Phelps, Bowman, Maloney and Kelso snag Fulton feature wins
FULTON, NY - Three first time winners enjoyed victory land while another driver won his second in a row on Laqua 481 Chevy Buick night at the Fulton Speedway. The fans also got a chance to meet their favorite drivers and see the cars up close on Autograph Night. Jim Phelps led the final 27 laps to record his first 358 DIRT Modified feature of the year. Jim Bowman and Ray Maloney each won their first of the 1999 season. In the Pure Stocks Darren Kelso won his second feature in a row.
In the 35 lap DIRT 358 MODIFIED feature, rookie Rick Miller would speed to the front from his pole position and would lead the first 7 laps. Tommy Sears would race with him early but Sears would pit early and finish 22nd. But coming up through the field from his eleventh starting position was Jimmy Phelps. Phelps came into the night winless in 1999 and third in the points. By lap six, he was hot on the heels of Miller and looked ready to challenge for the lead.
On lap eight with Rick Miller running the inside groove in turns one and two, Phelps would make the move on the high side and have the lead as the field went into turn three. As Phelps continued to lead, a couple of Fulton's best were now starting to pick their was through the field. Multi-time track champion Dale Planck would start sixteenth and by lap 25 he was now on Phelps back bumper. Also coming up fast was Mitch Gibbs who finished second last week and passed Alan Johnson for third on lap 24. Planck and Gibbs would run nose to tail but would not catch Jimmy Phelps. Gibbs was able to get Planck for second in turn one as Planck bobbled on the cushion with a few laps to go.
Modified heat race wins went to Gus Schmidt who would break in the feature and finish 25th. Alan Johnson won heat two and finished fourth in the feature. Winning heat three was Dale Planck. Twenty-six cars would take the green and six cautions involving nine drivers would slow the pace of the 35-lap feature.
In the twenty lap DIRT Sportsman feature rookie Mike Lavarnway would lead the first five laps from his outside front row starting spot. After a lap five restart, Lavarnway would lead going low into turn three and Jim Bowman would bid for the lead on the outside of the track and take it coming out of turn four. Bowman was winless in 1999 and was hoping to change that tonight.
As the laps clicked off Tim Sears became the primary challenger for Bowman and would follow him for most of the closing laps. But as the white flag waved Sears would try for the win with a classic "slide job" in turn three, but it almost looked as if Bowman was waiting for him to do just that. As Sears slid up the track in turn four, Bowman worked the throttle and dove low and beat Sears to the line by half a car length in a classic last lap battle. Sears would have to settle for second, but knew he gave it everything he had. Ton Buffa would finish third after a big crash the week before.
Three heats were run in the DIRT Sportsman with Sears, Willie Decker and Ron Richardson getting the wins. Rich Keller would win the consolation race. Thirty cars attempted to qualify with twenty-four taking the green. Six cautions involving nine cars slowed the pace of the feature race.
In the twenty lap DIRT Pro Stock feature, another first time winner would visit victory lane. Paul Stoneburg would lead lap one as the Pro Stocks came across the line three wide on lap one. As the field stayed three wide in turn two, Bill Shantell Jr. would take the lead from the middle groove and lead the field into turn three. Shantell would lead until lap eight when Ray Maloney started to challenge for the top spot.
As Shantell ran high, Maloney went low in turn two and took the lead on lap nine. Maloney would not have it easy in the last eleven laps as T.J. Fitzgibbons and last weeks winner John Petrowicz were all over him. Maloney moved his line from the top of the track to the middle groove and would hold off Fitzgibbons for the win. For Maloney, it was his first of the year after many weeks of bad luck.
In the heats Jason Rood and Bill Shantell JR were winners. In the 20-lap feature four cautions slowed the race with the last four laps run under green. Eighteen cars took the green in the feature.
In the final race of the night, the Pure Stocks ran a fifteen-lap race. Darren Kelso, who won his first ever feature the week before would take the lead on lap one from his sixth starting position and would never look back.. It was the second week in a row that Kelso drove the primary Hood Racing car after years in the second team car. In victory lane he would say the better car made all the difference in winning his second in a row. Dave Mannise would chase Kelso but would never get closer those ten car lengths and would have to be happy with second.
Heat wins went to Mike Minutolo and Mannise. Nineteen cars took the green in the feature and only two cautions slowed the race, but both of those cautions involved the top two runners in the point's chase. Leader Lou LeVea broke on lap six, and runner up Ken Wentworth was involved in a lap nine incident. Neither driver would return and the points are now close in the Pure Stocks.
This Saturday a Syracuse 358 Qualifier will highlight the show along with a big fireworks display. Race time in 7:00 with gates opening at 5:00. The Fulton Speedway is located on route 57 just south of Fulton.
RESULTS June 26, 1999
DIRT 358 MODIFIED - (35 LAPS) - Jim Phelps, Mitch Gibbs, Dale Planck, Alan Johnson, Roger Phelps, Todd Burley, John Barker, Gil Tegg, Tim Burnett, Rick Miller, John Ventura, Pete Taylor, Jay Hopkins, Jeff Rudalavage, Tim Vincent, Pat Lynch, Steve Hulsizer, Tom Kinsella, Ty Hunt, J.J. Michaels, Roy Sheilds, Tom Sears, Doug Fuller, Dave House, Gus Schmidt and Ryan Baye.
DIRT SPORTSMAN - (20 LAPS) - Jim Bowman, Tim Sears, Tony Buffa, Mark Yorker, Jim Spano, Jeremy Pitcher, Walt McArdell, Tim Mayne, Willy Dicker, Dave Bargabos, Clayton Brewer, Paul Benz, Mike LaVarnway, Rich Keller, Steve Nasholts, Bill Shantell Sr., Daryl Hagen, Ron Richardson, Greg Doust, Brain Murphy, John Cunningham, Mark Tily and Matt Chapman.
DIRT PRO STOCK - (20 LAPS) - Ray Maloney, T.J. Fitzgibbons, John Petrowicz, Mike Watkins, Jerry Holmes, Rick Breed, Tim Harris, Joe Jackson, Geoff Van Riper, Jason Rood, Paul Stoneburg, Randy Coit, Bruce Hovis, Chuck Thomas, Bill Shantell Jr, John Cooper, Pat Hobbs and Herm Flowers.
PURE STOCK - (15 LAPS) - Darren Kelso, Dave Mannise, Kevin Raymond, Chad Ray, Ron DeGroff, Mike Minutolo, John Eiss, Buddy Diehl, Marty Collmer, Joe Reeves, Dan Butterfield, Tom Loving, Phil Trimm, Joe Buske, Ken Wentworth, Don Stevenson, Lou LeVea, Dan Hatch and Bruce Stanton.