"BAREFOOT BOB" CAPTURES THE WIN AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT BREWERTON SPEEDWAY
Brewerton N.Y.. .8/30/97.. ."This is a great track. I love it here. The track was the best its
been," exclaimed Bob McCreadie as he captured not only the modified feature at the Brewerton
Speedway, but he also repeated as the track championship in a sensational nig!
ht of racing on the D shaped DIRT Demon.
While McCreadie earned the title among the big blocks it was Chuck Bower repeating as
the 358 champion at the Route 11 speedway. In the IMCA Modifieds it was Craig Simmons winning
his first ever Brewerton feature event. Frank Doll won another dwarf feature!
and Rick Wilk dominated the four cylinder main event.
The Modifieds were greeted with a wickedly fast track with perfect conditions resulting
in some of the quickest speeds of the season. Wheel-to-wheel racing was the order of the
night as McCreadie clinched his fourth consecutive track title. "Barefoot" sta!
rted back in 21st after a drive shaft broke during the preliminary event.
The feature started with a massive pile up in the first turn which saw 11 cars involved.
Officials brought the red flag and on the restart it was Roger Phelps taking over at the
point. However, yellow was the order of the night with nine caution periods sl!
owing the 35 lap event. Phelps set the early pace, but McCreadie was working his way rapidly
toward the front. On the sixth lap McCreadie dove under Pat Ward and found himself in second
place. One lap later he roared down low to pass Phelps and despite nume!
rous yellows he was never headed in his quest for the win.
Fans were glued to the battle for second place between Ward, Tim Fuller and Billy
Decker. They raced lap after lap, high and low, wheel-to-wheel as they diced and exchanged
positions. The majority of the yellow flags were for relatively minor spins, but o!
n the twenty-first lap Dana Wagner and Tim McCreadie came together with a heavy hit in the
fourth turn resulting in major damage to both cars. Bower was also eliminated in the melee.
Action settled down after that with McCreadie taking charge. He roared into lapped
traffic and Tim Fuller attempted to close the gap. Fuller made a dramatic effort, but fell
short. At the checker it was Bob McCreadie chalking up the win followed by Tim Ful!
ler. The battle for third went to Pat Ward while Billy Decker finished fourth. Scott Prentice
rallied for fifth.
In the IMCA modified main event it was Craig Simmons coming home victorious. Polesitter
Randy Baker was the early pacesetter while Rob Keller, smoking heavily, tried to keep it
close. However, Baker was up to the task. On the ninth lap there was a high-low!
move going into turn one by Simmons and he pulled off the pass as the duo raced down the
backstretch. George Catanzano fought from deep in the field and moved into second place with
five laps to go. Catanzano tried to power through on the low side and was!
nearly able to pull it off. However, on the last lap the top two cars made contact in the
first turn as Simmons pulled away for the win. Catanzano settled for second while Randy Baker
was a solid third followed by Neil Edgar and Sean Lias.
A three car battle at the front of the field saw Frank Doll, Jim Gray and Troy Van Allen
dicing through the closing stages of the dwarf feature. Darren Forbes had his best run of
the year as he paced the field in the early going. However, a yellow flag bu!
nched the field on the seventh lap and on the restart it was Frank Doll taking over. Gray
closed in, but on the 14th lap Kevin Doll got upside down in the third turn in a crash which
also eliminated Jim Fredenburg and C.J. Crawford. In the late stages Gray !
challenged as did Van Allen, but Doll got the win. Frank Doll was followed by Troy Van Allen,
Jim Gray, Darren Forbes and Jim Coher.
In the four cylinder Bob Haws took the lead from the outset, but on the ninth lap Rick
Wilk powered under him coming out of turn for. Wilk coasted to victory while Haws settled for
second. It was Gary Morrisette coming from the rear of the field for third !
followed by Ed Granoski and Bill Klinkowsky.
Pit Stops-Heats were won by Dan Boyce and Ed Bell in the dwarf division. John Thayer and
Dick Weiland won the IMCA heats. It was Bob Haws and Ed Granoski in the four cylinder and the
mod prelim winners were Billy Decker, Sean Beardsley and Chuck Bower whil!
e Ray Bliss won the consi...Simmons had won only two features this year. Tonight and the
night before at Can-Am. Ironically, he is a regular at Lebanon Valley..Jim Phelps was in the
38 as problems forced his 99 to the sidelines...Action was slowed for nearl!
y 45 minutes after one of the bus racers flopped over on its side...This Friday ELS sprinters
invade along with IMCA mods, dwarf cars, four cylinders and a modified invitational.
..Drivers walked through the stands collecting for Muscular Dystophy and fans !
donated $1,438.
Modified Feature-Bob McCreadie, Tim Fuller, Pat Ward, Billy Decker, Scott Prentice, Ray
Bliss, Gil Tegg, Roger Phelps, Bob Varin, Shawn Donnath, Geoff Plis, Jimmy Phelps, Mike Ward,
Fran Hilton, Bob Bennett, Chuck Bower, Dana Wagner, Tim McCreadie, Sean Be!
ardsley, Steve Hulsizer, Joe August, Bill Smith, Bucky Hayes and Scott Updyke.
IMCA Modifieds-Craig Simmons, George Catanzano, Randy Baker, Neil Edgar, Sean Lias, Don
Alvord, Ron O'Neil, John Thayer, Dick Weiland, Tony Finch, Glen Erwin, Tom Horning, Les
Hubbard, Jim Graves, Jim Walsh, Coleen Finch, Bill Anderson, Brent Matzel, Rob K!
eller, Scott Ziprich.
Dwarf Feature-Frank Doll, Troy Van Allen, Jim Gray, Darren Forbes, Jim Coher, Ed Bell,
Pat Waters, Scott Nash, Barry Virts, Kevin Battelle, Brian Cunningham, David Orr, Dan
Thompson, Bob Bird, C.J. Crawford, Jim Fredenburg, Kevin Doll, Chuck Weiland, Pat P!
ontello, Martin Amyot, Ken Gamlen and Dan Boyce.
Four Cylinders-Rick Wilk, Bob Haws, Gary Morrissette, Ed Granoski, Bill Klinkowsky,
George Kirchoff, Jim Olin, Ken Klinkowsky, Dave Bargabos, Brett Hubbard, Jon Amidon, Ed
Lawton, Tim Koch, Chris Bargabos, Ray Chittenden, Billy Clark, Roger Olschewske, Kev!
in Cook, Chuck Powelczyk.