WHITE SURVIVES FOR FIRST WIN SINCE 1999
by Chris Marquart
DUNDEE, NY-- Ron White wheeled his Mountain Dew-backed small block Bicknell off the fourth turn and looked up. The lap counter read '20,' leaving five laps to go in the Corning Building Company feature at Black Rock Speedway.
"I was counting down the laps," White said. "I was thinking 'please, no flat tires.' It felt like the rear end was swaying a little bit, it was making me nervous. I thought something was going to break sooner or later."
Every clink, tick, creak and scrape echoed louder and louder as the counter clicked down; one lap closer to a victory was also one lap closer to a breakdown. But, the Mountain Dew beauty, dented and dinged, held together and gave Ron White his first win at Black Rock Speedway since May 28, 1999.
"My car has been running good all year long, so we were bound to be up there," White said after the win.
White outlasted most of the field Friday night, surviving a lap four fiasco with Bryon Turner, Chuck Graham and Brian Swarthout. On the restart, White restarted deep in the field. This ultimately saved him. Ken Johnson, the leader, was helped around in the first turn. Cars stacked up and over half the field was collected. Terry Hough was trapped in his car when Stacy Jackson was bounced on top of it. Both drivers walked away. Points leader Steve Paine, points runner-up Gil Tegg and last week's runner up Alex Hoag were also thumped around in the melee; Tegg was unable to continue.
"It was just trying to survive tonight. I don't think we have a straight panel left," Hoag laughed.
Hoag charged forward after the accident, moving through the thinned-out field with Paine in tow. Hoag used a lap eight yellow to move to second on Aaron Jacobus and on the restart, laid claim to the top spot.
Steve Paine was right with Hoag, and dove low down the backstretch on lap 11, but the super-human no. 7X was proven mortal when the axle snapped and the car slowed. Hoag took his lead back at the line, but White was not far off.
"Steve got me, then I got him back and Ron came flying out of four," Hoag recounted. "I was asking myself, 'where did he come from?' I was thinking I would be racing Paine the rest of the night, but Ronnie came out and drove right by both of us."
White found a strong drive coming off the fourth turn and flew by Hoag, the slowing no. 7X and began driving away from the eight remaining cars on the speedway.
"The car was really good coming out of the corners," White said. "A lot of guys were pushing coming off the corners and that's where I would get them. Really, on entry, everybody was running pretty good."
Hoag was willing to differ.
"It was pushing, it was loose, it was anyway but straight," Hoag said. "Towards the end, I was just trying to hold on to get a good finish. I thought Ronnie might get caught up and I would get a gift, but he was pretty well checking out."
The heavy track and strong bite off the corners played into White's walk-a-way.
"I like the track heavy. I like it when the track is rough, I'll run right through it," White said.
Last year, during the 100-lap Turning Stone Casino 358-Modified Super DIRT Series event at Black Rock, the track resembled a stadium motorcycle event.
"It was real rough and I ran right through the ruts the whole race," White said. "Tonight, it was attrition. You've got to keep your car together here.
"It would have been nice if Paine and all of them were up there."
No matter the company, White is credited with the win; his fifth triumph at Black Rock Speedway. he notched his first win at BRS May 1, 1995. The win will tie him with such drivers as Lyle Sherwood and ESS Standout, Lance Young, driver of the Lane Yamaha winged sprinter.
Stevie Brace and Sparky Hills kept Dave Fultz honest in the Super Stock main. Brace jumped out to lead eleven of 20 laps. Fultz had his hands full with Brace and once he cleared him, Hills battled with Fultz over the final five laps. Fultz ended on top, taking his fourth straight class feature.
Tommy Austin, the first-ever Truck Points Champion at Black Rock Speedway, took his first main since he won the season opener in April, holding off a fast Larry Knowles in the waning laps of the Regional Truck Trailer & Bus Pro Truck main. Austin lost the lead to Keith Lane between laps 3 and 16, but recovered, passing Lane with three to go. Austin then used the middle groove to get off the corners better than Knowles, spurning Knowles' hopes of three wins in a row.
Jack Ayers led the final eight laps in the Four-Cylinder main to deny Alfy Clark a third consecutive win. Clark settled for second. Adam Austin solved Jon Wallenbeck in the Bandit main.
