Andrews Romps at Little Valley; Barton Captures LM Championship

By Dave Sully

(Little Valley, NY) Todd Andrews from Eldred, PA, who has been having a sub

par year for him at Little Valley, brought a new car and a new attitude to

the track on Saturday, September 7th, and the result was awesome. Not only

did he blow away the competition in the 25 lap Late Model Feature, he won by

an incredible half a lap, against a good field of late models. The win

vaulted him into 5th place in the final standings, earning him some extra

cash. The title and $1200 went to "King Richard," Dick Barton from Ashville,

whose third place run gave him an eighteen point advantage over runner-up Ron

Davies.

Andrews bolted to the front on the first recorded lap from his fourth place

starting position, swinging wide and powering his way to the lead, after a

spin in turn one wiped out the original start. As he began to pull away, a

caution flew when the No. 40 of Dutch Davies spun in turn two, collecting

Barton, and forcing the two of them to restart at the rear of the field.

When the race resumed Andrews led Mike Wonderling, who made a dazzling move

on Barton to win his heat race, David Scott, who started sixth but was on the

charge early, and Ron Davies, who started ninth and found the low groove to

his liking.

A spin one lap later brought out the caution, and produced one change at the

front as Davies got by Scott for third on lap five. Cautions on laps seven

and eleven saw no change in the running order, but Barton had moved into

contention after the early altercation put him at the rear of the field.

From there on the race went green, with Andrews checking out on the field,

increasing his lead on virtually every lap.

Four cars battled for second, with Wonderling, whose car was stout all night,

battling Davies, Scott, and Andy Kania, while Barton made his relentless

march forward, moving into fourth by the sixteenth lap as Davies began to

fade. By lap twenty the race for second was between Scott and Wonderling,

with Scott finally prevailing.

One final bit of drama remained as Barton completed his comeback by claiming

third on the final turn of the last lap, slipping by Wonderling on the

inside, and consigning him to a hard earned fourth. Kania rounded out the

top five.

Andrews was fairly low key about the win, giving the credit to his new car,

which he practiced with at his own track, noting, "It was better than I

thought it would be. When you roll out a new car like that, you're fortunate

to win. We would have liked to have had it for last week. We got her

together this week. We tested it at home Thursday night, and it turned out

good for us. The new car gave me the feeling that I couldn't get all year

long. I feel it now."

Scott, who finished a distant second, explained how his strategy changed from

last week, "I ran a lot different tire combination tonight than I did last

week, and set the car up to run right around the bottom. Last week we ran

the cushion and set the car up to run there, but it was so far around the

race track. Barton beat us on what we did tonight last week, so I put soft

tires on and ran in the infield. It worked out. We got second and made a

little money."

The companion feature was a 25 lap 358 modified race, which was a qualifier

for Super Dirt Week at Syracuse and the All Star race on Victoria weekend at

Fulton. Rookie driver Chad Brachmann from North Tonawanda, who has been

having a strong campaign in his first season in the modifieds, drove a race

that was almost a mirror image of Andrews' late model effort, as he shot to

the lead from his sixth place starting spot after only two laps and proceeded

to drive away from the field. By the halfway mark he had a twenty car

advantage over second place runner, Jamie Turner from Caistre Centre, Ontario.

The only caution of the contest occurred on lap thirteen when the No. 1X of

Willy Decker from Vernon rolled to a stop in turn two. Brachmann restored

his advantage in short order when the green flag flew once more, and the only

question was who would finish second and get one of the two guaranteed spots.

Turner held it for the entire distance, outlasting Robbie Krull from

Lockport, who made a strong bid on lap twenty-four, but couldn't get by and

had to settle for third. Tim Murdock, who made the long tow from Georgetown,

Ontario, was fourth, followed by Scott Wood from St. Catharines, Ontario, to

round out the top five.

Brachmann was understandably pleased with the result, commenting, "This is

our first time being here, and what an awesome facility this place is. The

track stayed pretty bitey all night. We were pretty surprised about that.

We had a great car right out of the box, and we didn't turn a bolt all night.

I owe that to Bicknell Racing Products. They set us on the right track, and

Mike Bumpers Excel Engine Machines puts an awesome power plant under the hood

of this car." Brachmann noted that it only took him a few laps get a feel

for the track, adding, "It really came quick. The track has a lot of

resemblance to Rolling Wheels, so I kind of went back to that. The track

just stayed great all night."

In other action, Doug Ricotta scored an emotional win in the twenty lap Super

Stock Feature, outlasting a strong bid by point leader Bill Holmes from

Chaffee. The race also produced the scariest event of the evening as Jack

Harrington bounced off the concrete guarding an infield building on the front

chute after being bumped in the heavy going. The driver was fine, not so for

the car, which sustained heavy damage.

Gary McDowell from Smethport took the early lead and looked to be the class

of the field. Ricotta was in second by lap five and Holmes, running his

patient style, picked his way forward to lie third a short time later. The

two then battled for second, while McDowell paced the field. A caution on

lap ten slowed proceedings, and when the green flew again, Ricotta made a

strong bid for the lead, actually getting a fender under McDowell at times,

but never completing a pass.

