Planck and Button Make Triumphant Return To Victory Lane at New Utica-Rome
Vernon, NY…. Fireworks, both on and off the speedway, were the story of the evening this past Sunday night May 30th at the New Utica-Rome Speedway. The Memorial Weekend Spectacular, as it was called, brought a capacity crowd out to the speedway to enjoy a great program of racing and entertainment. Dale Planck made a triumphant return to Victory Lane in the DIRT 358 Modifieds as well as Gordy Button, who scored the ELS Sprint Car victory. Other winners on the night were Ron Richardson in the DIRT Sportsman, Jerry Holmes in the DIRT Pro Stocks, and Dave Mannise in the Pure Stocks.
The Modifieds were let out of the starting gates to the flags of Starter Chip Burdick, and Pete Taylor jumped out to the early lead. Gus Schmidt made a good move two laps later and took over the lead from Taylor. The first yellow was brought out several laps later for Maynard Forrette and Ted Lamb, who hooked bumpers on the frontstretch. On the restart, Dale Planck began moving into the top five with Ron Holmes. Planck continued his fine run and moved into the second position on lap ten. A lap later, Planck had reeled in Schmidt and passed him with a great move on the outside groove. On lap twenty-one, Schmidt made contact with a lapped car and ended up facing the outside wall on the front stretch. Schmidt was done for the night. On the restart, Mitch Gibbs, who came from deep in the pack, took the second spot. A few laps later, Todd Burley moved into the top three and took the second spot away from Gibbs. Planck, who had opened up a sizeable lead, drove the final few laps to the checkered flag. It was Planck’s first feature win at NUR since September of 1997, and it was a great win for the Planck team who are sponsored by Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes. In Victory Lane, an excited Planck summed it up very well by saying, “It’s been a long time since we have been here!” Modified heat wins went to Gus Schmidt, Jason Barney, and Ron Holmes, while Jeff Walton won the consolation.
The ELS Sprint Car feature was a wild affair. R.C. Faigle was the early leader, but on a lap eight restart, Doug Emery took the lead. On the move in the outside lane was “The Panic Button” Gordy Button, a former Modified driver at NUR and very popular with the fans. Gordy took the second position from Faigle on the lap eleven restart and pressured Doug Emery for the lead. To the approval of the NUR crowd, Button got the top spot one lap later. With a couple of laps to go, a spectactular incident occurred when Eric Robinson caught a wheel just past the starter’s stand. Robinson did a scary series of at least six-barrel rolls and came to a rest deep in turn one on top of the outside wall in the grassy area. He was uninjured in the accident. On the restart, Gordy Button continued his lead and brought the ELS Sprint Cars home to the checkered flag. After Button, it was Rich Wood, Doug Emery, R.C. Faigle, and John Karklin Jr. George Ely, Gordy Button, and Lee Sanders won the ELS Heats, while the ELS Dash For Cash went to Gordy Button.
A happy Ron Richardson, who has had some tough luck recently, won the DIRT Sportsman feature event. After Richardson, it was John Christian, Jamie Christian, Tim Mayne, and Jack Miller. Heat wins went to Pete Nowicki Jr., John Christian, and Bill Shantel Sr.
The DIRT Pro Stock feature was won by Jerry Holmes, who did his best to keep Tom Denton from winning four features in a row at NUR. After Holmes and Denton, it was Jason Rood, Dave Bruno, and Wayne Archer. Pro Stock heats went to Dave Bruno and Jerry Holmes.
Jeff Pastorella lead most of the way in the Pure Stock feature until a soft tire sent him spinning into the wall on a restart with two laps to go. This handed the win to Dave Mannise, who garnered his first victory of 1999 at NUR. After Mannise, it was Mark Effner, Jim Thomas, Dave Arbes, and Jay Finch. Pure Stock heats were won by Jeff Pastorella, Mark Effner, and Dave Arbes.
