DECKER CAPTURES ANOTHER WIN AT BREWERTON SPEEDWAY
BREWERTON, NY.....It took only one caution flag to bunch the field in Friday night's Akkucolor Supply DIRT Modified feature event at Brewerton Speedway, but it was enough for Billy Decker to get the lead and score another win at the "D-Shaped DIRT Demon". In IMCA Modified action, Sean Lias returned to victory lane, while Tony Buffa scored his fifth win of the year in the Dwarf cars and Roger West Jr. grabbed his first ever checkered flag notching the win in the 4 Cylinders.
Chuck Bower jumped into the early lead at the start of the 35-lap DIRT Modified feature event, with Dale Planck moving past Ray Bliss to take over the second spot. The pair staged a two-car breakaway while in mid pack Danny Johnson and Billy Decker fought for position. Behind them, Bob McCreadie and Alan Johnson were also moving quickly.
The feature rapidly approached the halfway point, and with it, Bower had pulled to a full straightaway lead over Planck and was handling lapped traffic with ease. Decker and Danny Johnson continued their battle for position, with Decker finally muscling his way into third. Bob McCreadie was also moving forward quickly with Alan Johnson in tow.
The race's only yellow flag flew for debris on the track on lap 23. This allowed Planck and Decker to close right up on Bower for the restart. As the green flew, Decker powered his way past Planck and charged after Bower. Bower's car was not as quick after the yellow flag, and after three laps of side by side racing for the lead, Decker took over the top spot for good. Planck faded in the final laps as McCreadie and Johnson battled past and ran side by side for second. At the flag, Decker had a comfortable lead and another win, with Johnson's 358 powerplant besting McCreadie's big block for second, which earned Alan a $100 bonus from Magee Trailer Sales. McCreadie held off Bower for third, with Planck taking fifth. DIRT Modified heats were won by McCreadie, Planck, and Bower.
The 20-lap IMCA Modified feature began with Jeff Cardinale on the point, only to surrender the lead to Rob Keller on the second lap. George Valenti moved into the second spot as he battled with Dick Weiland for position, with Sean Lias trailing.
Keller built up an impressive lead as the race moved through its middle stages, but there was some outstanding racing in the pack for position involving Bob Bradt and last week's winner Cory Fachini. In the second half of the feature, Don Alvord, who started last in the field, cracked the top ten and continued to charge toward the front.
It appeared as though Keller had the race well in hand, but when the yellow flew on lap 16 for Tony Finch's car stopping in turn two, Keller suddenly pulled into the infield and wound up getting a push back to the pit area. Lias inherited the lead and held on through two more restarts to record the win. Alvord's charge brought him to second at the line, followed by Valenti, Bradt, and Fachini. IMCA Modified heats were won by Valenti and Keller.
The 20-lap Dwarf car feature event started with Kevin Battelle holding the lead and pulling away from the field. Multi time winner Tony Buffa broke free from the pack and began to chase down Battelle while Troy Van Allen was also moving up through the field. Van Allen's teammate Ken Gamlen battled with David Orr for position as Buffa closed in on the leader.
After the race's only yellow flew at lap 10, Buffa went to work on the restart, passing Battelle for the lead on lap 11. Van Allen settled into third and in the final few laps the leaders encountered heavy traffic. Buffa threaded his way through and notched his fifth win of the season with Battelle and Van Allen right behind him. Orr and Gamlen rounded out the top five. Dwarf car heats were won by Van Allen, Battelle, and Darren Forbes.
The 15-lap 4 Cylinder feature was a scramble at the start that saw Jason Amidon emerge from with the lead. One lap later, Roger Olcheswke was on top, but he lost the lead to Brian Evenden on the next lap. The lead changes continued as Roger West took over for two laps until Jim Lalone slid under him to nail down the point.
Lalone pulled away from West and appeared to be on his way to another feature win when he got tangled with a car trying to enter the pits. That gave the lead to West, who held off challenges from Evenden and Mark Warner to nail down his first ever feature win. Evenden and Warner were trailed by Olchewske and Lalone at the finish. 4 Cylinder heats were won by West, Olchewske, and Jim Olin.
During the evening, fans enjoyed an on-track autograph session as well as motorcycle stuntman Sky Lungston and an appearance by Crunchman, the mascot for the Syracuse Crunch AHL hockey team. Fans also donated over $800 to help out Tim Murphy and his family, who lost their home in a recent fire.
Next Friday night, Brewerton Speedway presents its Old-Timers Reunion and Women on Wheels races along with a complete regular program. Gates open at 5:30pm and racing starts at 7:30pm.
RACE SUMMARY-AKKUCOLOR SUPPLY NIGHT
BREWERTON SPEEDWAY-JULY 23, 1999
DIRT MODIFIED FEATURE-BILLY DECKER, Alan Johnson, Bob McCreadie, Chuck Bower, Dale Planck, Tim McCreadie, Jim Gabriel, Jim Phelps, Tim Fuller, Pat Ward, Danny Johnson, Roger Phelps (SB), Ray Bliss, Steve Hulsizer (SB), Tim Vincent (SB), Mike Hulsizer (SB), Vic Coffey, Ryan Baye (SB), Steve Way (SB), Jim Burke, Scott Prentice, Chuck Hebing.
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE-SEAN LIAS, Don Alvord, George Valenti, Bob Bradt, Cory Fachini, Dick Weiland, Tim Murphy, Tom Paige, Ron O'Neil, Jeff Cardinale, Les Hubbard, Dane Keller, Rob Chaddock, Colleen Finch, Ken Rogers, Rob Keller, Tony Finch, John Bell, Pat Hobbs, Bill Anderson.
DWARF CAR FEATURE-TONY BUFFA, Kevin Battelle, Troy Van Allen, David Orr, Ken Gamlen, Darren Forbes, Eric Crawford, Ed Lawton, Bob Garafolo, Scott Nash, Dennis Johnson, Pat Pontello, Dave Lamphere, Wayne Younglove, Bob McCarthy, Steve Miller, Nate Phelps, Kevin DonHauser, Mike Richichi, Gary Sampo, Kelly Skinner, Dave Reals, Brenda Rice, Barry Virts, Dan Thompson, Dan Boyce.
4 CYLINDER FEATURE-ROGER WEST JR., Brian Evenden, Mark Warner, Roger Olchewske, Jim Lalone, Tim Koch, Kevan Cook, Pat Fay, Brett Hubbard, Rob Whipple, Bart Chapman, Jim Olin, John West, Joe Bribre, Bob Whipple, Jason Amidon, Darik VanEpps, Channie Joyner, Jon Amidon, Mike Humphrey, Doug Battles, Gary Johnson, Walt Van Epps.