HARTMAN SR., KNOWLES, BUCKLEY AND MILLS OPEN WITH WINS
WOW. Week one is now in the books. And what a night of racing it was here at Woodhull. With the potential of rain looming all week, it was a great relief when it came time to race & the conditions were perfect, albeit a little on the chilly side – not unheard of for opening night. Pepsi-Cola Bottling out of Elmira was the sponsor opening up for another great season out in the Boonies. Joining us also for the season is Dr. Storm of Storm Chiropractic sponsoring all victory lane activities this year. On tap for opening night 2003 was a 30 lap special for the Mini Stock class along with a regular show for the Street Stocks, Super Stocks & the 358 Modified! s.
The first feature of the night saw the 358 Modifieds take to the track. Lyle Sherwood was on the pole, with Billy ‘the kid’ VanPelt starting outside row 1. The first caution in the race came on lap 3 when Donnie Lawson spun in turn 4. While this was happening, Billy VanPelt & the z8 of Steve Hartman, Sr. had already started to check out on the field. On this first restart VanPelt opted to start on the outside, which turned out to be no great advantage afterall. On the lap 4 restart, Dylan DeWert drove over the bank on turn 3, which caused another caution without completing lap 4. On this next restart VanPelt stayed on the pole to take the green. Steve Hartman Sr. went high and took the lead from VanPelt, until lap 7 brought out another caution when Dylan DeWert and Don Lawson got together. After the single file restart, Hartman Sr. took off to run the show with a clear track in front of him until lap 22 brought the leaders into some lapped traffic. This allowed Billy VanPelt to gain on Hartman Sr., but ‘the kid’ was no match and Steve Hatman Sr. went on to Storm Chiropractic vitory lane to celebrate the 1st feature win of 2003 at Woodhull Raceway. Billy VanPelt, Stacy Jackson, Roger Williams and Steve Harman Jr. finised the top five.
The Super Stocks got off to a rough start as Mike Hillfiger led at the green, but a caution was thrown before the first lap was completed for Glen Whritenour with a flat on the back stretch. Bob Lubberts took over on the restart to lead the official first lap on opening night for the Supers. The racing was slowed again on lap 3 when Mike Hillfiger spun with Jason Knowles. After that restart, lap 6 sent Rich Marlatt hard into the infield tire & brought out yet another caution. Next, in this race being run in 3 lap increments, the caution was brought out again when Jim Buck went off the turns 3 & 4 banking. Lap 16 brought out the final caution for the Supers when 3 cars spun. Thankfully no contact was made that time, but it lined the field up again for a mad dash to the finish. Larry Knowles took the green and took off to Storm Chiropractic Victory Lane. Greg Galligan, Woodhull’s Mini Stock Champion 2 years ago, and IMCA modified competitor last year, went on to finish 2nd in his first Super Stock race. Mark Costa, Kenny Peoples and Scott Brown finished the top five.
The Street Stock Division was led to the green by last years champ, Todd Burgess. The Street Stocks had a rough start to the 2003 season as well, when Chuck Pruden got turned around on the front straight and was hit by several other cars. It was a big mess, which everyone but Bill Shea returned from. There were a few spins where the drivers did a great job of keeping it going to avoid the caution, and there were a few spins where Scott Colegrove had no option but to throw the yellow. The Street Stocks gave the fans a great show as there were several laps of 3 wide and even 4 wide racing once they finally got going. Jerry Buckley came out on top at the checker followed very closely by Dave Gee, Ken Thomas, Henr! y Miracle and Todd Burgess.
The Mini Stocks were on hand next with their big 30 lap feature which began with driver introductions and a tennis ball toss on the front straight sponsored by S & W Imaging. This toss gave opportunity for the winner of the race & fan holding the winners number to each take home $50. The drivers got buckled in and went racing for 30 laps with a few cautions thrown in here & there. Birthday Boy & Black Rock winner Josh Mills took the lead on lap 8, but didn’t have a free ride all night as Chuck Leasure fought hard for the lead. Mills & Leasure went back & forth the entire race. A caution on lap 24 lined them right up tight, but Mills had a little extra incentive. Not only would he take home the extra $50 thrown in by S & W Imaging, he also was eligible for the Back to Back incentive thanks to his win the previous night at Black Rock. I think this is one birthday Josh Mills will not soon forget as he went on to win his 2nd feature in as many nights, giving him the Back to Back Bonus and also the $50 from S & W Imaging. Chuck Leasure had to settle for 2nd with Don Knowles, Ryan Davenport and Jordan Dibble rounding out the top 5 for the Mini Stocks.
I would also like to remind everyone next Sunday, May 4 there will be a benefit for Todd Stone at the Campbell American Legion from Noon – 5 PM. Please come out and show your support for Todd & his family who have a long road to recovery ahead of them.
Heat Results
358 Modifieds - 17-Lyle Sherwood, 12-Billy VanPelt
Super Stocks - 87-Scott Brown, 4-Larry Knowles
Street Stocks – 55-Ken Thomas, 15 – Lance Baker, 3-Bob Clark
Mini Stocks – 5-Jordan Dibble, 84s-Tom Stewart, 80-Ray Hyer
Feature Results
358 Modifieds – z8-Steve Harman Sr., 12-Billy VanPelt, 1-Stacy Jackson, 6-Roger Williams, 8-Steve Hartman Jr., 88m-Mike Jackson, 6x-Dave Dubois, 17-Lyle Sherwood, 7-Larry Doolittle, 123-Dale Welty
Super Stocks – 4-Larry Knowles, 17-Greg Galligan, 2-Mark Costa, 5k-Kenny Peoples, 87-Scott Brown, 77-Bob Lubberts, 8-David Wybert, 11-Mike Hillfiger, 13-Brett Flint, 25-Scott Dennison
Street Stocks – 7-Jerry Buckley, 35-Dave Gee, 55-Ken Thomas, 5-Henry Miracle, 00-Todd Burgess, 29-Chuck Pruden, 59-Geoff McNally, 72-Joe Nobriga, 66-Dan Gordon, 94-David Davis
Mini Stocks – 84-Josh Mills, 86-Chuck Leasure, 20x-Don Knowles, 27-Ryan Davenport, 5-Jordan Dibble, 0-Kevin Erdmann, 17-Joe Kurtz, 11-Jason Ketrow, 6-Scott Madison, 20-Dennis French