TEGG TOPS IN NEW TROYER
By Chris Marquart
DUNDEE, NY -- Earlier this month, Gil Tegg rolled a Troyer car off his trailer with the "Troyer" house car logo on the rear quarters. The car had been previously owned by Bob McCreadie, but when McCreadie purchased a Bicknell car, he returned his Troyer cars.
Tegg swiped one up and debuted it at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, NY at the Turning Stone Casino 358-Modified Super DIRT Series July 2. He would up skating up on a jersey barrier and taking it hope. Tegg Motorsports dusted the car off and made repairs, taking it out again last weekend at Woodhull and finding victory lane.
They did it again Friday at Black Rock Speedway.
Tegg beat Steve Paine to the front of the pack early on and had a lot of distance on the defending track champion. Paine’s TEO ran down Tegg’s Troyer and as the top two worked traffic, Paine looked sharp as he diamonded off the corner. But trouble unfolded before him. With a lap to go, Derrick Podsiadlo spun and Stacy Jackson followed him around. Paine caught the edge of the Jackson car and looped himself.
"I don't know if he could have got by me, really," Tegg said. "I figured I'd run the car off top and hopefully pick the right car to follow through traffic. I knew it was going to be interesting. There were three cars with one to go and I could hear him, but I'm glad it didn't come down to that."
Paine’s spin sent him to the back of the pack, leaving Tegg to fend off Chuck Graham. The duo had battled earlier in the event for second place behind Aaron Jacobus. Tegg won that battle and eventually took the lead on lap 15.
"The 34 car was real tough," Tegg said. "I remembered him running the middle and the top. I didn't think he would get me on the bottom, but if he did, it would have to be my fault.
"I pushed a little, but the car came around and I didn't see any tires, so I knew we would be all right."
Graham watched Tegg twist the car through the final turns, hoping for the rear tires to hop over the berm. He was also thinking he should have drove the car a bit harder.
"Gilly went in pretty hard and drifted up," Graham said. "I thought I had a chance to get underneath him, but I didn't get in as hard as I should have. I was trying to protect and make sure I got on the cushion and got a good drive off.
"Maybe if we had a few more laps, we could catch him."
It would have taken a Herculean effort to pull off the upset. Graham was fast and said the car was the fastest it has been all year.
Terry Hough took the lead at the start, and led the first three laps before being collected in an ugly wreck on the front stretch with the lapped car of Donnie Slover. The wreck brought out the red flag as safety crews pulled Slover’s car out of the fence. Jacobus inherited the lead, cruising off to a solid three-quarters of a straight-away lead.
"As the race went on, I pushed it harder and harder and I think I heated up the rear tire," Jacobus said.
As the tire got hot, Tegg and Graham, running side-by-side for second and third reeled in Jacobus’ No. 2. As they battled, Paine had moved to fourth. Tegg finally cleared Graham off the fourth turn on the lap 15.
"Little by little, I was getting a little more under him," Tegg said. "I just kept my nose in there, thinking maybe eventually he would catch a rut and bounce out our something. I could hear Steve back there."
"I was just catching him in the corner of my eye," Graham said. "We didn't touch one bit and it makes it a lot of fun when it's tight like that."
Tegg pulled up to Jacobus and patiently felt out the leader, planning a pass. He didn’t have to wait too long. Coming off the fourth turn, Jacobus hopped the car and opened the door for Tegg to motor through.
"Tegg and I have always run each other pretty clean," Jacobus said. "He always gives me room and I always give him room, but not a lot of room. Just a little."
It was enough. Paine roared to second in short order and made up almost one and a half seconds on Tegg before the turn one fiasco. Graham and Jacobus tallied podium finishes; Ron White and Bill Deming rounded out the top five. Paine was credited with 10th, which allowed White and Tegg to pick up points in the season’s track championship chase.
"We picked up a few points," Tegg said. "We need to keep digging. I hate to wish bad luck on anyone, but, maybe if we catch a few breaks here and there, maybe we can have a shot at it. For a one-night-a-week race team, we're happy. We're going pretty good and Steve's probably one of the best ones going on the series."
Ed Mills battled with Dave Fultz for the final laps of the Super Stock feature, holding out for his first-ever win in the Super Stock division. Mills started fourth, thundering off as the green silk waved and assuming the lead on lap 1. He proceeded to drive away from the top five on a fast high line. Carl Cleveland looked fast in his Avenger, but Fultz worked past Cleveland and began closing on Mills. With traffic ahead, Mills slowed, but Fultz could not solve the former 4-Cylinder champion. Steve Brace, Carl Cleveland and Quinn Sutherland filled out the top five.
Ryan Davenport rolled off the 4-Cylinder grid fourth and looked strong as he claimed the lead on the opening tour. Davenport had intent to stay, but Jack Ayers wheeled by just before the lap counter hit the half-way mark. Ayers had all he could handle as he led a pack of seven cars around the speedway through the final 10 circuits. Phil Yaw made a serious run at him, staying right on the rear bumper of Ayers’ Mustang, but coming up short. Off the final corner, Yaw made a drive on the low side, but missed out by about a fender-length at the line. Alfy Clark, Terry Povoski and Davenport rounded out the top five.
