Gus Schmidt Wins First Modified Feature At NUR On Stormy Sunday Evening

Vernon, NY....This past Sunday evening August 23rd at the New Utica-Rome Speedway, “Heavy

Hauler” Gus Schmidt in the #30, took home his first ever small block modified win. It was a long

time coming for Schmidt, who has had a lot of tough luck at NUR in the past. Dan Yankowski

won the sportsman, while Tom Denton was the victor in the street stocks. Dave Mannise won his

second of the weekend, and Cory Fachini took his second checkered flag in two weeks at NUR.

The 21A of Jerry Northrup and the 17T of Bobby Utter lead the modified feature down to

stretch to the flags of Starter Chip Burdick. Right off the bat, a yellow flag was caused when

Roger Phelps and Bob Sitterly came together in the first turn. Northrup easily took the lead from

Utter on the original restart, but a high flying Gus Schmidt took over the lead on lap 2. It was a

lead that was never relinquished or challenged. The yellow flag was brought out on lap 4 for a

spin in turn for by Mike Hulsizer. Ron Holmes got a good start when the green came back out,

and he leaped right into the runner up spot, with Doug Fuller right behind. Another yellow came

out because of a heavy hit between Ted Lamb and Pete Taylor in the third turn. Neither car

could continue, and Lamb’s car was heavily damaged. The restart was short lived, when on lap

10 point leader J.J. Michaels stopped in the fourth turn. Michaels pitted and returned laps down.

Holmes got too good of a jump on Schmidt on the restart. As a result, the yellow lights came

back on and they were re-aligned. On the restart, Roger Phelps, who came from the rear, waged

a torrid battle with Doug Fuller for the third position. Phelps won out and eventually finished in

third. Lap 13 brought another caution, this time for Mike Jacobs and Steve Way, who collected

each other in turn one. A full moon must have been present over the storm clouds, which shone

much lightning in the distance towards Oneida Lake. One final yellow slowed the action once

more for veteran racer Joel Thomas, who spun in the second turn. Gus Schmidt kept the lead on

the final restart and opened up a commanding lead over Holmes. Schmidt never was challenged

and won over Holmes, Phelps, Fuller, and Rocky Rothwell. It was Schmidt’s first ever modified

feature win at Utica-Rome. In victory lane, a very happy Schmidt who was surrounded by family,

crew, and well-wishers stated, “Wow! This great and it was a long time coming!” Modified heat

wins went to Mitch Gibbs, Paul Jensen, and Ron Holmes. The C. Weaver Chevrolet Modified

Dash For Cash was won by Ron Holmes.

The always exciting sportsman division saw 1997 NUR Track Champion Dan “The Man”

Yankowski take home his second win on the 1998 racing campaign at NUR. The race was

temporarily halted for a spectacular accident on the backstretch involving point leader Tony

Buffa. Buffa and another car made contact, with Buffa ending hard into the backstretch wall with

the rear of his sportsman. Also collected in the incident were John Christian, John Kinsella, and

Brian Johnson. No drivers were injured, but Buffa, who has been on a roll of late, ended up with

serious damage. Finishing behind Yankowski was Tim Mayne, Willy Decker, Billy Trexler, Jr.,

and Jack Miller. Sportsman heat wins went to John Kinsella, Billy Trexler, Jr., and Tony Buffa.

The 20 lap street stock feature event was an exciting affair with Tom Denton, in the

Denton Industries #94, taking the feature win over Jerry Holmes, Dave Moyer, Wayne Archer,

and Joe Palmer. Denton held a commanding lead throughout the race and Holmes could not

catch him. Both Denton and Holmes won their respective heat races.

The IMCA Modifieds produced the first repeat IMCA winner at New Utica-Rome. Cory

Fachini took his second of the season over Sean Lias, Randy Hall, George Cantazano, and Neil

Edgar.

Veteran racer, Dave Mannise, in The Little Store of Durhamville #8, won his seventh

pure stock feature of the season. “Junkyard” Jim Thomas, sporting a new paint job on his #140,

came from the back and put on a great show for the fans trying to win his first of the season and

beat Mannise. Thomas ran the high side on the final lap, but got too high and fell to third. At the

line it was Mannise over Jeff Thorp, Thomas, Lou Levea, and Rick Trexler.

This coming Sunday night August 30th at New Utica-Rome is another five star regular

show consisting of Modifieds (big block and small block), Sportsman, Street Stocks, IMCA

Modifieds, and Pure Stocks. Big blocks must go by the DIRT rulebook, weigh 2,600 lbs, and

may run Hoosier Tires. It will be the final appearance of the IMCA Modifieds in 1998 because

the IMCA Nationals are being held at Boone Speedway in Iowa. The C. Weaver Chevrolet

Modified Dash For Cash will continue each week. It will pay $300 to win, and will include the top

two cars in each modified heat event. In addition to the regular show of racing, New Utica-Rome

will be holding a Rollover Contest for 4 Cylinder Cars. Rollover contests are always exciting for

the fans. Do not miss it this Sunday! Gates open at 4pm and racing begins at 6pm. Admission

prices for this show are as follows: Adults = $9, Seniors (62+) = $6, Students (10-14) and

Military with ID = $7, and Kids (9 and under with a paid adult, or senior) = FREE. Admission to

enter the pits is $15, and no license is required.

