armstrong, Josh Gaylord, Chris Lynch, Frank Harper, Danny Sanchez, Jeff Kelly, Wayne Keyes, Paul Knox, Jim Cronk, R. J. Daley, Kevin Winters, Kevin Petrucci, Ed Harkin, Chris Kokosa, Kim Lavoy, Mark MacDonald. LIMITED PRO STOCKS: JAY CASEY, Scott Kilmer, Tim Sayers, Frank Twing, Jay Kreutiziger Jr, Nick Clark, Dale Kennedy, Steve Kahler. PURE STOCKS #1: JESSE MURPHY, Jeff Douglass, Ed Hatch, John Chapman, Lenny Fields, Dave Stickles, Paul Harding, Jeff Kreutiziger, Chuck Lampe, Herb Tompkins III, Brian Vandenburgh, Johnny Lane, Howard Madsen, Tom Davies, Ray Hall Jr, Dave Houser, Scott Adams, Gil Twing. PURE STOCKS #2: JOHN DEVINE, Rich Douglass, Brian Houghtaling, Chad Arsenault, Dan Herring, Joe Walcott, Clint Bonner, Anthony Maddalla, Bob Camilli, Wuggie Burdick, Tim Niles, Matt Parker, Jeff Wilbur, John Quigley, Jay Martin, Rich
Roger, E. J. Legeyt. PURE STOCKS #3: MIKE EICHSTEDT, Ray Hall Sr, Al Relyea, Mark Webb, Phill Wood, Paul Engwer, Kirk Stanaway, Jim Fachini, Doug Olds, Lloyd Tomlin, Karl Castagna, Lou Ganczar, Chris Streeter, Harold Tarantino, Tom Goodermote, Lynn Wesley, Bob Palmer. PURE STOCKS: AL RELYEA, Jesse Murphy, Kirk Stanaway, Mike Eichstedt, Mark Webb, Ed Hatch, Jeff Douglass, Brian Houghtaling, Paul Harding, Rich Douglass, Lenny Fields, Chad Arsenault, Dan Herring, John Chapman, John Devine, Dave Stickles, Paul Engwer, Joe Walcott, Phill Wood. 4 CYLINDER DUAL CAM RESULTS: STEVEN LOOMIS, Todd Goldstein, Jim Williams, Terry McNamara, Todd Bartley Steve Frangk, Jeff Ledoux, Tim Sayers, Frank Sorrento, Matt Mooradian, Mike Dianda, Edward Englert, Mark Burke. 4 CYLINDER SINGLE CAM: SHAWN PEREZ, Richard Puff, Jason Meltz, Jethro Rossman, Mike Verhagen, Don Curley, Vesa Bostrom, Danny, Webber, John Miller, Matt Fenwick, Luke Williams, Chris White.
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES INC.)
Boomer's Performance Reps. with Pure Stock Clash winner Al Relyea.
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES INC.)
Sportsman action with Frank Harper (25) & Chris Tryon (5).
"Fast" Eddie White Scores Another Sportsman Win at Thunder Mountain
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH NAPA AUTO PARTS NIGHT
REGULAR SHOW
Final Point Night for Modifieds Pit Admissions - $25 Gates open at 5:00pm • Racing starts at 7:30pm For more information call 518.848.4037 www.thenewglenridgemotorsportspark.com
(MOJO PHOTOS)
Gary Roberts gives his father an 80th birthday gift winning the IMCA main.
(MOJO PHOTOS)
"Fast" Eddie White scored the winners gold in the Sportsman feature event.
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
SANDSTEDT & COLLINS SHARE RACE OF ROBBIE SPEEDS TO PRO STOCK CHECKERS AT LEBANON VALLEY KINGS HONORS AT LEBANON VALLEY
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES INC.)
358 Modified feature winner Art Collins with night sponsor reps. GATER EXCLUSIVE BY ED BIITTIG JR. WEST LEBANON, NY…A new format for the Race of Kings event at Lebanon Valley netted two winners, one in his first ever 358-Mod start and the other an experienced Sportsman racer and multi-time Valley champion in the division. Kory Sandstedt and Art Collins each won one of the 25-lap Race of Kings events on Sunday during the 200 weekend. The usual 50-lap format for the small block event was changed to two 25-lap events. Proof that nice guys do finish first is the fact that Kory Sandstedt won the first 25-lap 358-Mod event of the Race of Kings on Sunday at Lebanon Valley. Sandstedt a regular Sportsman competitor started in the 3rd spot, one of the four fastest Sportsman cars in qualifying that was given the two front row starting positions. In the second leg of the Race of Kings it was experience that
paid off for Art Collins, who has only raced a few times this year in the Sportsman division. Although Andy Bachetti chased him and closed in during the waning laps, the time ran out and Bachetti had to settle for the runner up spot. “Just a little sportsman motor fixed up a little bit. I want to thank Gary Waters. I think this class will fill my need because it’s not every week.” Collins last won the Race of Kings event in 1983. Heat winners were Art Collins, Andy Bachetti, and Kenny Tremont. It was eventual winner, Kory Sandstedt leading the field at the end of lap one in event one with Tom Faxon in the No. 171 following for second position. With only one yellow flag to slow the field Sandstedt only had to hold his line and the field at bay to win his first ever 358-Mod event. The usual field of Valley small blocks featured Kenny Tremont who started seventh and by lap
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Kory Sandstedt with sponsor reps. after his big 358 Modified victory. two was running third. Tremont continued to make progress until lap 13 when the right rear of the No. 115 went flat from what was later determined to be a cut in the tire. Tremont came back to finish 14th. Brett Hearn began the event in 13th and had the No. 4* Trucking car in third place when the checker flew. Bachetti followed Hearn across the line in fourth with Steve Hough rounding out the top five. Art Collins has several track titles from his time at the Valley and has won the Race of Kings event at least once before, in 1983. On Sunday his experience paid off and his luck held out as the Chatham, NY driver began the second 25-lap segment of the Race of Kings in the pole position. As did Sandstedt in the first event, Collins never relinquished his lead even though Andy Bachetti was knocking on his door in the final lap. One significant note to the Valley weekend was the less than stellar number of 358-Mods on hand to vie for the coveted end of the season win in the small block event; a total of 26 cars took the
green in the first of the two events and 24 in the second. Valley regular, Matt Quinn finished the first 25-lap event in ninth but blew a motor in hot laps and was forced to sit out the second 25-lap event of the Race of Kings. Rookie of the Year in 2005, Kyle Hoffman spent Saturday loading a 358 motor in his black No. 16 but came up with a lack luster performance in his qualifying event and was forced to sit out the rest of the day.
SUPER SERIES #1: KORY SANDSTEDT, Tom Faxon, Brett Hearn, Andy Bachetti, Steve Hough, J. R. Heffner Neil Stratton, Art Collins, Matt Quinn, Jeff Watson, Ray Hoard, Kale Groff, Rich Salisbury, Kenny Tremont, Jr. Kim Lavoy, Ted Teal, Mark Pullen, Jim VanAnden, Eric Mack, Derek Schibi, Ryan Stortini, Kevin Winters, Alan Houghtaling, John Hotchkiss, Ernie Palmer, Kyle Hoffman. SUPER SERIES #2: ART COLLINS, Andy Bachetti, Ray Hoard, J. R. Heffner, Rich Salisbury, Kenny Tremont, Jr., Steve Hough, Neil Stratton, Kale Groff, Tom Faxon, Kim Lavoy, Kory Sandstedt, Mark Pullen, Jim VanAnden, Eric Mack, Brett Hearn, Jeff Watson, Ted Teal, John Hotchkiss, Ryan Stortini, Matt Quinn, Derek Schibi, Ernie Palmer, Kyle Hoffman, Alan Houghtaling, Kevin Winters.
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES INC.)
Pro Stock winner Robbie Speed in Lebanon Valley's victory lane.
GATER EXCLUSIVE BY ED & BETTY BIITTIG WEST LEBANON, NY…It was Robbie Speed of Mellonville, NY (the Melonville Missile) who charged to the front from his ninth starting spot and slipped past leader Kevin Arnold on the win the Pro Stock event associated with the racing at Lebanon Valley Speedway. The special Pro Stock event added to the excitement of the day for the full fendered fans with Nick Hilt and Robbie Speed picking up the qualifying event wins. The field came to the green with John Routhier in the lead followed by Nick Hilt and Rick Dempsey. From fifth on back the cars were bunched up until lap four when Kevin Oliver made a move for the front and slipped under Routhier at the line. Arnold then pulled away from the runner up, Nick Hilt and third Robbie Speed. On lap six Speed made the move to second and continued to reel in the leader, Arnold. At the halfway point Speed pulled to the outside of Arnold and passed him on the backstretch. The first yellow flew
for Paul LaRochelle when he stopped in turn two. On the restart Speed pulled away from the No. 76 of Oliver to show the way through the next eight laps of the event.
PRO STOCKS: ROBBIE SPEED, Kevin Arnold, Nick Hilt, Rick Dempsey, Jon Routhier, Jay Casey, Victor Hopkins, Paul LaRochelle, Steve Hankle, Jason Casey, Rob Maxon, Thomas Seatemer, Jay Kreutiger, John Denue, Brian Keough, Tom Harkins, Richie Colesanti, Matt Shadic, Jim Langenback.
Five Mile Point Speedway Racing this Sunday 5pm
Modified 50 lap STAR Series event plus championship events for the weekly divisions
607-775-5555
www.fivemilepointspeedway.net
It's a race to the finish line with the end-of-season celebration! Come feel the thunder when the best drivers battle out the
2008 GO GREEN THUNDER SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP! Saturday, September 13th
Racing Action at 6PM | Pit Gates 3PM | Front Gates 4PM Reality Check Student Night - Open ALL Divisions, Home Track Rules + Budget Sportsman 1/2 Price Student General Admission
Saturday, September 20th
Racing Action at 2PM | Pit Gates 11AM | Front Gates Noon BBL 50 lap Big Block-Small Block Challenge $5000 to win plus 30 lap Pro Stock Open, IMCA Tour, Street Stock Open, 4 cyls & Budget Sportsman USAF 104th Fighter Winger flyover, American Legion Post 701 Color Guard
plus FIREWORKS
For more information: Phone: 518.382.3115 M-F 9-4 Track: 518.853.4235 Saturday www.fondaspeedway.com Just off EXIT 28 of NYS Thruway
Sunday September 21st
Racing Action at 2PM | Pit Gates 11AM | Front Gates Noon
McDonalds 100 lap 2008 GO GREEN THUNDER SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP $9500 to win plus 30 lap Sportsman Open
September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Page
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Poirier's ESS Luck Continues; Win's at the Valley
(RON BARGER PHOTO)
Empire Super Sprint winner Steve Poirier in victory lane at the Valley. By Mike Mallett WEST LEBANON, NY…There is an old saying, “it’s better to be lucky than good.” As of late, Steve Poirier has been both. Poirier won his ninth Lucas Oil 25th Anniversary Empire Super Sprint 25-lap A-Main as they returned to the Lebanon Valley Speedway for the first time since 1987. Poirier was fortunate to start on the front row of the Dick Spadaro Early Ford Reproductions A-Main with his AMB Moteurs powered J&J after winning his heat race event. The inversion number drawn was low giving him a prime starting position for the feature. “This place can be hard to pass so starting up front really helps,” stated Poirier. “Last week we ran bad in the heat and got a big inversion, tonight we ran good in the heat and got a small inversion. I think I had a good car but I’m not sure if I could have started tenth and won. We have some good luck right now.” Poirier started on the outside of the front row, or Lebanon Valley’s pole, and took the lead on the high side of turn one. He raced out in front until lap two when the red flag was dis-
played for Jami Russell. Russell’s car didn’t turn and he went hard into the turn three wall, rode the wall and hit a telephone pole. His car was done but he was uninjured in the incident. Action got back underway with Poirier again gaining the advantage on the field. He amassed a full straightaway lead and was just coming up on slower traffic when the second caution of the race came out for Jeff Cook. Cook spun in turn four as he was battling with Justin Barger. “My car was good everywhere,” said Poirier. “I could run the middle or the outside. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I got to the lapped cars. It can be pretty dangerous to try some lines here in traffic. You don’t know if the lapped cars are going to go to the outside or stay down low.” This gave the field another opportunity to get by Poirier but on the restart he was flawless. He worked through the middle of turns one and two and then ran the high side of turns three and four. By the time the final caution flag flew on lap 17 for Geoff Quackenbush, Poirier was again a full quarter-track in front of second place running Barger.
On the restart, Barger took a look to the inside of Poirier and tried to pull off the pass for the lead. He could not get the necessary run to take the lead allowing Poirier to once again pull away. “On the last restart I heard an engine behind me,” commented Poirier. “I knew I had company and I wasn’t sure if they had a better car than me. I didn’t want to go into the turn and see them go by me on the outside so I drove in a lot harder than I had been.” At the checkered flag it was Poirier crossing the line first to add to his point lead while pocketing $2,000 for the win. Barger settled for second with his Ohsweken Speedway sponsored Maxim. Barger started the race from the inside of row four. He moved into the runner-position by the halfway point but he was unable to make any serious challenges on Poirier for the lead. “Our car was really good,” said Barger. “We burned up our tires early in the race getting through traffic. We had to pass all those cars coming from seventh and by the time I got to him (Poirier) I had ate up my tires.” Local product, Jessica Zemken, finished in third in her Silly’s Competition Engines powered Maxim. Zemken made drastic changes to the car after her heat race in attempt to get her to the front and it paid off. “I wasn’t expecting to be good as I was,” stated Zemken. “I thought I was going to have to just get in line and go. I tightened the car a lot more than thought I needed to and at the last minute we went with a harder tire and it worked out alright. I was able to get into the turns a lot harder than anyone else.” After starting on the pole, Jared Fink had his strongest run of the season to come home in fourth. Brian McDonald held off the late
Sunoco Race of championS Weekend September 19th - 20th Oswego Speedway For camping & ticket information please call Oswego Speedway Box Office 315.342.0646 For Race of Champions information call 607.775.5555 or visit www.raceofchampions.net
charges of Doug Emery to complete the top five. ESS/Lebanon Valley Notes: A fine field of 28 sprints in the pits to kick off Kings 200 weekend… Making first starts for 2008 were Bubba Broderick, Tim Hogue and Warren Alexson, they were the #101-103 different drivers in ESS competition for this season…While a heat win and a solid 10th place in the A-Main made for a good night for Alexson, for Broderick (A bent frame from a wall encounter during hot laps) and Hogue (electrical problems) it was a night to forget…Tim Kelly took a hard flip during the dash, Lee Ladouceur was added to the feature field as an alternate…Engine woes hindered Josh Weller and Lance Yonge all night, they were the first two to drop out of the 25 lap finale’…Other than ESS President Chuck Miller, most likely the only other individual on hand that was at the Valley some 21 years ago was Adrain Flath who took second on that evening. Jeff Cook is married to Adrian’s
daughter Lori…Special thanks to former ESS regular Dick Spadaro for sponsoring the A-Main and also Jason Herrington who added $900 to the night with the sponsorship of the dash, the heats and a special hard charger award… Lebanon Valley Promoter Howie Commander was very pleased with the return of he ESS winged wonders and has already secured at least one date for 2009…Next
week the stars and cars from the Lucas Oil Tour will head the annual Arrow Express Canadian Sprint Car Nationals. A MAIN: STEVE POIRIER, Justin Barger, Jessica Zemken, Jared Fink, Brian McDonald, Doug Emery, Alain Bergeron, Jason Barney, Tommy Wickham, Warren Alexson, Cory Sparks, Russ Bennett, Jeff Cook, Michael Parent, Anthony Cain, Mike Stelter, Normand Beaudreault, Geoff Quackenbush, Lee Ladouceur, Adam Gordon, Jami Russell, Josh Weller, Lance Yonge.
(IMAGES BY DC / DERAK COVEY)
Josh Weller (63) pushed his motor to the extreme in an effort to get by the #27 of Jami Russell this past weekend at Lebanon Valley.
(IMAGES BY DC / DERAK COVEY)
Jeff Cook (10) edges out Michael Parent at the line during the ESS Sprint special this past weekend.
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
ANDY BACHETTI BEST IN BUD 200 at LEBANON VALLEY
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES, INC.)
Lebanon Valley's Modified 200 winner Andy Bachetti with sponsor rep. in victory lane this past Sunday. GATER EXCLUSIVE BY ED BIITTIG JR. WEST LEBANON, NY…Andy Bachetti was in the right place at the right time Sunday night at Lebanon Valley. Sitting in second spot with ten laps to go, Bachetti was able to capitalize when Brett Hearn ran out of gas. The Sheffield, MA driver went on to record his second career victory in the Lebanon Valley 200 and with it a $10,000 payday. JR Heffner and Kyle Sheldon
led the field down to starter Rodney Rescott’s green flag early Sunday evening. The first of six caution flag periods came on lap four with Heffner out in front. Hearn started eleventh on the grid and made his way passed Sheldon into fifth on lap 15. Billy Decker set the INTEGRA Shocks Fast Time on Sunday and started third. Things did not seem right for the no. 91 early on and he faded through the back of the top ten and by lap 20; the four-time winner of
this event would be out with motor troubles. Bachetti moved into second on lap 22 and got around Heffner for the lead on lap 29. Hearn was able to get by Kenny Tremont Jr. for third on lap 40. The most serious incident of the race came on lap 43 when Guy Sheldon slowed to a stop in turn three. The ambulance was called to the scene because the driveshaft had let go and caught Sheldon in the ankle. While under caution for Sheldon, the no. 9 of
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES, INC.)
