JOE WINNE, JR. BREAKS THROUGH -- WINS FIRST SINCE 1995
By BRETT DEYO
ACCORD, NY - Joe Winne, Jr. brought back memories Friday night.
Proudly displaying the colors of his fallen father, former track champion Joe Winne, Sr., the second generation racer returned to DIRT 358 Modified victory lane at Accord Speedway. The $1,500 score in the Jake's Auto Body 30-lap main was the first for Winne since August 11, 1995.
"I want to dedicate this race to my Dad," an emotional Winne exclaimed. "I haven't gotten a chance to be on the microphone since we lost him. This one's for him."
The return to glory for Winne didn't come easy.
Starting from sixth spot, the Kingston, N.Y. chauffeur powered his Kings Pizza ‘03 Teo-Pro car into the runner up spot on lap 5. One lap later, an incident involving Mark Pullen set up the double file restart Winne needed. Using the outside groove, he worked by early pacesetter Jim Introne. Meanwhile, ninth starter Robbie Green was on the move.
Green broke into second spot by the 8th lap and set his sights on Winne.
A series of caution flags from that point to the halfway mark gave Green several opportunities to take away the top spot, but Winne kept his momentum up on each restart.
"Robbie was a little better than I was on the restarts," the 27-year old victor said. "He was good on the top when we were double file. He fired a little early and got by me once, but the caution came back out before the lap was completed."
His challenges didn't stop there. Green worked to the inside of Winne on lap 22, pulling even with his green and teal No. 55 down the backstretch. The duo battled side by side for one full lap around the quarter mile oval before Winne again forged ahead.
Unable to advance on the inside, Green moved to the extreme high side on lap 27. Winne remained smooth on the bottom and raced under the checkered for a wildly popular triumph.
"Robbie got into me a little bit one time and got underneath me. There was no moving this car off the bottom tonight. He raced me clean, though. I give him a lot of credit. I knew I had enough on the bottom to hold him off when he went high."
Winne cited a last minute gear change as a key to his win.
"We changed the gears right before the feature and changed a spacer, that's all we did from the heat and the car was hooked up. When we get home, we'll put it on the scales and write this set up in the black book. Whatever it is, we'll bring it back here next week."
Green, still searching for his first 2003 victory, came up just shy.
"I give Joe credit, he ran a great race," Green said. "I tried the top and he gave me room, so maybe I should have gone up there a little earlier. I don't know if I could have gotten by him."
Longtime regular Barry Davis registered a fine third place effort in the Troyer-chassied Accord Equipment No. 9D. Rich Ricci, Jr. was fourth and Scott Ferrier battled to a fifth place run.
26 DIRT 358 Modifieds entered the program.
In just his second start of 2003, Ladd Yeommans of White Lake, N.Y. picked up the win in the 25-lap DIRT Sportsman main.
Yeommans avoided a first lap multi-car incident, then outraced top gun David Towns in the final laps for the $600 win, which came as a surprise even to the veteran open wheel campaigner, returning for his second year of Accord competition.
"I'm as surprised as anyone," he said. "The car was terrible in the heat race, but we left it alone thinking the track would come to us and it did."
Towns finished second, just ahead of Garden State competitor Tom Tomasko in an impressive run. Point leader Kevin Duryea raced from 21st to fourth and early race leader Tommy Laner filled out the front five.
Jim Langenback took advantage of a bobble by Al Cheney with five laps remaining, then raced on to the win in the 20-lap Pro Stock feature. New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway regular Cheney appeared to be on track for his first Accord victory but a severe push late in the going hampered his efforts, allowing the Pittsfield, Mass. veteran to make his move.
George Christiana nipped Cheney at the stripe for second. John Roese and Noel Osborne trailed at the finish.
He was a winner already this year at the Cayuga County (N.Y.) Fairgrounds, but Jeremy Quick didn't collect a checkered flag on his home turf until Friday night. The Kerhonskon, N.Y. young gun, who competes regularly at Accord and follows the Central New York Mini Sprint Tour, pulled off a much deserved win in the 15-lap feature for the 1200cc winged machines.
Quick took advantage of a problem by John Matrafailo on lap 10 to take over the lead, then motored away from Stephen LaPine.
Todd Lapp was a season high third, finishing ahead of John Parete and Peter Sindt.
The 15-lap Pure Stock main was dominated by Joe Narok. He led virtually the entire distance. Greg Meola, Will Landrum, Jay Smalley and a returning Joe Distefano rounded out the top five in a competitive, incident free main.
