|
Weedsport, NY – June 3, 2007 – By Gary M. Spaid, Cayuga County Fair Speedway PR
With rain falling all over New York State and most tracks forced to cancel, Cayuga County Fair Speedway General Manager Jack Deery made the call to hang in as long as possible and wait out the weather. The rain lifted and Cayuga County was the only track in the Northeast to get its Sunday show completed.
Billy Dunn from Watertown, N.Y. drove his Number One Speed/Bicknell mount to a surprise win in the DIRTcar Modifieds just beating out three-time CCFS winner Danny Johnson to the finish line. The near flag-to-flag triumph for Dunn was his first win ever at the speedway, making him the 96th driver to take a Modified checkered flag since 1968. “It’s been a long time coming,” related Dunn. “I’ve had my ups and downs each week here at Cayuga County. I knew Danny was there and that I had to get through traffic to have a chance.”
In DIRTcar Sportsman action, Shaw Donath picked up his second straight feature victory of the year at Cayuga County. Donath stated, “I actually over geared for the top side of the track, but had a good run on that restart, lap 11, when I got the lead.”
Phil Marsden also earned his second CCFS feature win of the year in the UMP Street Stock driving his National Parts Peddler sponsored car. “I tried the low side of the track and somehow it worked. The car held well and I didn’t want to spin out, like in the heat race,” he stated. “This was a beautiful track, flat and smooth with a lot of bite.”
Nick Werner held on to win the 25-lap BattleKarz feature, beating out Bill Werner and Keith Keuer for his first victory of the year. A special appearance by the NY Modified Midgets ended with Jim Radney from Honeoye Falls, N.Y. taking the 20-lap feature victory. Radney’s 2007 Hyper chassis was powered by a 2005 Kawisaki 636 cc engine.
At the start of the 35-lap DIRTcar Modified feature Russ Hefti took command, however, a number of yellows would haunt the early stages. One yellow flew each of the first three laps; Jimmy Phelps saw his right rear wheel center break to cause the first yellow, a lap later a seven-car pile-up in the fourth turn didn’t claim any permanent drop outs, and the third yellow came on lap three for debris on the front stretch.
As the race got under way, Dunn and rookie Rob Bellinger were dicing for the lead. Dunn was able to inch out an advantage and be recorded as the leader on lap two. Dunn then began to pull away from the rest of the field, leading Brian Weaver, Bellinger, Justin Haers and Sean Beardsley.
On the move from his 17th starting position was Danny Johnson, who had worked his way up to fifth by lap 12. A yellow on lap 20 helped Johnson remain in striking distance of the lead as Dana Wagner slid high in the first turn and made heavy contact with the outside first turn wall.
Johnson dogged Dunn over the final 13 laps of the race with the final margin of victory a mere .757 seconds. Rounding out the top-five finishers were Weaver, Steve Paine and Bellinger.
In the 25-lap DIRTcar Sportsman race Donath took the lead from Joe Williams on lap 11 and cruised home to an easy victory.
At the start it was Mike Entwistle, steering the number 21 usually driven by Amanda Garin, into first place. On lap two the yellow flew when Tim Currier bounced off the front stretch wall and then across the track without any steering. He collected the cars of Alan Fink and Mike Mahaney who returned to the fray, however both Currier and Fink were done for the night.
A yellow flag on lap seven flew when Beth Schneider and Dan Sellen got together resulting in a lot of sheet metal damage to the Schneider machine. On the restart John Juhl II inched into the lead. A third caution came on lap nine when Bill Coleman hit the back of the Steve Planck car sending them sliding to a stop in the fourth turn.
From this point on the race looked to be going green and Donath was able to pass Juhl II for the lead on lap 11. Donath pulled away from the rest of the field taking the win by 1.296 seconds over Juhl. A late race yellow on lap 23 set up a two lap dash to the checkers with Donath taking the win followed by Juhl Entwistle, Williams and Todd Town.
The NY Modified Midgets paced down to take the green for a 20-lap main event. Dan Miller jumped out to an early lead and was able to lead the parade for just three laps when Zack Morgan gained the runner-up position. On lap four a lead change came when Zack Morgan inched around Miller with the pair followed by Radney, Nick Cooper and Erick Rudolph, the son of former Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block Modified champion Charlie Rudolph.
Radney started to challenge Morgan for the top spot on lap 14 after closing a gap of some 10 car-lengths on the leader. On lap 15 the red flag was thrown after the lapped car of John Smith tagged the first turn wall and flipped. Smith emerged uninjured in the mishap.
This set up a five-lap dash to the checkers. Radney was able to complete his pass for the lead on lap 17 and pull away from Morgan to claim the victory followed by Rudolph, who passed for second on the final lap, Morgan, Miller and Timex Morgan.