Mary Brace went flag-to-flag in the ladies' feature. Piloting Karl Weichenthal's No. 01, Brace held off Nicola Knickerbocker's last lap charge. With a half lap to go, the front-runners made contact and Knickerbocker tagged the wall. She was credited 8th.
----Black Rock Bullets---
Bobby Parrow made his long-awaited debut at Black Rock Speedway in a small-block modified. Things didn't go his way as he failed to start the feature... In 1997, Terry Hough locked down the most 358-Modified feature wins at the Black Rock Speedway, pocketing three checkered flags. Billy Van Pelt won the track points title that year; Steve Paine has won each title since... The first Super Stock heat was shortened to six laps after yellow flags slowed progress. Steve Brace got into Bill Miller and flattened Miller's tire. Brace later tangled with Carl Cleveland, shearing the rear tire off Cleveland's car... Brace is the highway supervisor in the Town of Reading, NY. Miller works for him... Rich Karlnoski was among the crowd, leaving his no. 55x Super Stock at home.
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Corning Building Company Feature Results
DIRT 358-Modifieds (25 laps): Ron White, Alex Hoag, Aaron Jacobus, Brian Swarthout, Derrick Podsiadlo, Chuck Graham, Kenny Johnson, Allen Willoughby, Stacy Jackson, Bryon Turner, Mike Jackson, Dave DuBois, Steve Paine, Don Slover, Jim Roberts, Fran Hilton, Terry Hough, Gil Tegg, Tim Sebring, Loren Lincoln, Mike Schultz. DNS: Bobby Parrow.
Lap leaders: K.Johnson 1-5, A.Jacobus 2-9, A.Hoag 10-12, R.White 13-25.
Heat winners: C.Graham, D.Podsiadlo, B.Turner.
PPG Super Stocks (20 laps): Dave Fultz, Sparky Hills, Stevie Brace, Rob Conklin, Bill Miller, Steve Brace, Quinn Sutherland, Ed Mills, Andy Krull, Joe Povoski, John Sutryk, Carl Cleveland, Nate Daggett, Jeff Hall. DNS: Jeff Baroody.
Lap leaders: Ed Mills 1-2, Stevie Brace 3-14, D.Fultz 15-20.
Heat winners: Q.Sutherland, R.Conklin.
Regional Pro Trucks (20 laps): Tommy Austin, Larry Knowles, Keith Lane, Ron Divens, Jeff Barner, Bob Buono, Serenity Sutherland, Les Irwin, Brian Metcalf, Ron Perry, Jim Schuyler, Brian Doolittle, Keith Austin, Fred Buckley.
Lap leaders: T.Austin 1-2, K.Lane 3-16, T.Austin 17-20.
Heat winners: R.Divens, T.Austin.
4-Cylinders (20 laps): Jack Ayers, Alfred Clark, Ray Speicher, Karl Weichenthal, Ryan Davenport, Willy Grant Jr., Terry Povoski, Brooks Leach, Don Divens, Chad Ayers, Steven Ovens, Del Cummmings, Mike Smith, George Park Jr., Tom Postalwait, Ray Cornish, Brian Crawford, Kevin Teed, Mike Hughey, Kevin Young, Rich Andrews, Josh Mills, John Houck, Phil Yaw, Jared Hill. DNS: Bryon Quantz, Chuck Winslow.
Lap leaders: B.Leach 1-7, B.Crawford, 8-11 J.Ayers, 12-20.
Heat winners: M.Hughey, P.Yaw, R.Speicher.
Black Rock Bandits (10 laps): Adam Austin, Jon Wallenbeck, Brady Fultz, Jamie Schuyler, Brad Ovens, Brian Butler, Laverne Knickerbocker III, Brett Crawford, George Park Jr., Brent Ayers, Anthony Teed, Jeremy Abbey, Rick Kelly, Derek Mills, Justin Longacre, C.J. Winslow.
Lap leaders: J.Schuyler 1, A.Austin 2-10.
Ladies' Main (8 laps): Mary Brace, Phyllis Tones, Becky DeWert, Chris Putman, Crystal Ayers, Krystal Schmidt, Jamie Swarthout, Nicola Knickerbocker, Becky Young, Barb Swarthout, Carrie Wood, Cheryl Cummings, Chris Hoskins, Nancy Knapp.
Lap leaders: M.Brace 1-8.