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Cozze Stretches Fuel Mileage to Earn First SDW Title
By MIKE MALLETT
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – On Sunday afternoon Frank Cozze did the improbable.
The likeable driver from Wind Gap, Pa., ran a remarkable 129 laps on a tank of fuel which propelled him to his first career win in the Rite Aid 200 as part of Super DIRT Week XXXVII.
Cozze, 53, walked away with over $50,000 for his efforts and the relief of winning a race he’s been trying to conquer since way back in 1976.
“Everybody did such a great job. I had my brother spotting in the stands, all my sponsors; there are just so many people I don’t know who to thank first,” stated Cozze as he smiled from ear to ear. “I don’t even know what to say, I’m kind of choked up.”
It was Cozze’s best run at the New York State Fairgrounds since 2003 when he finished third. He’s had a pair of runner-up finishes in late 70’s and early 80’s but now can add his name to the record books as a winner of DIRTcar racing’s most prestigious event.
The win was even more special because his father, Dick Cozze, was in attendance and his brother, Rick Cozze, was in the stands helping as a spotter for the event.
“Ya, the old boy (Dick Cozze) had a car here for the first couple of dirt weeks,” commented Cozze about his father. “I was almost too young to come to them so it’s going to feel real good to get him up there with me for a picture.”
Cozze fuel mileage game was aided by 17 cautions with a total 84 laps being run under the yellow flag. This allowed him to make his final pit stop on lap 71 while many drivers who pitted after him also running out of fuel.
“If you can get good gas mileage here that is unbeatable,” stated Cozze. “Under the cautions I would shut the motor off and coast. When you aren’t jerking the throttle around you can save a lot of gas here. My car was really good, I could be really smooth and I think I only spun the tires once or twice all day. That is a real fuel conservative race car.”
Cozze wasn’t the fastest car during the week as he timed 25th quickest on Thursday and finished tenth is his heat race event on Friday, but his M2 powered PMC car was getting tremendous mileage all week long. He had no recourse but to use pit strategy to help him get to the front as he started the event from the 33rd position.
“We were getting some pretty wild gas mileage there,” commented Cozze about his ride. “The tradeoff was we had to pull a bunch of gear out. We didn’t have the fastest car all week but we were getting the best gas mileage. A guy that can get that kind of gas mileage is dangerous.”
Chasing Cozze to the checkered flag was second generation driver, Matt Sheppard. Sheppard, of Waterloo, N.Y., won $25,000 for his efforts. Duane Howard, of Oley, Pa., started 19th and used a very similar approach to Cozze’s to finish in third.
Stewart Friesen, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., used the Easy Pass (similar to the lucky dog) to stay on the lead lap and bring his battered and beaten No. 44 to the finish in fourth. Former winner, Tim Fuller, of Edwards, N.Y., raced much of the later stages of the event with problems in the rear of his Teo Pro car but he managed to hang on and finish in fifth.
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SUPER LEADER: Sheppard started on the outside row after a solid qualifying effort earlier in week and he grabbed the lead at the drop of Dave Farney’s green flag. He beat Fuller into turn one on the high side of the speedway.
NO BACK TO BACK WINS: The first caution slowed the field on lap 11 when Ric Hill slowed on the back straightaway. Vic Coffey was involved as he collapsed the front end on his No. 32c ending his afternoon and his chances at second consecutive win.
FIRST ROUND OF STOP: The races first major round of pit stops occurred on lap 34 after the caution had come out of Jason Barney. Barney got into the wall and damaged the rear deck lid on his Jeff Holbrook owned modified. Sheppard remained on the speedway as the race leader.
COME ON IN: Racing resumed once again on lap 37 but two laps later the caution flag flew again. This time it was for Shawn Reimart as he sat spun on the backstretch. Sheppard pitted as did Cozze as he took on two rear tires and a load of fuel. The lead was handed over the Brett Hearn.
“We had our (pit) strategy pretty much mapped out before hand,” said Cozze. “Luckily the cautions came exactly on the laps that we needed them.”
VETERAN LEADER: Hearn now had the top spot with Cozze mired way back in the 26th position with many of the other drivers who made pit stops. He patiently stayed in line and followed the cars in front of him.
