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Colton Chappius, Jr. charges to emotional win at Genesee Speedway
Mike Paz, BATAVIA, NY (June 21, 2008) - With Mother Nature again threatening to interfere with the race program, Genesee Speedway was able to offer its fans and competitors yet another great night of racing Saturday night. No sooner had the checker flag flown for the last feature of the evening when Mother Nature made a return visit with rain and thunderstorms. But the fans had already been treated to a great night of exciting, fast racing on the track and left happy and contented.
The Power Trip Energy Drink Street Stock class was the highlight of the evening with the running of the "Mike Holford/Rich Conte" memorial 25 lap feature. Holford and Conte were two highly regarded Genesee Speedway drivers who passed away three years ago. They were part of the "Wise Guy Racing Team", a tight-knit group of Genesee Speedway regulars whose love for racing made it fun for others to be around them. As a tribute to their fallen comrades, other drivers, along with family members, have dedicated this race to them every year since their passing. (Another one of their group, 19 year old Ashley Bates, died in a tragic automobile accident earlier in the year.) As part of the tribute, Bill & Linda Kasper (of "Phat Willy's Graphics") plus members of their families, along with Weller Automotive, Lauterborn Electric, Jake's Bar & Grill and T.D. (Tim Downs) Auto Repair upped the prize money for the top 3 positions. Thus, the race became even more significant for both the additional money and the emotional overtones. In fact, Jeremy Denton, driver of the #07, had a special one-off paint scheme honoring Holford and Conte done exclusively for this race. After the heats, the top 12 qualifiers gathered on the front stretch for the redraw, courtesy of track sponsor Budweiser. Drivers picked cans of Bud marked with numbers on the bottom indicating the redraw position.
20 cars started the feature with Matt Pfalzer in the #20 on the pole and Nate Arnold in the #41 along side. the first Caution was brought out on lap 3 as the 12 of Jon Giles spun. On the restart, Pfalzer led Weller and Jeb Walworth. It would stay that way until lap 11 when "Wise Guy" Bill Weller battled Pfalzer for the lead out of turn 4, bringing the #74 of Jeb Walwoth with him. Meanwhile, Chappius started slicing his way toward the front from 8th place on lap 5 and was 6th when Weller got the lead . Weller looked as if he was going to cruise easily to the win while Colton Chappius in the #60 mixed it up with a few competitors early on. While battling his way toward the front, contact between Chappius and another car resulted in the rear bumper/valance panel being torn loose, flapping in the breeze, but not coming off completely. Speedway officials watched it for a couple of laps and determined it was not a safety concern--and more importantly for Chappius, did not affect the car in any way. The race stayed green with an apparent battle shaping up between Weller and Walworth but it was not to be as Jeb Walworth took the #60 into the pits with an apparent overheating issue. By this time Chappius had worked his way up to 4th and seized the opportunity to get by the #20 of Pfalzer when Walworth pitted. The second caution of the evening came out on lap 21, which erased Weller's huge lead. On the next restart, Chappius and Weller put on a show, battling each other through every turn. Chappius got by just as the white flag waved but Weller was not giving up. "Wild Bill" charged hard into turn three, trying to make up the short distance between himself and Chappius, resulting in an uncharacteristic spin. As Chappius took the checkers, Pfalzer got 2nd, going by the sideways Weller, who wound up third. Chappius was tired and emotional in Victory Lane, thanking his crew and family for the opportunity to race and win in this division.
14 cars took the green flag in the Castle Products Late Model division with Jason Bridge in the #15 on the pole. Immediately, he and eventual winner Brian Kotarski in the #05, who started third right behind Bridge, pushed their way to the front and took off, leaving outside pole sitter Carl Shetler in third. Jon Rivers in the #85 spun on lap 6 and for a moment, there was some confusion as it looked like the yellow would come out. It did not and Bridge continue to lead until Kotarski shot by on the next lap. Meanwhile, Tim Kauffman in the #22 had worked his way up to third, bringing the #012 of Dave Dubois with him. Both got by the fading Jason Bridge by lap 8 and on the very same lap, Dubois dived hard into turn 1 inside of Kauffman. The resulting contact took down the left rear tire of the #22, ending Kauffman's night. That put the #70 of Pete Waldron up to third and that's the way it stayed for the rest of the race as Kotarski cruised to the win, Dubois 2nd, Waldron 3rd and Jason Bridge 4th.
Pete Stefanski in the #2 picked up yet another win in the Original Pizza Logs Pro Stock division, passing his old car (renumbered 2M) now in the hands of second generation driver Brett Martin at the halfway point. Don Barnes got by in the #28 for 2nd on lap 12 and would hold that position until the end, making Brett Martin third. In the heats, a freak accident caused by a broken rear leaf spring caused Jim Burch Jr. in the #8 to flip the car 1 1/2 times after making contact with the turn 2 wall--on a caution flag! Burch had spun earlier in the heat and was trying to figure out what was wrong with the ill-handling machine when the incident occurred. Quick response by the track safety crew and the required safety equipment allowed Burch to crawl out unscathed, arms stretched high in the air but his night of racing was done.
