J.J. MICHAELS, KEVIN CRAVE, SCOTT MOYER AND JEFF PASTORELLA WIN AT NEW UTICA-ROME
ELS SPRINT CHECKERS TO RICH WOOD
Vernon, NY.... A standing room only crowd came out to the New Utica-Rome Speedway this past Sunday night for the Labor Day Weekend Extravaganza, and they were treated to some spectacular DIRT Motorsports Sanctioned racing action. Feature winners on the night were J.J. Michaels in the DIRT 358 Modifieds, Rich Wood in the ELS Sprint Cars, Kevin Crave in the DIRT Sportsman, Scott Moyer in the DIRT Pro Stocks, and Jeff Pastorella in the Pure Stocks.
Mitch Gibbs and Ron Holmes led the DIRT 358 Modified (non-point race) feature event down to the flags of Starter Chip Burdick, and Holmes grabbed the early lead. Several minor caution periods slowed the early going, but Holmes was able to open up a lead on the fast half-mile. Baldwinsville's J.J. Michaels was moving up into the top five, and he got the third spot on lap 5. On a lap 10 restart, Mitch Gibbs moved alongside Holmes and began a crowd-pleasing duel for position. However, Gibbs made contact with the fourth turn wall a few laps later and Holmes retook the lead, while Gibbs lost a few positions. Several more cautions slowed the action, and on a lap 18 restart, Michaels began giving Holmes a run for his money. However, on lap 24, Holmes drifted high, enabling Michaels to take the lead. Holmes retook the lead a lap later, and looked as though he would be heading to Victory Lane once again this season. Then, with 3 to go, Holmes hit some bad luck when his Modified lost power, giving the lead back to Michaels. Michaels, who started in the 11th position, led the rest of the way and went on to his 4th win of the season at NUR. Following Michaels across the finish line were Mitch Gibbs, Jeff Walton, Jim Rothwell, and John Barker, Jr.
Afterwards, Michaels commented, "I was racing with Ronnie on the bottom part of the track, but I thought the top was better. When I moved up, I was much better off, and here we are with another win!"
Modified heat wins went to J.J. Michaels, Rich Price, and Paul Jensen.
The ELS Sprint Car feature was a fast-paced event which would decide the 1999 ELS Sprint Car Champion. Enfield, Connecticut's Rich Wood jumped out to the early lead. Several minor yellows slowed the action, but Wood was able to hold of the spirited challenges of Gordy Button. At the finish line, it was Rich Wood over Button, Doug Emery, Rick Wilson, and Eric Crocker.
The ELS heat race winners were Erin Crocker, Dan DeCracker, and Rich Wood.
Fozzie's Sports Bar and Grill in Vernon presented a special ELS Dash for Cash, and the winner was none other than 18-year-old female driver, Eric Crocker. Crocker was tremendously applauded by the fans, which really appreciated her effort in holding off Rich Wood for the big win. For the record, it was Crocker's 5th time in a sprint car!
Bill Shantel, Sr. took the early lead in the DIRT Sportsman feature, and on the move a few laps later in the outside lane was Willy Decker. Decker held his lead for a couple laps, but then he suddenly slowed down the frontstretch with an undisclosed problem on his Sportsman. This handed the lead to Shantel, who resumed his lead of the race. West Winfield's Kevin Crave made a pass on Shantel for the lead when a quick caution came out for a slowing Tim Clemons. When the action resumed, Crave continued his lead and led the rest of the way for his second win of the season at NUR. Following Crave it was Dan Yankowski, Jamie Christian, John Kinsella, and Tim Mayne. Crave's win moves him to within 2 points of point lead Jamie Christian.
Sportsman heat races were won by Bill Shantel, Sr., Dan Yankowski, and Jack Miller, while Sportsman Consis were won by Tim Mayne and Steve Davis.
The Pro Stock feature was an action filled affair, with Jim Normoyle taking the early lead. Gerry Newman took the lead from Normoyle on the 2nd lap, but her lead was kept short when she spun on lap 4. This gave the lead to Tom Denton, who was looking to pad his track points lead. Denton led the latter stages of the race until Oneida's Scott Moyer caught him with a few laps to go. Moyer made a bonsai move on Denton with a lap to go to take his first Pro Stock checkered flag in many years at the speedway. After Moyer, it was Denton, Jerry Holmes, Phlan Hart, and Wayne Archer.
Pro Stock heat wins went to Gerry Newman and Jim Normoyle.
Chad Ray grabbed the early lead in the Pure Stock feature, but Westmoreland's Jeff Pastorella took the top spot on the 5th circuit. Pastorella led the rest of the way for his 5th feature win of the season. After Pastorella, it was Jeff Thorp, Dave Mannise, Waylan Wilczek, and Jay Finch rounding out the top five.
