PAINE REPEATS
DUNDEE, NY - Steve Paine was serving passes with a can-opener in Friday night’s 25-lap Owasco Beverage 358-Modified feature at Black Rock Speedway.
Paine started deep in the 24-car main event and had to dodge two big wrecks, knife through traffic and wheel his yellow no. 7X off the bottom of turn four, just inches from the inside curbing to beat Gil Tegg Jr. and Alex Hoag.
Paine, the reigning King of the Rock, pounded his TEO Pro Car hard into turn three, let the car roll along the cushion and then dove straight to the bottom of turn four and powered out of the corner.
"It’s just how the track was," Paine said. "There was a nice cushion into three and then there was nothing and you had to turn back to the bottom."
Using that line, Paine followed Hoag to the front. Hoag and Paine started 14th and 16th on the grid. Hoag had the lead in four laps; Paine rode third.
"It started out OK," Hoag said. "We went from 14th to the lead in 4 laps. It could have stayed green and I think we could have been hard to beat."
Cautions plagued the first half of the race. Dylan DeWert led the first two laps off the pole before Mike Jackson got turned around in turn three. Tim Sebring, making his 2003 Black Rock debut was collected in the melee; several cars were near-misses.
The restart was called off when Stacy Jackson went up in a big cloud of smoke while running fourth. Paine and Steve Hartman were held up in the smokescreen laid down by the Herrington Racing No. 66. Under the yellow, DeWert headed pitied in the no. 17H, giving the lead to Bill Deming.
Barely one lap had been completed when Chuck Kennison and Jim Roberts tangled in the bottom of the fourth turn. Hoag worked past Deming on the restart and the drivers started to find a rhythm.
Paine shuffled past Gil Tegg Jr., diving hard off turn four and squeezing to second place.
"After we got some heat in the tires, the car tightened up," Tegg said. "If I didn't get tight, I think I could have been glued to the bottom and he'd have to work by me on the outside."
Paine caught Hoag as Hoag was catching heavy lapped traffic. Paine tried high a number of times, but either caught lapped traffic or ran out of race track. Luckily, Paine benefited from some outside help.
As the leaders worked turn three and four, Bryon Turner’s no. 11 blew up exiting the second turn and yellow flew. This pulled the lapped traffic out from in front of the leaders and gave Paine and Hoag - last year’s champ and runner up - clean race track.
"We got the traffic and they were goofing both of us up," Paine said. "He was going good, but then we got that caution."
Hoag brake-checked Paine before the green, but the veteran Paine hung with the no. 7H. As the field rumbled back across the stripe, yellow flew again for a wreck involving Jim Roberts and the no. Z8 of Steve Hartman.
Hoag was told to restart third, behind Tegg and leader Paine.
"The restarts here are a little crazy," Hoag said after the race. "We didn't even get a lap in and I went from first to third. We’ve got a guy wrecked in the middle of the back straight-away and I don't know how we completed a lap. The field definitely hasn't, half of them were over in the wreck."
The field restarted single file as they were past half way.
Tegg stayed with Paine and showed a wheel a few times, but couldn’t overcome a bad push and wrestle his no. 22 to the front.
"I got under Steve a couple times, there on lap 15 or 16," Tegg said. "I showed my nose and he must have saw it because he moved to the bottom. If I had a little bit better car, I could have moved to the top - I'm more comfortable up there - and maybe had something for him."
Tegg’s heat times were faster than Paine’s; both won their respective qualifiers.
"He was three or four-tenths faster than we were, but it worked out OK," Paine said. "It’s just how the track was. We go and suffer through the heat and when it dries up, we’re OK."
The front two caught traffic in the final five laps, but with an ill-handling car, Tegg couldn’t do much but watch Paine to his second win in as many races.
"It was good for a few laps after a restart, but then after 4 or 5 laps, the tires got some heat in them and the car went away, Tegg said. "It was tough getting under a couple of those guys, I couldn't stay on the bottom.
"I was afraid to get way up on the outside because I didn't want to jump the cushion. We just hung on. I was happy running second."
