Lyle Sherwood Picks up 358 Modified Mid Season Championship Race at Woodhull, Peoples, Smith, Gee and Kester are also Winners
Woodhull, NY - 062202 - The evening looked to be the perfect scenario for a great night racing as the fans started arriving at the historic one-third mile clay oval of the Woodhull Raceway. The storm clouds appeared to have missed us completely throughout the day even though the forecast looked quite grime at times. But low and behold just as officials were ready to drop the first green flag of the evening the skies opened up and the downpour began. Not once, but twice before any actual racing could get underway. Once the packer cars got out on the track, which by the way proves to be some of the best entertainment for the fans, it didn't take long for the track to come into shape for some really magnificent racing. cluster of cars came together putting third place point man Stacy Jackson out for the entire race. The second yellow came out on lap ten as Larry Keegan slammed into Alex Hoag putting them both to the back of the pack. Incidentally, both were winners in their heats earlier in the evening The real racing was between Billy "the Kid" VanPelt and Lyle Sherwood. Sherwood driving the Dennis Schutt owned number 13x which is driven occasionally by Curt VanPelt. Sherwood who was anticipating purchasing the 13x from Schutt, overcame all obstacles and won the race. Guess we know what his discussion will be. We'll be seeing the 13 x around quite a bit in the near future. Billy came in second with the 61K driven by Steve Kio placing third. Fourth place went to the 88M driven by Mike Jackson, fifth to Steve Hartmen Sr. in the Z8. Sixth place went to Tom Kio, seventh to the 12B of Donnie Kio. Eight, ninth, and tenth places when to Curt VanPelt driving the number 17, Dan Matthews and Alex Hoag.
The next feature for the evening was the Superstock Division with a total of twenty two cars all fighting for the win. Joe Duell was in the pole position with Eddy Mills on the outside. Joe opted not to participate placing Eddy in the poll position and bringing Scott Dennison to the outside. With four cautions throughout the entire race it proved to be very beneficial for point leader Kenny Peoples. Peoples' who had been DQ'ed in his heat race started in the last position and worked his way to the winner's circle. Nothing seemed to come easy for the 5K, another obstacle he had to subjugate was the post race inspection. At first glance, it looked as if an issue with the car that had come up earlier in the evening had not been taken care of. But once the tech inspectors investigated, Kenny was free to take possession of the Mid Season Championship for the Superstock Division. Second place went to car number 61 Billy Williams who remained in the top ten for the entire race and most of it in the first place position. Third place went to Mike Hilfiger. Fourth to Rich Marlatt in the number 67. Rounding out the top five was the #87 of Scott Brown. The sixth through tenth place finishers were Bob Lubberts, Brett Flint, Larry Knowles, Mike Carpella and Joe Buck. Heat winners for the Superstocks were Larry Knowles in the #4, Brett Flint in the # 13 and Brian Knowles in the #14. Tough luck for the #14 car in the feature, Brian was well on his way the 4th place in this mid season championship race when he blew a tire on lap number 19.
The third feature of the night was the IMCA Modified. This division has come a long way since it's beginning at the Woodhull Raceway in April of 1998. The first year looked like it might be the last with most races consisting of approximately four cars. But four years later out on the track came 19 fantastic looking cars. With the number of sponsors on each car it looks like a class that will be with us for years to come. The poll position went to the #3 of Clayton McClean and on the outside was the 94 of Brett Bacon. The first yellow came out on lap three with a quick restart once the yellow was dropped. As the contestants rounded the track for lap seven Bobby Davis in the # 2 spun out causing the yellow to once again appear. The third caution of the race came when Brett Bacon broke some kind of line in his car causing a great deal of liquid to spill all over the track. After several trips around the track to dry the spill racing was than underway once more. The number 96 of Mike Smith maintained the lead throughout most of the race with at least a seven car lead at times. Willy Rice and Dan Gardner battling out for the second and third positions and Earl Harp and Greg Galligan battling it out for the fourth and fifth place positions. During the eighteenth lap Danny Gardner #15 also started spilling fluid. This put him completely out of the running. The fluid made for very slick conditions, but the race ended without having to once again wave that dreaded yellow flag. There was no question who would take this win. Mike Smith once again in the winner's circle, with Willy Rice # 22 taking second. Third place went to the #59 of Earl Harp, fourth to #11 Greg Galligan. The fifth place went to Bobby Davis driving the # 2 Cantina car. Clayton McClean took the sixth place finish after starting in the poll position. Seventh through tenth went to the 11W driven by John Waters, the 83 car driven by Andrew Latham, the Z8 of Steve Hartman Jr. and the number 13 car driven by Ray Brol. Heat winner s were Steve Hartman Jr. and Clayton McClean.
Next out on the track were the Street Stock with Mike Williams and Gary Archer in the poll positions. The racing started with two, three and sometimes even four cars abreast. Each holding their own, the crowd expecting that any moment that yellow flag would appear out of no where and that it did on lap number five. The yellow quickly became a red when the number 72 car driven by Joe Nobriga dropped over the edge on the back side of the track. Joe survived the scary ride and was back out on the track in no time competing against his fellow street stock drivers. The whole race seemed to consist of one spin out after another, but each time the driver got his car back under control without once a sign of a yellow. Steve Williams, Gary Archer, Dan Gordon, Ken Thomas and Jeff Smith were in constant battle throughout the entire race for that first place spot until lap number seventeen. Cars every which way, brought on the 2nd caution of the race and really putting some serious changes in the Street Stock Mid Season Championship finishing status. Davis Gee was the first to cross the start finish line with Dan Gordon not even a half car behind him. Third to cross the line was the number #3 of Bob Clark, fourth was Jeff Smith who stayed in the top five for the entire race. Crossing the start finish line for fifth place was Gary Archer in the number #48. Sixth place went to Geoff McNally in the #59, seventh to #52 Todd Burgess, eighth to Henry Miracle, ninth to Randy Hilfigrer and rounding the top ten was the 94 car of Bob Davis. Todd Burgess was the big winner in points for the evening. Heat winners for the evening in this division were Dave Davis, Gary Archer and Dan Gordon. Bill Shea picked up the win in the Morgan's Auto Repair 2nd Chance Race.
