CAN-AM SPEEDWAY WINS TO CAPRARA, MACCUE FACHINI, EISELE AND WEBB
LAFARGEVILLE NY: Another beautiful Saturday night greeted racers and fans at the fast 1/2 mile Can-Am Speedway in upstate New York and the racing was fast paced in all five regular divisions on Minfelt Building Supply night at the speedway. One new winner and four repeat winners highlighted the evenings activities and the point races are starting to take shape.
In the 25 lap 358 DIRT Modified feature event it was front row starter and defending track champion Bill Gill who took command early in the event. Gill has had nothing but problems lately at Can-Am but after a convincing heat race win he was our front looking to make a clean sweep of the evening. A frontstretch incident on lap 3 eliminated point chaser Lee Gill and also involved point leader Pat O'Brien who was driving the #21 of Larry Welling after suffering problems earlier in the night with his own number 6, this would really change the points outlook by the end of the event. On the restart Gill continued to show the way over Brent Cross and Frank Caprara. Caprara was without a doubt the fastest car on the speedway on lap 8 powered around Gill and into the lead. With Caprara and Gill out in front a great battle was shaping up between Cross, Danny O'Brien and Billy Wilcox. Cross was having his best run of the year, but on a lap 15 caution pulled to pits with problems. Caprara was able to open up a comfortable lead while Gill settled into second but the race for third wasn't over as O'Brien, Wilcox and Scott Parliament kept the race interesting over the final laps. Caprara cruised to his first win of the season at Can-Am over Gill, O'Brien, Wilcox and Parliament. Danny O'Brien closed the gap in the point standings over brother Pat who managed a 8th place finish in the borrowed car.
Bill Bourquin and Kyle Sharp brought the strong field of DIRT Sportsman to the green for their 15 lap event with Sharp grabbing the lead at the completion of lap 1. His lead was cut short on lap 2 when Anthony Fiorentino charged from the fourth starting position and into the top spot. Fiorentino looked strong as he continued to show the way until lap 8 when the caution flew and he was forced to pit with a flat right rear tire. this handed the lead over to Scott MacCue who was ready to take command when the race resumed. MaCue opened up a slight advantage over Sharp and Dave Surace but Ben Tucker was the man on the move late in the race as he made his way around Sharp for third on lap 11 and then Surace for the runner up position on lap 12. As the laps wound down Tucker was able to move in on MacCue but never got close enough to challenge for the win. MacCue picked up the win over Tucker, Surace, Sharp and Matt Butler. This tightened the DIRT Sportsman point standings with point leader coming into the night, Scott Britton coming across the line in 9th place finish after a spin early in the event.
The IMCA Modified 15 lap feature was again another side by side battle for the win. Kevin Chant and Scott Miller set the pace with Chant taking the advantage on lap 1. Chant has looked very strong the past two weeks but Larry Bezner had other ideas on who should lead as he found a way around Chant on lap 2 bringing point leader Cory Fachini with him. Bezner continued to lead using the top of the speedway while Facini actually had to advantage at points around the 1/2 mile running the bottom but it was Bezner at the start finish line on nearly each lap. Fachini managed to pull ahead to be shown as the leader of lap 8 but Bezner was right back on lap 9. The fans were choosing their favorite as the race drew to a close as the two leaders remained side by side on every lap. As they came off of turn four with just three laps to go Fachini gained the advantage for the final time and went on for the win. Bezner came across in second followed by Kevin Battelle, Chant and Ken Klinkowsky. The top two finishers are leading the points and Fachini will add one point to his slim lead over Bezner.
Andy Wells took the lead at the drop of the green in the 12 lap Street Stock feature but it was Bryan Rogers out in front on lap two. Rogers saw his hopes of another win go up in flames as his car caught fire before the third lap could be completed. This put Wells back in command for one lap before Steve Rookey moved around. Rookey was looking for his second win of the season but point leader Bill Eisele spoiled his hopes on lap 9 when he went in front and on to the win. Rookey was second with Lance Lalonde, Chris Taylor and Wells completing the top five finishers.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks continue to thrill the fans each week with their three and four wide racing and this week would be no different. Elmer Perry and Phil Desormeau brought the field of 22 cars to the green and Perry wasted little time jumping out front. Perry showed the way until lap 3 when Don Scales took over the top spot. Scales was looking for his first ever win but point leader Mark Webb made his way from the 10th starting spot to take over the lead on lap 7. With the two to go sign being shown George Sanford closed in on the leader and the fans were looking for a repeat finish of a couple of weeks ago when the drivers came to the checkers swapping paint the entire length of the front straightaway. With one to go Sanford moved to the outside and the two went side by side into turn three for the win. Webb appeared to loose control for a brief second and Sanford gave him room to get straight as they charged to finish. Webb picked up the win with Sanford a very close second. Rookie Chris Warner II was third followed by Scales and Scott Castor. At the post race inspection Sanford was disqualified for the use of illegal wheels moving Rick Paige into the top five. Webb padded his point lead over Castor with the win.
The next event on the Can-Am Speedway schedule will be the annual Pabst Shoot-Out for the 358 DIRT Modifieds and ESS Sprint cars. Joining the two headline division will be the always exciting IMCA Modifieds. Gates will open at 5:00 with the fastest night of the year getting the green flag at 7:30. Saturday will be the second Enduro of the season on Caskinette-Lofink Ford Mercury and AJ Missert/Coors Beer night. It will also be the Kevin Fleming Memorial-Syracuse Qualifier event for DIRT Sportsman. For more information call the speedway at (315) 658-4431.
MINFELT BUILDING SUPPLY FEATURE FINISHES
358 DIRT MODIFIEDS: Frank Caprara, Bill Gill, Danny O'Brien, Billy Wilcox, Scott Parliament, Wayne Side, Brent Cross, Pat O'Brien, Bob Bennett, Dale Eggleston, George Horning, Steve Roberts, Ryan Bartlett, Steve Bilow, John Ramsey, Rick Kroll, Rich Amo, AJ Doerr, Lee Gill DNS: Larry WElling, George McIntyre
DIRT SPORTSMAN: Scott MacCue, Ben Tucker, Dave Surace, Kyle Sharp, Matt Butler, Adam Moore, RJ Gibbons, Andrew Howard, Scott Britton, Bill Bourquin, Mike Watkins, Jody Spooner, Anthony Fiorentino, Lance Willix, Larry Bivens, Kyle Wilson, Doug Mathews
IMCA MODIFIED: Cory Fachini, Larry Bezner, Kevin Chant, Kevin Chant, KenKlinkowsky, Rick Dusckas, Ken Partridge, Paul Calhoun, Scott Miller, Eddie O'Neil, Brent Matzel DNS: Neal Edgar, Jake Rabetoy
STREET STOCK: Bill Eisele, Steve Rookey, Lance Lalonde, Chris Taylor, Andy Wells, Clint Middlemiss, Laurie Handschuh, Bryan Rogers
IMCA HOBBY STOCK: Mark Webb, Chris Warner II, Don Scales, Scott Castor, Rick Paige, Joseph Combs, Mike Baltz, Charles Duffany, Phil Desormeau, Kim Mallette, Billy Garner Jr., Keith Rabetoy, Chris Warner, Steve Gilmore, Shane Ray, George Savage, Les Sanford, Jason Gilmore, Scott Webb, Elmer Perry, Mark Barker DSQ: George Sanford