June
29th, 2007
CATALANO TOPS MODS, LEWIS JR. AND HAMMAN JR. TAKE TWIN-20
SST FEATURES
BY Gary M.
Spaid
WILLIAMSON,
NY…Buck Catalano upped his Spencer Speedway career
modified feature total wins to 35 last Friday, winning the
30-lap NASCAR feature.
“This is
a great way to get ready for next week’s ROC 100 lapper,”
stated Catalano, who is now just four feature wins away
from tying George Kent for the fourth place winningest
driver at Spencer.
In SST
Modified action the name of the game was Twin-20’s. In
the first 20-lapper it would be Jeff Hamman Jr. taking the
win, the fifth of his career at Spencer. Following a ten
minute cool down on the front stretch the second 20-lapper
saw Darryl Lewis Jr. take the victory, with Hamman Jr.
just nipping Kirk Rutherford at the finish line for
second.
The Street
Stocks ran a 20-lap Double Points feature. The event saw
Don Stevens lead all but the final 10 feet of the race.
Exiting the fourth turn, Jim Steffenhagen Jr. got into the
back of the Stevens’s car allowing Bobby Lippa Jr. to
sneak high and win the feature by inches.
“I guess
I was in the right place at the right time,” noted Lippa
Jr. in victory lane.
The Super
Six division saw points leader, Billy Semmler, earn his
fourth feature win of the season, and his third in a row.
A special
appearance by the Mid-State Vintage cars saw Phil Claussen
take the 12-lap feature win in his Ford Falcon bodied 1970’s
machine.
The 30-lap
NASCAR Modified feature saw T.J. Potrzebowski take the
lead at the drop of the green. Sege Fidanza ran a close
second, and on lap three took the lead exiting the second
turn using the outside grove. Fidanza was then able to
stretch out a slight advantage over Potrzebowski Patsy
Catalano and Buck Catalano.
Each of
the Catalanos took their turn at passing Potrzebowski,
again using the high line around the speedway. The yellow
flew on lap six when Chris Finocchario looped his number 8
in the third turn. One lap later the yellow showed again
when Philip Slater and Eddie Hawkins made contact in the
third turn.
Once under
green Buck took only two laps before using a low pass
exiting the second turn to take the lead from Fidanza. At
the same time Patsy spun allowing Mike Leaty to move into
third.
A long
green flag period allowed Buck to stretch out his lead
over Fidanza, Leaty and Tom Kinsella in fourth. On lap 19
Kinsella slowed and exited to the pits with mechanical
woes. This moved Dean DeMarree into fourth. The yellow
flew on lap 23 when Hawkins spun in the second turn.
Two
additional yellows, lap 28 and 29 set up a
green-white-checker finish making the race run 31 laps.
Buck took the win followed by Fidanza, Leaty, Patsy, who
worked his way back into the top five and Tim McMullen in
fifth.
The first
20-lap SST Modified feature would see eight yellows slow
the race. Up front rookie Ryan Beeman led the first four
circuits when a yellow flew. The restart saw Mike Florio
grab the point A series of yellows then saw Beeman fall
back in the field. By lap 10 Florio was leading followed
by Potrzebowski, Jeff Hamman Jr., newcomer Eric Rudolph
and Kevin Timmerman.
On lap 16
Hamman Jr. was able to take the lead from Florio who spun
in the third turn while leading. Hamman Jr. then held his
position through a few more yellows to take the victory.
Rudolph made his maiden voyage at Spencer pay off,
finishing second. He was followed across the finish line
by Potrzebowski, Timmerman and Chris Finocchario.
“I have
to thank my dad, because I wouldn’t be here without his
help,” stated Hamman Jr.
All cars
were stopped on the front straight and then following a
ten minute intermission for quick service by crews, the
second 20 lapper was flagged off with the top ten
finishers from the first 20 inverted for the start of the
second race.
This
placed Kris Meyn on the pole and he turned that starting
position into leading the first seven laps of the feature.
A yellow on lap seven, slowed the race. On the restart
Meyn was hit from behind and spun into the infield grass
off of turn four. The jumbled restart saw a number of cars
involved in the melee, including Bill Hebing Jr. Fred
Taylor, Terry Cheetham and Meyn.
This
placed Darryl Lewis Jr. in the lead followed by rookie
Phil Wehrheim, Finocchario, Rutherford and Potrzebowski.
As curfew time closed in the field remained green until
lap 18 when Wehrheim spun in the third turn. This set up a
green-white-checker finish that saw Lewis Jr. lay claim to
his 7th Spencer SST feature victory. He was followed
across the finish line by Hamman Jr., who just inched out
Rutherford for second. Timmerman and Rudolph rounded out
the top five finishers.
“My crew
had been talking about it had been nearly a year since I
last won in the SST division,” stated Lewis Jr., who did
win last on July 21 last year. “I am just thrilled to be
back in victory lane and glad to be in an SST Modified.
These cars are our future.”
The 20-lap
Street Stock main saw the race run green-to-checkers. Up
front it was all Don Stevens holding off Jim Steffenhagen
Jr., Bobby Lippa Jr. and Amy Catalano, back in her number
54. On lap 17, Amy turned pit-side with flat tires on the
right hand side of her car. This moved Willie Strusz into
fourth.
