ALAN JOHNSON CAPTURES MR. DIRT 358 CHAMP TRAIL RACE AT BREWERTON
BREWERTON, NY.....Alan Johnson grabbed the lead on lap 41 of the 100-lap Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT 358 Modified Championship Trail event Thursday night at Brewerton Speedway and held off repeated challenges from a host of competitors to notch the victory. Tony Buffa won the companion Dwarf car feature event in the final race of the 1999 season at the "D-Shaped DIRT Demon".
Pete Bicknell was the pole sitter for the 100-lap Richmond Gear sponsored event, but Bicknell was passed by Bobby Varin at the start of the feature event. Varin took off at the front of the field and put some distance between himself and the pack while Bicknell tried to hold on to a top five spot. Tim Fuller battled it out with Pat O'Brien, Brett Hearn, and Alan Johnson while Mitch Gibbs, Gus Schmidt, and Danny Johnson were working their way up from deeper in the starting field.
By the one third mark of the feature event, Varin was in heavy lapped traffic, allowing Alan to close the gap on him, having wrestled second spot away from O'Brien. Fuller faded back into a top five battle while Hearn continued to mix it up with O'Brien. Hearn would fall upon misfortune, however, as his Brisochi machine kept jumping out of gear, forcing him eventually to pull into the pits.
Varin continued to have heavy pressure applied to him by Alan Johnson as O'Brien stayed in the hunt. Alan was able to slip past Varin on lap 41 and take the point. The rest of the feature would see Alan hold off challenges from O'Brien, Varin, and Steve Paine as the lead pack raced in and out of traffic. Back in the field, sixth through tenth featured some great racing as Pete Bicknell, after a couple of pit stops, moved into the top ten and fought hard with Gus Schmidt, Fuller, Roy Shields, and Jimmy Phelps. Danny Johnson and Frank Cozze also made appearances in the top ten.
Despite the best efforts of O'Brien, and late in the race, Paine, Alan Johnson was not to be denied the victory as he took a comfortable lead to the checkered flag. Paine wound up with the second spot, followed by O'Brien, Varin, and Gibbs. Bicknell returned to finish sixth, followed by Fuller, Schmidt, Jim Phelps, and Roy Shields.
55 cars signed in for competition, with six qualifying heats run. Those events were claimed by Bicknell, Charlie Donk, Varin, Pat O'Brien, Shields, and Hearn. The three consolations were won by Jim Phelps, Jim Ryan, and Gibbs.
In the companion 20-lap Dwarf car feature, Tony Buffa started at the front of the field and led the entire 20-lap distance, holding off Pat Pontello in the early going and withstanding a late race charge from Eric Crawford. Crawford had to settle for second, with Darren Forbes, Ed Lawton, and Carl Crawford Sr. rounding out the top five finishers. Dwarf car heats were won by Buffa and Forbes.
The staff and management of Brewerton Speedway wishes to thank all the fans, drivers, crews, and officials for an outstanding 1999 season at the "D-Shaped DIRT Demon". See you in the year 2000!
RACE SUMMARY-SUNOCO RACE FUELS MR. DIRT 358 MODIFIED CHAMPIONSHIP TRAIL
October 7, 1999
MR. DIRT 358 MODIFIED FEATURE-ALAN JOHNSON, Steve Paine, Pat O'Brien, Bobby Varin, Mitch Gibbs, Pete Bicknell, Tim Fuller, Gus Schmidt, Jim Phelps, Roy Shields, Frank Cozze, Tim Hindley, Pat Ward, Danny Johnson, Dale Planck, Tim LaDuc, Don Spatarico, Lee Nutting, Frank Caprara, Mike Perrotte, Pierre Dagenais, Jim Ryan, Roger Phelps, Steve Hulsizer, Charlie Donk, JJ Michaels, Brett Hearn, Todd Burley, Jim Gabriel Jr., Jerry Higbie, Ryan Baye, Dan O'Brien.
DWARF CAR FEATURE-TONY BUFFA, Eric Crawford, Darren Forbes, Ed Lawton, Carl Crawford Sr., Scott Nash, Kevin Doll, Duane Knapp, David Orr, Kevin DonHauser, Steve Miller, Bob Magner, Wayne Younglove, Bob McCarthy, Kelly Skinner, Brenda Rice, Pat Pontello, Dave Gruel, Gary Sampo.