Can Am Motorsports Park results for June 30th

The weather was sunny and warm, and the action on the track was just as hot on Cheney Tire, Standard Auto Parts and Jefferson County Fair night at the Can Am Motorsports Park. Feature wins went to Billy Wilcox in 358s, Andrew Howard winning the Sportsman Kevin Fleming Memorial race, Kevin Battelle in IMCA mods and Dave Mannise in Pure Stocks.

With a large contingent of Kevin Fleming’s family on hand, 24 Sportsman took the green flag in a race honoring the memory of Kevin. The winner would also be a guaranteed starter for the July Firecracker race at the State Fairgrounds. The race didn’t get off to a good start for Peter Schroy and young Ryan Phelps. Ryan had seen his dad Roger taken to the hospital earlier in the evening, more on that later, and now Ryan became involved in a homestretch accident when he and Schroy made heavy contact putting them both on the hook. Lance Willix had taken advantage of his pole position start to take the early lead, but Andrew Howard had the fastest car on the track and was reeling in Willix lap by lap, eventually taking the lead for good on the 8th lap. Howard was ticking off laps of 20.5 in the 20-lap feature. Another car on the move was Scott MacCue, but Scotty just ran out of laps with a strong charge to second place with Willix third, Matt Butler came in fourth and Dave Surace rounded out the top five. A truly emotional victory lane with Andrew and the Fleming family down front for pictures. Howard won this same race last year. The win was the first of the year for Howard and he became the seventh different Sportsman winner in eight races.

Next out came the DIRT 358 mods. Bob Bennett and Steve Roberts lead the pack to the green flag from starter Steve Rickett and Roberts jumped into the early lead. The snake-bitten defending track champ, Bill Gill, continued his string of bad luck this season slowing on the second lap and having to pit. He did come back out, but had to join the rear of the field. Once again, Racin Jason Barney had a fast car. He has had one of the strongest cars all season, and it only took three laps for the Constantia youngster to take the lead. Once again using the outside groove to perfect, Watertown’s Billy Wilcox was moving to the front and on the ninth lap overtook Barney for the lead. Two laps later, Bill Gill once again had to take his Teo pitside out of action for the night. At the halfway point, the lead pack was Wilcox, Barney, Steve Hulsizer, Pierre Dagenais, who was looking for a $1700 Back-to-Back Challenge bonus, Frankie Caprara, Lee Gill, Lans Petzoldt, Roberts, Ben Tucker and Boomer McIntyre. The action continued with Wilcox and his Troyer pulling away from the field. Danny O’Brien’s night came to an end on the 22nd lap when he had to park his Troyer for the night. Dagenais had started last and had raced to third place, but Wilcox and Barney were just too much for the Quebec driver and he lost his opportunity for a huge payday. The bonus next week for Billy Wilcox goes to $1900 if he can win. The win was the first of the season for Wilcox with Barney finishing second, Hulsizer third, Dagenais fourth and Flatfoot Caprara rounding out the top five. As mentioned, Roger Phelps was burned when a radiator hose burst in the pits soaking his fire suit with scalding water. Roger suffered burns to his chest and side, but luckily none hit his face. He was also able to push his son Ryan out of the way just before he got burnt. The Can Am family of fans and drivers wish a speedy return to Roger. We hope you are doing fine and get back soon.

The IMCA mods are now just under 20 cars a week, and this week saw 18 cars come out for their 20-lap feature. Rick Dusckas started on the outside pole and quickly assumed the lead. Kevin Battelle, who has been struggling in recent weeks and falling for the point lead to fourth place in points, finally had his 29 hitting on all eight this week and was racing Dusckas for the lead. One of the big stories of the evening in IMCA was the return of former Street Stock champion Bill Eisele, Jr. competing in the ride usually driven by Neil Edgar and looking like he had been in an IMCA the whole year. He was up fighting for the lead and looking strong. The strong run of Rick Dusckas came to an abrupt end on the 11th lap when he had to retire for the night. Battelle went on for the win, his fourth of the season, with Eisele second, Larry Bezner third, Mike Adderly fourth and Rob Keller fifth.

The Pure Stock feature was not something to be proud of. Dave Mannise had won the last six Pure Stock features in a row, and it was obvious that some drivers were out to get him. Henry Chant had the early lead with Kim Mallette, Joe Combs, Scott Castor and Mannise in tow. On the fourth lap, the first problem happened when Joe Combs spun Mannise out. Starter Steve Rickett put Combs to the rear for rough riding. Mannise also was in the rear. Just three laps later, Phil Desormeau took Mannise out on the homestretch in front of everyone. Desormeau was sent to the pits for the night and then someone in the stands threw a can on the track. The emotions were as hot as the evening at this point. Once again, Mannise was forced to the rear. When racing resumed Chant was in the lead followed by Mark Barker, Bill Gardner, Jr., Don Scales and Jason Gilmore. By lap 10, Mannise had worked himself up to 5th spot. One lap later, he was second. It was obvious that he was determined to win once again and the next lap he took the lead from Chant and went on for yet another win. Chant came home second, but was disqualified in inspection for being light. That moved Rick Paige to second with Barker third, Gardner fourth and Jeff Shannon fifth.

The Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club was also in action this evening, and the feature winners were Pat Sonnenberg in the 50’s class with Gene Van Alstyne second and Gordie Wood third. In the 60’s class, Dick Ackerman won the feature with Norm Wood second. In the cars of the 70’s, it was John McNamee winning over Watertown’s Ally Amell with Randy McGlynn third.

Racing resumes this Saturday night when Erie Materials, Inc. and Agway Energy Products are the sponsors. Highlighting the show will be Twin 20’s for the 358 division, along with a regular show of Sportsman, IMCA mods and Pure Stocks. The back gate opens at four, the front gate at five and racing gets underway at seven p.m. sharp. We hope you will join us Saturday night for another exciting night of racing action at Can Am Motorsports Park. For further info, call the track at 315-658-4431, or log onto the track website at www.can-amspeedway.com for all the latest news, results, points and the like.