BICKNELL, FRIESEN, SCHULZ, BUZZARD, AND RICKARD VICTORIOUS IN FIRST ANNUAL HAROLD RINEHART MEMORIAL AT RANSOMVILLE SPEEDWAY
RANSOMVILLE, NY...Pete Bicknell of St. Catherines, Ont captured his first feature win of the season at Ransomville last Friday night aboard the Harold “Rick” Rinehart Memorial 30 lap event. Driving his Pillsbury sponsored machine, Bicknell took the lead away from Brian Stevens, who had led the majority of the race, for the big win.
Stevens jumped out to the early lead at the drop of the green as Bicknell and Danny Johnson charged their way to the front. These two put on a great show for the fans at the half way point as they battled side by side while Stevens enjoyed a full straight away lead. Contact between Bicknell and Johnson resulted in Johnson suffering a flat tire and heading pitside. Bicknell then went to work on Stevens, taking the lead with a hand full of laps remaining. Brian Stevens came home in second while Vic Coffey gained the most positions finishing third after coming from the tail of the field early on. Todd Gordon and Robbie Krull rounded out the top five.
Heat winners were Tim Murdock, Stevens, and Gordon.
Some twenty eight sportsman jammed the pit area last Friday night aboard the Niagara Gazette Poster Night. Stewart Friesen of Niagara on the Lake, Ont. took top honors as he came from the ninteenth starting position after qualifying through the consi. Friesen had been caught up in an incident during his qualifying heat, suffering mechanical difficulties as a result.
Friesen, driving his Raceway Speed and Performance/Eds Garage machine, took the lead away from Pete Cosco and held off persistent challenges from Kevin Wills late in the race. Wills came home a strong second followed by Chad Brachmann, Cosco, and Don Martin. Heat winners were Wills, Dean Ferri, and Cosco. Jim Zimmerman was awarded the Hard Luck award by the Gazette. Making rare appearances were Ray MacIver and Dennis Ginacola.
The caution filled Prostock feature was won by defending champion, Mark Schulz. Schulz took over the lead from Dave Williams just past the half way point enroute to his second victory of the season at Ransomville aboard his Boyle Boys Napa/Empro Niagara sponsored machine.
The Williams brothers, Dave and Mike, held the top two positions for much of the event after Dave inherited the lead when Dave Kramp vacated the top position with mechanical failure. The Stefanski brothers were also hard on the charge as they blasted into the top five during the closing stages. Following Schulz across the line were Joe Stefanski, Pete Stefanski, Mike Williams, and Pat McCoy. Dave Williams fell back with handling problems late in the event. Heat winners were Mike Williams, Dave Kramp, and Tom Walker.
The first Street Stock feature event was won by Joe Rickard. Rickard captured his second win of the season, leading all 12 laps. Don Barnes came home in second followed by Mark Boyer, Sean Kott, and Roger Israel. Larry Balch made his first start of the seaon.
The second Street Stock feature was won by Steve Buzzard after contact between the early leader Randy Zimmerman and second place runner Ken Washburn resulted in Zimmerman spinning and Washburn being black flagged. Buzzard held the top spot from there and took the checkered followed by Kirk Tuttle, Ben Hornquist, Alex Morris, and Steve Coleman. Buzzard increased his points lead over Ken Washburn to 34. Heat winners were Tuttle, Rickard, and Boyer.
NIAGARA GAZETTE RINEHART MEMORIAL MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH...PETE BICKNELL, Brian Stevens, Vic Coffey, Todd Gordon, Robbie Krull, Ricky Richner, Billy Krull, Tim Murdock, Rich Vinson, Danny Johnson, Dan Miller, Todd Burley, Sam Crogan, Alan Jepson, Dan Habuda, Mark Sylvies, Scott Wood, Russ Zimmerman, and Mark Feor.
NIAGARA GAZETTE RINEHART MEMORIAL SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH...STEWART FRIESEN, Kevin Wills, Chad Brachmann, Pete Cosco, Don Martin, Scott George, Gary Moraesh, Rick Schumacher, Luke Carleton, Dave Just, Dave Nashwinter, John Hagerman, Ray MacIver, Jeff McGinnis, Dan Lacey, Todd Adamczak, Gene Cevaer, Joe Jamieson, Randy Chrysler, Wayne McKie, Bob Winters, Dean Ferri, Tony Purgarich, and Curt Sherwood.
NIAGARA GAZETTE RINEHART MEMORIAL PROSTOCK FEATURE FINISH...MARK SCHULZ, Joe Stefanski, Pete Stefanski, Mike Williams, Pat McCoy, Tom Walker, Jason Boyle, Steve Lewis, Dan Shoop, Steve Miller, Roger Chrysler, Dave Williams, Butch Parker, Jeff Martin, Mark Harvey, Jordie Dietz, Pete Simpson, Matthew Herriven, Tom Greene, Eric Greenlief, Brian Kotarski, Emerson Webster, Butch Zimmerman, AJ Schultz, and Dave Kramp.
NIAGARA GAZETTE RINEHART MEMORIAL STREET STOCK FEATURE FINISH #1...JOE RICKARD, Don Barnes, Mark Boyer, Sean Kott, Roger Israel, Bill Holtz Jr., Shawn Parker, Wayne Close, Dan Baughman, Dave Eaton, Jerry Condron, Dave Webster, Eric Ben, Aaron Jacobs, Roger Smith, and Larry Balch.
NIAGARA GAZETTE RINEHART MEMORIAL STREET STOCK FEATURE FINISH #2...STEVE BUZZARD, Kirk Tuttle, Ben Hornquist, Alex Morris, Steve Coleman, Jeremy Martin, Don Rappleyea, Justin Israel, Digger Lester, Shawn Graham, Randy Zimmerman, Paul Plante, Derek Smith, Ken Washburn, Ricky Gorham, and Fred Srock.