August
10th, 2007
CATALANO DEDICATES HIS WIN TO HIS LATE FATHER AND UNCLE
by Gary M.
Spaid
WILLIAMSON, NY….Buck Catalano finally made it back to
victory lane in the NASCAR Modified division last Friday
at Spencer Speedway on Lakeside Quality Building Products
night. Catalano, who has had horrible luck the last four
weeks ended up starting on the pole and led all 30-laps.
“This on
is for my dad and my uncle,” stated Catalano, referring
to the recent deaths of his father and uncle. “Without
my dad I would not have started racing. I owe him a lot.”
A double
point SST Modified feature saw the point leader T.J.
Potrzebowski take the 25-lap victory. Ironically the
second and third place point runners, Jeff Hamman Jr. and
Kevin Timmerman, finished second and third respectively.
A special
appearance by the USAC Ford Focus Northeast Midgets saw
Ryan Osborne, from Milford, NJ, pick up his first ever
USAC feature win.
“My
family is fishing in Maryland and wasn’t here tonight,”
related Osborne. “They won’t be there tomorrow either
at Chemung. Maybe I can win again.”
In Super
Six action the finish came down nearly to a dead heat,
however Billy Semmler was able to just put the nose of his
car out in front by mere inches to claim his sixth feature
win of the season.
The Street
Stocks were not able to complete their feature due to
curfew. The entire Street Stock feature will be the first
race on the program this Friday, August 17.
The 30-lap
NASCAR Modified feature saw Buck Catalano take the lead,
with his son Patsy in tow, at the drop of starter Larry
Woodruff’s green flag. Tim McMullen grabbed onto the
front pair to run third.
On lap
four Todd Smith made heavy contact with the second turn
outside wall, hitting nearly head on. Todd emerged
uninjured but his car was done for the night.
The
restart saw Catalano, Catalano and McMullen take up were
they left off in the front three spots.
Lap 12 saw
the yellow fly for a second and final time. This time was
for debris in the front straight.
Buck took
the win, his fifth of the season, followed by Patsy,
McMullen, Sege Fidanza and Mike Leaty. The elated
Catalanos, Buck and Patsy, both took “Polish victory
laps, spun donuts in the front stretch grass and aligned
themselves in victory lane.
“This
win helps our family a lot,” stated Buck.
The
250-lap SST Modified feature was filled with yellow flags.
Twenty-two drivers took the green flag. Jeff Polaski took
the lead with Chris Finocchario in second. Finocchario
tried to make a pass for the lead exiting the fourth turn,
but was only able to pull up even at the line. On lap 3,
the yellow flew when Steve Malin spun off the fourth turn.
The restart saw Finocchario grab the lead and then
immediately spin out in the fourth turn. Both Finocchario
and Polaski had to restart at the back of the field. This
left T.J. Potrzebowski in the lead.
The
restart then saw the red flag fly as a six car pile up
ensued in the second turn. Both Kirk Rutherford and rookie
Ryan Beeman hooked bumpers and the field was sent
scrambling behind them. Finocchario, Polaski and Kris Meyn
were unable to continue.
Another
yellow flew once the field was under way when Alva English
looped around in the second turn.
The race
would remain green for just five laps with Potrzebowski in
the lead followed closely by Jeff Hamman Jr. and Kevin
Timmerman. Potrzebowski was able to break away for a five
car advantage when the yellow flew again when Beeman
looped around in the fourth turn.
Three more
yellows slowed the pace. On lap 17, Eric Stritzel flew off
the fourth turn. Lap 20 saw English and Jeff Pringle make
contact with the backstretch wall exiting the second turn.
Both cars were able to continue. Then on lap 21 Charlie
Finocchario slide off the second turn into the grass.
At the
finish it would be Potrzebowski followed by Hamman Jr.,
Timmerman, Matt Lees and Terry Cheetham in a borrowed car
from Tom Fecteau. The Cheetham car suffered a major oil
leak during his heat race and was not able to make the
main event.
The USAC
Ford Focus Northeast Midgets were up next and 13 of the 14
cars on hand were able to take the green to start their
30-lap feature. Up front Ryan Osborne took the lead from
his outside pole starting position.
The race
remained green from the first eight circuits when Jeff
Abold, the winner of the last Ford Focus race at Spencer,
slowed on the front stretch to bring out the yellow. Abold
suffered from electrical problems with his battery.
The
restart saw Osborne remain the leader with Rick Fedrizzi
in second and P.J. Stergios in third. Lap 13 proved very
unlucky as Fedcizzi spun in the second turn as he tried an
inside pass on the leader. Fedrizzi and Dan Moore then
made contact. Moore, unknowingly, then drove around the
track with oil pouring out on the speedway surface from a
broken oil fitting. This caused race officials to red flag
the race while track maintenance crews worked to dry up
the oil all around the track. USAC officials decided to
shorten the feature to 20-lap due this delay in the
program
Once
underway it was all Osborne after Stergios spun exiting
the fourth turn on lap 16. Stergios immediately restarted
at the back of the field and resumed the race. This moved
Steve Intravaia into second.
