MITCH GIBBS, MIKE FUSCO, JERRY HOLMES, AND DOUG GRIMALDI WIN ON FINAL POINTS NIGHT AT UTICA-ROME; DALE PLANCK, JAMIE CHRISTIAN, TOM DENTON, AND DAVE MANNISE CROWNED NUR TRACK CHAMPIONS
Vernon, NY.... A night of celebration at the New Utica-Rome Speedway ended the 1999 regular season, and feature winners on the evening were North Norwich's Mitch Gibbs in the DIRT 358 Modifieds, Amsterdam's Mike Fusco in the DIRT Sportsman, West Winfield's Jerry Holmes in the DIRT Pro Stocks, and Utica's Doug Grimaldi in the Pure Stocks. In addition, with it being the final points night of the season, all NUR 1999 Track Champions were crowned amongst flying champagne and cheers of the crowd, the crews, and their families.
Mike Gillette grabbed the early lead in the DIRT 358 Modified feature, but Jeff Kotary took it away on the 5th lap. Then a four-car battle for the lead ensued, with Jason Barney going from third to first in one lap on lap 7. In addition, Mitch Gibbs took over second and began closing in on Barney. By lap 10, Gibbs caught Barney and stole the lead from him.
On a lap 13 restart, Gibbs resumed his lead, but on the move was Jim Rothwell, who took over second. On lap 21, the yellow came out for Russ Flint, who made contact with the turn four wall. Once again, Gibbs continued his lead on the restart, but Dale Planck took over second from Rothwell. Then, on lap 27, J.J. Michaels slowed and forced another caution period. When the green lights came back on for the dash to the finish, Gibbs maintained his lead, while Rothwell and Barney raced for third. When the checkered flag flew, Gibbs was the winner, followed by Planck in second, Rothwell in third, Jason Barney in fourth, and John Barker, Jr. in fifth.
After his win, Gibbs commented, "The last month of so, we have been off, but tonight went really well for us. It has been a good season and we have won a bunch of races" The win for Gibbs was his 6th on the season at NUR.
Homer's Dale Planck, as a result of a consistent season with two feature wins, was crowned the 1999 New Utica-Rome Speedway DIRT 358 Modified Track Champion. For Planck, it was his 4th career NUR Track Championship. Afterwards, Planck commented, "This is what we are here for (Track Championship). It's been a great year for the Nice N Easy team at Utica-Rome. We've won two races, but we were also very consistent, which I think helped us win the championship. I'd like to thank everyone that helped us get here this season."
Rich Price, Gus Schmidt, and Mitch Gibbs won the Modified heat races.
The DIRT Sportsman feature event took the green and all eyes were on Jamie Christian and Kevin Crave, who went into the race separated only by 2 points for the track championship. Bill Shantel, Sr. jumped out to the early lead, only to have that taken away from Mike Fusco on lap 6. Christian and Crave, along with Ron Richardson and Tim Clemons moved towards the front, while Fusco held the lead. With a few laps to go, Richardson closed in on Fusco, but Fusco was able to hold him off for his first career NUR Sportsman victory. After Fusco and Richardson, it was Jamie Christian, Tim Clemons, and Kevin Crave.
Christian's third place finish earned him the 1999 DIRT Sportsman Track Championship over Kevin Crave by a mere 6 points. Christian, from West Winfield, had 3 feature victories on the season.
Sportsman heat races went to Mike Fusco, Jim Roberts, and Paul Kinney, while Tim Mayne won the Sportsman Consi. The Lincoln Log Homes of Madison, NY Sportsman Dash for Cash was won by Mike Fusco over a fast-closing Tim Clemons and Paul Kinney.
Wayne Archer took the early lead in the DIRT Pro Stock feature event, but Jerry Holmes was running well as he took the top spot on lap 10. Holmes held the rest of the cavalry off for his third win of the season. Following Holmes, it was early leader Wayne Archer, Jason Rood, Tom Denton, and Scott Moyer.
With his 4th place finish, Bridgewater's Tom Denton became the 1999 New Utica-Rome Speedway DIRT Pro Stock Track Champion. It was his first career NUR title.
Pro Stock heat wins went to Scott Moyer and Jason Rood.
Rob Seavy took off to the early lead in the Pure Stock feature event, but on the move were Doug Grimaldi and Dave Mannise. Grimaldi took the lead near the halfway point and right behind was Mannise. However, Grimaldi was able to hold off Mannise for his first career NUR Pure Stock feature win. After Grimaldi and Mannise, it was Jim Thomas, Jeff Pastorella, and Jeff Thorp. Grimaldi, ironically, was a recent attendee of the Bob McCreadie Driving School at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport this past April. Mannise, from Fulton, was crowned the 1999 New Utica-Rome Speedway Pure Stock Track Champion. It was Mannise's 7th career NUR Pure Stock title.
Jeff Pastorella, Doug Grimaldi, and Dave Mannise won the Pure Stock heats.
Powder Puff races were held for the Pure Stock and Pro Stock divisions. Vernon's Lori Lewis won the Pure Stocks and Canastota's Tammy Jeffris won the Pro Stocks. All of the women enjoyed the opportunity to race at the speedway, and the winners were very excited to say the least.
