PAINE WINS BLACK ROCK 76 LAP MOD MAIN
DUNDEE, NY ……. Steve Paine continues his winning ways at the Black Rock Speedway, as he picked up the big 76 lap Syracuse qualifier for the 358 Modifieds last Friday night. Dale Welty came back and grabbed the exciting win in the PPG Super-Stock feature. Eddie Machuga took another win in the Regional Pro-Truck division, and in the 4 Cyl. Stocks, Jack Ayres and Donnie Smith. Trevor Sutherland was victorious for the first time in 2002 in the Black Rock Bandits.
The 76 lap Syracuse qualifier for the 358 Modifieds was the first big event for the division in the 2002 season at Black Rock. This big show played in front of the biggest crowd of the season under perfect weather conditions. With flags waving, Old Glory in the infield, and the green flag in the starters stand, and fireworks lighting up the summer night's sky, Fran Hilton and Donnie Lawson led the Modified field to the first turn. Lawson jumped to the early lead, and Gil Tegg Jr. was in the second position. Tegg took over the top spot in turn three on the third circuit, and quickly began to pull away. He was in lap traffic on lap on lap 9. On the next lap the first yellow flag flew for the #52 of Jim Hull lost a left front wheel. Tegg continued to lead on the re-start, but now John Moravec pulled into the second position, and a quick moving Charlie Donk was third and looking for more. Steve Paine was on the move and was 11th on lap 16 after starting 18th on the grid. Charlie Donk moved into second on lap 17 and set his sights on Gil Tegg. The top five with 25 laps in the books was, Gil Tegg Jr., Charlie Donk, John Moravec, Stacey Jackson, and Steve Paine. Later on this lap Paine moved to fourth. On the next circuit the yellow flag was out as Jim Roberts stopped on the front straight Frank Burnell was up against the inside curb in turn one, and Ron White stopped on the outside of the first turn. With the green back out, Tegg and Donk were racing hard for the lead. On lap 28 Donk took the lead from Tegg on the back stretch. Two laps later the yellow flags were flying as Frank Burnell had a flat tire on his 57B. It was also about this time that heavy smoke started show from the #99 of Charlie Donk. Paine moved in to second on this lap and set up the race for the lead between Donk and Paine. On lap 36 Paine took the lead from Donk in turn two. Donk's 99 continued to lay down a smoke screen, and a couple of laps later he was out of the event. This put Bryon Turner in second place. He was close to Paine a couple of times, but never made any serious challenge to the leader. But Paine almost had a big problem with three laps left in the race had a pair of lapped cars in front of him as he came out of turn two. He went between them and actually made some contact with both cars. Paine remained in control and in the lead, and went on to score the big win. Bryon Turner held on for second, third was last years winner of this race, John Moravec, fourth went to Gil Tegg Jr., and after another great drive Bill Deming filled out the top five. Heats were won by Charlie Donk, John Moravec, and Mike Jackson. Chuck Graham won the B-Main. Steve Paine already has a Syracuse spot, so Bryon Turner will represent Black Rock in Syracuse.
In the PPG Super-Stocks, Dale Welty returned to victory after taking a week off for graduation. He took the top on lap 4 in turn two. Once again, the man on the move was Alan Crooker in the #32 and he was in second place by lap 8. At the half way mark the top five looked like this, Welty was in the lead, Alan Crooker was second, third was Dave Fultz, fourth was Eddie Mills, and Rob Conklin filled out the top five. Welty and Crooker kept the crowd on their feet for the remaining distance with some great racing with Welty just edging out Crooker for the win. Dave Fultz was third, Rich Karlnoski fourth, and Carl Cleveland rounded out the top five. Heats were won by, Jeff Hand, and Quinn Sutherland.
Eddie Machuga took the win in the Regional Pro-Trucks. He took the lead on lap 9 and had a race long battle with Tom Kessler. One of the contenders for the win was out at the half way mark as Don Divens #28 showed a lot of smoke and then went off the turn three bank. Machuga took the checkered flag just ahead of Tom Kessler, third was Tom Austin, fourth went to Ron Divens and Jeff Barner filled out the top five. Heats were won by, Tom Kessler and Fred Buckley.
