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STEWART FRIESEN SCORES VICTORY AT UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY ON OLD FORGE POWERSPORTS & HEROUX EXCAVATING NIGHT
VERNON, NY- After a mechanical failure threatened his chances at a second 358-Modified championship at the Utica-Rome Speedway, Stewart Friesen bounced back this week by overtaking AJ Romano for his fifth win of the season on Old Forge Powersports and Heroux Excavating night. Other winners included Alan Barker, Jerry Holmes, Keith Stevenson, and Aaron Jacobs.
AJ Romano rocketed to the lead from outside the second row at the drop of the green in the 30 lap 358-Modified feature, and immediately began to pull away from the field. With Romano out front, Stewart Friesen and Todd Burley both were making a furious charge to the front after starting eighth and ninth on the field respectively.
At the halfway point of the caution free event it was still Romano showing the way with Friesen and Burley chasing him down. At this point, Friesen pulled alongside Romano as he attempted to take the lead but Romano fended off the challenge. Friesen was persistent, finally slipping by the outside of Romano to take control of the field. Burley was able to get by Romano on lap 25 to continue his pursuit of Friesen.
Friesen remained in control of the event until it’s conclusion with Burley in second, Romano in third, Lamb in fourth, and Decker in fifth. Dave Camara, Gordy Button, Bill Shantel Jr., Pat Ward, and Gus Schmidt filled out the top ten positions.
Matt Janczuk seemed to have the 20 lap Sportsman in hand, until a last lap caution brought the field to his back bumper for a one lap dash. Alan Barker took full advantage of the opportunity as he beat Janczuk to the checkered by .036 seconds. Early leader Jim Rothwell finished in third with Mike Button and Jeremy Vunk trailing.
Charging from the 13th starting position, Jerry Holmes passed race long leader Chad Ray on lap 12 of the 20 lap Pro Stock feature to score his fifth win of the season. Chris Mackey finished in second with Ray, Jim Normoyle, and Ron Marsden chasing.
Frank Hyatt was the race long leader in the Pure Stock 15 lap main until Russ Marsden slipped by as lap 14 was being scored. Contact by Hyatt sent Marsden around in turn one which collected Chris Carr and Curt Prevo, among others. Hyatt’s actions sent him pit side, which handed the Ron Hawker the lead but he went to the pits with a flat tire. Keith Stevenson was the recipient of all this as he was the new leader when the green flag came back for the final lap. Stevenson held of Chris Cunningham for his first career win, with Tim Janczuk, Cale Hoffman, and Rocky Warner.
Aaron Jacobs powered around leader Mark Chrzanowski and Jim Roberts on lap five restart to gain the lead and the win in the 15 lap IMCA Modified feature, his third of the season. Bob Banks, Jeff Jones, Roberts, and Jojo Donato filled out the top five finishing positions.
Coming up this Sunday, September 2, Gates-Cole Associates and Walton’s Farm & Auto Repair present a regular show of 358-Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, and IMCA Modifieds plus the return of the Empire Super Sprints and Central New York Mini Sprints. At the conclusion of the night’s activities, a huge fireworks display will light up the skies over the Vernon oval. Gates open at 2:30 p.m. with racing at 5 p.m. For more information, please log on to www.uticaromespeedway.com or call (315) 829-4557.
OLD FORGE POWERSPORTS/ HEROUX EXCAVATING RACE SUMMARY
358-MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 LAPS)- STEWART FRIESEN, Todd Burley, AJ Romano, Ted Lamb, Willy Decker, Dave Camara, Gordy Button, Bill Shantel Jr., Pat Ward, Gus Schmidt, Paul Kinney, Paul Jensen, John Ramsey, Mark Johnson, Joel Thomas, JR Hurlburt, Kirk Horton, Tim Mayne, and Tom Juhl.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)- ALAN BARKER, Matt Janczuk, Jim Rothwell, Mike Button, Jeremy Vunk, Larry Wight, Casey Williams, Tim Nye, Dan Yankowski, Jessica Zemken, Jason Rood, Jeff Leslie, Jack Miller, Billy Coleman, Michael Teachout, Matt Hulsizer, Corey Wilder, Steve Way, Keith Hotchkiss, and Jeremy Wilder.
PRO STOCK FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)-.JERRY HOLMES, Chris Mackey, Chad Ray, Jim Normoyle, Ron Marsden, Mark Effner, Bill Knapp, AJ Digsby, Tom Denton, Bernie Companion, Dave Moyer, Bret Belden, Ivan Joslin, Ed Ostrander, Ryan Lund, Dave Meeks, Jim Grippen, Chuck Wentrick, Shawn Frost, Rich Dauenhauer, Eric Vanderhoof, and Rob Seavy.
PURE STOCK FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS)- KEITH STEVENSON, Chris Cunningham, Tim Janczuk, Cale Hoffman, Rocky Warner, Jim Thomas, John Wesolowski, Nathan Peckham, Matt Ball, Waylan Wilczek, Ron Hawker, Scott Wheelock, Tyler Ward, Luke Horning, Curt Prevo, Russ Marsden, Frank Hyatt, Chris Carr, Chuck Cushman, Dan Hatch, and Phil Norman.
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS)- AARON JACOBS, Bob Banks, Jeff Jones, Jim Roberts, Jojo Donato, Mark Chrzanowski, Ken Rogers, Ron Santone, and Bill Trexler Sr.
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