ONE LAST PIT STOP: Hearn handed the lead over the Quebec native, David Herbert on lap 61 when he hit pit road. Hebert was the lead when the caution flag flew for Gary Tomkins who stopped going into turn one on lap 69. Two laps later, Cozze and many other drivers came down pit road for their final stop. Cozze took on a full load of fuel and planned to stretch it until the end.
“I tried to pass a couple of slow cars and it was an effort,” stated Cozze. “I said to myself, ‘forget about it’ because it wasn’t worth it. I was going to have to let track position get me back to the front.”
GOING FOR THE BONUS: With Herbert hitting pit road with Cozze, Justin Haers inherited the lead. He stayed out on the speedway and earned $5,000 from Dig Safely NY/Promotion PDG. At this point with other drivers heading pit-side Cozze had moved back into the top five.
A SCARE FOR THE LEADERS: One lap later the caution came out when Alan Johnson stopped on the outside of the speedway at the entrance to pit road. At the yellow he darted across the track just in front of the leaders with problems on the front end of his Steve Hulsizer mount.
CONSERVING FUEL: Vince Vitale led the way with Cozze and Rick Laubach in line right behind him. Vitale was able to pull away from the two Pennsy drivers as they began conserving fuel in hopes of making it to the end of the race.
THINGS WORKED PERFECT: Vitale hit pit road on lap 124 when the caution came out for Chris Higgins. Higgins lost the left rear tire on his mount. The track position game worked and Cozze was now the race leader.
BACKING IT DOWN: Under the green flag runs Cozze would pull out to a lead and then back down on the throttle to save the gas. He only got on the gas fully when it was necessary to protect the top spot.
“We were able to get out to a six or seven car lead,” said Cozze. “Once I did that I could coast a little bit and let them come back to me. I would only use about three quarters of the throttle on the straightaway. If someone totally ran up on me I would get on it a little bit. If you got a car like that it is pretty tough to beat.”
THE FINAL LAPS: Cozze led the race while Laubach tried running him down. On lap 188 Laubach ran out of gas and former winner, Billy Decker, moved in line behind Cozze.
“With ten laps to go I knew Billy (Decker) got into second,” stated Cozze. “They kept telling me he was hanging up off the corner. I got thinking if he makes a run at me I’ll have to cut this thing loose. It had a lot left.
“I would have drove this thing right out to the wall if I had to win this race.”
MAKING IT TO THE END: Cozze made it to the end to win his first ever 200 lap race at the mile. Many of the other contenders had to hit pit road due to mechanical problems or gas issues.
HE CAN’T MAKE IT: Sheppard was too far behind Cozze to challenge him in the final three laps after Decker hit the pits with motor woes. He thought that Cozze was going to run out of fuel in the final laps.
“Once Decker broker I thought we were in really good shape,” said Sheppard. “I thought for sure as the sky is blue Frank (Cozze) was going to run out of gas and he didn’t. We ended up second. We did everything we could do.”
TRYING TO PUSH: Sheppard tried to push his car as much as he could in the final laps, but as the laps clicked off he began to notice that he was starting to run short on fuel forcing him to back down a little more than he wanted to.
“I must have been getting somewhat low on fuel because my car started blubbering in the corners,” commented Sheppard. “I could run wide open in the straightaway and I caught up to him. He was still quite a ways ahead of me. I did what I could but his car is still running.”
UNLIKELY THIRD: Howard finished third in the event as he entered his first event since back in the early 90’s. Howard, driving a Troyer car, was forced to also conserve fuel as his last pit stop came four laps after Cozze’s final stop.
“I don’t think anybody expected us to come up from Pennsylvania and finish in third,” stated Howard. “I thought we had a shot at winning the thing. When the 14 (Laubach) ran out I really thought Cozze was going to do the same. The one time I was under the nine car (Sheppard) and could have had second but I backed out of it to save the fuel.
“We really stretched the fuel issue today and to come out of here third is good for the BPG team.”
RACE AWARDS: For his efforts Cozze also earned the Bert and A-1 Racing Products Hard Charger Awards and the Sharon’s Toy Rite Aid 200 Champion Bonus. Sheppard earned the NYSSCA Top Member Award. Laubach captured the AARN and Budd Olsen Speed Supply Hard Luck Awards. Ronnie Johnson’s team won the Gater Racing News Best Appearing Car and Crew Award. Roy Bresnahan earned $2,000 for being the Freihofer’s Rookie of the Race.
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