TODD BURLEY SCORES FIRST EVER FEATURE WIN AT NEW UTICA-ROME
Vernon, NY.... Tracey Road Equipment presented a special midweek show at the New Utica-Rome Speedway on Thursday July 29th, and winners on the evening included Spencerport's Todd Burley in the DIRT 358 Modifieds, Gloversville's Tim Clemons in the DIRT Sportsman, and Westmoreland's Jeff Pastorella in the Pure Stocks. This was the racing program that was originally rained out on Mother's Day.
The DIRT 358 Modified feature event was a 50 Lap showdown for a guaranteed spot in Fulton Speedway's Victoria 200 and Super DIRT Week's 358 Modified Championship. By the luck of the draw, Mitch Gibbs and Roger Phelps led the feature lineup Starter Chip Burdick's green flag. Gibbs, the point leader going into the race, opened up an early lead and started to pull away from second place running Bobby Varin. The first caution was thrown when John Barker, Jr. spun in turn one on lap 12.
On the restart coming out of turn four, Barker and John Ramsey made contact and another yellow flag was thrown. The field was realigned and on the next restart, J.J Michaels shot himself out of a cannon and passed Roger Phelps. Then, Ron Holmes, Michaels, and Steve Hulsizer began a torrid battle for the third and fourth spots. Out of nowhere came Todd Burley, who began a war with Ron Holmes around the 23rd lap. Both Holmes and Burley exchanged positions several times. J.J. Michaels then moved into the third spot from Steve Hulsizer a few laps later. On the 30th lap, Ron Holmes slowed and moved his Modified into the infield, ending his good run.
Bobby Varin, in his first ever visit to NUR, was rim-riding on the high side while he was in the second spot to Mitch Gibbs. However, J.J. Michaels was on the move and began closing in on Varin. On the 34th lap, Mitch Gibbs, who was checked away from the rest of the pack, slowed going into turn three, which brought out a yellow. Gibbs was done for the night with an undisclosed problem on his modified, which left Bobby Varin the race leader.
On the restart, Todd Burley caught J.J. Michaels napping and took the second spot away from him. A lap later, Burley became the leader after a nice pass on Varin going down the front stretch. The next yellow flag came a lap later when Rich Price spun his modified. During the caution, Brett Hearn, a former track champion in his first visit to the speedway in two years, went pit side with unknown problems on his modified.
On the restart, Dale Planck, Varin, and Michaels went three wide for position. Planck, who had come from deep in the pack, took the runner up spot. They exchanged positions several times the next few laps, but they were slowed on lap 40 when Harry Shaffer spun.
The next restart saw a battle for second with Michaels and Varin, with Michaels winning out. With five laps to go, Burley had checked away from the pack, but Planck took second away from Michaels.
At the finish line it was Burley across first for his first ever New Utica-Rome feature win. Following Burley it was Dale Planck in second, J.J. Michaels in third, Bobby Varin in fourth, and John Barker, Jr. in fifth.
With his finish, Burley received a guaranteed qualifying spot for Fulton Speedway's Victoria 200. Burley already has a guaranteed spot for Super DIRT Week's 358 Modified Championship, so second place finisher Dale Planck was given that spot. Planck, with his great run and the misfortune of Mitch Gibbs, retook the points lead by three points.
In Victory Lane, a happy Burley commented, "We have been struggling a lot lately, so this is great for our team."
DIRT 358 Modified Heat wins went to J.J. Michaels, Mitch Gibbs, and Ron Holmes. Ted Lamb won the Modified consolation race.
The DIRT Sportsman feature even was lead most of the way by Tim Clemons, who was a hired gun in the John Bellinger backup car. Clemons opened up a sizable lead and held off NUR first-timer Chris Schultz off for the win. For Clemons, it was his first feature win at NUR in about seven years. In Victory Lane, Clemons commented, "I really have to credit speedway management for doing a great job and for the beautiful racing surface that was prepared for us. I really like racing here." Following Clemons at the checkers, it was Chris Schultz, Matt DeLorenzo, Jack Miller, and Mike Button.
