FULTON FEATURE WINNERS INCLUDE JIMMY PHELPS, CLAYTON BREWER, TOM SEARS, DAVE MANNISE, TONY BUFFA, DAVE NIMEY, A.J. KINGSLEY
Fulton, NY…Jimmy Phelps squeezed his Fleet Pride 99J between J.J. Michaels and Ryan Baye in turn three of the final lap and went on to victory in the DIRT 358 Modified event at Fulton on Saturday. Other winners included Clayt Brewer, Tom Sears, Dave Mannise, Tony Buffa, Dave Nimey, and A.J. Kingsley.
Pete Taylor led the opening laps of the 358 feature until a caution flew on lap 4 for a tangle between the 88 of Steve Hulsizer and the 87 of Jason Barney. Barney restarted at the rear of the field but would be back up front before race’s end.
Tim Murphy Jr. started sixth with his 87M, and charged forward on the restart to challenge Taylor for the lead. Meanwhile, Ryan Baye was following closely in third as Jimmy Phelps and Alan Johnson were quickly working their way through the field.
Dale Planck slowed dramatically in turn four, bringing out the yellow on the 13th lap. Taylor and Baye now had Gil Tegg, Murphy, and Jimmy Phelps behind him, with Michaels, Johnson, Bill Shantel Sr., and Barker also in contention.
Baye had his 2 car hooked up, and on lap 16 he shot past Taylor and took command of the race. Taylor was holding on to second as the halfway point approached, with Michaels, Phelps, and Johnson mixing it up behind them.
Michaels chased Baye down, and actually led for one brief moment on lap 26. Traffic got much thicker as the final laps ticked off, allowing Phelps to join the leaders for what would be a hearts topping finish.
On the final lap, Michaels and Baye went side-by-side down the back straightaway into turn three with Phelps right behind. Phelps somehow found a way to squeeze his car right between the two leaders as they went through the corner, and he and Baye touched slightly as they came out of turn four.
At the line it was Phelps with the win over Michaels, Baye, Johnson, and Jason Barney. Barney had made his way back from the rear of the field to finish fifth. Pete Taylor, Gil Tegg, John Barker, Gus Schmidt, and Jeff Rudalavage rounded out the top ten.
Tyke Morris wasted no time in jumping out to the lead when the Sportsman field got the green flag, but the 11 of Chad Phelps had a problem immediately and a restart was needed. Jeremy Pitcher was second, with Tim Johnson, and Terry Knoblock right behind him.
Brewer worked his Alltel 33jr into fifth just before a multi-car accident brought the red flag out on lap 6. Paul Benz looped his 29 in front of the pack, and as the cars scattered around him Willie Decker, Paul Kinney, and John Cunningham could not avoid becoming involved. Kinney was nursing a leg injury from a race at New Utica Rome the previous week, but he was able to walk away from the scene.
Tim Sears made a brief appearance in the top five, but would bring out the caution when he stopped in turn 2 as the lap board changed to 11. Brewer was now in second, and after several laps of battling with Morris for the lead, he charged off the top of the track and blasted by the 91B and went on to a crowd-pleasing victory.
Tim Johnson, Tom Juhl, and Russ Hefti followed Brewer and Morris across the finish line. It was the first win of the season for the 17-year old Brewer, a former Quarter-Midget champion who grew up just a few miles from the track.
The Dwarf Car Feature was a battle of deuces, as the 2x of Troy Van Allen jumped out front at the start with the 2 of Tony Buffa and the 22x of Kenny Gamlen second and third. Van Allen would be able to hold Buffa back for the first 7 laps, but on lap 8 Buffa powered his racer into the lead and never looked back.
Buffa was the feature winner, with Van Allen, Gamlen, Wayne Younglove, and Darren Forbes rounding out the top five. It was Buffa’s second win in two attempts at Fulton, and it was also Younglove’s second top five effort.
The Pure Stock feature was all Dave Mannise, but he didn’t exactly have it easy. Darren Kelso in the Hood 17 ran with him the entire distance, as did the 73 of Chad Ray. Kelso nearly had Mannise passed a couple of times, but could not get the job done as Mannise won his second in a row. Kelso, Ray, Rob Seavy, and Ken Conners rounded out the top five.
Danny Winks drove his 60 to the head of the Pro-Stock class when their feature event got underway, but Jason Rood was on a mission. Rood edged his 18 ahead of the Winks machine and into the lead on the third lap of the 20-lap feature.
Rood had some heavy-hitters behind him, as Scott Moyer, T.J. Fitzgibbons, Tom Sears, and Joe Jackson were among those just waiting for the leader to make a mistake. Moyer managed to take the lead just past halfway, but Sears was stronger than anyone and on lap 12 he took the Dan Brown owned 21 to the front and stayed there the rest of the way.
