September
5th, 2009
AMY
CATALANO TAKES MOD TITLE, KLUTH WINS; BUTLER JR.,
STEFFENAHAGEN JR., RYAN BROWN AND BILL VERWYS ALSO CROWNED
-
by
Gary M. Spaid
WILLIAMSON,
NY…The final night of the 2009 racing season came last
Friday, September 4, at Spencer Speedway. A number of
track titles were up for grabs, including a very tight
point race in the NASCAR Weekly Modifieds.
On track
Michael Bradshaw won the Auto Value Four Cylinder
Scorpions 15-lap feature. He joins Bro Bradshaw as the
only “Beginner Class” drivers to win an overall
feature this season in the Auto Value Scorpion Division.
Ryan Brown’s fourth place finish was good enough to wrap
up the Beginners Class track title. Bill VerWys laid clam
to the Pro-Class track title.
The Super
Six division saw Keith Butler Jr. entering the night with
the title in his pocket. He becomes just the first driver
in this division to repeat as champion. He not only won
the title, but he won the final 20-lapper of the year
beating out Skip Powers.
“I’ll
be back next year with the same car to see if I can win
another one,” stated Butler Jr. in victory lane.
In Street
Stock action Jim Steffenhagen Jr. had the title wrapped up
going into the night’s final race. He also picks up a
$500 bonus for being the first Crate Powered Street Stock
in points. Bob Minacapelli took the feature win.
Steffenhagen Jr. celebrated by doing a super burnout at
the start-finish line, laying out a large cloud of smoke
to the delight of the fans.
“It’s
great getting a bonus like that,” stated Steffenhagen.
“That’s half as much as the motor costs. That’s
great, all you have to do is use your head to figure that
out.”
All
attention came down to the NASCAR Weekly Modifieds, where
Amy Catalano had the opportunity to become Spencer
Speedway’s first female modified champion. After he
Brother-in-Law Buck Catalano dropped from the event, Amy
had a wrap on the title. Ricky Kluth went on to take his
first feature win at the speedway.
After
congratulating Amy in victory lane, Kluth stated,” That
was a good race. We’ll be up at Oswego next Friday.”
Amy added,”
It been a long season, and our goal was to win a feature.
We did that and tonight is a real bonus. I have to thank
the fans for coming out each week.” She then thanked her
husband Dave for keeping her modified, plus five microd
cars for her four boys, on the track.”
The 35-lap
NASCAR Modified feature saw Ricky Kluth take the lead at
the drop of the green. Kevin Timmerman, also involved in
the close points race, moved into second followed by Amy
Catalano and Ryan Beeman. Moving up quickly was Buck
Catalano, who passed half the starting field on the first
lap.
Up front
the top three ran shoulder-to-shoulder, each trying to get
by for the lead. On lap nine, Buck came in contact with
Finocchario, to take fourth. Finocchario started to fall
back through the field and was about to be lapped when the
deciding event for the track championship took place.
On lap 13,
Jody London lost an engine in the third turn, spewing oil
over the speedway. Although the yellow flew immediately,
Buck could not slow quick enough, sliding off the turn and
slamming into the disabled London machine. This eliminated
Buck from the points race and allowed Finocchario to pit
without losing his lap.
Finocchario
then fought back from the back to pass Amy for fourth by
lap 24. Amy had settled in to run a “smart” race and
earn the title. Up front Timmerman tried repeatedly to
pass Kluth, but had to settle for second. Beeman finished
third followed by Finocchario and Amy came home fifth.
The 20-lap
Street Stock main saw Bob Minacapelli take the lead and
never look back. He was pressured constantly by Phil
Alhart Jr. and Willie Strusz., as these three broke away
from the rest of the field.
On lap 11,
Strusz lost the handle on his machine and looped into the
back stretch grass exiting the second turn. This allowed
Steffenhagen to rejoin the front trio on the restart.
At the
checkers it would be Minacapelli with the win followed by
Alhart Jr. recording his eighth second place finish of the
season. Steffenhagen Jr., Kris Hillegeer and Strusz
rounded out the top five finishers.
The Super
Six feature got off to a rocky start with a three car
accident in the first turn. A second yellow flew when Skip
Powers slid off the in the third turn. Up front Keith
Butler Sr. led the way with Brandon Allen in second. Keith
Butler Jr. slide by Allen on lap six and then passed his
father on the next circuit to take the lead. Powers, who
had to restart at the back of the field on lap one, came
back through the field to take second on lap eight. He
then closed in on Butler Jr. and started to pressure for
the lead.
Butler Jr.
held on for the win with Powers finishing a very close
second at the line. Allen came home in third followed by
Keith Butler Sr. and Peter Cowell to round out the top
five.
