DALE PLANCK BACK IN VICTORY LANE AT FULTON ON B104.7 FM NIGHT
Fulton, NY…Dale Planck took the lead on lap 3 and staved off a furious last lap charge at the line by Jimmy Phelps to win his first feature at Fulton Speedway this season. The Sportsman feature also came down to less than a car length as Willie Decker nosed out Timmy Sears to take top honors. Ricky Breed scored his first win of the season in the Pro Stock class, Darren Kelso won the Pure Stock feature, Troy Van Allen picked up the checkered flag in the Dwarf Car Class, and Donnie Wetmore, Jr won the special Sportsman B-Main.
The race got off to a dramatic start, with Alan Johnson and Jimmy Phelps both starting toward the back of the field. As Dave Reilley beat Lansing Petzoldt off the start to take the early lead, Planck worked swiftly through the top five and by the third circuit had the lead.
The fifth lap would change the entire complexion of the race. Roy Shields had a throttle stick on his 82S going into turn three and he shot up the track taking Jim Mahaney in the 21J and Alan Johnson into the outside wall with him. The force of the impact damaged all three cars, and resulted in both Mahaney and Shields being check out by the track’s medical personnel. Neither was seriously injured, but all three were done for the day.
With Johnson now pitside, Jimmy Phelps could focus his attention solely on winning the race. Planck, Reilley, and Petzoldt remained the top three until lap 11, when Ryan Baye mounted a charge and passed both of them. As 12 went on the board it was Planck, Baye, Petzoldt, Reilly, and Michaels in the top five.
Around the halfway point Gil Tegg found some speed and moved into the third position, with Jimmy Phelps in fourth. Jason Barney, consistent as usual, found himself in the top five around lap 20. Phelps worked his way into second on lap 25, and spent the last ten laps chasing the leader.
The drama intensified as slower traffic came into play, and the Fleet Pride 99J closed the gap steadily. Planck saw Phelps first with about five to go, and it became a game of determination and daring. Planck ran the low groove, while Phelps went up top as they fought the race’s final lap, with Planck beating Phelps to the finish line by mere feet.
Planck went to victory lane with Phelps finishing second. Ryan Baye was third, Steve Hulsizer fourth, and Gil Tegg rounded out the top five. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 77x of Planck.
Ricky Breed had his 76 perking in the Pro Stock Feature. He took command from early leader Paul Strieff and set sail toward victory lane. Tom Sears in the Dan Brown 21 had other ideas, however, and quickly worked his way through the field into second.
Breed and Sears kept the fans’ attention focused up front, and the race stayed green until lap 15, when Paul Stoneburg had a tire go flat on his 514 and he stopped on the track in turn three. Yellow flew again on the final lap as T.J. Fitzgibbons encountered problems on the front straightaway, and the stage was set for a one-lap shootout at the Fulton Speedway Corral.
Sears gave it his best shot, but Breed would not be denied as he crossed the finish line first by less than a car length. Sears held on for second, with Scott Moyer, Jason Rood, and Jerry Holmes rounding out the top five. This trio did their own fair share of battling back and forth, as the division continues to be highly competitive.
The Sportsman feature began with the 18 of Rich Keller leading, but he looped it in front of the field in turn four and caused a major melee that left several cars with damage. The 28 of Shane Donath found himself leading on the restart.
John Cunningham, Greg Doust, and Tim Sears all followed closely behind Donath, as did Willie Decker. A lap four incident involved Jim Bowman in the 15, and Clayt Brewer made a pit stop to repair some damage at this time as well.
Decker went to the top side of the track, and he worked his way into second on lap 7. Donath wasn’t going to make it easy for Decker, as the 28 had some giddyup on the bottom of the track. Decker took control on lap 12, but when Ron Richardson slowed with four laps remaining in the 20-lap race, Donath would get one final shot.
Lurking in the shadows was the 83 of Tim Sears. As Donath attempted to retake the lead, Sears went headhunting and blasted around the 28 of Donath for second with two laps left. He chased down the 1x of Decker, and made the last lap a memorable one for the fans in attendance, but Decker proved worthy of the challenge and nosed him out at the line as the fans cheered wildly.
Decker was the winner, followed by Sears, Donath, Tom Collins, and John Cunningham. The NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader was the 28 of Donath.
The Pure Stock race was just two laps old when a red flag came out for a serious incident on the back straightaway. Several cars were involved, but the two who were left motionless when the dust cleared were Todd Storace and Chad Ray. Storace was able to continue, but Ray was shaken and his 73d was hooked to the pits.
