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PAINE TOPS AT HOME TRACK 358 TOUR STOP



By Chris Marquart

DUNDEE, NY-- A blood-red moon began peeking through the conifers and deciduous trees that envelop the small community of Dundee, NY in Yates County.

As the moon poked higher, the color began to drain, giving way to a pale white; a pallor shared by the racers at Black Rock Speedway as the lap counter clicked closer to lap 100 on the Turning Stone Casino 358-Modified Super DIRT Series’ stop No. 14.

Steve Paine, the reigning King of Black Rock Speedway, hovered in the top three, waiting to strike. He needed just 23 laps to roll from 14th to third. In the process, he disposed of some of DIRT’s finest 358 chauffeurs. The notion caused the front runners to blanche. The final 30 laps left fans wide-eyed and competitors shaking their collective heads as Paine rode off to a straight-away plus advantage en route to his third straight tour win at Black Rock Speedway.

It was also Paine’s 11th win in 16 starts at Black Rock; his third in the last four races. The win accounts for Paine’s fourth career small block tour win at Black Rock, a 358-modified Super DIRT Series Record for Black Rock Speedway. It is the first time a driver has won three-straight small-block tour events at Black Rock and breaks Paine’s tie with track owner Lin Hough and Danny Johnson with three career small block tour wins each.

"I went good early," Paine said of his early charge. "I didn't go so great in the middle stages and I thought if I ran Alan hard enough at the end, I might slow him down and I think I did.

"Alan, alone, when he can run his own deal, he's driving away. When you ran him, he got slipping and slipping. That was good for us."

Alan -- uh, Alan Johnson -- has been on a tear since hooking up with Eric Kinglsey and the Jake Spraker No. 1J, logging seven straight top-five finishes on the Turning Stone Tour and three wins in the last five.

Johnson woke up around lap 20, disposing of pole-sitter Gil Tegg with a wild inside move. It looked like Johnson was primed to run away with the win, but both Paine and Brett Hearn were hot on the trail of the No. 1J.

A string of cautions lured Paine and Hearn to the No. 1J, only to have Johnson fire fast and pull out on the next two in line for each restart. Four times, the fire and fly trick worked; Hearn was onto the game on the fifth try.

"It was good when the tires were good, but I think the tires got too hot," Johnson said. "It was good, but I had 50 lap tires. They were good for about 50 laps and they quit on me. That was it."

When Johnson took off the inside line on a lap 44 restart, Hearn held on and wheeled his No. 20 around the top of the speedway and to the point.

"I knew [Brett] was there," Johnson said. "But he seemed good for short spurts, then he seemed like he slowed down a little. I was a little concerned, but he didn't seem like he was pulling on me."

The stint was short lived. Johnson and Hearn ran up on lapped traffic and as Hearn was looking for a line by, one of the cars turned sideways and clipped Hearn’s front end, twisting the axle and front end suspension components. The wreck ended the run for Hearn, ended his night and made life much better for Steve Paine, who was biding his time.

The target was lap 70. Judging the way the track was evolving, knowing the speedway, it’s grooves and characteristics, Paine figured lap 70 would be the lap to start making some moves.

"The long green early, I drove right up through," Paine said. "But when it was caution after caution after caution, they put a straight away on me. Then, it was green with that long period and we got better and better and better. Or they got worse.

"But it's always been that way. The longer the green, the better I am."

After Hearn’s lap 56 jingle, the race stayed green. Paine wheeled up to Johnson and started looking racy. The harder Paine pushed, the harder Johnson had to drive to keep the lead, adding heat to the tires. The hotter they got, the less the car gripped the speedway and the more things played into Paine’s hands.

"It felt good everywhere. One lane didn't feel better than the other," Johnson said. "But we kind of faded. In the first 50, I could put it anywhere and the second 50, I was just kind of hanging on."

"He was switching high in the middle a little bit. When we got the lapped cars, it helped us out," Paine said. "I was hoping it would go green right to the end. And it did."

Paine pulled a huge lead, gaining almost three-quarters of a lap’s lead on third-place Pete Bicknell. Bicknell eventually fell to Tim Fuller for third.

"This is the first time I've ever been on the lead lap," Fuller said.

His last trip to the speedway was over five years ago.

"We were a little behind the 8-ball. It wasn’t as good early as it was late," Fuller said. "We had a little too much gear, but not being here, there's no way we would know. I pretty much went with what I have at Fulton and tried to gauge off that. I talked to Dale Planck a little bit and it worked out."