The Auto
Value Four Cylinder Scorpions saw their feature run
green-to-checkers. Alison Knoepfler took the early lead
over Mike Bradshaw. On lap seven, Bradshaw ducked low
going down the back stretch to take the lead. The race
would end with Bradshaw taking the win. Bill VerWys came
home second following a tangle in the first turn involving
all of the front runners. On this final lap Bro Bradshaw
passed Newcomer Bob Polka, who had just purchased the
Eddie Hawkins number 33, to finish third. Polka was then
penalized two positions, which pushed Ryan Brown, and
Alison Knoepfler into the top five.
SPENCER
SPATTER: Amy was scheduled to appear on Pat Patterson’s
“The Front Stretch” Sirius NASCAR Radio program
Saturday morning to discuss her track championship….
Track promoter John White re-affirmed his intentions to do
a major repaving project at the track, to start in the
Fall. Plans also include renovations to the announcer’s
tower… This will be the first repaving project at the
track since 1964…..A tie in track points came in the
modified division between Buck Catalano and Chris
Finocchario for second. According to NASCAR ties are
broken by first looking at track victories. Finocchario
had two wins on the season and Buck had just one win,
pushing Finocchario into second place points….All track
points are listed as unofficial until verified by NASCAR.
Spencer
Speedway is located just fifteen minutes east of
Rochester, NY, along Route 104 in the Town of Williamson.
Spencer Speedway is the local “NASCAR Place to Race”
for upstate New York. Points earned each week at Spencer
are counted into the national NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series championship. Look for the track to reopen in May
2010.
WHELEN
ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT SUMMARY
AUTO VALUE
4-CYLINDER SCORPIONS
HEAT 1: B.
Bradshaw, B. Polka, A. Knoepfler, D. Lazzaro, B. Dennie.
HEAT 2: M.
Bradshaw, R. Brown, B. VerWys, O. Bradshaw, T. Bradshaw.
FEATURE
(15-laps): MICHAEL BRADSHAW, Bill VerWys, Bro Bradshaw,
Ryan Brown, Alison Knoepfler, Bob Polka, Dale Lazzaro,
Otis Bradshaw, Bob Martell, Beth Dennie, Jay Scott, Toad
Bradshaw-DNS, Kevin Bertolone-DNS.
Final 2009
Spencer Auto Value Scorpions Points: Bill VerWys 736, Ryan
Brown 643, Mike Bradshaw 625, Bro Bradshaw 621, Alison
Knoepfler 575, Otis Bradshaw 551, Russell Peets 520, Dale
Lazzaro 500, Kevin Bertolone 479, Beth Dennie 451
SUPER
SIXES
HEAT 1: P.
Davenport, R. Wilson, S. Powers, F. Follette, B. Allen.
HEAT 2: K.
Butler Jr., K. Butler Sr., J. Kaper, R. Hillegeer, V.
Grant.
FEATURE
(20-laps): KEITH BUTLER JR., Skip Powers, Brandon Allen,
Keith Butler Sr., Peter Cowell, Van Grant, Adam VanHall,
Denny Coyle, Fred Follette, Patti Davenport, Justin Kaper,
Rick Wilson, Ryan Hillegeer.
Final 2009
Spencer Super Six Points: Keith Butler Jr. 818, Ryan
Hillegeer 701, Patti Davenport 663, Keith Butler Sr. 600,
Joe Bailey 587, Peter Cowell 581, Van Grant 538, Rick
Wilson 525, Denny Coyle 396, Kevin DeVuyst 388
STREET
STOCKS
HEAT: P.
Alhart Jr., B. Minacapelli, K. Hillegeer, J. Steffenhagen
Jr., B. Shevlin.
FEATURE
(20-laps): BOB MINACAPELLI, Phil Alhart Jr., Jim
Steffenhagen Jr., Kris Hillegeer, Willie Strusz, Brian
Shevlin, Bill Gleason-DNS.
Final 2009
Spencer Street Stock Points: Jim Steffenhagen Jr. 734,
Kris Hillegeer 655, Phil Alhart Jr. 639, Mitchell Wright
557, Steve Malin 348, Bob Minacapelli 290, Billy Semmler
287, Willie Strusz 236, Brian Hermanski 188, Billy Gleason
47.
NASCAR
WEEKLY MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: R.
Kluth, A. Catalano, K. Timmerman, E. Stritzel, F. Taylor.
HEAT 2: R.
Beeman, A. Lewis, S. Combs, C. Finocchario, M. Lees.
FEATURE
(35-laps): RICKY KLUTH, Kevin Timmerman, Ryan Beeman,
Chris Finocchario, Amy Catalano, Eric Stritzel, Eddie
Hawkins, Fred Taylor, Andy Lewis, Scott Combs, Matt Lees,
Buck Catalano, Jody London.
Final 2009
Spencer NASCAR Weekly Modified Points: Amy Catalano 733,
Chris Finocchario 711, Buck Catalano 711, Kevin Timmerman
696, Ricky Kluth 664, Ryan Beeman 590, Andy Jankowiak 579,
Daryl Lewis Jr. 550, Erich Stritzel 542, Matt Lees 486.
