PAINE BEATS DONK IN MOD THRILLER AT BLACK ROCK

DUNDEE, NY………Steve Paine was back on familiar ground last Friday night, victory lane at the Black Rock Speedway. He took his third win of the season in the 358 Modifieds. Dave Fultz also became a three time winner, his victory came in the PPG Super-Stocks. Steve Brace became the first two time winner in the 2002 season in the Regional Pro-Truck division. In 4 Cyl. Stock action, Jack Ayres, and Tim Povoski, while Ray Speicher became a 4 time winner in the Black Rock Bandits.

It has been since April 26th since Steve Paine had won a Modified feature at the Black Rock Speedway. It wasn't until May 31st that he won his next one! This was no cake walk either. The first few laps of this feature seemed to take forever to complete. The first five laps of this event were each slowed by a caution flag. On the opening lap, Gil Tegg,Jr. went over the bank in turns three and four. And the next four laps saw multi-car tangles and spins slow the race. Once the field got down to business, it was Charlie Donk in front of the pack. He was being chased by Bill Deming, Bryon Turner and Steve Paine. Donk began to pull away from the pack early. But, as is usually the case, lapped cars would factor into the outcome of the event. Paine was hungry for a win, and he was on the move. Lap 9 saw him pull in to the third spot, and then on the same circuit, he was up to second. He set his sights on Donk. At the half way mark, Donk was still in front, but his lead was shrinking. On lap 15 Donk and Paine were racing side by side. At times this was tough to do as they were in and out of heavy lapped traffic. They weaved in and out of these cars and swapped the lead back and forth until Paine was able to push his Teo #7X in front of Donk for good on lap 22 on the back straight. When the checkers were unfurled, Paine took his third win of the 2002 season, Donk held on for second, third was Byron Turner, fourth after a great run was Bill Deming, and Karl Comfort filled out the top five. Heats were won by, Bryon Turner, John Moravec, and Charlie Donk.

Dave Fultz is the defending track champion in the PPG Super-Stocks, Dale Welty was the 2000 champ, they both want the title back. The way these two have been racing each other the last few weeks, you'd think the title was on the line every week! Quinn Sutherland took the early lead in this one, but a lap 2 yellow for John Sutryk and Randy Eggleston spinning in turns three and four set up a re-start that would see Chris McCann put his Multi Media 4JM in front of the field. The man on the move was Dave Fultz. He was up to third place by lap 6, and took the lead one lap later, and Dale Welty was in second, and the race between these two veterans was on. They pulled away from the rest of the field, but there was also a great race going on for third between Dave DuBois and Carl Cleveland. Fultz and Welty ran close and hard through the remaining laps, the two almost making contact on several occasions. When the checkers were flying, Fultz just beat out Welty for his third win of the season. Dave DuBois also just beat Carl Cleveland for third, and filling out the top five was Bill Miller. Heats were won by Larry Knowles, and Chris McCann.

For the first time in 7 weeks, there was a two time winner in victory lane after the Regional Pro-Truck 20 lap feature. Tommy Austin was the early leader in this one, but a caution slowed the action early. On lap two Eddie Machuga, Ron Divens, and Serenity Sutherland all "parked" their trucks nose first against the curb in turn three. As the race resumed, Austin continued to lead. Steve Brace was on the move and was in second at the half way mark, and he began putting pressure on Austin. As the laps clicked off, the handling started to go away on the 88A. Austin was going wider and wider in the fourth turn and Brace was taking a look at the inside line. On the white flag lap, Brace looked to take the lead, but backed out. However, when the checkered flag was out, Brace shot by Austin out of turn four and took the exciting win. Austin held on for second, third was Don Divens,fourth was Doug Buckley, and Fred Buckley filled up the top five. Don Divens and Tommy Austin were the heat winners.

In the first of two features for the 4 Cyl. Stocks, Jack Ayres jumped out to the early lead and held off Mike Hughey for the win, third was Alfy Clark, Terry Povoski got fourth and Kevin filled out the top five.

In the second feature, Tim Povoski took his first win of the season, and had to wrk hard to hold off Ryan Davenport and Scott Yaw. Fourth went to Josh Mills, and Eddie Crawford was fifth. Heat winners were, Jack Ayres, Ryan Davenport, Tim Povoski, and Scott Yaw.

Trevor Sutherland was the early leader in the Black Rock Bandits feature, but that didn't last long. Sutherland spun the 36 in turn four and was hit hard by Adam Austin's 98A. This put Ray Speicher in the lead, and he ran away for his fourth win of the season. With Jon Wallenbeck a no-show on this night, and Steven Ovens moving into the 4 Cyl. Stock division, Speicher takes over the point lead. Laverne Knickerbocker III took a hard earned second place in the feature after a race long battle with Jamie Schuyler, Josh Smith was fourth, and Brady Fultz was fifth.

PETER SMITH AGGREGATES RACE SUMMARY:

MODIFIEDS;(25 LAPS);STEVE PAINE, Charlie Donk, Bryon Turner, Bill Deming, Karl Comfort, Tim Sebring, John Moravec, Chuck Graham, Rich Swarthout, Brian Swarthout, Aaron Jacobus, Mike Payne, Alex Hoag, Mike Jackson, Jim Roberts, Ken Johnson, Stacy Jackson, Gary Hotelling, Donnie Lawson, Gil Tegg Jr., Loren Lincoln, Ron White, Fran Hilton, Derrick Podsiadlo,(#52-no driver listed)

PPG SUPER-STOCK(20 LAPS):DAVE FULTZ, Dale Welty, Dave DuBois, Carl Cleveland, Bill Miller, Quinn Sutherland, Larry Knowles, John Sutryk, Fred Buckley, Randy Eggleston, Jeffery Hand, Rich Karlnoski, Rob Conklin, Chris McCann, Eddie Mills.

REGIONAL PRO-TRUCKS(20 LAPS):STEVE BRACE, Tommy Austin, Don Divens, Doug Buckley, Fred Buckley, Ron Divens, Jarred Rial, Serenity Sutherland, Tommy Kessler, Fran Furch, Brian Doolittle, Jeff Barner, Keith Austin, Eddie Machuga.

4 CYL. STOCKS-RACE #1(15 LAPS):JACK AYRES, Mike Hughey, Alfy Clark, Terry Povoski, Kevin Young, Jason White, Skip Dean, Trevor Bentley, Randy Kaufman, Jake Clancey, Chuck Leasure, Kenny Hunt, Karl Weichenthal, Gene DuPuy, Kevin Teed.

4 CYL. STOCKS-RACE#2(15 LAPS):TIM POVOSKI, Ryan Davenport, Scott Yaw, Josh Mills, Eddie Crawford, Donnie Smith, Nathan Daggett, Steven Ovens, Mike Brace, Willie Grant Jr., James Smith, Shawn Resue, Mike Buchanan, Mark Fisher, Mike Smalley, Jared Hill.

BLACK ROCK BANDITS(10 LAPS):RAY SPEICHER, Laverne Knickerbocker III, Jamie Schuyler, Josh Smith, Brady Fultz, George Park Jr., Andy Jackson, Justin Divens, Cody Marshall, Brent Ayres, Rich Kelly, Adam Austin, Brett Crawford, Randy McDonald, Anthony Teed, Trevor Sutherland, Derek Mills.

By DON DUNHAM

P.R. DIRECTOR, BLACK ROCK SPEEDWAY