PAINE ESTABLISHES SPEED MARK AND WINS SUPER DIRT SERIES EVENT
CANANDAIGUA, NY...Waterloo, NY's Steve Paine picked up the $6,000 feature victory last Wednesday evenings and was the fast timer at the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series race. Paine turned in a time of 96.842 mph in DIRT Motorsport's first effort to time trial cars outside of Super DIRT Week.
"This was a qualifying experiment," stated Series Director Gary Spaid. "We thought we would try and see how the competitors and fans liked a new twist to our extra distance events. We want to hear from them as to how they feel about this experiment."
Also picking up a victory on the night was Vince Vitale in a special tracks points 20-lap DIRT Sportsman feature.
The newly revised qualifying procedure required that the top six timers and the top two finishers redraw during intermission to determine the feature line up. Pat Ward and Steve Paine drew the pole and outside pole starting spots for the main event.
The 99-lap televised live DIRT Modified feature saw Paine take the lead from his outside pole starting spot. and begin to establish a distinct advantage when the yellow flew on lap two. Scott Boudinot looped his car in the third turn.
The next yellow came on lap seven when Dale Planck scrapped the front stretch wall in his Nice'N Easy Groceries mount and exited to the pits. Paine maintained his lead over Ward, Tim McCreadie, Tim Fuller, Billy Decker and Bob McCreadie.
On lap 12 the yellow flew for a third time when Steve Bottcher slowed on the back stretch with a flat tire. He was able to pit and have his crew change the tire without losing a lap as cautions did not count until after lap 25.
On the restart Paine was not able to pull away from Ward, as Ward stayed glued to Paine's rear bumper. Just as the field took lap 25, when cautions started to count, the yellow flew as Josh Skarzenki's slowed with a flat. A number of cars pitted, most losing a lap on the field.
This restart saw Paine pull away in his new TEO mount. On lap 51 the yellow flag flew again. This time the yellow was for Danny Johnson, who also had a flat tire. his crew was not able to complete the tire change without losing a lap.
The yellow flag became more prevalent in the closing laps, most of the time for flat tires. On lap 65 it was Brett Hearn's turn to lose a lap with a flat. Tim Fuller was the next driver to slow with a flat tire, lap 71. Fuller lost two laps in his efforts to change tires. Ward lost second place to Billy Decker on this restart.
A fourth turn, lap 78, accident involving Vic Coffey, Todd Burley, Frank Cozze and Steve Bottcher saw Coffey upset with Doug Hoffman. It was Coffey's feelings that Hoffman helped him to spin out and cause the pile up.
Ward seemed to be fading back into the field as Bob McCreadie passed him on lap 84 for third. This move would eventually earn McCreadie a guaranteed starting spot in the Eckerd 300 at Syracuse in October.
The final yellow flew on lap 92 for debris on the speedway. Up front the green flag flew with just three laps remaining in the race. Paine, who led every lap, took the victory. Decker finished a strong second followed by McCreadie. Tim McCreadie picked up fourth followed by Alan Johnson, just nipping Ward at the finish line by inches. Twenty-two of the thirty starters finished this event.
The 20-lap Sportsman feature was able to be run before the modified feature. Jerry Haers Jr. took his new car to the front immediately to lead lap one. The start of the second circuit saw Steve Gray, who won one of the night's heat races, spin wildly through the infield, inside of the first turn, after contact with another car on the front stretch. Gray remained off the speedway so the yellow flag was not displayed.
On lap six Todd Henderson was able to pass Hears Jr. for the lead just as Dale darling's car came to stop on the speedway. This caused the first yellow of the race.
Henderson looked strong as he was able to build a substantial lead over Hears Jr.. The car on the move was Karl Comfort, as he passed Haers Jr. on lap 11 for second and charged off after Henderson. On lap 15 Comfort caught Henderson, passing him for the lead one lap later, pulling away to a five car advantage. On lap 18 the yellow flew as Loren Lincoln stopped on the track.
