ALAN JOHNSON CAPTURES FIRST BREWERTON WIN OF 1999
BREWERTON, NY.....Alan Johnson scored his first big block DIRT Modified win of 1999 in Friday's Terrell's Potato Chips feature event at Brewerton Speedway. In the IMCA Modifieds, Rob Keller made a triumphant return to the track with a commanding win, while Troy Van Allen captured a hard fought victory in the Dwarf cars and Lloyd Hinton got his first win of the year in the 4 Cylinders.
Alan Johnson streaked into the early lead of the 35-lap DIRT Modified feature, swapping the top spot with Chuck Hebing while Pat Ward moved into the third spot. Behind them, a furious battle waged between Jim Phelps, Tim McCreadie, Danny Johnson, and many others. From further back in the field, Bob McCreadie and Billy Decker started to grab positions. Scott Prentice also moved into contention, falling in behind Ward in the early going.
A spin by Hebing knocked him out of contention, and as the field shuffled, Prentice moved into third behind Ward, with Alan Johnson holding the point. A few laps later, a broken W-link sidelined Bob McCreadie, last week's feature winner. Tim McCreadie then moved in on Prentice and Ward to grab second. Just past halfway, Tim's race ended as his car stopped at the top of turn four. On the restart, Decker, Danny Johnson, Prentice, and Chuck Bower had a torrid battle for position as Alan streaked away.
As the laps wound down, Ward began to close in quickly on Johnson, pulling to within one car length with two laps to go. Johnson's smooth driving held Ward at bay as he came under the checkers with his first win of 1999 at the "D-Shaped DIRT Demon." Ward was a close second, followed by Jim Phelps, Danny Johnson, and Decker. Modified heats were won by Hebing, Prentice, and Ward, with Hebing collecting the Dash for Cash win.
The 20-lap IMCA Modified feature event saw Rob Keller streak into the lead by one quarter distance. Keller's DirtWorks chassis was hooked up on the top side of the speedway, and he built a comfortable lead while young rookie Tim Murphy held off several competitors in the runner-up spot. Two time winner Sean Lias moved into the top five in the second half of the feature and hooked up in a great battle with John Bell.
As Lias and Bell battled, Keller and Murphy distanced themselves from the pack, and held their positions to the checkered flag. Lias slipped past Bell in the closing laps, with Bob Bradt charging from back in the field to nip Bell for the fourth spot in the final lap. IMCA Modified heats were won by Keller, Lias, and Ron O'Neil.
The 20-lap Dwarf car feature got off to a rough start with several cautions dotting the opening laps. When the green flag was out, Troy Van
Allen and two time winner Tony Buffa were the fast movers through the field, getting into the first and second spots before halfway. Kevin
Batelle was also part of the dice for the lead in the early going, but Buffa and Van Allen pulled away to battle on their own for the lead, swapping it through a period of restarts. The final yellow of the race flew on lap 12 and set up a fantastic dogfight between the duo for the win.
In the final eight laps, Buffa and Van Allen took turns swapping the lead as they battled through traffic. Van Allen made the final pass for the lead with just a few laps to go, and held off repeated challenges from Buffa to score his first win of 1999 at Brewerton. Buffa was a close second, followed by Battelle, Tom Juhl, and Dan Boyce. Dwarf car heats were won by Van Allen, Battelle, and Darren Forbes, with Martin Amyot capturing the Dwarf 'B' Main.
The 4 Cylinder feature started out as a dice between Lloyd Hinton, Russ Cusson, and a host of others, until a crash took out Cusson, Jim Olin, and other top runners. The remainder of the race for the win was contested by Hinton and Chuck Powelczyk, who fought tooth and nail right to the checkered flag for the victory. At the finish, Hinton had his first win of 1999, followed by Powelczyk, two time winner Harvey Calkins Jr., Bob Whipple, and Mark Warner. 4 Cylinder heats were won by Cusson, Hinton, and Olin, with Cusson grabbing the dollars in the Dash for Cash.
Next Friday night, the Brewerton Speedway hosts a special Mother's Day Salute. The first 200 Moms through the gate get free flowers, and Women on Wheels races will join the DIRT Modifieds, IMCA Modifieds, Dwarf cars, and 4 Cylinders. Gates open at 5:30pm with racing starting at 7:30pm.
RACE SUMMARY-BREWERTON SPEEDWAY
TERRELL'S POTATO CHIPS NIGHT-APRIL 30, 1999
DIRT MODIFIED FEATURE-ALAN JOHNSON, Pat Ward, Jim Phelps, Danny Johnson, Billy Decker, Tim Fuller, Scott Prentice, Chuck Bower, Vic Coffey, Ray Bliss, Jim Gabriel Jr., Frank Cozze, Bill Gill, Roger Phelps (SB), Jeremie Corcoran, Kevin Fetterley (SB), Jeremy Baye (SB), Bob Bennett (SB), Chuck Hebing, Dale Planck, Tim McCreadie, Ryan Baye (SB), Todd Milton, Bob McCreadie.
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE-ROB KELLER, Tim Murphy, Sean Lias, Bob Bradt, Ron O'Neil, Pat Hobbs, Dick Weiland, Les Hubbard, Cory Fachini, Jim Evans, Bill Anderson, Bill Anderson Jr., Bob Chaddock, Colleen Finch, Aaron Jacobs, Doug McKane, George Valenti, Tony Finch, Bill Klinkowsky, Jeff Cardinale, Brenda O'Neil, Don Alvord.
DWARF CAR FEATURE-TROY VAN ALLEN, Tony Buffa, Kevin Battelle, Tom Juhl, Dan Boyce, Eric Crawford, Kevin Doll, Darren Forbes, Ken Gamlen, Scott Nash, Carl Crawford, Kevn DonHauser, Mike Bozzuto, RJ Grimshaw, David Orr, Brandon Phelps, Nate Phelps, Bob Garafolo, Dave Reals, Jay Reid, Wayne Younglove, Martin Amyot, Frank Doll Jr., Dan Thompson, Shawn Hort, Bob McCarthy.
4 CYLINDER FEATURE-LLOYD HINTON, Chuck Powelczyk, Harvey Calkins Jr., Bob Whipple, Mark Warner, Roger Olchewske, Roger West, Brett Hubbard, Tim Koch, Bart Chapman, Walt VanEpps, Channie Joyner, Kevan Cook, Roy Thurston, Rob Whipple, Dave Myrto, John West, John Clark, Joe Bribre, Jim Olin, Russ Cusson, Jon Amidon, Todd Williamson.