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Johnson and Stefanski score their 7th feature of the season as Pratt, Chappius and Wassner all revisit victory lane on Greenlief’s Restaurant Autograph Night.
Batavia, NY—July 7, 2007--By: Chris Rhynold, Media/Racer Relations Director
A night where we seen a lot of would of, should of racing action. Steve Schumacher led all but one lap of the Troyer Race Cars Sportsman feature, Bill Weller tore to the front of the Bobcat of Buffalo Street Stock feature to be black flagged after losing his exhaust system on the track, Butch Zimmerman dominated most of the Greenlief’s Restaurant Pro Stock feature until Pete Stefanski showed why he is “Mr Pro Stock” in what may be the best night of racing at Genesee Speedway so far this season. Five classes, a decent racing surface, minimal dust conditions and a 45-minute autograph session and all done by 9:40pm.
Steve Schumacher paced the Troyer Race Cars Sportsman feature to the green. Don Ogden and Ricky Newton would swap rides for the feature as Newton’s car was experiencing problems. Schumacher would jump to the early lead leaving Rob Pratt and John Panattoni fighting for the 2nd spot. It would only take Pratt one lap to get the spot from Panattoni and set out for Schumacher. John Venuto would clear Panattoni on lap 7 and would have his work cut out for him if he had any hopes of catching Schumacher and Pratt. Slowly but surely Pratt was closing in on the leader but Venuto was faster than both the 1st and 2nd place runners and was reeling them both in. By lap 18 you could put a blanket over the top 3. Pratt would get a great run off the corners but Schumacher had a better entry into the turns allowing him to hold his position. Coming to the white flag Schumacher left the door open coming off turn 4 and Pratt stuck his nose into the hole Schumacher left open. When the two got to the flag stand they were side by side and Schumacher tried to slam the door on Pratt. The two made contact almost sending Pratt into the infield. Pratt then pulled away and Venuto pulled to the inside of Schumacher. Schumacher again tried to slam the door but on Venuto this time and was unsuccessful on the attempt as Venuto took the runner up spot. Pratt would go on to score his 5th feature win of the season at Genesee Speedway followed by John Venuto and Steve Schumacher. Schumacher would later be docked 2 spots for rough driving.
Heat Winners – Heat #1 – Steve Schumacher, Heat #2 – John Panattoni
Pete Waldron and Jim Johnson would lead the field to the green in the BDK Construction 360 Late Models. Waldron would take the point with Jim Johnson and Jon Rivers chasing him down. Johnson could look to the inside of Waldron but Waldron could get the jump off the corners to keep the lead away from Johnson. The top 3 cars were all running different lines with Waldron in the middle, Johnson on the bottom and Rivers on the top. The yellow would fly for Derek Boyle spinning in turn 2. Johnson would take the lead in an awesome 3 wide battle for the lead at the line. Rivers would overtake the 2nd spot and start to reel in Johnson. The yellow would again fly when Brian Kotarski spun in front of the field after contact with Justin Chaddock. Johnson was still at the point running the low line and Rivers was blasting the cushion at both ends of the track. Dave DuBois would overtake Waldron for the 3rd spot on lap 15. DuBois would begin to catch Rivers as he was getting a little too aggressive on the cushion and DuBois was gaining valuable time. The yellow would fly again for a spinning Rich Hale and Tom Baker. This caution would bunch the field up for a 3 lap dash for all the marbles. On the restart Johnson would get a jump on the field and DuBois got a jump on Rivers and took the 2nd spot away from Rivers. Jim Johnson would go on to pick up his 7th Genesee Speedway feature of the season followed by Dave DuBois and Jon Rivers.
Heat Winners – Heat #1 – Brian Kotarski, Heat #2 Jim Johnson
Eric Greenlief would lead the Greenlief’s Restaurant Pro Stock feature to the green. Butch Zimmerman who started on the outside of Greenlief would bolt to the early lead with Greenlief and Steve Lewis in tow. Pete Stefanski would slide under Lewis and grab the 3rd spot. Stefanski would then set his sights on Greenlief and take the 2nd spot from him one lap later and ready himself to reel in Zimmerman. Stefanski and Zimmerman would tade some paint before Stefanski would finally make the pass on Zimmerman for the top spot as Zimmerman over drove turn 3 and washed up track leaving the door open for Stefanski. Zimmerman cut down track to try and hold the position but Stefanski had already filled the gap and the two made contact with Stefanski overtaking the lead. Zimmerman then lost the handle again and drove down track and collected Greenlief. Greenlief would keep control of his car but Zimmerman would come to a stop at the top of turn 1. On the restart Stefanski would check out on the field while Greenlief and Lewis would battle for the 2nd spot. Yellow would hit the speedway for a spinning Scott Gribben and John Zimmerman. Again, Stefanski would check out on the restart with Greenlief and Lewis in tow, but the yellow would again fly for John Gagner and Don Barnes caming together in turn 2. Stefanski would go on to win his 7th feature of the season and take back the points lead from Don Barnes.