Planck actually broke in the early going and was scored 23rd at the end. The poor showing will hurt his chances in the small block series points hunt as Alan Johnson, the leader, placed second. Bicknell took fourth ahead of Matt Sheppard.

Steve Brace notched his third straight feature win in the Elmira-Ithaca Auto Paint-PPG Super Stock main event before a packed house. Brace’s son, Stevie, lead from the outset of the 20-lap main. Yellow flags on the fourth and sixth laps helped keep the field bunched up and allow Poppa Brace to move up from his ninth-place starting spot.

Behind Stevie, Quinn Sutherland, Carl Cleveland and Rob Conklin each took turns looking like they might be the one to spoil Stevie’s bid for his first win of 2003, but the elder Brace powered to the front on a lap 8 restart and left the field to battle for scraps.

Sutherland ran off the third turn, but recovered, continued and clawed back to fifth in the final order, one spot behind Carl Cleveland. Jeremy Clark, driving a DIRT Pro Stock, took third.

The Four-Cylinder main was contested as a feature-only 20-lap affair; the heat program was omitted from the division’s racing menu. Rich Sharpsteen rolled from the pole to lead the opening lap, and hung around the top three as he battled for his first win of 2003.

Mike Hughey, wheeling the No. 8J, held the lead for two laps before Sharpsteen retook the top spot. Behind them, Terry Povoski - the division point leader - was coming fast. Povoski swept to the lead on lap seven, following a restart as Ray Speicher took an agricultural excursion off the third turn.

Povoski went on to win by more than a half-lap over Willy Grant and Josh Mills. Phil Yaw ran fourth ahead of Ray Hyer. Mills spun at the beginning of the main but did not draw a yellow. He caught the field under Speicher’s caution and drove through to a third-place finish.

---Pit Notes---

Danny Johnson and Steve Paine have accounted for the last seven small block tour wins at Black Rock Speedway. Johnson was missing from Tuesday night’s lineup... Planck’s DNF breaks up his six-race top five finish streak... Danny Johnson is the most consistent 358 driver historically, logging 120 top-five finishes. Hearn (117) and Johnson (116) follow in second and third... Until Tuesday, Steve Paine had lead just two laps on the Turning Stone Casino 358-Modified SDS. Planck led all racers with 296 laps led over four events... Planck and Fuller added to their tour-leading Heat win tallies. Planck now has seven heat wins to his credit; Fuller, five... Paine is the 8th different winner this season on the 358 TSC Tour.

----Scott’s Construction-Dundee Observer Feature Results

DIRT 358-Modifieds (100 laps): Steve Paine, Alan Johnson, Tim Fuller, Matt Sheppard, Pete Bicknell, Justin Haers, Alex Hoag, Gil Tegg Jr., Bryon Turner, Brian Swarthout, Chuck Graham, Bill Deming, Mike Jackson, Derrick Podsiadlo, Randy Chrysler, Dave DuBois, Chad Brachmann, Brett Hearn, Aaron Jacobus, Ron White, Terry Hough, Rich Swarthout, Dale Planck, Dave Yehl, Jim Mahaney, Roger Williams, Steve Hartman, Stacy Jackson, Bobby Parrow, Todd Burley.

B-Main (10 laps): Chuck Graham, Ron White, Randy Chrysler, Roger Williams, Dave DuBois, Dave Rauscher, Todd Burley, Aaron Jacobus, Dave Yehl, Allen Willoughby, Don Slover, Mike Schultz.

Sunoco/Aplus 150 Qualifying spot: A.Hoag

PPG Super Stocks (20 laps): Steve Brace, Rob Conklin, Jeremy Clark, Carl Cleveland, Quinn Sutherland, Bill Miller, Nate Daggett, Stevie Brace, John Sutryk, Spike Smith, Brandon Smith, Ed Mills, Bobby Teed, Don Smith, Sparky Hills, Andy Krall, Bill Miller, Joe Povoski, Chris McCann.

Four Cylinders (20 laps): Terry Povoski, Willy Grant, Josh Mills, Phil Yaw, Ray Hyer, Ryan Davenport, Jared Hill, Tom Postalwait, Brooks Leach, Brian Crawford, Ray Speicher, Jake Clancey, Shawn Resure, Joe Slavin, Jordan Dibble, Kevin Young, Alfred Clark, Rich Sharpsteen, Mike Hughey, Ray Cornish, Kevin Teed, Jack Ayers, Steven Ovens, Tim Jensen, Del Cummings Ted Morseman Jr.