|
Marcuccilli, Welch, and Degroff Also Cash in Top Prizes
Weedsport, NY – April 27, 2008 – By Dan Kapuscinski, Cayuga County Fair Speedway PR and Promotions Coordinator
Alan Johnson has thrilled fans throughout the years with his low-line riding, slick track tactics at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway. On Sunday “AJ Slideways” did it again pedaling passed his brother Danny Johnson on lap-30, then holding off the “Doctor” in a one lap dash. The win was worth $1,500 in the Vault Energy Drink 35 DIRTcar Big-Block Modified feature event.
“The car was just great and working really good,” said Johnson in victory lane. “I was a little worried about that last restart, but we were able to hold on. The bottom was working good, but you really had to keep it low near the cement and I hit it pretty good once in turn 4. The track sure made for some great racing tonight.”
Ryan Phelps, Justin Haers, and Steve Paine rounded out the top five finishers in the 35-lap feature go.
It took Dave Marcuccilli seven years to win his first career feature in the Street Stock ranks. Fortunately for the Cayuga native, he would not have to wait as long in the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified division. Marcuccilli took advantage of a lap-13 restart to drive around Todd Town to claim his first career Sportsman Modified win in just his third career start.
Town, Darryl Hilkert, Jim Spano, and Kevin Ridley filled the top five.
In the UMP Street Stock division it was Mike Welch claiming victory, while Charles Degroff ran away to the checkered flag in the Pick-n-Pull Auto Parts BattleKarz division.
Alan Fink and Danny Johnson brought the field of 24 DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds to the green flag for the Vault Energy Drink 35. The “Doctor” won a heat race earlier in the night, and promptly jumped to the early lead in the JIR Motorsports no. 27J.
Johnson built a healthy early advantage, but all eyes were turned to the no. 99 of Phelps charging from his fourth starting position on the grid. Approaching halfway Johnson and Phelps had checked from the field ahead of Haers, Mike Bowman, Mike Mahaney, Alan Johnson, and Ryan Bartlett.
The lead of Johnson and Phelps would be erased on lap-16 as last week’s winner Matt Sheppard lost the handle on the no. 9s in turn one. Sheppard was able to pull away and rebound for a 13th place finish.
The restart saw Danny Johnson ahead of Ryan Phelps, Haers, Alan Johnson, and Bowman. Alan looked to be the fastest car on the track at this point, and was one of the only cars on the Speedway to make the bottom half of the track work.
Just two laps after the restart Phelps made his bid for the lead charging by Danny Johnson for the top spot on the bottom of the Speedway . The “Doctor” would not be outdone after a poor showing in week one, and blasted the cushion to go back around Phelps and regain the lead on lap-21.
Moments after Danny Johnson retook the lead, the caution flew for a second time as the no. 88 of Steve Hulsizer picked up a flat tire. When the field went back to green it was clear that Alan Johnson was poised to give his brother a run for the top spot. Alan steamed ahead of Phelps on the ensuing restart and put his sights on the no. 27J.
Alan worked around the extreme low side of the Speedway for 8-laps, while Danny rim-rode around the top before Alan was able to make a move stick. Finally on lap-30 Alan found the grip he was looking, sliding under his brother for the lead and cutting his lane off out of turn four.
The two battled tightly for another four laps before the no. FX1 of Frankie Caprara lost his left rear wheel in turn three and brought out a caution with just one lap to go. When the green lights came back on it was Alan cruising to victory in the no. 14J by nearly a second over brother Danny for his 59th career Cayuga County win.
Ryan Phelps, Haers, Paine, Billy Dunn, Bowman, Jimmy Phelps, Jeff Brownell Jr., and Ryan Bartlett finished the top ten. Alan Johnson also collected another $100 from Big Red Towing for winning the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Bonus Spin as the wheel landed on “no. 1” in the pre-race draw.
