PAINE BACK TO OLD TRICKS IN "NEW" CAR
By Chris Marquart
DUNDEE, NY-- Out with the old and in with the new... Well, sorta-kinda.
Steve Paine, the all-time wins leader at Black Rock Speedway and the current DIRT 358-Modified Points leader at the track, rolled out his Turning Stone Casino 358-Modified Super DIRT Series car for Friday night’s racing action and wheeled the new car into Victory Lane following the 25-lap feature.
It was his 64th career win and ninth at Black Rock this season.
But the "new" car isn’t really new at all. It’s a 2000 TEO car; the same year as the car he left on the trailer. The Paine Motorsports team finished putting a new lower rack in the rear end Wednesday.
And clearly, with nine wins this season and over 60 in the last five seasons, the pilot of the No. 7X is no stranger to victory lane.
"This car is good," Paine said, breaking out his trademark phrase and winning smile. "We've been sitting on old stuff for a long time. That's still a 2000 but the motor is newer. But, it's not as strong as the other one.
"The track was really fast."
Crews knocked off the berm before the Modifieds came out for their 25-lap event and they responded. The top six cars put on a spectacular show as they tried to run down Dave DuBois, the early race leader.
DuBois fired out from the outside front row after winning his heat and was as fast as he’s been all year.
"We've been fighting with the car earlier this year, but we found out it wasn't the car, it was the driver," DuBois said. "I was getting in too soft and getting out of the throttle too much.
"But I knew the big guys were coming."
Paine and Alex Hoag were making tracks to the front, but were stymied for lap after lap by a very quick Bryon Turner. Mike Jackson had backpedaled from the pole to fourth and Brian Swarthout threw his hat into the mix, leaving the second-through-sixth runners to battle as DuBois padded his advantage.
"The track was awesome," Hoag said. "It was super hard to get by anybody. Especially when they cut the berm down, it gets fast and it's tough to get by anyone. You have to be a lot better to get by someone."
The first 15 laps were completed under green. Hoag hopped the berm in the first turn 10 laps in, letting Paine slip by. Two laps later, Paine wheeled around the outside of Bryon Turner. Yellow flew as Bobby Parrow, who was running down the lead knot of cars, broke the drive train in his No. 80. Yellow brought Paine, Turner, Hoag and Swarthout to DuBois’s rear end.
On the restart, Paine tried to power around DuBois, but Turner stuck his nose under Paine and DuBois skated up across turn 2 in what looked to be an accidental-but-effective blocking move.
"I tried to go all the way around. It timed wrong and we ended up with him coming up like that," Paine said.
The next time around, Paine lined up high and, at the apex of turn one, cut sharp to the inside with a run on DuBois.
"The next lap I went in high and cut across the bottom," Paine said. "That's what those new rear deals can do. You can get in and turn right across. It worked just like it's supposed to."
DuBois knew it was coming.
"I saw him tuck underneath me and every time he's gone by me this year, he's always gone by real clean," DuBois said. "He came by down the back straight. He’s good and he’s real hard to keep up with.
"I decided to take a peek inside for the fans. I didn't know if I’d get bite, but it at least made it look interesting."
As Paine completed the pass, Turner was looking inside of him; Hoag was inside of Turner and Swarthout inside of Hoag.
"I think there were five of us right there," Hoag said. "Somebody bobbled, or I think I might have been able to get second then. We were all real fast, but I got stuck up."
Yellow flew with seven to go as Rich Swarthout went over the lip of the speedway in turn four. On the restart, Hoag used a high-low move to take over second, but the sands had run out.
"I think I was catching him in open track. When we broke free, the car was a rocket," Hoag said. "The only thing that is the same from last week on the car is me. We changed pretty much everything and we needed a week like this for the past month and a half."
DuBois held third over Turner and Swarthout. Ron White scored sixth in the "Rusty Rocket No. 5W," a 1991 Bicknell car. Chuck Graham, Terry Hough, Derrick Podsiadlo and Tim Sebring rounded out the top 10. Gil Tegg broke a rear end in his heat and drove a back-up Hoag car to 11th.
Sparky Hills scored his first career feature win in the first of two 25-lap Super Stock mains Friday night. It caps off over 35 years of racing effort.
"This was my first in any class at any track ever," Hills said. "I’ve led a lot of races right up through the last lap and I’ve won a few heats, but this is the first feature."
Hills, 68, will turn 69 this November.
Rob Conklin stole the lead from Hills, and then suffered a flat. Quinn Sutherland took the lead; Hills wrestled it back and then Sutherland passed him again, only to spin out all alone in the third turn. Hills rolled on to the win. The second feature’s lineup was set after the lead-lap cars were inverted. Hills started 12th; Sutherland, sixth.
Sutherland took the lead on lap 4, but Hills, running slightly lower than the rest of the field, clawed to third when yellow flew on lap 15. On the restart, Hills picked off Conklin for second and was working Sutherland hard, but clean. Hills got good runs off the fourth turn, but could not get by as the laps wound down.
Sutherland had two half-bobbles in the fourth turn, but Hills could not capitalize.