Darren Kelso charged past early leader Joe Buske before the race’s midpoint and became the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader as he looked for his third win of the season. Dave Mannise, who has been on a win streak of his own the past couple of weeks, worked his way into second but couldn’t catch the leader.
Todd Koegel was doing his best to shuffle Buske back to fourth, and the battle for fifth involved four or five different cars over the course of the race. In the end, Kelso wound up in front of the crowd for the winner’s interview, while Mannise and Buske finished second and third. Fourth place went to Storace in a tremendous run from the back of the field, while Koegel ran strong to finish fifth.
The Dwarf Cars were also in action for the third time this season at Fulton. Everyone’s mind was on the 2 of Tony Buffa to see if he could continue his domination of the high banks. Troy Van Allen won the previous night’s ESDCA Feature at Brewerton, and looked at Fulton as an opportunity.
It only took Van Allen two laps to seize that opportunity, as he powered his 2x around the 6K of Duane Knapp and into the lead. Once out front, Van Allen easily outdistanced Buffa, who had taken over second in just five laps.
It was Deuces wild as the checkered flag flew, with the 2x of Van Allen getting the win, the 2 of Buffa finishing second, and the 22x of Ken Gamlen ending up third. Barry Virts had an excellent run to finish up in fourth, while the 3 of Darren Forbes crossed the line fifth. Van Allen was the NGK Spark Plugs Halfway Leader.
A special Sportsman B-Main was added to the card due to the fact that 35 cars pulled into the Brewerton pits to race in the class. Second-generation driver Donnie Wetmore, Jr. started on the pole with his 73D and led flag to flag for the win. Darryl Hogan finished second, with Adam Van Patten, Matt Chapman, and Ed Ferris rounding out the top five.
The next race at Fulton is Saturday, July 1st. Nextel Presents a full schedule of DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, Pro Stocks, and Slingshots plus a Wrong Way Enduro and Fireworks. It should be a fun night at the speedway, with gates opening at 5pm and race time scheduled for 7pm. For more information, contact the speedway office at (315) 668-6906 or see them online at www.fultonspeedway.com.
358 MODIFIEDS: DALE PLANCK, Jimmy Phelps, Ryan Baye, Steve Hulsizer, Gil Tegg, J. J. Michaels, Gus Schmidt, John Barker, Jeff Rudalavage, Jason Barney, Lance Petzoldt, Bill Shantel, Roger Phelps, Chris Bushnell, Mike Ward, Pete Taylor, Tony Buffa, Gary Farnsworth, Jr., Dave Reilley, Pat Lynch, Ty Hunt, Rick Miller, Alan Johnson, Jim Mahaney, Roy Shields.
SPORTSMAN: WILLIE DECKER, Tim Sears, Shane Donath, Tom Collins, John Cunningham, Jeremy Pitcher, Tom Juhl, Gregg Carner, Walt McCardell, Paul Benz, Jim Bowman, Chad Phelps, Mark Yorker, Jimmy Kite, Rich Keller, John Juhl, Ron Richardson, Bill Shantel, Jr., Greg Doust, Russ Hefti, Clayt Brewer, Butch Reiter, Dave Bargabos, Paul Kinney.
SPORTSMAN B-MAIN: DONNIE WETMORE JR., Darryl Hagan, Adam Van Patten, Matt Chapman, Ed Ferris.
DWARF CARS: TROY VAN ALLEN, Tony Buffa, Ken Gamlen, Barry Virts, Darren Forbes, Wayne Younglove, Carl Crawford, Jr., Eric Crawford, Dennis Johnson, Bob Magner, David Orr, Bob McCarthy, Brenda Rice, Duane Knopp, Scott Nash.
PRO STOCKS: RICK BREED, Tom Sears, Scott Moyer, Jason Rood, Jerry Holmes, Ray Maloney, Mike Watkins, Ryan Buskey, Herm Flowers, Dave Fox, Randy Coit, Leroy Sabin, Tom Cook, T.J. Fitzgibbons, Keith Butler, Paul Stoneburg, Joe Jackson, Paul Strieff, Chuck Thomas, Chuck Matthews, Jamie Reede.
PURE STOCKS: DARREN KELSO, Dave Mannise, Joe Buske, Todd Storace, Todd Koegel, Rob Seavy, Jay Finch, Ken Connors, Phil Trimm, Jeremy Bargabos, Bruce Stanton, Walt Koperda, Bob Newman, Gary Barton, Gary Chant, Dan Hatch, Dave Brown, Scott Beeles, David Arbus, Adam Morely, John Nickerson, Art Newman, Bob Gloska, David Pope, Chad Ray, Ron Hawker.