THE DOCTOR, DANNY JOHNSON CLAIMS FIRST OF THE SEASON AT OUTLAW SPEEDWAY
Zimbardi, Whritenour, Collins Jr., Austin, Homan, Clugstone and Smith also find victory lane.
(Dundee, NY ) It was Parmenter Tire, Auto and Truck Service night and under absolutely perfect race conditions and a full moonlight sky, the Outlaw Speedway was able to get their August 24 event into the record books. It was the tracks first race night in nearly a month as constant rain and a scheduled break in the action had silenced the Yates County oval for the past several weeks. Local representatives of the Dundee Food Pantry were also present collecting non-perishable canned food items for the local community.
With some 127 cars in action in the various classes of competition and a racing surface that was conducive to three and four lanes of racing all night long the action was fast and furious throughout the entire evening of action.
The A.Verdi Storage Containers sponsored Patriot Sprint Tour boasted a healthy car count of 23 of the winged things and from the time the sprints took to the 4/10 of a mile clay oval it was apparent that Jared Zimbardi had the car to beat as he took his heat race win and led throughout most of the 25 lap feature event. Kyle Drum made a mad dash from the middle of the pack and was poised to take the lead from Zimbardi; however a mid-race incident exiting turn two found the front end collapsed on Drums machine ending his brilliant drive. From that point on Zimbardi had to hold off a relentless attack by Joe Trenca for the remainder of the 25 lap affair as he was able to hold on for the win at Outlaw, a speed plant that he has truly mastered throughout his career. A concise wrap-up of the entire Patriot 360 Sprint Show can be found at www.patriotsprinttour.com.
The point battle in the premier Friendly Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Big Block/Small Block Modified Division found Alan Johnson at the top heading into the night, however mechanical problems leading to a DNF by AJ Slideways and a second place finish by Matt Sheppard will put the two rivals in a virtual tie heading into next week’s action at the Outlaw Speedway. At the drop of Raymond Kennerup’s opening green flag it was apparent that Danny Johnson had finally found the speed in the Tyler Siri owned 27j that had been lacking since he had taken over the ride a few months ago. Johnson and his crew nailed the set up to perfection as both he and Siri were able to distance themselves from the remainder of the field in the early going of the 30 lap feature. With very few cautions to slow the event both Matt Sheppard and Steve Paine, in a brand new Jerry Higby creation were putting on the real show as the pair were flying thru traffic in their attempt to catch the high flying duo of Johnson and Siri. With the laps winding down Sheppard was able to catch up to “The Doctor”, but catching and passing are two different things particularly when it comes to the experience both men possess. Johnson was committed to the top of the speedway throughout the entire distance with Sheppard working several different lines in an attempt to make his move. A late race caution for a spinning vehicle in turn four set things up for one Sheppard to have one last shot at making the winning pass, however it would never come to fruition as Johnson was able to keep Sheppard at pay and pick-up his first win of the season at Outlaw. Before the restart it appeared as though Paine may have the car to pass both Sheppard and Johnson, but his attempt came up a bit short and “The Hurricane” had to settle for a well-deserved third place finish. Like Danny Johnson, Tyler Siri also has had his problems this season finding the speed on his machine, but a strong fourth place run was his best feature finish in quite some time. Cory Costa continues to impress as he keeps finding ways to make his presence known as he rounded out the top five.
The Decker Farmers Insurance IMCA Modifieds found Brad Smith very methodically working his way thru traffic and with the help if only a quick yellow flag at mid-race he was able to get to the point and pick-up a well-deserved win. In victory lane, Smith revealed that next weekend he and his team among others will make the long tow west to compete in the Annual IMCA National Events at Boone, Iowa. The Ward’s once again put on great drives with Will Ward coming home in second with Billy Ward in third as Shawn Bruce came from deep in the field to claim fourth and Phil Yaw rounded out the top five.
