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FULTON, NY - Vinnie Vitale out of Phoenix took advantage of a late yellow to win a race long battle with Dale Planck in the 35 lap DIRTcar Modified feature Saturday on Terrell’s Potato Chips Night at Fulton Speedway. Not to be out done by the Modifieds, Jeremy Pitcher won by a narrow margin at the checkers over Shawn Donath in the DIRTcar Sportsman. Other winners on the night were Jason Parkhurst in the UMP Pro Stocks, Ron Hawker in the UMP Street Stock main, Mike Fowler in the Gypsum Express Crate Sportsman, Don Harvey Jr. won yet another feature for the Central New York Mini Sprints and Joe Buske Jr. Won the Enduro feature.
Right from the drop of the starters green flag in the DIRTcar Modified feature, Vinnie Vitale bolted to the top side of the speedway from his 8th place starting position to grab the lead on lap on four from Rookie Johnny Hill. Even after early race caution flags, on each restart Vitale was able to pull away every time. While Vitale was trying to run away from the field, Dale Planck who started 14th was also using the top of the speedway and made his way to the into the top five and started chasing down the Vitale machine.
As the laps clicked off the scoreboard the full straightaway lead Vitale enjoyed was being cut into by Planck. At the halfway point of the 35 lap feature Planck cut the Vitale lead down to just a couple car lengths, setting up a crowd pleasing battle to the finish. On lap 24 Planck was able to wrestle the lead away from Vitale and open up a lead of his own. It seemed at that point the only way Vitale could muster up another shot at the lead was using lapped cars to his advantage, Planck was able to move through the traffic with ease. Everything changed on lap 31 as the yellow flew for the final time. On the restart Vitale took one last shot on the outside, as the two raced side by side down the back straight and into turn three, Vitale found the bite and the power he needed to regain the lead and the victory. Planck held onto second, points leader Jimmy Phelps finished third, with Chad Phelps fourth and Timmy Sears fifth.
A happy and relieved Vinne Vitale related, "We have been having so many problems with this car, really both of them all year. Jimmy Phelps has really been helping me figure this out and so has Troyer, I think we finally got it." Vitale finished up by saying, "We have wanted one here for so long, we finally got one.
In the DIRTcar Sportsman 20 lap feature after some early yellows, Jeremy Pitcher was able to grab the lead and put his car on cruise control, and like Vitale was able to open up a straightaway lead. Anytime Shawn Donath is in the field the race is never over. Donath moved into second place from deep in the field and started chasing down the Pitcher. He was able to cut into pitcher’s lead, but it was apparent he was going to need a yellow if he had any chance of winning. On lap 12 Donath got his wish as the yellow flew. This set up an eight lap battle to the finish.
During those final laps Pitcher and Donath raced nose to tail and side by side swapping the lead numerous times. As the pair entered the final turns heading towards the checkers, Pitcher found bite on the bottom of the speedway and was able to blast by Donath to win by a narrow margin. Chris Hile, John Pietrowicz and Beth Schneider came home with a season best fifth.
"When Donath got by me with a lap to go he hugged the bottom, but went in to hard and slipped into the black. I saw a chance and went for it and got by," said Pitcher about his last lap pass for the win.
Pitcher finished up saying, "This has been a bad month for us, we blew up our primary engine. We have been fighting this crate since we got it. We just got a new carburetor and tonight this crate did its job."
Ron Hawker grabbed the lead from his eighth starting position and was never really challenged in the 20 lap UMP Street Stock feature. Nick Rizzo finished second, Dave Bruno, who started at the rear of the field finished third, Dave Mannise and Steve Crouse rounded out the top five.
In the UMP Pro Stock feature Jason Parkhurst, who started last, took the win. Rusty Marsden, Pat Hobbs, Jack Terrell and Dick Parkhurst, rounded out the top five. The race was checkered flagged at lap 17 due to rough driving throughout the field. The scariest incident of the night took place on lap- 8 of the feature. Coming out of turn two heading down the back straight the field bunched up, leaving the No.99x of Rob Seavy with nowhere to go as he got pinched in the wall. After bouncing off the wall, Seavy got sent into a series of flips that all but destroyed the car. Seavy, due to the construction of the roll cage and the quick work of track official Paul Darby and the safety crew, emerged unhurt.