In a tribute to Darlene Deyo, who lost her battle with Cancer during the week, the Pure Stock field circled the track backwards prior to the green flag.
Racing resumes at the Action Track on Wednesday, July 16 with the second Super Wednesday Small Block Shootout, featuring a 75-lap $3,000 to win main for the 358 Modiffieds plus Pro Stocks and Pure Stocks. Then, Friday night, July 18, will bring a full program of DIRT 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks and Mini Sprints plus Vintage Dirt Modifieds.
Gates open at 4:30 p.m. with hot laps at 6:15 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.
For more information, contact the track office at (845) 626-3478 or check out the website: www.accordspeedway.com.
Notable: An 11th lap caution period during the 358 Modified main turned chaotic when a scoring dispute involving Rick Mill turned into an on track contact exchange between Mill and Scott Ferrier. The New Windsor, N.Y. native avidly disagreed with the position he was assigned and refused to get in line. After a 20 minute delay, the tow trucks were called from the pits to remove Mill's car. Finally, he exited the track on his own and was stripped of his points and money...
Kevin Duryea and David Towns, two contenders for the DIRT Sportsman point title, were collected heat race incidents. Duryea's car suffered significant front suspension damage (including an axle, shock, radius rods, wheel, tire, front bumper and sheet metal) while Towns experienced steering problems. They started 21st and 22nd respectively and marched through the feature field, with Towns in second and Duryea in fourth...
Joe Winne, Jr.'s victory created a good deal of fanfare - many longtime Accord observers stopped in the pit area to chat with the happy winner, remembering the many great charges of his father through the years...
Tony Kawachuk was less than pleased with Rich Ricci, Jr. after a lap 22 get together that resulted in a spin by the teenager. He pulled forward during the caution period, blocking Ricci before eventually filling in at the rear of the field...
An afternoon shower made for slightly wet heat race conditions and an ideal surface for the features. A tacky, smooth, wide track was in place for all the main events - clay could be seen flying in the air during the 358 Mod event...
358 Modified Feature Finish: Joe Winne, Jr., Robbie Green, Barry Davis, Rich Ricci, Jr., Scott Ferrier, Jeremy Markle, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Ricci, Andy Bachetti, Donnie Wilson, Allen Shiffler, Fred Newkirk, Tony Kawalchuk, Jim Introne, John Sanders, Mark Pullen, Phil Recchio, Donnie Elliott, Hank Goranson.
Disqualified: Rick Mill
Did Not Qualify: Kirk Horton, Ken McGuire, Jim Halpin, Larry Hendershot, Ryan Stortini, Will Robinson, Tom Hindley.
DIRT Sportsman Feature Finish: Ladd Yeommans, David Towns, Tom Tomasko, Kevin Duryea, Tommy Laner, Mike Van Pelt, Glenn Daley, Jimmy Figel, Dave Coene, Chris Grispin, Ray See, Jr., Howard Jarvis, Kenny Moulton, Jr., Nicole Tracy, Larry Badaracco, L.D. Smith, Paul Minton, Don Johnson, Keith Still, Henry Sherman, Jay Haviland, Jeff Hulseapple.
Did Not Qualify: Bill Van Inwegen, Chris Garrity, Frank Doty, Bill Papula, Harry Baldwin.
Pro Stock Feature Finish: Jimmy Langenback, George Christiana, Al Cheney, John Roese, Noel Osborne, Norbert Bracklow, Steve Murray, Don Williams, Dickie Colesanti, Gene Temple, Butch Winnie, Chris Bottge, Mike Manetta, Rob Rowe, Terry O'Brien, Ron Rion, Rob Hoar, Lenny Helmich, Tom Kuck, Rob Johnson.
Did Not Start: John Rood, Dave Colwell.
Mini Sprint Feature Finish: Jeremy Quick, Stephen LaPine, Todd Lapp, John Parete, Peter Sindt, James Tomlinson, Clint Roehrs, Randy Caruso, Joe Pravia, Kevin Kondelka, Duane Koskey, John Matrafailo, Brian Baxter, Rich Sennett, Mark Rogers, Ed Burgess, Rob Scaccio, Marshall Gogg.
Did Not Start: Geoff Quackenbush.
Pure Stock Feature Finish: Joe Narok, Greg Meola, Will Landrum, Jay Smalley, Joe DiStefano, Joe Judge, Scott Kilmer, Charlie Houghtaling, Sharon Byrne, Pat Zimmer, Chris Meola, Mike Deyo, Emerson Cargain, DiDi Rose, Chris Hardenberg, Bert Long, Matt DuBois, Mike DuBois, Peter Warren, James Goetschius.