After the racing action was over for the night, all eyes became focused towards the heavens as a gigantic fireworks display lit the skies of the Vernon, NY area. It was a great way to end the evening of racing and to celebrate the great weather and Memorial Weekend.
Next Sunday at the New Utica-Rome Speedway is a regular show of DIRT 358 Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, and Pure Stocks. 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: Entertainment during the intermission was provided by announcer Shane Andrews, who had the NUR race fans do the first ever “New Utica-Rome Sit and Wave.” A great time was had by all during intermission, especially when Track Owner Eric Kingsley sprayed Shane ( who was on the track) with the water truck.
NEW UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
MEMORIAL WEEKEND SPECTACTULAR
MAY 30TH, 1999
DIRT 358 Modifieds (30 Laps) – 1)DALE PLANCK, 2)Todd Burley, 3)Mitch Gibbs, 4)Mike Romano, 5)Jeff Walton, 6)Jason Barney, 7)John Barker, 8)Billy Wilcox, 9)Pete Taylor, 10)Ted Lamb, 11)Steve Hulsizer, 12)Roger Phelps, 13)Mike Hulsizer, 14)Mike Gillette, 15)Jim Rothwell, 16)Ken Hansen, 17)Ed Richer, 18)Jeff Kotary, 19)J.J. Michaels, 20)Ron Holmes, 21)Gus Schmidt, 22)Steve Way, 23)Dave House, 24)Maynard Forrette.
ELS Sprint Cars (20 Laps) – 1)GORDY BUTTON, 2)Rich Wood, 3)Doug Emery, 4)R.C. Faigle, 5)John Karklin Jr., 6)George Ely, 7)Mike Barlow, 8)Mike Miller, 9)Steve Rukowski, 10)Russ Bennett, 11)Warren Alexson, 12)Wayne Patterson, 13)Eric Robinson, 14)Bob Cain, 15)Brian Griswal, 16)Rich Zagata, 17)Bill Bailey, 18)Billy Bradshaw, 19)Ben Bausler, 20)Lee Sanders, 21)John Lieto, 22)Steve Harmon, 23)Bob Waid, 24)Bill Vivian, 25)Rich Hart, 26)John Bridge, 27)Darrell Bragman.
DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps) – 1)RON RICHARDSON, 2)John Christian, 3)Jamie Christian, 4)Tim Mayne, 5)Jack Miller, 6)Kevin Crave, 7)Bill Shantel Sr., 8)Steve Davis, 9)Scott MaCue, 10)Brian Whittredge, 11)Tim VanBrocklin, 12)Dave Bargabos, 13)John Constantino, 14)Butch Reiter, 15)Jim Smith, 16)Willy Decker, 17)Dan Yankowski, 18)Pete Nowicki Jr., 19)Paul Kinney, 20)Brian Johnson, 21)John Kinsella, 22)Paul Carey, 23)John Bellinger.
DIRT Pro Stocks (15 Laps) – 1)JERRY HOLMES, 2)Tom Denton, 3)Jason Rood, 4)Dave Bruno, 5)Wayne Archer, 6)Bill Knapp, 7)Jeff Jones, 8)Ed Kotary, 9)Bill Shantel Jr., 10)Bret Belden, 11)Gerry Newman, 12)Richard Stevenson, 13)Geoff VanRiper.
Pure Stocks (15 Laps) – 1)DAVE MANNISE, 2)Mark Effner, 3)Jim Thomas, 4)Dave Arbes, 5)Jay Finch, 6)Mike Archer, 7)Waylan Wilczek, 8)George Schultz, 9)Bill Mason, 10)Steve Delano, 11)Jeff Pastorella, 12)Jeff Thorp, 13)Art Newman, 14)Rob Seavey, 15)Chad Ray, 16)Dan Congden, 17)Dennis Kelly, 18)Dan Hatch, 19)Neil Dixon, 20)Matt Spisak, 21)Herm Staats.