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KIRKWOOD, NY – On Wednesday night at the Five Mile Point Speedway there was a lot of talk about teammates and it didn’t include Jeff Gordon and Dale Jr. Instead it was about the battle between Jeff Strunk and Joey Grammes.
Strunk and Grammes battled for the win in the 50-lap Southern Tier Auto Racing (STAR) Series Modified event with Strunk, of Mohtan, Pa., eventually garnering the victory. The win was worth $2,000 and it was Sturnks’s first ever victory in the State of New York.
“This is a good way to get the month of June going,” stated Strunk after the win. “I didn’t win a race last month and to come here and run as strong as we did is a real credit to the team that I’m racing with tonight.”
Grammes settled for a runner-up finish while Carl Nagle grabbed third. Jim Crawn finished fourth with Brian Weaver completing the top five.
Randy Chrysler started the race from the pole-position but relinquished the lead in turn four on the first lap to Weaver.
Weaver, of Windsor, N.Y., held the top spot until Grammes moved around him on the outside the speedway on the fourth circuit to gain control of the event.
Grammes, who started along side Weaver in the second row, continued to work the outside line around the speedway in his Bicknell mount as his teammate Strunk worked forward from the sixth starting position using the inside lane.
“I’m lucky that I’m not a regular here,” stated Strunk. “Everyone else was running the outside and I didn’t know that was the fast way around so I had to go where they weren’t.
“Early on I wasn’t really worried about passing anyone I just wanted to conserve my tires as much as I could.”
Starting on lap 22, Strunk was able to pull even with Grammes as the duo battled in and out of lapped traffic on the tight ¼ mile speedway.
They exchanged the lead five times just after the midway point of the event with Strunk working the inside and Grammes working the outside. Then, on lap 35, Strunk drove by to secure the race lead as they came off of turn four.
“It was nice to race with Joey (Grammes) like that,” stated Strunk. “I knew he wasn’t going to wreck me so I kept working as hard as I could on the inside and I found the moisture when I needed to in order to get the lead.”
Now the leader, Strunk used his saved tires to easily pull away from Grammes and the rest of the field to secure the victory in the Fourth race of the STAR Series.
Grammes, of Kunkletown, Pa., held on over Nagel to finish second in his RPM powered Bicknell ride.
“You can’t give that guy (Strunk) a racetrack like that and try to keep him behind you,” stated Grammes after the event. “That track was wide and I don’t care who was here tonight, I think Strunk would have been the man to beat.”
After running the top of the speedway most of the event, Grammes tried to move down late in the race to close in on Strunk.
“My tires just went away,” stated Grammes. “By running the top I burned my tires off and by the end I just wanted to hold on to a good finish. When I moved down to the bottom I was hoping to get some momentum up and go back to the top but I just didn’t have any tires left.”
Nagel, the winner of the last STAR Series event at Penn Can Speedway finished in a strong third after starting fifth.
“I was able to close in on those guys but my tires got warm,” said Nagel. “After that happened it was going to be really tough to do anything.”
In the 40-lap Race of Champions Dart Dirt Sportsman feature, Justin Holland of White Lake, N.Y., claimed the $1,000 victory.
Holland, who started fourth, took the lead from Nick Rochinski on lap 25. Holland used the cushion on the outside of turn four to secure the top spot and the victory.
“This is a really big win for us,” said Holland. “I always love coming here to Five Mile Point and it’s even better that we walked out of here with a victory.”
Rochinski settled for second with Brad Alger, Butch Klinger and Danny Creeden completing the top five.
Five Mile Facts
27 Modifieds entered into competition with Nagel, Weaver and Tim Votra winning the heat races while Brian Decker won the consolation event.
Stewart Friesen was disqualified after making contact with Dan Hineline under caution. The pair tangled in turn four after contact was made on the back straightaway on lap 2. The two made contact after the incident was cleared forcing track officials to disqualify Friesen.
Pat Ward finished sixth after he was involved in the incident with Hineline and Friesen on lap 2.
“I saw it happen in front of me but there was nothing I could do,” said Ward.
Ward went to the tail of the field and made his way back up through to finish sixth.
OSTROWSKY CONSTRUCTION STAR SERIES RACE # 4 MODIFIED FINISH; Jeff Strunk, Joey Grammes, Carl Nagel, Jim Crawn, Brian Weaver, Pat Ward, Chad Cook, Randy Chrysler, Rich Ricci, Jr., Brian Decker, Tom McGurrin, Ken Titus, James Cornell, JR Hurlburt, Chris Ostrowsky, Jeremy Smith, Tim Voltra, Dan Hineline, Brian Malcolm, Darrin Schuler, Mike Colsten, Jesse Kline, Eric Palmer. DNQ; Dennis Dietrich, Glenn Knapp, Jr., Dan Fassett. DQ; Stewart Friesen.
OSTROWSKY CONSTRUCTION RACE OF CHAMPIONS DIRT DART SPORTSMAN TOUR NORTH REGION RACE #2 FINISH; Justin Holland, Nick Rochinski, Brad Alger, Butch Klinger, Danny Creeden, Michael Lartz, Mike Marold, Jr., Bill Deckleman, Andy Stout, Jeremy Wilder, Frank Yankowski, Matt Janczuk, Larry Wight, Steve Way, Brad Grim, Les Gillette, Casey Williams, Timmy Nye, Eric Stephens, Jr., Jerry Tonti, Paul Harrington, III, Grant Hilfinger, Jamie Batzel, Brian Puckett, Joey Colsten, Jeff Leslie.
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