J.J. Grasso Continues New Egypt Dominance, Martz Marvelous in Mods
New Egypt, NJ (August 30, 2008) - Sammy Martz of Whitehouse Station, NJ & J.J. Grasso of Pedricktown both survived a 2 hour rain delay to post victories on Saturday night at New Egypt Speedway. Martz captured the 30 lap Modified feature on Pathway Car Care Night, his second of the year and his 7th of his career. Grasso once again dominated the Rislone URC Sprint Car Series 25-lap event as he posted his 4th straight win at NES, and is now one win away from being the first ever driver to sweep every URC event at NES in one season.
In the Modified feature, John Miloszar grabbed the early lead at the onset of the event only to quickly be unseated from the top spot by a very fast Rich Rutski. Rutski looked strongas he paced the field for the first 8 laps. Martz pressured Rutski for several laps before he found a groove to charge by Rutski for the lead. Once in front, Martz's main concern became lapped traffic as the race wore on, as he and Rutski ran away from the field. Rutski was able to stay close enough so Martz felt the pressure and could not make a mistake. However, Martz would prove to be too much for everyone to handle on this humid evening as he took the victory. Rutski was superb finishing second. Billy Pauch turned an almost disastrous evening into a positive. After crashing hard in his heat, Pauch finished 8th in the B Main making him the second alternate. But things started to turn around for Pauch when scheduled pole sitter Rick Holsten scratched from the event and the first alternate could not run either. Pauch started 21st and charged thru the pack to claim third and actually pad his points lead slightly over Keith Hoffman. Hoffman did finish a solid 4th while Frank Cozze rounded out the top 5.
J.J. Grasso of Pedricktown, NJ claimed his sixth win of his young career in the Rislone URC Sprint Series 25 lap feature event. Grasso is currently on a tear here at NES, as he currently has all four victories this season and is now one win away from sweeping the season series. Grasso went wire to wire and was in his own zip code during the second half of the race as he completely dominated the event winning by just over 7 seconds. Ed Aiken finished second, as he held off a hard charging Michael Carber. Carber was third followed by Dave Ely and Series point leader Curt Michael.
In the A-1 Racing Products Sportsman 25 lap feature, Gary Butler of Phillipsburg, NJ won for the third straight time. Butler started 18th and worked hard to get to the front, finally taking the lead with less than two laps to go from race long leader Randy Yaple. Yaple was an impressive second while Jeff Geiges finished third in only his 3rd start after a 2 year hiatus. Willie Osmun and Ray Woodall, Jr. rounded out the top 5.
The Crate-1 Sportsman feature found Jon Haegele in victory lane for the first time. Darrell Delnero and Gabe Fox were second and third in the 15 lap affair. The 15 lap Outlaw Stock feature saw defending champ Gary Klimeczak winning for the second time this year. A fast closing Spider Ensinger Jr. was second while last week's winner Dan Collomer was third.
Next Saturday night, September 6, Hamill Flooring will present the popular Sportsman Match Races, as well as the second annual "Kids in Racing Night." Headlining the card will be the big-block Modifieds, along with the Sportsman, Super Stocks, & SS Sprints. Gates will open at 4:00 p.m. with the first green at 6:00 pm. For more information, call the speedway office at (609) 758-1900 or log on to www.newegyptspeedway.net.