TIM McCREADIE FINALLY WINS AT BREWERTON
Brewerton, NY…It is not unusual when someone named McCreadie visits victory lane at Brewerton. It is unusual, however, when his first name is Tim. Friday night, the son of DIRT Modified legend Bob McCreadie finally added his name to the all-time winners list at Brewerton with a strong victory in the 35-lap Trackside Pub DIRT Modified feature. Other features went to Bob Bradt, Tony Buffa, and Jim LaLone.
Steve Hulsizer led just one lap before the 94 of McCreadie got past on lap 2. Tim Fuller began chasing Hulsizer with his B&F Machine M1, but it would take four more circuits before the Tim and Tim show would begin. Jim Burke spun his 6-pac machine on lap 7, bringing out the race’s first of only two yellow flags.
Fuller put pressure on the back-up Kinney Drugs 94, and on lap 10 powered his machine out front and into the lead. McCreadie wouldn’t let go however, and stayed right with Fuller in a thrilling duel. Behind them, Chuck Hebing held third, with Jim Gabriel, Jr. and Alan Johnson swapping fourth and fifth before Johnson finally took the spot for good on lap 18.
McCreadie stole the lead back right at the race’s midway point, and became the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader. Fuller was able to run with McCreadie at first, but gradually lost ground. Alan Johnson got by Hebing for third on lap 20, but did not have enough to do battle with the leaders.
With the largest crowd of the year on hand, Tim McCreadie finally found his way to victory lane, and proceeded to do a “Texas two-step” dance on top of his roof. Second went to Fuller, third was Alan Johnson, with Bob McCreadie and Chuck Bower rounding out the top five in a most exciting feature event.
Colleen Finch and her husband John comprised the front row of the IMCA feature, and Colleen took the lead early. Don Alvord had second, with Kevin Battelle, John Matyjasik, and Rob Keller following closely. Mike Chilson spun on lap 3, causing a yellow.
Finch would lead until lap 6, when Sean Lias found his way around. When Rob Keller stalled at the finish line on lap 6, the top five read Lias, Finch, Matyjasik, Alvord, and Bob Bradt. Lias had five wins on the season going into the feature event, while 5th place Bradt had four wins.
Finch was running the best she ever has, and continued to give everyone fits that tried to pass her. Mike Adderly spun his 22 on lap 10 and brought out the yellow, and the top five read Sean Lias, Bob Bradt, John Matyjasik, Colleen Finch, and Ron O’Neil.
Lias took off on the restart, with Bradt right on his bumper. This pair put on a battle that had the crowd on the edge of their seats, as Bradt was throwing everything including a small kitchen sink at the leader. Finally, as the white flag waved to signal the final lap, Bradt got a good run on the bottom of the track and passed Lias on the back straightaway for the victory.
Bradt scored win number five, tying him with Lias and keeping the two of them as the only winners in this division at Brewerton all season. Lias settled for second, with O’Neil, Matyjasik, and Finch rounding out the top five. Lias was the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
The ESDCA Dwarf Car Feature saw Eddie Lawton lead the opening laps with his yellow 17. Perennial frontrunner Troy Van Allen’s luck turned sour right away as he has a tire go flat on lap 2. He stopped on the track and the yellow flag was displayed, before he pitted and returned one lap down to the leaders.
Eric Crawford was running well, and he grabbed the lead from Lawton on lap 5. Meanwhile, Tony Buffa and Pat Pontello were now just out of the top five and charging forward. A three-car melee in turn two ended with the 80 of Wayne Younglove catching the outside wall. His car went to the pits on a tow truck, while Bob Magner and Oly Johnson were both able to restart. At this point, Crawford led Lawton, Scott Nash, Buffa, and Pontello.
Buffa was on a mission once the green came out, charging into third on lap 10, and going past Lawton for second three laps later. Crawford was negotiating the slower cars very effectively, but that didn’t stop the deuce of Buffa from closing the gap between them as the final few laps clicked off. As the field came down for the white flag, Buffa snatched the lead out from underneath Crawford and sailed to victory.