Hoag couldn’t get by Tegg, even with the push.
"I think the tire went through the heat cycle too many times and it slicked over," Hoag said. "The last three years we took fifth and fourth the first two weeks. We'd like to move that up a little bit, but we're getting there.
"The track was about 180 from last week. Last week was dry and slick and we ran around the bottom."
Ron White got third in the final two laps, sending Hoag to fourth; Brian Swarthout rounded out the top five.
Tommy Austin and his no. 88A netted a win in a tough Regional Pro Truck feature.
The yellow no. 28 of Don Divens looked strong in the early stages of the main, racing from 8th on the grid to first in two laps. Meanwhile, Austin, Don Divens and Bob Buono putting on a great show for second through fifth.
Henry Taylor flipped and brought out a yellow with 12 laps remaining and the caution might have hurt the Divens truck. No. 28 faded on the restart and Austin took over.
With five to go, Austin held the lead followed by Don Divens, Buono, Larry Knowles and Ron Divens.
When the final flag fell, Buono worked into second with Knowles in tow. Ron passed Don as the no. 28 picked up a push and went backwards. Don Divens was disqualified after the race for not using a restrictor plate.
Carl Cleveland visited Black Rock Speedway’s Knapp & Schalppi Victory Lane for the first time since 1999 when he won the Super Stock main event. Cleveland and his yellow no. 22 led the final 13 laps en route to a win over Rob Conklin, two-time defending points champion Dave Fultz, Quinn Sutherland and Rich Karlnoski.
Cleveland had not won a race since 2001 when he scored a victory at Woodhull Speedway. Cleveland has been racing Super Stocks since 1989.
Alfred Clark made stole the show in the closing laps of the 4-Cylinder feature. With the car coming apart, Clark pulled along side leader Terry Povoski as caution flew with two laps to go. On the restart, Povoski held an edge at the line. Clark was getting better runs of the bottom of turn four but Povoski kept the RPM’s up by taking a higher line in the corners. They ran door-to-door as they crossed the line with one to go.
Clark drove in hard as Povoski stayed smooth on the top. Clark steered off the fourth turn and the two grazed each other and Clark edged Povoski out by no more than six inches at the line. Kevin Young, Phil Yaw and Tom Stewart filled out the top five.
Jon Wallenbeck scored the first Bandit win of 2003 as he out ran every car on the track. Laverne Knickerbocker III took second and though he looked faster, ran out of laps in chasing the No. 24. Derek Mills, George Park Jr. and Brady Fultz rounded out the top five.
Paine’s win was his second in a row at Black Rock in 2003, fifth straight dating back to 358-Modified races at the end of last year and third win of 2003. Paine won one of the two 50-lap mains during the Eckerd 100 Weekend at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
This was also, according to the ticker on FireOnDirt.com, the ninth win for the TEO Pro Car. Since that ticker was updated, Paine has won twice - both at Black Rock - while Brett Hearn (Fonda Ice Jam) and Tim McCreadie (Cayuga County) have won once.
Henry Taylor flipped coming off the fourth turn in the Pro Truck main, logging the first Pro-Truck roll over of 2003 and the first flip in the regular classes at Black Rock Speedway.
Last week, as is expected, one of the Super Sprints went end-over-end in turn two.
Tommy Kessler has sold his Pro Truck to Gene DuPuy. DuPuy has registered the truck in his name and will race with the number 13X.
Kessler ran one season with the Pro Trucks, notching one win and Rookie of the Year honors in 2002.
Last year’s points runner up will not be returning to the truck ranks. Eddie Machuga missed Friday night’s class opener had does not plan on racing for the class championship.
Serenity Sutherland turned practice laps at the Canandaigua Speedway Tuesday night. She was the only truck there and was sent out with the Pro Stocks.
She was holding her own, but something let go in the no. 37 and she was pushed back to the pits.
Dylan DeWert was driving the Hoag Motorsports No. 17H Tobias chassis for the second week in a row. He led a healthy portion of his heat before eventual winner Gil Tegg and Bryon Turner passed him in the closing laps.
