Bobby Varin Wins July 25
BOBBY VARIN RACES TO FIRST EVER UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY WIN ON
WALTON'S FARM & AUTO REPAIR NIGHT
VERNON, NY- Sunny skies and a beautiful racing surface greeted fans and drivers alike at the Utica-Rome Speedway this past Sunday July 25 on Walton's Farm & Auto Repair night. The racing action was intense in every division as Bobby Varin used a late race pass of Mitch Gibbs to win his first career 358-Modified win at the speedway with Scott Parliament taking the Sportsman main on a rare visit to the speedway. Jerry Holmes was the Pro Stock victor, Dale Caswell winning the IMCA Modified main, Russ Marsden continuing his domination in the Pure Stock ranks, and Jim Money the winner of the Four Cylinder Super Stock event. Fans were also able to get the autograph of their favorite drivers during intermission as part of the Family Autograph night festivities.
Dave Rauscher led the opening circuit of the 30-lap 358-Modified feature event and looked to race off in search of his first career victory. Bobby Varin was on the move early, moving from his 9th starting position and into the runner-up by lap 4. The battle began to heat up on lap 5 when Brian Weaver slipped into the 3rd spot. When lap 10 was scored, Rauscher was still out front with Weaver now up to second, Burley in third, Varin in fourth, and Mark Flach in fifth. Burley dropped out on that circuit with a broken front wheel with point leader Stewart Friesen dropping out also with mechanical failure.
Varin took over the top spot on lap 12 from Rauscher and began to stretch out the lead. Mitch Gibbs in a borrowed ride from Madsen Overhead Door team and after 23rd moved into the top 5 on lap 12 and took the top spot momentarily on lap 14. Varin regained the lead on 15 from Gibbs as the halfway signal was given. Rauscher, Weaver, and Flach filled out the rest of the top 5 positions.
Gibbs drove like a man on a mission as he drove by Varin again on lap 16 and was opening a good sized margin over the rest of the field. With 10 to go it was still Gibbs out front with Varin, Weaver, Dave Camara, and Flach all chasing. The caution flew for the 5th time on lap 26 and closed the field in on Gibb's rear bumper and gave Varin the opportunity he needed to regain the top spot. When the green flag flew for the restart, Varin jumped at the chance and took the lead for good on lap 27. Varin raced away for his first Utica-Rome Speedway win with Gibbs crossing for second, Flach in third, Camara in fourth, and Paul Jensen in fifth.
Pat O'Hanlan, John Cunningham, and Kyle Lewis all took turns out front in the early portions of the 20-lap Sportsman event with Mike Button finally taking over the top spot on lap 6. The halfway point saw Button, Lewis, Scott Parliament, Jessica Zemken, and Steve Way in the top 5. Parliament, making his only second stop in 2004, moved into second on lap 13 and set sail after Button. By lap 15 Parliament had caught the leader Button and on the next passed him to take over the lead. On lap 17, Zemken moved into the 2nd spot and tried to catch Parliament. When the checkered flew it was Parliament, Zemken, Button, Lewis, and Way finishing in the top 5.
AJ Digsby and Brian Belden battled out front of the Pro Stock main event, with each leading several laps throughout the first half of the 15-lap main. Jerry Holmes, who started 10th, took over the lead by lap 9 and raced away to record his 2nd win of 2004 at the Utica-Rome Speedway. Jason Rood, Bob Mills, Tom Denton, and Dave Moyer filled out the top 5.
George Catanzano looked to repeat in the 15-lap IMCA Modified affair as he led the opening 4 laps of the main. Dale Caswell, after starting 8th, slipped by for the lead on lap 5 and raced away to his first win at the Utica-Rome Speedway. Catanzano held on for the runner-up spot, with Shawn Simmons, Lyle Smith, and Aaron Jacobs following.
Russ Marsden has dominated the Pure Stock division since he started racing at the Utica-Rome Speedway this season and this week was no different, as he raced to his 7th consecutive win. He took the lead from Jim Thomas on lap 6 and never looked back. Point leader Dave Pope, Jim Thomas, Chris Cunningham, and Bob Bird rounded the top 5.
Jim Money took over the top spot on lap 2 from Rich Murtaugh in the Four Cylinder Super Stock feature and never looked back as he raced to 2nd of the season. Chuck Powelczyk, Murtaugh, Joey Delacruz, and Jeff Leslie finished out the rest of the top 5.
Wilber-Duck Chevy/Buick and Ferris Industries will present the racing action this Sunday August 1 with a regular show of DIRT 358-Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, IMCA Modifieds, Pure Stocks, and Four Cylinder Super Stocks. Gates will open at 3 p.m. with racing slated for 5:30 p.m. For more information, log on to www.uticaromespeedway.com or call the speedway office at (315) 829-4557
WALTON'S FARM & AUTO REPAIR AND DIG SAFELY NEW YORK RACE SUMMARY
DIRT 358-MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 LAPS)- BOBBY VARIN, Mitch Gibbs, Mark Flach, Paul Jensen, Dave Camera, Steve Hulsizer, Gus Schmidt, John Ramsey, David Orr, Dave Rauscher, Paul Kinney, Mike Johnson, Don Mattison, Mark Tily, Joel Thomas, Brian Weaver, Willy Decker, Ken McGuire, Todd Thomas, Jamie Christian, Stewart Friesen, Todd Burley, Tony Ross
DIRT SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)- SCOTT PARLIAMENT, Jessica Zemken, Mike Button, Kyle Lewis, Steve Way, Kenny Stafford, John Cunningham, Butch Reiter, Matt Janczuk, Jeremy Vunk, Waylan Wilczek, Darryl Hagen, Paul Carey, Pat O'Hanlan, Tim Nye, Bill Price
DIRT PRO STOCK FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS)- JERRY HOLMES, Jason Rood, Bob Mills, Tom Denton, Dave Moyer, Brian Belden, Bret Belden, Ryan Lund, Bill Knapp, Craig Hale, Mark Effner, Dave Fox, AJ Digsby, Roy Fifield, Rich Green, Butch Green, Ed Ostrander, Jeff Witt, Eric Vanderhoof, Clint Wiest
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS)- DALE CASWELL, George Catanzano, Shawn Simmons, Lyle Smith, Aaron Jacobs, Kevin Buff, Tom Delaney, JoJo Donato, Kenny Rogers, Skip Pabis, Darcy Vomans, Jerry Fobare, Mark Chrzanowski, Sean Lias
PURE STOCK FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS)- RUSS MARSDEN, Dave Pope, Jim Thomas, Chris Cunningham, Bob Bird, Chuck Cushman, Rick Condes, Art Newman, Dave Janczuk, Phil Norman, Ted Crawford, Frank Hyatt, Ricky Marshall, Steve Delano, Shawn Dunn, Rob Seavy
FOUR CYLINDER FEATURE FINISH (8 LAPS)- JIM MONEY, Chuck Powelczyk, Rich Murtaugh, Joey Delacruz, Jeff Leslie, Mike Stringer, Jack Hill, Lee Hartzog, Lorraine Birmingham, George Crippen