Andy Bachetti (34) and Dale Planck (77x) in Modified action this past Sunday night at Lebanon Valley.
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES, INC.)
Brett Hearn ran out of fuel while leading the event. His crew works fast to get him back out in the running.
Matt Sheppard went pit side for the night with no brakes. The third caution period came out just past lap 50 and set up the action for the mandatory pit stop. All the cars still on the track except for Tommy Meier and Paul Gilardi came down pit road, making things very hairy on the small pit lane. Hearn was able to get out of the pits first with Heffner and Bachetti in tow. Meier assumed the lead, but Gilardi was already a lap down. Hearn wasted little time grabbing the lead and was out front by lap 59. By lap 75, the front two cars of Hearn and Bachetti had a two point five second lead over third.
a top ten position on the track. The remainder of the race went rather incident free as Hearn set a fast pace up front, maybe too fast. With less than fifty laps to go, Hearn held an almost three second lead on second. With twenty laps to go, Hearn had lapped up to the ninth place car. With ten laps remaining it appeared that Hearn was on his way to his seventh victory in this event, but one lap later Hearn’s car sputtered and he ran out of fuel handing the lead to Bachetti. Dale Planck would also run dry while in the top five. Bachetti crossed the line first but was not aware of it at the scale area. “I couldn’t figure
out why my crew was so excited that we ran second, and then they told me I won. I never saw Brett go to the pits.” Heffner finished second, Marshall third, Mark Flach Jr fourth and Rich Ricci back at the Valley for the first time in two or three years rounded out the top five.
“Hollywood” Craig Mitchell brought out the caution flag on lap 78 and Gary Tomkins night ended during that caution period as well. Kyle Sheldon would make contact with the turn four wall on lap 88 causing another caution in the first half of the race. At the century mark, it was Hearn followed by Bachetti, Heffner, Eddie Marshall and Mark Flach Jr and there were nineteen cars still running. Tremont’s race ended on lap 117 as the motor went south. The final caution period of the event came on lap 126 as Wayne Jelley broke and left debris on the frontstretch. Under the caution period, Meier finally made his mandatory pit stop giving up
Top three in win lane: Andy Bachetti , JR Heffner and Eddie Marshall.
RESULTS: ANDY BACHETTI, J.R. Heffner, Eddie Marshall, Mark Flach Jr., Rich Ricci Jr., Tommy Meier, Jimmy Phelps, Frankie Caprara, Hector Stratton, Brett Hearn, Dale Planck, Chris Shultz, Paul Gilardi, Lorne Browe, Brian Berger, Danny Johnson, Keith Flach, Wayne Jelley, Kenny Tremont, Kyle Sheldon, Gary Tomkins, Craig Mitchell, David VanHorn, Matt Sheppard, Guy Sheldon, Ric Hill, Ryan Phelps, Billy Decker, Justin Haers, Billy Dunn.
(KUSTOM KEEPSAKES, INC.)
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY KBS RACING PHOTOS)
Three wide Modified feature action with Matt Sheppard, Jimmy Phelps and Eddie Marshall.
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Chris Shultz (24) going low under Kyle Sheldon (518) during feature Before running low on fuel we see Brett Hearn (20) battling Eddie Maraction this past Sunday night. shall (98). Marshall had a good day - finishing third.
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Lebanon Valley regular Mark Flach (77f) vs. Super DIRT Series invader Frankie Caprara (1x).
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Paul Gilardi (87x) and Hector Stratton (87) running side by side on the Lebanon Valley oval.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY KBS RACING PHOTOS)
Eventual Lebanon Valley 200 $10,000 winner Andy Bachetti passes the #91 of Billy Decker as he drives on for the checkered flag!
September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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Modified Mania Features to Szegedy, Hirschman and Owen
GATER EXCLUSIVE BY: JOE SKOTNICKI THOMPSON, CT…Todd Szegedy drove to his first victory of 2008 on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, while Matt Hirschman dominated the DART Asphalt Modified Tour Race of Champions event, with Todd Owen being awarded the victory at the Sunoco Modified Mania event at Thompson Int'l Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Traditionally the weekend of the Thompson 300, Modified Mania is now a three-year old event and it brings together an entire weekend of Modified racing at a tremendous facility. Szegedy’s victory came after a battle with Ronnie Silk, who inherited the lead after Ted Christopher pitted following leading the first 125 laps of the event. “We needed this, it feels great to be back here,” stated Szegedy from victory lane following the event as he talked about his pit strategy. “I was surprised when Teddy (Christopher) pitted, I was shocked. We were fast, but I certainly wasn’t the fastest car out there. What really did it for me was when Ronnie (Silk) spun his tires pretty hard on a restart and it really the difference because I don’t know how much more I could have hung on.” Szegedy continued. “We’ll take it because we’ve made some bad calls and had some bad luck. This is a big morale boost for me because it’s been a tough season for me. I’m constantly trying to fix my mistakes. The team and my family really keeps me going. We’ve been in position to win four times this year and it just hasn’t happened. It’s so tough to win, the odds are definitely against you, so we’ll take today and go from here.” Szegedy was chased to the line by Ronnie Silk and Doug Coby. While Reggie Ruggiero and Rick Fuller rounded out the top-five. Qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather as the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna moved the Northeast on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. “Pretty cool day,” began Coby. “I would have knocked them around if I had to. We’re good friends and respect one another. Todd’s one of my best friends and Ronnie’s going to become my brother-in-law in January so it makes it tough to race them because you don’t want to do anything silly or stupid. If it’s somebody you don’t you don’t regret anything, but I really didn’t have anything for either of them, so we’ll take third and go to New Hampshire.” The next event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the New Hampshire 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm. Matt Hirschman started 6th in the DART Race of Champions Asphalt Tour Modified event. After a couple of early cautions that eliminated some of his competi-
(JIM FEENEY PHOTO)
Matt Hirschman in victory lane after his fourth Race of Champions DART Asphalt Series win in 2008. tion Hirschman slipped into the lead and kept Jimmy Blewett at bay to run to the victory in the 75lap sprint race. “We had a good car and this is a back-to-back performance for us winning at Thompson,” stated Hirschman from victory lane. “Hopefully, we’ll have a similar performance coming up in the (NASCAR) Tour race in just a little while.” Hirschman dominated the event while moonlighter’s Jimmy Blewett, Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher and Billy Pauch, Jr., chased Hirschman to no avail. Christopher recovered from an opening start incident with Butch Perry before the start/finish line that ended the day for Eric Beers and Billy Putney. The highest finishing DART RoC regular after semi-regular Hirschman was Rick Kluth in 9th. The next event for the DART Race of Champions is the 58th Annual Sunoco Race of Champions at Oswego Speedway on Saturday, September 20th. Todd Owen came to the checkered flag second in Luther Hosmer’s RaceWorks machine but he was handed the checkered flag on the cool down lap after David Pinkham, made contact with race leader Ted Christopher entering turn three. Christopher spun and Pinkham led the field to the checkered but was penalized for contact with Christopher. Owen was surprised to be in victory lane, but knew that this day was coming. “Luther (Hosmer) and all his guys deserve this as much as me,” Owen beamed. “We’ve worked very hard and it has been coming. Today is just great. I really didn’t have much for those guys other then I thought they might get together and we could slip by and that’s what really happened. It feels great to win here and I’m just going to enjoy it.” Chris Pasteryak looked like he
(CAROL D. HAYNES PHOTO)
The first caution of the green flag lap of the race involved Ted Christopher, Eric Beers, Billy Putney and Brian Shumway.
(HOWIE HODGE PHOTO)
Todd Szegedy (winner) and Doug Coby (3rd place) battle it out.
was on his way to victory but a crash right around the mid point of the race took him out of contention. After his crash Christopher inherited the lead and led until turn three of the last lap. Pinkham was placed 14th with Christopher finishing 15th. The next race for the True Value Modified Racing Series is Saturday, September 20th at All-Star Speedway in Epping, New Hampshire. Mania Notes: Amazingly some practice got in before Hanna Mania began. Rain on and off Saturday morning and several practices before torrential rains took over. The speedway officials should get a big round of pats on the back for sticking to the plan. Sunday was beautiful and after some shuffling the day went well with everyone on their way home right around 6pm. Not bad for over somewhere around 400 laps of racing with six divisions on the historic 5/8-mile
track. Mike Stefanik, Reggie Ruggiero and Rick Fuller showed that the veterans still have it as they were all in contention to win the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour show. Stefanik crashed out after contact from behind from Ted Christopher. Ruggiero “needed a few more laps” and Fuller “was very pleased to have a good run” following the event. Jimmy Blewett kicked the day off by winning the SK Modified event and finishing second in the RoC event, but his True Value and NASCAR efforts were curbed by challenges for the TS Haulers Eddie Partridge owned team. Blewett is a great asset to modified racing and throw back because he’ll race anything, anywhere, anytime.
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR-SUNOCO MODIFIED MANIA 150: TODD SZEGEDY, Ronnie Silk, Doug Coby, Reggie Ruggiero, Rick Fuller, Bobby Santos, Billy Pauch, Jr., Rowan Pennink,
(HOWIE HODGE PHOTO)
Todd Szegedy collected the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Sunoco Modified Mania 150 at Thompson. Matt Hirschman, Eric Beers, Kevin Goodale, Danny Sammons, Bobby Grigas, III, Ted Christopher, Chuck Hossfeld, Tony Ferrante, Jr., Joe Hartmann, Ken Heagy, Wade Cole, Tom Abele, Jr., Jake Marosz, Mike Stefanik, Gary McDonald, Renee Dupuis, Glen Reen, Jimmy Blewett, Ryan Preece, Glenn Tyler, Richard Savary, Ed Flemke, Jr., Eric Berndt, Jamie Tomaino, SUNOCO MODIFIED MANIA DART RACE OF CHAMPIONS ASPHALT MODIFIED TOUR: MATT HIRSCHMAN, Jimmy Blewett, Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher, Billy Pauch, Jr., Carl Pasteryak, Earl Paules, Kirk Alexander,
Rick Kluth, Pete Brittian, Jim Storace, Daren Scherer, Johnny Bush, John Markovic, Ronnie Silk, Bobby Holmes, Bryan Shumway, Lenny Fisher, Butch Perry, Eric Beers, Steven Reed, Kenny White Jr., Matt Clemens, Jimmy Kuhn, Billy Putney. TRUE VALUE MODIFIED RACING SERIES: TODD OWEN, Holdridge, Malave, Pennink, Kuhn, P Jarvis, Perry, D. Jarvis, White, Alexander, Bateman, Spiers, Doucette, Pinkham, Christopher, Vogel, Drown, Blewett, Annarummo, Hinckley, Pasteryak, Goodenough, Masse, Schofield, McKennedy, Iannarelli, Dolan, Roys, Evonsion
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Billy Decker "King of Budweiser 110" at Rolling Wheels
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY KBS RACING PHOTOS)
Billy Decker scored the Mr. DIRTcar Championship event at RWR. By Tom Skibinski ELBRIDGE, NY…Billy Decker continued to stay steady on course in quest of his second Hoosier Tire Mr. DIRTcar Championship as he delivered for a second straight night in Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series competition with a dominating performance in the extended ‘Budweiser 110’ presented by Honeoye Auto Parts at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park. Decker’s first-ever victory on Labor Day at the ‘Fast Track’ tied the single-season Advance Series win mark of 10 set by reigning overall Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block Modified points king Brett Hearn in 2002. Ironically, Monday was
Hearn’s 50th birthday and Decker cut the celebration short after securing his second tour triumph of 2008 at Rolling Wheels, this one worth a cool $6 grand. “That’s (record) nice to have, but I just hope we don’t end the season tied,” smiled Decker, after staging yet another dominating performance in a race that was lengthened to 115 laps due to a pair of late race yellow flags as fuel consumption became a factor beyond the century mark. “Any of our success has just been a product of all the work that goes into this program every day of the season.” “There’s nothing like winning,
it never gets old. I can’t thank John and Laura (Wight, owners) enough, we’re having a fun year that’s for sure,” remarked Decker, following his career-best 22nd DIRTcar Big-Block victory of the season. Decker held off Gary Tomkins to take home his seventh career Advance Series trophy from Rolling Wheels, while Hearn settled for the show position ahead of Jimmy Phelps and Alan Johnson in round 21 of the 27-race tour championship. Following an uncharacteristically mediocre third-place finish in his qualifying heat, Decker grabbed the number position in the traditional pre-race draw to fall in first on the 30-car starting grid. It still took the Unadilla, New York veteran eight laps to dial in the potent LJL Racing no. 91 Gypsum Wholesalers-Stadium Int'l-Quality Hardwoods/Bicknell entry as front row partner Justin Haers blasted by to lead the initial half-dozen circuits. “We didn’t think the car was that great early but it got better in the feature,” said Decker, who nosed ahead of Haers just before Pennsylvanian Frank Cozze slowed in the second turn to force out the first of 10 caution periods at the end of lap eight. “I think we were lucky to start on the point tonight, that was definitely a big plus.” Once out front, the ‘Franklin Flyer’ opened up a comfortable lead with Matt Sheppard the closest pursuer as a half straightaway advantage separated the duo from top-five runners Haers, Steve
(GASTON / MOORE PHOTO)
Rolling Wheels action with Gary Tomkins (84) challenging eventual race winner Billy Decker (91). Paine and Phelps with 15 laps on the board. Paine grabbed third on lap 19 before Decker moved into traffic for the first time the following circuit. Stewart Friesen’s night ended early when he slowed in turns three and four to bring out a second slowdown, and it was while the field ran under caution that Sheppard suddenly ducked pitside to replace a soft left-rear tire. Paine filled the vacant secondplace slot with Hearn, Haers and Phelps coming across next in line. A handful of yellow flags unfurled prior to the halfway point with Cozze ending his night after completing just 23 laps and Danny Johnson sticking around for just 35 aboard the no. 66 Mike Petruska mount. Sheppard had a right front tread go down and called it quits after 46 circuits, although
Friday, September 12 Zielinski's Asphalt LLC presents the Sportsman ($2,200 to win), SUNY Canton Street Stock Series ($1,000 to win), and the World Products IMCA Modified Empire State Series plus 358-Modified hot laps. Gates open at 4 p.m. Racing at 7 p.m.
Saturday September 13 Dart Machinery, Gates-Cole Associates, and Snofest 2009 Old Forge, NY presents: the 19th annual New Yorker 200. $10,000 to win, $1,000 to start for the 358-Modifieds plus $1,200 to win Pro Stocks. Gates open at 11 a.m. Racing at 2 p.m. 315.829.4557 | www.uticaromespeedway.com | Rt. 5 Vernon, NY
Frankie Caprara returned to action despite a flat tire knocking him from eighth-place on the 48th trip around the fast 5/8-miler. Through all the mishaps, Tomkins was making his presence known in the Honeoye Auto Parts no. 84 Red Parker & Son Excavating/Bicknell machine as he first cracked the front-five by lap 30 and secured the runner-up position 10 circuits later. Maybe more impressive was the run being made by Dale Planck as the Advance Series points runner-up was reeling in the top-10 after starting in the back row behind the wheel of a borrowed car from owner Jeff Brownell Sr. Electrical problems in the primary RezX Racing no. 77x Grow It Hydroseeding/TEO ride during his heat and a consolation round crash forced Planck to make the last minute change thanks to Brownell, who loaned the same ride to Paine, who also charged from 29th to finish fifth at Can-Am Motorsports Park two weeks ago. Three-quarters of the way through the race Decker and Tomkins had pulled away from the pack leaving Paine and Tim Fuller to battle for third with Hearn and Phelps spread out further back. Vic Coffey had improved from 15th to sixth until a broken tie rod sent the no. 32c Sweeteners Plus/ Troyer Special behind pit wall for good following the eighth caution of the event on lap 77. Up front the order remained intact and when the field reached the century mark 13 cars were scored on the lead lap. But that was soon to change as the new race distance ---extended from 100 to 110 laps in lieu of Advance Auto Part’s 10th year of series support--- left at least three fuel tanks dry as the final laps clicked off. Fuller was the first to run empty on lap 107, followed by Paine just before the ensuing lap 110 restart. And once the race surpassed the original prescribed length, Willy Decker came to a stop on the front chute before the field fired for a final time on lap 114. “Scott (Jeffery, crew chief) and I talked about the longer distance all week and we changed the carburetor just for that reason,” divulged Decker, already a proven master of fuel mileage on the Syracuse
Mile, where he has registered four victories in the prestigious Rite Aid 200 at the New York State Fairgrounds. “I was still worried a little at the end when those cars started dropping out. We had a lot of laps run under yellow and we had to be pretty close to running out ourselves - just an inch left at the end. But Scott and the boys really work hard and applied the right stuff. That was a good race car and good things happen.” While Decker continued to set a torrid pace in the Advance Series standings, race runner-up and fifth-place points earner Tomkins was just as happy posting his fifth top-three finish in the last six tour races. “Its tough starting 12th when Billy’s on the pole,” said Tomkins, who also chased Decker across the line the previous night in the series stop across town at Cayuga County Fair Speedway. “I really had to use up my car a lot to get up there but I told Mike (Payne, crew chief) you can’t be disappointed finishing second. We’re real happy, it was a heckuva run and we had a heckuva race car tonight.” “Obviously, we were off just a little bit but there’s no complaints here. When I sit in this car now I’m confident we’re going to finish well with it. My hats off to all the guys at Bicknell, they built us a super car, and Mike Mastin, he built us a super motor. It’s Doug Dulen’s (car owner) night tonight and he’s really stepped up our program. I wouldn’t be standing here without all these people.” “Doug is a great, great fan of this sport. Thank God that he loves racing, especially the Modifieds. He’s been a great help to my career. He’s pretty much given us everything he can afford to and has really done a heck of a job for us,” Tomkins added. FINISH: Billy Decker, Gary Tomkins, Brett Hearn, Jimmy Phelps, Alan Johnson, Dale Planck, Roy Bresnahan, Justin Haers, Dave Rauscher, Frankie Caprara, Jeff Brownell Jr., Willy Decker, Steve Paine, Tim Fuller, Chad Homan, Kevin Bates, Steve Hulsizer, Ryan Phelps, Vic Coffey, Pat Ward, Shannon Whaley, Larry Wight, Matt Sheppard, Billy Dunn, Danny Johnson, Frank Cozze, Stewart Friesen, Billy Pauch Jr., Chuck Bower, Ryan Bartlett. HEAT WINNERS: Fuller, Hearn, R.Phelps, A.Johnson. LAST CHANCE RACE WINNERS: Bresnahan, W.Decker.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY JEFF CLEMONS)
Brett Hearn (20), Steve Paine (7x), Alan Johnson and Jimmy Phelps fan it out four wide as they race through the second turn.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY JEFF CLEMONS)
Jeff Brownell & Vic Coffey work under Willy Decker through turn two.
