JOE WINNE, JR. IS FOR REAL - WINS ACCORD SECOND OF 2003
By BRETT DEYO
ACCORD, NY - Joe Winne, Jr. is for real.
He proved it once again Saturday night at Accord Speedway, topping the 358 Modified feature for his second win of the season. The Kingston, N.Y. second generation driver dominated the Heart Chevrolet 30-lap main, pulling away from multi-time champion Mike Ricci in the final laps for the $1,500 triumph.
"We're taking it to another level," Winne exclaimed. "It's great to be able to come from the back, pass cars and win. This car just lit up."
Winne started sixth in his Precision-powered Teo-Pro car and avoided a series of tangles that plagued the early circuits. By lap 5, he burst into the runner-up position and set his sights on Phil Recchio, who took the initial lead from the front row.
The 28-year-old trailed Recchio for just three circuits before he slipped to the inside with 8 laps in the books in turn one.
"There was a tacky patch inside of turn two and turn four," Winne said. "If you hit it just right, you'd launch all the way down the straightaway. We had tremendous forward bite, a little bit of wheel spin, but running three-quarter throttle stopped that."
By lap 11, Mike Ricci took over second spot, but remained nearly a half track behind the high-flying Winne. A caution at the halfway point bunched the field, but Ricci couldn't make a serious run for the top spot.
After the race's final yellow on lap 19, Winne methodically pulled away, holding a smooth inside line to pick up the wildly popular victory, the third of his career.
"My father always told me slower is faster," Winne said in reference to the late Joe Winne, Sr., who passed during the 2000 running of Eastern States Weekend at Orange County (N.Y.) Fair Speedway. "That's starting to sink in now. I had to pace myself and be smooth out front."
Winne also credited a large amount of changes to his recent success.
"We sat down and figured some things out," he added. "We changed some things with scaling the car and called Bobby Hearn for some ideas. This thing is on fire now."
The second place run for Ricci was especially sweet after he suffered mechanical woes in qualifying action, then survived a hard hit on the first lap. When second running Mark Johnson spun in front of the field, Ricci climbed over the right rear of the Joey Grammes No. 5J, sending him momentarily skyward.
"We changed everything after the heat," Ricci said. "We changed fuel lines, the fuel pump, magneto...everything. It ran all right in the feature, it was just track position that hurt me. That first hit just about did me in."
Joey Grammes of Kunkletown, Pa. battled hard from tenth spot to finish third.
Southern Tier newcomer Mike Decker raced from twelfth to fourth in the Chad Sinon-owned No. 4M Bicknell. In the process, he picked up the hard charger bonus
from Peerless Boilers and Papula Racing.
Robbie Green rounded out the front five.
In DIRT Sportsman competition, the beat rolled on for Danny Creeden. The 20-year-old from Middletown, N.Y. racked up his third consecutive victory in the 25-lap feature, working patiently through the field for the $600 score.
Creeden started ninth and graced the top three in just four laps. He grabbed second on lap 6 and set his sights on an impressive Dave Coene. Creeden pressured Coene until lap 10, when the two made slight contact entering turn one. Coene, in search of his first ever victory, slipped up the track and Creeden grabbed the lead.
He then marched on to victory.
"This is great," Creeden said. "I feel bad I got into the 12 car (Coene). I was in there and he came down a little bit. I apologize for that."
Sixteenth starter David Towns took over the runner up spot with an outside move on the final circuit. Coene held on for third, just ahead of Mike Van Pelt and Chuck Thomaschek.
Norbert Bracklow liked visiting victory lane so much he decided to make a habit of it. One week after winning his first ever Pro Stock feature at Accord, the Olive Bridge, N.Y. driver followed it up with an encore performance. Bracklow did a masterful job in the final circuits of the 20-lap main, fending off the fierce charges of invader Nick Petrilak and Elwood Hewitt.
Petrilak, in his first Accord start, appeared to finish a solid second. However, in post race tech inspection he was found to have oversize headers and was disqualified. The 17-year-old Greenfield Township, Pa. driver is a regular at Lake Moc-A-Tek (Pa.) Speedway, a track that does not follow DIRT rules.
Hewitt finished third, ahead of Jerry Craig and Scott Mill.
Peter Sindt returned to championship form in the 20-lap Mini Sprint feature. Sindt, of Stone Ridge, N.Y. raced from third to first on the opening lap, then led convincingly for the remainder of the distance.
Only lapped traffic late in the distance allowed runner-up Todd Lapp to close in, but he couldn't make a serious run for the lead.
Darrell Quackenbush turned in a fine run for third in his first attempt in the Doc Young-owned No. 72. John Lieto and John Matrafailo rounded out the top five.
Little Ferry, N.J.'s Frank Venezia survived a final lap restart to win the 20-lap 250cc Micro Sprint main. Venezia, a Lake Moc-A-Tek (Pa.) Speedway regular, wrestled the lead away from Doug Wessel on lap 8, then raced on for his first win at the Ulster County, N.Y. facility.
