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Crowd “Electrified” as Johnson & Rivers battle to the end for win at Genesee.
Batavia, NY—May 26, 2007--By: Chris Rhynold, Media/Racer Relations Director
In the best 360 Late Model race of the season, Jon Rivers controlled the whole race except the last seven one-hundredths of a second as the hotshoe Jim Johnson steals one away from him on Gates Electrical Supply Night at Genesee Speedway.
Randy Barkley led the Dickinson’s Auto Service Mini Stocks field to the green flag of the feature event and held the top spot until lap 11 when Dan Norton made the pass in turn three and four. Norton’s lead would be short lived when he drifted high and lost the handle on his mustang and shot down track collecting Barkley bringing out the yellow. Brandon Aradine would inherit the lead and hold it for only one lap before he would spin out exiting turn four handing the lead to Jason Hull. In the final circuit Russ Wassner would muscle his way around Hull for the lead moving Hull back to 2nd with Bobby Dickinson hot on his tail. Coming to the checkers, Wassner would cruise to the win while Hull would become extremely loose exiting turn four and Dickinson would collect and spin Hull, bunching up all the positions racing to the checkers. Hull would be quick to react and grabbed reverse and crossed the line backwards coming home in second.
Heat winners – Heat 1 – Nick Skeet, Heat 2 – Jason Hull
In the Bobcat of Buffalo Street Stock division, ‘Wild’ Bill Weller would collect win # 3 on the season after putting on a clinic from his 12th starting position. David Downs would pace the field and jumped to an early lead with Jeb Walworth giving chase. Walworth could get to Downs back door but couldn’t get by Downs as he held the preferred line around the speedway. By lap 12, Weller had worked his way up to 5th and all over Joey Spicola like a dirty shirt. Walworth poked his nose under Downs on a couple of occasions but could not complete the pass as Weller and Spicola were working their way closer and closer to the leaders. On the final lap disaster would strike for the leaders as Walworth and Downs would collect each other as Walworth was attempting the pass for the lead. Spicola would inherit the leader setting up a green checkers finish. Spicola would lead most of the final lap and appeared to be coming home for the win. However, Weller really closed the gap down the back chute and got to the inside of Spicola as he drifted high in turn three and at the line Weller would beat Spicola by mere inches to take the win.
Heat winners – Heat 1 – Joey Spicola, Heat 2 – Jeff Maxwell
John Venuto would lead the Troyer Race Cars Sportsman feature to the green flag of a caution infested feature. Cautions would hit the speedway a total of seven times for spin- outs and wrecks. Venuto would control the race until lap 21 when Rob Pratt took the lead and began to check out on the field. Two laps later a hard charging Steve Schumacher would steal the 2nd spot from Venuto and set his sights on Pratt. The yellow flag would fly on the final lap when Stubby Pangrazio, R.J. Kingdollar, Bill Hallett and Don Ogden came together in turn two. This caution would bunch up the field for yet another green checker finish. Pratt controlled the restart and bolted away from the field to score his 2nd feature win of 2007 at Genesee Speedway.
Heat winners – Heat 1 – Ricky Newton, Heat 2 – Steve Schumacher
The Greenlief’s Restaurant Pro Stocks ran yet another caution free feature with an exciting battle for the lead. The undefeated Pete Stefanski would again start from the front row for the second consecutive week. Pole sitter Steve Lewis would jump to the early lead but would hand it to Eric Greenlief who was on a mission as the top four cars were all bunched together. Stefanski wasted no time in getting himself in contention for the win by passing Lewis and keeping pace with Greenlief. Greenlief and Stefanski would pull away from the field and put on quite the show. On lap 14 Stefanski would peek his nose underneath Greenlief and the two came together as Greenlief did not know Stefanski was there, sending the two bouncing off each other and Stefanski through the rough in turn four. Stefanski would keep the handle of his Monte Carlo and take the lead after the skirmish and would complete his 4-pleat and extend his streak. Greenlief’s Restaurant also offered a $25 dollar bonus to the 4th and 8th place cars, which was collected by Mike Townsend and Don Barnes.
