ALAN JOHNSON VICTORIOUS IN BREWERTON MODIFIED MAIN
Brewerton, NY…Hoffman Hot Haus, Carquest, and Alltel sponsored Friday night’s race at Brewerton, and the winners were Alan Johnson, Sean Lias, Troy Van Allen, and Mark Warner.
Ron Holmes and Scott Prentice did battle for the lead early on in the DIRT Modified feature. Jim Gabriel was on the move early, and by lap 3 had third place in his possession.
The first ten laps went caution-free, but on lap 11 Chuck Bower spun his 99B in turn one and the yellow flag flew. Prentice and Holmes were still dicing it out for first place, and behind them were Gabriel, Tim Fuller, Jimmy Phelps, and Tim McCreadie (in his father Bob’s backup car).
The pace was fast and furious until 20 went on the lap counter and Tim Murphy Jr. brought out the yellow with his 87M. Murphy would go pitside momentarily, but returned to competition and finished the race. Prentice, Holmes, and Gabriel were still the top three, but now Alan Johnson had his Mitsubishi 1 in fourth with Tim McCreadie in tow.
The race restarted briefly, but Bob McCreadie encountered problems, bringing out the yellow again with 22 in the books. The top five now saw Prentice, Gabriel, Johnson, Holmes, and Tim McCreadie all after the first place check.
When flagger Chip Burdick waved the green to restart the event, Johnson shot underneath Gabriel and Prentice on the bottom in one fell swoop and took over the lead. Gabriel snagged second in the exchange as Prentice dropped back to third.
As the scorers registered lap 31, fifth place Holmes spun in turn two and slammed into a concrete barrier. His 82 was heavily damaged, but the Oneida, NY driver was unhurt in the incident.
Johnson had no trouble hanging on for the victory in the 35-lap event. Gabriel had his best run of the year to finish second, with Tim McCreadie, Prentice, and Chuck Hebing rounding out the top five. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Prentice, while heats went to Johnson, Holmes, and Pat Ward.
The IMCA Modified division got off to a rocky start in their feature, with one caution per lap for the first three laps. Rob Keller had taken the lead by the time lap four was recorded, and had Bill Anderson, Les Hubbard, Bob Bradt, and Sean Lias following behind him.
Lias and Bradt passed Anderson to take over third and fourth, respectively, just before the 17c of Mike Chilson spun in turn two and caution fell onto the speedway. Chilson was able to restart, but two laps later the 94 of Dustin Geers spun in front of him going into turn one and Chilson had nowhere to go but into the side of the Geers Machine. Johnny Hill also spun in turn 3, but he refired his Alltel 160 and was on his way before the green.
The next green flag lap saw more trouble for rookie drivers Hill and Geers, as they made contact and both cars wound up in turn four, with Hill into the outside wall. Hill’s car had to be hooked to the pits with substantial damage, but Geers would continue on and eventually finish 12th with his Carson-Ford Mercury sponsored car.
Keller and Lias began what would be a tremendous side-by-side battle for the lead when the green flag was shown. Keller had led lap 10, which made him the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader, but they would swap the lead three times before Lias finally took over for good on lap 13.
At the checkered flag it was Lias winning his fourth feature in the last five Brewerton IMCA races. Keller ran strong for second, with Les Hubbard doing a great job for third. Rookie John Matyjasik made it two top fives in a row with a fourth place run, and Bob Bradt rounding out the top five. Heats went to Bill Anderson, Jr., Bob Bradt, and Ron O’Neil.
Mark Warner led every lap of the 4-Cylinder feature event, but it wasn’t what you would call a cakewalk as Rick Angle and Chuck Powelczyk kept tremendous pressure on the 19 all the way through the 15 lap event.
Four yellows slowed the race, but they all took place between laps five and seven so there was plenty of green flag action before and after. The 15 of Roger West had to charge from the back of the pack, and by the time lap 11 was on the board he had worked his way into the top five.
