Welling upsets stellar Can Am 358 field

LaFargeville, NY: On another beautiful summer evening for racing sponsored by Jreck Subs, Penn Detroit Diesel Allison and G.W. White and Sons, Larry Welling of Star Lake, NY pulled off a big upset in the headline 358 DIRT modified division enroute to his first ever Can Am win. Also tasting the thrill of victory were 17-year-old Ryan Phelps in Sportsman, Paul Calhoun with another IMCA win and Scott Castor in Pure Stocks.

Twenty-four 358 mods came out for their 30 lap feature. Frankie “Flatfoot” Caprara was trying to become the second winner of the Dealmaker Auto Group Back To Back Challenge that would have meant $1300 in Dealmaker money to him, and he had his work cut out for him starting in the 18th spot. Rookie Mike Adderley held down the early lead with the veteran Roger Phelps nipping at his heals. Caprara was out to prove he could win the bonus money as in only four laps he had worked himself up to 6th spot. The veteran Phelps took the lead on the 7th lap with Larry Welling, Adderley, Willy Decker and Caprara right behind. On lap 10, Welling made his move on Phelps and assumed the lead. At the crossed flags of Starter Steve Rickett, the lead pack consisted of Welling, Phelps, Decker, Caprara, Adderley, Bill Gill, Jason Barney, Gus Schmidt, Scott Parliament and Billy Wilcox. The race went 25 laps of green flag racing before a caution for the slowing Stadium International Teo of Jason Barney. It now became a five-lap shootout for Welling to try to fend off the rest of the field. Welling is driving a former Tim Fuller car that was hooked up well to the track and Larry could put it anywhere and it stayed there. With the green light back on, it was the Dealmaker Auto Group Teo of Billy Gill who was making his presence felt as he found himself behind Welling and Caprara. On lap 28, Gill made his move on Caprara for second and set sail for Welling. On the last lap, Gill dove to the inside of turn four as Welling went high, but Welling won the drag race down the front stretch to nail down his first Can Am win. Gill wound up a solid second with Caprara third, Wilcox all the way to fourth and Gus Schmidt in with another top five finish. In victory lane, Welling was obviously thrilled and told the crowd “I knew we’d get it sooner or later.” It was sooner.

The DIRT Sportsman race saw 25 cars take the green flag. A couple of teenagers were up front as third generation driver Jack Meeks held down the early lead until the fourth lap when he went off the turn one bank putting the yellow lights on for the first time. On the restart, 16 year-old rookie Mike Teachout took the lead with Jim Vock, Jason Potter, Rob Galloway and Tim VanBrocklin trailing. The rookie Teachout hung strong as he took the crossed flags ahead of Vock, Ryan Phelps, Galloway, Andy Howard, VanBrocklin and point leader Matt Butler. In the latter stages of the 20 lapper, it developed into a three-car race between Teachout, Vock and Phelps with Phelps moving into second place on the 13th lap. At the same time, the 29 of Vock started slowing and losing spots. On the 17th lap, the two young guns, Teachout and Phelps, were side by side down the backstretch with Phelps gaining the upper hand on the 18th lap and then went on to claim his fourth win of the 2002 season and second win in two nights after winning the Sportsman feature at Rolling Wheels on Thursday night. Teachout came home a strong second with Butler, Galloway and Howard comprising the top five.

The IMCA modified class has been averaging around 20 cars for the last month or so, and there were exactly 20 that took to the track for their 15 lap main event. Young Bentley Aiken took the early lead with the veteran Neal Edgar and John Mason trailing. An early accident in turn four involved four cars and took out the car of Bob Thurston, Jr. On the restart, there was contact going into turn one and John Mason found himself sideways, hit by another competitor and did a quick flip before coming down on all fours. John escaped uninjured. After the red flag, racing resumed and it was the veteran Edgar taking over the lead which he held onto at the halfway point over Paul Calhoun, Brian Copp, Erv Miller and Jeff Bannister. A late caution bunched the field, and it was show time and Paul Calhoun made his move and took the lead and cruised to his 7th win of the season over Copp, Miller, Edgar and Chris Taylor.

Last out came the Pure Stocks that the fans just love. Eighteen cars answered the green flag, and Mark Webb put his car out front early. On lap five, Justin Mason raced into the lead which he held at the halfway point when the lead pack was Mason, Scott Castor, Webb, Dave Pope, Travis Andrews, Darius Gamel and George Sanford. Mark Webb’s race came to an end on the 10th lap when he put his car pit side. Mason took the white flag from Steve Rickett, but found himself losing it in turn four allowing Scott Castor to duck under him to go on to the win. Dave Pope was second, Gamel third, Andrews fourth with Mason recovering to come home in fifth place.

Coming up this Saturday night, it will be Hi-Lite Markings sand Security Supply sponsoring action in all four classes. Also on tap will be a Kids’ Club bicycle race sponsored by the Village Peddler bike shop. Gates will open at five with racing at seven p.m. sharp.

358 Mods: LARRY WELLING, Bill Gill, Frankie Caprara, Billy Wilcox, Gus Schmidt, Willy Decker, Roger Phelps, Scott Parliament, Pat Ward, Steve Hulsizer, Mike Adderley, Danny O’Brien, Todd Stewart, Ryan Bartlett, Lee Gill, Paul Kinney, Dale Eggleston, John Ramsey, Bob Bennett, Heath Carney, Steve Bilow, Jason Barney, Dave Surace, David Orr. DNS: Wayne Side and George McIntyre

Sportsman: RYAN PHELPS, Mike Teachout, Matt Butler, Rob Galloway, Andy Howard, Tim VanBrocklin, Adam Moore, Lance Willix, Anthony Fiorentino, Scott MacCue, Jeff Stevenson, Jason Potter, Bill Eisele, Terry Knobloch, Ricky Paige, Steve Rookey, Rick McCready, Brian Cannizzo, Scott Webb, Jim Vock, Clayton Brewer III, Larry Lamb, Jordan Bennett, Jack Meeks, Pete Schroy

IMCA: PAUL CALHOUN, Brian Copp, Erv Miller, Neal Edgar, Chris Taylor, Jeff Bannister, Larry Bezner, Jon Dumas, Bentley Aiken, Ken Klinkowsky, Rick Reed, Bill Anderson, Billy Dunn, Jeff Shannon, Rick Dusckas, Dan Hilts, Lance LaLonde, Hunter Grimes, John Mason, Bob Thurston, Jr. DNS: Rob Keller

Pure Stocks: SCOTT CASTOR, Dave Pope, Darius Gamel, Travis Andrews, Justin Mason, Rob Simmons, Don Scales, Billy Gardner, George Sanford, Ken Hamm, Kim Mallette, Brian Holder, Dave Mannise, Mark Webb, Shane Ray, John Simmons, Mark Barker, Ed Rogers. DNS: Charles Duffany, Dana Aikins, Brian Hutton, John Shampine