Heat Winner – Butch Zimmerman
Ed Neal and Jason Hull led the Dickinson’s Auto Service Mini Stocks to the green for the 15 lap mini stock feature. Ed Neal, Russ Wassner and Jason Hull battled for the lead as they raced 3 wide down the back-stretch and Neal came out the leader. Wassner took the lead on lap 2 as he used the low line to pass Neal in turn 2. Randy Barkley and Bobby Dickinson raced nose to tail and moved into the 2nd and 3rd spot. The yellow would fly on lap 5 as Roger Norton found himself into the turn 2 wall. Dickinson would move to the runner up spot as he passed Barkley coming off turn 2 on the restart. Barkley was shuffled back as Bill Tice and Dan Norton moved ahead in position. Dickinson slid up track and Tice and Dan Norton capitalized on Dickinson’s mistake and advanced one position each. Yellow would fly for the spinning Brandon Aradine. Wassner would retain his lead on the restart with Tice and Norton chasing Wassner down. Even know Dan Norton was in Rick Johnson’s car after he wrecked bad at Ransomville Speedway on Tuesday, he looked in fine form. Out of nowhere Ken Hixenbaugh passed Tice and Norton for 2nd place using the high side, but had nothing for Russ Wassner as he opened up his points lead and led the field to the checkers.
Heat Winners – Heat # 1 – Randy Barkley, Heat # 2 – Bill Tice
John Fry and Jeff Maxwell would set the front row for the Bobcat of Buffalo Street Stock feature. Jeff Maxwell would jump to the early lead with Bill Weller and Colton Chappius battling for the runner up spot. Chappius would complete the pass and move to the 2nd spot. Weller would not give up that easy as he showed Chappius his bumper in the next turn. Yellow would hit the speedway as John Fry, Joey Spicola and David Downs came together on the back stretch sending Spicola to the pits. Spicola would return to the speedway but still seemed to have a mechanical problem. Maxwell would continue to lead the field and Weller would blow by Chappius for the 2nd spot and Jeb Walworth would swap positions with Chappius. With Walworth and Chappius fighting for position, Weller would check out on the group and set his sights on Maxwell. Weller would catch and pull to the inside of Maxwell on lap 13 and took the lead on lap 14. Walworth would then start to look under Maxwell before the yellow flag would hit the speedway when Dave Bansmer spun. On the restart Maxwell took the lead back from Weller as the top 4 cars were all running together. The yellow would again fly as one of the top 4 cars lost a muffler on the front stretch. On the restart Maxwell would keep the lead but would duck low on the back-stretch as he broke coming off turn 2. Half a lap later Walworth would pull to the infield with a reported engine problem. Weller’s night would come to an end as he was called to the to the pits as his car was the car that lost his exhaust on the track. Chappius would inherit the lead and drove on to win his 2nd consecutive feature holding off a hard charging Ron Roberts.
Heat Winners – Heat #1 – Jeb Walworth, Heat #2 – Bill Weller
Be sure to join us next week when Genesee Speedway presents the 5 Star Racing Program along with Kids Poster Night and Ladies Street Stock race. 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. 14 Ken Hixenbaugh
3. 71 Bill Tice
4. 328 Bobby Dickinson
5. 95 Randy Barkley
6. 0 Dan Norton
7. 37 Jason Hull
8. 7+1 Ed Neal
9. 12b Brandon Aradine
10. 53 Pat Powers
11. 22 John Giles
12. 69 Roger Norton
13. 3 Henry Maier
Bobcat of Buffalo Street Stocks – 20 Laps
1. 60jr Colton Chappius
2. r7 Ron Roberts
3. 93 Joey Spicola
4. 92 Dave Bansmer
5. 69 Bill Weller
6. 378 Carl Shetler
7. 74 Jeb Walworth
8. 14 Jeff Maxwell
9. 2z Ken Begnouche
10. 02 David Downs
11. 2v John Fry
12. 20 Matthew Pfalzer
13. 18 Dan Pries
14. 29 Kyle Rupp
Greenlief’s Restaurant Pro Stocks – 20 Laps
1. 2 Pete Stefanski
2. 12g Eric Greenlief
3. 11s Steve Lewis
4. 99 Mike Martin
5. 6 Butch Zimmerman
6. 0 John Zimmerman
7. 10 Brett Martin
8. 71 Scott Gribben
9. 28 Don Barnes
10. 3j John Gagner
BDK Construction 360 Late Models – 20 Laps
1. 93j Jim Johnson
2. 012 Dave DuBois
3. 85 Jon Rivers
4. 70 Pete Waldron
5. 13jr JJ Mazur
6. 45 TJ Newton
7. 2 Bob Babbitt
8. 22 Tim Kaufmann
9. 136 Scooter Pangrazio
10. 42 Derek Boyle
11. 75 Ron Mogavero
12. 05 Brian Kotarski
13. 001 Rich Hale
14. 93b Tom Baker
15. 15 Rich Mogavero
16. 122 Justin Chaddock
17. 58 Carl Shetler
Troyer Race Cars Sportsman – 25 Laps
1. p38 Rob Pratt
2. 44v John Venuto
3. 0 Stubby Pangrazio
4. 19w Justin Wright
5. 56 Steve Schumacher
6. 93jr Rob Richmond
7. 67 John Panattoni
8. 50 Tim Downs
9. 4t6 RJ Kingdollar
10. 11n Ricky Newton
11. 6t4 Kerry Ball
12. 18j John Baker
13. 57 Don Ogden
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