Then on lap thirteen the race took a dramatic turn as McDowell suddenly

slowed and ducked into the pits with what appeared to be a right front flat,

handing the lead to Ricotta. Holmes and Ricotta then fought for the lead.

On lap eighteen Holmes got under Ricotta in the third turn but Ricotta

slammed the door and Holmes got off the throttle. Holmes, who never gives up,

tried again on the final lap, with the two going side by side down the

backstretch, but Ricotta was able to hold him off for the win. Ricotta

explained the dramatic moment, declaring, "It's been a rough year. Billy's a

good racer. I shut the door on him. I had to get the victory. He didn't

push the issue. He gave me everything I deserved down there and tried to get

me out of the way. He's the man, you know. He's the one to beat. That's

what I was racing for, to beat Holmesee."

The fifteen lap Street Stock Feature went to Jason Schoonmaker from

Salamanca, who took the lead from Rob Stromecki from Freedom on lap six and

drove away for the win. Jim Kennerknecht, who trailed by two points going

into the night, made a nice recovery after starting twenty-second following

problems in his heat. The Erie, PA, driver threaded his way up to fifth to

keep his title hopes alive going into the final race on September 21st.

Point leader Wayne Mohawk from Irving finished second.

In the final event of the evening, Wayne Osgood from Little Valley won the

rugged ten lap Bus Feature over point leader Kenny Foster, also from Little

Valley, in a race that saw one bus flip and another blow an engine.

NOTES: The top five drivers in points in the Late Models shared $3000. In

addition to the $1200 that went to Barton who finished with 145 points,

others that cashed were

Ron Davies with 127 points ($600), David Scott with 122 ($500), Andy Kania

with 113 ($400), and Andrews who slipped into fifth with 108 points by virtue

of his win ($300)……In the 358s Brachmann chose the guaranteed starting spot

in the Victoria All Star race, since he already had a Syracuse position,

while Jamie Turner got the Syracuse SDW spot…..There were 112 cars in the

pits and a fine crowd on hand in perfect weather……The track crew did an

excellent job on the racing surface, attested to by the drivers, a task made

more difficult by the spate of hot dry weather in the region recently, which

makes track preparation a real challenge….The final event of the season is on

September 21st when the Big Block Modified Tour, led by North Boston's Ron

Smoker, and the Empire Super Sprints, led by Mike Woodring from Eden bring

double barreled action to the Speedway. Super Stocks, Street Stocks, and

Buses will also compete, with the rained out Open Cockpit Reunion an added

bonus. Racing gets under way at 6:00.

Late Model Finish: (25 laps) TODD ANDREWS, David Scott, Dick Barton, Mike

Wonderling, Andy Kania, Ron Davies, Bill Cunningham, Greg Fenno, Frank

Poniatowski, Mark Osborn, Rob DeGolier, Kirk Bradley, Dutch Davies, Eric

Ensell, Rick Briggs, Brady Wonderling, and Ed Carley. Heat winners were

Carley and Mike Wonderling.

358 Modified Finish: (25 laps) CHAD BRACHMANN, Jamie Turner, Robbie Krull,

Tim Murdock, Scott Wood, Don Spatorico, Billy Van Pelt, Rich Swarthout, Bill

Deming, Lyle Sherwood, Katl Comfort, Rick Richner, Fred Cade, Bryon Turner,

John Moravec, Jason Boyle, Curt Van Pelt, Steve Hartman, Aaron Jacobus,

Leonard Liebold, Ron White, Kevin Chilson, Steve Kio, Mike Jackson, Billy

Krull, and Willy Decker. Heat winners were Wood, Brachmann, and Murdock.

Consi winner was Billy Van Pelt.

Super Stock Finish: (20 laps) DOUG RICOTTA, Bill Holmes, Steve Watson, Jason

Dupont, Jim Jackson, Bob Dixon, Jason Amedick, Dave Miller, Bruce Miller,

Wayne Adamczak, Ron Baker, Tim Dunham, Todd Rice, Terry Pangrazio, John

Layfield, Tim Schram, Scott Behrns, Butch Talbot, Gary McDowell, Kyle

Bradigan, Jr. Peters, John Kemp, TJ Shaw, Tim Rockwell, and Jack Harrington.

Heat winners were Shaw, Holmes, and Harrington. Consi winner was Bruce Miller.

Street Stock Finish: (15 laps) JASON SCHOONMAKER, Wayne Mohawk, Rob

Stromecki, Rick Tingue, Jim Kennerknecht, Lee Wulff, Kevin Pangrazio, Steve

Dixon, Rocco Conte, Ted Ingalls, Jim Parmenter, Chuck Pruden, Darryl Greene,

Bill Deming, Jay Deming, Lee Zimmerman, Chad Silleman, Justin Baxter, Roger

Ball, Pat Clark, Tom Bradigan, Cory Allen, Tony Colantino, Ken Dankert, Ken

Thomas, and Jesse Pruden. Heat winners were Stromecki, Schoonmaker, and

Dixon. Consi winner was Kennerknecht.

Bus Finish: (10 laps) WAYNE OSGOOD, Kenny Foster, Ray Wright, Gary

Reynolds, Cory Allen, Herbie Foster, and Ron Foster