FULTON 358-MODIFIED CHECKERS TO MITCH GIBBS
Fulton, NY…Mitch Gibbs put his Mirabito Fuel Group 2G out front on lap 15 of Saturday night’s Coors/Parts Plus DIRT 358-Modified feature and went on to victory. Other winners were Jim Bowman in the DIRT Sportsman feature, Jerry Holmes in the DIRT Pro-Stock feature, and Dave Mannise in the Pure Stock feature.
The 358-Modified feature got off to a bad start as Steve Hulsizer, Than Harrington, Alan Johnson, and Jimmy Phelps all wound up tangled in turn 3. All but Harrington were able to restart, and when the green came back out the 21 of Jim Mahaney took off out front.
Mahaney immediately began to open up ground over second place Jason Barney, as Dave Reilly, Pete Taylor, and Roger Phelps did battle behind them. Roger Phelps moved into third on lap 12 and set sail after second place Barney.
Ryan Baye and Alan Johnson touched wheels on lap 13, and the yellow came out but the drivers kept going without incident. Gibbs had popped into the top five by this time. On the next restart someone hit the brakes and everyone scattered, resulting in Bill Shantel taking out one of the implement tires in turn four. The Wolcik and Lovulo 97 went to the pits on a tow truck and Shantel’s bad luck continued.
Gibbs blasted through the field when the green flag returned, and by lap 15 had passed the Stadium Trucks 87 for the lead. Once out front, Gibbs opened up some ground as Barney and Mahaney could not keep pace. Lap 23 saw Mahaney, who had smoke showing from his car for two laps previous, stop in turn four with what may have been a blown motor. It was a tough way to end a great run for the 21.
The field regrouped with Gibbs, Barney, John Barker, Dale Planck, and Alan Johnson the top five. Planck and Johnson had come from deep in the field into contention. J. J. Michaels was sitting in sixth.
Gibbs put the pedal down and pulled away when the green lights came back on. Planck was next on the attrition list as his 77x began smoking. He managed to hang in but would pull into the infield abruptly with just two laps left.
Johnson worked his way through for third at the end, but his bid to pass the 87 of Barney fell short, so the final tally read Gibbs, Barney, Johnson, Barker, and Jimmy Phelps. Phelps worked his way through the field after the opening lap incident to capture another top five finish. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Gibbs.
Bill Shantel Jr. started the DIRT Sportsman feature off out front. Shantel was running the best he has all season and put some racetrack between himself and the rest of the field once they got by a lap 2 yellow flag for a jingle in turn three. Jeremy Pitcher held second until John Cunningham found his way by on lap 6, with Jim Bowman charging quickly through the field to second by lap 8 of the 20-lap feature.
Without the benefit of any more yellow flags, Bowman chased down Shantel and passed him for the lead on lap 12. The 1x of Willie Decker and the 1 of Jim Spano worked their way through traffic into the top five as the race moved into its closing stages, but they ran out of time to catch the leaders.
Bowman won in convincing fashion, with Shantel, Pitcher, Decker, and Spano finishing in the top five. Shantel was the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
The Pro Stock division continues to be competitive but plagued by yellows. Paul Strieff’s car got away from him on the initial green flag and he turned right, catching points leader Scott Moyer against the outside wall. Both were able to restart, but the race got just one lap in before Strieff’s car got caught up in another incident. The 8 of Eric Vanderhoof spun, leaving Strieff, Dan Winks, and Herm Flowers nowhere to go but into each other. Only Vanderhoof was able to keep going.
Jerry Holmes charged past several cars to lead lap 3, and then one lap later another yellow sent T.J. Fitzgibbons to the pit area when he was involved with Jason Rood, Paul Stoneburg, Ray Maloney, and Dave Moyer. Fitzgibbons would lose a lap trying to make repairs. Holmes led Ricky Breed, Mike Watkins, Scott Moyer, and Stan Clark when the field came back down for the green.
The green lights stayed on until lap 8, when Ryan Buskey’s front end came apart. Holmes and Breed were putting on quite a show despite all the yellows, as it was obvious they were very evenly matched. Despite two more minor yellows, these two drivers gave the fans all the excitement they could handle, with Holmes just nosing Breed out at the finish for the win.
The score sheets show Holmes the winner followed by Breed, Watkins, Scott Moyer, and Joe Jackson. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Holmes.
Dave Mannise took just two laps to take control of the 15-lap Pure Stock feature. Right behind him, however, was the Tom Hood owned 17, now being driven by John Pietrowicz. A wheel came off the Bruce Stanton 9 on the back straightaway on lap 2, but then the race went green until the halfway point, allowing for some close racing.
Pietrowicz tried his best to get by Mannise, but the 8 of Mannise has always saved a little extra energy for those times when he has to race the 17. Jeff Pastorella closed the gap on the leaders, but his car was loose in the corners, and he got sideways more than once trying to come around Pietrowicz for second.
Chad Ray also weaved his way into the top five, and by lap 12 was in fourth. When Pastorella bobbled one lap later, Ray took advantage and set up the top five as they would cross the line two laps later. When the checkered flag flew it was Mannise with the win followed by Pietrowicz, Ray, Pastorella, and Koegel. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Mannise. The entire show was completed just after 10pm.
The next race at Fulton is Saturday, August 12th, and will be sponsored by Pick N’ Pull and Raymond’s Car Care. The ever-popular school bus races will accompany the DIRT 358-Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, and Pure Stocks. Gates open at 5pm, with race time scheduled for 7pm. For more information, contact the speedway office at (315) 593-6531 or see them online at www.fultonspeedway.com.
358-MODIFIEDS: MITCH GIBBS, Jason Barney, Alan Johnson, John Barker, Jimmy Phelps, J. J. Michaels, Ryan Baye, Steve Hulsizer, Gil Tegg, Pete Taylor, Rick Miller, Dave Reilly, Jeff Rudalavage, Chris Bushnell, Ty Hunt, Gus Schmidt, Jim Witko, Brent Wilcox, John Knopp, Tim Murphy, Dale Planck, Jim Mahaney, Dave Bargabos, Bill Shantel Sr., Bob Simmons, Than Harrington.
SPORTSMAN: JIM BOWMAN, Bill Shantel Jr., Jeremy Pitcher, Willy Decker, Jim Spano, Tom Juhl, Ron Richardson, John Cunningham, Walt McCardell, Clayton Brewer, Mark Yorker, Tim Sears, Paul Kinney, Greg Doust, Dave Bargabos, Gregg Carner, Rich Keller, Shane Donath, Shawn Donath, Jim Kite, Paul Benz, Ryan Richardson, John Juhl, Tim Johnson.
PRO STOCKS: JERRY HOLMES, Rick Breed, Mike Watkins, Scott Moyer, Joe Jackson, Jason Rood, Ray Maloney, Stan Clark, Dave Fox, Leroy Sabin, T. J. Fitzgibbons, Keith Butler, Eric Vanderhoof, Dave Moyer, Chuck Matthews, Paul Stoneburg, Ryan Buskey, Mike Dicquist, Dan Winks, Herm Flowers, Paul Strieff.
PURE STOCKS: DAVE MANNISE, John Pietrowicz, Chad Ray, Jeff Pastorella, Todd Koegel, Rob Seavy, Joe Buske, Bobby Newman, Jeremy Bargabos, Buddy Diehl, Ken Connors, Scott Gravelding, Gary Barton, Darren Kelso, Dennis Brown, John Nickerson, Marty Davis, Adam Morely, Rob Whipple, George Wright, Jay Finch, Bruce Stanton.