BILL GILL TAKES 358 WIN AT CAN-AM,
STEVE HALL, STEVE BIDWELL BILL EISELE AND KYLE SHARP WINNERS
LAFARGEVILLE NY: It was Renzi Bros. Old Fashioned Meat Market and Appledale Farmers Market night this past Saturday at the Can-Am Speedway and fans were again treated some great dirt track racing action on the fast halfway clay oval. Bill Gill picked up his first 358 DIRT Modified win of the season, while Steve Hall, Steve Bidwell and Kyle Sharp made it two wins apiece in 1999 and Bill Eisele remains unbeaten in the Street Stock division.
A very competitive field of 358 DIRT Modifieds were brought to the line by Greg Meeks and Ryan Bartlett. Meeks grabbed the lead at the drop of the green and held on through a couple of early cautions but on lap 6 Dale Eggleston took away the top spot bringing Gill and Rick Wilson with him. While the front runners fought for the lead, the cars of Danny and Pat O'Brien, Lansing Petzoldt and John Ramsey, all of who were involved in a lap 2 tangle were making their way towards the front. Gill looked to be comfortable out front when they reached the halfway point but Wilson, Lee Gill, Pat O'Brien and Eggleston were putting on a great show for the fans for positions 2-5. O'Brien was the man on the move late in the race as he charged into the runner-up spot on lap 22 but no late race cautions allowed Gill to cruise to his first win of the season, O'Brien was second followed by Wilson, Lee Gill and Billy Wilcox
The DIRT Sportsman saw rookie Bill Bourquin and Adam Moore on the front row for their 15 lap main event but it was Tim VanBrocklin moving from the second row and into the lead on lap 1. VanBrocklin showed the way for the first 5 laps while the rest of the field sorted themselves out. Last weeks winner Steve Hall had made his way into the second spot by lap 5 and wrestled the lead away from the strong running VanBrocklin one lap later. Matt Butler has been having a great season at Can-Am and he was the next car to work his way to the front as he went by VanBrocklin on lap 9 and began to chase down Hall. Time ran out and Hall went on for win number two in a row. Butler picked up another top three finish coming across second followed by a very consistent finishing Scott Britton, Ben Tucker and VanBrocklin.
The 15 lap IMCA Modified feature was paced by Neal Bryden and Kevin Chant. Bryden had the lead at the completion of lap 1 with Steve Bidwell and Rick Dusckas settling into positions 2 and 3. Bryden lost the lead to Bidwell on lap 4 but Ron O'Neil made his move for the top spot stick on 6 moving Bidwell back to the second spot. O'Neil and Bidwell had the fans on their feet as they went side by side for a number of laps before slight contact was made as the two raced hard into turn one, O'Neil came away with a flat left rear tire and Bidwell came away with the lead. Bidwell went on for the win over Cory Fachini, Neal Edgar, Eddie O'Neil and Larry Bezner.
Steve Rookey and Laurie Handschuh hoped to take advantage of their front row starting positions to end the win streak of Bill Eisele in the 12 lap Street Stock feature. Rookey jumped out to the early lead while Handschuh settled into second and Eisele began his march to the front. By lap 5 Rookeys lead had disappeared and Eisele moved around for the lead. Rookey hung right there in second and although seemed to have the straightaway speed to stay with Eisele, Eisele was getting through the corners better and went on for the win. Rookey had another excellent run to come across second with Andrew Howard, Andy Wells and Steve Lanning completing the top five.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks have been putting on a great show for the fans all season long at Can-Am and Saturday night was to be no different. The past few weeks have seen very few cautions in the ten lap features but tonight it appeared as though they would make up for it as yellow fever plagued the event. Doug Ada and Chris Taylor brought the pack to the green but a number a cautions early slowed the pace and shuffled the field around before they got back to racing on lap 3. Ernie Taylor and Kyle Sharp, both feature winners already in 1999, ran a great side by side race lap after lap until Sharp finally got the advantage. Sharp went on for the win over Taylor, last weeks winner Jeff Hunter, George Sanford who worked his way from the back and Kevin Presley.
Next Saturday will be Erie Materials and Country Bob's Restaurant night at the speedway. A complete show of heat races and features will headline the activities plus a special appearance by the Northern Cruisers Car Club. Custom cars from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's will be on display for the fans to take a look at throughout the evening. Anyone wishing more information can call the speedway at (315) 658-4431 or look us upon the internet at www.can-amspeedway.com.
RENZI BROS. OLD FASHIONED MEAT MARKET
APPLEDALE FARMERS MARKET, FEATURE WINNERS
358 DIRT MODIFIED: Bill Gill, Pat O'Brien, Rick Wilson, Lee Gill, Bill Wilcox, Frank Caprara, Danny O'Brien, Jeff Sykes, Lansing Petzoldt, Dale Eggleston, Greg Meeks, Gordy Button, Brent Cross, Pete Roberts, John Ramsey, Sandy Roberts, Mike Hulzizer, Bob Bennett, Scott Parliment DNS: Dave Bartlett
DIRT SPORTSMAN: Steve Hall, Matt Butler, Scott Britton, Ben Tucker, Tim VanBrocklin, Wayne Side, RJ Gibbons, Bill Bourquin, Rob Galloway, Anthony Fiorentino, Buddy Rogers, Craig Collier, Lance Willix, Rick McCready, Adam Moore DNS: Scott MacCue, Dave Surace
IMCA MODIFIED: Steve Bidwell, Corey Fachini, Neal Edgar, Eddie O'Neil, Larry Bezner, Jim Graves, Kevin Chant, Rick Dusckas, Neal Bryden, Ken Partridge, Ron O'Neil, Jamie Platt, Debbie Stevenson, Brenda O'Neil, Bill Klinkowski
STREET STOCK: Bill Eisele, Steve Rookey, Andrew Howard, Andy Wells, Steve Lanning, Brian Rogers, Bill Gardner, Clint Middlemiss, Laurie Handschuh, Scott Kocher
IMCA HOBBY STOCK: Kyle Sharp, Ernie Taylor, Jeff Hunter, George Sanford, Kevin Presley, Charles Duffany, Les Sanford, Chris Taylor, Kim Mallette, Keith Rabetoy, Erv Miller, Don Scales, Doug Ada, Elmer Perry, Chris Warner, Kevin Duffany, Shane Raye, Mark Webb, Joseph Combs