ALAN JOHNSON TOPS ROLLING WHEELS SEASON WITH 200 WIN AND THE TRACK TITLE

ELBRIDGE, NY...Phelps, NY native, Alan Johnson cruised to what seemed as an easy victory last Sunday in the Paine Motorsports 200, part of the DynoMax Performance Mufflers Wheels Weekend at Rolling Wheels Raceway. Johnson's victory also secured the 2002 DIRT Modified track championship at Rolling Wheels by a mere two points over 13th place finisher Brett Hearn. He made for a complete triumph by also winning the 100-lap 358-Modified feature the night before.

Also earning a victory on the day was Jon Miler, from Olcott, NY, claiming the 30-lap Empire Sports Network Pro-Stock Super DIRT Series feature. A special bus race topped off the racing for the afternoon.

The Paine Motorsports 200 started off with outside pole sitter Brett Hearn securing the lead from pole man Tim Fuller. Fuller fell back to fourth as Tim McCreadie and Steve Paine both passed him for position on lap four. Hearn was able to stretch his lead somewhat over McCreadie until the first yellow flew on lap 15 when Fuller slowed on the track with a flat tire.

Hearn now found himself in a battle with Alan Johnson, who was able to move into second just as that first yellow flew. Johnson zoomed by Hearn for the lead on lap 20. Hearn then lost second to Paine just two laps later. In the fourth turn, Paine tried a high side move on Johnson on lap 27, but fell short. A lap later, lap 28, he slide into first as he and Johnson began to break away from the rest of the field.

The second yellow flag flew on lap 37 when Frankie Caprara Jr. slowed on the track. The restart saw Paine holding off Johnson, Bob McCreadie and his son Tim. Vince Vitale brought out the third yellow as he too slowed on the track, on lap 51. As it was now beyond the mandatory pit window, most of the field chose this opportunity to pit for tires and fuel. The restart saw Jason Barney fly off the third turn to bring out the fourth yellow flag.

Paine was now dominating the race with Tim McCreadie in second followed by Bill Decker, Gary Tomkins and rookie Joe Beyea following the pit stops. Chris Shultz spun in the first turn on lap 65 for the fifth yellow period. Paine continued to pull away from the rest of the field. On lap 82 Vic Coffey slowed with a broken axle on the front stretch. This restart saw Alan Johnson start to show his power, taking second and quickly closing in on Paine.

On lap 97, Johnson shot low in the second turn to attempt to take the lead. With Johnson now in front he set his Beachy Motorsports Pillsbury Doughboy number 1J on cruise. Johnson now began a quest to lap all but the top three cars on the speedway. By lap 140, only six cars remained on the lead lap; Johnson, Paine, Tomkins, Tim McCreadie, Frank Cozze, Fuller and Bob McCreadie. McCreadie was in grave danger of going down a lap for some ten circuits. Finally on lap 152 the elder statesman of racing allowed Johnson the pass to go a lap down. Just three laps later only Johnson, Paine and Tomkins were the only cars in the lead lap. Johnson held a 2.5 second lead over Paine, while Paine was some three full seconds ahead of Tomkins.

On lap 178 Paine slowed on the track, out of fuel. He was lapped in turn three before a push truck could get to him. He then pitted and lost two additional laps in the pits, not exiting out the correct pit exit. This left just Tomkins in the lead lap with Johnson.

Johnson cruised to victory a full 14.751 seconds ahead of Tomkins. Bob McCreadie finished third followed by Jack Johnson and Fuller. The race took one hour and thirty-one minutes to complete at an average speed of 81.624 mph. Johnson's win earned him more then the $12,000 he collected for the feature win. Johnson will now receive track champion money from Sunoco Race Fuels and Hoosier Tire.

The accompanying Pro-Stock race saw Dan Mayer take the lead at the drop of the green. On lap eight Jon Miller ducked low down the front stretch to take the lead. Dave Schulz was now in a battle for second with Jipp Ortiz and Roger Chrysler as Mayer slowly drifted back in the field.

The first of six yellows came on lap 11 when Chad Homan looped his Pontiac Grand Prix in the fourth turn. The restart saw a three car tangle ensue in the first turn between Roy Tarbell, Chrysler and John Lazore.

