DANNY JOHNSON DOMINATES DIRT CHALLENGE CUP EVENT
ELBRIDGE, NY..4/25/99...Rochester's Danny Johnson drove his Sweeteners Plus sponsored number 27J to victory in the nineteeth annual DIRT Challenge Cup 99-lapper at Rolling Wheels Raceway last Sunday. Steve Hall, from Cape Vincent, NY, earned top honors in the 20-lap sportsman qualifier for both Syracuse's July 4 race and Rolling Wheels's Susuki World Series Weekend. Les Whyte won the Pro-Stock race. Forty-three modifieds filled the Rolling Wheels Raceway pit area for the DIRT Challenge Cup race. Five heat races saw Todd Milton, Danny Johnson, Pat ward, Tim Fuller and Gary Tomkins earn the front row starting spots in the heads up feature race. This placed Johnson on the outside pole. From that position he quickly jumped into the lead ahead of Milton, Ward, Fuller and Billy Decker. During the first 25 laps, any cautions that flew would not count against any driver pitting as long as they returned to the speedway before the green appeared again. During these first 25 laps, four yellow periods happened. The first coming on lap 6 when Vic Coffey and Andy Bachetti tangled in the third turn. Both cars were able to return to the race. On lap 10, A.J. Romano's Labatt's modified broke and coasted to a stop in turn one causing the second yellow light period. A slowing Billy Decker brought out the net yellow on lap 18. Decker pitted and returned quickly to the race. On lap 23 the fourth yellow came when Ron Smoker looped his mount on the back stretch. Just as the field took the 25th lap the yellow flew once more. It was deemed that this yellow started on lap 25 so any driver pitting would not be counted down a lap. Both Billy Decker and Bob McCreadie used this yellow. McCreadie changed three tires and returned at the back of the field. What seemed to be a good move was about to prove devastating. The restart on lap 30 saw a multi-car pile occur coming off the fourth turn involving five cars, including McCreadie and both enters from Quebec, Marco Potvin and Luke Plante. None of these cars were able to continue. All this while Danny Johnson was leading over Todd Milton and Doug Hoffman. Hoffman was able to pass Milton on lap 37 when the race restarted for second. A yellow on lap 44 saw Tim Fuller drop from the race with mechanical woes. Scott Prentice, driving a new Teo car rocketed into third and start to draw in Hoffman. Brett Hearn used a high move around Milton on lap 56 to take fourth. The driver on the move however was Kenny Tremont aboard his experimental Troyer modified. Both he and Pat Ward passed Milton for fifth and six respectively. On lap 77 the yellow again flew when Bobby Varin broke an axle and slid through the infield off the back stretch. He was uninjured but his car was not able to continue in the race. Danny Johnson was feeling the pressure from Hoffman at times when the lead cars would enter lapped traffic. Each time Johnson was able to pull back out to a five car advantage over Hoffman. At the finish line it was Danny Johnson by five car lengths over Hoffman. Prentice finished a close third, with Tremont passing Hearn to claim fourth. Hearn came home in fifth. The 20-lap sportsman main event also saw a dominating Steve Hall lead the entire distance. He was able to pull away to almost a full straight away advantage over Mike Button by lap three. Button found himself in a battle with Chris Shultz and Alton palmer for the runner up position. At the finish Hall won by nearly a half track over Button, Palmer and Shultz. Greg Doust rounded out the top five finishers. Hall earns a guaranteed starting spot at both Syracuse in July and Rolling Wheels in September for his victory. Les Whyte won a exciting Pro-stock race, even with a extreme small field of cars on hand. Whyte also led the entire distance, but was surrounded at times by both Tom Barron and Randy Miller in a tight battle for the lead. Joining this battle for the lead was a hard charging Scott McGuigan. Whyte claimed the win, followed by McGuigan, who passed both Miller and Barron with just two laps remaining. Barron finished third followed by Miller and a distant Ricky Breed in fifth. The next event at Rolling Wheels will be on Sunday, May 16. That day the modified will run a 50-lapper, along with a sportsman 25-lapper paying $500 to win. The Pro-stocks return with their 25-lap Hoosier Tire Mr. DIRT Pro-Stock Championship Trail race. Race time on May 16 will again be at 2 p.m. in the afternoon.
HARRY'S TIRE & SUPPLY, AUTO TRADER MAGAZINE, GLEASON HOME BUILDERS, RUMETCO SALES, AUBURN CUSTOM COUNTERTOPS presents the 1999 DIRT CHALLENGE CUP NIGHT SUMMARY PRO-STOCKS HEAT 1: L. Whyte, R. Breed, T. Barron, R. Miller. FEATURE (12-laps): LES WHYTE, Scott McGuigan, Tom Barron, Randy Miller, Ricky Breed, Brian Thompson, Bob Sears, Jerry Sullivan, Rich Birdsdale. SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: M. Button, C. Schultz, T. Henderson, K. Comfort, V. Vitale, J. Spano. HEAT 2: S. Hall, T. Clemons, G. Doust, C. Brachmann, M. Barrese, J. Bellinger. HEAT 3: L. Lincoln, A. Palmer, T. Preston, Ju. Haers, R. Hefti, Ji. Johnson. CONSI: J. Urckfitz, G. Sleight, R. Baye, J. Beyea, W. Decker, L. Dusett. FEATURE (20-laps): STEVE HALL, Mike Button, Alton Palmer, Chris Shultz, Greg Doust, Greg Sleight, James Spano, Chad Brachmann, Karl Comfort, John Bellinger, Loren Lincoln, Tim Clemons, Justin Haers, Jimmy Johnson, Todd Preston, Vince Vitale, Lance Dusett, Russ Hefti, Mike Barrese, Ryan Baye, Jason Urckfitz, Joe Beyea, Paul Benz, Willie Decker. MODIFIED HEAT 1: T. Milton, B. Decker, J. Johnson, M. Colsten. HEAT 2: D. Johnson, J.R. Heffner, K. Tremont, J. Horton. HEAT 3: P. Ward, S. Prentice, B. Hearn, A.J. Romano. HEAT 4: T. Fuller, D. Hoffman, R. Smoker, B. McCreadie. HEAT 5: G. Tomkins, T. Sears Jr., J. Plazek, M. Gibbs. CONSI 1: F. Cozze, L. Plante, R. Johnson, J. Gabriel Jr., B. Varin. CONSI 2: D. Planck, S. Paine, T. McCreadie, T. Burley, M. Potvin. ADDED: A. Bachetti, V. Coffey, A. Johnson. FEATURE (99-laps): DANNY JOHNSON, Doug Hoffman, Scott Prentice, Kenny Tremont, Brett Hearn, Jack Johnson, Frank Cozze, Pat Ward, Jimmy Horton, Todd Burley, Todd Milton, Alan Johnson, Tim McCreadie, Steve Paine, Ronnie Johnson, Joe Plazek, Andy Bachetti, Ron Smoker, Jim Gabriel Jr., J.R. Heffner, Gary Tomkins, Bobby Varin, Mike Colsten, Vic Coffey, Mitch Gibbs, Tim Fuller, Tom Sears Jr., Bob McCreadie, Billy Decker, Luke Plante, Marco Potvin, Dale Planck, A.J. Romano.