BACHETTI OVER INVADERS FOR 358 SERIES WIN

Middletown, NY : The DIRT traveling small block modified tour made it's annual stop at the Orange County Fair Speedway Thursday night. At the end of the Milford Chrysler Sales/Middletown Pontiac Buick, GMC Truck event, Andy Bachetti of Sheffield Ma. had collected his first small block win of the season here.

Time trials determined the first two guaranteed starters in the field as rookie Matt Sheppard of Waterloo, NY set fast time of 22.432 sec. and Steve Paine was second fastest at 22.708. The balance of the field were placed in 4 heats. A draw for starting positions from the two fastest qualifiers plus the top 3 in each heat found invaders Pat Ward and Vic Coffey starting on the front row.

The early stages of the event found numerous cautions including one on lap two that involved series leader Danny Johnson in turn two. He was able to continue at the rear of the field eventually finishing 10th. On the lap 3 restart, Bachetti, the defending 358 modified champion at Orange County, entered the top five. On lap 25, he dropped under Coffey in turn two, collected the lead, and ran away from the field.

Though several cautions slowed the feature in the latter stages, including one with two laps to go, Bachetti was in complete control and distanced himself from Coffey and the balance of the field after every restart. Orange County regulars Bud Christmann and Tom Hindley finished 3rd and 4th while invader Paine was 5th. Bachetti's small block win comes on the heels of his first big block win of the season which came that last time OCFS raced on June 30th.

The companion Cannizzaro Motorsports Pro Stock Open went to Tom Kuck of Mahopac, NY. Kuck, winner of the second heat, led all the way in the 25 lap feature. It was Kuck's 3rd win of the season at Orange County and the 44th of his career. He leads the all time win list by four over Tom Cannizzaro.

358 Modified Results:

Matt Sheppard - Fast time; Steve Paine - 2nd Fast Time: guaranteed starters

1st Heat- Alan Johnson, Andy Bachetti, Randy Sherlock, Tim Hindley, Donnie Wilson
2nd Heat- Todd Burley, Jerry Higbie, Bud Christmann, Billy Eggers, Jr., John Finley
3rd Heat- Danny Johnson, Donnie Elliott, Frank Cozze, Brett Hearn, Tony Pepicelli
4th Heat- Vic Coffey, Pat Ward, Tom Hindley, Jeff Trombley, Bill Wrede
1st Consi- Tommy Meier, Craig Mitchell, Rich Ricci, Jr.
2nd Consi- Alex Hoag, Tom Greiner, George Johnson Add: Ryan Baye, Vince Quinneville, Jr.

Feature: ANDY BACHETTI, Coffey, Christmann, Tom Hindley, Paine, Higbie, Cozze, Hearn, A. Johnson, D. Johnson, Ricci, Tombley, Burley, Pepicelli, Tim Hindley, Baye, Wilson, Greiner, Finley, Sherlock, Hoag, Quinneville, Sheppard, Eggers, Ward, Wrede, G. Johnson, Elliott, Mitchell, Meier

Pro Stock Open Results:

1st Heat- Paul Maiolo, Kevin Ward, Rob Rowe, Ryan Hawkins, Sean Post, Glenn Cargain
2nd Heat- Tom Kuck, Bob McGannon, Scott Kehr, John Bryson, Danny Hedges, Dan Kelleher
3rd Heat- Andy Dembek, Jr., Clark Bradford, Ken Hartshorn, Bill Pascual, Tom Cannizzaro, Jamie McGannon
Consi- Tom Dembek, Pat O'Mara, Gary Borrell, Joe Allen, George Van Arsdall, Russ Cilurso


Feature: TOM KUCK, T. Dembek, Pascual, Bradford, Cannizzaro, Rowe, Bryson, Ward, O'Mara, Borrell, Kelleher, Cilurso, Kehr, J. McGannon, Van Arsdall, Allen, Cargain, B. McGannon, Hawkins, Hedges, Hartshorn, Maiolo, Post, A. Dembek

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