Glenn Whritenour broke out a brand new car a few weeks ago and liked it so well that he sold his primary ride to C.J. Guererri and as it would turn out that would be the driver and car that would stand in the way of G.W. picking up the win. At the drop of the green Gene Sharpsteen and Guererri jumped out into a huge lead as Wiritenour had to come from the deep in the field. Whritenour would make some very nifty moves in getting to second and after catching Guererri it then became a real classic battle between the two. With G.W.trying every trick in the book to get by C.J. and with only a couple laps remaining it appeared as though they would finish in that order. Then with only a lap remaining Whritenour made his move coming out of turn four and was able to hold off Guererri and win by just a few scant feet. With the win Whritenour solidifies his current strangle hold on the point battle as he looks to repeat his 2017 Track Championship performance. Guererri did hold on for a well-deserved runner up finish followed by early race leader Sharpsteen. Like Whritenour, both Quinn Sutherland and Carl Cleveland also had to come from way back in the field and Sutherland picking up fourth at the checkered flag with Cleveland rounding out the top five.
The Decker Farmers Insurance Hobby Stock class continues to grow in numbers and popularity and with a stringent rules package it puts the emphasis back on driver ability and not who has the deepest pockets. The class has also brought several former drivers such as Jason Clugstone out of retirement. For Clugstone it was not an easy feature victory as he had his hands full the entire 20 lap distance as several different drivers took shots at him including the likes of Dennis French, Eric Williams and Bruce Kinner. Only a couple yellow flags for spinning cars slowed the event and on each restart Clugstone was able to keep everyone at bay and picked up his second feature win of 2018. A heavily smoking Eric Williams was able to nurse his machine home on the last lap to finish second chased across the line by Kinner , current high point man, Marc Minutolo as Dennis French rounded the top five. Like many of the IMCA Modified teams, several Hobby Stock drivers will also be making the long tow to Boone, Iowa following next Friday nights action.
In Crate Sportsman action and with a racing surface that remained very racy, female competitor, Nichole Hoag looked very well poised to get her first ever feature win in the Crate Sportsman Division. However, Tommy Collins Jr. has found some real speed in his machine throughout the entire second half of the 2018 campaign and once he gets heat in his right rear time no lead is insurmountable as Collins drove his familiar outside line around Hoag and Jimmy Zacharias and into the lead which he would never relinquish. For Collins it was his third trip to the Outlaw Speedway victory lane within the last couple months as he continues to inch his way closer to current high point man, Chris Fisher with the point races winding down. Jimmy Zacharias who had taken the lead away from Hoag earlier in the event put on a steady drive to finish second as like everyone else he too had nothing for Collins Jr., but for Zacharias his move from the pavement to the dirt continues to show very steady improvement. Karl Comfort was able to just nip Nichole Hoag at the line to claim fourth as Hoag had perhaps her best performance of the year in finishing fifth.
The Mighty 4 Cylinders once again found spirited battles throughout the entire field as the mix of both front and rear wheel drive machines continue to put on a great show for the fans. From the drop of the opening green flag to start the 20 lap affair it appeared as though yet another female driver in Erica Bell would steal the show as she was able to keep veteran driver, Ray Hyer at bay throughout the most of the event. However, there is a very good reason why second generation driver, Adam Austin has visited victory lane at the Outlaw Speedway a bunch of times in “18”. His sleek creation was coming thru the field in a hurry, but he still had a lot of ground to make up if he was going to catch Bell and Hyer. The smooth move of the race for Austin came with only a handful of laps remaining as coming out of turn 4 he split both Hyer and Bell and was able to take over the lead; a lead he would never give up. Erica Bell did everything she could but came up a few car lengths short. Late race mechanical problems found Hyer pulling into the infield as current high point man, Chris Woodard powered the Crooker Family owned machine to third after a great run from the back of the field. He was chased across the line by a couple more heavy weights in Scott Lehman with Shawn Gleason rounding the top five.
In Doug Gross Construction Crate Late Model feature action only the top two in the point standings made the opening bell for their feature event as many of the tracks regulars were away traveling in series action on this particular night. Veteran full fender division driver Brian “Pork Chop” Knowles convincingly picked up the lone heat win over current high point man Chad Homan and in the early going of the final event of the high looked like he could repeat his heat race win. However, Homan had other ideas and at the half way mark was able to power by Knowles and once at the point was able to maintain a comfortable lead to pick-up the win and with that will extend his point advantage over “Pork Chop” with the point shows rapidly wrapping up.
Congratulations to all competitors in all the classes of competition for excellent racing.
