Accord, NY- Brad Rothaupt Rockets To First Ever Accord Speedway Win; Two Ricci's Claim Victories By: Steve Pados, Accord Speedway Media
The Accord Speedway swung back into action on a picture and weather perfect Friday evening and the roster of drivers were more than anxious to set the wheels in motion on the speedway. With a week off due to the whims of Mother Nature, Promoter Gary Palmer had the speedway in tip-top shape and the racing action spread across the speedway with at least four distinct racing channels for them to work their magic. The racing action was excellent in the eight divisions offered and racing was completed at 11 PM. The evening of speed wassponsored by the good folks at Tom's Repair Shop located in New Paltz, New York. The Checkered Flag Bonus was posted by Marty from Upstate Auto Inc.
The night provided some first evers at the speedway as "The Rhinebeck Rocket" Brad Rothaupt recorded his first career win at the speedway. Rothaupt was second across the line but apparent winner Dom Roselli Sr was light at the scales and disqualified moving the field up one notch each and granting the win to Rothaupt in the United Pump and Tank Modifieds. Allison Ricci continues to surge at the speedway as she scored her fourth win of the season in the Healey Brothers Group Spec Sportsman event. Not to be outdone, her brother Rich Ricci III captured his third win of the season as he wired the field to record another win in the Escape RV Sportsman feature event. Wayne Taylor returned to the speedway a couple of weeks ago with a new outlook on racing and he made the most of it as he scored his first ever Accord Speedway win in the Ruge's Performance Center Pro Stock event. The WRWD Radio sponsored Junior Slingshot division found "The Highside Hustler" Justin Mills finding the hot ticket to victory lane as he scored his first ever win at the speedway. Kevin Skelly was the apparent winner of the of the Arkel Motors Pure Stock encounter but a post race infraction disqualified him and the win was turned over to Bob Sleight who scored win number five at the speedway for 2015. The Want AD Digest All Star Slingshot main event was claimed Ashley Rogosich as the young speedster earned her fourth win of the season. Don Smith captured the Northeast Wingless Sprint main.
Lem Atkins and Joe Judge brought the United Pump and Tank Modified field down for the start of the 30-lap headliner. Third starting Brad Rothaupt found the outer reaches of the speedway to his liking and grabbed the lead off of turn two and raced out front. "The Ice Man" Dom Roselli Sr had himself a fast hot rod and took off after Rothaupt. Rothaupt was glued to the top of the raceway while Roselli was able to change lanes at will to run him down and on lap eleven was able to move underneath Rothaupt to gain the advantage. Once in front, Roselli was able to distance himself from the rest of the field and go and capture an apparent hard fought victory. Post race inspection found Roselli light at the scales resulting in a Brad Rothaupt win, his first ever win at the speedway. In the Lucas Oil Products Victory Lane an ecstatic Rothaupt thanked all of his sponsors and offered a world a thanks to his teammate "Prime Time" Scott Ferrier. Ferrier would earn second place making it a one-two sweep for the Serve It All race Team at the speedway. "Tommy Gun" Tommy Johnson wore his sponsor's colors well as he claimed a third place finish on his sponsors night at the speedway. Jeff Heotzler Sr recovered from a first lap spin to hustle back through the field and claim fourth place while Mike Ricci completed the top five. Behind them, Robbie Green, Joe Judge, Mark Pullen, Corey Lowitt and Jeff Heotzler Jr filled out the ranks of the top ten.
The Escape RV Sportsman headliner found Ralph Ronk pacing the field for the first four laps. At that point, Rich Ricci III caught the top of the raceway and the needed speed to challenge Ronk and get by him when he switched lanes coming off of turn four. The race was purely academic after that as Ricci had himself a quick hot rod and was able to drive away from the filed and onto victory. Five time winner Kevin Ward settled for runner-up honors while Jimmy Wells had a later charge for third place just ahead of Jesse Marks and Ralph Ronk. Joe Giachinta, Phil Goetchius, Jeff Hulseapple, Dave Werber and Frank Smith III completed the top ten.
After driver introductions, the Healey Brother's Group Spec Sportsman feature main event got underway with Allison Ricci out hustling Ed Dachenhausen into turn one to assume command of the event. That move would be all she needed as Allison comfortably drove away from the rest of the field on her way to her fourth win of the 2015 racing season. Dachenhausen would finish second with Dan Speedling, Patrick Murphy and Robbie Knipe completing the top five. Kyle Rohner, Winter Mead, Jimmy Johnson, Phil Johnson and Collin DuBois completed the top ten.