The 15-lap UMP Street Stock feature proved exciting as always. Dave Marcuccilli took the early lead but lost it to a side-by-side duel with Nick Rizzo on lap seven. Following Rizzo’s remarkable maneuver to gain the lead, he would eventually lose the spot to Phil Marsden with just two laps remaining in the race.
The Atlantic Coast Old Timers were also on hand displaying a number of sprint and midget cars from the past. The group ran a 10-lap exhibition with Bud Hineman from nearby Waterloo, N.Y. taking the checkers first driving a yellow number 5 sprint car, vintage Mid-1950’s.
This Sunday, June 10, Twin 20-lappers for the DIRTcar Sportsman will headline the show as the Big-Block Modifieds will have the evening off. It will be Town Mechanical night, featuring not only the Sportsman but also a “world famous” trailer race, UMP Street Stocks, BattleKarz, Central NY Mini Sprints, Soccer Moms Karmagedden and the Outlaw Sliders. Race time is 7 p.m. sharp.
The Cayuga County Fair Speedway is located just east of the village of Weedsport, NY, on Route 31. The track is located minutes from NYS Thruway exit 40, making for easy access. For more information about Cayuga County, search out www.cayugacountyfairspeedway.com on the world wide web.
K&S CAR WASH presents CARLOAD NIGHT SUMMARY
BATTLEKARZ
FEATURE (25-laps): NICK WERNER, Bill Werner, Keith Keuer, Karl Werner, Leo Baker, Brian Nasholtz, Barb Amidon, Jacobe Palmiter, Wally Dean, Dave Nageldinger, Craig Dingy, Andy Burtless, Ed Gilner, Kyle Wilkins.
UMP STREET STOCK
HEAT: D. Marcuccilli, J. Wallace, S. Woodworth, D. Pope, N. Rizzo.
FEATURE (15-laps): PHIL MARSDEN, Nick Rizzo, Dave Marcuccilli, James Wallace, Steve Woodworth, Ron Hawker, David Pope, Van Grant, Glenn Weaver.
NY MODIFIED MIDGET
HEAT 1: Z. Morgan, N. Cooper, R. Jordan, T. Morgan, L. Podgers.
HEAT 2: J. Radney, D. Miller, P. Habeck, K. Dombroski, J. Zanho.
HEAT 3: B. Westlake, E. Rudolph, D. Flower, J. Dates, R. Brokaw.
FEATURE (20-laps): JIM RADNEY, Erick Rudolph, Zack Morgan, Dan Miller, Timex Morgan, Bill Westlake, Jake Dates, Kevin Norton, Paul Habeck, Joe Zanho, Lindsey Podgers, Darren Flower, Kristen Dombroski, Nick Cooper, Randy Brokaw, Jim Lafler, Amy Scott, John Smith, Ryan Jordan, Steven Doell, Elwood Miller (DNS).
DIRTcar SPORTSMAN MODIFIED
HEAT 1: M. Entwistle, T. Currier, A. Fink, A. Steiner, J. Juhl II, J. Pitcher.
HEAT 2: B. Coleman, J. Spano, S. Planck, J. Williams, T. Town, S. Donath.
FEATURE (25-laps): SHAWN DONATH, John Juhl II, Mike Entwistle, Joe Williams, Todd Town, Mike Mahaney, Steve Planck, Jeremy Pitcher, Anthony Steiner, Dan Sellen, John Juhl, Billy Coleman, Beth Schneider, Alan Fink, Tim Currier.
DIRTcar MODIFIED
HEAT 1: B. Dunn, J. Haers, S. Paine, D. Johnson, D. Podsiadlo, J. Isabell.
HEAT 2: V. Vitale, J. Phelps, B. Weaver, R. Hefti, T. Juhl, J. Potter.
HEAT 3: S. Beardsley, R. Bellinger, C. Bower, C. Homan, R. Bartlett, D. Rauscher.
FEATURE (35-Laps): BILLY DUNN, Danny Johnson, Brian Weaver, Steve Paine, Rob Bellinger, Justin Haers, Sean Beardsley, Jimmy Phelps, Russ Hefti, Tom Juhl, Derrick Podsiadlo, Joe Isabell, Joe Beyea, Chad Homan, Dave Rauscher, Chuck Bower, Vince Vitale, Johnny Hill, Mike Ward, Ryan Bartlett, Jason Potter, Dana Wagner.
The DIRTcar Advance Auto Parts Modified Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., F.X. Caprara Car Companies and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric Manufacturing Company and Wrisco Industries.
|
|
