GUS SCHMIDT WINS THRILLER MODIFIED FEATURE
Vernon, NY.... "The Heavy Hauler" Gus Schmidt, from Liverpool, scored an upset victory by inches over Dale Planck in the DIRT 358 Modified feature event this past Sunday evening August 1st at the New Utica-Rome Speedway. Other winners on the night were West Winfield's Jamie Christian in the DIRT Sportsman, Illion's Wayne Archer in the DIRT Pure Stocks, and Vernon's Jeff Thorp in the Pure Stocks.
Ted Lamb, Jr. and Jason Barney led the DIRT 358 Modified feature down to the flags of Starter Chip Burdick, and Lamb grabbed the early lead. The race was slowed in the early going when Randy Storms spun coming out of turn two. On the restart, J.J. Michaels and John Barker, Jr. battled for position in the top ten. Lamb had opened up a small lead, but on lap 9, he slowed in turn one and brought out a yellow flag. He was done for the night with mechanical problems.
On the restart, J.J. Michaels became the leader and he led the next several laps while Barker and Steve Hulsizer battled for the fourth position. The next yellow flag then came out on lap 13 for another spin by Randy Storms. Then, for the second time in the feature, bad luck befell the race leader. J.J. Michaels slowed during the caution with smoke showing on the tail side of his modified. He was pushed into the pits and he reported out for the night.
On the restart, Gus Schmidt, who had started sixth, became the leader while John Barker, Jr. took the second spot. Then, John Ramsey, who was running well, entered the fray and exchanged spots with Schmidt several times. Dale Planck then began moving into the top five spots, and he took the third spot from John Barker on the 16th circuit. Then, a yellow flew on lap 19 for Steve Hulsizer, who banged into the third turn wall.
The next restart saw John Ramsey shoot himself out of a cannon and challenge Gus Schmidt for the lead, but Schmidt kept the top spot. John Ramsey then went over the outer dirt berm in turn one, which gave the second spot to Dale Planck and third to Ron Holmes on lap 21.
By the 23rd lap, Planck had caught Schmidt, and a tremendous battle ensued that would last the rest of the race. However, the action was slowed a lap later when debris on the backstretch forced the yellow lights to be turned on once again. The restart saw the exciting battle between race leader Schmidt and Planck continue, with Ron Holmes not too far behind in third. On lap 26, Planck robbed the lead away from Schmidt, but Schmidt was on his toes and grabbed the lead back on lap 27. With one lap to go, Schmidt was the leader, but a caution was thrown for Steve Hulsizer who had problems getting into the pit area.
The final restart saw Dale Planck move to the inside of Schmidt, who was running the topside of the speedway. Planck edged ahead of Schmidt down the backstretch and through turns three and four, but Schmidt never gave up. Coming out of turn four, Schmidt put his foot to the firewall and edged Planck by inches at the start finish line. The standing and cheering race fans, which had just seen a classical hard-fought NUR Modified feature event, erupted in roar approval for the efforts put forth by the drivers. After Schmidt and Planck, it was Ron Holmes, Jeff Walton, and John Barker, Jr.
Afterwards, a very happy Gus Schmidt commented, "Yeah, this car is an awesome car on the top side. It was fun racing with Dale, and it was a great race for the fans." The win was Schmidt's first of the season and second career NUR Modified feature victory.
Modified heat wins went to John Ramsey, Steve Hulsizer, and J.J. Michaels.
Jamie Christian became a three-time feature winner on the season at NUR in the DIRT Sportsman division. Christian took the lead from Tim Mayne halfway through the race and led the rest of the way. Following Christian across the finish line was a fast-closing Ron Richardson in second, Jim Smith in third, Tim Mayne in fourth, and Willy Decker in fifth. Sportsman heat races were won by Kevin Crave, Tim Mayne, and Ron Richardson, while Tim Clemons won the Sportsman Consi.
Wayne Archer won his first feature event of the season in the DIRT Pro Stock feature event. The event was marred by a spectacular crash when race leader Jerry Holmes and second place driver Bill Knapp made contact coming out of the fourth turn. Holmes ended up flipping several times while Knapp made contact with the outside wall. Also involved were Tom Denton and Bret Belden, but all drivers were ok. With a few laps to go, Wayne Archer went side by side with Dave Bruno for the win, but Archer held off the strong challenge from Bruno at the end of the race. After Archer and Bruno, it was Scott Moyer, Gerry Newman, and Ed Kotary. Pro Stock heats were won by Jerry Holmes and Gerry Newman.
