ALAN JOHNSON WINS AT FULTON ON NEXTEL NIGHT
Fulton, NY…Alan Johnson passed Ryan Baye to take the lead in traffic with just five laps left and went on to win the 35-lap DIRT 358 Modified Feature at Fulton Speedway on Saturday night. Other winners on Nextel night included Ron Richardson, Jerry Holmes, Jeff Pastorella, J.J. Courcy, and A.J. Kingsley.
Tony Buffa took the early lead in the Modified feature, and Lance Petzoldt almost immediately gave chase with Tim Murphy third. The first caution came on lap 9 when the 88 of Steve Hulsizer and the 31 of J.J. Michaels tangled in turn one, slowing the field.
Buffa was running the best he has all year with the 1, but Petzoldt and Ryan Baye were giving the fans a show as the top three put on a furious battle. After a hair-raising three-wide move, Baye finally wrestled the lead away from Buffa just before the race was half over.
Alan Johnson moved through the field quickly as well, breaking into the top three by lap 19 and into second on lap 22. Baye was moving into traffic, and Johnson began immediately chasing down the leader.
With ten to go the top five read Bye, Johnson, Jimmy Phelps, Buffa, and Petzoldt. Roger Phelps was also going forward, and moved into the top five with less than ten laps left. Dale Planck also had a good run late in the race and ended up running with the leaders as well.
Johnson caught Baye in traffic and passed him for the lead on lap 30. Jimmy Phelps took second and chased down Johnson but spun into the infield as the white flag was ready to fly and finished down farther in the order than he would have preferred.
At the finish line it was Johnson over Baye with Planck, Buffa, and Roger Phelps rounding out the top five. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was Baye.
The DIRT Sportsman race went green to checkered with no cautions. It was a tremendous drive by the entire division, as everyone kept their wits about them and drove smart. The 18 of Rich Keller led the first four laps until Jimmy Kite put his 19 to the head of the class.
Ron Richardson was strong with his 262 on Saturday, and took second on the 6th lap. As the halfway point approached, it was Kite leading Richardson, Keller, Paul Kinney, and Gregg Carner. Richardson and Kite put on a great show for the strong holiday weekend crowd, battling side by side several times until Richardson took control on lap 13.
Tim Sears blasted through the fast-paced field and into second with six laps left. He tried valiantly to snag the lead from Richardson, but it was not to be. Richardson had his first Fulton win of the season, with Sears, Carner, Kinney, and Brent Wilcox following closely behind. Kite was the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
Jerry Holmes took the lead on lap 2 of the 20 lap Pro-Stock Feature and never gave it up. Ricky Breed, last week’s feature winner, was on top of his game again with the 76 and ran second for the better part of the race until Scott Moyer and the 44x of Phil Redder passed him with just a couple of laps left.
Just three cautions slowed the pace for minor incidents, as the Pro Stock class did a tremendous job in their feature event. When the checkered flag flew, it was Jerry Holmes finally finding his way to Fulton’s victory lane. Scott Moyer was second, followed by Redder, Breed, and the 2 of Ray Maloney. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 16 of Holmes.
The Pure Stocks began with back-to-back yellows. The first occurred on the back straightaway when the 9 of Bruce Stanton and the 58 of Adam Morely hooked together. Morely was able to keep going, but the 9 of Stanton spun into the infield and restarted at the back.
On the ensuing restart, several cars got together in turn one, with Chad Ray and Chuck Cushman being left in a two-car meeting of the minds as the caution flew again. Both restarted, but Ray would drop out after ten laps with problems on his 73.
Jeff Pastorella assumed control of the event, leading the competitive field through the first 9 laps of the 15 lap feature until Jeremy Bargabos and David Kirk collided on the front straightaway. This would be the final caution, and would set up a six-lap shootout with Pastorella leading Dave Mannise, Todd Koegel, Jay Finch, and Paul Mercier.
The 17 of Darren Kelso was charging toward the front of the field, but could only get as high as fourth at the end. Pastorella managed to hold off the 8 of Mannise for the win, with Koegel, Kelso, and Finch rounding out the top five. Pastorella was the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
J. J. Courcy picked up his third win of the year in the Senior Slingshot class, passing Ryan “The Rocket” Phelps on lap 5 to get the victory. Phelps was second with Randy Marsh third and David Waterman fourth.
A.J. Kingsley and “Lucky Larry” Wight made a race of the Junior Slingshot event, as Wight stayed within striking distance until he drifted wide off the second corner and allowed Kingsley the breathing room he needed to take the victory. Wight finished second. The Wrong Way Enduro event went to Tom Juhl.
The next race at Fulton is Saturday, July 8th. A full card of DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro-Stocks, Pure Stocks and Slingshots will be presented, along with the ESDCA Dwarf Cars and a Demolition Derby. Gates open at 5pm, with racing scheduled for 7pm. For more information, contact the speedway office at (315) 593-6531, or see them online at www.fultonspeedway.com.
358 MODIFIEDS: ALAN JOHNSON, Ryan Baye, Dale Planck, Tony Buffa, Roger Phelps, Gus Schmidt, Lance Petzoldt, Gil Tegg, J. J. Michaels, John Barker, Steve Hulsizer, Tim Murphy Jr., Jason Barney, Chris Bushnell, Rick Miller, Pete Taylor, Ty Hunt, Brent Wilcox, Jimmy Phelps, Dave Reilly, Bill Shantel, Jim Witkum, Jeff Rudalavage, Pat Lynch.
DIRT SPORTSMAN: RON RICHARDSON, Tim Sears, Gregg Carner, Paul Kinney, John Cunningham, Mark Yorker, Rich Keller, Tom Juhl, Bill Shantel Jr., Greg Doust, Willie Decker, Kevin Crane, Rodney Plantz, Dave Bargabos, Clayt Brewer, Chad Phelps, Shane Donath, Jeremy Pitcher, Tom Collins, Jim Bowman, Paul Benz, Tim Johnson, Jim Kite, Russ Hefti, John Juhl.
DIRT PRO STOCKS: JERRY HOLMES, Scott Moyer, Phil Redder, Rick Breed, Ray Maloney, T.J. Fitzgibbons, Wayne Archer, Paul Streiff, Keith Butler, Ryan Buskey, Randy Coit, Dave Fox, Leroy Sabin, Dave Moyer, Chuck Matthews, Jason Rood, Joe Jackson, Eric Vanderhoof, Chuck Thomas, Jamie Reese, Dan Winks.
PURE STOCKS: JEFF PASTORELLA, Dave Mannise, Todd Koegel, Darren Kelso, Jay Finch, Paul Mercier, Bill Gibson, Rob Seavy, Chuck Cushman, Herm Staats, Ken Connors, Scott Gravelding, David Kirk, Bruce Stanton, Phil Trimm, Gary Chant, Joe Buske, Dennis Brown, Dan Hatch, Adam Morely, John Nickerson, Walt Koperda, Chad Ray, Jeremy Bargabos, Bobby Newman, Gary Barton, George Wright, Scott Beeles.
JUNIOR SLINGSHOTS: A. J. KINGSLEY, Larry Wight.
SENIOR SLINGSHOTS: J. J. COURCY, Ryan Phelps, Randy Marsh, David Waterman, Todd Thomas.