PAINE AND KARKLIN, JR. HIGHLIGHT A NIGHT OF RACING AND FIREWORKS
By CHRIS MARQUART
DUNDEE, NY -- Can you imagine what the King of England looked like when he was presented with a letter from the forefathers of the American colonies proposing independence?
You have to imagine he was pretty perplexed. Something he knew was such a sure thing turned out to be turned upside down. Ultimately, on July 4, 1776, the United States of America was born; they defeated the English in the Revolutionary War.
How confused might he have been then? Probably as confused as some of the fans at Black Rock Speedway following Friday night's DIRT 358-Modified main event
The DIRT 358-Mods were set for a 25 lap main and the winner would be awarded guaranteed starter's status for the Sunoco/Aplus 150 at Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse this October. Steve Paine had a tough time working through traffic, but once he cleared Ron White and Tim Sebring, Paine marched to the front to score the victory.
It was announced that Paine, by way of winning had the Syracuse qualifying spot. However, back in the pits, as Paine was changing out of his driver's uniform, Tegg was being informed that he had a locked spot at Syracuse. Apparently, there was some confusion about whether or not Paine had a guaranteed starting spot.
"We didn't have one. We got one at Charlotte for winning with the big block, but we were 9th or 11th or 12th in the small block car," Paine said. "Then we pulled out at Fulton, took sixth at Granby, fourth at Brockville and we were sixth again at the 'Wheels."
The winners of Turning Stone Casino 358-Modified Super DIRT Series events are given qualifying spots. There have been five different winners in five events - and as Paine recounted, he wasn't one of them - so he did not get one by those means.
If the winner of a tour race or a qualifier event already has a spot, the spot goes to the next car in need of a guaranteed starters status. That, if Paine already had a spot, would be Tegg. But Paine didn't have a spot, so Tegg was further informed that he would not be getting a spot after all. Tegg challenged the call and after spirited discussion, it was decided that Tegg would also receive a lock-in spot.
The confusion may have stemmed from Paine's win in the season opener at Black Rock Speedway, which gave him a locked start in the Victoria 200 All-Star qualifier.
The All-Star qualifier series locks drivers in for a third last-chance qualifier if they don't make the feature through the heats or consolation events. It's a valuable spot to those who don't run the Small Block tour or race regularly at Fulton. However, that is a far cry from a lock start at Syracuse. It is a guarantee that the driver will start the race.
"I didn't realize we got it. It's always good to get a bonus when you aren't expecting it," Tegg said.
Beyond the post-race fireworks fitting of any Independence Day celebration, a race was contested.
Dave DuBois hopped to the lead ahead of Chuck Graham and Tegg. DuBois was running the middle of the speedway while Graham ran low and Tegg was on top; neither could solve the No. 6X. Following a yellow flag, Chuck Graham nudged to the point for two laps, giving way to Tegg.
"That might have been the hardest three-car race we've had all year. The 34 (Chuck Graham) and the 6X (DuBois) were side-by-side, then I'd get in there beside the 34," Tegg said. "I'd get him one lap then he'd get me. It was tough, I was hoping I could get under the 34 because I knew he wanted the bottom."
Tegg looked sharp, running the bottom of the speedway as Paine was slithering through traffic.
"It was two wide for a long time. The 5 (5W, Ron White) and the 88 (Mike Jackson) were two wide for a long time and it takes a while to get through," Paine said.
Paine followed a low line for most of the event, moving to second on lap 15.
"I passed the 45 (Tim Sebring) and we went two laps. It was like Tegg quit. We ran him right down and then we ran one more lap and the caution came out," Paine said. "On the restart, he wasn't there."
Nor was Ron White. The caution was initially a yellow for a slow car that became a full-on red flag situation. Ron White got into the back stretch wall on lap 17, shearing off a the right front wheel. As the car skidded to a halt, Curt Van Pelt and Dylan DeWert slammed hard into White's Mountain Dew No. 5W. White was not hurt, but the door was totally crushed in and the sheet metal ripped up. The car sustained heavy front end damage and the rear end had certainly seen better days, as well.
