'

Howard, Pratt and Bitner Feature Event Winners Saturday Night



Howard, Pratt and Wyers Crowned As '04 Season Champions

By Randy Kane

Big block modified point championship contenders Ricky Elliott and Duane Howard headed into the action Saturday night at the Bridgeport Speedway five-eighth-mile spacious clay oval running neck and neck in a dead heat, tied for the number one position as the night began. With the eventual season-long points championship on the line at the checkered, every position was important for both drivers with an extra-distance 30-lap main event on the menu. With heat race points awarded at Bridgeport, Howard, actually, carried a two-point advantage going into the main event, but neither driver felt like the other had an edge, going into the main event, which was sponsored by Onyx Waste Services.

With the green, Carmine Infante, who started third in the 24-car field aboard the Buff Farms No. 24 entry, grabbed the top spot on lap one. By lap 2 the caution was waving, with Infante stopping in turn 4 as his right rear tire exploded. Veteran Jimmy Chester was also headed to the pits, retiring from the event after just 2-laps.

The new green saw Mark Forte Sr., who started outside of row one in the back-up Glenn Hyneman owned No. 126X car, grabbing the number one position for lap 3, with the yellow flying again. The restart showed second-generation racer Wade Hendrickson, with the Atlantic Wood Floors No. 2 mount, vaulting out on top, after starting the race from tenth spot. The yellow waved after 4-laps and once again after 5-laps were completed, with Hendrickson still in command. By lap 5, though, Duane Howard was up to second and on the move, after starting fourteenth in the primary Glenn Hyneman owned No. 126 machine.

Hendrickson retook the top spot with the green for laps 6 and 7, with another caution for Sam Wescott stopping in turn 4 after 7 circuits were in the books. Howard was still runner-up, Mike Iles was third and Ricky Elliott, who started fifteenth with the J and M Roofing and Builders No. 85 ride, now into fourth-place.

Howard advanced to the number one spot with the green for lap 8, as a three-car battle came about for second spot. On lap 9 it was Iles spinning in turn 4 all alone, steering his Larkin Automotive No. 711 entry, bringing out the caution once again.

Howard reclaimed the top spot with the restart, as Elliott moved into second on lap 10. Elliott pressured Howard, but Duane held his position, fighting off the challenges from Elliott prior to yet another caution after 14 were in the record books.

With the new green and the crossed flags to follow, Elliott powered out in front, with Howard now second. Hendrickson still was third, with the best seat in the house, as the top two point-getters slugged it out between themselves. Elliott had a slim advantage lap-after-lap and remained out in front as the laps clicked off, with Howard still runner-up. On lap 22, veteran chauffeur Fritz Epright had his No. 1 mount go up in a cloud of smoke in turn 4, bringing out the caution for the eighth time in the fray after 22 were scored.

Elliott assumed control with the green, in front of Howard, again, for laps 23 and 24, as Jamie Mills slowed in turn 1 to bring out still another yellow flag.

The green flag saw Howard give it all it had, as Duane, who previously won the Bridgeport championship in 2002, powered out in front, with Elliott falling back to number 2, battling to stay in front of Hendrickson, for lap 25. Howard remained out in front and took a crowd-pleasing victory, giving Duane the point championship as well by 6 points, over Elliott, who finished up a stout second-place in the 30-lap affair. Hendrickson held on to finish a solid third, with Stephan Durand bringing home a strong fourth-place effort, with a great run by Don Barone to finish up fifth, after starting twentieth with his D & R Boat World No. 267 machine.

Afterward, Howard, 41, revealed: "The restarts were everything tonight. Ricky certainly had more motor than we had and it was just a matter of whoever got into turn one and out of turn 2 first tonight, with all the restarts. I was glad the race finally ended and it was a great lift for the entire team. We needed a win in the worst way and tonight was the best night to get one. Ricky raced clean with me all night and I honestly don't know where that extra power came from on that last restart, but I wasn't about to settle tonight for second. No way."

For Howard, who is a resident of Oley, PA., the win was his third this season and his first since May 8, 2004, giving Duane now 18 career Bridgeport Speedway victories. It was his second career track championship at Bridgeport.

