Donath ‘Sweet’ At RWR With Back-To-Back Sportsman Series Win
Elbridge, NY – September 23, 2006 – By Don Post, DIRT Sportsman Series Reporter
South Onondaga, N.Y. Sportsman driver Shawn Donath picked up his second win in a row over ’05 Mr. DIRT Sportsman Champion Russ Hefti in a crowd pleasing wheel-to-wheel battle at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on Saturday night. Coming off a win at Brockville Speedway last week, Donath simply stated, “This one was sweet baby.”
Starter Matt Burdick let the talented 30-car field go as Jordan’s Russ Hefti battled Donath for the point on the opening circuit. Hefti got the edge exiting turn four in the first lead change of the event on lap two. Donath stated, “I really thought Russ was gone early as he was walking away from me.”
The duo ran at the front for the initial 10 circuits until a tangle in turn three involving Canandaigua regular Eric Giguere, Clay Parmelee and Rick Quick tangling to slow the pace. The lap 11 restart found Hefti on the point with Donath on his rear nerf bar and Brian Sage racing third ahead of Shane Donath with Sammy Reakes IV rounding out the top-five.
Just past the midway point things really heated up between the two front runners as Donath used the top of the very fast five-eighths miler to his advantage in a great side by side battle with Hefti. Donath made a great move on top of the speedway to edge Hefti on lap 18. Donath stated, “The car was perfect, you just want to freeze that type of set up, we were really hooked up.”
The pass did not shake Hefti as he raced the bottom and continued to apply pressure until the final yellow flew as sophomore racer Chris Higgins lost an engine and stopped on the back stretch. This set up a four lap run to the checkers as the top-five were out of traffic which set up a great finish. Donath and Hefti were followed by Sage and Billy Shantell Jr. with Reakes completing the top-five on their way to the final checkered flag.
Hefti continued to hammer the bottom of the speedway with Donath on top yet at the line it was Donath prevailing by just over a car-length to pick up the $1,500 top prize. In the pits following the event Donath said, “I couldn’t do this without my crew chief Bill Daniels, we had to change this Bicknell set up and it worked great in our last two races.” He added, “We just put the right foot down and the only place we lifted was at the end of the front chute to set the car into the corner.”
Series points leader Hefti stated, “Lapped cars played a big part in this race until the last yellow when we had a clear speedway. We used the bottom and came very close at the end. Shawn was better on top and that decided the outcome.” Hefti went on, “The race surface was great, they (track crew) have put some time on it and it really shows.”
Fourth-place runner Billy Shantell dropped a spot to Brian Sage following the lap 10 caution. Shantell pleased with his finish said, “We had a good piece under us and we just got caught by Brian Sage on that restart. This track surface is much better than it has been in a long time.” He added, “The car was very loose in the final 10 laps and that cost us a bit, we’ll have a better set up for the Super DIRT Week show here in a couple weeks.”
Heat races for the 31 cars entered went to Shantell, Shawn Donath and Hefti, with young rookie Tim Currier taking the Consi. Rick Quick was the lone DNQ.
Mr. DIRT Sportsman Series Race #7 – Rolling Wheels Raceway, Sept. 23, 2006 20th World Series Weekend Event Summary
FEATURE (30-laps): 87-SHAWN DONATH, 0-Russ Hefti, 11-Brian Sage, 9J-Billy Shantel Jr., 17K-Sammy Reakes IV, 7-Paul Guererri, 0J-Jipp Ortiz, 111D-Shane Donath, 111-Kevin Wills, 19-Joe Williams Jr., 58-Scott Schrader, P38-Rob Pratt, 14-Jeremy Pitcher, 6J-John Behron, 1X-Casey Williams, 24S-Brandon Sweet, 08-Mark D’Ilario, 1-John Pietrowicz, 5J-Chris Hile, 1J-Jim Spano, 10-Tim Currier, 8-Rob Bellinger, 67G-Eric Giguere, 02-Roy Bresnahan, 56-Steve Schumacher, 58L-Jim LaRock, 117-Alex Tonkin, 25G-Clay Parmelee, 19H-Chris Higgins, 88-Beth Schneider.
LAP LEADERS: Shw.Donath (1), Hefti (2-17), Shw.Donath (18-30).
CAUTIONS: 2 (lap 11, lap 27).
SYRACUSE SUNOCO CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER: Brian Sage.
QUALIFYING
Heat Races (8 laps, top-6 transferred to feature)
#1- Billy Shantell- Kevin Wills, Rob Pratt, Brandon Sweet, John Petrovicz, Mark D’llario, Rob Bellinger, Joe Williams, Scott Schrader, Roy Bresnahan.
#2- Shawn Donath, Shane Donath, Brian Sage, John Behron, Jipp Ortiz, Tim Currier, Chris Hile, Casey Williams, Alex Tonkin, Eric Giguere.
#3- Russ Hefti, Sam Reakes IV, Paul Guererri, Jeremy Pitcher, Jim Spano, Joe Williams, Scott Schrader, Beth Schneider, Clay Parmelee, Rick Quick.
Consi-Tim Currier, Joe Williams, Jim LaRock, Eric Giguere, Scott Schrader, Chris Higgins, Beth Schneider, Clay Parmelee, Alex Tonkin, Rick Quick.