September 9, 2008
Utica-Rome Speedway Photo Highlights
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY BOB LANSING)
Pat Ward came away the 2008 Modified Champion at Utica Rome.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY BOB LANSING)
Ted Lamb came away with the Modified victory Sunday at Utica Rome
(POST-TIME PHOTO)
Casey Williams got the checkers & the check for the Sportsman event.
Gater Racing Photo News
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY BOB LANSING)
(POST-TIME PHOTO)
Willy Decker (1x), Mitch Gibbs (55) and Pat Ward sneaking down low.
KIRKWOOD, NY…The forecasted all day heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hanna never did materialize on Saturday. But the on and off showers with bursts of heavy rain were enough to force Five Mile Point Speedway to award the nights overall checker flag to Hanna. After the decision at 1:30 Saturday afternoon to cancel the evenings racing program which would have featured a 50 lap Modified STAR Series event along with the final point races for Sportsman, Pure Stocks, Lightning Cats, and Figure 8’s. The rain date of this show of Sunday afternoon September 14th was announced. Racing will start this Sunday at 5pm sharp with pit gates opening at 1:45 Sunday afternoon and grandstand gates opening at 2:30. Everyone who enters the grandstand on Sunday, while supplies last will receive a coupon good for $1 off their next purchase at the Upper Court Street Subway in Binghamton. Also on Sunday it will be Emergency Personnel Night at the races as all E. M. T.‘s, Police, and Fire will receive free admission with proper id being shown. The 50 lap Southern Tier Auto Racing (STAR) Series event for the Modifieds will see the sail panels being used by the Modified racing teams. Many outsiders like Stewart Friesen, Pat Ward, and Mitch Gibbs were all slated to be in attendance on Saturday night for the $2,000 to win feature. If all races this upcoming weekend are completed as scheduled expect these three drivers along with other traveling racers to be at the Point this Sunday afternoon. The final point races for the Sportsman, Pure Stocks, Lightning Cats, and Figure 8’s will be held this Sunday afternoon. With championship points on the line all four titles are up for grabs and it’s a safe bet that the racing action will be hotter than it has been all season long.
Shaun Walker has a 28 point lead heading into Sunday over Brian Puckett in the Sportsman division. Joey Colsten, Nick Rochinski, and Justin Holland round out the top five in Sportsman points. In the Lightning Cat division Gary Kinnie holds a slim 12 point lead over Andy Brigham for the championship. Cody Decker, Tim Price, and Jeff Hayes are in positions three through five in the Lightning Cat point standings. In the Figure 8 divisions Mark Andrus is undefeated this year as he has won all seven races contested to this point. Dave Cronk, Mark Cardew, Rob Warner, and Joe Warner complete the remainder of the top five in the Figure 8’s. The Pure Stock division that has been highly competitive all season sees Shane Wolf leading multi time track champion Charlie Gilbert by 6 points going into Sunday. Jon Carpenter, Joe Rafferty, Jr. and Mike Coddington round out the top five in Pure Stock points. Some added interest on Sunday in the Figure 8 division. Track owner and promoter Andrew Harpell issued a challenge following the last Figure 8 race which saw Mark Andrus win his seventh in a row. For this final race any track legal Pure Stock could bolt on D. O. T. tires and compete in this final event. If any of the Pure Stock drivers win the feature they would receive an additional $250 bonus. Meanwhile if Andrus wins and finishes the season undefeated he would receive $500. As of press time Butch Green and Ryan Stone have officially announced they would be racing in the Figure 8’s on Sunday. For more information on this Sundays’ show please call Five Mile Point Speedway at (607) 775-5555 or log on to the World Wide web at; www.fivemilepointspeedway.net
PERRY, NY…Back to Sunday afternoons at the BullRing, the morning sun welcomed teams as they made there way to Wyoming County Int'l Speedway. Officials welcomed a few new teams to the pit area as the crews began the preparation for the upcoming heat races. Remnants from the remains of the passing hurricane unfortunately began to swiftly fill the sky, and rain began to fall. The heat races for the 4-Cylinder Stocks were the only events completed. Racing as always in a very competitive manner. The point championship may only come down to a couple point spread between to top runners of this division. The mini-Cups followed and were able to take the green flag. A slight mist began to fall when the caution flag came out after a turn 4 spin and contact
by Daniel Majchrzak as he raced side by side with Robbie Becker in the Jr. Division. The cars were then issued pit side when the rain fell more steadily. The newly developed SST SuperStocks were scheduled as the highlighted feature event. Although the teams only received practice, the field was ready to go the distance of 50 laps to the checkered flag. Shinning the spot light on these full bodied stock car teams for this season has motivated interest in new team development for '09. Don’t miss the SST SuperStock Tour for fast paced excitement and great entertainment. www.sstracingseries.com All events have been rescheduled for next Sunday 9/14. The SST Modified WCIS Division Championship race will fall as scheduled next week.
Ohsweken Season Championships Cancelled by Rain
By Tommy Goudge OSWEKEN, ONT…Persistent rain showers forced the cancellation of Season Championship Night presented by Iroquois Poker at Ohsweken Speedway on Friday night. The event will not be made up. Next up on the Ohsweken schedule is the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals weekend coming up Friday, September 12 and Saturday, September 13. Anyone who purchased a wristband tonight may use them next Friday, September 12th for the Night Before the Nationals events. In light of tonight's rainout, Speedway officials have decided to add the Friday Night Fun Stocks, ESSO Mini Stocks, and ESSO Thunder Stocks to the schedule as part of the Night Before the Nationals festivities. The
events will be non-points for those divisions, while 50 show-up points will be awarded to any registered Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car division driver who signs in for competition and is race ready on either Friday or Saturday night. Although the points championship is now officially finished for the season, the ESSO Thunder Stocks, ESSO Mini-Stocks, and Friday Night Fun Stocks will still be running the extra-distance features they were scheduled to run tonight, and will be racing for tonight's increased purse next Friday night. Cody McPherson claimed the ESSO Thunder Stocks crown with a season of domination, during which he visited Engine Pro Racing Winner's Circle no less than 8 times, while Ryan Dinning, Glen
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Hanna Wins Five Mile Point as Show is Tim Laduc Wins 358 Modified Now Reset for Sunday, Sepember 14th Finale at Devil's Bowl Speedway
SST SuperStock Tour Rescheduled for Sept 14th
Ronnie Johnson (2) used the outside to get around Bobby Varin (00) on his way to a second place finish, while Varin finished fifth.
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Leinen, Rob Disher, Brad Bacher, Mike Thorne, Michelle, Johnson, Terry Osmond, Chris Dickie, and Brian Pescetti round out the top 10. In the ESSO Mini-Stock division, Abel Castelein claimed the track championship for the second year in a row, while Mitchell Brown, Rick Emberson, Kevin Hilborn, Brent Hill, Chase Hess, Mark Thorne, Dan Stewart, Mike Giberson, and the 05 Racing team of Dave Goodacre and Rick Robinson are the rest of the top 10. The Friday Night Fun Stocks enjoyed a successful first season at Ohsweken, with Lee Hils now officially the first ever champion in the division. Lee's son Chris finishes the season 2nd. The Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car championship, mean-
while, will not be official until after the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals when the show-up points are awarded, however all of the Corr/Pak competitors are expected to be in competition next weekend, meaning Keith Dempster is set to be crowned the first ever champion for the Corr/Pak division. Jared Zimbardi will likely finish the season ranked 2nd in the standings, while 3rd place Ryan Hunsinger will also be crowned the first Rookie of the Year for the new division. All of the 2008 Ohsweken Speedway champions and award winners will be honoured at the annual awards banquet on Saturday night, November 15. Visit www.OhswekenSpeedway.com now for details on how to reserve your seats!
WEST HAVEN, VT…Tim Laduc had to go down to the final weekend of the season to keep his streak alive. Laduc came off the front row and led every lap but the first one Sunday night to capture the final 358-modified feature of the season on Championship Weekend at Devil's Bowl. Laduc became the ninth different winner in the premier division at the Bowl this weekend, and kept a personal streak alive, as he has now won at least one feature at the Bowl in seven straight seasons. While Laduc got the victory, Todd Stone wrapped up his first track championship ever with a third-place finish. Stone, who picked up his only win of the year on June 1 in the second race of the season, was the model of consistency down the stretch, securing the title with four straight top-five finishes (one second, two thirds, one fifth). Like Laduc, Seth Howe also saved his best for last, coming away with his first win of the season in the budget sportsman feature. Howe led flag-to-flag, and hit the finish line nearly a full second ahead of Don Miller. Frank Hoard III finished third, and Cullen Howe secured the track championship with a fourth-place run. Two cagey veterans, Carl Vladyka and Fred Little, duked it out in the pro-street stock feature, with Vladyka picking up his fifth win of
the campaign, holding off Little, who was just 0.368 seconds back when the checkered flag flew. The win also allowed Vladyka to lock up the track championship. Bill Duprey drove to his sixth victory of the campaign in the limited division. A late caution allowed Curtis Condon to pull up on Duprey's back bumper, but he held his line during the closing laps to get the victory. Although Joey Trudeau struggled in the final two weeks of the regular season, he held on to win the limited division track championship. Ken Hollenbeck won the ministock feature, and Andy Smith took the checkered flag in the Duke stock feature. MODIFIEDS: TIM LADUC, Kris Vernold, Todd Stone, Marc Johnson, Mike Perrotte, Don Ackner, Vince Quenneville Jr., Rob Langevin, Frank Hoard Sr., Ray Hoard, Gardner Stone, Ron Proctor, Brian Whittemore, No. 88, Stan Lemiesz, Gene Munger, Jimmy Ryan, Don Mattison. BUDGET SPORTSMAN: SETH HOWE, Don Miller, Frank Hoard III, Cullen Howe, Mike Visconti, Pete Carlotto, Frank Hoard Jr., Jason Harrington. PRO-STREET STOCKS: CARL VLADYKA, Fred Little, Walt Brownell, Lori Langevin, Mike Paquin, Mike Bussino, Josh Joseph, Garret Given, Dave Wood, Jeff Washburn, Patrick McLaughlin, Chuck Towslee, Ed Thompson. LIMITEDS: BILL DUPREY, Curtin Condon, Bill Vradenburg, Bill Decker, Bill Burlingame, Paul Braymer, C.J. Vitagliano, Rob Ketchum, Francis Clark Jr., Joey Trudeau, Russ Farr, Darren Williams, Kevin Elliott, Jeremy Jones.
"Hanna" Brings Down Riverhead's Saturday Night Program
By Bob Finan RIVERHEAD, NY…The final full blown NASCAR Whelen All America Series program Saturday September 6th at Riverhead Raceway fell victim to tropical storm Hanna forcing Barbara & Jim Cromarty to call the show early in the day. The track will return to action this Saturday for the $1,500 to win Miller Lite National Demolition Derby Championship along with a full slate of extra distance racing. For once the local weather people hit this forecast right on the nail as indeed Hanna hit Long Island right in the time frame they predicted, which would have been right at the end of qualifying and just prior to the features. With the safety of everyone involved at Riverhead Raceway and wanting to save everybody a trip to the track that would have been in vain, The Cromartys called the show at 8:30am. The 50-lap NASCAR Modified feature event will not be made-up, nor will the final Late Model race of the season as the remaining slate at Riverhead for 2008 is jam packed and the next two weeks are also non-NASCAR events. For the second year in a row Bill Park and his owner/wife Barbara are the NASCAR Modified championship, Bill's 4th overall title putting him just one shy of
a four way tie for the most championships. Wayne Anderson, Don Howe and the late "Charging" Charlie Jarzombek all won five Riverhead Raceway Modified titles. Park is also tied with Howe and John Berkoski for 6th on the all-time Riverhead Raceway win list. For Tom Rogers Jr. his first Late Model championship is indeed his 4th overall at the 57-year old facility as prior to his 2008 LM crown he had earned two Figure Eight and one NASCAR Modified championship along the way. Rogers and car owner Jimmy Wichert literally teamed-up just one day prior to the first practice day back in April. Joining the Miler Lite National Demolition Derby this Saturday September 13th will be the 30-lap races for both the Chargers, Blunderbusts and Super Pro Trucks with time trial qualifying, while the Figure Eights will go 25-laps and draw for starting position at the back gate. A Full Size School Bus Demolition Derby will also add to the fun. The 30-lap SPT race will be run in honor of the late Joe DeGangi and Carl Rackoff. Time Trials will be at 4:00 pm and the feature events with such a busy card will go green at 5:30 pm. Call (631) 842-RACE or visit www.riverheadraceway.com
Riverhead Raceway Fine for '09 with May 2nd & 3rd Opening Weekend
By Bob Finan RIVERHEAD, NY…It was indeed a good news, bad news weekend this past week for competitors and fans alike at Riverhead Raceway as the bad news came when Hanna wiped-out the final NASCAR Whelen All American Series show Saturday. It was during that race program that Barbara and Jim Cromarty were going to announce the good news about the opening day weekend for the 57-year old facility for 2009. The 58th year of stock racing will open the weekend of Saturday May 2nd and Sunday May 3rd as once again the track will swing back into action in a big way. As over the past few years a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series show will run Saturday
evening May 2nd, while one can plan to see the cars & stars of the Enduro ranks in action Sunday afternoon May 3rd. Fans can also look forward to the 77 Lap Baldwin, Evans, Jarzombek Memorial Race on July 18th, the Flash Tour on August 1st and the Monster Trucks over Labor Day. There are lots of exciting plans being made right now and the 2009 complete schedule will be out shortly. As also in tradition the track will host two pre-season warm-up sessions Saturday April 18th and again Saturday April 25th and as always those two dates feature free grandstand admission. The 2009 Riverhead Raceway schedule is still a work in process and will be released in the next two months or so.
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen Glen at WGI have concluded for ing the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix the year. But, the actual diamond weekend. anniversary date is later this fall FINISH: JAY ESTERER, Hamish Somerville, Eddie Claridge, Dudley Cunningham, on October 2. Check next week’s Through Miles Jackson, Ted Wenz, Steve Davis, The Esses column in Gater Racing Mark Hammer, Bruce Leeson, Jim Stengel, Chris Pederson, Tony Adamowicz, Paul Photo News for a full run down Dudlak, Seb Coppola, Tom Simpson, Mike of the SVRA Group winners and Knittle. special awards handed out dur-
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS BURGESS)
Jay Esterer accepts the Cup from 1976 Champ Brian Redman. By Ralph Smith WATKINS GLEN, NY…The winds swirling around Watkins Glen over the weekend were caused by the swift, racing cars circumventing the road course and not the winds associated with tropical storm Hanna which caused havoc along the Atlantic coast. Watkins Glen International was just far enough away to not be directly effected by the storm, and the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix was completed on schedule. Racing legend Brian Redman was Grand Marshal for the weekend and took part in several award presentations, autograph sessions, and Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival activities. The New York Governor’s Cup for vintage Formula 5000 open wheel cars was won by Jay Esterer of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Esterer drove a 1973 McRae GM1 to a 0.604 second victory over second place Hamish Somerville of New Milford, CT in a 1974 Lola T400. Finishing third was Eddie Claridge, driving a 1982 Theodore Ty02.
Sixteen Formula 5000 cars took the green flag and Jay Esterer grabbed the lead of the race from the pole, but had a mirror full of Somerville throughout the event. The average speed for the winner on the 3.37 mile road course was 108.89 mph with Esterer’s fastest lap clocked at 111.05 mph. Somerville is no stranger to victory lane at Watkins Glen, as has won the last three Penn Grade 1 Historic Grand Prix events at the wheel of his 1979 Williams FW07B Formula One car. In the 23rd Annual SVRA Collier Cup (All MG’s) race, the winner of the Denver Cornett Memorial Cup was Les Gonda from Keswick, VA, driving a 1972 MGB/GT V8. Following him across the line was Tim Johnson of Tulsa, OK with a 1966 MGB, and Marcus Johnson, driving a 1964 MGB, finished third. The Collier Cup, an award given in memory of the racing Collier Brothers and voted upon by the MG drivers, was presented to Chris Meyers of Burlington, CT. The spectator races for the 60th anniversary of racing in Watkins
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS BURGESS)
The pre-war group…Men were Men and tires were 4" wide…Benjamin Bragg (1) taking the win in his '35 Ford, "the old grey mare."
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS BURGESS)
Three wide…A '69 TVR Tuscan moves inside of '64 Shelby Daytona as a '68 Lola T-70 follows.