At the
finish line it would be Osborne followed by Intravaia,
Shaun Gosselin, Sean Carrnan, and P.J. Stergios was able
to just nose out a fifth place finish.
SPENCER
SPATTERS: Representatives from the Richard Petty Driving
School were on hand and added a pass to the driving school
for Thursday at Watkins Glen into the 50/50 drawing….T.J.
Copp, a member of the Dale Earnhardt Jr. pit crew was on
hand to promote his new Pit Stop section of the NASCAR
Today program shown on ESPN. Copp was a former Webster
graduate and raced on the dirt at Canandaigua Speedway….SST
regular Mike Florio was on hand but made contact with the
backstretch wall in the second heat race. The contact
ripped the left front wheel assembly off the car and broke
a fuel line, which resulted in a scary fire erupting.
Florio was able to clear himself from the car and safety
crews put out the fire.
This
Friday, August 17, will see double Street Stock features
along with a complete program of NASCAR Modifieds, SST
Modifieds and Super Sixes. It will be Allstate Insurance
night at the track. Racing begins at 7 p.m. sharp.
Only four
weeks remain in the regular 2007 NASCAR Racing season at
Spencer Speedway. Be sure to be part of the action!
Spencer
Speedway is located just fifteen minutes east of
Rochester, NY, along Route 104 in the Town of Williamson.
It is Upstate NY’s “NASCAR Place to Race” each and
every Friday throughout the summer.
LAKESIDE
QUALITY BUILDING PRODUCTS NIGHT SUMMARY
SUPER SIX
HEAT: K.
Hillegeer, B. Semmler, P. Davenport, F. Parsons, K.
Butler.
FEATURE
(10-laps): BILLY SEMMLER, Kris Hillegeer, Keith Butler,
Frank Parsons, Patti Davenport, Cassandra Johnstone.
STREET
STOCKS
HEAT 1: B.
Lippa Jr., R. Worden, W. Strusz, T. Carino Jr., D. Stevens
HEAT 2: P.
Alhart Jr., J. Steffenhagen Jr., J. Parent, R. Corso, J.
VanHooydonk
CURFEW
DELAYED FEATURE LINE UP FOR 8/17: Roger Worden, Phil
Alhart Jr., Bobby Lippa Jr., Jim Steffenhagen Jr., Willie
Strusz, Jeff Parent, Ryan Corso, Tommy Carino Jr., Don
Stevens, John VanHooydonk, Dean Burdick.
SST
MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: K.
Rutherford, J. Hamman Jr., J. Polaski, R. Beeman, S. Malin.
HEAT 2: K.
Timmerman, M. Lees, A. English, F. Taylor, T. Fecteau.
HEAT 3: C.
Finocchario, T.J. Potrzebowski, A. Lewis, K. Meyn, D.
Lewis Jr.
FEATURE
(25-laps): T.J. POTRZEBOWSKI, Jeff Hamman Jr., Kevin
Timmerman, Matt Lees, Terry Cheetham, Steve Malin, Andy
Lewis, Tony Hanbury, Fred Taylor, Toad Bradshaw, Erich
Stritzel, Alva English, Ron Wildey II, Scott Combs, Kirk
Rutherford, Charlie Finocchario, Jeff Pringle, Ryan Beeman,
Daryl Lewis Jr., Kris Meyn, Chris Finocchario, Jeff
Polaski
USAC FORD
FOCUS NORTHEAST MIDGETS
HEAT 1: S.
Intravaia, S. Gosselin, R. Hart, R. Osborne, C. Lamb.
HEAT 2:
P.J. Stergios, J. Abold, J. State, R. Fedrizzi, S.
MacMillan
FEATURE
(20-laps): RYAN OSBORNE, Steve Intravaia, Shaun Gosselin,
Sean Carrnan, P.J. Stergios, Jesse State, Shane MacMillan,
Rick Hart, Ginny Quinones, Rick Fedrizzi, Chris Lamb, Dan
Moore, Jeff Abold, Jake Stergies (DNS).
NASCAR
MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: B.
Catalano, P. Catalano, S. Fidanza, T. Smith, C. Ridsdale.
HEAT 2: T.
McMullen, M. Tychoniewicz, M. Leaty, , T. Kinsella, E.
Hawkins.
FEATURE
(30-laps): BUCK CATALANO, Patsy Catalano, Tim McMullen,
Sege Fidanza, Mike Leaty, Eddie Hawkins, Tom Kinsella,
Mark Tychoniewicz, Terry Cheetham, Tom Wiest, Cody
Jenkins, Chris Ridsdale, Todd Smith, Jim Zacharias, T.J.
Potrzebowski.