Dewert pulled off in the main with mechanical trouble. Hoag Motorsports put Dewert in the car to "shake it down" and work the bugs out in hopes of having a well-prepared back-up car to their primary TEO.
Charlie Donk, a longtime Black Rock Regular from Macedon, NY, missed last week’s opener and was absent again this week.
He says that he will not be returning to Black Rock Speedway in 2003.
Joe Povoski, the 4-Cylinder regular and last year’s 4-Cylinder Track Champion at Woodhull Speedway, drove Jim Schuyler’s Super Stock Friday night. He placed 11th.
Owasco Beverage Night Results (Unofficial)
DIRT 358-Modifieds (25 laps): 7x-Steve Paine, 22-Gil Tegg, 5W-Ron White, 7H-Alex Hoag, 14-Brian Swarthout, 45-Tim Sebring, 34G-Chuck Graham, 5-Bill Deming, 123-Dale Welty, Z8-Steve Hartman, 6X Dave DuBois, 1-Rich Swarthout, 2-Aaron Jacobus, 19-Dave Yehl, 6J-Kenny Johnson, 9x-Chuck Kennison, 20-Jim Roberts, 18-Donnie Lawson, 11-Bryon Turner, 88M-Mike Jackson, 50-Donnie Slover, 21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 17H-Dylan Dewert, 66-Stacy Jackson.
Heat winners (8 laps): 14-Brian Swarthout, 22-Gil Tegg, 7x-Steve Paine.
B-Main winner (8 laps): Not contested.
PPG Super Stocks (20 laps): 22-Carl Cleveland, 75X-Rob Conklin, 70-Dave Fultz, 36-Quinn Sutherland, 55x-Rich Karlnoski, 07-Randy Eggleston, 45-Sparky Hills, 4JM-Steve Brace, 37-Stevie Brace, 82-Bill Miller, 57J-Joe Povoski, 11J-Jeff Ripley, 18-Andy Krall, 96x-Brandon Smith, 3D-Nate Daggett, 96-Ed Mills, 15-John Sutryk, 29-Jeff Baroody.
Heat winners (8 laps): 36-Quinn Sutherland, 75x-Rob Conklin.
Regional Pro Trucks (15 laps): 88A-Tommy Austin, 64-Bob Buono, 4-Larry Knowles, 18-Ron Divens, 7-Brian Doolittle, 5-Jeff Barner, 51-Keith Lane, 37-Serenity Sutherland, 2-Doug Buckley, 57J-Jim Schuyler, 17-Henry Taylor, 28-Don Divens (DQ).
Heat winners (8 laps): 88A-Tommy Austin, 5-Jeff Barner.
4-Cylinder Stocks (20 laps): 20-Alfred Clark, 57J-Terry Povoski, 86-Kevin Young, 98-Phil Yaw, 84S-Tom Stewart, 15-Mike Hughey, 27-Ryan Davenport, 1X-Steven Ovens, 21-Tom Postalwait, 01-Karl Weichenthal, 11-Chad Ayers, 36-Willy Grant Jr., 7-Jake Clancey, 61-Rich Andrews, 47-Darrin Jayne, 72-Raymond Cornish, 93-Jared Hill, 75-Brooks Leach, 29-Jack Ayers, 80-Ray Hyer, 8-Brian Crawford, 23-George Park Sr., 84-Josh Mills, 07-Doug Barton, 14-Ray Speicher.
Heat winners (8 laps): 20-Alfred Clark, 57J-Terry Povoski.
Black Rock Bandits (10 laps): 24-Jon Wollenbeck, 87-Laverne Knickerbocker III, 86-Derek Mills, 23-George Park, 93-Brady Fultz, 57J-Jamie Schuyler, 07-Andrew Jackson, 1X-Brad Ovens, 8-Brett Crawford, 11-Brent Ayers, 61-Rich Kelly, 89-Justin Longacre, 3-Jeremy Abbey.