PRESS RELEASE
Written by: Gary Rowe
Date: August 4, 2002
It looked liked Vernon, NY's Willie Decker was well on his way to capturing his first ever DIRT 358 feature as well as his first win at Can Am. Starting ninth on the starting grid the former DIRT Sportsman standout rapidly make his way to the
top spot, taking over the lead on lap five. For the next half dozen laps Decker was able to open up a commanding lap. Meanwhile Lee Gill, who started 11th, was chasing Willie down and on lap 26, just as they crossed the start finish line, the race's first caution came out for Scott Parliament who had spun in between the first and second turns, Lee was able to put his nose in front of Willie. When racing got back under way Todd Stewart, who had started in the eighth position, was able to
move pass Willie to take over the runner up slot. But Stewart had nothing for Gill as the LaFargeville, NY resident was able
to cruise to his second win of the season.
The ever popular Pure Stock class once again kept the Can Am Speedway fans on their feet as they sliced and diced for position. Mark Webb motored from his third place starting spot to take over command from early leader George Sanford. Justin Mason made his bid for the lead on lap five as he was able to move along the out side of Webb. But suddenly the left front tire on his stead blew, sending him to the pits and causing a log jam of cars behind him that caused the race's second caution. When the green flag once again came out Webb found himself being challenged by Darrius Gamel as well as a mirror full of Travis Andrews and Dave Pope. On lap nine the race's third caution was displayed for Ken Hamm who had spun in the fourth turn. The fifth and final caution of the race came with a lap left in the race, setting up a green, checkered flag finish. On the restart Pope made a move to the inside of Webb as the duo entered the first turn. But his car pushed up the track allowing Webb to move to a three car lead, which held for the final turns and under the checkered flag to capture his third win of the season.
Rick McCready and Jordan Bennett led a strong field of 26 sportsman cars to starter Steve Rickett's green flag. Bennett, chased by Jason Potter and Jim Vock, took over the early lead. The race's first caution came on lap three when Andy Howard, who had started ninth, car suddenly broke while exiting the second turn. His lost of power caused the cars behind him to scatter and car number 04 of Mike Teachout to spin out in their attempts to avoid his crippled racer. When racing got back underway Jason Potter made his bid for the top spot as he and Bennett dragged race down both the front and back straights for a lap and a half until Bennett, this time followed by Vock, was once again able to take over sole custody of the lead. By lap eight current point's leader Matt Butler, who had started 10th , had slipped into third spot and had set his sights on Bennett and Vock. Two laps later Butler was sitting in the cat bird seat as he was right on the back bumper of Vock who was starting to make moves to the inside of Bennett. A lap later Lance Willix's mount came to a stop on the second turn, bringing out the race's second caution flag of the race. When the race got back underway Vock made his move to the outside of Bennett and passed him as the duo entered the third turn. It was then Scott MacCue's time to moved into the top five as by lap 15 he had moved from his 11th placing starting spot to fourth. With three laps remaining in the 20 lap grind Vock was able to open up nearly a 10 car length lead over Bennett who in turn had a two car length over Butler, MacCue and Ryan Phelps. On the final circuit MacCue made a last ditch attempt to pass Butler as he moved to alongside of him as they raced into the third turn. But he came up empty as Matt was able to hold him off and follow Vock and Bennett across the finish line. Vock's only other win of the season came on opening day.
In the fifteen lap IMCA modified feature Bentley Aikens and Neal Edgar paced the 17 car starting field to the green flag.
Edgar jumped to the early lead when suddenly Brian Copp spun in turn three, doing a 360 degree turn right in front of the entire pack. Fortunately no one made contact with Copp and the green flag remained displayed. Meanwhile current point leader Paul Calhoun was starting to make his way through the field and by lap six he had moved from his 11th place starting spot to 7th in the field. The races first yellow came on lap 7 when Copp's car came to a rest on the outside of turn two after his left front wheel was damaged from impacting the huge tire that is placed in turn one to keep the racers on the bank of the track. When racing got back underway Edgar again paced the field as Erv Miller made a three car wide pass to move from sixth to third in two laps while Calhoun made his way to second. As the race round down Edgar found his rear view mirror full of Calhoun's machine as the duo opened up a five car lead over Miller. Going into the third turn Calhoun moved to the outside of Edgar and drew alongside of him as they raced down the front chute. By the starter's stand Calhoun had a nose in front of Edgar and by the middle of the second turn he had taken over sole possession of the top spot. Edgar then attempted to repeat what Calhoun had done the previous lap by moving to the outside of Edgar in turns three and four but he just didn't have enough to draw alongside letting Calhoun pick up his eighth feature win of the 2002 season.
This Saturday night Steven J. Hall and Security Supply sponsor the night's racing activities. Also on tap is the Tyler Mason Memorial/Keller Insurance $500 IMCA Dash-For-Cash
DIRT 358 Modified finish: L. Gill, T. Stewart, W. Decker, J.
Barney, P. Ward, G. Schmidt, F. Caprara, B. Wilcox, S.
Hulsizer, B. Gill, D. Eggleston, W. Side, P. Kinney, M. Adderly,
R. Bennett, L. Welling, G. McIntyre, R. Bartlett, D. Orr, R.
Phelps, S. Parliament, D. Surace and D. Baranowski
Sportsman finish, J. Vock, J. Bennett, M. Butler, S. MacCue, R.
Phelps, J. Potter, C. Brewer III, R. Galloway, B. Eisele, J.
Stevenson, A. Moore, A. Howard, T. VanBrocklin, R.
McCready, A. Fiorentino,B, R. Paige, P. Benz, T. Alton, S.
Roberts, Jr., B. Bourquin, B. Cannizzo, M. Teachout, L. Willix,
P. Schroy, T VanTassel.
IMCA Modified feature finish: P. Calhoun, N. Edgar, E. Miller,
J. Dumas, L Bezner, R. Duscas, B. Atkins, K, Klinkowski, B.
Dunn, C. Taylor, J. Banister, H. Grimes, B. Anderson, D. Hilts,
B. Copp, R. Reed and L. LaLonde.
Pure Stock finish: M. Webb, D. Pope, D. Gamel, T. Andrews,
B. Holder, G. Sanford, D. Mannise, S. Castor, R. Shatraw, D.
Atkins, M. Butler, J. Mason, K. Hamm, C. Cushman, B.
Gardner, P. Cros, R. Simmons, D. Snyder, D. Scales, R. Trexler,
K. Mallette.