Jim LaLone was also a late-race factor with his 33. He took fourth on lap 9, third on lap 11, and challenged the A28 of Angle for second the rest of the way. At the stripe it was Warner with the win, followed by Angle, LaLone, Powelczyk, and Roger West. Heat race victors were Roger West, Angle, and Powelczyk. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was, of course, Warner who led flag to flag to get the feature win.
Tod Simons of Oswego took the early lead in the Dwarf Car Feature. Driving what actually is a “Dwarf Truck”, Simons held on to the top spot for just three laps before Eric Crawford took over with his 33.
Lap three also saw the race’s first yellow, as the 2 of Tony Buffa came to a halt on the back straightaway and eventually pulled into the pit area. Buffa would not return to action. At this time, Darren Forbes, Carl Crawford, and the 6 of Barry Virts followed Crawford and Simons closely.
Simons looped his 21 in a knot in turn one on the 9th lap, ending his top five run for the night. Crawford maintained his advantage as 10 went up on the lap counter signifying the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Lap. Troy Van Allen now had second, with Kenny Gamlen, Pat Pontello, and Forbes rounding out the top five.
Pontello’s night would turn sour in a hurry on lap 14, when his left front tire collapsed. Officials threw the caution to get the 7 of Pontello off the track safely as Crawford still rested at the top of the class.
Van Allen was on a mission with his 2x. He tried Crawford lap after lap on the bottom side of the racetrack, and finally made the pass with three laps to go in the event and went on to a hard-fought victory. Eric Crawford finished second, followed by Gamlen, Forbes, and Carl Crawford. Eric Crawford, Buffa, and Van Allen captured heat wins.
The next race at Brewerton is Friday, June 30. Jasper Engines and Burdick Dodge will present a full night of racing that includes DIRT Modifieds, IMCA Modifieds, ESDCA Dwarf Cars, and 4-Cylinders. The evening will be topped off by a magnificent fireworks display, and the Jasper Engines NASCAR Winston Cup Show Car will be on display as well.
Gates open at 5:30 on Friday, with race time scheduled for 7:30. Admission is $10 for adults and $2 for children 14 and under. For more information, contact the speedway office at (315) 668-6906 or www.brewertonspeedway.com.
DIRT MODIFIEDS: ALAN JOHNSON, Jim Gabriel, Jr., Tim McCreadie, Scott Prentice, Chuck Hebing, Tim Fuller, Pat Ward, Jimmy Phelps, Chuck Bower, Billy Decker, Bill Gill, Jeremie Corcoran, Mike Hulsizer (sb), Ryan Baye (sb), Steve Babicek, Tim Murphy Jr. (sb), Frank Doll Jr. (sb), Bob McCreadie, Ron Holmes (sb), Jim Burke, Bob Utter (sb), Steve Hulsizer (sb).
IMCA MODIFIEDS: SEAN LIAS, Rob Keller, Les Hubbard, John Matyjasik, Bob Bradt, Bill Anderson Sr., Dane Keller, Carmen Vona, Jim House, Ken Rogers, Ken Klinkowsky, Dustin Geers, Jon Amidon, Kevin Fleming, Tony Finch, Dick Weiland, Mike Chilson, Colleen Finch, Bill Anderson, Jr., Johnny Hill, Aaron Jacobs, Ron O’Neil.
ESDCA DWARF CARS: TROY VAN ALLEN, Eric Crawford, Ken Gamlen, Darren Forbes, Carl Crawford Jr., Shawn Hort, Bob Magner, Bill Teliska, Barry Virts, Ed Lawton, David Orr, Steve Miller, Nate Phelps, Lee Babcock, Wayne Younglove, Kelly Skinner, Bob McCarthy, Dave Reals, Scott Nash, Pat Pontello, Brenda Rice, Tod Simons, Tony Buffa, Bob Bird.
4-CYLINDERS: MARK WARNER, Rick Angle, Jim L