Lee Gill, Rick Dusckas And Nick Makuch Pick Up First Wins Of 1998 At Can-Am
LAFARGEVILLE NY: 7/11/98...After one week off because of rain, action returned to the Can-Am Speedway in upstate New York and (96) cars jammed the pits to compete on Waite Motor Sales, Haylor,Freyer & Coon Insurance and Renzi Brothers Old Fashioned Meat Market night. A great crowd was on hand to see Lee Gill, Rick Dusckas and Nick Makuch pick up their first wins of the season at the fast 1/2 mile clay oval while Mike Clark, Larry Bezner and Wayne Side added to their win lists for the season.
The 25 lap 358 DIRT Modified feature was brought to the line by Bob Bennett and George Horning and Bennett shot into the early lead. Bennett looked to be having his strongest run ever at Can-Am as he held the lead over (23) of the best 358 drivers on the DIRT Circuit. The caution flew on lap 7 for a multi-car accident on the front straightaway that involved many of the top runners including Tim McCreadie who was done for the night. On the restart Lee Gill took over command with Dale Planck and Pat O'Brien now the top three. Another caution was displayed on lap 11, this time eliminating top 5 point contender Rick Wilson and Steve Hulsizer. Gill remained in the front on the restart with O'Brien moving past Planck into second. Gill went on for a very popular win over Pat O'Brien, Planck, point leader Bill Wilcox and Jeff Sykes.
Mark Yorker and Scott MacCue made up the front row for the 15 lap DIRT Sportsman feature and Yorker was quick to jump out to the lead over Scott Britton and Mike Clark. Yorker has been making the long haul up Route 81 every week to compete at Can-Am and this week it looked as though the summer of travel was about to pay off. Yorker was feeling pressure throughout the first half of the race first by Britton and then by Clark and Ryan Baye who all took a shot at Yorker for the lead. Yorkers hopes for a win came to an end though on lap 13 when a car slowed going into the pit bringing out the caution. When the leaders slowed in turn two for the yellow contact was made and Yorker's car suffered rear end damage ending his night. Clark inherited the lead and went on to the win. Steve Hall came across second with RJ Gibbons, Rich Hall and Britton completing the top five finishers.
The 12 lap IMCA Modified feature was led to the green by John Bell and Neal Bryden with Bell showing as the leader of lap 1. Bell saw his lead dissappear when Larry Bezner took his car to the front on lap 2. At the halfway mark Bezner remained in control with outsider Brandon Burchill in second and putting pressure on Bezner for the top spot. With less than 4 laps to go Bezners car began to show smoke and the entire feild began to close in. The caution flew for point leader Frank Caprara with one lap to go setting up a wild one lap dash to the checkers. With Bezner's car slowing, the field scattered behind him coming out of turn four all looking to better their positions. Bezner hung on for the win with Jim Graves moving from 4th to second on the final lap. Burchill, a regular runner on black top, brought his made for asphalt IMCA Modified across third with Ron O'Neil and Bell picking up the 4th and 5th spots.
Murray Walts, who was injured just two weeks ago in a racing accident, was the early leader in the 10 lap Late Model feature over Wayne Side and Scott Kelsey. Walts looked strong in his rebuilt Late Model but high point man Wayne Side was able to take over the lead on lap 5. The race went green to checkered with Side picking up another win in 1998. Ron McConnell was second followed by Walts, Kelsey and Tim Busler.
Laurie Handschuh and Andy Wells lead the 12 lap Street Stock feature to the green and Handschuh grabbed the lead into turn one. A pile up in turns one and two in the middle of the pack slowed the race early with Handschuh still being shown as the leader. A scary incident started on the restart when Rich Murtaugh ran point leader Al Pitts to the infeild and then one lap later Murtaugh turned into Pitts who was making a pass on the outside of turns three and four sending Pitts spinning. Officials informed Murtaugh he was done for the night but then Murtaugh turned his car around in turn one and charged down the straighaway toward Pitts and starter Randy Hunneyman who was standing on the race track. This incident earned Murtaugh an indefinate suspension from the Can-Am Speedway and any of its events. When racing resumed, Nick Makuch took over the lead from his 13th starting spot with Handschuh dropping back to second. Makuch went on for his first win of the season, in only his third start, over Bill Eisele, Pitts, Doug Murphy and Handschuh.
