J.J. MICHAELS OUTRUNS FULTON 358 MODIFIED FIELD
Fulton, NY…J.J. Michaels of Clay, NY. Put his 31 out front on lap 3 and walked away with his second 358 Modified victory of the year at the Fulton Speedway on Saturday. Other winners included Clayt Brewer, Troy Van Allen, Scott Moyer, Jeff Pastorella, J.J. Courcy, and Kyle Reuter.
Gil Tegg’s 358 Modified run started out on a bad note as he pulled pitside before the green after making contact with another car. Pete Taylor led the opening lap, but a multi-car jingle on the back straightaway on lap 2 involved Alan Johnson, Jeff Rudalavage, Jeremy Smith, and Ty Hunt. Everyone was able to continue on.
When the race was restarted, J. J. Michaels blasted by Taylor and his yellow 31 was out front for good. Taylor ran second behind him, with Dave Reilly, John Barker, and Ryan Baye following closely behind. Baye was moving forward in a hurry, and took care of Barker and Reilly both by lap 5 to take over third.
Lance Petzoldt and Gus Schmidt tangled on the front straightaway as the lap counter changed to 11, and the second yellow of the race flew over the field. Behind Michaels, Taylor, and Baye at this time were Barker and the 99R of Roger Phelps.
Dale Planck, Jim Phelps, Alan Johnson, Bill Shantel Sr., and Rick Miller now rounded out the top ten. Johnson’s drive was most notable, as he was blasting through the field from the rear after being involved in the lap 2 incident.
Michaels opened up quite a bit of distance between himself and the rest of the field as the race went green for the next 20 circuits. Johnson cracked the top five with his 14J on lap 23, and passed his way to third by lap 30.
Roger Phelps brought out the yellow on lap 32 when he suffered a right rear flat tire. Michaels easily held off all challengers for the final three circuits and picked up the victory. At the checkered flag it was Michaels over Baye, Johnson, Planck, and Jimmy Phelps. Michaels was also the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
The ESDCA Dwarf Car Feature was all Troy Van Allen. The 2x of Van Allen took the lead on the opening lap and was never headed. Tony Buffa made quick work of Barry Virts for second, while Virts held on for third at the wire.
The caution-free feature went to Van Allen, with Buffa second, Virts third, Ken Gamlen fourth, and Eric Crawford finished fifth. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Van Allen.
Paul Strieff made a spectacular three-wide move at the start of the Pro Stock 20-lap feature event and grabbed the lead with his 00. Before Strieff could run away too far, however, the 514 of Paul Stoneburg spun on the front straightaway on lap 2. Stoneburg’s problem was terminal, and he went to the pit area for the balance of the evening.
Despite a few more caution flags, the race was intense at the front as Strieff attempted to hold off some very heavy hitters. Jason Rood, Joe Jackson, David Moyer, and Ricky Breed all were in the mix, but none could overtake the Strieff machine. The driver who stealthily made his way up to challenge the leader was the 11 of Scott Moyer.
Moyer was sitting in fifth by the race’s halfway point, but in the next two laps shot into third. When Jason Rood developed a problem and brought out the yellow on lap 17, it put Moyer right on the bumper of leader Strieff. Moyer grabbed the top spot one lap later and went on for the win.
When the checkers flew it was Moyer in victory lane. Strieff, T.J. Fitzgibbons, Jerry Holmes, and Joe Jackson rounded out the top five. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 00 of Strieff.
Russ Hefti put his 0 car out front at the drop of the green for the Sportsman Feature. Jim Kite was trying to make a bid for the lead when a four car incident in turn two began with Gregg Carner and Shane Donath making contact. Ron Cettner’s 20x was the only casualty from this incident, as Carner, Donath, and Ed Ferris all were able to continue on.
The driver on the move when the race resumed was the Alltel 33jr. of Clayt Brewer III. The 16-year old took over second from Jim Bowman on lap four and dove under the 0 of Hefti one lap later to move himself to the head of the class.
Another multi-car melee took place on lap 6 as Donath got loose and was clipped by the 111 of Walt McCardell. The 00 of Adam Van Patten then got into Donath. Donath was able to continue but the other two competitors had their evening end earlier than expected.
Bowman and Hefti put on a show for second and third while Brewer built a sizeable advantage until lap 12 when Ed Ferris spun his 07. Behind the lead trio in fourth was the 99 of Dave Bargabos, and he was gaining momentum just prior to the yellow flag. Fifth at this time was the 18 of Rich Keller, who was enjoying a strong run.
Bargabos made a move on the restart to take over third, and appeared to have something for second place Bowman. Before he could mount a challenge, however, the 07 of Ferris came around again with four laps to go, and slowed the pace once again. This time Ferris could not restart and was towed to the pit area.
Before the green flag could fly again, the fantastic run for the 99 of Bargabos came to an end as he stopped on the back straightway and went pitside. When the field was realigned Brewer found himself with the 83 of Tim Sears on his back bumper and Willie Decker, Bowman, and Cunningham trailing behind.
