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ACCORD SPEEDWAY NEWS Accord, NY - Rich Ricci Jr Dominates King Of The Catskills Event At Accord Speedway And Wins Nearly $6,300.00By Steve Pados, Accord Media As the lingering storm clouds moved out of the Hudson Valley around noon-time on Friday, bright sunny skies ushered in a storm of another nature as Andy Harpell's ROC Dirt Tour Series came storming into the small town of Accord, New York to collide head-on with Accord Speedway Promoter Gary Palmer 's own formidable band of home-town Modified warriors. The battle would be the King of the Catskills 100-lap Modified headliner, offering a healthy $5,000.00 top prize along with some substantial bonuses for leading designated laps. With the race being postponed for a week due to weather conditions, a solid field of 49 top running Modifieds arrived to do battle. 28 Pro Stocks and 21 Slingshots complimented the three-division show making up the Friday night action in the first two-day event at the speedway since Gary Palmer bought the facility back in 2001. A standing room only crowd made their way through the gates from 10-surrounding states to witness one of the finest races of the entire 2008 racing season along the Eastern Seaboard. Six heats were needed to establish the starting feature line-up and each of the heats resembled a smaller version of a Modified feature. Three cars from each heat would make the transfer to the feature. Jeff Heotzler won the first heat over Danny Tyler and Jimmy Johnson. The second heat saw Rich Ricci Jr show a measure of things to come as he captured the heat race win over Alan Rudalavage and Ketih Hoffman. Mike Colsten controlled the third heat action with a win over hard-driving Joey Grammes and Mike Ricci. The fourth heat had Billy Van Pelt dominating the action over Tom Hindley and Stewart Friesen. Scott Ferrier drove to an exciting win in the fifth heat over Brett Hearn and Richie Eurich. The sixth and final heat saw Pat Ward romping to victory over Jeff Rudalavage and Chuck McKee. Brian Weaver, Andy Bachetti and Danny Johnson captured the three Consolation events to move to the feature event. Rhinebeck Ford, which is the sponsor for the weekly Modified division, sponsored the entire weekend of spectacular racing action. "Showtime" Danny Tyler and 10-time Modified track champion Rich Ricci Jr brought the 27-car starting field down for the start of the 100-lap main event. Ricci was quick at the start and jumped into the lead immediately with Tyler and Jeff Heotzler in hot pursuit. The first caution lap would fall for Brian Weaver a few laps later as front end damage would take the "Dream" to the sidelines early. Both Alan and Jeff Rudalavage would suffer from problems that put them both on the sidelines early on in the running. The same fate would befall Bobby Trapper after a first turn skirmish with a few race cars. Once the drivers settled down a bit, the racing was excellent as the deep in talent racing field put on a dazzling show for the racing fans. Ricci continued to lead the race and put valuable racing lap bonus money in his pocket, but by this time the race moved to the battle most fans were expecting. Fifth-place starting Brett Hearn raced cautiously at the beginning of the event and seemed content to ride behind Ricci while continuing to check out the many racing lanes available to him in his first appearance at Accord since Gary Palmer refurbished the facility during the off-season last year. The 46th lap would see the "Recycler" Mike Colsten pick-up a one hundred dollar bonus for being in 15th place at the time and he would leave the race a few laps later. Ricci collected the halfway one hundred dollar bonus money put up by Roger Emm and Ingrid Ragan. While Ricci showed the way, Hearn quietly moved into second place and the race would become a racing classic from that point on as Ricci showed his mastery of the Accord speedplant as he held-off Hearn lap after lap as the race wore on. While the Ricci-Hearn battle raged on, Modified rookie talent Danny Tyler was close behind as the youngster showed veteran savvy in keeping his Doug Tyler and Sons mount in third place. Tyler was having a battle of his own as he was holding off the "Middletown Missile" Chuck McKee. McKee was a man on a mission as he raced from 18th starting place to fourth in an excellent drive from the rear. Billy Van Pelt was solid in fifth place as he too was enjoying an excellent outing on the meticulously prepared Accord facility. As the final laps wore down, Ricci and Hearn dazzled the fans with their side by side never give an inch battle royal on the track. Hearn could find the speed to pull up alongside of Ricci but never could carry the momentum past the 10-time Accord Champion. A final restart with 6 laps remaining in the century grind had the Hearn fans hoping and the Ricci contingents smiling as Ricci held the "Corporate Jet" at bay to record his third consecutive King of the Catskills victory and the nearly $6,300.00 in winnnings and lap money bonuses. Hearn, a winner of 752 feature events in his outstanding career, raced to second place finish in an excellent run in his Vinnie Salerno 4-Star Transmissions entry. Danny Tyler was third with Chuck McKee settling for fourth and Billy Van Pelt completing the top five running order. The Second five consisted of Pat Ward, who with his 6th place finish, has basically locked up the ROC Dirt Series crown. Pennsylvania hot