Last but not least the Mighty Mini Stocks were out on the track. Due to the earlier rain, it was late, the fans were tired and the moon was full. What else can I say. Elwin Davenport and Bob Hauber were in the poll positions with point leader Joe Povoski starting 16th. The first caution came out on the very first lap of the race when the number #46 driven by Brian Grant spun around and wouldn't refire. Once the green flag was dropped for the second time the race was off and running. As usual a lot of bumping and banging but this makes for a lot excitement and the crowd loves it. During the first few laps it looked like Kris Kester would have no problem taking that first place position but the tenth lap brought out the second yellow of the race with spin outs at bought ends of the track, just the break that four time feature winner in 2002, Joe Pavoski was waiting for. Lap eleven the race was on Kris Kester, Chuck Leasure and Joe Povoski were battling it out for that first place position, and the title of Mid Season Champion for the Mini Stock Division. Quite the battle between the #57 of Chad Dickerson and #27 Ryan Davenport for fourth and fifth. Lap fourteen introduced the leaders to lap traffic creating some real problems for the leaders. A caution on lap 15 helped relieve the dilemma This again was a great break for Kris Kester who was looking for his first win ever. The last caution came out on the lap 18 with Kris still in the lead. With two laps to go, if you were a fan would you get up and leave with the point leader Joe Povoski and first time win contender Kris Kester competing for the win? What a tremendous race with Kester crossing the finish line by only a half car length to take the win. What a race! Second place went to Joe Povoski who immediately went to Kris' car to congratulate him. Third across the start finish was Chuck Leasure. Fourth place win went to Chad Dickerson, fifth to Ryan Davenport, sixth to the 8J of Eddie Crawford, seventh to Kenny Peoples Jr. in the 5K, eighth to #86 Kevin Young, ninth #19 Bob Hauber and rounding out the top ten was Brian Grant in the number #46.
Heat Winners were Josh Mills, Jeff Stone, Chris Kester with Kevin Young winning the consolation race.
Special Feature of the evening was the 358 Modified "Radar" Wright Memorial Dash for Cash. Taking the win was the 88M driven by Mike Jackson.
Next week it is the Annual Jim Williams Independence Day Trophy Races including a Woodhull Fireman's chicken bar-b-que complete with a huge fireworks show after dark. The racing will be a Regular 5 Star Attraction complete with the DIRT 358 Modifieds, Super, Street and Mini Stocks as well as the IMCA Modifieds. The night of activity is sponsored by Wades Building Supply of Addison, New York.
Feature Winners:
358 Modifieds:
1st, #13X Lyle Sherwood, 2nd #12 Billy VanPelt, 3rd #61 Steve Kio, 4th #88M Mike Jackson, 5th #Z8 Steve Hartman Sr, 6th #37Tom Kio, 7th #12B Donnie Kio, 8th #17 Curt VanPelt, 9th #9 Dan Matthews 10th, #7H Alex Hoag
Heat Winners: Alex Hoag, Larry Keegan, Steve Kio
Super Stock
1st, #5K Kenny Peoples Sr., 2nd #61Billy Williams, 3rd #11 Mike Hilfiger, 4th #67 Rich Marlatt, 5th #87 Scott Brown, 6th #87Bob Lubberts, 7th #77 Brett Flint, 8th #4 Larry Knowles, 9th #39 Mike Carpello, 10th #04 Joe Buck.
Heat winners: Larry Knowles, Brett Flint, Brian Knowles
IMCA
1st, #96 Mike Smith, 2nd #22Willy Rice, 3rd #59 Earl Harp, 4th #11 Greg Galligan, 5th #2 Bob Davis, 6th #3 Clayton McClean, 7th #11W John Waters, 8th #83 Andrew Latham #9 #Z8 Steve Hartman Jr., 10th, #13 Ray Brol
Heat Winners: Steve Hartman, Clayton McClean
Street Stock
1st, #35 Dave Gee, 2nd Dan Gordon, 3rd #3 Bob Clark, 4th #40 Jeff Smith, 5th #48 Gary Archer, 6th #59 Geoff McNally. 7th #52 Todd Burgess, 8th #5 Henry Miracle, 9th #1H Randy Hilfiger, 10th #94 Dave Davis
Heat Winners: Dave Davis, Gary Archer, Dan Gordon, Morgans Auto 2nd Chance Race: Bill Shea
Mini Stock
1st, #43 Kris Kester, 2nd, #1 Joe Povoski, 3rd, #38 Chuck Leasure, 4th, #57 Chad Dickerson, 5th, #27 Ryan Davenport, 6th, #8j Eddie Crawford, 7th, #5k Kenny Peoples Jr., 8th, #86 Kevin Young, 9th, #19 Bob Hauber, 10th, #46 Brian Grant.
Heat Winners: Josh Mills, Jeff Stone, Kris Kester, Consi: Kevin Young