MARK HAWKINS, LYLE SHERWOOD, EARL HARP, STEVE BRACE, AND TOM STEWART WIN AT BLACK ROCK
DUNDEE,N.Y..5/30/97...A pair of track champions finally picked up their first feature wins of the 1997 last Friday on Beam Mack of Elmira night at the Black Rock Speedway. Defending Modified champion Mark Hawkins out of Macedon,N.Y., grabbed his first win of the season. Earl Harp out of Bath,N.Y. also garnered his first victory of the year. Lyle Sherwood picked up another win in the Big Flats Manufactured Housing feature. Steve Brace was also a first time winner in the ProStocks, and Tommy Stewart got the victory in the 4 Cyl. Stocks.
Defending Modified track champion Mark Hawkins finally picked up his first win of the 1997 last Friday night at the Black Rock Speedway. But the story through out most of the 25 lap event was second generation driver out of King Ferry, Mike Ward's strong up front for most of the event. Ward began the event
on the outside of the front row, and as the green came out he jumped out to the early lead, and was being chased down by Tom Kio, and Buddy Morseman, as these three cars formed a breakaway pack that pulled away from the rest of the field. By the 10th circuit, Ward had a huge lead on the rest of the field,and Morseman was now running a distant second, with Tom Kio third, Mark Hawkins was now up to fourth coming up from his ninth starting position, and Rochester's Ron White was in the fifth position. As the race progressed, Ward continued to stretch out his lead, and by lap 21 he was encountering heavy lapped traffic. On lap 22, the last thing that Mike Ward wanted to see appeared in the flag stand, as the yellow waved for Dave Machuga as he slowly slid off the fourth turn. This of course, bunched up the field for the restart. When the green came back out Mark Hawkins jumped into the second spot and Ron White came with him in third, and this set up a terrific three way battle for the win. On lap 23 Hawkins passed Ward on the outside at the start finish line, and again Ron White came with him for second, pushing Ward back
to third. As the checkers flew it was Hawkins with the exciting win, Ron White held on for second, Ward was a disappointing third, fourth went to, Steve Hartman, and rounding out the top five was,Buddy Morseman. Heat wins went to, Walt Mitchell, Ron White, Mike Ward, and Buddy Morseman.
Lyle Sherwood picked up the win in the Big Flats Manufactured Housing Feature, as he grabbed the lead and the drop of the green and ran away and hid from the rest of the field. George Rushlow finished second, third was,Ray Bliss Jr. driving the Lincoln Fabricating 21. The fourth, and final qualifier
was,Fred Buckley.
Earl Harp, out of Bath,N.Y., two time and defending champion in the SuperStocks finally picked up his first win of the season. After starting in the 18th position, Harp had his E&C Racing #59 flying on this night and by lap 15 he passed early leader Rob Conklin, and went on for the popular win. The real race was for second place between, Tony Harris and Dale Welty. It was a drag
race to the line with Harris getting the second spot, then he went off the track and hit the foam barriers in the first turn wall, Welty hung on for his second third place finish in a row after starting dead last on the field, fourth was Rob Conklin, and rounding out the top five was,Rich Karlnoski. Heat wins went to, Donnie Smith, Mike Brenning, and Earl Harp.
Steve Brace out of Dundee, N.Y., grabbed his first win of the season in the ProStocks. He took the lead at the halfway point in the event, but he had heavy pressure from Mike Brown and early leader, ProStock rookie Chris McCann. Another rookie in the division that had a good run early was 16 yr. old Frank Burnell Jr. out of Waterloo, as he was battling for fourth position, until an encounter with Brian Knowles cut down a tire, and sent him to the pits. He was not allowed back on the speedway for speeding in the pits. Jeff Baroody had a fine run in the feature and finished 8th. He had flipped his 3B on the front stretch during his heat event, and he and his crew did a great
job getting the car back together for the feature. As the checkers were flying, Steve Brace was the first one across the line, second place was Mike Brown, third was Chris McCann, fourth went to, Brian Hilliard, and rounding out the top five was, Steve Clark. Heats wins went to, Chris McCann, Steve Brace, and Dave Yehl.
Tom Stewart, out of Almond N.Y., picked up another win in the 4 Cyl. Stock division, after starting 17th on the field, he got the lead on a lap eight restart, and went on for the win. Finishing second was Todd Stone, third was,Don Potter, fourth went to,"Wild" Willy Grant, and rounding out the top five was, Colby Peterson. Heat wins went to, Shawn Brace, Ray Hyer, and Brian
Austin.
The 40th year of racing at the Yates Co. oval this Friday night, and it will be B&L Hough night at Black Rock, and they will be presenting a regular four star show plus one on one big rigs, with $1,000 going to the winner. Gates open at 5:30, and racing starts at 7:30. Black Rock Speedway is located on Route 14A just outside the village of Dundee. For more information,
call,(607)2438686.
BEAM MACK OF ELMIRA RACE SUMMARY:MODIFIEDS(25 LAPS)MARK HAWKINS,Ron White,Mike Ward,Steve Hartman,Buddy Morseman,Billy VanPelt,Stacy Jackson,Tom Kio,Don Lawson,Pat Golley,Chuck Kennison,Charlie Donk,Ray Bliss Jr.,Fred Buckley,Walt
Mitchell,Terry Hough,Tim Sebring,Steve Mandell,Todd Milton,Dave Machuga,Jeff Kappesser,Lyle Sherwood,Bobby Sherwood,George Rushlow.
BIG FLATS MANUFACTURED HOUSING FEATURE:LYLE SHERWOOD,George Rushlow,Ray Bliss Jr.,Fred Buckley,Roy Shields,Marty Conlon,Mike Jackson,Tim Burnette,Aaron Jacabus,John Moravec,John Flock,Don Pratt
SUPERSTOCKS:(20 LAPS)EARL HARP,Tony Harris,Dale Welty,Rob Conklin,Rich Karlnoski,BobBuono,Steve Perry,Gene Balmer,Larry Knowles,Carl Cleveland,Cam Sutherland,Mike Carapella,Dave Fultz,Terry Brewer,Steve Kent,Bill Miller,Bruce Ross,Bobby Teed,Les Irwin,Del Cummings,Donnie Smith,Mike Brenning,Jeremy
Potrzebowski,John Rekczis
PROSTOCKS(20 LAPS)STEVE BRACE,Mike Brown, Chris McCann,Brian Hilliard,Steve Clark, Ralph Champion,Terry Wheat,Jeff Baroody, Dave VanArsdale,Brian Knowles,Jason Clugstone,Eric VanSkiver,Darren Hadley,Bryan Rhoads,Mike Vandyke,Tim Freeland,Dan Smart,Frank Brunell,Jeff Smith,Bry Weiskoff,Dave
Yehl,Dan Standish
4 Cyl. Stocks(15 Laps)TOM STEWART,Todd Stone,Don Potter,Willy Grant,Colby Peterson, Jake Clancey,Ralph Warren,Ed Mills,Phil Yaw,Joel Husted,Brian Austin,Karl Weichenthal,Bob Stewart,Eddie Machuga,Kenny Hunt,Keri Conklin,John VanEpps,Bob Johnson,Shawn Brace,Dan Dykes,Ray Hyer