Mr. DIRT Sportsman Series Point Standings (through Sept. 23, 2006)
Rank No Driver Points Home Track Bonus Wins Top 5 Top 10 Starts
1 0 Russ Hefti 1,632 Cayuga County 1000 2 5 7 7
2 87 Shawn Donath 1,538 Fulton 1000 2 4 5 7
3 12 Brian Sage 1,502 Genesee 1000 0 3 5 7
4 0 Jipp Ortiz [R] 1,461 Ransomville 970 0 2 4 7
5 19h Chris Higgins 1,460 Can Am 1000 0 3 5 7
6 111 Kevin Wills 1,410 Ransomville 980 0 0 4 7
7 O8 Mark D'llario [R] 1,379 Merrittville 946 0 2 4 7
8 P38 Rob Pratt 1,365 Ohsweken 1000 1 2 3 5
9 24 Brandon Sweet[R]1,320 Thunder Alley 960 0 0 1 7
10 5J Chris Hile 1,314 Fulton 916 0 0 2 7
11 8 Rob Bellinger 1,302 Can Am 970 0 0 1 7
12 8c Wayne Conn 1,288 Merrittville 1000 0 2 2 4
13 18h Todd Henderson 1,258 Canandaigua 1000 1 1 2 4
14 56 Steve Schumacher 1,219 Genesee 970 0 0 1 5
15 19 Joe Williams Jr. 1,212 Cayuga County 980 0 0 1 5
16 01 Chris Raabe 1,196 Brockville 1000 0 0 0 4
17 71M Mark Potter 1,196 Ransomville 924 0 2 2 4
18 58 Scott Schrader 1,157 Canandaigua 946 0 1 1 3
19 10 Tim Currier [R] 1,153 Cayuga County 946 0 0 1 4
20 7 Paul Guererri 1,151 Canandaigua 970 0 0 2 3
21 67g Eric Giguere 1,141 Canandaigua 980 0 1 1 3
22 17k Sammy Reakes 1,100 Fulton 980 0 1 1 2
23 5 Don Spatorico 1,100 Ransomville 960 1 1 1 2
24 92 John Behron [R]1,087 Fulton 928 0 0 1 3
25 54J Dave Just 1,084 Ransomville 946 0 1 1 2
26 43J Jack Meeks 1,076 Thunder Alley 1000 0 0 1 1
27 20 Jeff McGinnis 1,072 Ransomville 1000 0 0 1 1
28 108 Bill Bleich 1,056 Humberstone 980 0 0 1 1
29 02 Roy Bresnahan 1,050 Cayuga County 970 0 0 0 2
30 5 Dave Dykstra 1,045 Humberstone 1000 0 0 0 1
31 9 Jason Riddell 1,040 Brockville 960 0 1 1 1
32 99 Anthony Rizzardo 1,040 Merrittville 950 0 1 1 1
33 111 Shane Donath 1,038 Fulton 960 0 0 1 1
34 00 Ryan Poole 1,035 Brockville 950 0 1 1 1
35 8 Chris Herbison 1,035 Brockville 970 0 0 1 1
36 1J Jim Spano 1,034 Cayuga County 916 0 0 0 2
37 66 Dan Wiesner 1,033 Canandaigua 938 0 0 0 2
38 54JR Scott Just 1,032 Ransomville 934 0 0 0 2
39 93 Rob Richmond. 1,030 Canandaigua 922 0 0 0 2
40 04 Greg Mrzywka 1,030 Genesee 980 0 0 0 1
41 7 Tom Flannigan 1,028 Humberstone 970 0 0 0 1
42 25 Bobby Herrington 1,026 Brockville 980 0 0 0 1
43 777 Tyler McPherson 1,020 Humberstone 950 0 0 0 1
44 18R Brad Rouse 1,018 Merrittville 914 0 0 1 2
45 14 Jeremy Pitcher 1,016 Fulton 950 0 0 0 1
46 20x Kevin Ridley 1,015 Canandaigua 928 0 0 0 2
47 2k Rob Knapp 1,014 Humberstone 960 0 0 0 1
48 8L Phil LaVare 1,012 Canandaigua 950 0 0 0 1
49 76 Rob Bussey 1,010 Canandaigua 960 0 0 0 1
50 4T6 R.J. Kingdollar 1,005 Genesee 960 0 0 0 1
UPCOMING EVENTS:
The 17th Mr. DIRT Sportsman Series closes out the month on Friday, Sept. 29 with the Victoria Weekend extra-distance special at Fulton Speedway. All eyes then turn to Super DIRT Week XXXV at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse with three races scheduled during a four-day stretch the first week in October. Each extra-distance affair offers valuable points towards the overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT Sportsman Championship.
2006 MR. DIRT SPORTSMAN SERIES SCHEDULE
*Show up points only
DAY-DATE LAPS TRACK – LOCATION / WINNER
Mon-Sep 4 30 Rolling Wheels Raceway / RUSS HEFTI
Fri-Sep 8 50 Ransomville Speedway / DON SPATORICO
Sat-Sep 10 40 Genesee Speedway / ROB PRATT
Sun-Sep 10 50 Humberstone Speedway / RUSS HEFTI
Fri-Sep 15 30 Canandaigua Speedway / TODD HENDERSON
Sat-Sep 16 30 Brockville Ontario Speedway / SHAWN DONATH
Sat-Sep 23 30 Rolling Wheels Raceway / SHAWN DONATH
Fri-Sep 29 30 Fulton Speedway - Fulton,NY
Wed-Oct 4 30 Can-Am Motorsports Park - LaFargeville,NY
Fri-Oct 6 30 Rolling Wheels Raceway - Elbridge,NY
*Sat-Oct 7 30 New York State Fairgrounds - Syracuse,NY
Sat-Oct 21 50 Orange County Fair Speedway - Middletown,NY
The DIRT MotorSports™ Sportsman Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., DealMaker Auto Group and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, DART Machinery, Holley HP Carburetors, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric Manufacturing Company, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.
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