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Jackie Brown is King of the Catskills

By Jim Liegeot Jr

As the leaves begin to change in the Catskills, someone must the King. Friday night the Accord Speedway held the battle for the royal title of King of the Catskills, sponsored by Insinger Performance/Sunoco Fuels. More than 40 of the best drivers from five states dueled to become King. As the full moon overlooked turn one, 30 talented combatants entered the bullring to decide it all. !976 Orange County Fair Speedway Champion Russ Myers stood in front of the standing room only crowd and gave the command to start the engines. Keith Flach, a rising star riding a hot streak of wins and top finishes over the second half of the season would lead the field to green. Alongside him the driver who was “only there to win races” in the 2013 Accord season, Jackie Brown Jr. Row two saw Dave Hensch and Michael Sabia have the advantage over a veteran field third row of Richie Eurich and the King of the Valley Kenny Tremont Jr. As the field entered turn one the 2013 Accord speedway champion Jackie

Brown Jr. would take the lead with 3 and 4 wide action following. Stewart Freisen, Elmo Reckner and 2012 Accord Champion Andy Bachetti would wage war 3 wide as they raced their way for the title. Brown and Flach came upon lapped traffic on lap 11 and the two raced bumper to bumper. Kenny Tremont was closing in on the duo while Super Matt Sheppard was three wide in a battle for position 5. Caution waved for Kevin Bates in turn 2. Brown would lead Flach, Tremont, Eurich and Sabia back to green on lap 15 with Anthony Perrego and the Doctor Danny Johnson eyeing a top spot. Lap 17 Kenny Tremont would pass Flach for second while Sabia would battle four wide with Tommy Meiers Jerry Higbie and Bullring winner Danny Creeden. Eurich would retire the famous #10 on a lap 20 yellow. Brown and Tremont would restart side by side in the Jack's used race car parts team cars. The young lions Flach, Perrego and Sheppard would race for fourth position as the Doctor took over third.

Following a caution for Reckner and Brett Haas the Doctor took over second. A quick caution for Danny Tyler and Mike Ricci in turn three would set Brown and the Doctor on the front for the restart on lap 27.

Johnson wasted no time to assume the point and become the second leader of this tight battle. Rick Labach and Elmo Reckner would bring out a caution on lap 30. Pat Ward, Jeff Strunk and Bobby Varin would tangle in turn two on the restart. Johnson felt heavy pressure from Brown for the top spot while Perrego, Tremont and Meier battled Matt Sheppard for next spots. Brown continued to stalk the doctor who was having problems keeping low, the groove Brown had used all season at Accord. The Doctor slammed the door shut from Jackie Brown making his own house call as the two raced side by side thru the corners until lap 41. Brown using his low groove executed a pass of Johnson as they encountered the lap car of Flach. Brown would jump out to a commanding lead working thru heavy lap traffic on lap 50. Sheppard and Tremont would battle for 5th as Perrego and Johnson battled for second. The newest star to the Modified ranks showed he will be a force to deal with giving Johnson all he could handle. When the checkered flew Brown would pilot his Hig Fab Chassis to the line and become King followed by Johnson, Perrego, Sheppard, Meier, Higbie and Tremont. Brown's story book season continues. Backing up his 2nd place Battle of the Bullring finish, the recent new father and the 2013 Accord Track Champion is now also King of the Catskills. Jackie thanked his parents and crew for their hard work over his 25 year career. He praised car builder Jerry Higbie for building his incredible car. Look for Jackie and a full field of superstars to invade the speedway November 30 for the co-promotion of BD Motorsports and Accord Speedway’s ” The Gobbler.”

Kevin Ward and Tommy Johnson would lead the field of Crate Vs. Open sportsman to the green. Mike Barrett, Dave Coene and Rocky Warner driving the Tyler Boniface car all chased for a top spot early. The races first restart following a Mike Traver spin saw local favorites Mike DuBois, Vinnie Decico and 2013 sportsman champion Gregg McCloskey get collected. The field would race cleanly for several laps of side by side three wide action. OCFS young gun Clinton Mills would work his way into the top 5 before Mike

Dutka Ed Dauchenhausen and David Coene came to a stop in turn two with Doug Snyder coming to a stop on top of the Coene front end. Mike Barrett would race side by side with Tommy Johnson as Ward searched for his first King of the Catskills title. Barrett's strong race car propelled him into second place as the race approached the half way mark. Joe Bonetti ran very strong and continued a top five run as Ward reached lap traffic. Lebanon Valley star Alan Houghtaling held a solid fifth position. A caution on lap 17 would bunch up the field for a final restart. Kevin Ward was untouchable as he led the final three laps to become King of the Catskills. Barrett, Johnson, Bonetti and Houghtaling would round out the top 5. In victory lane Kevin told track announcer Joel Murns he had brake problems and was grateful for the win. One could hear the joy in Kevin’s voice as he dawned the Crown and Cape of the King stating “I love dressing up”. Kevin can now add the King of the Catskills title to his impressive career.

The 2013 King of the Catskills featured a look into the future with the stars of the Slingshot division in action, Cole Hentschel and Demitrios Drellos led a stellar field of future stars to the green, Drellos claimed the early lead from Hentschel with the racing brothers Randy and Tyler Johnston in hot pursuit. The ultra competitive field provided incredible action as Allison Ricci, Bobby Flood and Chris Fall went three wide on the opening lap. Ricci who was in the center of the action had her rear wheels lifted off the track as the field rumbled into turn one. Second generation star Matthew Schultz spun to avoid Tommy Zwort who lost the handle in turn two bringing out the first caution, with the field re-aligned for the restart of lap 1 Hentschel used the high side of the speedway to claim the lead from Drellos until a caution flew for Matthew Schultz and Aaron Bush. Schultz made hard contact with the turn two wall which ended his quest to become King of the Catskills for 2013.

A lap 3 restart would see Cole Hentschel resume the point with Drellos close in tow. 2013 Accord Slingshot champion Jared Labagh ran between the Johnston brothers in fourth position. Labagh continued his succesful 2013 season using both the high and low sides of the track to pass Randy Johnston for third as the group tightly raced out of turn two. The field settled in for battle and Jared Labagh began his move to the front racing closely with Drellos. Hentschel would have the race well in hand as the leaders approached lap traffic with 5 laps to go. The competitive field provided close battles for position throughout the field. A tight race for position between Bobby Flood and Allison Ricci allowed Drellos and Labagh to close in on Hentschel’s rear bumper with just two laps to go. Jared Labagh used multiple grooves to build momentum passing Drellos entering turn three as the field looked to take the white flag. Hentschel held off a fast closing Labagh for the win with Drellos, Johnston and 16th place starter Trevor Labagh rounding out the top 5.