As the
leaders exited the fourth turn Steven’s car was hit by
Steffenhagen Jr., slowing Stevens’s effort. This allowed
Lippa Jr. to run high and pass Stevens by inches at the
wire. Steffenhagen Jr. finished third but was placed back
two spots for rough riding. Strusz was then moved into
third but was disqualified following the race after
refusing to have tech officials look at his transmission.
The official top five finishers then became Lippa Jr..,
Stevens, Ryan Corso, Steffenhagen Jr. and Jeff Parent.
The Super
Six class ran a ten lap feature in which Billy Semmler led
the entire distance. Semmler related in victory lane he
would be looking for a street stock ride in the future.
SPENCER
NOTES: Spencer Speedway has decided roll back the
admission price for the July 6th Race of Champions
Modified Tour Event from $28.00 to $25.00. This price roll
back is to help the fans with the high price of gasoline…The
July 6th racing action is presented by: Lyons National
Bank, Mr. Auto / Parts Plus & Wayne Regional
Orthopedics.
Don't miss
the return of the Race of Champions Modified Tour to
Spencer Speedway on Friday July 6th. In addition to the
ROC Modified 100 lapper, there will be regular features
for the USAC NE Ford Focus Midget Car Series, SST
Modifieds, Street Stocks and Super Six Cars.
Race time
this Friday is 6:30 p.m., a half hour earlier then normal.
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.
NASCAR
FOUR-STAR NIGHT SUMMARY
SUPER SIX
HEAT: B.
Semmler, K. Hillegeer, F. Parsons, P. Davenport, C.
Butler.
FEATURE
(10-laps): BILLY SEMMLER, Kris Hillegeer, Craig Butler,
Cassandra Johnstone, Patti Davenport, Frank Parsons (DQ’ed)
VINTAGE
RACERS
HEAT
50/60: S. Morden, B. Ripley, D. Larmon
HEAT 70:
P. Claussen, P. Barkins, M. McLaughlin.
FEATURE
(12-laps): PHIL CLAUSSEN (70’s), Mike McLaughlin, Phil
Barkins, Rob Casti, SHIRLEY MORDEN (60’s), Bob Ripley,
GORDIE WOOD (50’s) Don Larmon, Bill Tierson, Paul
Vassello.
STREET
STOCKS
HEAT 1: B.
Lippa Jr., R. Corso, W. Strusz, T. Carino Jr., J.
VanHooydonk.
HEAT 2: J.
Steffenhagen Jr., D. Stevens, A. Catalano, J. Parent, R.
Worden.
DOUBLE
POINT FEATURE (20-laps): BOBBY LIPPA JR., Don Stevens,
Ryan Corso, Jim Steffenhagen Jr., Jeff Parent, John
VanHooydonk, Roger Worden, Amy Catalano, Tommy Carino Jr.,
Willie Strusz (DQ’ed)
SST
MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: M.
Florio, K. Rutherford, K. Meyn, E. Rudolph, D. Lewis Jr.
HEAT 2: J.
Hamman Jr., K. Timmerman, P. Wehrheim, J. Polaski, B.
Hebing Jr.
HEAT 3:
T.J. Potrzebowski, R. Beeman, A. Lewis, M. Lees, T.
Bradshaw.
FEATURE #1
(20-laps): JEFF HAMMAN JR., Eric Rudolph, T.J.
Potrzebowski, Kevin Timmerman, Chris Finocchario, Kirk
Rutherford, Darryl Lewis Jr., Dean DeMarree, Phil Wehrheim,
Kris Meyn, Andy Lewis, Toad Bradshaw, Ryan Beeman, Gary
Walker, Ron Wildey II, Scott Combs, Terry Cheetham, Jeff
Pringle, Matt Lees, Fred Taylor, Mike Florio, Bill Hebing
Jr., Jeff Polaski, Dan Mathews.
FEATURE #2
(20-laps): DARRYL LEWIS JR., Jeff Hamman Jr., Kirk
Rutherford, Kevin Timmerman, Eric Rudolph, T.J.
Potrzebowski, Chris Finocchario, Dean DeMarree, Ryan
Beeman, Mike Florio, Terry Cheetham, Matt Lees, Gary
Walker, Toad Bradshaw, Phil Wehrheim, Andy Lewis, Jeff
Pringle, Kris Meyn, Ron Wildey II, Fred Taylor, Bill
Hebing Jr., Scott Combs, Dan Mathews, Jeff Polaski (DNS).
NASCAR
MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1:
T.J. Potrzebowski, S. Fidanza, M. Tychoniewicz, T.
Kinsella, T. McMullen.
HEAT 2: M.
Leaty, B. Catalano, P. Catalano, T. Smith, E. Hawkins.
FEATURE
(31-laps): BUCK CATALANO, Sege Fidanza, Mike Leaty, Patsy
Catalano, Tim McMullen, Dean DeMarree, T.J. Potrzebowski,
Eddie Hawkins, Chris Finocchario, Mark Tychoniewicz,
Philip Slater, Jimmy Zacharias, Chris Ridsdale, Tom
Kinsella, Todd Smith, Scott Bleskoski.
*eof
