J.J. Michaels Celebrates Birthday With Pick N’ Pull Auto Parts 358-Modified Fulton Win Other Winners Include Jim Bowman, Joe Jackson, John Pietrowicz
Fulton, NY…J.J. Michaels beat out 2000 Track Champion Alan Johnson to pick up his third DIRT 358-Modified feature win of the season on Pick N’ Pull Auto Parts night at Fulton Speedway Saturday. Other winners included Jim Bowman in the DIRT Sportsman, Joe Jackson with his first feature win in the Pro Stocks, and John Pietrowicz in the Pure Stocks.
Rick Miller led the opening lap of the 358-Modified feature with his Superior AutoPlex 33x, but it was Ty Hunt blasting by to take control on lap 2. Ryan Baye began putting pressure on Miller for second , and on lap 7 worked his way around and began to hunt down the leader.
Hunt’s 44 began to develop a loose condition, and Baye passed him on lap 9. Miller’s 33x slowed drastically on the track, causing the race’s first yellow on lap 10. That left Baye to lead Hunt, Michaels, Jim Witko Jr., and Jason Barney. John Barker was sixth and Alan Johnson was seventh, followed by Jim Mahaney, Jimmy Phelps, and Dale Planck.
On the restart, Michaels dove under the 44 of Hunt and took over second. Witko was running well at this point in third, but he had several heavy hitters behind him working their way toward the front. One of them was Alan Johnson. Johnson, who had the track title pretty well in hand, was racing for the win now. By lap 14, he was in third and chasing Baye and Michaels.
Baye became the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader on lap 18, but the distance between himself and Michaels was decreasing, and Johnson was catching them both. Dale Planck was also on the move, and got up to fourth on lap 16 with Jason Barney in tow.
The race stayed green for quite a few laps, and as 25 went on the board the fight to the finish was on with Baye’s brakes glowing as he worked the pedal hard going into the corners. Michaels and Johnson were hot on his trail, with Planck and Jim Mahaney rounding out the top five.
With two laps left in the event, and traffic playing a major part in the outcome, Michaels went to the outside of Baye and took the lead. Moments later, Baye and Billy Shantel came together as Shantel was being lapped and both of them spun in turn two. This ended a brilliant drive by the 2 of Baye, and set up a two-lap shootout between Michaels, Johnson, Planck, and Jim Mahaney.
Johnson gave it his all after the restart, but came up short in the end. Michaels got his third win, with Johnson finishing second and Mahaney sneaking by Planck for third. Jimmy Phelps rounded out the top five. Sixth through tenth were Jason Barney, Mitch Gibbs, John Barker, Roger Phelps, and Mike Romano. Alan Johnson became the 2000 358-Modified Track Champion.
Jim Bowman led flag to flag in the DIRT Sportsman event. A yellow slowed the pace briefly on lap 2, but Bowman would have no part of being challenged as he walked away on the restart. By lap five, Bowman put some real estate between himself and Rich Keller, with Willie Decker, Dave Bargabos, and Jeremy Pitcher following closely behind.
Decker worked his way into second on lap 9, but Jeremy Pitcher snagged it on lap 10 as Bowman became the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader. Geoff Van Riper brought out the yellow on lap 11, and this closed the field and put Decker right on Bowman’s doorstep.
With only one more caution to slow his pace, Bowman had little trouble outgunning all challengers and taking home the win. Decker finished second, followed by Pitcher, Ron Richardson, and Tim Sears. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Bowman. Tim Sears became the 2000 Track Champion of the DIRT Sportsman division.
The Pro-Stock Feature began as so many others have this season, with Paul Strieff jumping out to the early lead. Joe Jackson ran behind him for the first 5 laps, passed him on lap 6, and then lost the lead again on lap 8 after a caution flag for a spinning Chuck Matthews. Jerry Holmes was running third behind the lead duo, with brothers Dave and Scott Moyer rounding out the top five.
Strieff became the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader on lap 10, just as Jason Rood spun in turn two. On the restart, both Jackson and Holmes got by Strieff, and then Holmes drove around the 7 of Jackson to take the lead. Holmes put some distance between himself and Jackson for the next few laps, but Jackson would get another chance.