Larry Knowles, the Regional Truck Trailer and Bus Pro Truck points leader, scored his fifth win of the season after a close battle with Jim Schuyler. Schuyler took the lead from Jeff Barner on the fifth lap and held the point through lap 15 in the 20-lap feature. Bob Buono looked strong, but spun in the second turn. On the restart, Knowles found bite and ran down the Schuyler’s No. 57J. Schuyler washed out in the third turn, but Knowles had to wait one more lap before assuming the point. Tommy Austin recovered from early race troubles to power back to third behind Schuyler. Barner took fourth ahead of Keith Lane.
Willy Grant Jr. Started outside the front row and took the lead of the 4-Cylinder race, then waged a race-long battle with Josh Mills for the 20-lap feature win. It took just seven laps for Mills to come up from his 12th place-starting slot; on lap 8, Mills showed the way. Grant came back around for the next three laps; Mills returned the favor on lap 13. Mills had things under control until bad luck crippled the No. 84. Mills was forced pitside with a flat right rear just two laps from the end. Grant took over and led the final tours; Phil Yaw, Ray Speicher, Terry Povoski and Rick Sharpsteen filled out the top five.
LaVerne Knickerbocker III led the three most important laps of the 10-lap Bandit feature: the last ones. Knickerbocker took the point from Justin Longacre as the handle went away on the orange No. 89. Jon Wallenbeck thundered to second to limit the points gained in Knickerbocker’s win.
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Pit Notes
Heat winners were Paine, DuBois and Turner... Super Stock points leader Dave Fultz was out again this week. Word is he is recovering from arm surgery after more damage was found in his broken arm. He fell from a tree at his home... Serenity Sutherland’s up-and-down July carried into the first weekend of August. She couldn’t find the handle on the No. 37 Pro Truck and finished ninth out of 13 trucks.
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Elmira-Ithaca Auto Paint-PPG Feature Results
DIRT 358-Modifieds (25 laps): Steve Paine, Alex Hoag, Dave DuBois, Bryon Turner, Brian Swarthout, Ron White, Chuck Graham, Terry Hough, Derrick Podsiadlo, Tim Sebring, Gil Tegg, Mike Jackson, Jim Mahaney, Aaron Jacobus, Rich Swarthout, Jim Hull, Bobby Parrow, Don Slover, Fran Hilton, Allen Willoughby.
Lap leaders: D.DuBois 1-15; S.Paine 16-25.
Heat winners: S.Paine, D.DuBois, B.Turner.
PPG Super Stocks Feature 1 (25 laps): Sparky Hills, Ed Mills, Carl Cleveland, Greg Crooker, Bobby Teed, Quinn Sutherland, Bill Miller, Dave Baroody, Jim Sutryk, Andy Krall, Joe Povoski, Rob Conklin. DNS: Steve Brace, Brandon Smith.
Lap leaders: S.Hills 1-4; R.Conklin 5-6; S.Hills 7; Q.Sutherland 8-10; S.Hills 11-13; Q.Sutherland 14-17; S.Hills 18-25.
Heat winners: Q.Sutherland, S.Hills.
PPG Super Stocks Feature 2 (25 laps): Quinn Sutherland, Sparky Hills, Greg Crooker, Carl Cleveland, Rob Conklin, Bobby Teed, Jim Sutryk, Brandon Smith, Andy Krall, Dave Baroody, Ed Mills, Steve Brace, Joe Povoski, Stevie Brace, Chad Ector.
Lap leaders: J.Povoski 1-3; Q.Sutherland 4-25.
Regional Pro Trucks (20 laps): Larry Knowles, Jim Schuyler, Tom Austin, Jeff Barner, Keith Lane, Doug Buckley, Keith Austin, Brian Doolittle, Serenity Sutherland, Ken Houck, Bob Buono, Les Irwin.
Lap leaders: J.Barner 1-4; J.Povoski 5-14; L.Knowles 15-20.
Heat winners: L.Knowles, K.Lane.
Four Cylinders (20 laps): Willy Grant Jr., Phil Yaw, Ray Speicher, Terry Povoski, Rich Sharpsteen, Ray Hyer, Shawn Brace, Ryan Davenport, George Park Sr., Jack Ayers, Mike Smith, Jared Hill, Mike Hughey, Steven Ovens, Alfy Clark, Joe Slavin, Josh Mills, Ray Cornish Jr., Tom Postalwait, Karl Weichenthal, Skip Dean, Brian Crawford, Kevin Young. DNS: Del Cummings, Brooks Leach, Rich Andrews
Lap leaders: W.Grant 1-7; J.Mills 8; W.Grant 9-12; J.Mills 13-18; W.Grant 19-20.
Heat winners: W.Grant, A.Clark, R.Speicher.
Bandits (10 laps): Laverne Knickerbocker III, Jon Wallenbeck, Derek Mills, Justin Longacre, Brent Ayers, Brian Butler, Jeremy Abbey, George Park Jr., Brad Ovens, Jamie Schuyler, Rich Kelly, Brady Fultz, Anthony Teed.
Lap leaders: A.Teed 1; J.Longacre 2-6; L.Knickerbocker 7-10.