BRIAN WEAVER AND PAUL CAREY TAKE FIRST EVER WINS AT UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY
WHILE SEAN LIAS TAKES EMPIRE STATE SERIES CHECKERS
VERNON, NY- Dominating performances by Brian Weaver in the 358-Modifieds and
Paul Carey in the Sportsman would land them both their first-ever wins at
Utica-Rome Speedway in their respective division on C-Weaver and Parts Plus
night. Sean Lias would put on another impressive performance in the
IMCA-Modifieds to win the Empire State Series event.
Jim Rothwell and Willy Decker brought the field to the green flag to begin
the 50-lap battle for the 358-Modifieds. Decker took command of the race
early on, grabbing the lead by the end of the first lap and began to pull
away. Behind Decker, Paul Jensen slid into second and was having his finest
run of the 2004 season at the half-mile speedplant. Further behind, the only
two feature winners thus far in the season, Todd Burley and Stewart Friesen,
were working their way to the front. By the lap 10 point of the event, it
was Decker, Friesen marching into second, Jensen falling to third, Gus
Schmidt up to fourth, and Burley climbing to the fifth position.
The first caution of the race flew on lap 14, and on the ensuing restart,
Friesen quickly took over the lead, but the caution quickly flew again. Dale
Planck, in his first visit to the speedway since claiming the 2003 track
championship, made hard contact with the backstretch guardrail which ended
his night early. At that point, Burley retired his mount for the event with
a broken rear end. Once again on the restart, Friesen took command of the
race again, but that was short-lived as he slowed with a down with
mechanical woes.
The lap 17 restart saw Brian Weaver take over the top spot over Decker only
to lose it Decker on another restart a lap later. Decker would hold off
Weaver's challenges for the next two circuits, but it would be in vain as
Weaver would slip by lap 21. When the crossed flags were shown to signify
the halfway point, it was Weaver in control with Decker, Mark Flach, John
Ramsey, and Jamie Christian chasing. Although there were a couple of
cautions in the second half to slow the field, Weaver would lead the rest of
the way with little challenge from the rest of field. At the finish, it was
Weaver crossing the line for his first ever Utica-Rome Speedway win and the
$2500 payday, with Decker, Flach, Ramsey, and Bobby Varin following.
Qualifying heats were won by Mitch Gibbs, Decker, and Dave Rauscher.
Butch Reiter would jump from his fifth starting spot to lead the opening lap
of the DIRT Sportsman event and would remain the leader for the first 10
laps despite heavy pressure from Bill Shantel, Jr., Mike Button, and Kenny
Stafford. Shantel's night would end on lap 11, and Stafford's would drop out
on lap 12 just as he took over the top spot. The caution would fly for
Stafford's disable mount on lap 12, and Paul Carey would take advantage of
the restart to gain the top position. As Carey opened a large lead, 3-time
winner Jessica Zemken would grab the runner-up position on lap 16. Zemken
could not keep pace with fast moving Carey and at the end of the 25-lap
affair, it was Carey taking the $1000 top prize, with Zemken, John
Cunningham, Reiter, and Steve Way. Despite always being a top runner in the
Sportsman division and winning many races in the Pro/Street Stocks, Carey
had never managed to find victory lane since making the move to Sportsman.
That all ended on this night however, as he dominated the competition to win
his first Sportsman event. Carey and Reiter took the heat race wins.
Steve Bidwell and Dale Caswell led the IMCA Modified field down the green
flag for start of the Empire State Series and battled tooth and nail for the
top spot for the first 6 circuits. Bidwell would hold off Caswell to lead
the duo to the line to lead the opening 6 laps, but on lap 7 Sean Lias
blasted by the both of them for the lead. At that point, Lias left the rest
of the field to battle for second spot, as he opened up a huge lead. Bidwell
would attempt to hold of George Catanzano and Lyle Smith, but they both
proved to be too strong in the late going. Both Catanzano and Smith would
get by Bidwell just after the halfway point as the leader Lias lapped cars
by the handful. In the end, it was Lias with an impressive performance, with
Catanzano, Smith, Bidwell, and Rob Keller filling out the top 5. In heat
action, it was Lyle Smith, Bidwell, and Lias taking the wins.
Coming up next Sunday on July 4, Mirabitio "The Energy Leader" and C-Weaver
Chevrolet present the Independence Weekend Fireworks Spectacular featuring
the Empire Super Sprints. Also in action will be the DIRT 358-Modifieds,
DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Central New York Mini
Sprints. The Four Cylinder Super Stocks will not see action on this evening.
Gates will open at 2:30 p.m. with racing starting at a special time at 5
p.m. For more information, please log to www.uticaromespeedway.com or call
the office at (315) 829-4557.
C-WEAVER CHEVY/PARTS PLUS RACE SUMMARY
DIRT 358-MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (50 LAPS)- BRIAN WEAVER, Willy Decker, Mark
Flach, John Ramsey, Bob Varin, Paul Jensen, Tony Ross, Gus Schmidt, Mitch
Gibbs, Jamie Christian, John Lazore, Jim Rothwell, Ken McGuire, Dave
Rauscher, Dave Camara, Stewart Friesen, Cass Bennett, Todd Burley, Dale
Planck, Joel Thomas, and Todd Thomas. DNS- Paul Kinney.
DIRT SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 LAPS)- PAUL CAREY, Jessica Zemken, John
Cunningham, Butch Reiter, Steve Way, Jeremy Vunk, Joe Williams, Mike Button,
Bill Price, Darryl Hagen, Terry Knoblach, Matt Janczuk, Kyle Lewis, Kenny
Stafford, Mike Zimmerman, Bill Shantel, Jr., Pat O'Hanlan, and Tim Nye.
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (25 LAPS)- SEAN LIAS, George Catanzano, Lyle
Smith, Steve Bidwell, Rob Keller, Aaron Jacobs, Bob Banks, Jr., Mark Webb,
Shawn Simmons, Brad Wall, Bill Anderson, Kevan Cook, Neal Edgar, Mike Smith,
Skip Pabis, Mike Stoddard, Brian Evenden, Calvin Painter, Eric Stumpf, Tom
Funk, Don Reeves, Jim Rajczi, Dale Caswell, and Carol Parker.