ANDY BACHETTI BLISTERS UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY IN OPENING NIGHT 2000 WIN;

TONY ROSS, FRANK TWING, & DAVE MANNISE ALSO VICTORIOUS

VERNON, NY – Sheffield, MA’s Andy Bachetti put on a spectacular show on his way to his first career Utica-Rome Speedway DIRT 358 Modified feature win to open the 2000 season at Utica-Rome. Edmeston’s Tony Ross won the DIRT Sportsman feature, Hillsdale’s Frank Twing won the DIRT Pro Stock feature, and Fulton’s Dave Mannise was the Pure Stock victor.

Dale Planck and Mitch Gibbs led the DIRT 358 Modified feature down to the flags of Starter Chip Burdick, with Planck grabbing the early lead. Ron Holmes shot himself out of a cannon and took second from Gibbs, but Gibbs took it right back. On lap 4, the first yellow flag of the race flew, caused by a slowing J.J. Michaels. On the restart, Andy Bachetti put his foot to the firewall, taking the fourth spot from Pete Bicknell. Gibbs was on the move on lap 5 when he took the lead from Dale Planck. Then, on lap 6, a red flag situation occurred because of a pileup in turn one involving Tim Clemons, Mike Fusco, John Ramsey, Mark Schoonover, Steve Hulsizer, John Barker Jr., and Ryan Baye.

On the restart, Bachetti hit the hammer and took third from Holmes while putting pressure on Planck for second. On lap 8, a quick yellow for Billy Walters, who stopped in turn three. During the yellow, the race leader, Mitch Gibbs, went pitside with an undisclosed problem on his No. 2G.

This left the lead to Dale Planck, but on the restart, Bachetti powered around Planck to take the lead. On lap 9, Billy Wilcox got into the turn four wall, bringing out yet another yellow. Bachetti opened a commanding lead on the ensuing restart, and began clicking some quick lap times with his No. 4B. His pace was slowed on lap 19, when Jason Barney blew the motor on his No. 87. On the restart, Pete Bicknell, who was in second, challenged Bachetti for the lead, but yet another yellow came out. Mike Romano and Matt DeLorenzo came together in turn two, with both cars needing a hook.

At the halfway point when the race resumed, the top five was Bachetti, Bicknell, Holmes, Planck, and Ronnie Johnson, who steadily moved through the field.

Then, on lap 23, fourth place running Planck spun all by himself in turn one, causing another yellow. On the restart, a tremendous battle for second began between Pete Bicknell and Ron Holmes, with Holmes taking the spot a lap later. Ronnie Johnson caught up with Bicknell and began pressuring him for third. With Holmes in second, the last handful of laps ran caution free. However, Bachetti was way ahead of the rest of the pack with a straightaway lead.

Bachetti, who started sixth on the grid, led the rest of the way in an impressive run for the 24-year-old for his first career Utica-Rome DIRT 358 Modified feature wins. After Bachetti, it was Ron Holmes, Pete Bicknell, Ronnie Johnson, and Tim Clemons.

After the race, a happy Bachetti said, "I’ll tell you, these guys are tough up here. The track surface was tacky and fantastic, and that is the way I like it. This Teo Pro Car was perfect and it was really hooked up. This feels real good to get my first win at Utica-Rome and be ready for next week’s Super DIRT Series show."

Modified heat wins went to Dale Planck, Mitch Gibbs, Ron Holmes, Roger Phelps, and Pete Bicknell. J.J. Michaels, John Ramsey, and John Barker Jr. won the Modified Consis.

Steve Davis took the lead at the start of the DIRT Sportsman feature, but on a lap five restart, Tony Ross stole the lead. However, with one lap to go, Willy Decker caught Ross, and went side by side into turn three with Decker on the top, and Ross on the bottom groove. As the crowd stood on their feet, contact was made coming out of turn four, but Ross held on for the win. Following Ross and Decker, it was defending champion Jamie Christian, Steve Davis, and Dan Yankowski. Ross’ win was his first career Utica-Rome Speedway DIRT Sportsman feature win.

Following the Sportsman feature, it was announced that both Ross and Decker will race in a special "Grudge Match" on Sunday May 21 with $150 going to the winner. Track promoter Eric Kingsley said, "We are going to do this most weeks this summer with drivers that have incidents on the track, with a different division featured each week. I think the fans will really enjoy this."

Sportsman heats were won by Steve Davis, Tony Ross, and Willy Decker. The Sportsman Consi was won by Paul Carey.

The DIRT Pro Stock feature was lead in the early going by Scott Moyer. Moyer was pressured by Frank Twing, who took the lead on lap two. Several yellows slowed the pace, but on the move was Bret Belden and Tom Denton. Moyer, in second, was passed with several laps to go by Belden and Denton. At the checkers it was Twing for his first career Utica-Rome DIRT Pro Stock feature win, followed by Bret Belden, Tom Denton, Scott Moyer, and Jerry Holmes.

