May
25th, 2007
MIKE LEATY RETURNS TO SPENCER VICTORY LANE; RUTHERFORD
PICKS UP WIN NUMBER TWO ON A PENALTY RULING
by Gary M.
Spaid
WILLIAMSON,
NY…Mike Leaty picked up his first NASCAR Modified
feature win of the new 2007 racing season last Friday at
Spencer Speedway. As defending champion, Leaty related to
the fans his desire to try and defend his crown.
“We have
some real fast cars out here and the rest of the
competition has done their homework also,” he stated.
“If we stay consistent I believe we can retain the
NASCAR Modified title at season’s end.”
In SST
Modified action, T.J. Potrzebowski came across the finish
line in first place, but was later penalized and dropped
back to the last car on the lead lap after tech officials
found an improper gear ratio in the rear end of his car.
This moved Kirk Rutherford into the role as feature
winner. It was Rutherford’s second straight feature win
of the season at Spencer.
Bobby
Lippa Jr. also scored feature win number two this season
in the 20-lap Street Stock feature. Kris Hillegeer didn’t
realized it, but he won the Super Six feature after
runaway leader Billy Semmler spun out in the fourth turn
with just two laps remaining. Semmler recovered and no
yellow flag flew. He would go on to finish second behind
Hillegeer.
As the
NASCAR Modified feature took the green it was a race to
see who could take and lead the first lap. Pole-sitter
Patsy Catalano was had the “horses” and was strong
enough to grab the front spot with third place starter
Mike Leaty falling in second. Patsy’s father Buck
Catalano drove into third place.
Patsy and
Leaty were able to draw away from Buck by a mere car
length. The race up front was joined by Tim McMullen, who
closed in on Buck’s rear bumper. Leaty seemed to be
being held up by Patsy, who’s car seemed “very wide”.
Leaty bided his time eventually trying the high line to
pass Patsy. On lap 26, Leaty was able to pull along side
of Patsy down the back stretch. Once in the lead Leaty
drew away to a four car advantage over Patsy.
Two laps
later it was McMullen’s turn to use the outside line to
pass two time feature winner Buck Catalano for third. Buck
would fall back one additional spot on the final lap and
finish fifth behind T.J. Potrzebowski’s number 72
machine. The 30-lap feature ran green-to-checkers.
“This is
an important victory to us,” related Leaty. “We want
to try and double up with a win tomorrow at Oswego also.”
The 25-lap
SST Modified feature saw Mike Florio on the outside-pole
and taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. On the
second circuit Matt Lees seemed to exit the second turn a
bit too high and made contact with the outside backstretch
wall to bring out the yellow.
Daryl
Lewis Jr. and Dean DeMarree were battling for second when
T.J. Potrzebowski made the move, passing them both to move
into the runner up position on lap five. Tucking into a
tight fourth was Kirk Rutherford. On lap six, Rutherford
used the high side of the speedway to take third from
Lewis Jr..
The yellow
flew again, on lap 11, when Toad Bradshaw looped his car
in the first turn. The restart saw Rutherford pass
Potrzebowski for second, however Potrzebowski dove back
underneath Bradshaw to regain the second spot.
The yellow
flew for the fourth time on lap 14, when rookie Phil
Wehrheim looped out in the fourth turn. Again Rutherford
and Potrzebowski went at each other racing side-by-side
and allowing Florio to keep the lead.
Lap 19 saw
three cars spin in the first turn, with Steve Malin making
heavy contact with the turn one tire barrier. This time
Potrzebowski was able to duck low on Florio and drag race
him down the front stretch, through the first and second
turns and grabbed the lead. With Florio stuck on the high
side of Potrzebowski, Rutherford ducked low and followed
Potrzebowski through the hole and left Florio “out to
dry” in the outside lane.
Potrzebowski
went on to win the race despite a second spin out and
yellow, on lap 22, by Toad Bradshaw. Rutherford finished
second followed by Florio, Chris Finocchario and Jeff
Hamman rounding out the top five.
“This
car came along quickly and is fast already,” stated
Potrzebowski. “It is good to have the monkey off our
back of not winning here and maybe now we can set out just
to win some races. We are planning on running for the
Spencer-Chemung SST bonus this year.”
Unfortunately
for Potrzebowski the “monkey is back”….as his car
was found to have an improper rear end gear ratio.
Officials took his win away and moved him back to the last
car on the lead lap, 19th. This moved Rutherford into the
victory.
The Street
Stock feature saw eight cars take the green flag. Up front
it was Tommy Carino Jr., who won the heat race, taking the
lead. Working his way quickly through the pack was Bobby
Lippa Jr. On lap six, Lippa was able to drive under Carino
down the backstretch to take the lead. One lap later the
only yellow of the race flew.