Buffa defeated Crawford, Lawton, Nash, and Pontello at the stripe. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 33 of Crawford.
The 4-Cylinder class provided the nightcap feature event. Joe Briere grabbed the early lead, but a caution for the spinning 10 of Nicholas Barr gave track officials time to notice that a body panel on the back of the 8 of Briere was ready to come off onto the racing surface, posing a safety hazard. They sent Briere into the pits for repairs forcing him to the rear of the pack.
This gave the lead to the 33 of Jim LaLone, with his teammate Mike Lewis in the 33x right behind him in second. Brian Evenden was third at this point, while Darrick Van Epps and Todd Williamson rounded out the top five.
Van Epps was on the prowl when the green lights came back on, and moved quickly into second. One lap later, a multi-car jingle in turn two amongst some of the top running cars got tangled in turn two, with Van Epps being among them. When the race got back underway, the order read LaLone, Lewis, Kevan Cook, Williamson, and Evenden.
Williamson got a surge of speed and blasted through the top five like a hurricane, moving up to second on lap 9 and going after LaLone for the lead. A muffler came off one of the cars on lap 12, necessitating a yellow to remove it from the track surface. It was later discovered that it was Williamson’s muffler, and with just two to go he was sent to the pits, ending his dream of winning his second feature of the year.
Jason Amidon slowed on the final lap, but the race would end with a “yellow/checkered” and LaLone beat out his teammate Lewis for his initial victory of the season. Lewis came across in second, followed by Cook, Chris Bargabos, and Briere, who came from the back to finish fifth. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 33 of LaLone.
The next race at Brewerton is Friday, August 11. Burdick Dodge and Kinney Drugs present Brewerton’s second “Family Autograph Night” of the year. A full show of DIRT Modifieds, IMCA Modifieds, ESDCA Dwarf Cars, and 4-Cylinders will be on the card, as well as the intermission autograph session. Gates open at 5:30; race time is 7:30. For more information, call the speedway office at (315) 668-6906 or see them online at www.brewertonspeedway.com.
MODIFIEDS: TIM McCREADIE, Tim Fuller, Alan Johnson, Bob McCreadie, Chuck Bower, Jim Gabriel Jr., Billy Decker, Pat Ward, Chuck Hebing, Ron Johnson, Ryan Baye, Steve Hulsizer, Jim Phelps, Chuck Akulis, Mike Hulsizer, Jim Burke, Joel Thomas, Matt Quinn, Bill Gill, George Horning, Scott Prentice, Steve Babicek, Bob Utter, Randy Storms.
ESDCA DWARF CARS: TONY BUFFA, Eric Crawford, Ed Lawton, Scott Nash, Pat Pontello, Barry Virts, Rob Garafolo, Darren Forbes, Tod Simons, Steve Miller, David Orr, Ken Gamlen, Bob Magner, Dennis Johnson, Troy Van Allen, Nate Phelps, Brandon Phelps, Brenda Rice, Kreig Heroth, Dave Reales, Mike LaSalle, Joe Garafolo, Wayne Younglove, Dan Boyce.
IMCA MODIFIEDS: BOB BRADT, Sean Lias, Ron O’Neil, John Matyjasik, Colleen Finch, Dane Keller, Carmen Vona, Dick Weiland, Bill Anderson, Sr., Jim House, Tony Finch, Les Hubbard, John Bell, Bill Anderson Jr., Kevin Buff, Jeff Cardinale, Mike Adderly, Jon Amidon, Dustin Geers, Mike Chilson, John Hickman, Doug McKane, Ken Rogers, Don Alvord, Rob Keller, Kevin Battelle.
4-CYLINDERS: JIM LaLONE, Mike Lewis, Kevan Cook, Chris Bargabos, Joe Briere, Brian Evenden, Roy Finch, Jeff Amidon, John West, Jason Amidon, Tim Koch, Harvey Calkins, Darrick Van Epps, Ron Ventura, Todd Williamson, Keith Coit, Roger West, Walt Van Epps, Nicholas Barr.
SYSTEMS PLUS MODIFIED DASH FOR CASH: CHUCK BOWER.