Jeff Thorp won his fifth feature of the season at NUR in the Pure Stock division after taking the lead on the 8th lap and holding the lead the rest of the way. Following Thorp across the line was Dave Mannise, Chuck Cushman, Waylan Wilczek, and Bill Mason. Jeff Pastorella, Dave Mannise, and Rob Seavy won the Pure Stock heat races.
The Spectator Drag Races were run in-between the Sportsman and Modified features, and they surely were very popular with all NUR Race Fans. Fifteen drivers made the call and lined up for the drags, which were held from deep in turn four all the way to the flagstand. The racers were eliminated if they lost, and the final contestants raced one whole lap around the speedway to determine the overall winner. Darryl Saunders, from Rochester and driving a late 70's Chevy Pickup, was the winner over Dave Nimey, from Whitesboro, in a '79 Chevy Camaro.
Next Sunday August 8th at the New Utica-Rome Speedway, the Mr. DIRT Pro Stock Series will visit the speedway for the first time ever. The 25 lap feature event will pay $600 to the winner and will offer a guaranteed qualifying spot for the Rolling Wheels Raceway World Series in September. In addition, there will be a Pro Stock Dash for Cash. Also on the card is a regular show for the DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, and Pure Stocks. The gates will open at 4pm and racing will begin at 6pm. For more information, call the speedway at (315) 829-4557 or visit the speedway's internet homepage at www.newuticaromespeedway.com.
Notes... It was a picture perfect evening for racing at NUR. Track conditions continue to be very smooth and tacky. Coming up on Wednesday August 25th is the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT 358 Modified Series 99 lap event.
NEW UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
RACE DATE: AUGUST 1ST, 1999
DIRT 358 Modifieds (30 Laps) - 1)GUS SCHMIDT, 2)Dale Planck, 3)Ron Holmes, 4)Jeff Walton, 5)John Barker, Jr., 6)Jim Rothwell, 7)Mitch Gibbs, 8)Roger Phelps, 9)Andy Romano, 10)Mike Gillette, 11)Pete Taylor, 12)Doug Fuller, 13)John Ramsey, 14)Jeff Kotary, 15)Mike Hulsizer, 16)Randy Storms, 17)Joel Thomas, 18)Steve Hulsizer, 19)Jason Barney, 20)J.J. Michaels, 21)Ted Lamb, Jr.
DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps) - 1)JAMIE CHRISTIAN, 2)Ron Richardson, 3)Jim Smith, 4)Tim Mayne, 5)Willy Decker, 6)John Kinsella, 7)Mike Button, 8)Kevin Crave, 9)Dave Bargabos, 10)Dan Yankowski, 11)Clayton Brewer, Jr., 12)Pete Nowicki, Jr., 13)Jack Miller, 14)Wayne Side, 15)Todd Storace, 16)Paul Carey, 17)Dean Bower, 18)Bill Bourquin, 19)Brian Murphy, 20)Paul Kinney, 21)Bill Shantel, Sr., 22)Tim Clemons, 23)Pete Campione, 24)Steve Davis. DNQ - Butch Reiter, Darel Hagen, Brian Johnson, Geoff Carner, Brian Whittredge, Jim Roberts.
DIRT Pro Stocks (15 Laps) - 1)WAYNE ARCHER, 2)Dave Bruno, 3)Scott Moyer, 4)Gerry Newman, 5)Ed Kotary, 6)John Roese, 7)Jason Rood, 8)Geoff VanRiper, 9)Bill Shantel, Jr., 10)Jeff Jones, 11)Stan Clark, 12)Jay Resch, 13)Joe Palmer, 14)Tom Denton, 15)Dave Moyer, 16)Chuck Jones, 17)Jim Potts, 18)Jerry Holmes, 19)Bret Belden, 20)Bill Knapp.
Pure Stocks (15 Laps) - 1)JEFF THORP, 2)Dave Mannise, 3)Chuck Cushman, 4)Waylan Wilczek, 5)Bill Mason, 6)Mark Effner, 7)Jim Thomas, 8)Lou Levea, 9)Rob Seavy, 10)Chad Ray, 11)Jeff Pastorella, 12)Tom Donahue, 13)Art Newman, Jr., 14)Les Lewis, 15)Doug Grimaldi, 16)Herm Staats, 17)Bob Gloska, 18)Greg Bean, 19)Jay Finch, 20)Don Kimball, 21)Dan Hatch, 22)Scott Simzer, 23)Bill Leonard, 24)Mike Howe. DNS - Matt Spisak, Carl Wright, Bill Lashing.