When racing resumed, Paine bolted to the lead down the backstretch and held his advantage off the fourth turn. Tegg moved to the top of the speedway in hopes of tracking down the No. 7X, but no such luck was found.
"I thought I had him beat, but Steve got next to me and pulled away in the straightaways. I thought we could have won tonight, but we'll take second," Tegg said. "I thought the car was better on the outside, but the first few laps after the restart I ran the bottom. He got a good run and I looked over and saw his nose, I wasn't going to pinch him off when I know he's out there it's not worth it."
Paine had already run Tegg's No. 22 down and yellow or not, looked like he was on his way to the win.
"Yellow's plugged things up for me," Paine said. "It was better or it would have been when we went green for a while. Tim was on the bottom and I followed him for three or four laps and it was obvious that he wasn't leaving the bottom, so I moved to the top. I didn't think I would pass him. We did and I caught Tegg the lap before [White's wreck]."
Sebring, Bill Deming and Graham rounded out the top five.
Don Sharp, Rob Dietrick and Dan Kaszubinski each took a turn looking like the cars to beat in the Empire Super Sprint's 25 lap feature, but it was John Karklin Jr. and Bill Bailey who stole the show. Dietrick overtook Sharp on the sixth lap and was on his way to the win, but yellows kept bunching the field. At that point, Kaszubinski began tearing through the field, passing four and five cars per lap. He made a run to second and was reeling in Dietrick. A final yellow flew when Alain Bergeron left the speedway, setting up an 8 lap dash. Kaszubinski quickly disposed of the trio of lapped cars between himself and Dietrick. Mike Lutz, who won the opener in April at Black Rock, began coming on strong and caught the lead duo with five to go. Lutz took the lead in heavy traffic as the leaders were to complete lap 22, but Bubby Kerrick spun in front of the top three, taking all three cars out of contention.
Officials cleaned up the mess and Karklin Jr. was scored as the leader. Bill Bailey, who started 21st, was scored second. Bailey was initially reported as a lap down but as the white flew and he battled hard with Karklin, it was clarified that was for the win. Bailey roared through turns three and four, frantically trying to wrestle away the top spot, but Karklin held strong.
Bill Coffey took a wild ride off the third turn, flipping end over end several times before coming to rest beyond the speedway and drawing a red flag. He was taken to the hospital for x-rays; Coffey complained of pain in his back and neck. He was alert when he was taken out of his twisted sprinter.
Dave Fultz notched a solid win in the Elmira-Ithaca Auto Paint PPG Super Stock main. It was his fifth win in the last six races. Quinn Sutherland placed second, the only other driver who has been able to break into the class' victory lane since Sutherland won April 25.
Larry Knowles came out on top of a three-wide drive off the fourth turn with three laps remaining in the Regional Pro Truck main. Knowles out-wheeled Bob Buono and Jeff Barner to score his second win in as many weeks and fourth in the last five races. With the win, Knowles breaks the tie between himself and Bob Buono atop the Regional Pro Truck points heap.
Terry Povoski had all the luck during the 20-lap Four-Cylinder main event. Povoski, who took the top spot from Jared Hill on the fourth tour. Yellow flew and on the restart, the Jared Hill's No. 93 was slow and eventually lost power. Povoski, on the other had, was strong and looked to have things in control. However, Povoski was not bullet proof. On the last lap, the tire went flat and Povoski had to nurse the car home ahead of a quick-closing Alfred Clark.
LaVerne Knickerbocker III picked up his second Bandit class win Friday night. Justin Longacre led the opening laps while Jon Wallenbeck was making a strong charge to the front. Wallenbeck, the class points leader, flattened a front tire and went pitside, leaving Knickerbocker to hold off Adam Austin for the win. Longacre faded to 11th after leading the first three laps.