Lippa had
the lead all to himself once the race resumed. And he went
on to claim his second win of the year. Carino Jr., Jim
Steffenhagen Jr., Willie Strusz and Don Stevens rounded
out the top five.
Lippa, a
long time supporter of the Street Stock division lamented,
“I know there are more of these cars out there. We need
to get them here to the speedway. We need them to come
out.”
The Super
Six feature looked to have the makings of a real sleeper.
That is until the final laps when Billy Semmler, who was
leading by a quarter of a lap over Kris Hillegeer spun
into the infield in between the third and fourth turns. He
quickly recovered but not before Hillegeer took the lead.
Compounding
the confusion for the two front runners was the fact they
had both lapped the entire starting field in a race that
never saw a yellow flag.
“I didn’t
know I had won it,” stated Hillegeer, who had gone into
the pits and was interviewed along with the SST Modified
feature winner in a joint victory lane celebration.
SPENCER
LEDGER: The NASCAR diversity program has found a place at
Spencer Speedway.: Young Courtney “Bunny” Bennett was
working hard on her school related project, “Women in
Racing”. She drove in the Super Six division for the
very first time. As part of her project she had to help
build a car and drive it. Bunny, a senior at
Webster-Schroeder High School, had some help from fellow
racers Frank Parsons, Dean Burdick and Scott Combs in the
actual building of the car. Her mother and grandfather
helped to paint the car. Interestingly enough former
NASCAR Modified driver, Kim Jennejohn, is Bunny’s
mentor. Bunny became the third women driver in the Super
Six division. Ironically three women will be starting the
Indy 500 later this weekend…This past week’s Memorial
event was run in honor of the former Spencer Track
Handicapper, Jack Fehrenbach. Jack performed his duties at
the speedway for nearly 30 years…With all of the
green-to-checker races, the evening was completed in
record time. The last feature race ended at 9:18 p.m..
This
Friday will be USG Drywall/National Guard Night at
Spencer. To help make the evening a complete honor for the
military, the National Guard sponsored Nextel Cup show car
of Casey Mears will be on hand behind the grandstands for
fans to get “up close and personal” with a real Nextel
Cup ride.
On the
track the NASCAR Modifieds, SST Modifieds, Street Stocks
and Super Six car will be joined by the second appearance
of the Legend Cars. Race time starts at 7 p.m. sharp, with
grandstands opening at 5 p.m..
Spencer
Speedway is part of the “NASCAR Nation” and the Whelen
All-American Series of speedways. The Spencer flat half
mile oval is located just fifteen minutes east of
Rochester, NY, along Route 104 in the Town of Williamson.
APPLEJACK
FEHRENBACH MEMORIAL NIGHT SUMMARY
SUPER SIX
HEAT: B.
Semmler, K. Hillegeer, P. Davenport, F. Parsons, C.
Butler.
FEATURE
(15-laps): KRIS HILLEGEER, Billy Semmler, Patti Davenport,
Craig Butler, Cassandra Johnstone, Courtney “Bunny”
Bennett, Frank Parsons.
STREET
STOCKS
HEAT: T.
Carino Jr., J. VanHooydonk, B. Lippa Jr., R. Worden, R.
Corso.
FEATURE
(20-laps): BOBBY LIPPA JR., Tommy Carino Jr., Jim
Steffenhagen Jr., Willie Strusz, Don Stevens, John
VanHooydonk, Ryan Corso, Roger Worden
SST
MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: M.
Florio, D. DeMarree, M. Lees, K. Rutherford, C.
Finocchario.
HEAT 2:
T.J. Potrzebowski, J. Hamman, T. Cheetham, K. Meyn, A.
Lewis.
HEAT 3: D.
Lewis Jr., B. Hebing Jr., K. Timmerman, T. Bradshaw, A.
English.
FEATURE
(25-laps): KIRK RUTHERFORD, Mike Florio, Chris Finocchario,
Jeff Hamman, Daryl Lewis Jr., Dean DeMarree, Terry
Cheetham, Kevin Timmerman, Kris Meyn, Andy Lewis, Alva
English, Phil Wehrheim, Ryan Beeman, Scott Combs, Jeff
Polaski, Tom Fecteau, Toad Bradshaw, Jeff Pringle, T.J.
Potrzebowski, Steve Malin, Bill Hebing Jr., Matt Lees.
NASCAR
MODIFIEDS
HEAT: P.
Catalano, M. Leaty, B. Catalano, T.J. Potrzebowski, E.
Hawkins
FEATURE
(30-laps): MIKE LEATY, Patsy Catalano, Tim McMullen, T.J.
Potrzebowski, Buck Catalano, Todd Smith, Eddie Hawkins,
Mike Tychoniewicz, Dean DeMarree, Scott Bleskoski, Jimmy
Zacharias.
