A beautiful and breezy spring day in the Catskill Mountains assisted in ushering in another exciting night of ground-pounding madness as the Accord Speedway grandstand crowd was treated to another outstanding six division racing card show that had “The Wild Child” Andy Bachetti racing to his his fourth consecutive 2012 Accord Speedway win in a torrid battle with Middletown, New York resident “DC” Danny Creeden. For the Sheffield, Massachusetts speedster the win marked his fifth win in succession as after being held winless throughout the 2011 racing season at Accord, Bachetti captured the final King of the Catskills headliner in a weather shortened event. The last time a Modified driver won five features in one season since this journalist has been writing for the speedway was back in 2007 when Bachetti turned the trick five times during the season. The pit area had more than ninety race cars on hand to do battle and a nice crowd on hand witnessed brilliant racing action from start to finish with all of the racing completed by 11 PM on Dig Safely New York night at the speedway. Additional winners included Anthony Perrego in the Camper’s Barn Sportsman ranks as the youngster claimed his third win of the new season at Accord. “Tommy Gun” Tommy Johnson added his second win of the season in the Healey Brothers Group Spec Sportsman headliner and Emerson Cargain Jr won his third Ruge’s Parts Center Pro Stock main event. Rookie Dan Speedling notched his second consecutive win in the Arkel Motors Pure Stock ranks Shawn Maloney wired the field in the Upstate Limousine/Village Drop Shop Fireball Four Cylinder nite-capper. The speedway was once again in impeccable racing trim as Promoter Gary Palmer and his staff performed their magic on the track all week long and during the evening of competition and the excellence in grooming brought about four-wide racing action throughout the evening. Palmer took to the speedway many times throughout the evening of events to make sure the racing surface remained consistent and the lap times in all divisions never fell off in a brilliant night of racing action.
Danny Creeden and Mel Schrufer brought the All American Ford Modified field to the line and it would be Creeden leading the first lap until Bachetti flashed by to take the point. Bachetti would lead up until lap fifteen as he was already heavily into lapped traffic and Creeden kept hustling his car forward to battle for the lead. Bachetti was momentarily blocked for a moment and Creeden surged into the lead in front of the grandstands but Bachetti quickly recovered and powered back into the lead off of turn two and led the remaining laps on his way to victory and another celebration in the Lucas Oil Products Victory Lane. Creeden continued with his brilliant driving at the speedway with another top five finish, this time in the runner-up role. “The Statesman” Jerry Higbie was third with “Showtime” Danny Tyler and Mel Schrufer completing the top five. Rich Ricci Jr, Mike Ricci, Mike Ruggiero, Scott Ferrier and Richard Smith completed the top ten.
The Healey Brothers Group Spec Sportsman feature literally had the guns loaded as Tommy Johnson grabbed the lead at the start of the event and had things pretty much in control throughout the run but had to withstand a late rally from the youngster Tyler Dippel as Dippel refused to yield until the checkered flag fell on the speedway. Johnson garnered win number two for the season and Dippel was in a strong runner-up role. “The Ice Man” Lem Atkins enjoyed a strong run in third place and Mike DuBois and Kyle VanDuser completed the top five. Joe Judge, newcomer Brian McGuire, Patrick Murphy, rookie Mike Lewis and Andrew Reeves completed the top ten.
Anthony Perrego rocketed away from the field at the start of the Camper’s Barn Sportsman feature run and remained at the front of the field when the checkered flag fell 25-laps later for his third win of the season. “The Kingston Cruiser” Greg McCloskey enjoyed a solid run in the runner-up role with “The Dirty Dog” Darrell Ford hanging tough in third place. Kevin Ward moved through the field well from his eleventh starting spot to finish fourth and Vinny DeCicco completed the top five. Mike Barrett, Ray See Jr, Will Dietz, Tyler Dippel and Phil Recchio completed the top ten.
The Arkel Motors Pure Stock main event began with Dan Speedling racing into the lead at the drop of the green flag and leading throughout the event to capture his second straight win but not before holding off the determined John “Little” Davis who came on strong in the late stages of the event to finish second. Ray Tarantino was third with Tim Brown and rookie Dom Marguglio completing the top five. Jerry Craig Sr, John Woinoski, newcomer Tom Hausman Jr, Dylan Johnson and Ryan Johnson rounded out the top ten.
Ruge’s Parts Center Pro Stock event saw Ford proponent John Roese grab the lead and lead for three laps until Cargain powered by. Cargain led up until a 13th lap restart and once again it was Roese seizing the point and going to what appeared to be his second win of the season. The officials ruled Roese had jumped the restart and was placed back two positions and Cargain was restored to his third win of the season. Jimmy Sykes was declared the runner-up with Roese in third, hard driving Hank Morin in fourth and Ralph Ronk completing the top five. George Christiana stepped off the sideline to finish sixth in the Ron Rion car with Paul Aragon, John Rood, Dave Demorest and the returning Bill Rion rounding out the order.
The Fireball Four Cylinder main event saw King of the Catskills winner Shawn Maloney wire the field in his four cylinder hot rod despite some mid race advances by runner-up Dan Curry. George Zenzinger, Bill Curry and Tim Curry completed the top five with Walt Henry, Jerry Curry, Keith Henry, Robert Hoar and Paul Curry rounding out the top finishers in the spice filled roster of driving talent.