Ricky "The Rocket" Elliott submitted later: "All the cautions were make or break, tonight. We came a long way as a first-year team and we were considered out of it a couple of weeks back, when we were 30 points in back of the leaders. The guys on the team just never gave up and I'm proud of the team, my crew and the way our season turned out. We aren't going to hang our heads after this race tonight. There's no excuses. Duane ran a good race and my hat's off to those guys. They had a great year."

Defending Bridgeport Speedway sportsman division champion, Richie Pratt Jr. needed a big night, with the sportsman division running a Twin-20's program to complete the season-long points battle, Saturday night. Pratt headed into the night 9 points behind point leader Rich Stinson Jr., with both eager to grab the championship, after battling it out and trading the top spot all season long between the two top-runners. In the first 20, Pratt started eighth and Stinson started sixteenth in the highly-competitive 26-car field.

On the initial green in turns 3 and 4, Rob Pierce, Drew Ricco and Kevin Collins, all, got crossed up and brought out a caution prior to the green waving. Stinson clipped one of the spinning cars and suffered broken suspension parts on the front end, sending Rich to the pits for repairs before the 20-lap main even got going.

With the green it was Billy Harris assuming command, after starting third. Pratt quickly advanced to third on lap one and claimed second by lap 2. By lap 3 Pratt was running wheel-to-wheel with Harris and the yellow reappeared after 4 tours were completed for a piece of debris on the speedway. Rich Stinson Jr. rejoined the field at that point, returning 4-laps down, but rejoining the race to try and make up as many points and positions as possible, with a second 20-lapper still to follow.

Pratt slipped into the top spot with the new green for lap 5, as veteran Ron Roberts took over the number two position by lap 8 as Pratt started to pull away. A caution after 14-laps slowed things, but Pratt immediately took control and reclaimed the top spot with 15 completed. The Sewell, N.J., veteran simply pulled away from the competition and easily scored his ninth win of the campaign to regain the points lead. The win by Pratt increased his career win total to 34, tops in the sportsman division at the spacious raceway in south Jersey.

Rounding out the top 5 were Ron Roberts second, with Dave Hunt third, Paul Collins fourth and John Pursell fifth overall.

Rich Stinson Jr. finished up eighteenth at the checkered and dropped some 26 points in back of point leader Pratt going into the second 20 of the evening, falling to second in points.

With the green in the second sportsman 20-lapper, Don Bogey immediately took control from the pole and stayed on top of the 26-car field through the first 6 circuits, before Eric Kormann, who started ninth, ducked underneath exiting turn 4 and slipped by to take control for lap 7. A quick caution bunched the field immediately, with Bogey falling to second and Bill Klingmeyer up to third at that point.

The new green saw Richie Pratt Jr. take to the outside and power past the competition, running down the back part of the track. As the field completed lap 8, Pratt suddenly found himself out in front, with Kormann, Klingmeyer and Bogey trailing. A yellow after 9 tours regrouped the field again.

The green and the crossed flags showed Pratt in total control, out in front of Klingmeyer, Kormann and, now, Ron Roberts. By lap 14, Rich Stinson Jr. joined the top 5, after starting eighteenth. On lap 16, Mike Brannigan smacked the outside backstretch wall as he started to spin. Brannigan's car dug into the clay surface and Mike rolled the ride over at least 3 times, prior to the red stopping things. Brannigan walked away uninjured.

Again, the green and Pratt, who started fourteenth after the top 14 finishers in the first 20 were inverted, immediately pulled away. Pratt easily pulled off his second win on the night, gained his second consecutive track championship and increased his season win total to 10 for the second straight year. Pratt now has 35 career Bridgeport sportsman wins, which is tops at the track.

Offered Pratt, later: "All we thought about all week was what we had to do to win everything here tonight. I lost a 60 point lead we had here 3 weeks ago and I played it cautious in the second race, once we got out in front in the points again. Once I got up there, I was fourth on that one restart, I just figured I'd run the outside and go for it. Stinson was running good all night too. It was really very unfortunate that he got wrecked there early in that first 20, but that's happened to us a lot this season. That's racing, I guess?"

