"LONESOME" GEORGE WINS ESS, GABRIEL JR. TOPS MODS

WEEDSPORT, NY..."Lonesome" George Ely, from nearby Jordan, NY, returned to the Cayuga County Fair Speedway victory lane thirty years to the day when he last won a DIRT Modified feature, July 2, 1978. This time Ely drove home the conquering hero in the 20-lap Empire Super Sprint feature. During his DIRT Modified career Ely earned ten feature wins back when the speedway was called the Weedsport Speedway. Results from this race can be found elsewhere in this publication.

Jim Gabriel Jr. topped the 35-lap DIRT Modified feature, while John Plumb became a first time feature winner at Cayuga County in the 20-lap DIRT Sportsman feature.

The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature saw Dave Axton battle pole sitter Bob McCreadie for the early race lead. McCreadie led the first circuit, but then lost out to Jim Gabriel Jr. Cooper Tire sponsored TEO on the second lap. Gabriel, using the high line, passed for the lead and then began to pull away from the field. Rookie contender, Matt Sheppard, followed suit by passing McCreadie for second.

Gabriel built nearly a ten car lead over Sheppard as a battle for third ragged between McCreadie, who was a full straight away behind Sheppard, Danny Johnson and Ray Bliss Jr.. Johnson earned the third position on lap 16 and started on a quest to shorten the full straight away gap Sheppard had been able to create.

As the laps rolled down, Johnson began to catch Sheppard, however Gabriel was in lapped traffic and still maintained a constant ten car advantage over Sheppard.

On the closing lap of the green-to-checkered race, Johnson shot by Sheppard at the finish line to grab second by .017 seconds at the finish line. Tim McCreadie finished a somewhat distant fourth followed by Gary Tomkins in fifth. Gabriel averaged 71.600 mph on his way to victory.

Crews Automotive posted a bonus for the 20-lap sportsman feature. Crews added $200 to the winner's share, plus $100 to second, third and fourth finishing positions.

Rookie and pole sitter, Dan Wiesner took command of the race at the drop of the green. Wiesner set out to build a lead over John Plumb, Ryan Richardson, Jeremy Pitcher and Bob Henry Jr.. On lap three the yellow flew when Bob Haws made contact with the first turn outside concrete wall. Haws was uninjured, but his car was out of action for the rest of the race.

Wiesner maintained his lead on the restart However Plumb started to used the high line around the hard slick surface to build up momentum and pass Wiesner for the lead on lap 10. Plumb then started to run off and hide from the rest of the field.

Wiesner now found himself in a battle for second with Joe Beyea, who looked to be the fastest car on the speedway. After racing side-by-side for a lap or two, Beyea pulled into the runner up position on lap 13.

Plumb now held a five car lead over Beyea to come home the winner. Beyea finished a strong second with Steve Gray, Wiesner and Henry Jr. rounding out the top five. This was Plumb's first win at Cayuga County in 2001.

With the DIRT Modifieds heading to Cornwall on Sunday, July 8, a special Sunoco/Aplus 150 qualifier will be held at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway. It will be Sterling/Western Star Trucks of Syracuse night to host the open wheel, non-point, 50 lapper. Joining in the action will be the mighty sportsman class and the Pit Stop Convenience Stores enduro, plus pro-stocks. Race time will be at 7 p.m..

NEW ENGLAND FINANCIAL-PICK'N PULL AUTO-TRACEY ROAD EQUIPMENT-CREWS AUTOMOTIVE NIGHT SUMMARY

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: J. Haers, D. Wiesner, J. Beyea, J. Plumb, C. Parmelee.

HEAT 2: B. Henry Jr., R. Richardson, J. LaRock, J. Pitcher, R. Hefti.

FEATURE (20-laps): JOHN PLUMB, Joe Beyea, Steve Gray, Dan Wiesner, Bob Henry Jr., Justin Haers, Jeremy Pitcher, Tom Juhl, Jim Bowman, Jim LaRock, Clay Parmelee, Russ Hefti, James Spano, Mike Lavarnway, Ron Loveless, Ryan Richardson, John Juhl, Rodney Plantz, Robert Haws.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: J. Gabriel Jr., G. Tomkins, B. McCreadie, R. Bliss Jr., J. Phelps.

HEAT 2: T. McCreadie, M. Sheppard, A. Johnson, T. Fuller, D. Axton.

HEAT 3: S. Prentice, D. Johnson, B. Decker, A.J. Romano, B. Tittle.

FEATURE (35-laps): JIM GABRIEL JR., Danny Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Tim McCreadie, Gary Tomkins, Bob McCreadie, Ray Bliss Jr., Alan Johnson, Tim Fuller, Billy Decker, A.J. Romano, Tom Sears Jr., Todd Milton, Butch Tittle, Scott Prentice, Chuck Bower, Pat Ward, Jimmy Phelps, Tim Burnett, Tyke Morris, Ryan Watt, Mark Yorker, Dave Axton, Vince Vitale.