Sears tried with all his might to drive his 83 around the outside of Brewer, but the bottom groove worked its magic for Clayt and he went on for the victory. Sears, Decker, Bowman, and Cunningham rounded out the top five. Brewer was the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
Paul Mercier led the Pure Stock race into its opening laps. Darren Kelso and Adam Morely came together on lap 3, with Kelso suffering a flat tire in the incident and pitting under the caution. He returned without losing a lap with the Hood 17 car, and restarted at the rear of the field. Morely was also able to resume racing.
One lap later contact in the front of the field sent Mercier and Dave Mannise both spinning toward the front straightaway wall, but fortunately no contact was made and both were able to keep going in the race. Jeff Pastorella now found himself at the top of the Pure Stock mountain, and he would lead the rest of the way with Chad Ray not far behind.
Young Bobby Newman, a second generation driver, had his 5N working extremely well on Saturday, and he ran third for the first 11 laps before Todd Koegel moved by him with his K9. Newman eventually had to pit when he had a tire go down, but he definitely made a strong showing for himself nonetheless.
Mannise worked his way quickly through the field to be third at the stripe behind Pastorella and Ray, while Kelso and Morely would both be involved in other incidents and neither was among the top runners at the finish.
Pastorella got the victory, with Ray, Mannise, Koegel, and the 54 of Jay Finch rounding out the top five. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 25 of Pastorella.
J.J. Courcy led flag to flag to pick up the victory in the New York State Slingshot Tour Series event. He led the entire 30-lap distance with virtually no challenge for his position. Pete Neff ran second for most of the race, but developed mechanical woes and pulled out, leaving the 56 of Mike Waterman as the runnerup. At the checkers Courcy was the winner with Waterman, Dennis Tillson, Neff, and Ryan Phelps rounding out the top five.
Central Square, NY resident Kyle Reuter has led every lap he’s raced at Fulton Speedway this season, but came into Saturday’s race with no feature wins. A rash of mechanical failures had kept the 13-year old out of victory lane, but on this night he took off at the green and never looked back. Reuter got the win with Waylon Burrows, and Larry Wight finishing second and third.
The next race at Fulton is Saturday, July 15th. Raymond’s Car Care and Wayne Regional Orthopedics present the Central New York Mini-Sprint Midsummer Sizzler. The DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Slingshots will also be on the card, as will the Jetettes Women’s Racing Series. Gates open at 5pm, with race time at 7pm. For more information, call the speedway office at (315) 593-6531 or see them online at www.fultonspeedway.com.
358 MODIFIEDS: J. J. MICHAELS, Ryan Baye, Alan Johnson, Dale Planck, Jimmy Phelps, Pete Taylor, Jeff Rudalavage, John Barker, Bill Shantel, Tony Buffa, Jim Witko, Rick Miller, Roger Phelps, Jason Barney, Tim Murphy, Ty Hunt, Mike Ward, Brent Wilcox, Joe Slawiak, Steve Hulsizer, Dave Reilly, Jeremy Smith, Gus Schmidt, Lance Petzoldt, Tom Kinsella, Gil Tegg.
SPORTSMAN: CLAYT BREWER, Tim Sears, Willie Decker, Jim Bowman, John Cunningham, Rich Keller, Jimmy Kite, Mark Yorker, Tom Juhl, Jeremy Pitcher, Ron Richardson, Tim Johnson, Gregg Carner, Shane Donath, Russ Hefti, Bill Shantel Jr., Dave Bargabos, Ed Ferris, Greg Doust, Paul Benz, Dean Bower, Walt McCardell, Adam Van Patten, Ron Cettner Jr.
PRO STOCKS: SCOTT MOYER, Paul Strieff, T. J. Fitzgibbons, Jerry Holmes, Joe Jackson, Rick Breed, Ed Kotary, Ryan Buskey, Dan Winks, Herm Flowers, Randy Coit, Ray Maloney, Chuck Matthews, Dave Fox, Leroy Sabin, Jason Rood, Keith Butler, Dave Moyer, Roger Olschewske, Paul Stoneburg.
PURE STOCKS: JEFF PASTORELLA, Chad Ray, Dave Mannise, Todd Koegel, Jay Finch, Rob Seavy, Jeremy Bargabos, Joe Buske, Bruce Stanton, Mike Watkins, Dan Hatch, Phil Trimm, Walt Koperda, Gary Barton, Ken Conners, David Kirk, Bobby Newman, Dennis Brown, Adam Morely, Chris Smiedy, Scott Beeles, Paul Mercier, Darren Kelso, John Nickerson.
ESDCA DWARF CARS: TROY VAN ALLEN, Tony Buffa, Barry Virts, Ken Gamlen, Eric Crawford, Dennis Johnson, David Orr, Brenda Rice, Bob McCarthy, Carl Crawford Jr.
SENIOR SLINGSHOTS: J.J. COURCY, Mike Waterman, Dennis Tillson, Pete Neff, Ryan Phelps, Brian Thomas, Jackie Botindari, Chad Weatherbee.
JUNIOR SLINGSHOTS: KYLE REUTER, Waylon Burrows, Larry Wight, A.J. Kingsley.