Brandon Aradine went 4-for-4 in the Professional Driver Institute Mini Stock Division, even though he started 8th in the 15 lap feature. Mark Forsha in the #03 and pole-sitter Randy Barclay in the #95 battled hard in the early going but by lap 4, Aradine had cut the field in half for fourth. By lap 10, Forsha had faded back to 4th while Aradine started to reel in Barclay from a hard earned 2nd. Russ Wassner in the X82 had worked his way into third and the fans were treated to another great battle on the white flag lap as Aradine pulled even to Barclay coming into turn 4 and the two raced side-by-side for the checkers with Aradine squeaking out the close win, Barclay 2nd and Wassner 3rd.
The DML Driveway Sealing Bandits division benefited from a rainout called by Woodhull Raceway earlier in the day, with a few of that track's regulars making the drive up north. It proved fruitful for the #12x of Dylan Cesse, as he got the win over fellow "invader" David Ahouse in the #10. The first Genesee "regular" was the #273 of Chris Johnson, who got third.
Even though the Troyer Racing Sportsman Division had the night off to allow competitors to head out to the Lucas Oil Sportsman Trail events for the weekend, the track's "Super Six" program was retained with the invitation extended to the NYMM (New York Modified Midget) micro-sprints. Young Ryan Jordan from Dryden, NY took his Hyper Chassis to the winners circle once again Saturday evening at the Genesee Speedway for his 3rd NYMM feature win in the 2008 season. Jordan got out from early from his 3rd starting position and never looked back. Finishing second was long time modified midget driver Jim Lafler, who worked his way up from the 6 spot in his 14 year old Lafler Chassis. One of the major stories of the night was the #45 of Dave Ferguson, the pole sitter who ran the whole race with no steering. Unnoticed to the crowd, you never would have known young Ferguson had any issues with his #45 machine. The racing was fast and exciting and this division put on another great show for the fans.
Next week, Select Collision and WCJW 1140AM present the Super 6 Genesee Speedway racing card, featuring the BRS/GEN Mini-Stock & Bandit Challenges.
Genesee Speedway Results: 6/21/2008-
Holford-Conte Street Stock Memorial Night
Castle Powered Late Model Feature (20 Laps)- BRIAN KOTARSKI, Dave Dubois, Pete Waldron, Jason Bridge, Jim Johnson, Jon Rivers, Justin Chaddock, Ron Magavero, Rich Hale, Bob Babbitt, Billy Burd, J.J. Mazur, Carl Shetler, Tim Kauffman
Lap Leaders- Bridge 1-5, Kotarski 6-20.
Original Pizza Logs Pro Stock Feature (20 Laps)- PETE STEFANSKI, Don Barnes, Brett Martin, Eric Greenlief, Mike Martin, P.J. Peters, Butch Zimmerman, Ryan Worthington, Scott Stolzenberg, Jesse Repass, Jim Burch Jr.(DNS)
Lap Leaders- B. Martin 1, Stefanski 2-20
Power Trip Energy Drink Street Stock Feature (20 Laps)- COLTON CHAPPIUS, JR., Matthew Pfalzer, Bill Weller, Lee Zimmerman, Joey Spicola, Nathan Arnold, Dave Downs, Ed Surowy, Jeremy Denton, John Giles, Mike Shettler, John Fry, Darrel Moyer, Frank Lord, Jr., Jeb Walworth, Ken Hixenbaugh, Kenny Begnouche, Byron DeWitt, Kyle Rupp
Lap Leaders- Pfalzer 1-10, Weller 11-24, Chappius 25
Professional Driver Institute Mini Stock Feature (15 Laps)- BRANDON ARADINE, Randy Barclay, Russ Wassner, Mark Forsha, Samantha Burch, Ed Neal, Duane Pingrey, Dan Norton, Tom Amico, Rick Johnson, Pat Powers, Bill Tice
Lap Leaders- Forsha 1-3, Barclay 4-14, Aradine 15
DML Driveway Sealing Bandits (10 Laps)- DYLAN CESSE, David Ahouse, Chris Johnson, Kailey Wassner, Tom Urban, James Maier, Sarah Johnson, Eric Gunio, Randy Barclay, Jr.
Lap Leaders- Cesse 1-10
NYMM (New York Modified Midgets) (25 Laps)- RYAN JORDAN, Jim Lafler, David Ferguson, Eric Schwartz, Mickey Ciliberto, Keith Heater, Timex Morgan, Ron Gamble, John Smith, Ethan Morgan, Amy Scott, Jimmy Etue, Dan Shoop, Jacob Syzmkowiak, Kirsten Dombroski, Zack Morgan, Jim Radney, Frank Jarkiewicz, Nick Coooper
Lap Leaders- Ryan Jordan 1-25
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