In 4 Cyl. Stock racing action, Jack Ayres took the win in the first of two 15 lap features. He had a close finish just ahead of Alfy Clark. Third went to mike Hughey, Phil Yaw was fourth, and Steven Ovens filled out the top five.
In the second feature, Donnie Smith was the winner over Mike Smalley, Shawn Brace, Ryan Davenport and Gene DuPuy. After the race, Mike Smalley was disqualified. Black Rock Speedway policy doesnot move up the rest of the finishers in a case of a disqualification. That driver receives no money or points. The money goes into the point fund, and the remaining positions remain as listed. Heat wins in this division went to, Steven Ovens, Jason White, Donnie Smith, and Josh Mills.
In the Black Rock Bandits, Trevor Sutherland took his first win of the season as he ran away from the rest of the field. Finishing second was Justin Divens, third went to Brady Fultz, fourth was Adam Austin, and Laverne Knickerbocker III was fifth.
PEPSI COLA OF ELMIRA 76 LAP MODIFIED SYRACUSE QUALIFIER:STEVE PAINE, Bryon Turner, John Moravec, Gil Tegg Jr., Bill Deming, Stacy Jackson, Ken Johnson, Billy VanPelt, Derrick Podsiadlo, Aaron Jacobus, Ron White, Alex Hoag, Loren Lincoln, Chuck Graham, Jim Roberts, Frank Burnell, Charlie Donk, Mike Jackson, Tim Sebring, Fran Hilton, Donnie Lawson, Brian Swarthout, Karl Comfort, Jim Hull, Allen Willoughby, Mike Walker.
STEUBEN EDUCATORS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION RACE SUMMARY:PPG SUPER-STOCKS(20 LAPS);DALE WELTY, Alan Crooker, Dave Fultz, Rich Karlnoski, Carl Cleveland, Fred Buckley, Dave DuBoise, Larry Knowles, BobbyTeed, Sparky Hills, Jeff Hand, Rob Conklin, Bill Miller, John Sutryk, Eddie Mills, Quinn Sutherland, Chris McCann, Randy Eggleston.
REGIONAL PRO-TRUCKS;(20 LAPS):EDDIE MACHUGA, Tom Kessler, Tom Austin, Ron Divens, Jeff Barner, Doug Buckley, Keith Austin, Fred Buckley, Brian Metcalf, Henry Taylor, Steve Brace, Serenity Sutherland, Brian Doolittle, Don Divens.
FOUR CYL. STOCKS RACE #1(15 LAPS):JACK AYRES, Alfy Clark, Mike Hughey, Phil Yaw, Steven Ovens, Jason White(disq.), Terry Povoski, Mike Buchanan, Skip Dean, Nathan Daggett, Willy Grant Jr., Karl Weichenthal, Trevor Bentley, Jake Clancey, Johnny Conway, Jared Hill.
FOUR CYL. STOCKS RACE #2(15 LAPS):DONNIE SMITH, Mike Smalley(disq), Shawn Brace, Ryan Davenport, Gene DuPuy, Josh Mills, Kevin Young, Scott Yaw(disq.), Eddie Crawford, Tim Povoski, Edgar McCloud, Shawn Johnson, Brian Crawford, Shawn Resue, Jessica Brown, Stevie Brace, Kevin Teed.
BLACK ROCK BANDITS;(10 LAPS):TREVOR SUTHERLAND, Justin Divens, Brady Fultz, Adam Austin, Laverne Knickerbocker III, Derek Mills, Jamie Schuyler, George Park Jr., Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Zammett, Brent Ayers, Brett Crawford, Rich Kelly, Josh Smith, Anthony Teed, Ray Speicher, Cody Marshall.
BY DON DUNHAM, P.R. DIRECTOR, BLACK ROCK SPEEDWAY