--Pit Notes--
Allan Willoughby ran head-on into a foam barrier, launching protective Styrofoam all over the run off area in turn one. The car was damaged, but Willoughby was unharmed. Had the barrier not been there, Willoughby would have likely been seriously hurt... Sprint standout Bobby Parrow notched his second straight top 10 finish in his rookie 358-modified... The racing action did not come to a close until well after midnight; the last feature ended at 1 a.m. ... In recognition of the Fourth of July holiday, the track hosted fireworks between the Super Stock and Empire Super Sprint features.
Steuben Educators Federal Credit Union Race Results
DIRT 358-Modifieds (25 laps): Steve Paine*, Gil Tegg*, Tim Sebring, Bill Deming, Chuck Graham, Randy Chrysler, Alex Hoag, Derrick Podsiadlo, Stacy Jackson, Bobby Parrow, Terry Hough, Mike Jackson, Aaron Jacobus, Eric VanSkiver, Dave DuBois, Fran Hilton, Steve Swarthout, Ron White, Curt Van Pelt, Dylan DeWert, Ken Johnson, Mike Payne, Ron Cartwright, Brian Swarthout. *-Indicates Sunoco/Aplus 150 Syracuse Qualifier.
B-Main (8 laps, top 6 to main): D.Dewert, E.VanSkiver, R.Cartwright, K.Johnson, S.Swarthout, F.Hilton, P.Luta, D.Slover, D.Yehl, A.Willoughby.
ESS Sprints (20 laps): John Karklin Jr., Bill Bailey, Bobby Podolak, Justin Barger, Lance Yonge, Doug Emery, Mike Stelter, Mike Lutz, Alain Bergeron, Don Sharp Jr., Ray Preston, Jeff Van Dusen, Bill Klolf, Dick Spadaro, Rob Dietrick, Jim McCaffrey, Randy Years, Nick Fratto, Tim Kelly, Dan Kaszubinski, Bubby Kerrick, Billy Coffey, Curt Shuttleworth, George Ely.
B-Main (10 laps, top 4 to A-Main): T.Kelly, R.Preston, B.Bailey, N.Fratto, D.Spadaro, W.Alexson, M.Stelter.
PPG Super Stocks (20 laps): Dave Fultz, Quinn Sutherland, Carl Cleveland, Steve Brace, Sparky Hills, Bill Miller, Rob COnklin, Ed Mills, Fred Buckley, Bobby Teed, Nate Daggett, Randy Eggleston, Joe Povoski, John Sutryk, Stevie Brace, Jeff Baroody. DNS: Chad Ector, Brandon Smith.
Regional Pro Trucks (20 laps): Larry Knowles, Bob Buono, Jeff Barner, Tommy Austin, Doug Buckley, Keith Lane, Keith Austin, Les Irwin, Brian Doolittle, Jim Schuyler, Serenity Sutherland, Henry Taylor. DNS: Ken Houck.
Four Cylinders (20 laps): Terry Povoski, Alfred Clark, Phil Yaw, Josh Mills, Kevin Young, Willy Grant Jr., Karl Weichenthal, Ray Speicher, Shawn Brace, Brian Crawford, George Park Sr., Steven Ovens, Del Cummings, Tom Postalwait, Mark Wallenbeck, John Houck, Mike Hughey, Brooks Leach, Chad Ayers, Joe Slavin, Ryan Davenport, Ray Cornish, Darren Jayne, Ray Hyer, Jack Ayers, Bob Stewart, Mike Thompson, Jared Hill, Kevin Teed. DNS: Rich Andrews.
Bandits (10 laps): Laverne Knickerbocker III, Adam Austin, Brad Ovens, Derek Mills, George Park Jr., Brady Fultz, Jon Wallenbeck, Jamie Schuyler, Brent Ayers, Justin Karlnoski Brett Crawford, Rich Kelly, Justin Longacre, Jeremy Abbey, Matt Eggleston, Anthony Teed.