WARD TOPS FIELD IN CYBER-SPACE
WEEDSPORT, NY...Genoa, New York's Pat Ward won the special "Internet" DIRT Modified feature last Sunday at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway. It was Ward's first win of the season at the small three-eighths mile oval. Russ Hefti, took top honors in the 20- lap DIRT Sportsman feature. It was Hefti's first DIRT feature win ever. Mike Potts topped the enduro field, while Darrell Saunders won the one-on-one spectator truck races.
Ray Bliss Jr. took command of the "internet" broadcast feature at the drop of the green. A battle between the number 99's for second involved the 99J of Jimmy Phelps and the 99B of Chuck Bower. on lap four the yellow flag was displayed when Scott Ridley stopped in the fourth turn. Bliss held strong on the restart, only to have the caution wave on lap six when Ridley and Todd Milton came together in between turns three and four.
Pat Ward and crewThe restart saw Pat Ward take the lead and begin to separate himself from the rest of the pack. Bliss fell back to second followed by Phelps, Tim McCreadie, Gary Tomkins and Danny Johnson. Johnson, driving his small block seemed to be the fastest car on the speedway, sticking to the low side of the track. By lap 17, Johnson had moved his Sweetners Plus machine into second. Without the help of any cautions, Johnson was unable to close the gap built by Ward. Ward took the victory with Johnson a strong second, some five cars back. Tim McCreadie finished third, some ten cars back of Johnson. Rounding out the top five were Phelps and Billy Decker, who had been able to gain the fifth spot in the final five laps of the race from Bower.
"We've been running real competitive this weekend," stated ward, "That is at least on Friday night and here. I sort of figured Danny would be closing in on me . I was looking for him, or Decker to pass me. Those two guys are always around at the end here at Weedsport."
Russ HeftiRuss Hefti passed Jim LaRock on the third lap, in the third turn, of the 20-lap Sportsman feature. The race seemed destine to go green-to-checkers. Hefti took every advantage of the lead position. Vince Vitale closed the lead built up by Hefti, but was never able to mount a serious challenge for the lead position. Spano finished third followed by Greg Doust and Matt Sheppard.
"I want to thank Tim Fuller's crew for helping me prepare this new Olsen car," stated Hefti in victory lane, concerning his National Parts Peddler Newspaper-Square Deal Racing number 0.
Darrell Saunders won the one-on-one spectator race and dedicated his win, and any earning he would have made off the race, to the Tim Murphy family. Murphy Jr. is a IMCA driver at Brewerton, who's family lost their house this past week in a fire. A special collection, headed by Pastor David Wells, was made to help the Murphy family during this difficult period.
This Sunday will see the Modified/358-Modified division in another non-points event, making for a driver draw. The top dogs in the 358-Modified series will be heading to Cornwall Motor Speedway for the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT 358 Modified Series 99-lapper. Also on tap at Cayuga County will be a special Hoosier Tire-Sunoco race Fuels Mr. DIRT Sportsman championship, plus enduros and Dwarf cars. Race time on Sunday will be at 7 p.m. sharp.
SAVES-PPG AUTO BODY-MIER TOOL COMPANY-FREEDOM RECREATION NIGHT SUMMARY
ENDURO
FEATURE (40-laps): MIKE POTTS, Tim Hettis, Ron Hawker (top 3)
SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: R. Hefti, J. LaRock, J. Spano, W. Czymmek.
HEAT 2: V. Vitale, G. Doust, R. Plantz, M. Sheppard.
FEATURE (20-laps): RUSS HEFTI, Vince Vitale, James Spano, Greg Doust, Matt Sheppard, Rodney Plantz, Joe Beyea, Wade Czymmek, Jim LaRock, Tom Mettler, Chris Ridsdale, Jeff Plantz, Mike Bartcszewski.
MODIFIED
HEAT 1: T. Fuller, T. McCreadie, S. Prentice, J. Hopkins, S. Ridley.
HEAT 2: Ray Bliss Jr., J. Phelps, G. Tomkins, D. Johnson, B. Varin.
HEAT 3: P. Ward, B. Decker, C. Bower, B. McCreadie, T. Burnett.
CONSI: V. Coffey, T. Milton, T. Sears Jr., J. Rudalavage, M. Ward, B. Hoff, J. Hoff, J. Burke, B. Melone, J. Corcoran.
FEATURE (35-laps): PAT WARD, Danny Johnson, Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Phelps, Billy Decker, Chuck Bower, Gary Tomkins, Scott Prentice, Tim Burnett, Tim Fuller, Bob McCreadie, Bobby Varin, Ray Bliss Jr., Vic Coffey, Mike Ward, Jeff Hoff, Jeff Rudalavage, Bill Hoff, Bobby Melone, Tom Sears Jr., Scott Ridley, Jay Hopkins, Jim Burke, Todd Milton, Jeremy Corcoran.