The Ruge's Performance Center Pro Stock feature run found Wayne Taylor with a heavy right foot as he gained command of the event right from the drop of the green flag. Once in front, Taylor was able to jump out to a huge advantage but with five laps to go " Double D" Dave Demorest mounted a challenge and at the checkered flag would be nose to tail with the winning Taylor. Taylor, in victory lane, was overwhelmed with his first ever win at the speedway and thanked all of his friends and fans for their continued support. Demorest would settle for second place with Al Christiana, the returning Jimmy Sykes, John Roese, Sean Corr, Greg Sleight, the returning John Rood and Ron Rion completing the field.
The WRWD Radio Junior Slingshot main event was all Justin Mills as the young speedster grabbed the lead off of turn two and quickly ran to daylight from the rest of the field and going on to earn his first ever win at the Accord Speedway. Mills was in a borrowed race car and thanked the car owner in victory lane for the use of the quick racer. Jake Mason hustled to a fine runner-up run with Hunter Lapp, John Kendall and the returning Matt DeRitter completing the top five. Samantha Muller, Jayden Sleight, Ashton DeWitt, Ryan Auchmoody and Peyton Speedling completed the top ten.
The Arkel Motors Pure Stock feature kicked off with Tanner Johnson leading the first lap before yielding to a high flying Kevin Skelly. Skelly ran away from the field to gain the win but a post race infraction would find him disqualified from the event and handing the victory over to Bob Sleight making it win number five in 20215 for Sleight. The "Minute Men" Massachusetts based Bob Palmer and Chris Streeter were second and third with Gary Ronk fourth and steady Paul Aragon completing the top five. Steve Williams, Tim Southard, Harry Bachman, Ray Tarantino and Tanner Johnson would finish out the top ten.
The Want AD Digest All Star Slingshot main was all about Ashley Rogosich as the young speed queen found daylight off of turn two to drive into the lead and would walk away from the field to claim her fourth win of the season. Matt Shultz kept pace with a fine runner-up placement while Wyatt Clark, Bobby Flood, Taylor Hurban, Don Boonstra, Ryan McCartney, newcomer Jake Bedell, Marty Kelly and Vinnie Visconti would complete the field.
Don Smith led all of the way to claim a win in the Northeast Wingless Sprint car exhibition. Aaron Bush and Mark Sasso completed the field.
GEMSTONES:
The good friends from Tom's Repair Shop was the headline sponsor for the evening and while Tommy Johnson enjoyed a great run in the Modifieds, Livy Johnson encountered some tough luck in the Pure Stocks. Johnson was hit from behind on the first lap of her heat event and shot across the track and was set off into a series of high flying barrel rolling flips. Johnson climbed from the race car unhurt and later joined announcer Steve Pados in the tower to give her account of the harrowing experience.
The eight divisions who made their way into the speedway to do battle resulted in many exciting heat races that found Patrick Murphy and Allison Ricci capturing the Spec Sportsman qualifiers. Modified heats were claimed by Brad Rothaupt, Scott Ferrier and Jeff Heotzler Sr. The Pro Stock heat saw Al Christiana ride to victory. Don Smith claimed the Sprint Car heat win. Gary Ronk and Paul Aragon were victorious in the Pure Stock division heats. Ashley Rogosich raced to victory in the All Star Slingshots. Phil Goetchius and Rich Ricci III captured the Sportsman heat wins. Justin Mills and Hunter Lapp claimed the Junior Slingshot heat events.
New cars and drivers that arrived for action last night included Jake Bedell in the Slingshots, Chris Daley and Lenny Helmich in the Sportsmen, Bill DeGrow, Kate Drake and Kevin Skelly in the Pure Stocks, Mark Sasso in the Sprints, Justin Gozzi and Kurt Hundeland in the Modifieds, Sean Corr in the Pro Stocks and Collin DuBois in the Spec Sportsmen. Dubois, known as "The DareDevil " has enjoyed a solid year racing at the Hamlin Speedway where he has captured three wins in the Stage One Modifieds and the young speedster made his debut behind the wheel of a full sized race car. DuBois did an excellent job in making the transition into the division. Ken Ferrier, who recently moved into the Modifieds after securing three wins in Sportsmen competition, took a wild ride on the Redi Rock International barriers during the heat racing action. Ken was unhurt but the car suffered heavy damage to the front end and Ken withdrew from the remainder of the racing events.
All Star Slingshot racer Marty Kelly made the trip down to the speedway from Vermont and once again joined announcer Steve Pados in the booth to do some announcing. Kelly is a quick study and does a good job in adapting to the Accord Speedway scene.
Former racer Brian Lynch was on hand from Florida and he was kept busy assisting the Palmer Family throughout the evening.
The speedway enjoyed a visit from legendary Modified talent Gary Balough as Balough was visiting friends in the area. Balough interviewed with announcer Steve Pados and the talk revolved around racing and went back to the famous "Batmobile" that rocked the racing world at Syracuse. Balough was impressed with the level of racing at the speedway and hopes to come back in the future.