Lex Burritt made a late race charge for second, just ahead of Rich McKay, Marc Palome and Wade Mattesen.
Jim Finnegan of Greenwood Lake, N.Y. finally broke into Pure Stock victory lane in the 14-lap feature. Finnegan grabbed the lead on lap 5 and was never headed, racing to his first Accord victory. Mike Deyo took over the Fall Series point lead with a second place run. George Decker, Greg Kurzman and Emerson Cargain, Sr. trailed.
Notable: At 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, Mike Decker laid eyes on Accord Speedway for the first time. Seven hours later, he recorded his first top five there.
The two-time Thunder Mountain (N.Y.) Speedway winner from Afton, N.Y. rallied from twelfth starting post to finish fourth in his inaugural run on the quarter mile oval. He did so with tires that he believed wouldn't get the job done. "I looked around the pits and these guys had 23's (compound) on their cars," he said. "We brought our Thunder Mountain tires. That's the difference between a board and a sponge."
Decker's crew worked tirelessly grinding the rubber prior to the feature...
Ricci Ricci, Jr. saw a top five finish fall apart late in the going when the right front shock fell off his No. 55 Dirt Wheels car. Ricci had been involved in no less than three incidents in the opening lap, damaging the front suspension of his car...
John Leiby made his first Accord start since 1994. Unfortunately, his experience wasn't memorable. The West Milford, N.J. driver struggled to hook his Teo-Pro car up to the surface and spun several times in the feature before retiring to the pit area...
After a stout heat race win, Tom Hindley looked to be on track for his first Big A victory in over two seasons. However, his top five starting position went for naught in turn one when he got tagged from behind and spun on the first lap. After two more incidents, he went off on the hook with a severely damaged front end on lap 3...
Bill Grammes, the wily veteran from Kunkletown, Pa., returned for the second straight week, but carburetor problems sidelined his efforts midway through the main...
The Action Track will host an open practice on October 25 from 4-11 p.m., one week before the big season-ending Turkey Chase 100 on November 1 featuring a $3,000 to win 358 Modified event, plus Fall Series finales for the Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, Mini Sprints and 250cc Micro Sprints.
Gates open at 1 p.m. with hot laps at 3 p.m. and racing at 4 p.m. For more info, contact the speedway office at (845) 626-3478 or check out the website: www.accordspeedway.com.
358 Modified Feature Finish: JOE WINNE, JR., Mike Ricci, Joey Grammes, Mike Decker, Robbie Green, Rich Ricci, Jr., Barry Davis, Scott Ferrier, Jimmy Johnson, Phil Recchio, John McGill, Everett Haubrich, Tom Greiner, Ryan Stortini, Fred Newkirk, John Leiby, Mark Johnson, Bill Grammes, Buddy Altemose, Tom Hindley.
Did Not Qualify: Jim Allen, Bob Gaetenello.
DIRT Sportsman Feature Finish: DANNY CREEDEN, David Towns, Dave Coene, Mike Van Pelt, Chuck Thomaschek, Bill Papula, Jim Secor, Larry Badaracco, Harry Baldwin, Don Johnson, Howard Jarvis, Keith Slavin, L.D. Smith, Charlie Lewis, Jamie Yannone, Nicole Tracy, Rich Coons, Chris Grispin, Charles Hendrickson, Ryan Olsommer.
Did Not Qualify: Dave Harris, Mike Loney, Joe Pravia.
Pro Stock Feature Finish: NORBERT BRACKLOW, Nick Petrilak (DQ), Elwood Hewitt, Jerry Craig, Scott Mill, Mike Manetta, Bob Hoar, Bryan McElheny, Terry O'Brien, Scott Liese, Bill Deak, Steve Murray, Jim Cronk, Les Gillette, Lenny Brice, George Christiana.
Mini Sprint Feature Finish: PETER SINDT, Todd Lapp, Darrell Quackenbush, John Lieto, John Matrafailo, James Tomlinson, Rich Sennett, Stephen LaPine, Jeremy Quick, Bobby Lynt, Eddie Adametz, Jon Moore, Geoff Quackenbush, Tom Richard, Kevin Kondelka, Matt Pravia, Marshall Gogg, Wally Kuryn, Jim Johnston.
250cc Micro Sprint Feature Finish: FRANK VENEZIA, Lex Burritt, Rich McKay, Marc Palome, Wade Mattesen, Kevin Horton, M.C. Bodick, Michelle Conway, James Tomlinson, Chris Weiss, Mike Cassario, Marc Montalbano, Charlie Redlich, Dave Igo, Geoff Quackenbush, Ralph Shepard, Doug Wessel, Sam Christie, Ralph Utter, Jr., Mike Storms.
Pure Stock Feature Finish: JIM FINNEGAN, Mike Deyo, George Decker, Greg Kurzman, Emerson Cargain, Sr., Will Landrum, Joe Judge, Tony Garaguso, Don Carlson, Bill Judge, Bill Deak, Jr., Greg Meola, Emerson Cargain, Jr., Mike DuBois, Joey Giachinta, Kevin Krusewski, Fred Davis.