JASPER ENGINES NIGHT BREWERTON MODIFIED HONORS TO DECKER
Brewerton, NY…”The Franklin Flyer” Billy Decker passed Chuck Bower on lap 23 and took his New England Financial Services 91 to victory lane on Jasper Engines/Burdick Dodge Night at Brewerton Speedway Friday. Other feature winners were Tony Buffa in the ESDCA Dwarf Cars, Bob Bradt in the IMCA Modifieds, and Roger West Sr. in the 4-Cylinders.
The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature began with some pre-green flag drama, as the 9T of Tim McCreadie went to the pit area for some emergency repairs, then came back out at the tail of the field. He made it out safely before the start, so he remained on the lead lap.
Ron “Hot Shoes” Holmes put his 82 out front at the outset, but all eyes were on the 9 of Bob McCreadie. McCreadie had not yet visited victory lane at Brewerton this season, and it appeared tonight could be his night as he quickly moved to second behind leader Holmes.
On lap 3, Jeremy Corcoran ran into problems with his 3c and stopped momentarily in turn four, bringing out the first yellow of the event. After a pit stop, Jeremy was back in the hunt on the lead lap and racing continued.
McCreadie made short work of Holmes after the restart, and the Watertown, NY driver was out front as the number four went on the lap board. Behind him, Jimmy Phelps, Pat Ward, and a fast moving Chuck Bower were following Holmes at this point.
After a yellow for the 6PAC of Jim Burke, who spun in turn two, the ensuing restart produced a massive jingle in turn one that involved nearly half the field. Tim Fuller and Jim Gabriel Jr. ended up on the hook after the incident, while some others wound up with minor damage.
McCreadie would lead on the restart, but Pat Ward wanted his turn on top of the Modified mountain. As the field crossed the line for lap 10, Ward put his Gypsum Wholesalers 56 in front of McCreadie just briefly before losing the spot again.
When the 6PAC of Burke stalled on the back straightaway, ending his night, the field was brought to a snail’s pace once more on lap 14. Chuck Bower had worked his way into second, and a lap after the restart he took over the lead and sent the Syracuse Frame 9 of McCreadie looking for answers. Decker was in third now, with Ward falling to fourth and Holmes still hanging on for fifth.
After a couple of minor yellows, the 23rd lap proved to be the deciding one as Decker had chased Bower for several circuits without success until now. The 91 drove past the 99B and was never again headed. Bob McCreadie’s run ended once again in frustration as he broke on the 31st lap, causing a yellow. Decker was leading, with Bower, Chuck Hebing, Jimmy Phelps, and Steve Hulsizer following closely.
The last four laps went off quickly, and Billy Decker returned to victory lane for the first time in several weeks. Second was Chuck Bower, followed by Chuck Hebing, Jimmy Phelps, and Pat Ward. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 99B of Bower.
Bill Teliska spun his 88 on the first lap of the ESDCA Dwarf Car Feature, getting the event off to a slow start. Tod Simons momentarily had control on the restart, but quickly it was “The Birdman” Bob Burd stepping into the lead. After a yellow on lap 3 for Kelly Skinner’s spinning 8, the running order would begin to change quickly.
Eric Crawford found some giddyup and put his 33 out front, with Tony Buffa, Pat Pontello, Shawn Hort, and Bird rounding out the top five when the 14c of “Nuclear Nate” Phelps and the 10 of “Uncle Bob” McCarthy spun in turn 2. The lap counter read 7, and Buffa was ready for to challenge for the lead.
Challenge he did, but so did the 7 of Pontello, who swapped the lead off and on with Crawford before Buffa finally managed to take over on lap 17. With three to go it was Buffa, Pontello, Crawford, Darren Forbes, and Dan Boyce, but Boyce had an argument with another car and his 4 ended up motionless in turn 3. This incident ended a great run for Boyce, who debuted a new car for this event.
Buffa held on for the final few laps and scored the win with Pontello finishing second. Crawford, Weigelt, and Forbes rounded out the top five. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Pontello.
The IMCA Modified feature saw four different leaders in the first ten laps of the event. Johnny Hill had his 160 out front early, and appeared to be running the best he has in some time. The rookie led for three laps before the 21 of Rob Keller got by him, and stayed in the top five through much of the early part of the event.