Pastorella, Finch, and Mannise won the Pure Stock heat races.
The New Utica-Rome Speedway "Night of Champions" is set for this Sunday September 12th, with the gates opening at 4pm and racing beginning at 6pm. It will be the final regular show of the season, and the Track Championships for every division will be on the line. In addition, there will also be a Powder Puff race for all the ladies who have always wanted to try their hands at racing! For more information, call the speedway at (315) 829-4557 or visit the official internet website at www.newuticaromespeedway.com.
Notes.... A total of 134 cars between all the divisions were in the jam-packed pit area. After the races were over for the evening, the race fans were treated to a spectacular fireworks display provided by the folks from American Fireworks.
NEW UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
LABOR DAY WEEKEND SPECTACULAR
RACE DATE: SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1999
DIRT 358 Modifieds (30 Laps) - 1)J.J. MICHAELS, 2)Mitch Gibbs, 3)Jeff Walton, 4)Jim Rothwell, 5)John Barker, Jr., 6)Dave House, 7)Paul Jensen, 8)Rich Price, 9)Mike Hulsizer, 10)Pete Taylor, 11)John Ramsey, 12)Jeff Kotary, 13)Mike Gillette, 14)Ryan Bartlett, 15)Joel Thomas, 16)Jason Hotaling, 17)Ed Richer, 18)Gus Schmidt, 19)Ron Holmes, 20)Randy Storms, 21)Mike Jacobs, 22)Roger Phelps, 23)Doug Fuller, 24)Dave Townes, 25)Mark Schoonover, 26)Ted Lamb, Jr., 27)Russ Flint.
ELS Sprint Cars (20 Laps) - 1)RICH WOOD, 2)Gordy Button, 3)Doug Emery, 4)Rick Wilson, 5)Erin Crocker, 6)Dan DeCracker, 7)Wayne Patterson, 8)George Ely, 9)Brian Dunigan, 10)Lee Sanders, 11)R.C. Faigle, 12)Warren Alexson, 13)Steve Rukowski, 14)Bill Bailey, 15)Bob Wade, 16)Brian Grisel, 17)Darrell Bragman, 18)Mike Barlow, 19)Bill Vivian, 20)Dave Wickham, 21)Russ Bennett, 22)John Leito, 23)John Karklin, Jr., 24)Roger Ferris, 25)Brian Harrington, 26)Bill Goertin.
DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps) - 1)KEVIN CRAVE, 2)Dan Yankowski, 3)Jamie Christian, 4)John Kinsella, 5)Tim Mayne, 6)Jim Smith, 7)Jim Roberts, 8)John LaClair, 9)Ron Richardson, 10)Dave Bargabos, 11)Jim Johnson, Jr., 12)Paul Kinney, 13)Steve Davis, 14)Paul Carey, 15)Tim Clemons, 16)Jack Miller, 17)Jeremiah Munson, 18)Craig Pritchard, 19)Bill Shantel, Sr., 20)Ryan Odasz, 21)Willy Decker, 22)Brian Johnson, 23)Tim VanBrocklin, 24)Mike Fusco.
DIRT Pro Stocks (15 Laps) - 1)SCOTT MOYER, 2)Tom Denton, 3)Jerry Holmes, 4)Phlan Hart, 5)Wayne Archer, 6)Gerry Newman, 7)Jeff Jones, 8)Bill Knapp, 9)Geoff VanRiper, 10)Jim Normoyle, 11)Bret Belden, 12)Chuck Jones, 13)Jeff Witt, 14)Harold Humphreys, 15)Brett Haman, 16)Joe Palmer, 17)Bill Shantel, Jr., 18)Jason Rood, 19)Dave Moyer, 20)Dave Bruno.
Pure Stocks (15 Laps) - 1)JEFF PASTORELLA, 2)Jeff Thorp, 3)Dave Mannise, 4)Waylan Wilczek, 5)Jay Finch, 6)Bill Mason, 7)Herm Staats, 8)Doug Grimaldi, 9)Art Newman, Jr., 10)Alan Graham, 11)Bill Gibson, 12)Mike Howe, 13)Dennis Kelly, 14)Les Lewis, 15)Brian Meadows, 16)Rob Seavy, 17)Carl Wright, 18)Chad Ray, 19)Mark Effner, 20)Jim Thomas, 21)Dave Horning, 22)Scott Simzer, 23)Don Kimball, 24)Dan Hatch, 25)Chuck Cushman, 26)Dan Congden, 27)Ellis Schaffer.