Heat winner – John Gagner
The BDK Construction 360 Late Models ran the best feature they had ran so far this year. They raced a caution free race which seen pole sitter Jon Rivers jump to a commanding lead in the early portion of the race. Lap traffic played a major roll in the race as it really slowed Rivers pace and allowed Jim Johnson to reel him in. By lap 15, Johnson had reached Rivers rear bumper and was just waiting for Rivers to make a mistake. On the last lap Johnson pulled to the inside of Rivers as they drag raced around the track for the top spot. At the line in the closest finish of the season, Johnson defeated Rivers by seven one-hundredths of a second to extend his win streak to 4 consecutive wins in a row. In victory lane both Johnson and Rivers pulled in, not knowing who the feature winner was. The scoring staff had the transponders to thank for a finish that was almost impossible to call.
Heat winners – Heat 1 – Jon Rivers, Heat 2 – JJ Mazur
Fifty kids between the ages of 5-10 entered the human drag races with Heather Howell winning the girls division and Josh Hixenbaugh winning the boys division.
Be sure to join us next week when Johnson’s Automotive and A-1 Self Storage present the 5 Star Program plus Kids Bike Races. Pit Gates open at 4pm, Grandstand opens at 5pm, Green Flag drops at 6pm. For race day information call the speedway at 585-343-1076.
For Up to Date results and information visit our website at www.geneseespeedway.com .
Dickinson’s Auto Service Mini Stocks – 15 Laps
1. x82 Russ Wassner
2. 37 Jason Hull
3. 328 Bobby Dickinson
4. 12b Brandon Aradine
5. 7+1 Ed Neal
6. 95 Randy Barkley
7. 3 Henry Maier
8. 0 Dan Norton
9. 69 Roger Norton
10. 14 Ken Hixenbaugh
11. 86 Jeremy Barnard
12. 8 Nick Skeet
Bobcat of Buffalo Street Stocks – 20 Laps
1. 69 Bill Weller
2. 93 Joey Spicola
3. 14 Jeff Maxwell
4. F3 Frank Moyer
5. 60jr Colton Chappius
6. 02 David Downs
7. 13 Kevin Mitchell
8. 74 Jeb Walworth
9. 2v John Fry
10. 378 Carl Shetler
11. 07 Jeremy Denton
12. r7 Ron Roberts
13. 4 Darrel Moyer
14. 2z Kenny Benouche
Greenlief’s Restaurant Pro Stocks – 20 Laps
1. 2 Pete Stefanski
2. 12g Eric Greenlief
3. 11s Steve Lewis
4. 28 Don Barnes
5. 3j John Gagner
6. 99 Mike Martin
7. 10 Brett Martin
8. 1fx Mike Townsend
BDK Construction 360 Late Models – 20 Laps
1. 93j Jim Johnson
2. 85 Jon Rivers
3. 8 Bill Holmes
4. 2 Bob Babbitt
5. 13jr JJ Mazur
6. 122 Justin Chaddock
7. 15 Rich Mogavero
8. 012 Dave DuBois
9. 75 Ron Mogavero
10. 42 Derek Boyle
11. 45 T.J. Newton
12. 70 Pete Waldron
13. 54 Don Newton
14. 22 Tim Kaufmann
15. 1fx Brian Farnsworth
16. 58 Carl Shetler
17. 001 Rich Hale
18. 07 Josh Pangrazio
19. 05 Brian Kotarski
Troyer Race Cars Sportsman – 25 Laps
1. p38 Rob Pratt
2. 56 Steve Schumacher
3. 44v John Venuto
4. 04 Greg Mrzywka
5. 11n Ricky Newton
6. 93jr Rob Richmond
7. 19w Justin Wright
8. 18j John Baker
9. 97c Luke Carleton
10. 67 John Panattoni
11. 50 Tim Downs
12. 11j Don Spatorico
13. 57 Don Ogden
14. 12 Bill Hallet
15. 0 Stubby Pangrazio
16. 4t6 R.J. Kingdollar
17. 6t4 Kerry Ball
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