PETE STEFANSKI CAPTURED THE 30 LAP PRO STOCK SPECIAL AT RANSOMVILLE; DANNY JOHNSON, KEVIN WILLS, MATT GILLINGHAM, AND JOHN SCHULTZ ALSO VICTORIOUS
The Ransomville NAPA Pro Stocks took the spotlight last Friday night on Blue Moon Potatoes and Bobcat of Buffalo night at the big "R" with a 30 lap championship special. Butch Zimmerman of Burt, NY took the lead at the drop of the green followed closely by Dan Shoop, Pat McCoy, Dave Schulz, and Dan Schulz. Lap traffic certainly made things difficult for the top contenders as they had to navigate carefully by the slower machines. Dave Schulz of Somerset, NY took the lead on lap 10 from Dan Shoop of Lockport. Pete Stefanski advanced to the second spot followed by Dan Schulz on lap 15.
The caution appeared on lap 21, putting Stefanski on his bumper for the restart. On lap 22 as the top two runners entered turn three, Schulz got too high and Stefanski slid underneath for the lead. After a lap 23 restart, Schulz put pressure on Stefanski, but Schulz got too high in turn three again giving Stefanski some room. Schulz was able to catch Stefanski again, but had to settle for the second place spot at the finish. Third was Scott Kerwin followed by Jeff Martin and Dan Schulz. Heat winners were Pat McCoy and Butch Zimmerman.
The Mighty Taco Modified feature found Greg Panunte taking the early lead followed closely by Don Spatarico. Danny Johnson looked like a man on a mission as he broke into the top five by lap 13 and quickly set his sights on Mark Sylvies in third place. Tough break for visiting driver Dan Miller as he went up in smoke off the backstretch. Johnson took over the third position on lap 17 but found the leaders with a half a straightaway advantage. A great four car battle took place for fifth between Robbie Krull, Tim Murdock, Chad Brachmann, and Pete Bicknell. Meanwhile up front, Johnson took over the second position on lap 21 and quickly reeled in Panunte. On lap 24, Johnson was on the rear bumper of Panunte and looking for a way into the lead. Lap traffic came into play as Johnson made it three wide at the start finish line and took over the top spot. Johnson led the distance for the remaining laps enroute to his third win of the season. Panunte finished a strong second followed by Spatarico, Bicknell, and Sylvies. Heat winners were Sylvies and Spatarico.
The twenty lap DIRT Sportsman feature found John Zimmerman taking the lead at the drop of the green with Sean Kott a close second. Kevin Wills was on the charge and moved into the top spot on lap ten. Jeff McGinnis took over the runner up spot followed by Chad Chevalier, Stewart Friesen, and Phil Vigneri. With just five laps remaining, Wills was looking for his second win of the season while Friesen advanced to third. Friesen continued his charge, taking over second from McGinnis. Wills captured his second win of the season aboard his Wills Dairy Farm sponsored machine followed by Friesen, McGinnis, Vigneri, and Scott George. Heat winners were Wills and George.
The first Fish's Automotive Streetstock feature was plagued with cautions as the strong seventeen car field had a difficult time completing lap one. Matt Gillingham took the lead from the get go and showed the way through lap fifteen enroute to his first victory of the season. Gillingham became the tenth different winner in the division followed by Rick Gorhan, Derek Smith, Jeremy Wilson, and Dave Nichols. Heat winners were Don Barnes, Gillingham, and Tim Young.
Some eighteen cars started the second Fish's Automotive Streetstock feature totaling some thirty-five for the night. Tim Young took the lead at the drop of the green followed by Ben Hornquist and Kirk Tuttle. Young continued to show the fast way around the half mile through lap four when the caution was brought out for Cory Sawyer who lost a tire coming down the front stretch. Apparent contact between Sawyer and Tuttle resulted in our points leader's early demise. Tuttle also headed pitside with smoke coming from his racer. Hornquist took over the lead on the restart as Young lost several positions after getting a wheel off the back stretch. A great battle between John Schultz and Hornquist kept the fans on the edge of their seats through the final laps with Schultz taking the victory. Hornquist, Rick Gorhan, Don Barnes, and Wayne Close rounded out the top five.
RANSOMVILLE NAPA PRO STOCK FEATURE FINISH...PETE STEFANSKI, Dave Schulz, Scott Kerwin, Jeff Martin, Dan Schulz, Dan Shoop, Steve Lewis, Roger Chrysler, Dan Mayer, Rick Baker, John Panattoni, Dave Williams, Scott Gribben, Mike Williams, AJ Schultz, Butch Zimmerman, Pat McCoy, and Vance Wyder.
MIGHTY TACO MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH...DANNY JOHNSON, Greg Panunte, Don Spatarico, Pete Bicknell, Mark Sylvies, Robbie Krull, Tim Murdock, Chad Brachmann, Scott Wood, Vic Coffey, Todd Gordon, Ricky Richner, Brian Stevens, Sam Crogan, Rich Vinson, Luke Carleton, Jason Boyle, Mark Golding, Gene Cevaer, and Dan Miller.
DIRT SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH...KEVIN WILLS, Stewart Friesen, Jeff McGinnis, Phil Vigneri, Scott George, Chad Chevalier, Mark Potter, Dave Just, Rob Winters, Sean Kott, Mark Schulz, Joel Miesel, Rob Kott, Dave Kubiniec, John Hagerman, Tony Purgarich, Kim Gagliardi, John Zimmerman, Randy Chrysler, and PJ Allen.
FISH'S AUTOMOTIVE STREETSTOCK FEATURE FINISH #1...MATT GILLINGHAM, Rick Gorhan, Derek Smith, Jeremy Wilson, Dave Nichols, Dave Jowdy, John Dietz, Tim Herriven, Aaron Jacobs, Digger Lester, Eric Ben, Wayne Washburn, Jerry Condren, Ken Washburn, Steve Washburn, Dan Baughman, and Tom Schumacher.
FISH'S AUTOMOTIVE STREETSTOCK FEATURE FINISH #2...JOHN SCHULTZ, Ben Hornquist, Bobby Clare, Don Barnes, Wayne Close, Joe Rickard, Richard Champigny, Roger Israel, Webb Nashwinter, Russ Olds, Jimmy Wynes, Dave Eaton, Jaren Israel, Martin Peunic, Dan Coleman, Tim Young, Kirk Tuttle, and Cory Sawyer.