AJ Kingsley and Dan Sellen brought the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified field to the green, but the pack wasn’t able to make it back around before a four car pileup brought out the first of eight cautions in the third turn. Last week’s winner Kevin Ridley went for a ride over the hood of Marcus Dinkins heading into corner three. Mike Entwistle and Josh Hefti also became involved.
Ridley, Entwistle, and Hefti were able to pull away. The no. 17 of Dinkins however was damaged heavily and hooked off the Speedway surface.
Sellen would lead the field back to green before Town overtook Billy Clark, Kingsley and Sellen in one move for the lead down the back straight. Town’s power move seemed to put him in position for his first career Sportsman Modified win. However, Marcuccilli threw his hat into the ring after the seventh caution of the race on lap-13 for Sellen and Jason Occhino.
Marcuccilli slid by Town on the restart using the outside lane, and in just two laps built a five car length advantage. Town, Hilkert, and Spano would get one last crack at Marcuccilli after a lap-20 caution for the no. 99 of Clark, who spun in turn one just outside the top five positions.
The no. M1 of Marcuccilli was the class of the field at race’s end, pulling away to a two second margin on Town over the final five circuits for the win in the Bud Light 25. Marcuccilli also won the $50 ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Bonus from Currier Plastics.
Hilkert, Spano, Ridley, James Friesen, Tim Currier, Entwistle, Justin Wright, and Jeremy Pitcher finished the top ten.
“I can’t believe this, I am speechless,” said an awe struck Marcuccilli. “It took a lot of work, but it has certainly paid off. I didn’t think we had a car to win tonight; I was just waiting for the fast guys to come from the back and through. I didn’t know anything about these cars coming into this season, but I think we learned something tonight!”
The Hoosier Racing Tire 15 saw the no. 18 Wayne Ellison and defending track champion no. 115 Nick Rizzo bring the UMP Street Stock field to green. Rizzo swept into the early lead at the drop of the green and led the event straight through the half way point.
The caution lights came on at lap-11, erasing Rizzo’s lead over Mike Welch, Chris Fisher, Ellison, and Steve Woodworth. Mike Vaughn and David Austin brought out the caution after the two came together with Austin losing a wheel.
On the restart Rizzo appeared to lose his line, leaving the door wide open for the no. 00 of Welch to take advantage and roll into the lead down low off of turn four. Over the final four laps Welch would be untouched for his first career UMP Street Stock win at Cayuga County Fair. Welch also took home an extra $25 from Bud Light as the winner of the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Bonus.
“I don’t usually run well here,” said 27-time Canandaigua feature winner, Welch. “So I am glad to have been able to pick up the win. That last caution really helped us out with the restart.”
The Pick-n-Pull 25 BattleKarz event was a runaway by the no. 77 of Charles Degroff. Degroff walked away from the field ahead of Karl Werner, Les Baker, Bill Werner, and Barb Amadon.
“It was perfect out there, the track was beautiful,” said Degroff in victory lane. “The car is handling great, we won’t change a thing for the next race.”
There will be no racing next Sunday, May 4th at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway as the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series will highlight the season opener at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park . The DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds will run Twin 50 features, coupled with the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds. Race time is set for 5pm.
Don’t forget next Saturday, May 3rd is Cinqo de Mayo 5/5/5/5 Night at the Races at Canandaigua Speedway. Purchase 5 admissions/5 drinks/5 hot dogs/and 5 fries for just $50. DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds, DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds, UMP Street Stocks, and PureStox will take the green at 7pm.
For more information call the DIRTcar Northeast headquarters at 315-834-6606 or visit www.cayugacountyfairspeedway.com.