On lap 15, Joey Ladouceur and Homan became entangled and came to a stop in the second turn to cause the third yellow. These same two cars again tangled, in turn four, on lap 17.

Miller saw a late race challenge by Schulz. Schulz tried the high and then the low grove, but fell short by .199 seconds at the finish line. Miller's win breaks a four race win streak that Schulz was on. "Hollywood" Joe Santaro finished a close third. James Henry and Dave Conant Jr. rounded out the top five.

ROLLING WHEELS WINDOWS: Fifty-four Pro-Stocks were on hand to attempt qualifying....The DIRT Modified tally was 28 cars in the heat and 12 looked into the front 6 rows by Saturday time trials, making a modified count of 40....The addition of five buses for the bus race brought the pit total to 99 vehicles.

The next event at Rolling Wheels Raceway comes on Friday and Saturday, October 11 and 12, during Super DIRT Week XXXI. On Friday the 358-Modifieds return along for the first time with the DIRT Sportsman. The 358's will be contenting their huge 100-lap Turning Stone Casino Resorts 100. The Sportsman, in their only appearance during Super DIRT Week, look to run a 30-lap, $1,500 to win feature event.

On Saturday there will be time trials for the DIRT Pro-Stock teams, and consolation races to fill Sunday's main event at Syracuse, the Empire Sports Network 20. Joining the Pro-Stocks will be the popular Sprint cars from the ESS and URC circuits. Race time both nights is at 7 p.m. sharp. Rolling Wheels is located just fifteen minutes west of the Syracuse Fairgrounds on Route 5, in the Town of Elbridge.

DYNOMAX PERFORMANCE MUFFLERS WHEELS WEEKEND DAY 2 SUMMARY

PRO-STOCKS

HEAT 1: D. Mayer, J. Ortiz, D. Hoogerhyde, B. McGannon, P. Hobbs.

HEAT 2: J. Miller, A. Dembeck, P. Stefanski, B. Michels, S. Kehr.

HEAT 3: R. Chrysler, T. Kuck, C. Morris, E. Grauvreau, C. Homan.

HEAT 4: D. Schulz, T. Cannizzaro, J. Santaro, D. Conant Jr., J. Henry.

CONSI 1: T. Dembeck, S. Pesarek, R. Tarbell, J. Clark.

CONSI 2: S. Govertsen, J. Ladouceur, John Lazore, Dave Bruno.

ADDED: M. Jock, S. Devos, B. Hallett, B. Bouno, R. Breed.

FEATURE (30-laps): JON MILLER, Dave Schulz, Hollywood Joe Santaro, James Henry, Dave Conant Jr., Jipp Ortiz, Tom Kuck, Tom Cannizzaro, Jeremy Clark, Chris Morris, Roger Chrysler, Chad Homan, Steve Peserak, Bill Pascual, Scott Govertsen, Pete Stefanski, Dave Bruno, Eric Garuveau, Scott Kehr, Tom Dembeck, John Lazore, Roy Tarbell, Ricky Breed, Bob McGannon, Mitch Jock, Dan Mayer, Steve Devos, Dale Hoogerheyde, Brian Michels, Joey Ladouceur, Bill Hallett, Patrick Hobbs, Bob Bouno.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: G. Tomkins, D. Johnson, J. Beyea, V. Vitale.

HEAT 2: K. Tremont, S. Hulsizer, V. Coffey, A.J. Romano.

HEAT 3: B. McCreadie, J. Phelps, B. Varin, F. Cozze.

CONSI: J. Barney, A. Schiffler, B. Tittle, T. Juhl, R. Bliss Jr., P. Dagenais.

PAINE MOTORSPORTS 200: ALAN JOHNSON, Gary Tomkins, Bob McCreadie, Jack Johnson, Tim Fuller, Bobby Varin, Pat Ward, Frank Cozze, Billy Decker, Tim McCreadie, Chuck Bower, Kenny Tremont, Brett Hearn, Joe Beyea, Steve Paine, Chris Shultz, Danny Johnson, Alan Schiffler, Tom Juhl, Steve Hulsizer, Jimmy Phelps, AJ Romano, Pierre Dagenais, Vic Coffey, Butch Tittle, Jason Barney, Vince Vitale, Ray Bliss, Jr., Frankie Caprara, Tom Sears Jr.