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KIRKWOOD, NY…Stewart Friesen continued his momentum from 2006 at Five Mile Point Speedway by recording the victory in the thirty lap season opener. Joey Colsten notched his first Sportsman victory with Doug Stack taking top honors in the Pure Stocks and Ken Underwood recording the win in the Lightning Cat class.
Friesen became a regular weekly campaigner at Five Mile Point Speedway during the last third of the ’06 season and quickly took a liking to the quarter mile. He recorded four victories late in the season. It appeared as if he didn’t miss a beat this past Saturday night in the 30 lap Modified feature event. After winning his heat race Friesen drew the number twelve position for the start of the main event. The front row consisted of Brent Wilcox and Jeremy Smith for the drop of the green. Smith vaulted out to the early lead with Wilcox and Tom McGurrin in tow. The top three had a great battle during the early going as J.R. Crouse was turning heads as he worked his way through the field from his eighth starting position.
Out front McGurrin ran the extreme outside of the speedway with Smith running the low side as they fought for the lead. Wilcox, Crouse and now Friesen battled for third place by lap 13 and at the same time McGurrin managed to edge in front for the lead. The battle up front was intense as the leaders continued to run side by side and on lap 21 Friesen waited long enough as dove between both Smith and McGurrin trying to take command. The caution flew temporarily ending that bid. On the restart Smith regained the lead as McGurrin began to develop a push in the Sharkey’s machine. Both Friesen and Wilcox were able to take advantage as they worked past as well. On lap 24 Friesen made his way past Smith for the lead and never looked back. At the finish it would be Friesen recording the victory over Smith, Wilcox, McGurrin and Crouse. Both Smith and Wilcox earned career best FMP finishes with their efforts on Saturday.
In victory lane Friesen remarked, “We weren’t working as well as normal on the inside of the speedway tonight but the car would really hook up on the top after a few green flag laps.” “I was getting inpatient with the back to back yellows that occurred because I thought we might run out of time.” He added, “This track is really fun to race at and we’re always happy with a victory here.”
In the 25 lap Sportsman feature event second generation driver Joey Colsten looked like a savvy veteran as he led wire to wire from his outside front row starting spot. Ryan Olsommer sat on the front row but dropped to third quickly as both Colsten and rookie driver Jamie Batzel motored past at the drop of the green. Batzel ran a strong race as he tried to keep pace with Colsten while fending off many challenges from Olsommer. As the laps wound down Batzel saw his Country Town Auto mount begin to fade as Olsommer, Mike Lartz and Tim Votra were all able to work past in the late stages. Colsten went on to hold off Olsommer for his first ever FMP win. Lartz wound up third after starting in tenth place with Votra and Batzel completing the top five.
The 20 lap Pure Stock feature event saw a talent laden field of drivers as several invaders made their way to the quarter mile on Saturday. Tom Eiklor and Dan Mazaresa sat on the pole with Eiklor moving out front at the start. Rich Talada made a quick charge through the pack as he took the lead on lap five after starting in the fifth position. Defending Track Champion Charlie Gilbert wasn’t going to be outgunned on his home track as he worked his way past Talada on lap 9 after starting in the eighth slot. Spring Southern Tier Showdown winner Doug Stack followed Gilberts lead as he moved past Talada and into second on lap 12. The top five drivers battled side by side lap after lap in what can simply be described as a fantastic race. On lap 14 Stack worked past Gilbert for the lead. The two battled side by side the remainder of the way with Stack holding on by a slim margin at the finish. Gilbert wound up second followed by Shane Wolf, Butch Green and Josh Towner.
Ken Underwood picked the right time to take his only lead of the race in the 15 lap Lightning Cat feature. Underwood just edged out Gary Kinne at the stripe to score his first Five Mile Point Speedway victory. Kinne wound up second followed by Steve Simpson, Mike Taylor and Nick Price.
MODIFIED FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH: STEWART FRIESEN, Jeremy Smith, Brent Wilcox, Tom McGurrin, J.R. Crouse, Mile Colsten, Brian Malcolm, Billy Deckleman, Butch Cerullo, Jim Crawn, John Sowle, Joel Batzel, Darwin Green, Dale Hartz, Dave Calaman, Jerry Liford, Glenn Knapp, Kevin Duryea, Wade Decker, James Cornell, Ken Titus, Bob Trapper, Daren Schuler, Eric Palmer, Bob Hamm Jr., Dan Hineline.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH: JOEY COLSTEN, Ryan Olsommer, Mike Lartz, Tim Votra, Jamie Batzel, Grant Hilfiger, Les Gillette, Josh Pursell, Gary Wagner, Nick Rochinski, Mike Marold Jr., Paul Harrington, Paul Rooney, Jeff Powell, Tom Grover, Chris Wood, Butch Klinger, John Gesztesi, Nick Petrilak, J.T. McKernan.
PURE STOCK FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH: DOUG STACK, Charlie Gilbert, Shane Wolf, Butch Green, Josh Towner, Rich Green Jr., Tom Eiklor, Jason Waibel, Shannon Butts, Rich Talada, Daryl Ellis, Jr. Rich Sharpsteen, George Frantz, Dan Mozzarra, Kurt Decker, David Conklin, Mike Coddington, Donnie Russell Jr., Mike Morse.
LIGHTNING CATS FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH: KEN UNDERWOOD, Gary Kinne, Steve Simpson, Mike Taylor, Nick Price, Klem Underwood, Dave Simms, Andrew Brigham, David Jenkins, Mark Andrus, Ray Oakley, Brandon Campbell, Chris Taylor, Ryan Oakley, Joe Fuller, Dave Nixon.
Counter points… A big crowd was on hand for the event that wasn’t even scheduled until the Wednesday night prior...Those in attendance weren’t disappointed as all four feature events had tremendous racing…After a foot of snow covered the area just this past Monday track crews were able to put together a very fast surface for the action on a 70 degree afternoon…Eighty three race teams participated in the racing card with over one hundred teams on hand total during the day…This included the teams on hand for the earlier open practice that was held…Several teams opted to wait one week to debut their new machines for the first point race after the completion of practice…Several more had mechanical problems in the open practice…The Modified feature saw 5 lead changes in what was an extremely competitive event…Joey Colsten ‘s Sportsman victory was his first ever at Five Mile Point Speedway…His dad Mike (a former track champion) drove to a sixth place finish in the Modified feature…Racing continues this Saturday night with the first STAR Series (southern tier auto racing) Modified 50. The 2007 point race gets underway in all classes which will include Sportsman, IMCA Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Lightning Cats. Race time is 5 p.m.
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