Hulsizer, Brewer, Calhoun and Barker all Capture Can Am Gold.
It has been six weeks since Steve Hulsizer made his last, and only, visit to victory lane at the Can Am Speedway in
LaFargeville, NY and last Saturday night he made it look easy on his way to making his second trip to victory lane this season, beating a stellar field of competitors in doing so. The Brewerton, NY resident drove into the lead by mid-way point of the thirty-lap DIRT 358 modified feature after which he was never seriously challenged for the top spot.
On lap three Lee Gill tangled with another car while entering the first turn, spun and went off the track. The combination of the momentum from the spin and the air gained by going off the drop off on the outside of the turn made Lee's Bicknell chassis car do a series of three barrel rolls then coming to a rest on it's wheels. Lee emerged from the car unscathed unfortunately there was just enough damage to the car to prevent him from returning to race. Four laps later Danny O'Brien apparently clipped a Yuk tire in turn four damaging his front end sufficiently enough so that he was able to have full control of
the machine and causing a multi car accident as cars tried to avoid his disabled racer. There were only two minor cautions,
for cars slowing on the track, for the remainder of race.
While Hulsizer was dominating the event there was some great racing for position going on behind him. "Racing" Jason
Barney had motored from 19th starting spot to 8th by lap six. After that jump in positions Barney slowly and methodically
worked his way to the front, passing early race leader Scott Parliament for the runner-up slot on the final lap. Parliament
finished third followed by Frankie Caprara and Pat Ward who rounded out the top five.
Neal Edgar jumped from his front row starting spot to pace the sixteen car starting field of IMCA modifieds. The race's first
caution came only two laps into the event when Chris Taylor and former Limited Late Model Track Champion Rick Reed
came together while entering the third turn. Only Taylor was able to continue. When racing got back underway Edgar,
piloting Larry Bezner's backup car, again took over the top spot but this time he was followed by Bezner who in turn was being chased by Paul Calhoun, who had raced from tenth starting spot to a top three position in seven laps. On lap 8 of the 15 lap grind Calhoun made his move to the outside of Bezner and the two raced side by side for nearly a complete circuit. While these two drivers battled it out for position Edgar was able to open up a five car lead on the two. On lap nine Calhoun was able to complete his pass for the second spot and then set sail for Edgar. Catching Edgar on lap 12 Calhoun and Edgar raced side by side for nearly a lap and half. As the duo entered he first turn Calhoun was able to get an edge on Edgar and move around him and into the top spot. Getting the white flag on the next lap Calhoun suddenly found himself being challenged on the outside by Edgar. As the two raced out of the fourth turn Edgar pulled alongside but it was to no avail as Calhoun was able to claim his third straight feature and his sixth of the season by a nose.
Rob Galloway paced the 24 car starting field to starter's Steve Rickett's green flag. Tim VanBrocklin led the race's opening
fifteen laps followed by young lion Clayton Brewer III, who interestingly brought a bus filled with 40 fans to the track from
his Fulton, NY home to watch him race in the night's events. By lap five VanBrocklin was able to open up a five car lead over Brewer. Hot on Brewer's heels was Adam Moore. By lap 12 Brewer was not only able to catch VanBrocklin but was also able to distance himself from Moore. On lap 15 Brewer moved to the inside of VanBrocklin as they raced down the front stretch. As the duo arrived at the first turn Brewer had the edge. Exiting the second turn and moving down the back chute VanBrocklin went to the outside of Brewer and regained the lead as they entered the third turn. No more had that happened when the race's first yellow flag came out for the car of Pete Schroy who had spun between turns three and four. With four laps remaining VanBrocklin restarted the race in first but Brewer was able to make a run at him as they raced down the front chute and took back over the top spot as the two entered the first turn. Two laps later Moore moved around VanBrocklin to take over the runner-up slot. With only two laps remaining Larry Lamb spun in the third turn, bringing out the race's second and final caution. When racing got back underway another young lion Ryan Phelps made a charge to the front, moving from sixth to third as Adam Moore made one last ditch effort to pass Clayton for the point. But when the checkered fell it was over the hood of Clayton Brewer who picked up his second career win and second of the season.
In the 15 lap Pure Stock Feature Mark Baker motored from his front row starting spot to lead every lap while enroute to his
second feature win of the season. Interestingly Barker's last win came on June 1st the same night that Steve Hulsizer, who won the 358 modified feature, last won a feature. While Barker was checking out on the rest of the field in the caution free race there was some tight racing for position going on behind him. Chuck Cushman, who had started 12th in the field quickly battled his way to the front of the back and by the second lap, was in fourth position. Meanwhile Dave Mannise was also starting to make his present felt and by lap four was in third. For the remaining 11 laps of the race there was a three way battle between Cushman, Don Scales and Mannise that kept the fans on the edge of their seats. Swapping position many times on most laps Mannise was finally able to get the upper hand to finish in the runner-up slot over Cushman.
DIRT 358 Modified feature results: S. Hulsizer, J. Barney, S.
Parliament, F. Caprara, P. Ward, T. Stewart, B. Gill, W. Decker,
G. Schmidt, , W. Side, J. Ramsey, M. Adderly, R. Phelps, D.
Eggleston, D. Orr, R. Bennett, D. Surace, L. Welling, R.
Bartlett, S. Roberts, D. O'Brien, L. Gill, B. Wilcox dq.
Sportsman feature results: C. Brewer, A. Moore, R. Phelps, T.
VanBrocklin, L. Willix, J. Vock, A. Howard, M. Butler, S. Joy,
J. Potter, S. Webb, S. MacCue, J. Stevenson, R. Galloway, J.
Meeks, M. Teachout, M. Amell, B. Eisele, J. Bennett, L. Lamb,
S. Rookie, R. McCready, P. Schroy, B. Cannizzo.
IMCA Feature results: P. Calhoun, N. Edgar, L. Bezner, R.
Duscas, J. Dumas, E Miller, J. Banister, B. Dunn, B. Anderson,
C. Taylor, L. LaLonde, H. Grimes, J. Shannon, D. Hitlz, R.
Keller, B. Cop, R. Reed,. J. Mason
Pure Stock Feature results: M. Barker, D. Mannise, C.
Cushman, S. Castor, J. Mason, K. Chant, D. Scales, D. Atkins,
D. Pope, K. Mallette, T. Andrews, D. Gamel, B. Holder, R.
Simmons, K. Duffany, K. Hamm, G. Sanford, M. Webb, B.
Gardner, Sr., P. Cross, C. Duffany, D. Snyder