Frank Twing and Scott Moyer won pro Stock heat races.

Dave Mannise, the defending Pure Stock Track Champion, was the victor in the Pure Stock feature event. He led the whole way and was never seriously challenged. Following Mannise across the line was Jim Thomas, Mark Effner, Jeff Pastorella, and Herm Staats.

Pure Stock heats went to Dave Mannise and Chuck Cushman.

This coming Sunday night May 14, Utica-Rome will play host to the 100 lap-opening event of the Sunoco Race Fuels 358 Modified Super DIRT Series. The top stars of the DIRT 358 Modified division will be at Utica-Rome in full force. Along with the DIRT 358 Modifieds, the DIRT Sportsman, and DIRT Pro Stocks will also be on the card, sponsored by Nice N’ Easy Grocery Shoppes. The first 200 Mothers to pass through the gates will receive a carnation in honor of Mother’s Day. The gates will open at a special time of 3pm and racing will begin at 6pm. For more information, contact the speedway at (315) 829-4557 or visit the official internet website at www.newuticaromespeedway.com.

Notes: 41 Modifieds, 30 Sportsman, 21 Pro Stocks, and 22 Pure Stock were on hand to open the 2000 season. A spectacular crowd was in attendance to enjoy the first races of the year at the speedway.

NEW UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY

RACE DATE: SUNDAY MAY 7, 2000

DIRT 358 Modifieds (40 Laps ) – 1)ANDY BACHETTI, 2)Ron Holmes, 3)Pete Bicknell, 4)Ronnie Johnson, 5)Tim Clemons, 6)Jim Rothwell, 7)Roger Phelps, 8)Dale Planck, 9)Ryan Baye, 10)John Barker Jr., 11)Mark Schoonover, 12)Mike Fusco, 13)Gus Schmidt, 14)Mike Romano, 15)Matt DeLorenzo, 16)Jason Barney, 17)Steve Hulsizer, 18)Andy Romano, 19)Alton Palmer, 20)Billy Wilcox, 21)Mitch Gibbs, 22)Bill Walters, 23)John Ramsey, 24)J.J. Michaels.

DNQ – Jeff Trombley, Dan Miller, Rich Price, Mike Gillette, Steve Roberts, Jeremy Smith, Lansing Petzoldt, Jeff Kotary, Tim Murphy Jr., Bill Shantel Sr., Todd Burley, Joel Thomas, Rick Kroll, Mike Hulsizer, Pete Taylor, Joe August, Mike Jacobs.

DIRT 358 Modified Lap Leaders – Planck (1-4), Gibbs (5-8), Bachetti (9-40).

DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps) – 1)TONY ROSS, 2)Willy Decker, 3)Jamie Christian, 4)Steve Davis, 5)Dan Yankowski, 6)Steve Anderson, 7)Paul Kinney, 8)Kevin Crave, 9)Craig Pritchard, 10)John Kinsella, 11)Paul Carey, 12)Tim Mayne, 13)Jim Roberts, 14)Jim Smith, 15)Steve Way, 16)Skip French, 17)Jim Potts, 18)Geoff VanRiper, 19)Steve Kotary, 20)Lance Willix, 21)Dave Bargabos, 22)Butch Reiter, 23)Mike Button, 24)John Christian.

DNQ – Rob Coulman, Pete Nowicki Jr., Mark Tily, Ron Richardson, Tim Ross, Bill Shantel Jr.

DIRT Sportsman Lap Leaders – Davis (1-5), Tony Ross (6-20).

DIRT Pro Stocks (15 Laps) – 1)FRANK TWING, 2)Bret Belden, 3)Tom Denton, 4)Scott Moyer, 5)Jerry Holmes, 6)Wayne Archer, 7)Gerry Newman, 8)John Kiskiel, 9)Bill Knapp, 10)Dave Moyer, 11)Stan Clark, 12)John Roese, 13)Doug Grimaldi, 14)Denny Smith, 15)Gus Gould, 16)Chuck Mathews, 17)Brett Haman, 18)Jason Rood, 19)Eric Vanderhoof, 20)Richard Stevenson.

DNS – Chuck Jones.

DIRT Pro Stock Lap Leaders – S. Moyer (1-2), Twing (3-5), S. Moyer (6), Twing (7-15).

Pure Stocks (15 Laps) – 1)DAVE MANNISE, 2)Jim Thomas, 3)Mark Effner, 4)Jeff Pastorella, 5)Herm Staats, 6)Waylan Wilczek, 7)Art Newman Jr., 8)Rob Seavy, 9)Chad Ray, 10)Bill Mason, 11)Mike Kirk, 12)Scott Simzer, 13)Bill Lashen, 14)Ray Fancher, 15)Chuck Cushman, 16)Bobby Newman, 17)Paul Chichester, 18)Cali Hall, 19)Dennis Kelly, 20)Matt Spisak, 21)Jeremy Bargabos. DNS – Dave Bayes.

Pure Stock Lap Leaders – Mannise (1-15).