MUDPLUGS:
Heat wins were captured by Mike Ruggiero and Danny Tyler in the Modified division while Anthony Perrego and Greg McCloskey were victorious in the Sportsman event. Lem Atkins and Tommy Johnson were heat winners in the Spec Sportsman and John Roese and Emerson Cargain captured the Pro Stock preliminaries. Dan Speedling and Tom Brown were triumphant in the Pure Stock heats and Tim Curry and Dan Curry were Four Cylinder heat winners.
Dig Safely New York was the headline sponsor for the evening and brought along their well appointed display trailer to show and assist in educating the crowd to having a safe dig in the Empire State when doing an excavation project. The not for profit group was kept busy throughout the evening answering questions regarding their valuable services and being very informative with their answers. For more information regarding their services: CALL811 or log into their well documentwed website at: www.digsafelynewyork.com
The Dig Safely Group also brought along a batch of t-shirts that Miss Accord Speedway Erika Decker heaved out into the crowd and two were later saved for Trivia questions that saw Ron Martin and Charlie DePalma winning them. Martin later explained he is in the finishing stages of a Sportsman car that is designated for action at Accord upon completion.
New racers on hand for the evening included “The Mighty Man From Mertztown” Barry White as the Berks County of Pennsylvania resident made the trek up to test out a brand new powerplant he just installed in the Deka Batteries sponsored race car. Barry was very competitive in his first attempt at the Accord soil and it is hoped he will return in the future to do additional battle. Barry and his family are devoted and great people in racing and it was good to hear family patriarch Lynn Redcay was in the pit area as well enjoying the action. Brian McGuire, the son of racing attorney Ken McGuire, made his first appearance at Accord and enjoyed a solid run with a sixth place run in the feature. Bill Rion and Brad Smith were new drivers to the Pro Stock ranks with Smith taking over the control of one of the Rose racing entries. Tom Hausman was another first timer at the speedway in a former Knoth-Woinoski mount. The driving roster for the Fireballers expanded greatly from opening night and the affordable division is catching on quickly.
Upcoming events for the speedway include the Gigantic Garage Sale scheduled for May 27th on Memorial Day Weekend that will include the now famous Chicken BBQ being served up and the award winning concession stand open throughout the day. For additional information regarding the big sale day, go to the Accord Speedway website at: www.accordspeedway.com
RESULTS:
All American Ford Modifieds: Andy Bachetti, Danny Creeden, Jerry Higbie, Danny Tyler, Mel Schrufer, Rich Ricci Jr, Mike Ricci, Mike Ruggiero, Scott Ferrier, Richard Smith, Mike Sabia, Will Auchmoody, Geoff Quackenbush, Brad Rothaupt, Barry White, Rob Rowe, Mike Senecal, Dave Hinsch (DNS)
Camper’s Barn Sportsman: Anthony Perrego, Greg McCloskey, Darrell Ford, Kevin Ward, Vinny DeCicco, Mike Barrett, Ray See Jr, Will Dietz, Tyler Dippel, Phil Recchio, Dave Werber, Ryan Stortini, David Coene, Kenny Ferrier, Joe Giachinta, Sam Call, Jesse Marks, Chris Stevens (DNS)
Healey Brothers Group Spec Sportsman: Tommy Johnson, Tyler Dippel, Lem Atkins, Mike DuBois, Kyle VanDuser, Joe Judge, Brian McGuire, Patrick Murphy, Mike Lewis, Andrew Reeves, John Aumick, Ken Hinsch, Brad Cicio, Ken Boniface, Kevin Smith, Nick Plumstead, Phil Johnson, John Sundlof, Tyler Boniface (DQ)
Ruge’s Parts Center Pro Stocks: Emerson Cargain Jr, Jimmy Sykes, John Roese, Hank Morin, Ralph Ronk, George Christiana, Paul Aragon, John Rood, Dave Demorest, Bill Rion, Brad Smith
Arkel Motors Pure Stocks: Dan Speedling, John Davis, Ray Tarantino, Tim Brown, Dom Marguglio, Jerry Craig Sr, John Woinoski, Tom Hausman Jr, Dylan Johnson, Ryan Johnson, Nick Johnson, Steve Cooper, Harry Bachman, Chris Kanuk (DQ)
Upstate Limousine/Village Drop Shop Fireball Four Cylinders: Shawn Maloney, Dan Curry, George Zeininger, Bill Curry, Tim Curry, Walt Henry, Jerry Curry, Keith Henry, Robert Hoar, Paul Curry, Sarah Bohlin, Matt Curry
Racing is on tap every Friday night from April through September. Pit Gates open at 4:30; Spectator Gates open at 5:00; Hot Laps are at 6:30 and the racing begins at 7 PM. The Palmer Family in keeping true to their racing fans will show no increase in admission at the gate with admission for Adults $12.00 (12+) Children $3.00 (11+ under) Indoor Seating $20.00; Family four pack special: 2 Adults + 2 Children and $20.00 in Food Vouchers for $40.00 (a savings of $10.00) May 18th brings Powers NAPA Night to the speedway with the return of the winged warriors of the WRWD Radio sponsored Lightning Sprints
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Midweek Madness presented by Hudson Valley Cycle begins on Wednesday evening June 6th and runs through August 29th. For further updates and information regarding all of the news and additions to the Accord Speedway, log on to their very well documented website at: http://www.accordspeedway.com or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478 . For video work and the latest Accord Speedway racing action, contact Metro Media Video and Bob Haines at: 518 331 8783 or go his website at: www.metmedvid.com For the purchase of banquet, action or victory lane track photos, contact Kevin at: http://kbsracingphotos.com At the Accord Speedway……………………………………..