Don Harvey Jr. racked up yet another win in the Central New York Mini Sprints. It was his second win of the weekend, as he won the night before at the Brewerton Speedway. Harvey won over Bubba Broderick, Art Kiser, Jared Fink, Shaun Gosselin.
Mike Fowler picked up an easy win in the 15 lap Gypsum Express Crate Sportsman class over Sean McCarthy, Katelyn Kane, Timmy Sears Jr. and Jake Reilley. Joe Buske Jr. won the final feature of the night in the Enduro class, an emotional victory for sure beating Mark Johnston, Jon Shumway, Jerry Herbert, and Kelly Smith.
RACE NOTES - For the nights racing 23- Modifieds, 24- Sportsman, 15-Pro Stocks, 19-Street Stocks, 16-Mini Sprints and 9- Gypsum Express Crates signed in the pit gate. Next Saturday night June 30 at Fulton Speedway will be Fernandez Auto Mall / Dig Safely New York Night featuring the 5 Star DIRTcar Modified Mini Series in a 35-lap paying $2000 to win special . Also racing that night will be the DIRTcar Pro Stocks, ESDCA Mod Lites and the Gypsum Express Crates. The night will be topped off with a huge Fireworks display. Race time is set for 7pm. For more information, contact the track office at (315) 593-6531, the raceline at (315) 668-RACE, or visit www.fultonspeedway.com.
FULTON SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
TERRELL’S POTATO CHIPS NIGHT
RACE DATE: JUNE 23, 2007
DIRTcar Modifieds (35-Laps) – VINNIE VITALE, Dale Planck, Jimmy Phelps, Chad Phelps, Tim Sears, Brian Weaver, Tom Sears Jr., Roy Bresnahan, Kenny Stafford, Jim Witko Jr., Kevin Bates, Johnny Hill, Jeremy Smith, Brett Tonkin, Kyle Lewis, John Barker Jr., Joe Isabell, Sean Beardsley, Dan Vauter, Terry Knoblock, Jamie Christian, John Ramsey. DNS – Matt Fink.
DIRTcar Sportsman (20-Laps) – JEREMY PITCHER, Shawn Donath, Chris Hile, John Pietrowicz, Beth Schneider, Dave Reilley, Matt Hulsizer, Tony Steiner, Todd Town, Stephen Planck, Jeff Isabell Jr., Gregg Carner, Amanda Whitney, Rob Hile, Roger West, Lee Babcock, Stewart Garrison, Brad Townsend, Jon Tesoriero, Morris Mathews, Sammy Reakes, IV., A.J. Kingsley, Alan Fink, Mike McCarthy. DNS – Earl Rudy.
UMP Street Stocks (20-Laps) – RON HAWKER, Nick Rizzo, Dave Bruno, Dave Mannise, Steve Crouse, Steve Woodworth, Jim Wallace, Gary Barton, Quentin Burton, Joe Briere, Joe Buske, Dan Hofmann Sr., Josh Blackwell, Dan Hofmann Jr., Joe Schirm, Dave Emmons. DNS – Matt Henderson, Adam Guilds, Bill Thomas.
UMP Pro Stocks (17-Laps) – JASON PARKHURST, Rusty Marsden, Pat Hobbs, Jack Terrell, Dick Parkhurst, Dale Guernsey, Adam Hunt, Jerry Button, Mike Vaughn, Jim Evans, Billy Clark Jr., Jim Donaldson, Scott Conover, Dwight Johnson, Rob Seavy.
Gypsum Express Crate Sportsman (15-Laps) – MIKE FOWLER, Sean McCarthy, Katelyn Kane, Timmy Sears Jr., Jake Reilley, Joey Delacruz, Ron Ingison.
4 Cylinder Enduro (25-Laps) – JOE BUSKE JR., Mark Johnston, Jon Shumway, Jerry Herbert, Kelly Smith.
Central New York Mini-Sprints (20-Laps) – DON HARVEY, JR., Bubba Broderick, Art Kiser, Jared Fink, Shaun Gosselin, James Kiser, Justin Phillips, Ricky Donovan, Jerry Sehn, Sierra Lister, John Casazza, Fred Hoffman, Brian Pomponio, Mike Kiser, Joe Burkert. DNS - Nathan Stefl.
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