Jon Wallenbeck took his sixth win in the Bandit division Friday night, picking his way to the point coming off the fourth turn just three laps into the feature. Wallenbeck muscled to second in just three laps, ran down Justin Longacre’s Mustang and peeked to the inside down the back straight. Off the fourth corner, Wallenbeck held an edge. Yellow flew with two to go, allowing Laverne Knickerbocker III to close on the leader. However, contact with George Park Jr. preserved Wallenbeck’s advantage and possibly the win. Knickerbocker took second ahead of Park, Derek Mills and Brady Fultz.
---Pit Notes---
Serenity Sutherland was taken to the hospital following a nasty impact with the turn two retaining wall. She went into the corner and the truck got away from her. As she corrected, the truck turned hard right and went head-on into the wall. She was transported to a local hospital with head and neck pain. She was alert and talking with rescue crews. The truck was a disaster... Don Slover walked away from a scary wreck on the front stretch. As the top lead cars were trying to work past Slover, he wiggled off the fourth turn. Leader Terry Hough had no where to go and made contact with Slover, turning Slover into turn four’s outside wall. Slover suffered heavy damage to the nose of the car and rolled over. The front of the car actually pushed through the main fence. Hough’s car had flat tires and damaged suspension components, but he was able to drive away... Brett Crawford tagged the access gap between the walls inside the speedway, sending his 4-cylinder car into a barrel roll. He was also uninjured... Alex Hoag was black flagged following an discussion with flagger Tommy Burton over a broken trailing arm... Bobby Parrow’s cool air intake came unhooked and his visor began steaming over. The tube hung beneath the car and looked like part of a broken shock... Ron White is still looking for a new car. He was again out in the 1991 Bicknell car he cleaned up for last week’s action...
Dig Safely New York-Five Star Equipment Feature Results
DIRT 358-Modifieds (25 laps): Gil Tegg Jr., Chuck Graham, Ron White, Bill Deming, Bryon Turner, Brian Swarthout, Tim Sebring, Dave DuBois, Steve Paine, Bobby Parrow, Jim Hull, Jim LaRock, Derrick Podsiadlo, Stacey Jackson, Mike Jackson, Fran Hilton, Allen Willoughby, Terry Hough, Donnie Slover. DNS: Mike Shultz. DQ: Alex Hoag.
Lap leaders: T.Hough 1-3, A.Jacobus 4-14, G.Tegg 15-20.
Heat winners: T.Hough, S.Paine, G.Tegg.
PPG Super Stocks (20 laps): Eddie Mills, Dave Fultz, Steve Brace, Carl Cleveland, Quinn Sutherland, Bill Miller, Stevie Brace, Sparky Hills, Bobby Teed, Artie Teed, Nate Daggett, Mike Brown, Andy Krall, John Sutryk, Rob Conklin, Joe Povoski, DNS: Chad Ector.
Lap leaders: E.Mills 1-20.
Heat winners: S.Hills, S.Brace Jr.
Regional Pro Trucks (20 laps): Larry Knowles, Brian Doolittle, Tommy Austin, Jim Schuyler, Les Irwin, Bob Buono, Jeff Barner, Keith Austin, Ken Houck, Doug Buckley, Serenity Sutherland, Brian Metcalf, Henry Taylor.
Lap leaders: D.Buckley 1, B.Doolittle 2-7, L.Knowles 8-20.
Heat winners: J.Schuyler, T.Austin.
Four Cylinders (20 laps): Jack Ayers, Phil Yaw, Alfy Clark, Terry Povoski, Ryan Davenport, Josh Mills, Karl Weichenthal, Ray Hyer, Mike Hughey, Del Cummings, George Park sr., Steven Ovens, Kevin Young, Ray Speicher, Skip Dean, Brooks Leach, Mike Smith, Jason White, Brent Ayers, Rich Sharpsteen, Tom Postalwait, Kevin Teed, Ray Cornish, John Houck, Willy Grant Jr., Brian Crawford, Tim Wolfe, Rich Andrews, Joe Slavin. DNS: Robert Beach, Mark Wallenbeck.
Lap leaders: R.Davenport 1-9, J.Ayers 10-20.
Heat winners: R.Speicher, J.Ayers, R.Davenport.
Bandits (10 laps): Jon Wallenbeck, Laverne Knickerbocker III, George Park Jr., Derek Mills, Brady Fultz, Brad Ovens, Justin Longacre, Jamie Schuyler, Brett Crawford, Jeremy Abbey, Andrew Wolfe, Brent Ayers, Rich Kelly, C.J. Winslow, Brian Butler, Anthony Teed.
Spectator Races: Darryl Saunders (Overall, Car), 1991 Ford; Charles Wilson (Truck), Chevrolet 1500