O'BRIENS ONE TWO AT CAN-AM
LaFargeville NY. It was beautiful night for Jefferson Concrete night at Can-Am International Speedway in LaFargeville NY as racing action was as fierce as ever in all five of the track's classes.
The DIRT Sportsman were first on the grid with their feature, with Kyle Wilson and Jody Spooner leading the field to the green flag. Spooner jumped out to the lead on the opening lap with Wilson in hot pursuit. Scott MacCue quickly moved up from his sixth place starting position to claim the third position. By mid race Dave Surace was in the top five and battling for position with defending point champion Steve Hall. A few laps later Surace, with Hall in tow, moved under Adam Moore and Scott MacCue and into third. Meanwhile Spooner was opening up a nearly a straight away lead over Wilson. On lap twelve Surace moved high and passed Kyle for second. Hall followed Surace and passed Wilson for third. But nobody was quick enough to run down Spooner as he dominated while enroute to his first Can Am victory.
The DIRT Modifieds were next up on the grid with Bob Bennett and Greg Meeks on the front row. Meeks quickly made his way to first with Bennett following. Pat O'Brien quickly made his presence known by passing seven cars by the second turn to claim fifth position. While Pat was trying for fourth, brother Danny was moving around Scott Parliament for the seventh position. On the next circuit Pat O'Brien slid around Ryan Bartlett and into the fourth position. The race's first yellow flew on lap nine Pat O'Brien suffered from a right rear flat tire. Wayne Sides also suffered from a similar blow with a left rear flat tire, forcing him pit side. At the same time Lee Gill entered the pits with an over heating problem. When racing resumed Danny O'Brien and Billy Gill made there way under Bob Bennett to claim the second and third position respectively. The yellow flag flew again on lap eleven when the cars of Wayne Sides and Scott Parliament both slowed in turn four. The green no sooner was displayed on the restart then the yellow quickly came back out. This time is was for Brent Cross who broke in turn two. When racing finally got back to green Bob Bennett moved under Billy Gill for the second position. Meanwhile Pat O'Brien racing from the back of the pack after making the pit stop to change his tire moved around George McIntyre for the fifth position. The yellow flew again on lap 15 when Bob Bennett suffered from a flat tire. On the restart Pat O'Brien passed former track champion Dave Heaslip for the fourth position. The yellow flew once again for Brent Cross whose car slowed on the speedway. The yellow flag flew quickly after the restart for Frank Caprara whose car came to a stop on the backstretch. On the restart Billy Gill and Danny O'Brien raced for second position. With first Bill passing Danny and then Danny moving back by Gill to reclaim the second spot. Gill later passed Danny and then tried to pass leader Greg Meeks in turn three. The two cars touched causing Bill to loose momentum and slip back to fifth. Danny then began to go to work on Meeks. Danny finally made his way around Meeks on lap 22. With two laps left, Pat O'Brien moved high around Meeks for second while Gill moved under Heaslip for the third position. Pat set his eyes on brother Danny for the lead. On the last lap Pat gave it all he had trying to go around the outside of his brother on the final turn, but Danny held off the charge and went on to collect the win.
The IMCA Hobby stocks were next on the grid with Elmer Perry and Jason Gilmore pacing the field down to the green. Current points leader Scott Webb quickly became a factor by moving by five cars and into fifth. Scott then moved himself up to the second position in the next lap and set his eyes on the leader, Jason Gilmore. It didn't take Scott long as he quickly moved himself by Gilmore to claim the lead on lap three. Meanwhile Rick Paige had worked his way up from his fifth starting spot to claim the second position. Scott's brother, Mark, was also making his way up in the field of cars from his tenth place starting spot, as was Chris Warner who started sixth. On lap nine, Mark and Mark Barker split the car of Jason Gilmore to take over positions one and two. Webb then went high to claim position two over Barker and set his sights on Paige who taken command of the race on lap eight. Webb and Paige then fought out for position one for the entire last lap of the event with Webb besting Paige by a bumper at the finish line.
The next class up on the grid was the Street Stocks with Lance LaLone and Andy Wells on the point. On the first lap, the yellow flag flew when Wells and LaLone slowed in turns three and four. When the field went back to green, Steven Rookey and Bill Eisele went under the car of Chris Taylor to claim the first and second position. Bryan Rogers made his way up in the field and on lap three moved around Taylor to take over third position. The next yellow flew for debris found in turns three and four. When racing action resumed, Bill Eisele didn't want to waste any time as he quickly moved under Rookey to claim the lead and to collect his eighth victory of the year.
The last class of the evening to take Chip and Matt Burdick's green flag was the IMCA Modifieds, with Jake Rabetoy and Mark Chrzanowski on the front row. Brent Matzell quickly took the lead, with Neal Edgar right behind him in second. On lap two, Edgar moved around Matzell to take over command, while Larry Bezner and Kevin Chant moved under Matzell for second and third. Current points leader Bezner wanted the victory and set his sights on leader Edgar. On lap five of the 15-lap feature Bezner went under the Edgar machine to claim the lead while Edgar stay close behind in the second position.
Next week at the speedway all five classes will be back in action on Waite Motor Sales/ Real Rock 100.7night. There will also be a ladies Powder Puff race on tap. Gates open at 5:00 with Chip and Matt Burdick's green flag being thrown promptly at 7:00. For more information contact the speedway at (315) 658-4431
DIRT 358 Modified: Danny O'Brien, Pat O'Brien, Bill Gill, Dave Heaslip, George McIntyre, Steve Roberts, Dale Eggleston, Steve Bilow, Frankie Caprara, Greg Meeks, Rick Amo, Scott Parliament, Rick Kroll, John Ramsey, Ryan Bartlett, Brent Cross, George Horning, Bob Bennett, Wayne Side, Lee Gill, Dave Bartlett, Bill Wilcox (DNS) and Jamie Christian (DNS).
DIRT Sportsman: Jody Spooner, Dave Surace, Steve Hall, Kyle Wilson, Scott MacCue, Adam Moore, Lance Willix, Matt Butler, Ben Tucker, Jordan Bennett, Doug Mathews, Craig Collier
IMCA Modified: Larry Bezner, Neal Edgar, Kevin Chant, Rick Dusckas, Terry Gardner, Jake Rabetoy, Cory Fachini, Brent Matzell, Mark Chryanowski, Kevin Battelle
IMCA Hobby: Mark Webb, Rick Paige, Mark Barker Jason Gilmore, Don Scales, Steve Gilmore, Phil Desormeau, Scott Castor, Joe Combs, Scott Webb, Les Sanford, Jeff Shannon, Charles Duffany, Keith Rabetoy, Ed Rogers, Kim Mallette, Bill Gardner, Chris Warner II, George Savage, Chris Warner, Mike Baltz, Ed Rogers.
Street Stock: Bill Eisele, Bryan Rogers, Steve Rookey, Chris Taylor, Andy Wells, Lance LaLone, George Sanford, Tad Woodring, Leslie George, Clint Middlemiss