In a close finish, it was Sears defeating Rood, John Pietrowicz, Jerry Holmes, and the 11 of Moyer. A serious accident that left both Winks and the 25 of Chad Nugent against the outside wall on the back straightaway found both cars heavily damaged. Fortunately, there were no injuries.
The Slingshot division took to the track in two categories. The Junior division, for youngsters 15 and under, found Kyle Reuter’s mount breaking down early on, leaving A.J. Kingsley in the lead and with the win in the two-car event.
The Senior Division had six cars in competition. Jackie Botindari had her beautiful Pillsbury sponsored 1 in the lead early, but the 28 of David Nimey came on strong at the end and passed “Jackie Bo” and got the checkered flag. Botindari was second, followed by J.J. Courcy, Pete Neff, Ryan Phelps, and David Waterman.
The next race at Fulton is Saturday, June 17. On the card that night are the DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Slingshots plus Jetettes Women’s Racing. Gates open at 5pm with race time scheduled for 7pm.
Admission is $10 for adults and $2 for children 14 and under. For more information contact the speedway office at 593-6531 or see them online at www.fultonspeedway.com.
FEATURE FINISHES FROM JUNE 10, 2000
DIRT 358 MODIFIEDS: JIMMY PHELPS, J.J. Michaels, Ryan Baye, Alan Johnson, Jason Barney, Pete Taylor, Gil Tegg, John Barker, Gus Schmidt, Jeff Rudalavage, Bill Shantel, Lance Petzoldt, Tim Murphy Jr., Mike Hulsizer, Ty Hunt, Roy Shields, Brent Wilcox, Dave Reilly, Bill Woodworth, Dale Planck, Jim Burke, Roger Phelps, Tony Buffa, Steve Hulsizer. NGK SPARK PLUGS HALFWAY LEADER – Ryan Baye. Heat wins – Steve Hulsizer, Michaels, Taylor. Consi – Rudalavage.
DIRT SPORTSMAN: CLAYT BREWER, Tyke Morris, Tim Johnson, Tom Juhl, Russ Hefti, Jeremy Pitcher, Dave Bargabos, Jim Bowman, Mark Yorker, Ron Richardson, Terry Knoblock, Jimmy Kite, John Juhl, Rich Keller, Paul Benz, Ed Ferris, Bill Shantel Jr., Tim Sears, Paul Kinney, Willie Decker, John Cunningham, Greg Doust, Cliff West, and Chad Phelps. NGK SPARK PLUGS HALFWAY LEADER – Morris. Heat wins – Morris, Brewer, Kite. Consi – Sears.
DIRT PRO STOCKS: TOM SEARS, Jason Rood, T. J. Fitzgibbons, Scott Moyer, Jerry Holmes, Joe Jackson, John Pietrowicz, Rick Breed, Paul Strieff, Paul Stoneburg, Dave Fox, Ryan Buske, Herm Flowers, Keith Butler, Chuck Matthews, Ed Kotary, Ray Maloney, Danny Winks, Chad Nugent, Randy Coit, Jamie Reese, Chuck Thomas. NGK SPARK PLUGS HALFWAY LEADER – ROOD. Heat wins – Moyer, Fitzgibbons, Jackson.
PURE STOCKS: DAVE MANNISE, Darren Kelso, Chad Ray, Rob Seavy, Ken Connors, Walt Koperda, Dennis Brown, Gary Barton, Joe Nickerson, Scott Beales, Adam Morley, Scott Gravelding, Paul Mercier, Bruce Stanton, George Wright, Don Kimball, Jeff Pastorella, Joe Buske, Jeremy Bargabos. NGK SPARK PLUGS HALFWAY LEADER – Mannise. Heat wins – Kelso, Mannise.
DWARF CARS: TONY BUFFA, Troy Van Allen, Ken Gamlen, Wayne Younglove, Darren Forbes, Scott Nash, Eric Crawford, Rob Garafolo, Barry Virts, Joe Garafolo, Bob Bird, Bob McCarthy, David Orr, Brenda Rice, Tod Simons, Dwayne Knapp, Carl Crawford Sr. NGK SPARK PLUGS HALFWAY LEADER – Buffa. Heat wins – Buffa, Gamlen.
JUNIOR SLINGSHOTS: A.J. KINGSLEY, Kyle Reuter.
SENIOR SLINGSHOTS: DAVID NIMEY, Jackie Bontindari, J.J. Courcy, Pete Neff, Ryan Phelps, David Waterman.