Keller’s time at the head of the class was cut surprisingly short by the 20A of Bill Anderson, Sr., who charged past the 21 on lap 7. As those two battled, Bob Bradt was sneaking up behind them, waiting to strike.
As starter Chip Burdick gave the halfway sign, Bradt found himself alongside Anderson and was leading at the line. Anderson was running exceptionally strong, and held back all challenges for several laps, including those of Sean Lias, a multi-time feature winner already this season.
Ron O’Neil had his 70X flying at the end of the race, charging through the field and taking over second on the final lap shuffling Anderson to third. At the line it was Bradt with the checkered flag followed by O’Neil, Anderson Sr., Lias, and Keller. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway leader was Bradt, while the 35 of John Matyjasik finished 8th and took home $84 in cash from the folks at 84 Lumber.
The 4-Cylinder feature was riddled with yellow flags, with nine total and six in the first six laps. Roger West took over the lead from Chuck Powelczyk right at the halfway mark and won his second feature of the season at Brewerton with his 15.
West had an American Flag flying on the car in honor of the Independence Day weekend, and the stars and strips were waving in victory lane. Second went to the 9 of Darrick Van Epps, while Jim LaLone, Todd Williamson, and Russ Cusson rounded out the top five. West picked up a case of Kendall Oil courtesy of Drake Oil for his efforts, and he also won the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader award for the evening.
The evening concluded with a fireworks display in honor of the 4th of July Weekend. Fans were treated to multiple colors and a finale that was bright and bold and left everyone cheering in approval.
The next race at Brewerton Speedway is Friday, July 7th. Avon Products of Oswego County will present a full buffet of DIRT Modified, IMCA Modified, ESDCA Dwarf Cars, and 4-Cylinders, along with a special match race that puts the Oswego Speedway Supermodified Stars in Dwarf Cars to try their luck on the dirt. Gates open at 5:30, with race time scheduled for 7:30 sharp. For more information, contact the speedway office at (315) 668-6906 or see them online at www.brewertonspeedway.com.
DIRT MODIFIEDS: BILLY DECKER, Chuck Bower, Chuck Hebing, Jimmy Phelps, Pat Ward, Scott Prentice, Jeremie Corcoran, Steve Hulsizer, Ron Holmes, Billy Gill, Ryan Baye, Mike Hulsizer, Lance Petzoldt, Tim Vincent, Steve Babicek, Tim Murphy Jr., Joel Thomas, Bob McCreadie, Tim McCreadie, Frank Doll, Jr., Bob Utter, Jim Burke, Jim Gabriel, Jr., Alan Johnson, Tim Fuller.
IMCA MODIFIEDS: BOB BRADT, Ron O’Neil, Bill Anderson Sr., Sean Lias, Rob Keller, Dick Weiland, Les Hubbard, John Matyjasik, Dane Keller, John Bell, Jim House, Johnny Hill, Dustin Geers, Ken Klinkowsky, Jon Amidon, Carmen Vona, Bill Anderson Jr., Kevin Fleming, Tony Finch, Ken Rogers, Kevin Battelle, Mike Chilson.
DWARF CARS: TONY BUFFA, Pat Pontello, Eric Crawford, Mark Weigelt, Darren Forbes, Ken Gamlen, Bob Magner, Barry Virts, Bill Teliska, Steve Miller, Dennis Johnson, David Orr, Brenda Rice, Wayne Younglove, Kreig Heroth, Shawn Hort, Lee Babcock, Dan Boyce, Dave Reals, Ed Lawton, Nate Phelps, Troy Van Allen, Carl Crawford Jr., Bob Burd, Scott Nash, Bob McCarthy, Tod Simons, Kelly Skinner, Brandon Phelps.
4-CYLINDERS: ROGER WEST, Derrick Van Epps, Jim LaLone, Todd Williamson, Russ Cusson, Bob Whipple, Tim Koch, Kevan Cook, Roy French, Brett Hubbard, Chris Bargabos, Aaron Backus, Mark Warner, Nicholas Barr, Chuck Powelczyk, John West, Harvey Calkins Jr., Joe Bribre, Rick Angle, Mike Lewis, Jason Amidon, Mike Humphrey.