ROOKIE LANSING PETZOLDT PICKS UP SECOND 358 WIN AT CAN-AM
LAFARGEVILLE N.Y.: It was another hot sunny Saturday and a great crowd
was on hand to watch the competition at the fast 1/2 mile clay oval in
the 1000 Islands Region of New York State. The FX Caprara Car Companies,
Country Bob's Restaurant, Universal Joint Sales and Coors Light /AJ
Missert Dist. were the sponsors of the evening and over 85 race cars were
in the pit area ready to do battle.
A full field of 24, 358 DIRT Modifieds was brought to the green by
Bob Melone and BJ Vock. Melone, along with Jim Narrow, Rick Wilson and
Steve Roberts were all involved in a terrible crash last week and fans
were glad to see all of them back in action. Melone grabbed the early
lead but Narrow showed his hard work during the week was worth it as he
took over on lap 2. Narrow would lead for only two laps when rookie
Lansing Petzoldt powered by on lap 4. Narrow stayed in the runner up
position until lap 6 when he spun between turns one and two, one lap
later Melone would tangle with Lee Gill, Dale Eggleston and Rick Amo in
turn four. When racing finally got back under way it was Petzoldt
followed by Steve Roberts, Jeff Sykes, newcomer Shawn Donath and high
point man Pat O'Brien the top five at the halfway point. The long green
flag run would come to an end on lap 23 when a caution had to be thrown
for debris on the speedway. This would tighten the field, but Petzoldt
was in a class of his own on this night and went on for win number two in
1997 at Can-Am. Sykes, O'Brien, Roberts and Donath completed the top
five.
Todd Stewart took advantage of his outside front row starting spot
and pulled into the lead of the 15 lap DIRT Sportsman feature. RJ
Gibbons, the pole sitter, slipped into the second position and the two
began to pull away from the pack. Stewart and Gibbons were having their
best runs of the season but Mike Clark, Steve Hall and point leader
George McIntyre were making their way to the front. Clark and Gibbons
would trade the second and third spot back and forth until lap 8 when
Clark slipped up in turns three and four losing a number of positions.
Stewart was holding on to a comfortable lead but Hall was trying to make
it three in a row as he moved into the second spot on lap 13 and began to
put the pressure on Stewart. A caution flew with one to go for the cars
of Joe Cook and Rob Galloway who tangled in turn one setting up a sprint
to the finish. Stewart held on for his first win of the season over
Hall, Gibbons with his second top five finish in a row, Clark and
McIntyre.
The IMCA Modifieds were lead to the flag by Ron O'Neil and Tom
Horning. Horning took the lead at the drop of the green and pulled away
to a comfortable lead in the caution free event. While Horning sat in
the number one position and Rob Keller settled into second a great race
was taking place for postions three thru seven between Ron O'Neil, Jim
Graves, Glen Erwin, Eddie O'Neil and Debbie Stevenson. These five ran
side by side and nose to tale the entire event showing fans just how
competitive this new division is going to be. Horning went on for the
win with Keller, Graves, Ron O'Neil and father Eddie O'Neil rounding out
the top five.
The Late Models were up next and it was Ronnie McConnell taking the
lead away from front row starters Scott Kelsey and Tim Busler in the
Busler team cars. Both Kelsey and Busler had problems in the early laps
allowing Tom Cormier and Walt VanTassel to move into the top three.
VanTassel got by Cormier on lap three and began to run down the leader.
With two to go VanTassel caught the front running McConnell and actually
got beside the leader on a number of occations, but McConnell was to
strong on this evening and went on for win number three in 1997.
VanTassel, point leader Ben Tucker, Busler and Jeff Papin completed the
top five finishers.
