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Weedsport, NY – August 5, 2007 – By Gary M. Spaid, Cayuga County Fair Speedway PR
Current point leaders Jimmy Phelps and Shawn Donath won their fourth feature races of the season at Cayuga County on Sunday night. Phelps’ win came in the 35-lap DIRTcar Big-Block Modified feature while Donath’s victory was scored in the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified division main event.
In full-fender action, Nick Rizzo won his third UMP/DIRTcar Ferris Mowers Street Stock feature of the season at Cayuga County. “We’ve had such bad luck the last few weeks, all I did was get in the car and drive it,” Rizzo commented.
The final race of the night featured the BattleKarz and the Werner family tradition of winning was kept alive. Karl Werner took command of the race on lap 16 after James Werner slowed with mechanical woes. Barb Amadon and Adam Keuer finished in money positions.
The 35-lap Currier Plastics DIRTcar Modified feature was green-flagged with Sean Beardsley taking off into the lead from his pole-position starting spot. Once traffic began to sort itself out some, Chad Homan broke free and caught the back of the Beardsley car. These two then drove away from the rest of the field.
On lap four the yellow flew when Roy Shields, Joe Isabell and Shannon Whaley all made contact exiting the fourth turn. Isabell’s car had to be cradled back to the pit area.
Up front, Beardsley broke free by himself and left Homan to battle first with Rob Bellinger and then Steve Paine, still looking for his first CCFS win of the season. Paine passed Bellinger on lap 20 and charged after Beardsley in his new “OzCar-Troyer” chassis. Paine caught Beardsley and then passed him briefly, on lap 23 to be recorded as the leader.
Beardsley fought back and regained the front spot and continued to drive the race of his life. Suddenly, while holding on to the lead down the back stretch, his car belched a huge plume of smoke on lap 31. This indicated the end of his race. Paine took the lead and looked like he might take his first win at the speedway since 2002.
But the restart was all Jimmy Phelps needed to propel his car by Paine with just three laps remaining. Phelps took the checkers for the second straight show, followed by Paine, Matt Sheppard and rookie Rob Bellinger while Vince Vitale just nipped Justin Haers exiting turn four for fifth.
“The car was too tight early but the track really came to us as it dried out,” Phelps said. “That last yellow gave us the chance we needed to have a shot at winning this one. Thought I was committed to the bottom but Steve gave me the top where it turned out the car was just as good in the end.”
The 25-lap Currier Plastics Sportsman feature had to be restarted following an eight-car pile up in the first turn on the opening lap. Joe Williams and Mike Mahaney seemed to get the worst damage. Williams was done for the night and Mahaney tried to come back but had to pull off after his car’s handling was not fixed.
Back underway it was John Juhl II out front with Tim Currier in tow. Currier made a charge at Juhl II and took the lead on lap nine following a yellow for a flat tire on the Steve Planck car. On the move was Donath, who passed Currier on lap 13 and led the rest of the way home.
A late race caution did not help any of the competitors as the restart resulted in only minor running order changes. Donath took his fourth win of the year followed by Currier, Jeremy Pitcher, Jeff Isabell Jr. and Juhl to round out the top-five finishers. “We got tore up last night and I have to thank this crew who worked all day to get us here tonight,” reported Donath in victory lane.
Rizzo led the entire 15-lap distance to claim the UMP Street Stock victory. Only one yellow flew during the race, that coming on lap 14. Jim Wallace and Steve Woodworth made contact down the backstretch resulting in Wallace vaulting over the Jersey barrier and out of the “ball park.” This set up a one lap dash to the checkers with Rizzo winning out over Phil Marsden, Dave Mannise, David Pope and Todd Raabe.
CAYUGA COMMENTS: It was “Chipper Night” at Cayuga County and track general manager Jack Deery was determined to see as many different items sent through a wood chipper on the front straight as possible. A frozen chicken, a hat, a ski, a watermelon, a football, assorted plants and herbs all met their fate on the front stretch in the “Chipper”….One lucky young fan from the Kid’s Club had his name drawn to take a ride around the track in the Stafford Motors Chevrolet Monte Carlo Pace Car. The car was driven by Sportsman driver Tim Currier.
This Sunday, August 12, will be Valley Tire Night at Cayuga County. A full program of DIRTcar Modifieds, Sportsman Modifieds, Street Stocks and BattleKarz will be on tap along with the Central New york Mini-Sprints. The marquee for the night will also boast the “World Famous Boat Race”. We had better be ready for this one as Cayuga County doesn’t even have a pond on the grounds. Race time is 7 p.m. sharp.
CURRIER PLASTICS presents CHIPPER NIGHT SUMMARY
PITSTOP CONVIENENCE STORES BATTLEKARZ
FEATURE (25-LAPS): KARL WERNER, Barb Amadon, Adam Keuer, Keith Keuer, Bill Werner, Nick Werner, Jeremy Werner, James Werner, Dave Nageldinger.
UMP/DIRTcar FERRIS MOWERS STREET STOCK
HEAT 1: D. Mannise, N. Peckham, N. Rizzo, P. Marsden, S. Woodworth.
HEAT 2: D. Pope, J. Wallace, T. Raabe, M. Dandino, K. Collins.
FEATURE (15-laps): NICK RIZZO, Phil Marsden, Dave Mannise, David Pope, Todd Raabe, Mike Dandino, Kevin Collins, Steve Woodworth, Jim Wallace, Nathan Peckham, Van Grant.
DIRTcar SPORTSMAN MODIFIED
HEAT 1: A. Steiner, T. Town, M. Mahaney, S. Planck, J. Pitcher.
HEAT 2: T. Currier, J. Juhl II, S. Donath, J. Williams, J. Isabell Jr.
FEATURE (25-laps): SHAWN DONATH, Tim Currier, Jeremy Pitcher, Jeff Isabell Jr., John Juhl II, Jim Spano, Todd Town, Rob Richmond Jr., Anthony Steiner, Dan Sellen, Jesse Pontello, Doug Shattell, Steve Planck, Alan Fink, Mike Mahaney, John Juhl, Joe Williams., Keith Hotchkiss (DNS),
DIRTcar BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED
HEAT 1: T. Juhl, D. Podsiadlo, J. Potter, J. Beyea, J. Phelps.
HEAT 2: S. Paine, S. Beardsley, B. Henry Jr., D. Rauscher, B. Dunn.
HEAT 3: C. Homan, V. Vitale, M. Bowman, R. Bellinger, M. Sheppard.
FEATURE (35-laps): JIMMY PHELPS, Steve Paine, Matt Sheppard, Rob Bellinger, Vince Vitale, Justin Haers, Chad Homan, Dave Rauscher, Joe Beyea, Derrick Podsiadlo, Mike Bowman, Bob Henry Jr., Jason Potter, Sean Beardsley, Billy Dunn, Tom Juhl, Roy Shields, Adam Roberts, Shannon Whaley, Joe Isabell, Ed Monroe (DNS).
The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds 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, Rite Aid Corporation 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.
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