Paul Stoneburg spun his 514 with three laps remaining, putting Jackson on the rear bumper of the leader. Holmes would get off to a good restart, but Jackson chased him down and got by him with a fantastic inside move on the final lap.
At the stripe, it was Jackson celebrating win number one for the 2000 season, with Holmes, Strieff, Dave Moyer, and Scott Moyer rounding out the top five. Scott Moyer became the 2000 DIRT Pro Stock Track Champion.
There must have been something in the air for the Pure Stock feature, as the opening few laps saw contact being made throughout the field, and several cars getting sideways. Dave Mannise ended up bouncing off the back straightaway wall in the midst of the ordeal, and brought out a yellow on lap 2.
Mannise made a quick pit stop and rejoined the action without losing a lap. When things shook out it was John Pietrowicz in the Tom Hood 17 leading the field on lap 3 with Todd Koegel running in second
Chad Ray, who pretty much had the 2000 Pure Stock Track Championship sewn up, ran strong in his pursuit of the two leaders, and had second by lap five. A yellow flag on lap 8 saw Ken Connors and Gary Barton become entangled in turn two, as Pietrowicz became the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
Mannise broke the top five shortly after the restart, and moved up to fourth before exiting the race with problems just a couple of laps from the end. Pietrowicz outran Chad Ray to pick up the victory, with Jeff Pastorella putting on a nice late race surge to finish third. Koegel was fourth, with Ken Connors doing a nice job to take home fifth. Chad Ray put the exclamation point on the 2000 Pure Stock track title with his fine run.
A two-day weekend of racing is in store at Fulton on September 9th and 10th. Saturday, September 9th will feature the “Run Whatcha Brung” open competition Modified race (“as long as it’s a Modified, it’s legal”) plus Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, and the ESDCA Dwarf Cars. Sunday, September 10th will feature the S.T.O.R.M. Off-Road Series Tuff Truck Nationals, with both pro and amateur divisions in action.
Also on that card will be amateur ATV Racing, and a demolition derby for full-size trucks. Admission to Sunday’s show is just $5. For more information, contact the Fulton Speedway office at (315) 593-6531 or see them online at www.fultonspeedway.com.
358-MODIFIEDS: J.J. MICHAELS, Alan Johnson (track champion), Jim Mahaney, Dale Planck, Jimmy Phelps, Jason Barney, Mitch Gibbs, John Barker, Roger Phelps, Mike Romano, Gus Schmidt, Tim Clemons, Gil Tegg, Jim Witko, Tim Murphy, Aaron Excel, Ty Hunt, Bill Shantel, Ryan Baye, Lance Petzoldt, Pete Taylor, Rick Miller, Tony Buffa, Doug Fuller.
DIRT SPORTSMAN: JIM BOWMAN, Willie Decker, Jeremy Pitcher, Ron Richardson, Tim Sears (track champion), Greg Doust, Rich Keller, Dave Bargabos, Paul Kinney, Walt McCardell, John Cunningham, Mark Yorker, Shane Donath, Jimmy Kite, Mike Lavrenway, Dave Donath, Shawn Donath, Ryan Richardson, Adam Van Patten, Butch Reiter, Clayt Brewer, Geoff Van Riper, Tim Johnson, Tom Juhl, Steve Way, and Gregg Carner.
DIRT PRO STOCKS: JOE JACKSON, Jerry Holmes, Paul Strieff, Dave Moyer, Scott Moyer (track champion), Ray Maloney, Mike Watkins, Rick Breed, T.J. Fitzgibbons, Jason Rood, Keith Butler, Paul Stoneburg, Leroy Sabin, Dave Fox, Ryan Buskey, Chuck Matthews, Chuck Thomas.
PURE STOCKS: JOHN PIETROWICZ, Chad Ray (track champion), Jeff Pastorella, Todd Koegel, Ken Connors, Bobby Newman, Rob Seavy, Jeremy Bargabos, Bruce Stanton, Gary Chant, Adam Morely, Dennis Brown, Gary Barton, Chris Smiedy, Billy Allen, Dave Mannise, Jay Finch, Walt Koperda, Marty Davis, Phil Trimm, Rob Whipple.