VAULT ENERGY DRINK – Event Summary (4-27-08)
BattleKarz
Pick-n-Pull 25: 1) 77- CHARLES DEGROFF, 2) 24- Karl Werner, 3) 73- Les Baker, 4) 63- Bill Werner, 5) 13- Barb Amadon, 6) 24x- Dave Nagldinger, 7) 5k- Keith Keuer, 8) k9p- Wally Dean, 9) 27x- Dave Guererri, 10) 9- Greg Large, 11) 1- Jeremy Werner, 12) 47- Nick Werner, 13) 607- James Batzer, 14) 67- James Werner
UMP Street Stocks
Heat #1: Rizzo, Welch, Fisher, Vaughn, Woodworth
Heat #2: Ellison, Hoffman Sr., Alnutt, Guererri, Thomas, Austin
Hoosier Tire 15: 1) 00- MIKE WELCH, 2) 115- Nick Rizzo, 3) 18- Wayne Ellison, 4) 37- Chris Fisher, 5) 2- Steve Woodworth, 6) 21a- Mark Alnutt, 7) 11- Mike Vaughn, 8) 75- David Austin, 9) cj1- CJ Guererri, 10) 71- Dan Hoffman Sr., 11) 88x- Chuck Thomas
DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds
Heat #1: Wright, Clark, Hilkert, Ridley, Pitcher, Kingsley, Gardner, Schneider
Heat #2: Town, Juhl, Sellen, Richmond Jr., Hefti, Hilton, Entwistle, Martin
Heat #3: Marcuccilli, Friesen, Currier, Occhino, Spano, Dinkins, Juhl Jr., Peckham, Pietrovicz
Bud Light 25: 1) m1- DAVE MARCUCCILLI, 2) 17t- Todd Town, 3) 4- Darryl Hilkert, 4) jvs1- Jim Spano, 5) 20x- Kevin Ridley, 6) 52- James Friesen, 7) 10- Tim Currier, 8) m93- Mike Entwistle, 9) 19w- Justin Wright, 10) 14- Jeremy Pitcher, 11) 17d- Tom Juhl, 12) 93- Rob Richmond Jr., 13) 3- Fran Hilton, 14) 3k- AJ Kingsley, 15) 14s- Craig Gardner, 16) 7c- John Juhl Jr., 17) 35- Jason Occhino, 18) 57s- Beth Schneider, 19) 99- Bill Clark, 20) 12- Dan Sellen, 21) 90- Nate Peckham, 22) 81- Christine Martin, 23) 85- John Petrovicz, 24) 17- Marcus Dinkins, 25) 51- Justin Hefti
DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds
Heat #1 (6-qualify): Bowman, Haers, Dunn, Brownell Jr., Sheppard, Fink, Potter, Ward
Heat #2: D. Johnson, J. Phelps, Bartlett, Caprara, Whaley, R. Phelps, Fisher, Bellinger, Willix, Wight
Heat #3: Podsiadlo, Paine, A. Johnson, Hulsizer, Homan, Mahaney, Rauscher, Beardsley, Steiner
Consi (6-qualify): Fisher, Rauscher, Bellinger, Wight, Potter, Willix, Sean Beardsley, Mike Ward, Tony Steiner
Vault Energy Drink 35: 1) 14J- ALAN JOHNSON, 2) 27J- Danny Johnson, 3) 99- Ryan Phelps, 4) 3- Justin Haers, 5) 7x- Steve Paine, 6) 49- Billy Dunn, 7) 16- Mike Bowman, 8) 99J- Jimmy Phelps, 9) 29- Jeff Brownell Jr., 10) 93- Ryan Bartlett, 11) 99L- Larry Wight, 12) 21- Derrick Podsiadlo, 13) 9s- Matt Sheppard, 14) 33- Mike Mahaney, 15) 16w- Lance Willix, 16) 8- Rob Bellinger, 17) 44- Shannon Whaley, 18) 91h- Chad Homan, 19) 48too- Dave Rauscher, 20) 5- Jason Potter, 21) 11J- Alan Fink, 22) 37c- Eric Fisher, 23) FX1- Frankie Caprara, 24) 88- Steve Hulsizer |
|