Sportsman heat wins went to Mike Button, Tim Clemons, and Matt DeLorenzo. The Sportsman consolation race was won by John Bellinger.
The Pure Stock feature event could very well have been the most exciting race of the night. Jeff Thorp grabbed the early lead, but Dave Mannise caught him and took the top spot. However, Thorp regained the lead, but on the move was Jeff Pastorella. Pastorella made it a three-car battle for the lead, with the drivers going three wide several times. In the end, Pastorella won out in a close finish over Dave Mannise, Jeff Thorp, Chad Ray, and Herm Staats. Pure Stock heat races went to Herm Staats and Jeff Thorp.
This coming Sunday August 1st at the New Utica-Rome Speedway, Waste Systems International will present a regular show of DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, and Pure Stocks. Also on the card is Spectator Drag Races.
Next Sunday August 8th at NUR, the Mr. DIRT Pro Stock Series will visit the speedway for the first time ever. The Pro Stock feature will be 25 laps in length and will be a special qualifier for the Rolling Wheels Raceway World Series. Also on the card are the DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, and Pure Stocks. Information on any of these race nights is available by calling the speedway at (315) 829-4557 or by visiting the speedway's internet homepage at www.newuticaromespeedway.com.
Notes.... Don't believe the weatherman when you check the forecast for a race night in Vernon at NUR. The forecast for the past half dozen races have called for a chance of rain, but none has fallen. The outside wall around the speedway was painted in an alternating red and white fashion during the past week, and everyone gave it rave reviews. A new concession trailer was added near the middle of the pit area, and it was a very nice addition to NUR. Dane Keller, an IMCA Modified driver at Brewerton Speedway and a safety crewmember at Fulton and NUR, has announced that he will attempt to jump the infield pond at NUR with a Grand Marquis car during the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT 358 Modified Series show on August 25th.
NEW UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
TRACEY ROAD EQUIPMENT MIDWEEK SPECIAL: JULY 29TH, 1999
DIRT 358 Modifieds (50 Laps) - 1)TODD BURLEY, 2)Dale Planck, 3)J.J. Michaels, 4)Bobby Varin, 5)John Barker, Jr., 6)Steve Hulsizer, 7)Jeff Walton, 8)Roger Phelps, 9)Jim Rothwell, 10)Andy Romano, 11)Mike Gillette, 12)Mike Hulsizer, 13)Pete Taylor, 14)Rich Price, 15)Harry Shaffer, 16)Brett Hearn, 17)Mitch Gibbs, 18)Gus Schmidt, 19)Ron Holmes, 20)Jim Phelps, 21)John Ramsey, 22)Ted Lamb, 23)Rick Miller, 24)Jason Barney. DNQ - Joel Thomas, Ryan Baye, Steve Way.
DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps) - 1)TIM CLEMONS, 2)Chris Schultz, 3)Matt DeLorenzo, 4)Jack Miller, 5)Mike Button, 6)Dan Yankowski, 7)Willy Decker, 8)Kevin Crave, 9)John Kinsella, 10)John Bellinger, 11)Ron Richardson, 12)Jamie Christian, 13)Paul Carey, 14)Ben Tucker, 15)Pete Campione, 16)Bill Shantel, Sr., 17)Butch Reiter, 18)Steve Davis, 19)Tim Mayne, 20)Tony Farone, 21)Brian Murphy, 22)Jim Smith, 23)Stuart Friesen, 24)Joe Rando. DNQ - Paul Kinney, Tim Ross, Pete Nowicki, Jr., Todd Storace, Dave Bargabos.
Pure Stocks (15 Laps) - 1)JEFF PASTORELLA, 2)Dave Mannise, 3)Jeff Thorp, 4)Chad Ray, 5)Herm Staats, 6)Jim Thomas, 7)Bill Mason, 8)Art Newman, 9)Jay Finch, 10)Steve Kotary, 11)Mark Effner, 12)Waylan Wilczek, 13)Rob Seavy, 14)Doug Grimaldi, 15)Dan Congden, 16)Scott Simzer, 17)Greg Bean, 18)George Schulze.