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Fuller Tops DIRT Modified Spring Fling 50
At Rolling Wheels Raceway; ELBRIDGE, N.Y (May 15) – It was a busy afternoon on Sunday at Rolling Wheels Raceway with round one of the Stacker 2® Pro Stock Super DIRT Series topping the car. Joe Stefanski had to bump Lee Burnett out of the lead to take the Series' first win of the season in the 25-lap Combined event. The late race contact cost him a $250 fine and loss of five Series points. In DIRT Modified action, Tim Fuller took the lead at the drop of the green and sailed home the 50-lap winner, collecting $3,000 for his efforts. Local favorite Russ Hefti crossed the finish line first in the 20-lap Sportsman main yet in the post-race inspection it was determined that he was not running Sunoco 104 fuel as required. He was disqualified, moving Dan Wiesner into victory lane. The Stacker 2® Pro Stock Super DIRT Series will be covered in depth elsewhere in this publication. Ten caution flags slowed the event with three yellows coming on lap 18 alone, two for major pile-ups. Fuller took the lead at the drop of the green from his inside pole starting position to start the 50-lap DIRT Modified feature. Vic Coffey passed Steve Hulsizer for the runner-up spot on the second lap and tried to catch Fuller. The yellow flew for the first of just four times on lap seven when Gary Tomkins and Jeff Brownell Jr. tangled and spun off the track in the second turn. Brownell’s race was over and Tomkins fell in at the back of the field. Fuller was able to maintain his lead but as the 10th lap was going into the record book, Karl Comfort looped in the third turn. Bob McCreadie took evasive action, also spinning out in the aftermath. This time the restart was clean with Fuller in the lead followed by Coffey, Sean Beardsley, Chad Brachmann and Matt Sheppard. Sheppard seemed to be the fastest car on the speedway, taking third place by lap 15. Lapping began on lap 21, with Karl Comfort being the first to go down a lap. The leaders seemed to be weaving through traffic at ease until the yellow flew again on lap 32 when Tom Sears Jr. spun in the first turn. As the yellow flew he drove his car into the pits. On the ensuing restart the lapped car of Jeff Isabell remained high going into the third turn, forcing Matt Sheppard off the speedway surface. When Sheppard returned to the track he was near the back of the field while three laps later Isabell retired to the pits where pit officials had to hold back Stu Sheppard, Matt’s father, who wanted to discuss the incident with Isabell. The final yellow of the race came on lap 42 when Tim McCreadie came to a stop at the top of the third turn. He returned to the back of the pack following a fast pit stop. At the finish line it was Fuller scoring his second win of the weekend for car owners Michele and Bob Faust with Coffey, Billy Decker, Brachmann and Beardsley completing the top-five. The 20-lap Sportsman feature was action filled as only two yellows slowed the pace. Russ Hefti led the entire distance but it would be Dan Wiesner’s outside pass of Kevin Bates on lap seven that would ultimately be the winning move of the race. In the customary post-race inspection, four of the top five finishers were disqualified for not using Sunoco 104 gasoline. As they crossed the finish line it was Hefti followed by Wiesner, Brent Tonkin, Kevin Bates and Scott Schrader. When tech was over Wiesner, Rob Pratt, Greg Doust, Sammy Reakes IV and Rob Hile made up the new top-five. SKIDMARKS: This may have been the first time that a number of top drivers did not make the big-block Modified feature line-up at Rolling Wheels Raceway. Failing to qualify were Brett Hearn, Alan Johnson, Stewart Friesen, Justin Haers and Rich Eurich….Forty-two DIRT Modifieds were on hand with only 26 starting the feature…Reigning Mr. DIRT champion and '04 race winner Joey Ladouceur lost an engine in his 92.1 full-fender entry. He landed a ride in the Aaron Day number 24 and piloted that machine to an impressive sixth-place finish after starting last. Action returns to Rolling Wheels Raceway on Wednesday, June 1, when it will be a Sprint Car Spectacular featuring the World of Outlaws and the Patriot Sprint car organizations. Pre-sale reserve tickets are available by calling DIRT NorthEast Headquarters (315/834-6606) during the work week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This will be the first time that two sprint car organizations will appear at Rolling Wheels in different feature events on the same night. The stock cars return to action weekly at Cayuga County Fair Speedway in nearby Weedsport, NY, starting this Sunday at 6 p.m. The DIRT MotorSports™ Stacker 2® Pro Stock Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Stacker 2®, Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels and DART Machinery. Promotional Partners include AMB i.t., RACEceiver and Zippo Lighters and the contingency sponsors are Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD Ignitions and Wrisco Industries. SPRING FLING 2005 NIGHT SUMMARY PRO-STOCKS HEAT 1: J. Ortiz, J. Stefanski, L.
Burnett, DQ’ed: J. Henry. FEATURE (25-laps): JOE STEFANSKI, Lee Burnett, Jipp Ortiz, Bob Buono, Clayton Benedict, Joey Ladouceur, Mike Williams, Louis Jackson, Jody Swamp, Ray Maloney, Darryl Hilkert, John Panattoni, Les Gillette, P.J. Peters, Allan Peters, Rock Aubin, Robbie Grant, James Henry, Brian Thompson, Jeremy Clark, Jack Terrell, Pete Stefanski, Dave Schulz, Rick Spencer, Beamer Guzzardi, Frank Guererri Jr. SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: P. Giguere, B. Tonkin, S.
Schrader, S. Carman, B. Pangrazio, DQ’ed M. Murphey. FEATURE (20-laps): DAN WIESNER, Rob. Pratt, Greg Doust, Sammy Reakes IV, Rob Hile, Kevin Ridley, Lance Willix II, Randy Miller, Joe Williams, Scott Pangrazio, Steve Babicek, Sean Carman, Mike Murphy, Eric Giguere, Jordan Bennett, Bernie Pangrazio, Stewart Garrison, DQ’ed: Russ Hefti, Brett Tonkin, Kevin Bates, Scott Schrader. DIRT MODIFIEDS HEAT 1: T. Fuller, V. Coffey, J.
Brownell Jr., R. Phelps, M. Sheppard. FEATURE (50-laps): TIM FULLER, Vic Coffey, Billy Decker, Chad Brachmann, Sean Beardsley, Jimmy Phelps, Pat Ward, Chuck Bower, Danny Johnson, Steve Paine, Matt Sheppard, Dave Axton, Steve Hulsizer, Gary Tomkins, Ryan Phelps, A.J. Romano, Tim McCreadie, Scott George, Vinnie Vitale, Karl Comfort, Eldon Payne Jr., Jeff Isabell, Tom Sears Jr., Bob McCreadie, Tim Sears, Jeff Brownell Jr. |