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SHAUN WALKER, STEVE POLHAMUS AND BRAD WEAVER NOTCH FIVE MILE POINT SPEEDWAY WINS ON SATURDAY NIGHT. MODIFIED STAR SERIES 50 RAINED OUT AFTER LAP 22.
KIRKWOOD, NY…Shaun Walker recorded the Sportsman win on Saturday night at Five Mile Point Speedway. Steve Polhamus won a wild Pure Stock feature with Brad Weaver recording the IMCA Modified feature. The STAR Series Modified 50 feature was rained out after lap 22. The remainder of that event and the Lightning Cat feature will be run beginning at 5 p.m. this Saturday, May 5th. A complete full program will ensue.
Thirty four Modified teams converged on Five Mile Point Speedway for the first event of the STAR Series being held in conjunction with Penn Can Speedway. Four heats were used to determine the starting field for the 50 lap feature event. Sportsman graduate Jesse Kline looked impressive by capturing the first heat win by a comfortable margin. Butch Getz, Stewart Friesen and Dan Hineline captured the other preliminaries. The Modified feature event saw 22 circuits completed under a steady drizzle. A caution on lap 22 saw a heavy band of rain move in putting an end to the racing program. Prior to that point the racing was furious as teams were trying to charge into a top spot in the event the race made the halfway mark. Joey Grammes was the race leader with Carl Nagel in tow when the race was postponed. The remaining 28 laps will be made up this Saturday, May 5th beginning at 5 p.m.
Shaun Walker showed the way in the 20 lap Sportsman feature event on Saturday. Walker started third in the field and took the lead on lap 13 from race leader Brian Puckett. During the early stages of the event Grant Hilfiger and Andy Stout set a torrid pace out front. Both were looking for their first ever Five Mile Point Speedway victory. Unfortunately Stout dove into turn three and four too hard and made contact with Hilfiger sending the leader spinning. Both would restart from the field and make late race charges back toward the front. When Puckett inherited the lead he and Walker quickly hooked up in a great race for the point. On lap 13 Walker dove underneath for the lead and never looked back. Puckett wound up second followed by Brad Grim, Mike Marold and Rick Raisner.
The door appeared to be wide open for the IMCA Modified teams as two heavy hitters were unable to be in action on Saturday night. Defending Track Champion Mike Stolarcyk III was committed to a wedding and Gary Dence was out of action due to illness. That looked to change as late arriving Dale Caswell made a rare start at the quarter mile. Caswell always runs strong at the Point and Saturday was no different. Weekly campaigner Tom Eiklor looked like he was going to defend his home speedway turf as he led the first fifteen circuits. Eiklor and Caswell had a tremendous battle for the lead until rear end problems sidelined the Eiklor run on lap 16. Caswell emerged the race leader but that was short lived as on the restart he developed his own issues. Last year’s rookie of the year Brad Weaver took advantage and moved past Caswell on lap 17. Fall Empire State Series race winner Scott Bennett looked strong as well only to fall to mechanical problems on lap 18 after working past Caswell. Weaver would go on for the victory with Caswell following across the line. Mike Stoddard, KC Cole and Tyler Stoddard completed the top five.
The 20 lap Pure Stock event saw a wild finish. Defending Track Champion Charlie Gilbert led 19 laps as he and Harry Marvin, III had a heated battle for the lead. On the final turn of the race Marvin made contact with Gilbert sending the two spinning. They both collected their cars but lost several spots. Nick Robinson appeared to be the winner as he crossed the finish line. Post race inspection discovered the Robinson car to have unapproved tires. He would ultimately be disqualified. The win was awarded to Steve Polhamus. For Polhamus it was his first ever victory. Runner up finisher Josh Towner was also disqualified in post race inspection. This moved Charlie Gilbert up to second with Marvin, French and Duane Codington rounding out the top five.
FRENCH’S AUTO PARTS SPORTSMAN FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH: SHAUN WALKER, Brian Puckett, Brad Grim, Mike Marold, Rick Raisner, Mike Lartz, Howard Jarvis, Eric Stephens Jr., Andy Stout, Grant Hilfiger, Les Gillette, Denny Smith, Jeff Leslie, Jason Griffith, Jerry Tonti, Casey Plummer, Butch Klinger, Willard Knecht, Jamie Batzel.
FRENCH’S AUTO PARTS IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH: BRAD WEAVER, Dale Caswell, Mike Stoddard, KC Cole, Tyler Stoddard, Duane Head, Scott Bennett, Tom Eiklor, Gary Roberts, Joe Cole, Jeremy Shaw.
FRENCH’S AUTO PARTS PURE STOCK FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH: STEVE POLHAMUS, Charlie Gilbert, Harry Marvin III, Josh French, Duane Codington, Mike Codington, David Conklin, Chuck Culbertson, Joe Rafferty Jr., George Frantz, Eugene VanAlstyne, Gene Sharpsteen, Tom Eiklor, Jason Benjamin. DQ Nick Robinson, Josh Towner.
MODIFIED RUNNING ORDER ON LAP 22: Joey Grammes, Carl Nagel, Jim Crawn, Stewart Friesen, Brian Malcolm, J.R. Crouse, James Cornell, Bob Hamm Jr., Jeremy Smith, Joel Batzel, Brian Decker, Ken Titus, Jesse Kline, John Sowle, Tommy McGurrin, Butch Getz, Darin Schuler, Eric Bonham, Barry White, Jerry Curry, Dan Hineline, Glenn Knapp, Eric Palmer, Brent Wilcox.
LIGHTNING CAT FEATURE LINEUP FOR 5/5: Dave Simms, Andy Brigham, Klem Underwood, Chris Taylor, Michael Taylor, Travis Hayes, Gary Kinne, Mark Andrus, Brandon Campbell, (13x), Chris Wheeler, Barry Wallace, Philip Clapper, Jake Rought, Brian Backus.
MODIFIED GUARANTEED STARTERS RACE LINEUP FOR 5/5: Darwin Greene, Hale Hartz, Thomas Oleski, Dave Calaman, Jack Admundsen, Bob Puckett, Bill Deckleman, Gary Griffin, Stan Frankenfield Jr., Chris Ostrowsky. TWO TO QUALIFY FOR 30 LAP FEATURE
Counter points…A light rain covered the Southern Tier throughout the afternoon on Saturday…A hearty group of race fans sat under umbrellas for most of the racing program as light rain continued on and off during the evening…The wet week and rainy Saturday played havoc with the racing surface…The surface was ultra tacky but tore up leaving teams a much narrower racing surface than normal…The Modified 50 lap STAR Series event was rained out after 22 laps were completed… The race fell three laps short from being official…The remainder of the feature event will be made up this Saturday, May 5th as the first race of the evening…A complete regular program will follow. Racing starts at 5 p.m…Prior to the rains Joey Grammes had worked his way from fifth starting slot to take the lead on lap 9…Carl Nagel was in the second slot after passing Jim Crawn on lap 21. Nagel started in fourth and Crawn started on the outside row. The feature lineup will be set as the field was scored on lap 22…The May 5th scheduled Figure 8 race has been moved to Saturday, May 12th…34 Modifieds, 20 Sportsman, 19 Pure Stocks, 13 IMCA Modifieds and 15 Lightning Cats filled the FMP pits this past Saturday night…
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