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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PAT WARD GRABS SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON AT UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY
VERNON, NY- Pat Ward was battling hard for the third spot with Stewart Friesen and Andy Bachetti for much of the middle stages of the 30 lap 358-Modified event, and when contact sent Bachetti off the track and a ensuing penalty sent Friesen to the rear, Ward saw his chance. With two top runners no longer impeding his run to the front, Ward took the lead with two to go to score the $1,600 victory.
In the 30 lap 358-Modified feature, pole sitter Jamie Christian launched himself into the lead at the drop of green, with fourth place starter Andy Bachetti immediately gaining the second and putting pressure on Christian. By lap seven, Bachetti had gained the lead with Christian regaining the edge again by lap 10. While the top duo battled for the lead, 10th place starter Bobby Varin was making his way to the front as he broke into the top five on lap nine.
Another driver on the move was Mitch Gibbs, who had started 11th and cracked the top five by top ten. Gibbs’ march to the front was not over there as he gained the runner-up position as lap 13 was being scored. At halfway, Bachetti was able to regain the second spot behind Christian with Gibbs, 15th place starter Stewart Friesen, and 14th place starter Pat Ward rounding out the top five.
Christian and Gibbs ran side by side for several laps, with Christian able to hold on to the top spot. With Gibbs trying to run down Christian out front, the battle for third was raging on with Bachetti, Friesen, and Ward battling. Coming down for lap 24, Friesen attempted to pass Bachetti for the third spot, and thinking he was clear of the rim riding Bachetti, contact was made that sent Bachetti off of turn four. Friesen was penalized for the contact which ended his shot at the victory.
With the penalty removing Friesen and Bachetti from contention, Ward was ready to take advantage of the situation and on the ensuing restart; he made short work of Gibbs and went to work on Christian. As lap 28 was being scored, Ward was making his move and made his pass for the lead to lead the event on the white flag lap. Ward would race away to his second win of the season with Christian, Gibbs, Willy Decker, and Varin chasing.
Jack Miller, Jeff Leslie, and Jeremy Vunk all took turns out front for the 20 lap Sportsman event, but Brad Alger is a man on a mission. After finishing second in the first three events of the season, Alger finally broke into victory lane last week and now after he has tasted victory, he doesn’t want to give up it up. Alger blasted out front on lap on lap 14 and never looked back. Following Alger across the line was Vunk, Matt Janczuk, Jason Rood, and Leslie. A scary incident occurred lap nine when contact between Mike Button and Tim Nye sent Nye into the front stretch wall. With Nye sitting sideways on the track, Mike Teachout had no where to go and clipped the helpless Nye. Teachout went into a series of flips down the front stretch, destroying his racer along with Nye’s machine.
Bret Belden led the first three laps of the Pro Stock feature event, but seventh place starter Jim Normoyle left no doubt who had the fastest car. Normoyle grabbed the top spot on lap four and easily drove away on every restart to become the fifth winner in five Pro Stock events competed. Belden, Bill Knapp, Mark Effner, and Tom Denton rounded out the top five.
In the 30 lap SUNY Canton Street Stock Series event, Chris Carr and Russ Marsden would swap the lead several times throughout the event with Marsden being the final leader of the event despite heavy pressure from Carr in the late stages of the event. Carr would have to settle for second with Andy Fisk, Tiger Chapman, and Dave Mannise chasing Marsden across the line.
On Sunday, June 8, the Race of Champions Dart Dirt Sportsman Series will join the 358-Modifieds, Pro Stocks, and Pure Stocks on Mirabito Fuel Group $ Keith Pylinksi Appraisal/Pylinski Realty night. Gates open at 3 p.m. with racing at 5:30 p.m. For more information, log on to www.uticaromespeedway.com or call the speedway office at (315) 829-4557.
AIR GAS EAST RACE SUMMARY
358-MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 LAPS)- PAT WARD, Jamie Christian, Mitch Gibbs, Willy Decker, Bobby Varin, Paul Kinney, Paul Jensen, AJ Romano, Jim Davis, Bob Henry, Stewart Friesen, Brian Murphy, Gus Schmidt, Jeff Kotary, Jeremy Wilder, David Orr, Andy Bachetti, Ken McGuire, Joel Thomas, Alan Barker, John Ramsey, Ted Lamb, and Bill Shantel, Jr.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)- BRAD ALGER, Jeremy Vunk, Matt Janczuk, Jason Rood, Jeff Leslie, Steve Way, Jack Miller, Casey Williams, Chris Hile, Jim Rothwell, Aaron Jacobs, Steve Yankowski, Craig Pope, Chad Ray, Todd Fey, AJ Filbeck, Scott Conover, Tim Nye, Michael Teachout, and Mike Button.
PRO STOCK FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)- JIM NORMOYLE, Bret Belden, Bill Knapp, Mark Effner, Tom Denton, Joe Palmer, Rob Seavy, Jack Terrell, AJ Digsby, Ed Ostrander, Jon Routhier, Shawn Frost, Jim Grippin, Don Peo, and Ivan Joslin.
SUNY CANTON STREET STOCK SERIES FEATURE FINISH (30 LAPS)- RUSS MARSDEN, Chris Carr, Andy Fisk, Tiger Chapman, Dave Mannise, Mike Welch, Blane Smith, Ron Hawker, Chris Cunningham, Ron Wadforth, Stan Clark, Scott Smith, Dave Pope, Keith Stevenson, Ricky Breed, Tim Janczuk, Jim Thomas, Todd Raabe, Daryl Krebs, Frank Hyatt, Cale Hoffman, Bobby Boynton, Andy Potter, John Wesolowski, Mike Schultz, Bill Mason, Kelly Pope, Waylan Wilczek, Nelson Bice III, and Phil Norman. DNQ- Rob Thieme, Josh Verne, Alan Doxstader, Nate Peckham, and Jim Richmond.
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