GRAMMES GRABS FIRST EVER WIN AT ACCORD SPEEDWAY
By Lisa Miller
ACCORD – Racing returned to the quarter-mile high banks of Accord Speedway, Saturday afternoon as a full field of cars were on hand for competition.
Joey Grammes of Kunkeltown, Pa. raced to his first-ever win at Accord Speedway, as he held off hard charging Mike Ricci to win the Drive Shaft Inc. 358 Modified feature.
Joe Winnie Jr dominated the first half of the race as he grabbed the lead from Jimmy Johnson on lap four of the 30-lap event. Grammes worked his Slug and Slam sponsored 5J into the second spot on lap eight.
Grammes hounded Winnie for the next 10 laps before taking the lead on lap 18. As Grammes was working on Winnie, Ricci was working his way through the field. Ricci moved past Winnie to take the runner-up spot on lap 21. Once past Winnie, Ricci set his sights on the leader.
Ricci was able to draw close to the front-runner but couldn’t find his way around Grammes as the laps began to wind down. Grammes proved to be too strong for Rosendale, N.Y.’s Ricci as he came home the victor.
Winnie held off Robbie Green and Rich Ricci Jr. to pick up his second straight third place finish. Tom Hindley came home sixth and picked up the $25 Hard Charger Bonus courtesy of Papula Racing and Peerless Boilers for picking up 10 spots in the race.
28 cars were entered into competition.
For the second straight race, second generation driver Danny Creeden came home the victor in the DIRT Sportsman 25-lap feature event. Creeden grabbed the lead from L.D. Smith on lap six.
Creeden, of Middletown, N.Y. then staved off challenges from Montgomery, N.Y.’s Rich Coons. Coons moved out front briefly on lap 20 but Creeden would have none of that as he regained the top spot two laps later.
Coons and David Town was involved in a lap 22 accident that sent both competitors to the rear of the field. Dave Coene took over the runner up spot, but was unable to run down the leader in the last three laps.
Chuck Tomaschek turned in a strong performance coming home third. Chris Grispin finished fourth followed by Ken Moulton.
In Pro Stock action Norbert Bracklow took home his first ever feature win. Bracklow of Olive Bridge, N.Y. passed Jerry Craig for the lead on lap five of the 20-lap event.
John Roese took over second place on lap seven restart. Roese dogged Bracklow for three laps before moving ahead. Bracklow stayed close and moved back by the competitor from Middleburgh, N.Y.
While Bracklow and Roese raced for the lead. Elwood Hewitt was making his way through the field from his last place starting spot. Hewitt moved into second on lap 16 and set his sights on the leader, Bracklow.
Bracklow was able to hold off the hard-charging Hewitt to pick up the win. Craig turned in his best performance to date to finish third. Mike Manetta came home fourth and Christiana rebounded from a lap six incident to place fifth.
In Mini Sprint action Jeremy Quick rebounded from his misfortunes on September 20th to grab the win. Quick jumped out front on the initial green flag and never looked back.
Quick was never seriously challenged in the 20-lap event. It looked like Pete Sindt might give Quick some trouble but on lap 11 slowed and pulled to the infield. Steve LaPine took over the chase but was never able to mount a serious challenge.
On lap 16 James Tomlinson took second from LaPine. Duane Koskey finished fourth followed by John Matrafailo.
Ralph Utter had the field covered in 250cc Micro Sprint actions as he picked up his second straight win at Accord. Utter took the lead on lap two and never looked back. Tom Wickham finished second followed by Nick Bashford, Mike Casario and Marc Palome.
Pat Zimmer picked up the win in the Pure Stock Division. Zimmer grabbed the lead from Jim Finnegan on lap 12, and then held off a challenge from Mike Deyo in the final laps. Deyo placed second with Finnegan taking third. Mike Tholin was fourth followed by Jay Pepin.
Notable: It was the first time in two weeks that racing action took place at Accord Speedway, as rain has played havoc with the schedule all season at the Ulster County New York oval track. But under clear blue skies and warm temperatures 147 cars took to the racing surface. There were 28 358 Modifieds and 28 Pure Stocks on hand.
In 358 Modified racing action, Billy Pauch Jr. made his first trip to Accord Speedway. Other first time competitors during the Fall Series were: Rich Ricci Jr., Tim Hindley, Bill Grammes, Pete Lyon, Mike VanTassell, Wayne Keyes, Bob Cancellieri and Steve Walsh.
358-Modfied Feature Finish: Joey Grammes, Mike Ricci, Joe Winnie, Robbie Green, Rich Ricci, Tom Hindley, Tim Hindley, Jimmy Johnson, Fred Newkirk, Mike Murphy, Tommy Greiner, Ryan Stortini, Pete Lyon, Billy Pauch Jr., John McGill, Jason Tompkins, Bob Gaetenello, Tony Kowalachuck, Phil Recchio
Did Not Qualify: Mark Johnson, Jeremy Markle, Mike VanTassel, Bob Cancellieri, Wayne Keyes, Bill Grammes, Larry Hendershot, Everett Haubrick
Sportsman Feature Finish: Danny Creeden, Dave Coene, Chuck Tomaschek, Chris Grispin, Ken Moulton, Mike Looney, Bill Papula, Keith Slavin, David Towns, Howard Jarvis, Rich Coons, Jim Secor, Larry Badaracco, Don Johnson, Jamie Yannone, Charlie Lewis, Charles Hendrickson, L.D. Smith, Jeff Hager, Dave Harris
Pro Stock Feature Finish: Norbert Bracklow, Elwood Hewitt, Jerry Craig, Mike Manetta, George Christiana, Scott Liese, Bob Hoar, Jim Hewitt, Les Gillette, John Roese, Larry Temple, Bill Deak, Steve Murray, Terry O’Brien, Garrett Liese, Larry Ball
Mini Sprint Feature: Jeremy Quick, James Tomlinson, Steve LaPine, Duane Koskey, John Matrafailo, Darryl Quackenbush, Brint Hockenberry, Marshall Gogg, Jeff Quackenhbush, Randy Caruso, Mark Rogers, Tom Richard, Rich Sennett, Pete Sindt, Clint Roehrs, Todd Lapp, Gary Reyer, Don Bellen, Kevin Kondelka
Pure Stocks Feature Finish: Pat Zimmer, Mike Deyo, Jim Finnegan, Mike Tholin, Jay Pepin, Will Landrum, Ray Tarantino, Emerson Cargain, George Decker, Don Carlson, Emerson Cargain Sr., Mike Dubois, Bill Deak, Ron Predmore, Randy Myers, Kevin Krusewski, Phil Wood, Cole Jr., Joe Distefano, Greg Kurtzman
Micro Sprint Feature Finish: Ralph Utter, Tom Wickham, Nick Bashford, Mike Casario, Marc Palome, M.C. Bodick, Ray Gillen, Charlie Redlich, Michelle Conway, James Tomlinson, Rich McKay, Doug Wessel