Phil Walters Named "Driver of the Decade" at Watkins Glen
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS BURGESS)
Mrs. Walters and Phil, Jr. and Granddaughter, Jennifer, accept the "Driver of the Decade 1948-1957" award from Craig Rust.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS BURGESS)
Jay Esterer (9) and Hamish Somerville (01) charge down the front straight. Esterer went on for the win.
Heat Races at 4:30p Show starts at approximately6:00p
SEPTEMBER 13th
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DEMOLITION DERBY, FULL SIZE SCHOOL BUS DEMOLITION DERBY, Miller Lite Night, Golden Auto Body Night, 25 lap Figure 8's, 30 lap Chargers (time trials), 30 lap Blunderbusts (time trials), Super Pro Trucks (raindate for Demolition Derbies: Sat., Sept. 20th)
GATER EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS BURGESS WATKINS GLEN, NY…Phil Walters aka "Ted Tappet" was named "Driver of the Decade 1948-1957" by Glen officials during the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix Weekend. Ted Tappet, as in "Mom that wasn't me in that race car, it was some guy named Ted", was a well known east coast midget driver in the forties. Phil made his own name on the real road courses during the Glen's formative years as the home of road racing in America. He joins Graham Hill, Sir Jackie Stewart, Al Holbert, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart in completing the six decades of racing history at the Glen. Phil took the Seneca Cup in
1950 for his first visit to victory lane in front of the courthouse on Franklin St. He followed that up with a win in the Grand Prix feature in 1951 and won on the Glen's second course in 1954. He still holds the lap record on the first Glen course, lapping at an average speed of 82.1 mph over all types of surface including railroad tracks. The award was presented to Mrs. Phil Walters, Sheila and his son Phil Jr. and granddaughter, Jennifer by Craig Rust, president of WGI. "The racing was very exciting (in the fifties) for both him and I and the people always made us feel so welcome. This weekend has been no different," said Mrs. Walters.
Thunder Mountain Speedway Off Rt. 79, Hunts Corners Rd., Center Lisle, NY www.ThunderRaceTrack.com Dick & Shelly Stark 607.849.7889
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH Racing begins at 7:30p | Gates open at 5:30p
TURBO BLUE QUALIFIER NIGHT
Final Points Night plus... 4 Cyl. Superstocks
The Racing Fever
By Ed & Betty Biittig Biittig@yahoo.com
F
riday at Albany Saratoga Speedway was Hometown Heroes Night honoring the many firefighters, police agencies and emergency personnel with free admission to the grandstands and a parade around the track showcasing their equipment. Also in attendance on Friday was the “Yellow Ribbon Lady” Carol Hotaling along with Louise Carnesale who heads the 42nd Infantry Division Family Readiness program. Louise and Carol were there collecting school supplies for children of National Guard soldiers in Afghanistan. Stuffed animals were also collected to send to the soldiers that use them to give to children in the country who help the soldiers identify enemy devices. Ed, our Grandson, David brought three baskets full of supplies and stuffed animals for the donation. Hidden among the fire trucks and emergency vehicles in the grassy area at the track on Friday was Dave’s Collectibles out of Bethal, Connecticut. Thanks to Dave’s who has almost anything a collector could want, Ed now has the two Ralph Earnhardt 1957 Oldsmobile die cast racers owned by Petty Enterprises when Earnhardt drove them, the No. 88 and 188. Albany Saratoga had a plate full of racing for Friday night with the rain playing havoc the prior week forcing management to run double feature on the final night of points. Already scheduled as a double point show, this only put pressure on the point leaders. On top of all the feature only racing, the night had also been slated as the point party night on the original schedule. Not to worry, the Richard’s family pulled it off although a bit later that was originally planned. To put even more pressure on the family for the night, the family patriarch, C. J. Richards was reported as being in critical condition after a medical procedure that day. In the driver’s meeting Bruce asked that all place his father in their prayers and before the night was over, C. J. was reported as being in critical but stable condition and out of immediate danger. For us the night was special because we were awarded with the prestigious John Osterhoudt, Media Award. For our readers that don’t remember John, he was a Gater News writer and truly dedicated to any and all things to do with Motorsports. We are honored to be remembered by the Richard’s family with this award. Kenny Tremont was awarded his 10th track title at the “Great Race Place” on Friday night and in the Sportsman division yet another co-champion title was awarded. It was Mike Ketchum in the John Kollar No. 10% and Rob Langevin in the No. 24L who shared this title and on Friday night even the trophy. Langevin let Ketchum have the trophy on Friday with the promise from Bruce Richards that another one would be produced. John Kollar was given the Owner of the Year award. Although we had to wait another day for the racing at the Valley because of Hurricane Hanna and the rain she brought to the high banks, once again Lyle and his crew did a yeoman’s job of getting things run in, drained out and ready for racing and pitting for the day’s events. Only a small lake remained in the pit area near turn one when we arrived but with more effort and some heavy equipment things were drained off by the end of the night. It did make the pit parking a bit closer. A total of 36 modifieds were in the pits for qualifying for the big event and when the green flew 30 of them were in the field. Co-Champion J. R. Heffner began the event on the pole but it was by Brett Hearn’s misfortune (out of fuel) that Andy Bachetti came away the winner at the end of the day. If you thought you were stepping back in time on Sunday at the Lebanon Valley 200 it was just the 1995 Troyer that Danny Johnson pulled out of moth balls to bring to the track to race that you were looking at. Johnson was working diligently with his crew and Dave Sincerbeaux to get the 13 year-old car up to speed. Unfortunately all the work Danny and his sons put in building the motor and the work the crew did to get there turned out to be less that what they expected. With his experience if anyone could have gotten the old Troyer to run competitively it would have been the Doctor. Tracks are always trying to come up with a unique way to do the traditional re-draw of the top twelve after qualifying and Sunday was no different for the Budweiser 200. In an effort to try to keep the draw on the up and up (there are always doubters) 12 kids were picked from the audience to come track side. Each kid was given a hat to wear that held a number from one to twelve. Drivers picked a kid, look inside their hat to find out where they would start the feature. For the kids each driver autographed the hat and gave it back to the one wearing it. To top off the whole experience, the kid that was wearing the hat with the starting position of the race winner, that kid won two passes to Super DIRT Week. Well it’s almost midnight and our eyes and brain are getting blurry so this is it for this week. Please send any news and/or comments to biittig@yahoo.com.
Saturday Sept. 13th
Lauterborn Electric presents...
DIRT SPORTSMAN TRAIL RACE plus Championship Night for Lates, Streets, and Minis
Racing begins at 6:00 PM | Gates open at 5:00 PM Batavia, NY, Track phone: 585-343-1076, www.geneseespeedway.com
September 9, 2008
Skippin' Around By Skip Howe Skip hosts Local Trax, a local racing internet talk show. rhowe22@twcny.rr.com
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he smell of racing fuel and burning rubber, along with adult beverages, food, loud music and camp fires = Classic weekend and it just doesn't get any better that. Furthermore, I never really thought about it, but it is really a small world and to go along with it, it's full of new friends. There was Bob, Nancy and Buddy, Bob and Donna and then there's Bob Patchin. Then we have Tom, Dave, B.J and Christine and then there is Shawn, Jacquelin, Norm and Mika. Actually, these folks were more like family then a friend and I thank them for that. And with Classic weekend 2008 is in the record books and we are already talking, thinking and making plans for 2009. Of course with the good, come unhappy people, especially race fans for one reason or another. At our compound I heard a lot about the season ticket holders getting mistreated. The complaining, that management needed to get together with car owners and other sanctioning bodies so the car count increases. I say lock them all in a room and don't let them out until everybody can play nice together in the cat box. The thought that rules need to be made or changed so, we don't have the huge conflict between chassis builders and management as we had this year with the independents. Just think we could have had at least two more cars for both the Super-Nationals and the Bud Classic. This would of included seeing current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point leader, Johnny Benson, who wanted to compete for the win as his father did some forty years ago. Classic morning brought a little extra drama to the speedway as Doug Didero showed with anticipated Xtreme Chassis and after five warm up laps, time trialed into the 15th starting spot with a time of 16.591, the fastest time of the weekend. Didero would say afterwards, "it was an awesome lap and very gratifying and rewarding to the teams hard work, to get the car ready for the Classic." As you are well aware by now Didero put on an awesome display in a brand new car to win the classic. I spoke to car owner Paul Colloca about his thoughts after being crowned a winning car builder. "I can't put it into words, it's a wonderful, gratifying feeling, that say's we have an awesome team," a teary eyed Colloca stated. "As you know, this team is probably 95% sleepless the last two day's and to bring a brand new car to the classic and win, is unheard of and we just changed the record books for ever. This past week on Tuesday we received the fuel cells. On Wednesday the motor and everything had to be put together. Then on Saturday night we were trying to fire the car and the towtruck that was pushing us accidentally ran over the rear end of the car, so last night there was no sleep as we rebuilt the rear body panels, so when you put all of that into the equation and come out the winner of the biggest Supermodified race in the world, it's huge and I'm sure when it sinks in it will be one of my biggest life time thrills and accomplishments." Now, one of the greatest things I saw the whole week I spent at the race track, happened Sunday morning as longtime Didero car owner, Skip Matczak asked Cindy Didero to wear a necklace that belonged to his late wife Lois. The necklace was a gold #3 surrounded by diamonds. Cindy was asked to wear, so it would bring good luck to the new #3 team. It worked! The necklace (for unknown reasons) will be placed in the Knoxville Hall of Fame, but not until another diamond is added. Lap 48 of the Bud 200 brought unfortunate injury to driver Tim Ice after a fire erupted in the #71. Ice received burns to his hands and was transported by ambulance to University Hospital in Syracuse. NASCAR news.NASCAR CEO Brian France has stated that NASCAR will be expanding on their drug testing program, but stopped short of saying that it would be random drug testing in the future. NASCAR has purchased the Grand Am Series includes a total of six racing series, which includes the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the Grand
Gater Racing Photo News
Am Koni Challenge Series. Its official, David Stremme has been named the driver of the ALLTel Dodge at Penske Racing. Gillett Evernham Motorsports is suing Robby Gordon for $23.5 million for violating a contract that was supposedly signed by all parties. The contract including Gordon becoming the fourth Cup Series driver at GEM and would of payed Gordon $3 million and forty-five percent of all point money won at seasons end. With other incentives the total deal was just over five million dollars a year. since the announcement was made that Tony Stewart would be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and Greg Zippadelli would be staying at JGR, the question was, "who would be Stewart's new crew chief at Stewart HAAS Racing?" The answer is Darien Grubb, Engineering Manager at Hendricks Motorsports. A source has told me that Grubb has a contract in hand and is waiting for his lawyer Fenway Roush driver David Ragan is now in the running for the UPS sponsorship. AT&T will be leaving NASCAR as primary sponsor on Jeff Burton's Chevrolet at the end of the season, but the company is still looking at ways to market its products to NASCAR fans. Jim Frye, longtime Sprint Cup executive, who currently serves as team managers for Red Bull has been offered a contract with Stewart HAAS Motorsports. Petty Enterprises is still trying to complete the driver lineup for 2009. They have been searching for a teammate for Bobby Labonte and the team is also planning on expanding in the Nationwide and truck series. AJ Allmendinger is uncertain of his plans for 2009. He stated he would like to stay in the Cup Series, but he has also been offered a contract to go back to the open wheel ranks. Patrick Carpentier is now stating he is a free agent and is looking for a full time ride in either the Cup or Nationwide Series. Carpentier isn't the only Open Wheeler, turned NASCAR guy having a tough time as Dario Franchitti is heading back to the Indy Racing League after having sponsor Gem difficulty in the Cup Series. Chip Ganassi has finally admitted that within Carpentiers cup contract, there was a clause that basically stated that if it didn't work out for Franchitti in the fully body stock cars, he would return to Ganassi Target Racing in the IRL. Ganassi Racing and Target has announced that the retail giant will return to the Cup Series as a primary sponsor. Remember to be good to your friends and neighbors, no matter how hard it might be and love your family like theirs no tomorrow, because you never know what lye's around the next corner and I'll continue to live life like a Rock Star. All news and comments and welcomed at either rhowe22@twcny. rr.com or at 261 West 5th Street, Oswego, NY 13126.
All Star ISMA Classic 100 Postponed a Week Due to Weather
EPPING, NH…It has just been announced by ISMA president Howie Lane and All-Star Speedway management that the 43rd annual All-Star Classic will not be held this weekend due to the predicted arrival of the remnants of the hurricanes moving up the coast. It is for the convenience and safety of the competitors and fans alike that the race be postponed
until the next week Saturday, Sept. 13th. The same schedule will be followed. Pit gates open at 10 am and grandstands at 1pm on Saturday. For further information and/or reserved seating please contact All-Star Speedway at (978) 9271322 or email us at raceteam55@ aol.com
Edelweiss Speedway Cancels September 5th Program
By Martin Bélanger CANTLEY, PQ…Edelweiss Speedway had a 100-lap feature race counting for the MrDIRTcar Pro-Stock series. The biggest names were already at the track when the promoter was forced to cancel the race because of bad weather. It was a good call because the
rain came down strongly on the speedway at around 7:30pm and this downpour would have cancelled the show. Following the cancellation, a meeting was held with the prostock drivers to look at the options of postponing the series to next Friday, September 12.
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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Shifting Gears By Ed Biittig Jr. Ed Biittig Jr. circles the capital district with a fine-toothed comb. Biittig@nycap.rr.com
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t is late Sunday night as I sit here writing the column. By the time I finish it will technically be Monday. Lebanon Valley hosted their annual KINGS 200 Weekend this past weekend and of course, Mother Nature wanted to participate. Tropical Storm Hanna caused the speedway to move the Saturday portion of the program to Sunday and the Budweiser 200 ended just past nine o’clock Sunday night. Andy Bachetti took his second career win in the event after Brett Hearn ran out of fuel on lap 191. For a complete race recap please check out my race results story elsewhere in the publication. Two drivers that had smiles on their faces after the 200 on Sunday were the fourth and fifth place finishers. Co-Champ for 2008, Mark Flach Jr. was also happy with his fourth place performance. It was the first 200-lap event for Mark at the Valley and he was not sure what to expect. He told me that he went into conserve mode well before the halfway point because he was afraid he was going to run out of fuel. He did run out, but fortunately it was at the scales after the checkered flag had flown. Mark was very happy with his time trial run as he was third quick on the day. Look for Flach to be at Eastern States in a few weeks and possibly Hagerstown. There is a very remote possibility that the team will make the trip to Super DIRT Week, but that could not be confirmed. Rich Ricci Jr. was aboard the no. 64 that is normally campaigned by Donnie Ackner weekly and finished fifth. Ackner was at Devils Bowl competing in their final night of points so the team asked Rich to fill in. It was the first time that Rich has raced at the Valley in two or three years according to him. He felt very comfortable with the car seeing as it wrenched on by two people that he has worked with in the past, Jocko and Scott Blair. Ricci told me that the brake bias on the car kept changing and he had to keep adjusting it during the race, but overall he was happy. Albany-Saratoga was a busy place on Friday night as they crowned their champions in all their divisions. The rain out that took place two weeks ago made the night even more hectic as most division ran double features. In the modified division, Ken Tremont Jr. recorded his tenth career track title at Albany-Saratoga. Tremont accomplished that without even winning a feature, becoming the sixth driver in speedway history to do so. The last driver that did it was Don Ronca it 1995. Brett Hearn won both features on Friday night, which places him on top of the all-time win list at the speedway with ninety-two victories. There were co-champions in the sportsman for 2008. Mike Ketchum and Rob Langevin sat atop the leader board at the end of the night and will share the crown for 2008. With yet another tie for a title, I think it is time that speedway’s look at ways to break a tie and award a title to one driver. I would like to see something in place like most wins and maybe top fives if needed. If at that point you are still tied then award a co-championship. Kim Duell was crowned the pro street champion over defending champion Lori Langevin. Duell last won a title at Albany-Saratoga in 1982 and he was very excited about being champion once again. Congratulations also go out to the other champions, John Filarecki in the limiteds, Frank Hoard the Third in the budget sportsman. Ray Galusha in the six-cylinder cruisers and Elmer Montville in the fourcylinder division. That will wrap things up for this week. I am sure I missed something in my notes and if I did, I will make sure to pass it along next week. Please send your questions or comments to me at fstede@msn.com.
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
JOHNSON SERVES NOTICE
breaking rule places Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton, all of whom also have 5010 points, in positions 5 through 7. Tony Stewart, still winless this year, starts the Chase in 8th with 5000 points while Greg Biffle starts 9th and Jeff Gordon starts 10th. Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth round out the top 12, also with 5000 points. "I have confidence in what my abilities are and in what my team is capable. I just want to show up next week worried about all 11 of them and just do my job," said Johnson. That could spell disaster for the other 11 Chasers. Johnson has been in this position before. He’s a two time Champion with consecutive titles and he used a late season surge, not unlike this one, to win both. Last year he began the stretch run to the Chase with victories at California and Richmond, just like this season. If he successfully defends his champion, Johnson would become the first driver to win three consecutive titles since Cale Yarborough did it back in the late 70’s. But for now Johnson and team are concentrating on “just doing their job” and what a job he did at Richmond. Johnson completed the race in 3 hours, 14 minutes and 13 seconds at an average speed of 92.680 mph. The Chevy Rock-nRoll 400 saw 14 caution flags for 71 laps while 10 drivers swapped the lead 22 times. Next up is the first Chase race of the year at Loudon, New Hampshire.