Up next at Outlaw Speedway the track will close out the month of August with Back to School Night with lots of back packs and goodies going out to the local school kids.
All gate times and ticket admission prices along with the current point standings in all the classes as well as the remainder of the 2018 schedule of events can be found by going to www.outlawspeedwayllc.com or check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/OutlawSpeedwayLLC/.
QUICK RESULTS. OUTLAW SPEEDWAY. AUGUST 24, 2018
Parmenter Tire, Auto and Truck Service Night.
A Verdi Storage Containers Patriot 360 Sprints (23 cars)
Heats. Jared Zimbardi, Pete Richardson, Chuck Hebing
Dash. Kyle Drum
25 lap feature. Jared Zimbardi, Joe Trenca, Jordan Thomas, Darryl Ruggles, Scott Goodrich, Thomas Radivoy, Parker Evans, Brad Knab, Keith Granholm, Scott Just, Dan Bennett, Dave Just, Alysha Bay, Dan Kuhn, Jonathan Preston, Steve Glover, Josh Azzi, Kevin Carlson, Kyle Drum, Mike Koehler, Tyler Graves, Chuck Hebing, Pete Richardson
Friendly Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Modifieds. (17 cars)
Heats. Tyler Siri, Danny Johnson, Greg Birosh
30 lap feature. Danny Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Steve Paine, Tyler Siri, Cory Costa, Derrick Podsaidlo, Justin Wright, Donnie Lawson, Brady Fultz, Kyle Coffey, Eric Fisher, Jim LaRock, Eldon Payne, Marcus Dinkins, Greg Birosh, Alan Johnson, Steve Gray
Crate Sportsman. (20 cars)
Heats. Brandon Butler, Nicole Hoag, Jimmy Zacharias
25 lap feature. Tommy Collins Jr., Jimmy Zacharias, Karl Comfort, Nichole Hoag, Chris Silvers, Loren Lincoln, Brian Fish, Dale Welty, Chris Fisher, Brandon Butler, Brent Ayers, Billy Paine, Tim Guild, Bob Buono, Alex Payne, Chris Hall, Dean Laughlin Jr., Todd Hayward, Billy Bowers, Kirk Reynolds
Street Stocks. (21 cars)
Heats. Jared Hill, C.J. Guererri, Gene Sharpsteen
20 lap feature. Glen Whritenour, C.J. Guererri, Gene Sharpsteen, Quinn Sutherland, Carl Cleveland, Jared Hill, Jayson Smart, Gene Balmer, Aksel Jensen, John Burritt, Abe Romanik, Jeremy Trank, Allison, Teed, Ryan Allen, James Kreidler III, Brad Smith, Jimmy Grant, John Rekczis, Dave Yehl, Zach Teed, Seth Steele
Doug Gross Construction Crate Late Models. (2 cars)
Heat. Brian Knowles
20 lap feature. Chad Homan, Brian Knowles
Decker Farmers Insurance IMCA Modifieds. (11 cars)
Heats. Billy Ward, Will Ward
20 lap feature. Brad Smith, Will Ward, Billy Ward, Shawn Bruce, Phil Yaw, Brandon Smith, Rich Karlnoski, Sparky Hills, BruceTinsley, Rodney Morgan, John Sutryk
4 Cylinders. (19 cars)
Heats. Chris Woodard, Scott Lehman Jr., Shawn Gleason
20 lap feature. Adam Austin, Erica Bell, Chris Woodard, Scott Lehman, Shawn Gleason, Scott Lehman Jr., Bob Doolittle, Mike Stone, Steve Perkins Sr., Ray Hyer, Shorty Fritz, Brian Grant Jr., Dan Webster, Tim VanEtten, Michael Merrill, Jeremy Bunn, Ray Spiker, Josh Oles, Desi Force
Decker Farmers Insurance Hobby Stocks. (15 cars)
Heats. Jamie Eldridge, Jason Clugstone,
20 lap feature. Jason Clugstone, Eric Williams, Bruce Kinner, Marc Minutolo, Dennis French, Aaron Miller, Allison Pierce, Jamie Eldridge Jr., Jason Thomas, Amber Pierce, Jeremy Perkins, Ralph Champion Jr., Jamie Eldridge. DQ, Dave Decker, Justin Eldridge