ALAN JOHNSON HEADS LIST OF FIRST TIME WINNERS AT FULTON
FULTON, NY.....After several great runs and more than a few near victories at Fulton Speedway, Alan Johnson found victory lane in Saturday night's DIRT 358 Modified feature event on B104.7FM Night. Tony Buffa captured the win in the Sportsman, while Dave Bruno celebrated his return after a year's absence with a checkered flag in the Pro Stocks. Chad Ray was also a first time winner in the Pure Stocks.
Tommy Sears jumped into the lead at the start of the 35-lap Modified feature event and battled with Roy Shields for the lead in the early going. Alan Johnson was mired in mid pack with Mitch Gibbs, Dale Planck, and J.J. Michaels and they waged a torrid battle for position. Three laps in, Steve Hulsizer was one of three cars that spun after the pack jammed up in turns three and four. Todd Burley was also making moves toward the front of the field as Rick Miller moved past Shields to grab second and began to apply pressure to the race leader.
As Sears continued to lead the field, Shields faded back through the pack while Johnson found an outside groove to his liking as he began to charge through the top ten. After a yellow for Roger Phelps crashing into one of the infield tire markers on the track, Johnson cracked the top five and began closing in on the leader as Miller went to the pits under the yellow with smoke coming from his car. A few laps later the red flag was flying as Gus Schmidt piled into the infield tire marker in turn one, sending his car flipping. Schmidt's car sustained heavy damage, but he was OK.
As racing resumed, Johnson moved his way to second and on the next restart got the momentum he needed to grab the lead. Gibbs had moved to third and was trying to slip under Sears for the second spot when he got too low in turn four and tagged a tire, destroying the front end of his Teo car. As the laps wound down, Johnson pulled away from Sears and scored his first win of 1999. Dale Planck made a last lap pass on Sears to nail down second, with Michaels and Gil Tegg rounding out the top five. Modified heats were won by Gibbs, Johnson, and Sears, with Jason Barney grabbing the consi win.
The 20-lap Sportsman feature began with Paul Benz taking the early lead over Ron Davis and Rich Keller, who battled furiously behind him. Tony Buffa had the fastest car on the track, though, and by lap 5 had passed Keller for the second spot and was putting the pressure on Benz. Buffa snatched the lead two laps later. As Buffa sped away, Bill Shantel and Willy Decker were creeping up into the top five.
As the race passed halfway, Tim Sears made some gutsy moves to hit the top 5 by lap 14. In the final laps, Sears made a super charge to get into second, but had no chance of catching Buffa until a restart with just two laps to go. Buffa withstood the challenge and took the win over Sears and Decker, with Benz and Shantel rounding out the top five. Sportsman heats were won by Decker, Shantel, and Jim LaRock, with John Cunningham taking the consi win.
The 20-lap Pro Stock feature had Bill Shantel Jr. jump into the lead at the start of the event with Jason Rood right behind. While Shantel Jr. and Rood battled for the lead, Mike Watkins and John Cooper battled for the third spot. Jerry Holmes also came into contention and John Pietrowicz moved into the top five as well. A tangle between Watkins and Cooper sent Watkins back several spots as Dave Bruno moved into contention.
Bruno's car was handling well all over the track and he moved into second spot on lap 8. As the crossed flags appeared for halfway, Bruno moved past Shantel and into the lead. Shantel tangled with the leaders, which resulted in a yellow, though he was able to continue. In the final half of the feature, Bruno pulled away and took the win while Cooper barely nipped Rood at the line for the second spot. Holmes held off Pietrowicz for the fourth position at the checkers. Pro Stock heats were won by Watkins, Cooper, and Shantel.
The 15-lap Pure Stock race began wildly as on the backstretch of the opening lap, Dave Mannise lost a tire and in the ensuing scramble several cars tangled, including Joe Buske, who hit the end of the backstretch wall. As the red flag flew for cleanup, race leader Ken Wentworth retired to the pits and left Chad Ray sitting on the point when racing resumed.
Lou Levea moved into second for the restart and he and race leader Ray spent the rest of the distance fighting for the lead while Kevin Raymond and Don Stevenson fought for third. At the checkers, Ray held off one last attempt from Levea to score his first ever win at Fulton. Levea was a close second followed by John Eiss, Joe Reeves, and Darren Kelso, who all got by the Stevenson and Raymond cars as the got out of shape at the finish. Pure Stock heats were won by Kelso and Mannise.
Next Saturday night a regular show will be presented, and in two weeks, motorcycle jumper Sky Lungston will return to Fulton Speedway and attempt to set a new world record for a ramp to ground motorcycle jump as he attempts to fly over 17 cars. Gates open at 5pm with racing starting at 7pm.
RACE SUMMARY-FULTON SPEEDWAY
B104.7FM NIGHT-JULY 10, 1999
DIRT 358 MODIFIED FEATURE-ALAN JOHNSON, Dale Planck, Tom Sears, JJ Michaels, Gil Tegg, Dave House, Jim Phelps, Steve Hulsizer, John Barker, Tim Burnett, Eric VanSciver, John Ventura, Barry Davis, Jeff Rudalavage, Roy Shields, Jay Hopkins, Jason Barney, Mitch Gibbs, Gus Schmidt, Ty Hunt, Doug Fuller, Rick Miller, Todd Burley, Roger Phelps.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE-TONY BUFFA, Tim Sears, Willy Decker, Paul Benz, Bill Shantel, Greg Doust, Clayton Brewer, Ron Davis, John Cunningham, Rich Keller, Tim Johnson, Jim LaRock, Mark Yorker, Russ Hefti, Dan Vail, Terry Knoblauch, Dave Bargabus, Dean Bower, Jim Bowman, Steve Nasholts, Jeremy Pitcher, Tim Mayne, Walt McArdell.
PRO STOCK FEATURE-DAVE BRUNO, John Cooper, Jason Rood, Jerry Holmes, John Pietrowicz, Ray Maloney, TJ Fitzgibbons, Gerry Newman, Bruce Hovis, Mike Watkins, Pat Hobbs, Paul Stoneburg, Howie Koegel, Tim Harris, Chuck Thomas, Bill Shantel Jr., Dave Moyer, Geoff VanRiper, Mike Dickquist, Joe Jackson, Ricky Breed.
PURE STOCK FEATURE-CHAD RAY, Lou Levea, John Eiss, Joe Reeves, Darren Kelso, Kevin Raymond, Don Stevenson, Bruce Stanton, Marty Collmer, Scott Grevelding, Bill Lashing, Dan Butterfield, Rick DeGroff, Ken Wentworth, Dan Hatch, Dave Mannise, Joe Buske, David Stoughtengel.