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Rich Ricci Jr. Wins Modified Special at Accord; Danny Conklin, Steve Meilleur & Ray Tarantino Also Win
By Steve Pados ACCORD, NY…With the storm front of Tropical Storm Hanna projected to bring heavy rains and dismal weather into the Hudson Valley region, Accord Speedway Promoter Gary Palmer and his management staff had a vast task ahead of them as a full card of racing was scheduled along with two heldover features that were halted last week when a quick hitting shower stopped the racing action. Hoping the predicted bad weather would hold off until the comple(MATT THACKER / ASP PHOTO) tion of the show, Palmer had his Jimmy Johnson serves notice by claiming his 4th Cup event of 2008. quarter mile playground groomed GATER EXCLUSIVE BY and well prepared for what was to we kept our composure. …You CHARLES FISHER be an exciting night of racing at his see your Chase hopes going by RICHMOND, VA…This past the wayside there. …But luckily "Gem in the Catskills". With the Sunday Jimmie Johnson served things worked out." recent addition of the new clay to notice that his Lowe’s Chevy the already well manicured raceBehind Johnson and Stewteam is ready for the Chase for art, Denny Hamlin finished third track, the surface was impeccable the Sprint Cup. After the Chevy with Dale Earnhardt Jr fourth and as was the racing and the seven Rock-n-Roll 400 was delayed one Mark Martin rounding out the top feature card fell just fourteen laps day by Hurricane turned Tropical five. It was Junior, however, getshort of completing the entire Storm Hannah, Johnson outdueled ting the biggest cheer of the day show. The evening of racing was Tony Stewart in the waning laps when he was battling Kyle Busch sponsored by the Accord Kwik of the race to claim his second win for the lead midway through the Mart and the Modified bonus was in a row and fourth of the season. race. Back in May Busch punted posted by Bars For Less. "I loved it," Johnson said of the Junior out of the lead and into the The heldover Heart Chevrolet battle with Stewart. "I was driving wall. This time it was Junior’s Spec Sportsman feature was the my butt off. That's how you want turn though not intentional. When first to hit the raceway. Kenny to win a race, going against one asked if it was payback, Junior Boniface took the lead at the of the best in the business. …I am smiled and said, "No, but it cerstart and the "Catskill Comet" glad I cleared him there because if tainly is ironic. I got in too hard was chased for the first four laps I hadn't I am pretty sure I would into (Turn) 1 and locked the leftby first Bobby Hassenmayer and have ended up torn up." then by the "Bushkill Bullet" Kyle front up and pushed in to him and Stewart got right up next to wrecked him," he said. "It was an Rohner as Rohner was quick to Johnson on several occasions accident. Those things seem to put his Bushkills Falls sponsored but could never make the pass happen. Not on purpose, as much racer into contention by workstick. "We got down there and we as I would like to take credit for ing the topside of the raceway to couldn't get by, just leave it that it." perfection from his eighth place we ran second and we had a good, starting position. As the trio raced The contact sent Busch backhard-fought battle. That's the mor- ward into the wall, as the packed into turn-3, Hassenmayer dove to al of the story. Shoot, we could sit grandstands cheered his misfor- QUOTE OF THE RACE the inside, Boniface stayed in the here for hours and try to dissect tune. The M&M’s driver rallied "If I wreck somebody, I am middle and Rohner sought out the exactly why we didn't win." not going to leave him in good real estate on the top floor. Rohner from a lap down to finish 15th. While Stewart was visibly upThe Richmond race set the top enough shape to come back and kept up the revs and sailed out of set by not winning, Clint Bowyer twelve drivers for the Chase for get me in the same race.” Dale turn four with the lead. Once in may have been the happiest guy at the Sprint Cup which starts next Earnhardt Jr. front, Rohner workd his way out the track. He held off David Ra- week at New Hampshire. By virto a sizable lead a couple of times gan and Kasey Kahne to nab the tue of his of his series leading 8 FINISHING ORDER: JIMMIE JOHN- only to lose out to a couple of caufinal qualifying spot for the Chase wins Busch begins the Chase with SON, Stewart, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Mar- tion flags. With a final restart on for the Cup with a 12th-place fin- 5080 points (10 bonus points for tin, Burton, Harvick, J. Gordon, Reutimann, lap-19, Rohner got a great jump at ish in the race. "Hell, yeah, there each win). Carl Edwards is just 30 Ku. Busch, Mears, Bowyer, Edwards, Biffle, the restart and out raced HassenKy. Busch, Truex, Kvapil, Gilliland, Kahne, was," Bowyer said when asked points behind with 5050 points. McDowell, Labonte, Blaney, Smith, Petty, mayer on the final lap and secured if there was panic in his No. 07 Jimmie Johnson is seeded third Carpentier, Sorenson, Schrader, Waltrip, his first ever win in his rookie seaChevrolet during an up-and-down with 5040 points while Dale Earn- McMurray, Montoya, Riggs, Ragan, New- son in the big car ranks. Bobby day. "I was about to go a lap down hardt Jr. starts the Chase fourth man, Menard, Elliott, Vickers, Sadler, Horn- Hassenmayer was second and the and that was nerve-wracking. But with 5010 points. NASCAR’s tie- ish, Kenseth, Nemechek, Sauter, R.Gordon, veteran "Racer" Jeff Richardson Allendinger. nipped "Dynamite" Danny Cross at the line for third. The Enzo's Ristorante heldover Pro Stock Feature went to the post next and Al Christiana and Emerson Cargain Jr brought the field down for the start. Cargain grabbed the lead at the start and led the first two laps before a caution slowed the action. On the restart Bill Deak Sr out drag raced Cargain into the turn one and quickly began to pull away. Around the halfway mark, Deak began to wrestle with his (GATER EXCLUSIVE BY ED COOMBS) racer to keep in front. Finally on Tony Stewart discusses how his newly named crew (GATER EXCLUSIVE BY ED COOMBS) crief, Darian Grubb, could learn about him from lap-14, Cargain regained control of the lead and Deak found his David Regan is very optimistic of making the Chase. current crew chief, Greg Zippadelli. problems were a quickly deflating right front sneaker. Cargain led the remaining laps of the event and the Ford powered machine of John Roese was second. The "Iceman" Dom Roselli and "Tommy D" Tom Demarmels brought the talented 22-car starting Rhinebeck Ford Modified field down for the start. Roselli jumped out front and led for a lap but the "Wild Child" Andy Bachetti was quick to take the lead on lap-2 by flirting with the outside boiler plate to slip by Roselli. Bachetti was poised and raced out (JAROD TILTON / ASP PHOTO) front with Roselli in tow up until Jeff Burton (AT & T 31) tries hard to hold back the rushing Jimmie Johnson in the Lowe's 48. lap-8 when "Prime Time" Scotty Ferrier rode up the wheel of another racer and found himself making hard into the backstretch boiler plate and requiring wrecker service. On the restart, Bachetti and Roselli raced into turn one together and Bachetti quickly found his power steering had failed him. Roselli led down the backstretch but Bachetti tried in vain to ride the cushion and return to the lead. Roselli, who had suffered from a series of tough breaks himself throughout the season, was solid (JAROD TILTON / ASP PHOTO) and running well to lead the race through the mid-stages. One - Two finishers - Jimmie Johnson (48) makes the winning pass on the outside of Tony Stewart.
(KBS RACING PHOTOS)
Rich Ricci, Jr. won the Modified portion at the "Gem in the Catskills." The racing in the middle of the pack was once again tight and exciting as the drivers had no problem going three and four-wide to find their way forward. All eyes were focused to the 406 race car of 10-time track champion Rich Ricci Jr as the New Paltz racer began from 15th starting place and was able to steer his racer wherever he wanted to in working his way to a contending position. Reaching the top five by lap18, Ricci hustled his car by John McGill and then quickly moved past his brother Mike. With Ricci and Bachetti squaring off for the track title, the pair raced side by side for a couple of laps before Ricci raced into second. Chasing Roselli, Ricci tried to get by on the backstretch and ran out of race track. Back on the homestretch, as the pair raced under the start/finish line, Ricci slid up into Roselli and gained a slight advantage as they entered turn one. Once in front, Ricci showed his superiority and raced to safe distance to secure his third win of the racing season and with it taking over a slight point lead over Bachetti. Roselli had a very impressive run to finish second and Mike Ricci also slipped by Bachetti late to claim third place money. Bachetti, who has suffered from a series of problems of late, hung on to finish fourth. "Jumpin" John McGill rounded out the top five. The Bryant's Towing Pure Stock feature again proved to be a memorable feature event run. Steve Smalley led the first two laps before yielding to the hardriding Mike Dubois, who grabbled the lead by splitting the battling pair of Ray Tarantino and Smalley. Once in front it appeared as though DuBois had a lock on the evening's racing. Right past the halfway point, DuBois encountered problems while leading and limped to the infield area. Tarantino took over the lead at that point and raced out front. Right behind him came the trio of Tommy Johnson, Joe Judge and Paul Aragon who have been battling for the division title all year long. While at times the trio were three wide all of the way around the speedway, very little if any contact was made between them. Coming out
of turn four and driving hard for the checkered flag, the four drivers remained close but Tarantino prevailed to win his third feature of the season. While Steve Meilleur wired the field in the Camper's Barn Sportsman feature, the win was far from easy. It took three restarts to begin the event and each time Meilleur was able to pull off the slide job on Stortini in turn two and the third time it worked as the race remained green. While the race progressed, Meilleur was able to hold off Stortini and then for a time was able to pull out to a advantage as Stortini now had the charging Jesse Marks challenging behind him. Brian Krummel, who is the current point leader in the division, was having trouble making his way to the front. As the laps wound down, Krummel was able to find his way to fourth place but the night belonged to Meilleur as he raced to his second win of the season. MODIFIEDS: RICH RICCI, JR., Dom Roselli, Mike Ricci, Andy Bachetti, John McGill, Rick Mill, Jackie Brown Jr, Jerry Higbie, Rich Eurich, David Bush, Danny Tyler, Tom Demarmels, Nick Lapp, Barry Davis, Brett Graham, Greg Hastie, Vinnie DeCicco, Kevin Duryea, Scott Ferrier, Danny Creeden. SPEC SPORTSMAN: DANNY CONKLIN, Anthony Perrego, Tyler Boniface, Kyle Rohner, Jeff Richardson, Kenny Hinsch, AJ Williams, Eddie Burgess, Mike Van Tassel, Danny Cross, Ken Boniface, Bobby Hassenmayer, Mike Sabia, Sammy Dwy, Scott Mathews, Jeff Hager, Eric Moon, Jeff Heotzler Jr. SPORTSMAN: STEVE MEILLEUR, Ryan Stortini, Jesse Marks, Brian Krummel, Steve Krom, David Coene, Larry Hendershot, Jeff Hulseapple, Ray See Jr, Carl Dawes, Clinton Mills, Brad Rothaupt, Randy Banks Jr, Vinnie Gress, Ken Ferrier, Tom Dakake, John Sundlof, Darrell Ford, Mike Senecal, Greg McClosky. PRO STOCKS: Curfewed after 6 laps. Will be continued next week. PURE STOCKS (top 10): RAY TARANTINO, Tommy Johnson, Joe Judge, Paul Aragon Jr, Mike Deyo, Bill Judge, Ryan Coon, John Woinoski, Kyle Wright, Steve Smalley. SPEC SPORTSMAN (Heldover - top 10): KYLE ROHNER, Bobby Hassenmayer, Jeff Richardson, Danny Cross, Tyler Boniface, Anthony Perrego, Ken Boniface, Danny Conklin, Steve Pinto, Scott Mathews. PRO STOCKS (Heldover - top 5): EMERSON CARGAIN, JR., John Roese, Don Williams, Al Christiana Jr, Bill Deak Jr.
September 9, 2008
Limited Access By J.J. Andrews As a driver/owner in the Limited Supermodified division, JJ Andrews covers mostly Oswego Speedway events, from a driver's point of view. contact JJ: jjcqracing@aol.com
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hat else can be said about Oswego Speedway’s Classic Weekend, that hasn’t already been said? The race was two weeks ago as you’re reading this, and plenty has been discussed. But don’t worry - I’ve got a few other comments to make. Like I always do. The supermodified race was a race that people will remember and talk about for years to come. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. A brand new car, started less than one month before Classic Sunday, on July 31st. No practice on Friday. No practice or time trial on Saturday. The first lap ever on the brand new car is just moments before their time trial attempt on Sunday, and is in the low 17’s. He’s the fastest car in the second round of practice, getting the car down to 16.791. In the time trials, it was fastest of the weekend, and fastest of the session, by a half second. A 16.514 second lap. Builder Paul Colloca and driver Doug Didero pulled off the amazing feat of winning the 200 lap Classic, in a brand new Xtreme Chassis supermodified of Colloca’s design. The first day that the car ever hit the track. Didero’s run from 15th to the lead on lap 165 showed skill, intelligence, patience, and aggression when it was needed. An aggressive, wheel-banging move to the inside of Dave McKnight for the lead was the chance that he needed - or decided - to take, and could have easily damaged his car and ruined his classic Classic run. But it worked, and the rest is history. Congratulations to Didero, Colloca, and the rest of Team Xtreme for this history making, amazing performance. Had Didero not stolen his thunder, Joe Gosek and the 00 team would have been the story. After sitting out the season because of a rules change that obsoleted the independent front suspension design of the Al Archer owned Xtreme Chassis, Gosek appeared with a redesigned design that promptly snatched the pole spot. It wasn’t the first time ever on the speedway, as a track rental and other practices gave them a little more time to dial it in. But it was another amazing feat, and Gosek’s 2nd place finish showed why he is considered one of the all time great supermodified drivers in supermodified history. D.J. Shullick finished in third, in yet another brand new Xtreme Chassis car. Are we starting to see a pattern here? Yes, Xtreme Chassis cars rocked the supermodified world by sweeping the top three positions of the most prestigious supermodified event of the year. (More on that further down the page…). But Shullick once again proved that he is one of the younger stars of the supermodified world, the only guy in the top ten without many years of experience in the division. (Craig Rayvals was the next least experienced super driver, and he’s been running the class since 2002.) Shullick also finished in third in the weekend’s ISMA event, making quite a sweet weekend for the Ohio driver. Not to mention a fine second place finish on Friday night as my teammate (along with Bobby Santos III and Kathy Harrington) in a flip-cup game at Luther’s campsite. Get used to hearing this: “Shoe Jr.” will be one of the all-time greats. Davey Hamilton was the first non-Xtreme finisher in the field. Hamilton wheeled the John Nicotra owned Hawk Chassis #6, a teammate to Otto Sitterly, to a 4th place finish. This was yet another brand new car, hitting the speedway during the weekend for its first time in competition. Hamilton drove a brand new, but not the newest style, Hawk Chassis, that was acquired from Strong Racing just a few weeks prior to the Classic. Nicotra bought the bare frame from Pat Strong, since his own new style Hawk Chassis was not able to be completed in time for the Classic. A lot of people helped get the car ready, including Otto Sitterly, Ray Graham, Johnny Torrese, Pat Strong, Jim Paternoster, and others, according to Nicotra. “The Jersey Jet”, Joey Payne showed once again how the cream does rise to the top in the 200 lap Classic race. Driving a car that was built many moons ago, Joey took the Strong Racing Team #99 into the top five, a great feat for anyone. Although most people would be happy with a 6th place finish in the Classic, sixth place probably did not make the Furlong team happy. Greg Furlong had won the last four Classics in a row, and is always a favorite to win any Classic that he enters. Why wouldn’t he be? He wins most of them. Nobody has won seven Classics, and Furlong fell short in his quest to do that. Chalk it up to not having enough time with his new style Hawk Chassis car to get all of the bugs worked out. I’m sure that some changes will be made to that car during the off season, and they’ll take another, more competitive run at number seven in 2009, after having the car for the whole season. Super veterans Tim Snyder, Craig Rayvals, Tim Gareau, and Howard Page rounded out the top ten positions. It wasn’t the first rodeo for any of these guys, who certainly had to be happy to finish in the top ten. Lou LeVea and the Coon-France team were very happy with their 11th place finish. The rookie driver worked hard to get the car ready for the race, but never got up to a decent speed in time trials or the B-main. Fortunately for the team, their 8th place finish in the season’s point standings earned them a provisional start for the Classic - the 34th and final starting spot. LeVea should have been tired at the end of the day, because he also competed in the day’s earlier feature, the 100 lap small block supermodified event. But a 71 lap DNF ended the day for Louie, in 20th spot. Quite an impressive feat, though, something that’s never been done before on the same day, to my knowledge. People have driven in both races before, but not on the same day. Pretty good for an old timer. Dave McKnight led the first 164 laps of the feature, but ended up credited with 14th in the final rundown due to a smack off the wall at the end of the race due to a part failure. It was a great day for McKnight and Syrell Racing until lap 193, when the fun ended. He was in third place at the time. Same thing for Tim Jedrzejek. Not that he led, but he lost a solid top five finish when he ran out of fuel on lap 185. A top five in the Classic would have topped off a great weekend, which saw him finish 2nd in Friday night’s ISMA wing show. Bentley Warren missed out on his opportunity to win Classic number seven, when he collided with the wall on lap 152. 22nd was his final result. Everyone was very happy to see Jeff Holbrook back in unwinged competition at the speedway on Sunday. Holbrook, who lives just a few miles down the road from the speedway, ceased competition at the speedway a few years back after a disagreement with speedway management. Holbrook campaigns 2-4 cars regularly on the ISMA circuit, and fans really miss seeing the Holbrook cars at the speedway. After breaking the ice on Classic Weekend by competing, does this mean that we may see the Holbrook cars more in 2009? Here’s hoping. Hopefully speedway management used the opportunity to roll out the red carpet to Holbrook, and made him feel welcome. Maybe bygones can be bygones. Unfortunately, Holbrook got a check for a 26th place DNF at the end of the day. Dave Sanborn made his way to Oswego Speedway for his first attempt at Classic. Usually Sanborn races with a wing on his car, so his topless inexperience and low budget made him a long shot to even make the show. Sanborn was thrilled when he won the B-main, gaining him entry into the biggest supermodified show of the year. Unfortunately, Sanborn experienced troubles, and was credited with a DNF of 33rd at the end of the day. But the G-note that Sanborn earned for 33rd went a long way toward covering his expenses for the weekend. Mission accomplished. How tough is it to make the Classic field? It was pretty tough this year. 44 cars entered the show. 34 started the feature. According to my calculations, that would leave 10 cars out in the cold. And they weren’t slugs. Get a load of some of these names, that didn’t even make the field. Michael Barnes. Justin Belfiore. Bobby Santos III. (Yes, THE Bobby Santos III!) Gene Lee Gibson. All previous supermodified winners. Also Bobby Haynes. Bobby Dawson. Bob Bogwicz. (Maybe it was the name “Bob”? Four drivers named Bob failed
Gater Racing Photo News
