June
22nd, 2007
PATSY CATALANO TAKES NASCAR MODIFIED MAIN - DAVID POLENZ
WINS INEX LEGENDS SPECIAL
WILLIAMSON, NY…Patsy Catalano
earned his first NASCAR Modified feature win of the
season, beating his father Buck to the finish line.
“”My mom
would have yelled at him if he had passed me,” laughed
Patsy in victory lane. “Really dad wants to win in
everything we do. He even wants to win hot laps so I know
he didn’t give this one to me.”
In SST action 25, of 27 cars
called, answered starter Larry Woodruff’s green flag. At
the end of 25-laps it would be Chris Finocchario picking
up his second feature win of the season. Ironically, even
with the full fields of cars each week, only Finocchario,
Kirk Rutherford and T.J. Potrzebowski have feature wins
this season. And each of them has visited victory lane
twice.
The INEX Legend Cars were on hand
and 15 year old David Polenz, from Pattenburg, NJ, took
the feature win, his first ever. Polenz, who referred to
his racing operation as a “family deal”, comes from a
racing family. His father raced at Old Dominion Speedway
in Virginia.
“We left home this morning at 9
a.m. and made it here at 4 this afternoon. It was a long
trip but it was worth it,” commented Polenz. “I want
to dedicate my first win to my sister, who died three
years ago.”
Amy Catalano drove the Bob
Minacapelli number 2 Street Stock to her second feature
win this season.
“I am just having fun this
season,” stated Amy. “I have to thank my husband Dave
for setting up both of our cars. He must have done a
better job on mine tonight.”
Billy Semmler earned his third
feature win in the Super Six division to tie him with Kris
Hillegeer’s win total on the year.
The 30-lap NASCAR Modified
feature saw Patsy Catalano take the lead from his outside
pole starting spot. His father Buck beat pole sitter T.J.
Potrzebowski to the first turn and solidified him self in
second. Patsy, Buck and Sege Fidanza were able to stretch
out a slight advantage over the rest of the field, but a
yellow flag on lap 19 would bunch the top runners all
together again. The yellow flew when Jimmy Zacharias spun
exiting the fourth turn, onto the main straight.
In the closing laps Tim McMullen
tried to get by Mike Leaty for fifth but fell short at the
finish line. It would be Patsy, Buck and Fidanza up front
followed by Potrzebowski and Leaty.
The 25-lap SST Modified feature
saw pole man Ryan Beeman take the lead at the drop of the
green. The field of 25 cars went four laps before a yellow
was needed. On lap four, Scott Combs spun in the second
turn.
The restart saw Kris Meyn, Chris
Finocchario and Kevin Timmerman all get by Beeman, The
yellow flew on lap six when Kirk Rutherford looped out in
the third turn in an accident involving Daryl Lewis Jr.
Lewis was slow getting out of his car and returned it to
the pit area.
The restart found Beeman spinning
180 degrees and looking at traffic coming at him, while
going backwards down the front chute. Fortunately no one
made contact with the Beeman machine.
Finocchario was able to get by
Meyn once underway again. Meyn did not give up and retook
the lead on lap eight. Finocchario then tried an outside
move off the second turn, but fell short just as the
yellow flew for a spinout by rookie Phil Wehrheim in the
second turn.
The two leaders would race
side-by-side for two laps before Meyn took over the lead
on lap 14. Again the yellow flew for a three car accident
in the first turn involving Toad Bradshaw, Don Pringle and
Fred Taylor.
Once again the restart saw a
battle for the lead. This time it would be Finocchario,
along with third place runner Jeff Hamman Jr., able to get
by Meyn for the front two spots. One more yellow would
slow the pace, again for a spin by Combs on lap 19.
At the finish line it would be
Finocchario followed by Hamman Jr., Meyn, T.J.
Potrzebowski and Mike Florio.
The INEX Legend Cars saw a real
battle between six cars at the front of the field. Tony
Hanbury led the first lap, but lost out to Justin Petkosky
on the second lap. Petkosky would then find himself
embattled with Hanbury for the next 15 laps, before the
yellow flew on lap 16 when fourth place runner, Brad
Salatino made contact with the front stretch wall and
collected sixth place Brian Terrell.
During the yellow Hanbury was
sent to the pits, as he was dragging the rear bumper. This
moved young David Polenz into second. The restart saw
Matt Kurzejewski make a bonsai move down the back stretch
to try an move from third to first. The end result was him
spinning in the third turn and falling in at the back of
the field.
On lap 19, Polenz was able to
pass Petkosky for the lead and took the checkers. Petkosky
finished a close second followed by Matt Priscott, Art
Priscott and Hanbury to round out the top five.
Amy Catalano made quick work of
the Street Stock field as she was able to take the lead
from Ryan Corso down the backstretch on the second lap.