The final restart saw Vince Vitale, who had taken second from Haers Jr. on lap 17, blasted by Comfort. Vitale held on for the victory with Comfort finishing second. Matt Sheppard passed Haers Jr. on the final lap to claim third. Hears Jr. finished fourth followed by Paul Guererri.
The next Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series race will be at Cayuga County Fair Speedway on Sunday, September 5. The Canandaigua season ends on September 18 with a program of Pro- Stocks, Pure Stocks and Mid-State Vintage race cars. Starting time will be at 4 p.m. sharp.
PHELPS CEMENT presents THE ADVANCE AUTO PARTS SUPER DIRT SERIES NIGHT SUMMARY
TURNER AUTOMOTIVE SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: J. Haers, L. Dusett, T. Henderson, L. Lincoln, J. Pfeffer.
HEAT 2: V. Vitale, J. Haers Jr., M. Sheppard, B. Englert, R. Hefti.
HEAT 3: S. Gray, K. Comfort, P. Guererri, D. Allen, J. LaRock.
FEATURE (20-laps): VINCE VITALE, Karl Comfort, Matt Sheppard, Jerry Haers Jr., Paul Guererri, Lance Dusett, Russ Hefti, Stewart Friesen, Justin Haers, David Allen, Caleb Simmons, Jim LaRock, Todd Henderson, Gary Hotelling, Danny Bestedo, John Pfeffer, Bill Englert, Steve Gray, Loren Lincoln, Chris Ridsdale, Dale Darling, Clay Parmelee.
MODIFIED
TIME TRIALS: Steve Paine 96.842 mph (18.587), Billy Decker (18.610), Brett Hearn (18.738), Pat Ward (18.829), Chuck Bower (18.920), Vic Coffey (19.018), Jack Johnson (19.031), Bob McCreadie, (19.061), Danny Johnson (19.126), Bryon Turner (19.129), Gary Tomkins (19.142), Tim McCreadie (19.178), Kenny Tremont (19.192), Tim Fuller (19.210), Alan Johnson (19.220), Steve Bottcher (19.233), Charlie Donk (19.257), Doug Hoffman (19.258), Frank Cozze (19.319), Dale Planck (19.364), Todd Burley (19.450), Ray Bliss Jr. (19.453), Steve Glover (19.472), Bill Hoff (19.489), Jimmy Horton (19.505), Scott Schrader (19.538), Jeff Hoff (19.578), Bobby Varin (19.682), Mitch Gibbs (19.705), Chuck Hebing (19.805), Scott Ridley (19.880), Todd Milton (19.933), Josh Skarzenski (20.046), Ted Bauer (20.069), Jim Burke (20.285), Scott Boudinot (20.935), Dave Axton (21.111), Darryl Ruggles (NT), Alain Bosivert (NT).
HEAT 1: G. Tomkins, J. Johnson, A. Johnson, F. Cozze.
HEAT 2: B. McCreadie, T. McCreadie, S. Bottcher, D. Planck.
HEAT 3: D. Johnson, K. Tremont, C. Donk, M. Gibbs.
HEAT 4: T. Fuller, D. Hoffman, C. Hebing, B. Turner.
CONSI 1: T. Burley, J. Hoff, J. Skarzenski, J. Horton.
CONSI 2: B. Varin, R. Bliss Jr., S. Schrader, S. Boudinot.
FEATURE (99-laps): STEVE PAINE, Billy Decker, Bob McCreadie, Tim McCreadie, Alan Johnson, Pat Ward, Charlie Donk, Gary Tomkins, Doug Hoffman, Chuck Bower, Danny Johnson, Kenny Tremont, Chuck Hebing, Bobby Varin, Mitch Gibbs, Frank Cozze, Jimmy Horton, Todd burley, Steve Bottcher, Josh Skarzenski, Brett Hearn, Bryon Turner, Tim Fuller, Vic Coffey, Jeff Hoff, Scott Schrader, Ray Bliss Jr., Jack Johnson, Scott Boudinot, Dale Planck.