to transfer from the B-main.) Rookie Tim Timms also came up short on the weekend, finishing out of luck in the 6th position in the B-main, which transferred just two starters. But he still made more money than most of them. Timms won the Eagles Fan Club’s $10,000 grand prize in the Super Fan Plan drawing. The Eagles annual fundraiser is a 50-50 event that raises a total of $30,000 by selling only 300 super fan plan tickets at $100 each. $15,000 goes to the drivers point fund, and the other $15,000 goes to the lucky winners of the drawing, which is performed by Eagles prez Larry Lee on Sunday of Classic Weekend. It was great this year to see the ten grand go directly to a driver, who can certainly use those funds for his racecar. Great job by the Eagles Fan Club for this year raising at least $25,000 for the race teams, due to Timms winning the grand prize! If you see Sue & Larry Lee, Mike Foster, Dayna Cliff, Deb White, or Sue Delong, be sure to thank them for all that they do. I had a phone conversation with super owner John Nicotra about his views from Classic Weekend, and his feelings about the Xtreme Chassis cars stealing the top three positions. “It actually worked out for the best that the new car (a new style Hawk Chassis car, the mate to Greg Furlong’s, had been purchased from Joe Hawksby, but wasn‘t completed) wasn’t ready, as Greg’s wasn’t up to speed yet”, said Nicotra. “Joey’s going to cut up Greg’s, and make some changes. We unloaded this car at 17.0”. But as you may expect, Nicotra, like many other owners in the supermodified community has his concerns about the Classic domination of the Xtremes. “I’ll try to do whatever it takes to get my guys to try to run up front. But can everyone do that? The first three finishers, $38,000, went to outsiders, or people who don’t run weekly at the speedway”, said Nicotra. Although Hamilton doesn’t run regularly at the speedway, I wouldn’t consider this team an “outsider”, since teammate Otto Sitterly competes weekly at the speedway, and did much of the work preparing Hamilton’s ride. Nicotra does worry about the series for 2009. “I’m going to stand behind the speedway - whatever’s best for the weekly racer. If any changes or clarifications are made to the rules over the winter, it has to suit the weekly racers. Not the Classic invaders. But if any changes are going to be made, they need to be made now. Maybe there should be a rule where drivers have to compete at the speedway two or three times during the season to be eligible to run Classic”. So of course I asked the obvious question - when did you call (Xtreme Chassis builder) Paul Colloca about a new car? “I’ve got a call into Paulie this morning.” (This was Tuesday, Sept. 2nd, two days after Classic.) Nicotra didn’t exactly say that he was ordering a new Xtreme Chassis, but wanted to at least have a discussion. “I’ve got a couple of irons in the fire”, said Nicotra. “I know Davey Hamilton is not content to fly across the country to finish 4th.” I haven’t seen the video of the small block supermodified race, but I believe that this year’s edition of the small block Classic was one of the more entertaining races in recent years. I know that I didn’t seem to be spending a lot of time driving under caution, and I didn’t see a ton of wrecks. It would appear as though the plan of starting the cars heads up in their heat races by time trials was a good plan this year. There - I said it. I’m not happy about that plan, because I’m an embarrassingly bad time trialer, and I’ll never have a good starting position if it’s always done this way. Plus, time trials are terribly boring for the fans. But I have to be honest, whether I like it or not. Dave Cliff Jr. won his second Classic in a row, a feat that many people (including me) didn’t think could be done. And this time he had to pass some good cars to do it. But once he took the lead for good on lap 43, he never looked back. Cliff cruised to a 3.56 second lead at the finish, causing a lot of people to shake their heads, wondering why Cliff has been so much faster than most of the other cars lately. His 19.305 second time on lap 44 was a tenth faster than anyone else was able to turn the whole race. Many people anxiously awaited the results of the thorough post-race inspection, which I’m sure was very extensive, under the circumstances. Faster than everyone else, biggest race of the year - you can bet that the tech crew went through that car with a fine-tooth comb. But all systems checked out legal, just like 2007, and congratulations are once again in order. Congrats to Dave Cliff, and the whole Gnomey Racing Team! I believe they call it Gnomey Gnation. Kevin Knopp passed nine cars, earning the Hard Charger award, getting to 2nd place in the final rundown. A great season for the track champion, who started so far back because of a heat race tangle with Mike Bond, which relegated the #04 to that 11th place starting position. I’m anxious to review the video from this situation, as Knopp felt Bond “helped” him in that heat race, while Bond felt that Knopp’s slip in the speedi-dri on the track is what caused the contact. Knopp did pass Bond in the feature to get to 2nd place, while Bond ended up 3rd. Brian Sobus made my pick look bad by finishing in 4th, after time trialing second fastest. Is there something inappropriate going on between Kevin Knopp and Chip Wood? Both married men, it made me squirm a little to read Knopp’s profile in the Classic Yearbook, when he mentioned Wood over ten different times during the profile. Definitely creeped me out. I threw up in my mouth a little when I read it. Love is a beautiful thing. Dave Gruel opted to utilize the Johnny Moore #44 for the Classic, after struggling with Tom Aaserud’s Crow Motorsports machine throughout the season. It was Aaserud’s engine in the car, and Gruel ran well. The regular Crow Motorsports crew fielded the car. A top five finish at the end of the day somewhat makes up for the iffy season that saw the team struggle almost weekly, trying to get their “new design” Hedger Chassis figured out. The plan a few weeks ago was for Gruel to wheel Tim Barbeau’s #50 for the upcoming Race of Champions event. Rob Pullen had a solid 4th fastest time trial lap, one of the elite four cars that could lock into the field by turning an excellent lap. Pullen cracked off a solid 19.374 lap in time trials. A sixth place finish in the final rundown was Pullen’s reward. Chris Proud and Russ Brown were two drivers that lost laps in the pits during the race. But that was allowed this year, without penalty. I don’t really understand it, but the ruling was announced before the race that you could pit as many times as you want, for as long as you want, without losing a lap, as long as it was only during caution laps. I’ll have to have this rule explained to me at some point, because I was beat by both of those cars - cars who ran less laps than me. Proud and Brown were 8th and 9th, to my 10th at the end. Yes, we apparently did run the same amount of green flag laps, and no, there was not a lot gained by those guys sitting in the pits while I was driving around under caution. But I don’t like it - it seems funny to me. Proud did pass me fair and square to get the position in the White’s Car Care #4 for that position. It was announced that Proud may have nudged me out of the way for the spot, but I’ll stick up for him. As I moved high to try to gain
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Sept 13 - Ohsweken Sept 14 - Humberstone Sept 20 - Sharon Follow the Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Year Award
2008 Point Standings: Bryan Howland 1962 Jared Zimbardi 1872 Chris Muhleisen 1796 Bubba Broderick 1702 Scott Kreutter 1555
2008 Hard Charger Points: Bryan Howland 39 Bubba Broderick 38 Bobby Breen 35 Chuck Hebing 31 BEAR Jared Zimbardi 29 PAW
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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momentum to get to Tim Barbeau for 7th, Proud and Brown pounced on the opportunity to take those two spots from me. It was a nice run for Proud, who had to pit because of a dragging nose wing early in the race. Eddie Horne’s two cars finished 11th and 15th in the final rundown. Horne himself scared the living heck out of me several times when I was behind him early in the race. I don’t know if he planned to have his car set up that way, but he was so sideways coming off of the corner that I could see the yellows of his eyes every time he stepped on the gas. I haven’t been so scared since I was a little girl! Eddie was driving the same car that Josh LaRochelle drove most of the season before pulling the plug in early August. Because it was hard to drive. Dirt driver Jerry Holmes drove Horne’s other car, the #13 Hedger Chassis that was campaigned by LaRochelle in 2007, to a 15th place finish in the final standings. I had a lot of fun racing with guys like Ken Pierce, Larry Muroski, and even Horne. I didn’t have so much fun racing with Shawn Walker, who I tangled with around the middle of the race, going completely sideways before gathering it up. Of course I needled him about it afterwards. My own race went well, and I was very…well pretty happy with a 10th place finish, after starting in 19th because of my inability to drive fast for two laps of time trials. I gave away two positions at the end, but for the right reason. I was happy that after running so poorly in last year’s races, I was able to RACE with, and pass people, instead of being a rolling road block. It got so frustrating last year watching the cars in front of me get smaller and smaller. The highlight of my day was watching the friends and crew jump up and down and cheer after I made that great save on the back stretch when I tangled with Shawn Walker. People in the infield looked me right in the eyes, I was so far sideways, before I saved it. The celebration was great to watch from the driver’s seat. I enjoyed “makin’ it rain”, throwing (fake) money into the air during my pre-race intro. I felt just like a rap star there for a minute, watching that dough fall down like rain. Maybe Jay-J, or LLcoolJJ should be my rap name. Or JJ2Phast. Another classy thing that I enjoyed this year was the entire safety crew greeting us all before the feature, wishing us luck, and requesting that we be safe. I thought that was really cool. Quality bunch of guys. Another highlight of Classic Week for me happened on Thursday morning. I couldn’t wait to get to my newspaper box to see in print my FIRST EVER story in the Syracuse newspaper, the Post Standard. I was very excited to be a “contributing writer” in the newspaper. But mostly I was excited to see my division of racecars, the small block supermodifieds, the subject of a feature story in the Post Standard. And I was very excited to see all of my friends’ names, the drivers who I interviewed for the story, in the Post Standard. I was disappointed that ZERO people from the small block super community acknowledged the story, or expressed gratitude about the publicity for themselves or our division, but sometimes I expect too much. I’m sure it’s appreciated. I hope it is - I worked hard to write - and get that story. Other highlights included the Front Door Tavern Classic Open golf tournament. I had some good golfers on my Captain and Crew team, pulling us to second place in the overall standings at the end of the day. The Thursday night go-kart races were anti-climactic. Watching time trials for an hour or more sent us looking for more entertainment. We would have come back for features, but rain killed that idea. Friday was spent in the shop most of the day working and finishing up the racecar. Although I have never liked working on the racecar, I was reminded that it can still be fun if you have the right group of people. We found and corrected some problems, and made the car very fast. It was a very productive day. Friday night after the races, watching the Dave Wolever show and hanging at Luther’s party is always great. A late night trip to Burger King on our golf cart turned bad when it died at the drive-thru, but turned into a great story for later. Saturday’s boring (and humiliating for me) time trials for all divisions were still fun. We had plenty of time to visit and chat and laugh while the cars went around one at a time. The heat races were good, I’m told. And the modified race was a good show. An early (well kind of) night in the motel with Canadian friends Rob Pollitt and Jeff Denna left time for even more laughs. A good sleep in a real bed and a shower in the morning were an unexpected surprise, even if I did have to sleep with one eye open, for a guy who planned to crash in Barry’s van. To all of the girls and surrounding crews that set up the ultimate pit buffet to keep us all fed during the weekend - Debi, Samantha, Jamie, Melanie, April, Amy, Denise, Bethany and others who contributed, that was some feast. It was great having everyone there, for sure. Sunday night’s after party stories were also legendary, the highlight being my wife April trying to make our kids insurance wealthy on the golf cart. We lived, the golf cart didn’t. And thanks once again to the large group of race friends who helped get our racecar and hauler out of the mud early Monday morning. I’ll never forget that Herculean effort of strength and force - and a chain hooked to a Hyundai Santa Fe. Was 2008 the best Classic ever for me? I think it may have been. But not just because of the racing. That was great too. I just overall had a lot of FUN. And that’s what racing is about, right? I know I’m running long here - again - but I just have to mention the Friday night ISMA show, which was amazing. I don’t know why it’s so captivating to watch Chris Perley dominate, but I’m not tired of it. He turned a 15.198 second in time trials, making the old track record of 15.4something look ridiculous. This week brings quite a conflict between the MSA winged super series, which has a race at Sandusky, and the ISMA series, which has their Classic at AllStar Speedway, both this Saturday. Who will go to which race? This conflict was brought about after the race at All-Star had to be postponed due to bad weather in New Hampshire caused by hurricane whoever. I hope both races have great attendance. DJ Shullick, currently tied for the MSA point lead, has announced that he will run the All Star Classic, in Clyde Booth’s car, shunning the MSA race. But if I’m correct, MSA points go to the owner, not the driver, giving Shullick a shot at the title still, with another driver behind the wheel. It sure seems like Shullick’s dad, Dave Shullick Sr., would be a natural replacement. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens this weekend in the winged supermodified world.
SPRINT CAR RACING ON TV Time Warner Cable SportsNet: Western NY - Ch. 13 NY Southern Tier - Ch. 21 or Ch. 43 Central NY and Rochester - Ch. 26 Albany - Ch. 3
find air times: www.HotWingsTV.com
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Positive News & Notes
On the Road Again
By Leon Andrus
By Mark Tiderman
Leon spends most of his season in the southern tier, keeping Five Mile, Afton and Penn Can under close watch Leon84@aol.com
F
riday night at the Penn Can (Pa.) Speedway it was Pump & Pantry Convenience Store'sNight with championships on the line for all divisions. That will be what the majority of this column will be about. I will have some information of the Saturday rainout of the Five Mile Point (N.Y.) Speedway and some odds and ends. First off I must say Congratulations to all the track champions and here they are. Modifieds for his first time ever, Jeff Rudalavage 112 Dag's Auto Parts, Pine Line Auto Sales Entry. In the Sportsman it was the Walker Plumbing 78 of Grant Hilfiger also for his first championship at the speedway. In the Late Model division it was the 78t Double L Flagstone of Tracy Gregory claiming the championship for 2008. Chris Strolh 14 Lexmar Holmes sponsored Superstock getting his first championship in that division. Butch Greene 56 RWG Construction claiming the laurels in the Purestock division. Finally in the Four Cylinder division it was Gary Kinne 2K Klinger Powersports sponsored racer bringing down the championship. The Purestock champion was the only division going into the night's racing that was not the point leader. Jonathan Carpenter 12 Carpenter Pallets entry was the point leader going in. With Greene picking up the win on this night doing what he needed to do Carpenter would have had to finish third or better to maintain the top spot. After two flat tires during the running of the race he still came home in fifth which just was a little short. It was a great race throughout though. The Sportsman feature was a real barn burner to say the least. The feature winner Joey Colsten 151 Gary's U-Pull-It, Don's Automotive Mall captured the feature by about a half a car length. Challenging hard on his inside was third generation drive Mike Nagel Jr. in his NEP Wireless M7 racer. These two drivers ran again side by side for quite a number of laps. These two young hot shoes did this same thing a few weeks ago. Great race guys. Mike Nagel Jr. was celebrating his seventeenth birthday on this night also. In the Modifieds Jeff Rudalavage shared the victory lane ceremony with his brother Alan Rudalavage 145 Quinn's Super Market Aqua Duck sponsored ride took the checkers first. Both of these siblings were very thankful for there rides on this night and as always give big Kudo's to their crew. Jeff also mentioned that he had some new experimental parts on the car sent down from Bicknell's Chris Strohl went out and did just what he needed to do to win the championship on this night. The winner was the guy that could have beat him for the Championship and that was Frank Payne 3F. If Payne won he had to finish right behind him and that is what he did. Tracy Gregory was the only track champion on this night that was able to put an exclamation mark on his season, as he was the only point's leader going in to win the feature also. In doing so he had to hold off numerous challenges from a number of competitors. The Cosmello's Auto Parts sponsored 4 of Andy Brigham won the Four-Cylinder feature but Gary Kinne was able to get that track championship that he just missed the previous season. Four out of the six track champions this season all won on their opening night of racing. The two divisions that won championships without winner opening night were Superstock and Purestock division. In both of these classes though they both ended second in points. I guess this shows that getting out to a good start in really important. This coming Saturday night the Late Models will take center stage as they will compete in a $1000.00 to win feature for the first night of the King of the Can. It now will pay $1100.00 as one of the great fans at the speedway added an extra $100.00 to the winner. He also did this for the invading 305 CRSA Sprints that will be one of the two invading classes on this night. The Xcell 600Modifieds will be in for the open wheel portion of the program with the sprints. The other classes on this night will be the Superstocks, Purestocks and the Four Cylinder divisions all running for added cash and lap money. So this should be a great night of racing with four full fender divisions and two open wheel classes. Race time is 6:00pm. Saturday racing at the Point was cancelled early in the afternoon with rain in the area and weather forecast looking bleak for the remainder of the day. Many of the competitors at the Point come along ways away and that area was getting much more rain than we were getting here. The call went out to save the competitors and the rescheduling of this race is this coming Sunday at 5:00pm. On the schedule will be a STAR series race for the Modifieds 50-laps in distance. Championships to be settled in the Sportsman, Purestocks, and the "Lightning Cats." There will be a first time winners race also on this night for the Lightning Cats that was postponed two weeks ago. The Figure Eight's will also be in competition with a special challenge being put out to the Purestock competitors. Mark Andrus is undefeated in this class this season and if he can win this race Promoter Andrew Harpell will give him a $500.00 bonus. If one of the Purestock guys win they will receive a $250.00 bonus. Come in see if history can be made at the historic Quarter Mile Speedway. Eight for eight would be the record but it will be heavily contested that's for sure. Make sure you check all the advertisements in these find pages as the season winds down so you can plan on where to go for some great season ending specials. This is the time of the season I travel to many different speedways for their specials. The problem with this means that the season is winding down. That is it for this week as it is time to go watch some NFL action. By the way How About those New York Football Giants? The real America's team Go Big Blue!!! So until next time Race On! News, notes or comments at the email address above.
