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FULTONVILLE, NY – Before this past weekend, Mike Ricci had never laid eyes on the New Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. After Sunday afternoon, he now can say that he’s one for one.
“This is my first time here,” stated Ricci after the win. “Everyone on the crew had the itch to go racing so we decided to come up here and check it out. It worked out well for us.”
Ricci, of Tillson, N.Y., redrew the pole after winning his heat race event. He took the lead at the drop of the green in the 30-lap event.
“Starting up front was nice,” said Ricci. “It pays off when the track is a little rough like it was today but it is April and all the tracks are going to be like that.”
He nearly gave up the lead only once when Floyd Billington got a good run on an early race restart and pulled alongside him on the front straightaway. Ricci battled back and retained the lead and he eventually parked his Enders powered PMC ride in victory lane.
Billington, 42, of South Glens Falls, N.Y., finished in the runner-up position after starting tenth with his no.19 PMC ride. Jamike Sowle, of Glen, N.Y, finished third while Matt Sheppard came from deep in the field after an early race incident to finish fourth.
Craig Hanson, the defending Glen Ridge Modified champion, completed the top five.
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ROCKY START: Ricci jumped to the lead as the green flag fell but things got crazy behind him with Jeff Brownell getting backwards into the outside wall in turn one. Sheppard and Randy Hotaling also got together on the bottom of turn two forcing a quick caution.
ALMOST PULLED IT OFF: On lap four the caution came out for Danny Tyler when he broke a shock tower on his no.22. When racing action resumed, Ricci came out of four and just tapped the large tires on the inside of the speedway upsetting the car. This allowed Billington to pull even with him as they raced into the first turn. Ricci went to the top groove and retook the number one position.
“I’m hit the tire on the inside on the restart,” said Ricci. “He (Billington) got under me but he left the top side open. I was able to power even with him and get back by him. He never got into me or anything, it was a clean race.”
SLOWER TRAFFIC: Just before the halfway point, Ricci caught the tail of the field and he was forced to move his line way up to the outside. A move that actually helped him pull farther away from Billington.
“The slower traffic actually helped me,” commented Ricci. “I moved up the speedway a lot farther and I found a smoother line. I was able to stay up there and stay out of the holes.”
BAD BREAK: With ten laps remaining, Jeff Sheely, who was running in the top five, made contact with the huge tires on the inside of the racing surface and severely damaging the left front of his no. 38.
JUST MISSED: On the restart, Billington had one more shot at Ricci for the lead but he was unable to capitalize. Billington though was happy to have the chance at the win considering he almost was involved in the lap one crash that collected Sheppard and Hotaling.
“I drove right through,” stated Billington of the incident. “I saw guys wrecking on both sides of me and I just split the middle.”
NO BRAKES: Around the same point that he was almost able to take the lead, Billington lost the brakes in his ride forcing him to alter his game plan for rest of the feature event.
“I had a shot at him on that early restart (Ricci) but it was a little rough and if I had went for it I might have wrecked both cars,” commented Billington. “After that I lost my brakes and had to enter the corners differently and it slowed me up a little bit.”
QUALIFYING: Heat races for the 20 cars in attendance were won by Ricci, Hotaling and Sowle.
OTHER ACTION: The 25-lap Budget Sportsman feature event was won by Frank Christiano; Dave Bayes captured the 20-lap Street Stock feature; the 15-lap Cruiser feature saw Kerrie Hollenbeck take the checkered flag.
Modified Feature (30 laps): Mike Ricci, Floyd Billington, Jamike Sowle, Matt Sheppard, Craig Hanson, Al McCoy, Erik Nelson, Bob Vedder, Vinnie DeCicco, Richie Price, Tim Mayne, Randy Hotaling, Jeff Brownell Jr., Chuck Allen, Joe Carnibucci, Jeff Sheely, Jackie Brown, Don Hart, Keith Shoemaker, Danny Tyler
Budget Sportsman Feature (25 laps): Frank Christiano, Brian Jones, Angela Hoard, John Constantino, Chris McCoy, Alex Alberti, Steve Douglass, Kory Wilder, Robert Gray, Fred Proctor, Don Bellen, Jeremiah Munson, Andy Graves
Street Stock Feature (20 laps): Dave Bayes, Chuck McSpirit, Dave Sullivan, Rocky Warner, Rob VanAernam, Randy Cosselman, Sam Surnear, Cliff Haslun, Leo Brady, Brian Cosselman, Luke Horning, Steve Cosselman
Cruiser Feature (15 laps): Kerrie Hollenbeck, Jamie Warner, Pat McSpirit, Tarcey Walthers, Nathan Sitterly, Bobby Rhinehardt, Chris Andrew
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