Terry Ingersol and Brian Salisbury were the front row for the 12 lap
Street Stock main event and Ingersol got the jump at the drop of the
green to take the lead on lap 1. Ingersols lead was short though as Al
Pitts moved from starting position number 7 to take the lead away on lap
2. Ingersol remained in the second spot until lap 4 when last weeks
winner Bill Eisele moved around. Eisele chased down the leader but just
as he was making a move for the lead smoke began to show from behing the
number 18. Pitts and Eisele had opened up a large lead but Eisele was
beginning to slow and just as the black flag was being readied with two
to go he pulled to the inside of the speedway to coast around the final
two laps. Pitts went on for the win as he also broke just as he came
across the finish line. Ingersol came in second, his best finish of the
season followed by Salisbury, point leader Nick Makuch and Steve Rookey.
A wild Economy Stock feature was brought to the stripe by Hunter
Grimes and Ken Partiridge. Rookie Randy Allen was shown as the leader of
lap one and looked as though he was going to be the man to beat but a
hard charging Erv Miller showed his strength and grabbed the lead away on
lap 4. Cars were running all over the speedway surface, changing
positions with the completion of every lap. At the halfway point it was
Miller followed by Allen, Mark Baltz, Partridge and Kyle Sharp. Miller
opened up a sizable lead but a caution with one lap to go would make for
an exciting finish. Miller pulled away and went on to his second win of
the season. Allen and Roger Bushey entered turn three on the last lap
side by side and contact was made between the two moving Baltz and Keith
Middlemiss into the top three. Allen regained control to finish fourth
with Clint Middlemiss completing the top five.
Next Saturday night will be a regular show for all six classes
sponsored by Jefferson Concrete and Erie Materials. Gates will open at 5
with the green flag falling at 7pm. For more information call the
speedway at (315) 658-4431.
PEPSI-COLA/MT. DEW
358 DIRT MODIFIED FINISH: Lansing Petzoldt, Jeff Sykes, Pat O'Brien,
Steve Roberts, Shawn Donath, Jeff Hoff, Lee Gill, Tim McCreadie, Dave
Heaslip, Jim Narrow, Buck White, Dale Eggleston, Barry Poitras, Delbert
LaGrow, Gilles Perrault, BJ Vock, Bob Bennett, Doug Crews, Bob Melone,
Rick Amo, Tim Fuller, Steve Bilow, Sandy Roberts, Joe August DNS: Dave
Bartlett, Rick Wilson, Bucky Hayes
FASTLUBE OF WATERTOWN
DIRT SPORTSMAN FINISH: Todd Stewart, Steve Hall, RJ Gibbons, Mike Clark,
George McIntyre, Jeff Narrow, Matt Butler, Scott Britton, Dave Surace,
Bill Mazurowski, Todd VanTassel, Dave O'Conner, Rob Galloway, Joe Cook,
Billy Caprara, Shane Donath, Rich Hall DNS: Scott MacCue
BERNHEISEL RACE CARS
IMCA MODIFIED FINISH: Tom Horning, Rob Keller, Jim Graves, Ron O'Neil,
Eddie O'Neil, Glen Erwin, Debbie Stevenson
LATE MODEL FINISH: Ronnie McConnell, Walt VanTassel, Ben Tucker, Tom
Cormier, Tim Busler, Jeff Papin, Scott Kelsey, Luke Gibeau, Todd
VanTassel
APPLEDALE FARMERS MARKET
STREET STOCK FINISH: Al Pitts, Terry Ingersol, Brian Salisbury, Nick
Makuch, Steve Rookey, Laurie Handschuh, Bill Eisele, Will Glass, Steve
Halladay, Richard Daye, Andy Wells
ECONOMY STOCK FINISH: Erv Miller, Mark Baltz, Keith Middlemiss, Randy
Allen, Clint Middlemiss, Roger Bushey, Les Sanford, Chuck Duffany, Rick
Dusckas, Hunter Grimes, Ken Partridge, Kyle Sharp, Chad Cunningham, Craig
Collier, Kevan Therrien, Andrew Howard, Stacy Cardinal