RACING FRIDAY NIGHTS gates open 5pm - racing 7:30pm 35 Adrian Rd, PO Box 203, Perry, NY 14530 Office (585) 237-2580/Track (585) 237-2510 Mon - Fri 9:00am- 5:00pm www.wyomingcountyinternationalspeedway.com
Saturday September 14th - $10 Admission Insinger Race Fuels presents... Points Championship - Double Points *Tim Packman, guest announcer from MRN
358 East Wesner Road Blandon, PA 19510
O
ver the past four decades many a sprint racer from all over the country have migrated to Central Pa. in search of fame and fortune. Some of them stayed for a season or so and others made the move permanently. Bobby Allen, Kenny Weld, Jan Opperman, Van May, Steve Siegel, Bobby Davis, Doug Wolfgang, Jimmy Edwards, Jerry Stone and Greg Hodnett are just a few of the many racers who choose to race in the Pennsylvania heartland. Gary Brazier and Skip Jackson came all the way from Australia to compete during their off season “down under”. Central Pa. has always offered the best purses not to mention that you can race three or more nights a week without having to travel all that far between tracks. This year there was another transplant competing weekly with the “Posse”. Only his story is a somewhat different story then most of those who have graced us with their presence in the past. Last year 22 year old TJ Winegardner towed to Pennsylvania from his home in Pierson Fla. to test the waters of 410 sprint racing. Winegardner was a regular competitor on the ASCS 360 Sprint Car Rebel Series but had no experience competing with the 410 sprinters. He spent a couple of weeks in the Quaker State to run the PA Speed Week series driving his father Tom’s sprinter. He then returned to the south and went on to win the ASCS Rebel Series championship. Chip Stick owner of Stick’s Pest Control is the teams primary sponsor. Stick grew up in Carlisle Pa. and urged the Winegardners to head north. During their stay last year they made a few friends who helped them out. They kept in touch over the winter and made plans to return again this spring. This year they made the trek in mid-May. They towed their trailer with a motor home for camping. Their northern friends made arraignments for them to keep their racers in a garage behind Ramsey’s Car Wash in downtown Port Royal. The Winegardners set up camp in the small country town nestled in the Juniata Mountains, just a couple of blocks from the fairgrounds. Since there is no 410 sprint racing down south TJ decided that coming to Pa. would be a good way to advance his career. This years adventure began racing against the Outlaws at the Grove. Not an easy task! In fact, many of us were wondered just what the heck he was thinking. The Outlaws in Central Pa. is perhaps the toughest bunch of desperadoes you will ever meet! Obviously TJ was very serious when he said he wanted to learn from the best. Things got off to a bad start the first night out against the Outlaws. The driveline broke and slapped his ankle resulting in a free ride to the hospital. He was back the next night but the show fell victim to rain. This kid’s got heart. It rained out again on Saturday so he then went to Selinsgrove for a 360 sprint race which also rained out. The original plan was to stay for a couple of weeks. However they stayed until the end of July. It was definitely a learning experience for the team. Ever week they improved. In the beginning they could hardly qualify. Rather then throw in the towel and head south they pressed on. Eventually not only did TJ qualify weekly, he started running in the top ten. Perhaps his best performance came on a Friday night at the Grove the week before they departed. TJ qualified second in his heat allowing him to make the cut for the feature handicapping. Since this was a first for him, he started the feature from the pole position. He ran second to John Westbrook for many laps and was later dropped to third by Craig Keel. It appeared as if he would finish third, a career best, when a late race red flag regrouped the field. On the restart veterans Todd Shaffer and Fred Rahmer dropped him to fifth. A fifth place finish at the Grove may not be a big deal for some but for Winegardner it one of the greatest moments of his life as he described it afterwards. The Winegardner story is one of determination and success, so to say. It is also a feel good story that I needed to write. It’s been a long week filled with sorrow for the Tidermans. We lost my dear aunt Grace in the beginning of the week and today an old friend Ken Fick Sr. passed away. For many he was known as “Pop” Fick. “Pop” was a race fan for most of his 74 years never missing a race at the Reading Fairgrounds. I grew up with his sons who are still big race fans and close friends. He was the kind of guy that after you met him you’d never forget him. For many years he was a big Jack Johnson fan or “Jackie”as he called him. He made the trip to Syracuse every year with the gang. This year’s trip to the “Moody Mile” just isn’t going
UPCOMING EVENTS Sat Sept 13 Sat Sept 20 Sat Sept 27
Woodhull Raceway Little Valley Speedway McKean County Rwy
Winners (recent events) Jeff Chesebro - Canan. Speedway - Aug 16 Randy Hall - McKean County - Aug 13 Jeremy Wonderling - McKean Co. - Jul 19 Scooter Pangrazio - Canan. Speedway - June 24 Dave DuBois - Black Rock Speedway - June 13
TOP 5 POINTS:
Vol. 43, Issue 29 to be the same without him. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Grace, Kenny, Dan, Perry, Judy and Jeff and the rest of the family. Ken “Pop” Fick will definitely be missed by many of us. Thanks for the memories. Rest in peace. Six weeks ago we watched John Westbrook win his first career 410 sprint feature at the Grove. It was a very memorable night for the fans and for John. Afterwards he saluted his friend Billy Kimmel who lost his life ten months before at that same speedway. The next night Westbrook won at Port Royal. The next week he bagged a 358 sprint win at the Grove and then two weeks later he won another 410 sprint feature at the Port. The Westbrook story was a happy one. His story was all about a 23 year old low dollar racer finding success. Unfortunately this good feeling story turned sad on Friday night. John decided to skip the 410 sprint race at the Port and compete with his 358 sprinter at the Grove which is located a few miles from his Dillsburg home. After tangling with another sprinter he took a nasty flip out of the speedway. The crash broke John’s neck. After being flown to the Hershey Medical Center he underwent close to 12 hours of surgery as the doctors tried to repair his spinal cord. Information at this time is very limited. He is stable but they don’t know if he will be permanently paralyzed. He has regained consciousness and asked if the other racer was ok. He’s fighting for his life and he asks how the other guy is. That’s just the kind of man John is. His team owner Clair Wintermeyer and mechanic Kevin Fry released this statement on Saturday. “There are serious injuries. The team does not want any finger pointing. It was a racing accident and nothing more and we wish everyone to do the same.” Obviously they didn’t want anyone to start trash talking which always hits the message boards after such an incident. Personally I never bother with computer messages since it’s mostly garbage. Racing is dangerous and sprint cars are perhaps the most dangerous of all. Perhaps the danger factor is part of the lure to the sport whether we admit it or not. However we tend to forget about that fact. We see these guys take nasty flips, climb out of the car, shake it off and get back in it the next night. And then something like this happens and reality slaps us right in the face. We don’t like hearing about it and we don’t like seeing it but it can happen to anyone at any time. All the safety equipment in the world still can’t eliminate this factor. Every driver out there is well aware of it. Therefore I feel they all deserve nothing but respect. We lost Billy Kimmel a year ago. Jeff Shepard was severely injured six weeks ago and now John Westbrook is left fighting for his life. Reality can be a very ugly thing. Our thoughts and our prayers are with you John. Until next time please keep the speed on the speedway and not the highway.
John Westbrook Update
MECHANICSBURG, PA…358 sprint car driver John Westbrook is currently undergoing surgery at Hershey Medical Center for injuries suffered in a crash last night at Williams Grove Speedway. On the fourth lap of the feature Westbrook's car flipped over the first turn fencing. The car landed upright by the access road behind turns one and two. Westbrook was removed from the car and transported to Hershey Medical Center. He has two broken vertebra and one crushed vertebra. The medical staff at Hershey Medical Center began surgery at 3 a.m. and he will be in the operating room for 12 hours. There are encouraging signs and more information will be passed on as soon as it is received.
Persistent Mist Postpones Brockville 171
BROCKVILLE, ONT…A persistent mist that would have kept the track tacky, but would have driven competitors to distraction due to reduced visability, has resulted in the postponement of the racing program at Brockville Ontario Speedway Saturday. The Jack May-BOB FM show will not be lost for local fans as the event has already been rescheduled for next Friday night, September 12th at 7pm. Next Friday's show will be strictly 358 Modifieds on the
menu. In addition to the 75 lap Super DIRT Series event, the final 96 laps of the rain delayed Canadian DIRT Challenge Series will be run for 171 laps of Modified Mania nest Friday night on the fast clay oval. The Lucas Oil Series event had Dany Bilodeau in the lead back in August when the weather man struck. Brockville Ontario Speedway will also go ahead with it's original schedule for Saturday night, September 13th at 7pm to make it a weekend twin bill.
2008 T3 ALL STAR SERIES FOR 358 MODIFIEDS PRESENTED BY TROYER RACE CARS
UPCOMING EVENTS Sat. September 13 - Woodhull Raceway Woodhull, NY
Sat. September 20 - Little Valley Speedway Little Valley, NY
Winners (recent events) Brian Weaver - Five Mile Point Speedway Billy Decker - Thunder Mountain Speedway
1. Jeff Chesebro 775; 2. Steve Dixon 742; 3. Jeremy Wonderling 616; 4. Beamer Guzzardi 569 5. Matt Cobb 564
CURRENT POINT STANDINGS
www.BRPCanAmSeries.com
www.t3allstarsseries.com
Brad Rapp, Dale Welty, Mark Frankhouser, Kenny Peoples, Jr, Ron White, Bryan Terwilliger
September 9, 2008
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Win to Ron Hornaday Jr.
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
By Eric Zwirlein
By JOHN SMITH
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(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY DAVE CONDIT)
Ron Hornaday Jr. collected the Truck Series win at Gateway Int'l.
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY DAVE CONDIT)
Mike Skinner (5) uses the outside line against Todd Bodine (5).
(GATER EXCLUSIVE BY DAVE CONDIT)
T.J. Bell Jr. (7) and Johnny Benson in Truck action at Gateway.
Tim Packman Back to the BullRing to Announce
THE T D R N U WITH WITH
KS AC
ARO
PERRY, NY…Several years ago Tim Packman shared the WCIS announcing tower with Perry sports announcer Phil Embury. The two very color full personalities entertained the fans as the cars circled the BullRing. At times it was said, in the tower or in the grand stands, the laughing got louder than the racing on the track. Everybody had fun! But there was no holding Tim back from bigger and better positions within the professional NASCAR media market. From writing books to MRN Radio, Tim Packman became well known in the national racing industry. This weekend WCIS welcomes Tim back as a quest announcer back at the BullRing. Come on out to visit with our old friend, and enjoy the short track racing of Wyoming County Int. Speedway. Gates open at noon and racing begins at 2:30pm. Office (585) 237-2580/2510 www.wyomingcountyinternationalspeedway.com
EW E-MAIL ADDRESS!!!NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS!!!It's jasmith29@comcast.net. Please make your appropriate changes. As long as things go okay, this will be permanent. I missed last week's deadline because of Comcast not being able to get here, and with Casey's laptop being unavailable, I couldn't get anything together. And that stinks because I missed covering Big Diamond's Coalcracker Nationals. Now that it's old news, I won't rehash it. I'll just say I'm sorry I missed it. But this Comcast thing is completely different than what I was used to and will take some adjusting. We in the racing community lost a dear and long time friend this morning (Sunday, Sept. 7th). He was simply known as "Pop" Fick. "Pop" was a legendary fixture at all the local speedways here in the northeast and was one of the most liked men I've ever met. He could tell a story that would rival one of John Force's. "Pop" suffered a fatal heart attack this morning and it is with a very heavy heart that I write this as I knew him and his sons Kenny, Danny, Perry, and Jeff real well. This column is dedicated in memory of "Pop" Fick. Rest in peace. You will be sorely missed. My deepest condolensces to the entire Fick family and friends. It's been done before and it's been done again-that is winning a point championship without winning a single race. "The Edge" Brian Monteith captured his first ever 410 Sprint championship out at the fabulous Lincoln Speedway. Going into the final night of points, just 45 markers separated four driver. While Alan Krimes won his fourth race of the year, it was Monteith able to secure the point title in the Premier Auto Works/David's Jewelers no. 21. With this past Saturday night's action getting Hanna'd out, all the attention turns to this comng Saturday night at Grandview for the 38th annual Freedom 76, this year sponsored by BPG Racing, making it the BPG Racing Freedom 76, if you will. There's alot of buzz going on for this one as Doug Hoffman has been announced to pilot a second BPG car to compliment Duane Howard, who won the coalcracker while Doug's brother Keith was in a second BPG car. Could the same thing happen again? Both BPG cars finishing one and two? Anyway, Doug Hoffman, who was one of the best ever, I say was because he's been inactive for a year, turning his attention to runing Mahoning Valley Speedway, is really looking forward to this opportunity at a shot at the $20,000 top prize for winning this battle of patience, attrition, and in general, survival. Because that's how you win the Freedom race. Throw in another big name into the mix-Jimmy Horton, who will be piloting a Norm Han sell owned no. 357. Horton has won here before in a Big Block, so he can get it done, too, just like Hoffman. Throw in all of Grandview's regulars and this year's race should be the classic it once was. This year, Beer City will be sponsoring FanFest, starting at 1:30 in the afternoon. Oh yeah, ya gotta get there early, just to get a parking spot, so why not enjoy FanFest. There will be a dunk tank, driver interviews and autographs, a tire changing competition for the kids, and who know what else is going to happen. Perhaps a few surprizes I'm sure of that. And of course my good friends at ClubWago will be out in full force, so stop by thier tent and say hi. That's probably where you'll find me holding court. Will I make a prediction for the BPG Racing Freedom 76 for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Modifieds? Nah. But I will predict a good and interesting race. Since Grandview rained out last week, they've decided to make the Spet. 20th show a points race as the Late Model division title is still very much up for grabs between Chuck Schutz and Randy Stoudt. This is a good move by Grandview. And an even better move came earlier in the year when Stoudt, the driver of the Merkel family owned no.118. voluntarily retracted 100 points off his tally. Why? well, back in June, Stoudt was credited with a seventh place finish when he in fact finished 17th. While there was no "official" protest, which protocol is clearly outlined in the rule book, Stoudt felt that if he won the title, it would be tained, so he took those 100 points out of the equation. He didn't have to do it, but I applaud him for doing so as his conscience was his guide. That's a classy move. Sorry this one is short but it's basically a test to see how this new system goes. Remember...former Freedom 76 winner Doug "The Ox" Carlyle, who won this event in 1977? News and notes can reach me at jasmith29@comcast.net or at 3414 Pricetown Road, Fleetwood, PA 19522-8909. Till next time, catch you at the track.
