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Coffey Out-Duels Close at Little Valley for First Ever LM Win
By Dave Sully
(Little Valley, NY) Veteran modified driver Vic Coffey from Leicester has been driving late models for several years off and on as well, but until Friday, September 7th, he had come close, but never won. That ended this night at Little Valley Speedway in a race reminiscent of August 26th when David Scott and Bob Close staged what was arguably the best late model race ever at the only true half mile track in the region.
In the end it came down to another classic battle, this time between Coffey and the luckless Close, who once again put on a great show but ended up “the first loser,” as he put it. The two swapped the top spot a half dozen times over the last eight laps before Coffey, running the high and middle lines, while Close hugged the bottom, took control on lap twenty-eight of the thirty lap affair and went on to the win, holding off a final challenge from Close on the last lap.
John Lobb took the early lead from the outside pole, passing polesitter Dutch Davies on lap two. A caution for a spin on lap nine saw Lobb, Davies, Coffey, Todd Andrews, and Close, who started ninth, the top five. Davies claimed the lead on the restart while Close continued his march to the front, taking over third on lap twelve. A caution on lap fifteen saw a dramatic change as Lobb, who was running a strong second, retired to the pits.
The restart saw Davies, Close, Coffey, Andrews, and previous race winner, David Scott, the top five. Close pounced on Davies to take the lead in turn two when the race resumed, but Davies reclaimed the point a lap later. Close wasn’t finished, and he dove under Davies to retake the lead on lap eighteen.
Coffey, who was riding third, then flexed his muscles, driving past Davies for second on lap twenty and then steaming past Close on lap twenty-one to take his first lead. Then the two engaged each other in the battle to the end, where Coffey ultimately prevailed. Andrews ended up third, followed by Davies, and Scott, who could never mount a serious challenge after tagging the wall early in the race.
Commenting on the race with Close, Coffey declared, “When he drove by us there I thought it was going to be a tall order tog et back by him, but I found something in the middle that enabled me to get a run there and get to the top side. He’s real strong on the bottom. I didn’t feel that good down there. I didn’t go down there too often. I kind of thought I was getting away from him, but there he was again with two laps to go.”
On scoring his first ever late model win, he declared, “It really means a lot to us. It’s nice to be able to come into a place where we think we’ve got the right setup. This set up has been working well lately wherever we’ve gone. It’s nice to get one out of the way.”
A disappointed Close noted, “The longer the race went on the better we got. I don’t know why. It really got slippery getting into the corner and getting off the corner. I went to the top one time and the car didn’t feel good up there. I couldn’t get back to the bottom fast enough. I know on the last lap I really screwed up. Coming off turn two I just picked up the fuel a bit too much and spun the tires. I think if I could have kept it straight we would have beat him, but I just screwed up.”
Randy Hall, from Olean, starting on the outside pole, courtesy of the redraw, made quick work of a tough super stock field to score his second Little Valley victory in a row, romping to an easy win. The race was slowed by only one caution, which Hall easily negotiated to drive away to the victory. Jeremy Wonderling finished a distant second, followed closely by Steve Dixon, Todd Hansen, and Jeff Chesebro, who all staged a tight battle for the runner-up spot.
On how he was able to dominate such a good field, he observed, “Close (Racing Supply) puts out the best race car. This one works exceptionally well down here. I don’t think it’s the engine combination as much as the car running good. It always helps to start up front.”
Rich Michael Jr., from Ischua, won his second E-Mod feature in a row going wire to wire in the twenty lapper. It looked like Michael would dominate, but several cautions in the latter stages kept the field close and Michael had to survive a stout challenge by Ed Carley, the event sponsor, following a lap fifteen restart, to take the win. Carley lost second to Tim Peterson late in the race, with Brian Douglas and Troy Carr completing the top five.
Of his race with Carley, Michael explained, “He was running the bottom, and we took his lane away. He tried moving to the top and we pulled away a little bit.”
Finally, eighteen year old Adam Sixt, from Sardinia, scored his second consecutive street stock win, withstanding a furious attack from Rob Stromecki, Chris Austin, and Jason Schoonmaker in the process. Starting seventh in the twenty-six car field, the youngster drove past the veteran Austin to take the lead on lap ten and then kept his cool and the lead until the end.
On the battle at the end, he commented, “I didn’t even know they were there until the 17 (Stromecki) came up and gave me a nice shot. Then I woke up, and kind of got on the gas a little more. I kind of ran my line and didn’t pay attention to anyone else out there.”
NOTES: An interesting sidelight to the street stock event was the presence of former champion Brett Smith and Tim Raymond, who both ran at Freedom earlier in the evening. Smith won the street stock feature there and they both hotfooted their way to Little Valley, arriving in the latter stages of the E-Mod feature, with the street stock race to follow. They started at the rear of the twenty-six car field, with Smith making a near miraculous run to finish sixth in the fifteen lap feature, while Raymond finished eighth………………..The winning drivers put themselves in position to claim nice bonuses if they win the second race of the two day show on Saturday, with Coffey going for $1,000, Hall $750, Michael $500, and Sixt $300. The late model winner will win a hefty $5,000 to win………The final scheduled race date for Liuttle Valley is Saturday, September 22nd, when the Late Models and the T3 358 All Star Series headline the evening’s activities. The super stocks and street stocks will also appear. Gates open at 3:00, with racing at 6:00.
RESULTS:
Late Models: (30 laps) Vic Coffey, Bob Close, Todd Andrews, Dutch Davies, David Scott, Brent Rhebergen, Jeff Hoffman, Jason Dupont, Doug Ricotta, Al Brewer, Paul Briggs, Kirk Bradley, Greg Johnson, John Lobb, Rick Isadore, Boom Briggs, and John Haggerty. Heat winners were Scott and Hoffman.
Super Stocks: (20 laps) Randy Hall, Jeremy Wonderling, Steve Dixon, Todd Hansen, Jeff Chesebro, Larry Knowles, Rich Michael, Tom Schnars, Butch Talbot, Jon Lichy, John Kemp, Junior Peters, Alan Wais, Ron Baker, Brian Crandall, Dan Cobb, and Paul
Grigsby. DNS: Bruce Miller. Heat winners were Hall and Hansen.
E-Mods: (20 laps) Rich Michael, Tim Peterson, Ed Carley, Brian Douglas, Troy Carr, Tom Hagberg, Mike Samuelson, Chad Silliman, Jim Frontz, Craig Bedell, TJ Downes, Brad Wall, Al Crocker, Mike Eschrich, Carl Ballinger, Brian Fardink, Justin Carlson, Jamie Erhard, Lance Palmer, and Kyle Bedell. Heat winners were Michael, Chad Silliman, and Carley.
Street Stocks: (15 laps) Adam Sixt, Chris Austin, Jason Schoonmaker, Rob Stromecki, Rich Wojtowicz, Brett Smith, Jason Dobson, Tim Bruce, Cliff Johnson, Darren Morgan, Josh Wilcox, Lee Wulff, Ron Hebner, Ron Richter, Charles Silliman, Kevin Hill, Damon Lewis, Steve Sklar, Jack Doxey, Colton Chappius, Daniel Giboo, Adam Ashcroft, Rich Hemphill, Earl Clark, Joe White, and Bill McKinney. Heat winners were Wojtowicz, Giboo, and McKinney.
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