shoe Keith Hoffman finished seventh as he drove his Jerry Higbie Racing entry from the rear of the field two times to record his solid finish. Jimmy Johnson was a steady performer throughout the event and finished eighth and the 2008 Accord Modified Champion Andy Bachetti raced from 20th position to record a ninth place finish. Jackie Brown Jr, who came into the event as the highest Accord point performer in the ROC series, was tenth in the final rundown for the event. The Enzo's Ristorante Pro Stock division competed in a thirty-lap feature event on Friday evening. Bill Deak Sr was in command for the first lap and then just as he has done all year, two-time consecutive driving champion Don Williams took over the lead. While a few skirmishes halted the action in the early going, whenever the race went green it was Williams showing the drivers and the fans his continued mastery of the Accord facility. Things came to a halt on lap-18 when Bill Deak Sr grenaded his motor on the homestretch and it took the track crew quite a bit of time to pick up the many pieces that found their way onto the track. A Don Williams Jr flip also slowed the on-track action but the night belonged to Don Williams as he crossed under the checkered flag to claim the win and the $500.00 first place prize that went along with the win. Emerson Cargain Jr was second in a great run and Larry Temple Jr finished in third place. Russ Nuzzaro saved his best race for this night as he finished in fourth place and Bill Deak Jr completed the top five. The Accord Slingshots were on hand for the Friday night attraction and 22-cars took part in the action. Kayla Smykla took the lead from her pole start and would lead through the first 18-laps of the showcased event. As her machine began to slow, the door opened for her brother RJ, who was also the track champion at the speedway. RJ, who started the event from 10th-position, slipped by lap-18 and went to record the win and the $550.00 first place money that was bolstered by a $250.00 bonus posted by veteran driver and car owner Tom Perrego, who is now mentoring his son Anthony in the racing wars with great success. "The Bushkill Bullet" Kyle Rohner raced to a strong second place finish after starting from ninth position and one time winner at Accord in 2008, Mike Scarcella, completed the top three. Upstate New Yorker Bobby Hackel was a surprise entrant and the winner of the Slingshot battle at Albany Saratoga from a week ago was up to the task as he battled to a fourth place effort in his first visit to the Accord playground. Kayla Smykla held on for fifth position in her souring race car. Another surprise entrant for the race was the "Sparrowbush Blast" Billy Van Inwegen as the 2007 National Slingshot champion decided on Friday afternoon he wanted to be a player for the event. Billy V came from a 14th place start to finish in a solid sixth place effort. Brittany Tresch was seventh and Charlie Lawrence, Jimmy Babb and Russ Kisselburg completed the top ten running order. Other notables in the starting field was "The Negotiator" Ricky Yetter, as Yetter brought the race car on Thursday night to battle at Accord in his first ever Slingshot start. The National Junior Slingshot Champion Joesph Kata was on hand for the event. "The Z-Man" Zach O'Connell was back in action in only his third start since the beginning of July and was sporting the new Lowe's Of Kingston bodywork on the immaculate 327 race car. The "Montgomery Missile" Anthony Perrego took over the Brian Fink ride for the evening as Perrego has sold off all of his Slingshot equipment to concentrate on budding career in the sportsman ranks. The Chambers Sisters were also on hand for the event as was "Mighty" Michael Horton, who was coming off a solid season on the Junior Slingshot Tour. Most, if not all of the drivers mentioned suffered much the same fate as many fell to the infield area during the event through loss of the drive chain. Saturday's racing action and a complete recap of the King of the Catskills weekend will follow shortly. Rhinebeck Ford Modifieds: Rich Ricci Jr, Brett Hearn, Danny Tyler, Chuck McKee, Billy Van Pelt, Pat Ward, Keith Hoffman, Jimmy Johnson, Andy Bachetti, Jackie Brown Jr, Mike Ricci, Richie Eurich, Stewart Friesen, Jerry Higbie, Joey Grammes, Jeff Heotzler, Kevin Duryea, John McGill, Scott Ferrier, Tom Hindley, Ricky Yetter, Mike Colsten, Danny Johnson, Bobby Trapper, Jeff Rudalavage, Alan Rudalavage, Brian Weaver Enzo's Ristorante and Pizza Pro Stocks: Don Williams, Emerson Cargain Sr, Larry Temple Jr, Russ Nuzzaro, Bill Deak Jr, Al Christiana Jr, Bill Rion, Norbert Bracklow, Jon Routhier, John Roese, John Rood, Hank Marin, Jim Langenback, Bill Deak Sr, Don J Williams, Rob Rowe, Luke Horning, Tony Garaguso, Charlie Schwartz Jr, Ralph Ronk Accord Slingshots: RJ Smykla, Kyle Rohner, Mike Scarcella, Bobby Hackel, Kayla Smykla, Billy Van Inwegen, Britanny Tresch, Charlie Lawrence, Jim Babb, Russell Kisselburg, Todd Dippel, Tarry Marsh Sr, Chet Melius, Molly Chambers, Joseph Kata, Kyle Van Duser, Michael Horton, Michelle Campbell, Zach O'Connell, Caitlin Chambers, Anthony Perrego, Ricky Yetter For further updates and information regarding the great racing at the Accord Speedway, log on to the their newly constructed website at: http://www.accordspeedway.com or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478 A TRAIL OF DIRT LEADS RIGHT TO OUR DOOR |
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