JOE MAROTTA
Sundays 10am to 11am WTLA/WSGO AM1200/1440
23
Mod Mavin
DOWN the CHUTE jas29@dejazzd.com
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A new addition to the staff, Eric will focus primarily on asphalt modified racing in Western New York.
he remnants from the storms that ravaged the East coast last weekend put the Dunn Tire Raceway Park championship battle on hold. Track management is currently looking at possible dates to reschedule the Ron Lux Memorial 50 for the Modifieds. The SST’s have two races yet to run plus the Street Stocks, TQs and 4 cylinders. I’ll let you know when I find out the details, but a possible date being considered is the Friday of US Open weekend. I’m glad that DTRP management are hoping to find a date to conclude the year’s title fights on the track instead of letting Mother Nature do it. If it rains again on the rescheduled date then OK, at least they tried. The teams in all of the divisions race all year long and deserve to decide the titles on the track. Dunn Tire Raceway Park management earns an A+ from me for trying. The rain out gives us the opportunity to do another “special” column. My Mom thinks that they’re all special for the record. As you should be well aware, this year is the 50th anniversary of racing at DTRP. It’s the 20th running of the US Open too and we will commemorate both by spending some time with Dunn Tire Raceway Park’s 2005 McGard Modified Track Champion Tom McGrath. Tom has won a lot of races over the years at DTRP but it just so happens that the 2004 US Open stands out as his favorite win- perfect! Back then, it was just McGrath Racing and they raced solely in the Modifieds. In 2008 Tom has found an investor in the form of longtime friend Renee Clementi. Renee has wanted to get involved in racing for a long time and 2008 turned out to be the right time to take the plunge. McGrath/Clementi Racing runs Tom in the McGard Modifieds and the Lorigo Insurance SST Modifieds. They also run two Thiel Fast and Furious Four Cylinders for Tom’s daughter Cassie and Renee’s daughter Kalie, making McGrath/Clementi Racing DTRP’s version of Roush/Fenway. The following is Tom’s recall of the 2004 US Open. It was a two day format in 04 with the Mod heats running on Saturday night and the 125 lap feature run on Sunday afternoon. DAY 1 Tom…“The heat was very eventful. As I recall, we ran the heat on Saturday and our heat didn’t go off until around midnight. I had a good starting spot. I was on the second row. But as we took the green, there was a big accident right in front of me. I believe it was (J. Wesley) Swartout and someone who I can’t recall. The guy who was on the pole got sideways coming out of four and there was big mess on the front straight. I just missed the two cars that wrecked. I wound up going right in between them. I don’t know how I missed them, but we ended up missing them- luckily, because we would have been done for the weekend had we been involved in that. We went on to win the heat and we looked forward to Sunday.” DAY 2 Tom…“I believe we started around seventh and I tried to take it easy at the start. Knowing that we were going to pit, our objective was not to burn the tires off the car and just stay out of trouble until we pitted. We didn’t really have a fixed strategy set because “Goo” (Crew Chief Greg Edwards) wasn’t there that day so we were kinda winging it.” Greg added “I thought strategically that pitting between laps 70 and 80 would work out perfect for us.” Back to Tom…“I made my way up to second by lap 70 and that’s when we decided to pit. Wollaber was leading and I didn’t want him to know when I was pitting. I wanted to be the first one in the pits. So I kinda steered away from the pit entrance and when Dave went by the entrance, I ducked in real quick. As I recall, quite a few guys wound up following me in, (Matt) Hirschman, (Pete) Brittian- a lot of good cars followed me. We came back out, and started to come through the field. What made this race so memorable for me was when I got up to third J.R. Kent and George Kent ran first and second. Trying to get by George was one of the most exciting passes that I have ever made- even to this day. He took me out to the most ragged edge that you can actually take someone without wrecking. We touched once or twice. He had me out in the marbles a few times where I though that I wasn’t going to make it. So it was very exciting to be able to complete that pass against George. Then obviously coming up to J.R. for the lead, that was something unto itself. I gave him an outside look and when he went to the outside a little coming out of (turn) two I ducked underneath him and took the lead. We tangled a little bit going down the back straight. I thought I had him cleared but when I decided to come back up we ended up touching just a little. Passing both J.R and George Kent so late in the race, makes that race really stand out in my memory. It was my father’s birthday too. On a sad note, Greg couldn’t be there that day. We had to call him from the front straightaway and tell him what happened. But overall, we had a lot of good things going for us that day.” One more note on Tom McGrath. If you see him, ask him about the recent radio contest he won. A couple of quick notes on Spencer Speedway: Congratulations to Mike Leaty on winning the feature and Tony Hanbury on winning the track title. It was Tony’s second Modified championship. He also picked up the 2004 Race of Champions Dart Asphalt Modified Tour Championship in 2004. Positive feedback is always accepted at modmavin@rochester.rr.com and I’ll leave on this note: Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and have their shoes.
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
CLASSIFIEDS
GATER CLASSIFIEDS WORK, TRY THEM… FOR SALE: 2003 V Rod Tike. Real Nice. $5,999.95. (315) 6773986 ask for Dave. Call 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. FOR SALE: 4" Kevin Enders big block motor - fresh. $20,000. Call Witz Racing at (518) 376-4819. FOR SALE: Oswego Speedway Press Publications. 2007 Classic Yearbook, Race of Champions and Thompson World Series programs. Get all 3 for $26.00 (inc. S # H) while supplies last. Check or MO to Speedway Press Inc. PO Box 2006, Oswego, NY 13126. Email rspeedw1@twcny.rr.com for credit card orders. FOR SALE: 2004X Bicknell Chassis, body and misc. parts. Mint shape, never wrecked. Powder coated chassis, brake
lines installed by Bicknell. Must Sell. (585) 738-0094. FOR SALE: Q C gears $20.00. 2 - Franklin QC rears and lots of parts $1,000. Rebuilt Modified Roofs. $50.00. Bud Ward (315) 364-8871. FOR SALE: 2003 Jeff Gordon Monte Carlo Limited Edition. Like new. Only 6,000 miles. Fully loaded. One of 2,424 made. Must see to appreciate. $16,000. (315) 416-7770. FOR SALE: 30x30 tent with 4" aluminum tubing. No center post. Heavy duty. Includes jack for assembly. Great for parties and events. $2,500. (315) 416-7770. FOR SALE: Remote control race car business. Looking for fun/ profitable side work or full-time.
GATER RACING NEWS
Six cars, 6 steering consoles, 24' oval track, lap counter, PA/CD system, battery chargers. Comes with spare parts. $6,000. Also available 10 steering consoles, 13 cars, roll carts, tent and trailer for additional price. (315) 416-7770. FOR SALE: Chevy DIRT Big Block 3 3/4 best of everything. Complete dry sump, headers, 850 VDL Carb. Fresh rebuilt, 0 laps, just dyno laps. 850 hp. Just bolt in and go. Asking $20,000. Call (514) 953-6770. Dyno sheets available. FOR SALE: 1992 Kodiak Topkick, 3116 Cat Diesel, 6 speed eaton, 141,000 mile. Kitchen, full bath, dinette, can sleep 6. Lots of storage. Asking $30,500. Chuck Harriman at (802) 362-3391.
FOR SALE: Business - Myrtle Beach Driving Experience. Currently operating @the historic MB Speedway SC. Very profitable tourist market! 5 Busch cars, 24ft trailer, helmets, suits, everything! $125k. Andy Favre (540) 392-1843. FOR SALE: Toyota Celica 1981 Mini Stock. Good handling, fast car, full roll cage, extra parts, never been rolled. Nice car. $3,400. (716) 772-2758.
Vol. 43, Issue 29
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
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Vol. 43, Issue 29
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Heavy Rain, Part of Hurricane Hanna, Washes Out Saturday Night at Grandview
BECHTELSVILLE, PA…Rain and a forecast for more heavy rain and high winds forced the cancellation of the Tom Oates Chevy of Chester Springs doubleheader of NASCAR 358 Modifieds and Late Models at Grandview Speedway. The Saturday night events were to be the final point races of the season at the one-third-mile, banked clay oval. “With the rainout we are moving the final point races to Saturday, September 20th,” said promoter Bruce Rogers. “We want to make every effort to give the racers a chance to run the final point race. The battle between point leader Chuck Schutz and challenger Randy Stoudt (just a 56 point difference) will make for some great action on September 20.” The rescheduled night featuring NASCAR 358 modifieds, late models and SpeedSTRS will be sponsored by Allstate Insurance. The Tom Oates Chevy Night will be rescheduled for a date in 2009. Open competition racing scheduled for September 20th will now take place on September 27th. Coming up this Saturday, September 13th is the 38th annual BPG Racing Freedom 76 for modified stock cars. The winner will walk off with $20,000 in cash. More than $1,000 in lap money is also up for grabs. Racing
will get the green flag at 7pm. The Alpine Building and Post Supply Cash Dash will award the winner $1,000. Earlier in the day, 1:30pm, the Beer City Freedom Fest will be presented with fans getting to take part in activities at the dunk tank, a tire changing contest (for youngsters and adults), race car display, autograph session, driver interviews and more. Proceeds from the Beer City Freedom Fest will go to the Camelot Home for Children in Allentown, PA. Adult admission for the race will run $25, children 6 thru 11 are admitted for $7 and under 6 are free. Racers are reminded that their entries must be received by Grandview Speedway no later than Friday, September 12th in order to qualify for the early entry fee of $85. Those entering on raceday will pay $110. Entry forms can be found at www.grandviewspeedway.com Anyone interested in sponsoring a lap, $10 per lap, may do so by contacting Ernie Saxton at (215) 752-7797 or e-mail Esaxton144@aol.com For race information telephone (610) 754-7688 or check in at their website, www.grandviewspeedway.com
Broadslidin' By Don Dunham broadslidin@yahoo.com
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Pastor David Wells
ri-City Speedway shut down the lights for this season on Sunday night. Seems impossible that the season is already over. Sunday night the famous 12th annual CSONLINE Apple fest “100” took place. The weather man had predicted rain but dry skies prevailed during the evening. In the thunder cars Don Blake Jr. was the first to cross the finish line and in the “100” Alan Dellinger was unstoppable. He collected a record $3,360.00 for his efforts. Hey that is not bad for a Pro Stock class is it. Well I thank God for a safe season at Tri-City Speedway and a good summer of racing. The other extra distance race Sunday was held at Lebanon Valley Speedway for the advance “200”. Howie Commander had to cancel Saturday's show and roll all of it into Sunday. With six laps to go leader and strong runner Brett Hearn ran out of gas handing the win to Andy Bachetti who was willing to lead the last six laps and collect over $10,000 dollars for his efforts. Now this week the action turns to Lernerville Speedway with the Advance Big Blocks coming to town for the big one. Should be exciting and Patty and I plan to be there. I don’t know what the weather was like last night where you live but here it was 50 degrees and that is just a little chilly on the old pumpkin. Sunday morning we had a great service here at Lighthouse Christian Center. If you are ever in the Titusville area we would love for you to stop by. Our service on Sunday morning is at 10:30am. Yesterday I preached a message on, “Take the garbage out”. When the Jewish people set up camp in the Old Testament they would take the garbage outside the city or walls. In fact they had a gate in the city wall called the Dung Gate. Since they did not have running water or a sewer system it was important that all garbage and dung was taken out of the city for health reasons. I believe the same applies to the junk and garbage that comes out of our mouths. Take the garbage out. Too often we allow someone with negative thinking to pollute our minds and spirits. We should not allow our ears to become garbage cans. The home should not be a place to dump your garbage nor the church. Sad to say that a lot of newspapers articles and TV news can be all about pure and simple “garbage” and it pollutes our homes and minds. I have visited race teams in the pits and observed they were having a garbage dumping conversation. When you start to be critical of each other and lash p.m. with racing set for 7 p.m. For complete rules informa- out at each other with your garbage it only slows down and stops the tion, directions to the speedway, ability of the team to perform well or win. Now this does not mean we New Yorker 200 history, and can not listen to a person's problem but if they are really not looking for more please log on to www.utic- help only sympathy then we need to walk away and tell them to take aromespeedway.com or call the their garbage some where else. When you read the bible you discover speedway office at (315) 829- that when Jesus was crucified he was hung on a cross outside of the city. This shows that he took on himself all of our sins and mistakes 4557. which pure and simple is our garbage. The sins of our past, present and future he bore for us so we could live in his righteousness. You have to believe and receive what Christ has already done for you. He took our garbage out for us. So until next time may God bless you real good. Finish Line Chaplain, P.O. Box 313, Titusville, Pa 16354. (814) 673-2352.
19th Annual New Yorker 200 Weekend Set to go This Weekend at Utica-Rome
VERNON, NY…Some of the best drivers in short track racing have competed in Utica-Rome Speedway’s annual New Yorker event, with just a select few able to call themselves the victor in the historic race. Richie Evans, Lou Lazzaro, Maynard Troyer, Geoff Bodine, Ed Flemke, Billy Pauch, and Dale Planck are just some of the names etched into the record books as winners of this prestigious event. Like last year when Stewart Friesen crossed the finish line first, the winner of the New Yorker 200 will walk away with $10,000 plus lap money. On Saturday, September 13, the New Yorker 200 Weekend caps off an incredible 2008 racing season at the Utica-Rome Speedway with one of the biggest 358Modified shows of the season. Besides a hefty 10 grand to win, the event will pay $1,000 to start, making this race on of the highest paid purses for a 358-Modified exclusive show. Last season, 64 sail paneled clad 358-Modifieds checked in for competition. The question remains though, who will add their name to the impressive list of drivers that have conquered the New Yorker? Will it be Pat Ward, who has been nearly unstoppable during his championship season with eight wins, or will Friesen repeat his performance of last year and take the huge win? Can Willy Decker or Bobby Varin march on to their first New Yorker or will some outsider come in and steal the cash? The answers to these questions will be answered this Saturday. Joining in on the action this Saturday will be the Pro Stocks, who will compete for a $1,200 payday. Last season, Louie Jackson swept in and stole the money from the Utica-Rome regulars. Gates open for the Saturday portion of the New Yorker 200 Weekend at 11 a.m. with racing scheduled to off 2 p.m. Kicking off the huge on Friday evening will be the Sportsman, SUNY Canton Street Stock Series, and World Products Empire State IMCA Modified Series plus 358Modified hot laps. The Sportsman will compete in for a $2,200 payday while the SUNY Canton Street Stocks will chase a $1,000 check. The IMCA Modifieds will make their only visit of the season at the Vernon as part of the Empire State Series. Gates open for this exciting evening of racing at 4
A
s race fans we all have our heroes in this sport. I have many, and I have had the pleasure over the years to share some of my thoughts with you about them. On August 28 we lost one of the best. The first, and only American born F-1 world champion, Phil Hill passed away on that date in Monterey, California, he was 81. He won his first race in 1947, and won his last race 20 years later. He spent most of his career with Prancing Horse from Modena Italy, Ferrari. He has won just about every big race there is including the 24 hrs. of LeMans, he did this three times. Hill also won at Sebring, and in 1961 won the F-1 World Championship. That same year was the first time for the Grand Prix of the United States was held in Watkins Glen. That was the only year I missed for those events at the Glen. I never did get to see Phil Hill in one of those famous shark nose Ferrari’s. I did however get a chance to see him race in a Cooper and the ATS cars. But, at that point his F-1 career was in it’s waning stages. He will be missed by all of us who followed his career, and got to see him in person. Rest well Champ. Last week-end sure sucked. I didn’t get to see any racing in person. I thought we were going to get the racing in at Paradise, but, persistent drizzle wouldn’t allow Gary Palone enough time to get the track worked up to racing conditions. There weren’t a lot of cars on hand due to the weather, and a big $1500 to win Micro-Sprint race in Batavia. So, what did I do for the rest of the night at the track with no racing going on? I went to a birthday party, and watched some vandals try to set the porta-potties in the pits on fire with fireworks!! Oh, yeah, before I forget, fellow Gater good guy, Don Post showed up. We shot the bull for a while, and he got tired of waiting during the rain delay, and he said he’d be back. I never did see him again that night! Good friend, Greg Hixson was on hand and was slated to drive the Ruggles back up 600 Micro. That didn’t happen either. Anyway back to the birthday party. As it turned out, it was Alysha Ruggles birthday, and the back of the hauler was turned into a party house, complete with balloons, streamers, cake, and all kinds of great food and beverages. It was great. As they packed up and pulled out of the speedway, they invited everyone to the Ruggles home to continue the party. They were also preparing to go the Buffalo Bill’s home opener the following day. I was unable to go to the rest of the party, but, thanks for the invite, and happy birthday to Alysha. Shortly after the “Party Hauler” left, I was talking to Scott Hixson, and we heard fireworks going off in the North end of the pits. Next thing I know Gary Palone is on the site with water truck. Someone had set off some fireworks inside the porta-john and it was smoldering!! Gary was able to put it out quickly. What a fun night. After a lot of rain in Richmond,Va., the Sprint Cup race was run on Sunday afternoon, and Jimmie Johnson took his second win in a row. We will be cutting this one real short this week. Next Saturday there will be a NYMM Series race at Paradise, it should be a dandy, as points are close in this one. I’m also going to try to get to the Glen for the two closed circuit events, in September it will the Annual Finger Lakes Fun One put on by the Rochester chapter of the SCCA . The Glen region will hold their event in October. I’m working at getting back on a regular schedule. Thanks to all who welcomed me back and asked about my daughter. You’re the best. As always, thanks for listenin’. SEE YA!
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September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Vol. 43, Issue 29
Page
27
September 9, 2008
Gater Racing Photo News
Page
Vol. 43, Issue 29
28
Schneider BrotherS 200 23rd edition
$25,000 to Win | october 2-5, 2008 | Don't Miss it!
2 day ticketS
Saturday oct 4 friday oct 3
thurSday oct 2
If Thursday Rains Out, It Will NOT Be Rescheduled
Pit Gates open Grandstand Gates open hot Laps for all divisions racing Begins
3pm 5pm 6pm 7pm
Gater Racing News/Motorsports Expo 2008 Sportsman Super DIRTcar Series 30, Pro Stock Super DIRTcar Series 30, & Mr. DIRTcar Street Stock Super Series 30 plus Modified Hot Laps.
Pit Gates open Grandstands Gates open hot Laps for all divisions racing Begins
3pm 5pm 6pm 7pm
23rd Annual Schneider Brothers 200. Complete program with Heats, Consolations, All-Star Last Chance Race and Schneider Brothers 200.
Pit Gates open Grandstand Gates open Modified heat draw Modified hot Laps racing Begins Schneider Brothers 200
11am noon 2:15pm 3pm 4:30pm apx 7:30pm
adults ages 10-14 9 and under Pit admission
$12 $5 free $20 - Members $25 - non-Members
adults ages 10-14 9 and under Pit admission (fri. only)
$15 $8 free $25 - Members $30 - non Members
Friday only tickets and pit passes are not available until the same race day.
adults $25 ages 14 and under $10 reserved Seating $35 General admission Presale$25 reserved Seat only $10 Pit admission (Sat. only) $40 - Members $45 - non Members
Saturday Youth Tickets are not available until the same race day. Pit passes not available until the same race day.
General admission (fri/Sat) reserved (fri/Sat) Pit admission (fri/Sat-not available until raceday) * Pit passes not available until race day.
Sunday October 5th: Schneider Brothers 200 Weekend Rain date (If Needed)
$37 - if purchased before Sept. 21 $40 - if purchased after Sept. 21 $45 $50 - Members $55 - non-Members 2008 SCHNEIDER BROTHERS 200 MODIFIED ENTRY FORM $25,000 TO WIN!!! OCTOBER 4, 2008
Fulton Speedway Schneider Brothers 200 Entry Form P.O. Box 584 Brewerton NY 13029
for more information visit www.fultonspeedway.com