She then stretched out a fifteen car lead over Bobby Lippa
Jr. in second. Only one yellow slowed the race. On lap 10,
debris on the speedway caused the race to be yellow
flagged. During this yellow Corso was sent to the pits to
secure sheet metal at the front of his car and John
VanHooydonk to repair a dragging exhaust system. Amy would lead
Lippa Jr. and Jim Steffenhagen Jr. to the checkers. Willie
Strusz and Roger Worden rounded out the top five.
SPENCER NOTES: The kids’ bicycle races were run last
Friday starting at 7 p.m.. Four different age groups took
part in the front stretch drags. In the 3 to 5 year olds
it was Tim Malloney, from Soda, taking the win. The 6 to 7
year old class saw Simon VanHoover, from Williamson, take
the checkers. The 8 to 9 year olds win went to Timmy Lewis
of Ontario. Finally in the 10 year old and older division
the win went to Simon VanHoover’s older brother, Abe
VanHoover, also from Williamson….One correction from
last week’s results. The correct spelling of the NORA
Small Block Supermodified feature winner was Louie LaVea,
not Louie LaMay.
This Friday, June 29 will see the
SST modifieds run twin 20-lap features and the Street
Stocks run for double points. Also on hand will be the
NASCAR Modifieds running a normal 30-lap feature and the
Super Sixes. Joining in the action will be the Vintage
Race cars. Race time starts at 7 p.m. sharp.
Come and join be part of the “NASCAR
Nation”. Spencer Speedway is located just fifteen
minutes east of Rochester, NY, along Route 104 in the Town
of Williamson.
CRAFTSMAN TOOL NIGHT SUMMARY
SUPER 6
HEAT: B. Semmler, K. Hillegeer,
F. Parsons, C. Johnstone, K. Butler.
FEATURE (8-laps): BILLY SEMMLER,
Kris Hillegeer, Frank Parsons, Cassandra Johnstone,
DNS-Keith Butler.
STREET STOCKS
HEAT 1: A. Catalano, D. Stevens,
T. Carino Jr., R. Worden, P. Alhart Jr.
HEAT 2: B. Lippa Jr., D.
Catalano, R. Corso, W. Strusz, J. VanHooydonk
FEATURE (20-laps): AMY CATALANO,
Bobby Lippa Jr., Jim Steffenhagen Jr., Willie Strusz,
Roger Worden, Jeff Parent, Tommy Carino Jr., Ryan Corso,
Phil Alhart Jr., John VanHooydonk, Dave Catalano, Don
Stevens.
INEX LEGEND CARS
HEAT 1: T. Hanbury, J. Petkosky,
B. Terrell, M. Priscott, J. Decker.
HEAT 2: B. Salatino, D. Polenz,
A. Priscott, C. Bolhman, G. Cushman.
FEATURE (20-laps):DAVID POLENZ,
Justin Petkosky, Matt Priscott, Art Priscott, Tony Hanbury,
Matt Kurzejewski, Chris Bolhman, George Cushman, Brad
Salatino, Brian Terrell, Jeff Decker.
SST MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: R. Beeman, T. Cheetham,
K. Rutherford, J. Hamman Jr., T. Bradshaw.
HEAT 2: K. Meyn, K. Timmerman,
T.J. Potrzebowski, F. Taylor, A. Lewis.
HEAT 3: C. Finocchario, M. Florio,
M. Lees, S. Malin, P. Wehrheim.
FEATURE (25-laps): CHRIS
FINOCCHARIO, Jeff Hamman Jr., Kris Meyn, T.J. Potrzebowski,
Mike Florio, Kevin Timmerman, Terry Cheetham, Andy Lewis,
Matt Lees, Kirk Rutherford, Steve Malin, Dean DeMarree,
Jeff Polaski, Phil Wehrheim, Gary Walker, Ron Wildey II,
Tom Fecteau, Steve Newman, Scott Combs, Toad Bradshaw,
Fred Taylor, Don Pringle, Jeff Pringle, Ryan Beeman, Daryl
Lewis Jr., DNS-Alva English, Josh Gregg.
NASCAR MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: T.J. Potrzebowski, S.
Fidanza, T. McMullen, T. Smith, M. Tychoniewicz.
HEAT 2: B. Catalano, P. Catalano,
M. Leaty, D. DeMarree, E. Hawkins.
FEATURE (30-laps): PATSY
CATALANO, Buck Catalano, Sege Fidanza, T.J. Potrzebowski,
Mike Leaty, Tim McMullen, Eddie Hawkins, Dean DeMarree,
Brett Scherrer, Todd Smith, Mark Tychoniewicz, Jim
Zacharias, Chris Ridsdale.
