J.J. Michaels Becomes First Repeat Winner of the Year at New Utica-Rome

Vernon, NY…. Baldwinsville’s J.J. Michaels came from deep in the lineup and scored his second DIRT 358 Modified feature win of the season at the New Utica-Rome Speedway this past Sunday evening June 6th. Winners in the other divisions were Willy Decker in the DIRT Sportsman, Tom Denton in the DIRT Pro Stocks, and Jeff Thorp in the Pure Stocks.

The ageless Maynard Forrette jumped out to the early lead in the DIRT Modified feature, which was slowed twice at the beginning because of spins by Ted Lamb and Harry Schaffer. On each of the restarts, racing was very intense on the “Action Track of the East” and many positions were exchanged. On the eighth circuit, a pileup in turn four occurred involving the cars of Harry Schaffer, Ken Hanson, Dave House, and Mike Gillette. All cars were able to continue with minor damage. On the restart, Ron Holmes stole the lead from Maynard Forrette, and the yellow was brought out soon after that for a spin by Jeff Kotary in turn one. After a bad restart, Forrette began challenging for the lead once again, only to have the position taken from him from a high-flying J.J. Michaels. Holmes then began to feel the pressure from Michaels, who started the feature somewhere near Rome. By the fifteenth lap, Michaels made an outside move in the fourth turn that gave him the lead over Ron Holmes. A few laps later, Jeff Walton and Roger Phelps tangled in turn four, which brought out a short caution period. On the restart, Dale Planck also found the high side to his liking and he moved up to challenge Forrette for position number three. By this time, a fast Steve Hulsizer entered the battle for the top five positions.

J.J. Michaels then opened up a lead and drove his Gypsum Express No. 31 home to his second feature win of the season. After Michaels, it was Ron Holmes, Dale Planck, Steve Hulsizer, and Mitch Gibbs. After the race, Dale Planck needed some medical attention because he was suffering from heat exhaustion and also because he was driving his No. 77x without power steering.

In Victory Lane, Michaels commented, “You can run the middle, the bottom, the top, and the top is what got us here. I love this place!”

Modified heat wins went to Gus Schmidt, Mike Romano, and Maynard Forrette. Dale Planck won the Modified Consi.

The DIRT Sportsman feature event was led in the beginning by fifteen year old Paul Kinney, who ended up leaving the race during an early caution with mechanical problems. This handed the lead to Willy Decker, who for a few laps until Kevin Crave passed him. However, with a handful of laps remaining, Crave pulled to the infield with a serious overheating problem. Decker got the lead back because of Crave’s misfortune, and led the rest of the way. Behind Decker, it was Jack Miller, John Christian, Jamie Christian, and Dan Yankowski. Sportsman heats were won by Willy Decker, Bill Shantel Sr., and Dan Yankowski.

The DIRT Pro Stock feature event was hotly contested near the top of the running order. Bret Belden led the early way, but he was challenged several times by Jeff Jones and Dave Bruno. Bruno then fell out with mechanical problems, as did Gerry Newman. Jerry Holmes, Wayne Archer, Jeff Jones, and Tom Denton then began a torrid battle for position in the top five. Denton moved into the top three and went for the top spot over Bret Belden with a few laps to go. Denton was looking for his fourth feature win of the season, and he got it. After Tom Denton, it was Bret Belden, Wayne Archer, Jeff Jones, and Geoff VanRiper. Pro Stock heat wins went to Dave Bruno and Geoff VanRiper.

The Pure Stock feature event was decided by lapped traffic. Jim Thomas led most of the way until he came up on lapped traffic with a couple of laps to go. Jeff Thorp, who was behind Thomas in second, used a lapped car as a pick and took the top spot with a lap to go. Thorp was the feature winner over Thomas, Jeff Pastorella, a hard charging Herm Staats, and Waylan Wilczek.

Next Sunday June 13th at the New Utica-Rome Speedway is a regular show of DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, and Pure Stocks. Also on the racing card is the Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club. The gates will swing open at 4pm and racing will begin at 6pm. For more information, call (315) 829-4557 or visit us online at www.newuticaromespeedway.com.

Notes….A hot and humid night took its toll on the racers, crews, fans, and officials. A handful of the cars overheated and Dale Planck even had a bout of heat exhaustion. Rain was also in the area, and some raindrops were even felt during intermission. The entire four division program was completed at 9pm.

NEW UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY

RACE DATE: JUNE 6TH, 1999

DIRT 358 Modifieds (30 Laps) – 1)J.J. MICHAELS, 2)Ron Holmes, 3)Dale Planck, 4)Steve Hulsizer, 5)Mitch Gibbs, 6)Todd Burley, 7)Jim Rothwell, 8)John Barker Jr., 9)Gus Schmidt, 10)Mike Romano, 11)Dave House, 12)Roger Phelps, 13)Mike Hulsizer, 14)Pete Taylor, 15)Ken Hanson, 16)Jeff Kotary, 17)Mike Gillette, 18)Ted Lamb, 19)Jeff Walton, 20)Joel Thomas, 21)Jerry Pennock, Jr., 22)Jason Barney, 23)Harry Schaffer, 24)Rich Price, 25)Maynard Forrette.

DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps) – 1)WILLY DECKER, 2)Jack Miller, 3)John Christian, 4)Jamie Christian, 5)Dan Yankowski, 6)Bill Shantel Sr., 7)Steve Davis, 8)John Kinsella, 9)Pete Nowicki Jr., 10)Tim Mayne, 11)Dave Bargabos, 12)Jim Smith, 13)Kevin Crave, 14)Paul Carey, 15)Butch Reiter, 16)Paul Kinney, 17)Aaron Excell, 18)Brian Murphy, 19)Todd Storace, 20)Ron Richardson.

DIRT Pro Stocks (15 Laps) – 1)TOM DENTON, 2)Bret Belden, 3)Wayne Archer, 4)Jeff Jones, 5)Geoff VanRiper, 6)Bill Shantel Jr., 7)Joe Palmer, 8)Bill Knapp, 9)Jason Rood, 10)Jerry Holmes, 11)Dave Moyer, 12)Dave Bruno, 13)Ed Kotary, 14)Dave Rogers, 15)Gerry Newman, 16)Richard Stevenson.

Pure Stocks (15 Laps) – 1)JEFF THORP, 2)Jim Thomas, 3)Jeff Pastorella, 4)Herm Staats, 5)Waylan Wilczek, 6)Dave Arbes, 7)Dave Mannise, 8)Mark Effner, 9)George Schulze, 10)Jay Finch, 11)Bill Mason, 12)Art Newman, 13)Rob Seavy, 14)Bob Gloska, 15)Neil Dixon, 16)Steve Delano, 17)Dan Hatch, 18)Bill Lashing, 19)Scott Simzer, 20)Bob Gentile, 21)Chad Ray, 22)Mike Archer, 23)Chuck Cushman, 24)Mike Howe.