The New Utica-Rome Speedway is located on Route 5 in Vernon, NY, right near Vernon

Downs. It is easily accessible off the New York State Thruway Exit #33. After you get off the

Thruway, turn right on Route 365 until you get to the intersection of Route 31. Turn right onto

Route 31 and continue until you get to Route 5 in Vernon. Turn left and the track is

approximately 1.5 miles on the left. Free parking and camping is allowed on the speedway

grounds. For more information, please call the track office at (315)-829-4557.

Notes - Racing was completed just in time as heavy rain and wind moved into the area right after

the last race of the evening. Everyone took cover as the wind blew and rain came down.

Sunday September 6th it is the return of the very fast and exciting Eastern Limited Sprints. The

final event of the 1998 racing season at NUR is September 13th. On tap that night is a Fulton

Speedway Victoria 200 qualifier for the modifieds and a demolition derby. It is the one and only

Vic 200 qualifier, and there will be two guaranteed spots on the line. One will go to the first NUR

regular across the line, and the other will be given to the first outsider to finish. Do not forget to

check out Doug’s New Utica-Rome Webpage at www.dreamscape.com/zupans/uticarome.htm.

Modifieds - (25 laps) - 1)Gus Schmidt, 2)Ron Holmes, 3)Roger Phelps, 4)Doug Fuller, 5)Rocky

Rothwell, 6)Dave House, 7)Jeremy Smith, 8)Rich Price, 9)Jerry Northrup, 10)Jeff Kotary,

11)Bobby Utter, 12)John Barker, 13)Joel Thomas, 14)Mitch Gibbs, 15)Steve Way, 16)Steve

Way, 17)Mike Jacobs, 18)J.J. Michaels, 19)Pete Taylor, 20)Ted Lamb, 21)Ed Richer, 22)Steve

Hulsizer, 23)Mike Hulsizer, 24)Paul Jensen, 25)Jeff Walton, 26)Bob Sitterly.

C. Weaver Chevrolet Modified Dash For Cash - (6 laps) - 1)Ron Holmes, 2)Paul Jensen, 3)Mitch

Gibbs, 4)Doug Fuller, 5)Jeremy Smith, 6)Bobby Utter.

Sportsman - (20 laps) - 1)Dan Yankowski, 2)Tim Mayne, 3)Willy Decker, 4)Bill Trexler, Jr.,

5)Jack Miller, 6)Billy Shantel, Sr., 7)Jamie Christian, 8)Paul Carey, 9)Craig Pritchard, 10)Joe

Rando, 11)Butch Reiter, 12)Steve Davis, 13)Ken Harrington, 14)Paul Kinney, 15)Kevin Therrien,

16)Jim Smith, 17)Tony Buffa, 18)John Kinsella, 19)John Christian, 20)Brian Johnson, 21)Steve

Kotary.

Street Stocks - (15 laps) - 1)Tom Denton, 2)Jerry Holmes, 3)Dave Moyer, 4)Wayne Archer,

5)Joe Palmer, 6)Ed Kotary, 7)Geoff VanRiper, 8)Dave Bargabus, 9)Gerry Newman, 10)J.B.

Dockstader, 11)Billy Shantel, Jr., 12)Brett Haman, 13)George Kiskiel, 14)Brett Belden, 15)Jim

Zajak, 16)Stan Clark, 17)Bill Knapp.

IMCA Modifieds - (15 laps) - 1)Cory Fachini, 2)Sean Lias, 3)Randy Hall, 4)George Cantazano,

5)Neil Edgar, 6)Doug McKane, 7)Bruce McCloskey, 8)Aaron Jacobs, 9)George Proctor, 10)Kevin

Buff, 11)Brendt Matzel, 12)Don Alvord, 13)Steve Bidwell, 14)Joe Miles.

Pure Stocks - (15 laps) - 1)Dave Mannise, 2)Jeff Thorp, 3)Jim Thomas, 4)Lou Levea, 5)Rick

Trexler, 6)Dave Arbes, 7)Jeff Pastorella, 8)Chad Ray, 9)Billy Gibson, 10)Mark Effner, 11)Waylon

Wilczek, 12)Mike Howe, 13)Steve Delano, 14)Jason Rood, 15)Art Newman, 16)Dan Beach,

17)Mike Burke, 18)Mike Archer, 19)Alan Graham, 20)Herm Staats, 21)Tom Donahue.