The 20-lapper for the Jasper Sprints brought along double points and that division also would see a champion crowned, once the night was done. John Wyers went into the night with a point lead of some 59 points over former modified racer Mark Bitner, but the potent Wyers No. 84 was heavily damaged in a wild flip in the first heat race. John jumped into the No. 84W normally chauffeured by his nephew, Jim Wyers, and started at the rear, with John's car unable to be repaired in time to run the feature event.

At the start it was Mike Piersig jumping out in front, after starting on the pole. Piersig held the top spot without a challenge for the first 12 circuits, leading by half a straightaway over Torrey Rose, who started outside the front row. With 12 complete a yellow was displayed for debris.

With the green, Piersig retook control, as Bitner slipped into second, after starting eighth in the 14-car field. By lap 15, Bitner got a good bite down low and dove underneath Piersig to take the top spot. Bitner easily went on to take the win and it was the second this season for "Mr. Twister," as Mark is known. A rookie this year, it was Mark's second career win at the track.

Piersig wound up second, Rose claimed third and Dave Brown was fourth at the checkered. Joe Thuet rounded out the top five.

John Wyers finished up a very cautious race in twelfth, but still won the championship by a mere 6 points at the checkered.

Said Bitner: "The restart helped out a great deal. Late, the tires got hot and we started hooking up. I just rode along with it. I had a good year and it is nice to win the feature and I am pleased with second in points. John had a good year and he earned it all. I am very happy doing so well as a first-year team."

John Wyers commented, afterwards: "My nephew helped us out a great deal. He offered his ride and I drove a cautious race. All race long I was counting spots and my nephew told me if I bend it I bought it, so I had to be careful out there." John just laughed.

It was the first career track championship for Wyers at Bridgeport.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heat and Feature Race Summary

Big block modified heat winners-Duane Howard, Wade Hendrickson, Mark Forte Sr.
Big block modified consolation-Jamie Mills
Big block modified 30-lap main-Duane Howard, Ricky Elliott, Wade Hendrickson, Stephen Durand, Don Barone, Rick Laubach, Jamie Mills, Kevin Hirthler, Mike Franz, Howard O'Neal, Troy Ale, Mark Forte Sr., Mike Iles, John Townsend, Joel Boisnke, Dave Howard, Bob Sarkisian, Fritz Epright, Kyle Strickler, Joe Dekutoski, Sam Wescott, Tom Hager, Carmine Infante, Jimmy Chester

Jasper Sprint heat winners-Jim Wyers, Torrey Rose
Jasper Sprint 20-lap feature-Mark Bitner, Mike Piersig, Torrey Rose, Dave Brown, Joe Thuet, Shane Smith, Jon Brennfleck, Jeff Davis, Bob Rasmussen, Jeff Foote, Bob Adams, John Wyers, Jim Bewley, Lee Nardelli

Sunoco Sportsman heat winners-John Pursell, Rich Stinson Jr., Richie Pratt Jr.
Sunoco Sportsman consolation winners-Rob Pierce, Dennis Price
Sunoco Sportsman first 20 finish-Richie Pratt Jr., Ron Roberts, Dave Hunt, Paul Collins, John Pursell, Eric Kormann, Bob Lillck, Bill Klingmeyer, Dave Matz, Dennis Price, Bruce Hirthler, Mike Brannigan, Don Bogey, Billy Chester, Mike Bailey, Bob Lineman Jr., Mark Schweibinz, Rich Stinson Jr., Dan Cogdill, Billy Harris, Anthony Tramontana, Greg Weiland, Drew Ricco, Kevin Collins, Steve Lozorak, Rob Pierce
Sunoco Sportsman second 20 finish-Richie Pratt Jr., Bill Klingmeyer, Rich Stinson Jr., Eric Kormann, Ron Roberts, Bob Lillck, Kevin Collins, Don Bogey, Paul Collins, John Pursell, Dave Hunt, Bob Lineman Jr., Dennis Price, Billy Chester, Dave Matz, Mark Schweibinz, Mike Brannigan, Steve Lozorak, Dan Cogdill, Greg Weiland, Bruce Hirthler, Rob Pierce, Mike Bailey, Drew Ricco, Billy Harris, Steve Lindale (ALT) DNS-Anthony Tramontana