Next Sunday, September 19th, the New Utica-Rome Speedway is silent with no racing. However, the final show of the season is slated for Friday September 24th, and on that evening will be the Hoosier Tire / Sunoco Racing Fuels Mr. DIRT 358 Modified Championship Trial 100 lap event. Also on the card are the DIRT Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, and a gigantic Demolition Derby after the races. In addition, Motorcycle Stuntman, Sky Lungston, will be attempting a major daredevil feat during intermission. He will attempt to jump the 96 foot long infield pond, which will be on fire, on his motorcycle. Do not miss the final show of the 1999 season at NUR. It has been a great year, and it should be sent out with a bang. The gates on Friday September 24th will open at 5pm and racing will begin at 7pm. For more information, call the speedway at (315) 829-4557 or visit the official website at www.newuticaromespeedway.com.
Notes.... Congratulations to 1999 NUR Track Champions - Dale Planck, Jamie Christian, Tom Denton, and Dave Mannise.... Congratulations to NUR Head Tech Inspector, Jon Button, on winning a nostalgic antique midget race at Watkins Glen International Speedway this past weekend.
NEW UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
"NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS"
RACE DATE: SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH, 1999
DIRT 358 Modifieds (30 Laps) - 1)MITCH GIBBS, 2)Dale Planck, 3)Jim Rothwell, 4)Jason Barney, 5)John Barker, Jr., 6)Ron Holmes, 7)Roger Phelps, 8)Steve Hulsizer, 9)Paul Jensen, 10)Ted Lamb, Jr., 11)Jeff Walton, 12)Jeff Kotary, 13)Dave House, 14)Rich Price, 15)Mike Hulsizer, 16)Brian McKenzie, 17)Joel Thomas, 18)Mike Gillette, 19)Ed Richer, 20)J.J. Michaels, 21)Billy Gray, 22)Pete Taylor, 23)Russ Flint, 24)Gus Schmidt, 25)Bob Sitterly, 26)Andy Romano.
DIRT 358 Modified 1999 Track Champion - DALE PLANCK.
DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps) - 1)MIKE FUSCO, 2)Ron Richardson, 3)Jamie Christian, 4)Tim Clemons, 5)Kevin Crave, 6)Bill Shantel, Sr., 7)Willy Decker, 8)Jack Miller, 9)John Kinsella, 10)Jim Roberts, 11)Paul Carey, 12)Clayton Brewer, 13)Jimmy Johnson, 14)Butch Reiter, 15)Craig Pritchard, 16)Dave Bargabos, 17)Chad Phelps, 18)Todd Storace, 19)Dean Bower, 20)Dan Yankowski, 21)Rob Coulman, 22)Paul Kinney, 23)Jim Smith, 24)Brian Johnson, 25)Pete Nowicki, Jr., 26)Tim Mayne.
DIRT Sportsman Dash For Cash (5 Laps) - 1)MIKE FUSCO, 2)Tim Clemons, 3)Paul Kinney, 4)Bill Shantel, Sr., 5)Jim Roberts, 6)Pete Nowicki, Jr.
DIRT Sportsman 1999 Track Champion - JAMIE CHRISTIAN.
DIRT Pro Stocks (15 Laps) - 1)JERRY HOLMES, 2)Wayne Archer, 3)Jason Rood, 4)Tom Denton, 5)Scott Moyer, 6)Gerry Newman, 7)Geoff VanRiper, 8)Jim Normoyle, 9)Bill Knapp, 10)Bret Belden, 11)Phlan Hart, 12)John Roese, 13)Bill Shantel, Jr., 14)Jeff Witt, 15)Gus Gould, 16)Chuck Jones, 17)Brett Haman, 18)John Kiskiel, 19)Dave Moyer.
DIRT Pro Stock 1999 Track Champion - TOM DENTON.
Pure Stocks (15 Laps) - 1)DOUG GRIMALDI, 2)Dave Mannise, 3)Jim Thomas, 4)Jeff Pastorella, 5)Jeff Thorp, 6)Rob Seavy, 7)Jay Finch, 8)Waylan Wilczek, 9)Chuck Cushman, 10)Herm Staats, 11)Alan Graham, 12)Bill Mason, 13)Bill Trexler, Sr., 14)Bill Gibson, 15)Joe Proctor, 16)Art Newman, Jr., 17)Dennis Kelly, 18)George Wright, 19)Les Lewis, 20)Mark Effner, 21)Dan Hatch, 22)Dan Congden, 23)Neil Dixon, 24)Brian Meadows.
Pure Stock 1999 Track Champion - DAVE MANNISE.
Pro Stock Powder Puff - 1)TAMMY JEFFRISS, 2)Sara Durant, 3)Justine Rood, 4)Garret Denton, 5)Patti Moyer, 6)Terri Witt.
Pure Stock Powder Puff - 1)LORI LEWIS, 2)Karen Mason, 3)Mary Trexler, 4)Teresa White, 5)Melody Wilczek, 6)Ethel Cheeseman, 7)Ruth Duheme, 8)Doris Wright, 9)Vikki Wilczak, 10)Vicky Thomas.