MCKEE BACK ON TOP AFTER 4TH WIN

Middletown, NY: The fortunes of the top two modified drivers at the Orange County Fair Speedway reversed themselves again after Saturday night's 30 lap Highland Stone big block feature. Two time defending champion Chuck McKee of Middletown, NY won his 4th feature of the season.

Meanwhile, Jeff Heotzler, who regained the lead a week ago, suffered mechanical problems while running 5th, fell out of the event, and was scored 18th. McKee now leads by 15 points with two weeks left in the 2002 point season. Tim Hindley, Jerry Higbie, Rich Eurich, and Frank Jashembowski finished behind McKee.

The Greiner/Blumfield Trucking 25 lap 358 modified feature saw point leader Tim Hindley of Monticello, NY win his 2nd feature of the season. he expanded his lead to 19 over runner up McKee. Heotzler was 3rd followed by Tom Hindley, and tony Paes, jr.

The point race tightened up after the 20 lap DIRT Sportsman feature. Rich Coons of Montgomery, NY won his second main of the year. When David Van Horn finished 7th and point leader Stan Jablonka was 13th, Jablonka's point lead was narrowed to four points. Alan Sturhann, Joe Sarvis, Kevin Paffenroth and George Johnson trailed Coons across the line.

There was a change at the top of the Expert Pro Stock standings after Kevin Ward of Hyde Park, NY won his 3rd 12 lap run of the season. Third finishing Tom Dembek jumped over former leader Jamie McGannon to lead the by one marker. The Rookie Pro Stock title was wrapped up by Bob Waters, Jr. of Stony Point, NY when he finished 2nd to Dan Kelleher of Carmel, NY. For Kelleher, it was his first ever win.

Ron Irvin of Hyde Park, NY clinched the Pure Stock title. Ray Tarantino, Jr. of Pleasant Valley, NY won the 1st feature for his 2nd win of the season and newcomer Tom Collins claimed the second event. Saturday night finds the next Demo Derby on tap in the season long Chet's Garage series. the Modifieds will be joined by the DIRT Sportsman, Pro Stocks, and Pure Stocks in a program that goes green at the usual 6:30 pm starting time.

Modified Feature: Chuck McKee, Hindley, Higbie, Eurich, F. Jashembowski, Tittle, Whitehead, Flammer, Shultz, Edwards, Smith, Wilson, Hill, Bobbitt, Greiner, Mitchell, Puzzella, Heotzler, Boria, R. Jashembowski, Werber, Penny, Dodd, Zachary, Goodrich, Meier

1st Heat-Tim Hindley, Bill Wilson, Chris Shultz, Ric Hill, Scott Goodrich, Chris Whitehead; 2nd Heat- Craig Mitchell, Ray Jashembowski, Tommy Meier, Chuck McKee, Rich Eurich, James Penny; 3rd Heat- Jerry Higbie, Steve Dodd, Frank Jashembowski, Butch Tittle, Ed Zachary, Gary Edwards, Jr.; Consi- Scott Flammer, Jeff Heotzler, Rusty Smith, Dave Werber, Jim Bobbitt, Tom Greiner, Joe Puzzella, Oscar Boria

358 Modified Feature: Tim Hindley, McKee, Heotzler, Tom Hindley, Paes, Shultz, Christmann, DePalma, Zwart, Greiner, Napolitano, Barbagallo, Wrede, Colwell, Smith, Higbie, Brown, Mitchell, Meier, J. Ferrier

1st Heat- Tom Hindley, Tony Paes, Jr., Jerry Higbie, Jackie Brown, Jr., John Ferrier, Rusty Smith, Billy Wrede, Ric Hill; 2nd Heat- Chris Shultz, Danny Johnson, Tommy Greiner, Mike DePalma, Gary Napolitano, Benny Rizzo, Bud Christmann, Jeff Heotzler; 3rd Heat- Tim Hindley, Scott Ferrier, Chuck McKee, Joe Barbagallo, Craig Mitchell, Tommy Meier, Bobby Zwart; Scratch: Johnson, S. Ferrier, Hill

Dirt Sportsman Feature: Rich Coons, Sturhann, Sarvis, Paffenroth, G. Johnson, Yannone, Van Horn, Johnston, Hufcut, Charnock, Harris, Coene, Jablonka, Houghtaling, Gaston, Johns, Mills, Marks, Bishop, Haley, Bayles, Ferrier, J. Johnson, Perrego, Dunay, Still

1st Heat- Tim Bayles, David Van Horn, Kevin Paffenroth, Neil Harris, Joe Sarvis, Bill Johnston; 2nd Heat- Joe Dunay, Mark Hufcut, Alan Sturhann, Jesse Marks, Keith Still; 3rd Heat- Stan Jablonka, Tom Perrego, Jimmy Johnson, Lee Charnock, Jamie Yannone; 4th Heat- Al Johns, George Johnson, Rich Coons, Bill Haley, Clinton Mills; Consi- Bill Johnston, Alan Houghtaling, Mark Bishop, Ken Ferrier, Bob Gaston, Rich Coene

Expert Pro Stocks Feature: Kevin Ward, Marin, Dembek, Kehr, J. McGannon, Cargain, Vigh, B. McGannon, Pascual, Kuck, Colesanti, Post, Rowe, Cannizzaro, Bryson, Arnold, Hartshorn

1st Heat- Scott Kehr, Tom Kuck, Glenn Cargain, Eric Marin, Jamie McGannon, Sean Post, Bill Pascual, Tom Cannizzaro, Rob Rowe; 2nd Heat: Kevin Ward, Tom Vigh, Jr., Tom Dembek, Bob McGannon, John Bryson, Rich Colesanti, Ken Hartshorn, Josh Delea

Rookie Pro Stocks Feature: Dan Kelleher, Waters, Johanson, Johnson, Hedges, Hoogerheyde, Walters, Bradford, Pender, Allen, Key, O'Mara, Barmann, Vitale, Van Noordt, Velde, Arnold, Rider, Vigh, Porte, Cilurso, Vitiello, Cannizzaro

1st Heat- Bob Waters, Jr., Dave Hoogerheyde, Crissy Rider, Anthony Cannizzaro, Pat O'Mara, Tony Vitale, Russ Cilurso; 2nd Heat- Roy Johanson, Billy Key, Dave Barmann, Danny Hedges, Joe Allen, Wayne Vigh, Jason Porte, Anthony Vitiello; 3rd Heat- Dan Kelleher, Bob Johnson, Clark Bradford, Eddie Walters, Marty Pender, Pete Van Noordt, John Velde, Clay Murphy, Troy Arnold, Mike Hulseapple

Pure Stocks 1st Feature: Ray Tarantino, Jr., Emerson Cargain, Jr., Jim Finnegan, Emerson Cargain, Tony Garaguso, Shawn Maher, Bob Swanson, Ron Irvin, Don Carlson, Bob Amicucci, Charles Smith, Mike Vigaletti, Mitch Frank, John Miracle, Jason Utter, John Dore

Pure Stocks 2nd Feature: Tom Collins, Kevin Schlossareck, Sean Corr, Matt Hartenstein, Jim Hajkowski,Lisa Schoonmaker, Chris Perry, Scott St. George, John Mitchell, Morgan Burnaso, Joe Dembek, William Kahrs, Les Laska, Brian Brown, Chad Lyons