Caprara, Brewer, Edgar & Mannise all winners at Can Am
Warm sunny weather brought out a large crowd of fans for the annual Christmas in July celebration at Can Am Motorsports Park on Dig Safely New York, Log Mills Village Market and Haun Welding Supply night. Santa Claus was on hand to give presents to the kid’s presents. It was also autograph night as the drivers brought their cars onto the homestretch for the fans to take pictures or get autographs.
Thud. That was the sound of the monkey finally getting off the back of Frankie “Flatfoot” Caprara as he finally won for the first time in the 02 season. “We needed this, but we need more than one” Frankie quipped after the race. It was last September that Frankie last saw victory lane at Can Am, but his Teo with Bedell power was not to be denied this night. Twenty-six cars came out for Steve Rickett’s green flag for the 30-lap feature go. Nineteen year-old Ryan Bartlett took command of the early laps with Dale Eggleston, Danny O’Brien, Roger Phelps and Caprara taking up the challenge. It was the Mopar of Caprara, the Enders powered Teo of Pat Ward and the Bicknell of Lee Gill that were the cars on the move. Just before the mid-point of the race, it was Bartlett, Caprara and O’Brien going three wide through the corners that had the crowd standing and cheering their favorite on. Caprara took second on the 13th lap and when the crossed flags were displayed, the lead pack consisted of Caprara, O’Brien, Bartlett, Scott Parliament, Phelps, Ward and Lee Gill. On lap 25, the new scoreboard/lap counter showed the top five as Caprara, Ward, O’Brien, Gill and Parliament, and the 20-year old Flatfoot was able to hold off Ward in the final five laps to go on and record the win and putting Caprara in the position next week of going for $1300 in bonus money from the Dealmaker Auto Group Back To Back Challenge. Trailing Caprara across the line was point leader Ward, Lee Gill winding up a solid third, the Pocket Rocket in fourth and Scott Parliament with another strong run in his Bicknell chassis.
The DIRT Sportsman feature saw 23 cars take the green for their 20-lap feature event. Watertown driver Jeff Stevenson put his Fox 28 car out front in the early going with Rob Galloway having a solid season in second, Bill Eisele, Scott MacCue and 16-year old Jordan Bennett rounding out the top five. There are many young drivers in this class and you can see them improving each time out. Jack Meeks is only 16 and is a third generation driver. Clayton Brewer III is 18 and has a couple wins under his belt. Ryan Phelps is 17 also with a couple wins. Scott MacCue has a fast car and was making his way to the front. While Stevenson led at the halfway point over MacCue, Galloway, Bennett and Brewer, MacCue took the lead from Stevenson on the 11th lap. Young Brewer made his way to third and with five to go it was MacCue and Brewer in a great battle for the lead with the two racing side by side. Brewer was able to wrestle the lead away from MacCue and go on to record his second win in a row and third overall in his 97 Olsen chassis that’s been updated with a Teo front clip. MacCue came home second with Theresa’s Lance Willix third, Stevenson with his best 02 finish with a solid fourth and Canadian Adam Moore home fifth.
The IMCA modified field has been growing all season. This feature saw 20 cars take the green flag from Steve Rickett. Former track promoter Bob Thurston, Jr. put his car in the lead in the early laps of the race, but it was Neil Edgar who took the lead away from Thurston on the third lap with Rick Dusckas, Rob Keller and Rick Reed making up the top five. Rob Keller, whose fortunes in recent weeks have been as bad as the stock market, would suffer another DNF having to head to the pits on the 9th lap during a caution for a turn three accident that also took out defending track champ Larry Bezner. When racing resumed, Edgar was being pressed by Thurston with Paul Calhoun now entering the top five, but it was to no avail as Edgar went on to record his first win of the 02 season with Thurston a strong second, Calhoun home a solid third, Dusckas with a good run in fourth and Rick Reed in fifth.
Last out came the crowd favorite Pure Stocks who just put on some great racing each and every week. Justin Mason raced out front in the beginning stages of the 15-lap feature with Dave Pope, Dana Aikins, Mark Barker and Dave Mannise all in hot pursuit. Mason was the leader at the halfway point and the last part of the race had the fans screaming as six cars were battling for the first through sixth spots side by side bumper to bumper in one of the best Pure Stock features of this season. At the checkers, it was the wily veteran and track champion Dave Mannise able to come home first under a blanket finish that saw Chuck Cushman charge from the rear all the way to second, Pope third, Mason fourth and Scott Castor fifth.
Don’t forget this Wednesday night sees the return of the DIRT big block modifieds to Can Am for a 100-lap Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series race. Gates will open at four with hot laps and six and time trials at six-thirty.
358 Mods: FRANKIE CAPRARA, Pat Ward, Lee Gill, Danny O’Brien, Scott Parliament, Jason Barney, Ryan Bartlett, Bill Gill, John Ramsey, Todd Stewart, Gus Schmidt, Roger Phelps, Willy Decker, Billy Wilcox, Wayne Side, Dale Eggleston, Larry Welling, Paul Kinney, Sandy Roberts, Dave Surace, Steve Bilow, Mike Adderley, David Orr, Paul Pekonan, Ben Tucker, Steve Hulsizer. DNQ: Bob Bennett
Sportsman: CLAYTON BREWER III, Scott MacCue, Lance Willix, Jeff Stevenson, Adam Moore, Matt Butler, Rob Galloway, Andy Howard, Jim Vock, Jordan Bennett, Ryan Phelps, Bill Eisele, Mike Teachout, Tim VanBrocklin, Anthony Fiorentino, Scott Webb, Jack Meeks, Richard Paige, Paul Benz, Rick McCready, Steve Roberts, Jr., Jason Potter, Brian Cannizzo.
IMCA Mods: NEIL EDGAR, Bob Thurston, Jr., Paul Calhoun, Rick Dusckas, Rick Reed, Brian Copp, Ken Klinkowsky, Jon Dumas, Billy Dunn, Chris Taylor, Jeff Bannister, Jeff Shannon, Bentley Aiken, Bill Anderson, Sr., Dan Hilts, Hunter Grimes, Rob Keller, John Mason, Larry Bezner, Erv Miller.
Pure Stocks: DAVE MANNISE, Chuck Cushman, Dave Pope, Justin Mason, Scott Castor, Mark Barker, Darius Gamel, George Sanford, Rob Simmons, Dana Aikins, Travis Andrews, Bill Gardner, Sr., Mark Webb, Ken Hamm, Don Scales, Kim Mallette, Charles Duffany, Mike Cousins, Brian Holder, Kevin Chant, Ed Rogers. DNS: Pete Cross