The 10 lap Economy Stock feature saw Les Sanford and Steve Gilmore bring the field of 21 starters to start and Gilmore moved into the lead. The red flag was displayed on lap 4 when cars got together in front of the grandstand sending the car of Hunter Grimes into a violent series of flips. Grimes got out okay put the car was destroyed in the accident. Billy Gardner was the leader on the restart but the pack was closing in on the leader. A great 5 car battle for the lead was developing and Rick Dusckas came away with the lead on lap 5. Dusckas' lead only lasted one lap as Andrew Howard was first across the line on lap 6 but Dusckas came right back on lap 7. The two had the fans on their feet as they came to checkers with Dusckas picking up his first win of the season, Howard was second followed by Ken Partridge, Kyle Sharp and Ernie Taylor.
Next week will be a complete show for all 6 divisions plus the exciting Summer Enduro Series Event #2. Anyone wanting more information on next weeks racing or Rules and Guidelines for the Enduro should call the speedway at (315) 658-4431. Gates will open at 5:00 with the first race taking the green at 7pm, Summer Enduro Series Event #2 will be held following the regular nights racing events. You can also look us up on the internet at www.can-amspeedway.com.
PEPSI-COLA/MT. DEW
358 DIRT MODIFIED FINISH: Lee Gill, Pat O'Brien, Dale Planck, Bill Wilcox, Jeff Sykes, Jim Narrow, Todd Stewart, Danny O'Brien, Bob Bennett, George McIntyre, George Horning, Jeremy Baye, Ty Hunt, Scott Parliament, Dale Eggleston, Kevin Martin, BJ Vock, Lansing Petzoldt, Steve Hulsizer, Rick Wilson, Tim McCreadie, Jeff Kotary, Steve Bilow, Shawn Donath DNS: Dave Bartlett, Bob Barton
FASTLUBE OF WATERTOWN
DIRT SPORTSMAN FINISH: Mike Clark, Steve Hall, RJ Gibbons, Rich Hall, Scott Britton, Ben Tucker, Todd VanTassel, Larry Lamb, Dave Surace, Matt Butler, Scott MacCue, Ryan Baye, Craig Collier, Shane Donath, Mark Yorker, Kevin Therrien DNS: Jeff Narrow
IMCA MODIFIED FINISH: Larry Bezner, Jim Graves, Brandon Burchill, Ron O'Neil, John Bell, Frank Caprara, Chad Malone, Neal Edgar, Kevin Chant, Eddie O'Neil, Neal Bryden DNS: Debbie Stevenson
LATE MODEL FINISH: Wayne Side, Ron McConnell, Murray Walts, Scott Kelsey, Tim Busler, Richard Stevenson, Torrey Chaltain
STREET STOCK FINISH: Nick Makuch, Bill Eisele, Al Pitts, Doug Murphy, Laurie Handschuh, Brian Rogers, Andy Wells, Steve Rookey, Mike Holmes, Clint Middlemiss, Lance LaLonde, Rodney Murtaugh DSQ: Rich Murtaugh
ECONOMY STOCK FINISH: Rick Dusckas, Andrew Howard, Ken Partridge, Kyle Sharp, Ernie Taylor, Roger Bushey, Kevin Presley, Jeff Hunter, Dave Bock, Billy Gardner, Jim Stuckey, Chuck Duffany, Les Sanford, Charles Duffany, Joseph Combs, Steve Gilmore, Hunter Grimes, Rich Woods, Brian Hegarty, George Sanford, Don Scales