|
VERON, N.Y. – On Sunday night at the Utica-Rome Speedway, all the dirt stars came and attempted to walk away with the Race of Champions Dart Dirt Modified tour 75-lap main event and the $4,000 winner share. When everything was all said and done, it was a local hero, Willy Decker, picking up the win.
“The Doctor (Danny Johnson) was in the house,” stated Decker in victory. “But it was Decker who did the operating.”
Decker was chased to the line by Danny Johnson in second, Bobby Varin barley held on to finish third, Vic Coffey worked from the 21st starting spot to finish in fourth while Duanesburg, NY driver, Ronnie Johnson completed the top five.
Alan Johnson, of Phelps, N.Y., grabbed the early advantage with his Jake Spraker owned ride. Johnson, who started on the pole, paced the field for the first three laps.
A. Johnson’s lead was short lived as his brother, Danny, moved to the inside of turn two to take the race lead while Decker battled with Matt Sheppard for the third spot on lap 4.
Things changed on lap 17 when Bob Henry made contact with the outside while on the front straight away bringing out the caution. When the race resumed, Decker moved into second while D. Johnson still holding onto the top spot.
Then, on lap 19, Decker moved to the topside of turns three and four to take the lead from ‘the Doctor.’
“I ran side-by-side with Danny (Johnson) for a moment,” stated Decker. “He came up speedway and we touched wheels and with some luck we were able to get around him for the lead.”
Now in command with his Enders powered Bicknell, Decker began to open up a sizeable advantage on Johnson and Varin. At many points throughout the event Decker held over a two second advantage on the field.
With the big lead, Decker was forced to deal with extremely heavy lapped traffic. Several times over the course of the remaining laps, Decker altered his line to get around slower traffic.
“The flagger was doing his job but the guys in the back were running the cushion because that was the fastest way around,” stated Decker. “I don’t fault them at all for not moving right away because they didn’t want to give up a spot.
“They were racing too.”
Decker alternated his line perfectly when he needed to and he secured the win by over a straightaway.
D. Johnson held on to finish up second in his first appearance of the season at Utica-Rome. The finished allowed him to add to his RoC North Region point lead.
“The car was good I’m really happy,” said Johnson. “I can’t complain considering we got a second place finish.”
The Rochester, N.Y., held the top spot early in his Dave Thompson owned Troyer ride but saw Decker slide by on the outside just before lap 20.
“He was quicker than me on the outside and there wasn’t anything I could do,” stated Johnson. “He’s regular here and he knows the quick way around.”
Varin, of Sharon Springs, had one shot at Johnson for second but he couldn’t complete the pass leaving him in third.
“I made a huge mistake,” said Varin. “You can’t show him you nose and then not make a move. Once he saw me on the bottom he moved down there and I wasn’t going to be able to do anything after that.”
RoC Notes
Heat races for the 37 cars in attendance were won by Varin, Pat Ward, Henry and Sheppard while Coffey and Mark Flach won the consolation events.
B. Decker was disqualified after the heat race for being light and he was forced to qualify through the consolation event.
Stewart Friesen was involved in a lap 1 incident with Henry ending his evening early.
Roger Phelps, a former Utica-Speedway champion, qualified for the event through the event using his son’s backup car.
RACE OF CHAMPIONS DART DIRT MODIFIED SERIES FEATURE (75 LAPS)-WILLY DECKER, Danny Johnson, Bobby Varin, Vic Coffey, Ronnie Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Ryan Phelps, Ted Lamb, AJ Romano, Alan Johnson, Pat Ward, John Ramsey, Paul Kinney, Dave Camara, Andy Bachetti, Gus Schmidt, Mitch Gibbs, Dave Rauscher, Chris Ostrowsky, Brett Hearn, Roger Phelps, Bob Henry Jr., Jack Johnson, Mark Flach, Jerry Higbie, Billy Decker, and Stewart Friesen.
|
|
