A start deep in the field well behind the points leaders did
not deter
Amy Catalano, as the Ontario, NY driver motored forward to earn
her
third win of the season in the NASCAR Raginwolf.com SST Pro
Modified
main at the Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex on Saturday
evening.
Justin Shepker recovered from a mid-race spin to claim second in
the event and lock up his first career points championship.
In other action in the 2009 points finale at the Western New
York oval,
Eldon King III of Freedom, NY survived a rugged Late Model of
Tomorrow
race for his fifth win of the year to earn that division’s
points title, Dave Krawczyk of Kenmore, NY clinched the Charger
crown with his fourth win of the year, Nik Welshans of West
Falls, NY earned his fifth Pro Four win in the last six outings
to take that divisional championship, and Eric Brown of Holland
rolled to his sixth consecutive Thiel Motorsports 4-cylinder
Hornet win to leapfrog to the top of the points chart.
Sylvia Miszczak of Holland drove to her second consecutive Thiel
Motorsports Queen Bees win while Jesse Baker of Buffalo did the
same in the M&M U-Pull-It Figure 8 Car race.
At the start of the 40 lap NASCAR Ragingwolf.com SST Pro
Modified main,
most of the attention was focused on Justin Shepker and Mike
Fiebelkorn, Jr. as they would settle the points title from the
front row, with all the evening’s events lined up heads up by
points. Shepker grabbed the lead at the opening green, but
Fiebelkorn battled by underneath on lap seven. Shepker
returned the favor five laps later, and began to stretch his
lead advantage. In the meantime, Amy
Catalano, who had a late start to her Holland points season and
consequently started from the 11th slot, was picking her way
through the field to lie third when a lap 24 caution slowed the
field. On the restart, Shepker, Fiebelkorn, and Catalano
commenced a great three-way tussle for the lead, but on lap 27,
the rear of the Shepker car came around in turn four with
Fiebelkorn scooting high and Catalano diving through the infield
grass to avoid the sideways #60 car.
As Shepker moved to the rear of the field for the restart, it
appeared
as if Fiebelkorn was in a prime position to earn a second career
Holland title. On the restart, Catalano drove her Hawk
Frame and Axle
mount around Fiebelkorn to take the lead, while Fiebelkorn was
content
to lie second while trying to avoid any trouble - however,
trouble
would find Fiebelkorn, as three laps later, the engine went
sour,
forcing him from the action and eliminating him from title
contention.
Catalano would drive away over the remaining laps for the win,
backing
up her Friday night points championship clinching run at Spencer
Speedway. Shepker, leaving nothing to chance, roared back
through the
field to slip by Neil Hopkins in the late going to take second
and earn
the Holland championship title. Hopkins drove a steady
race throughout
for a third place showing, while young Kevin Miller had the
strongest
run of his rookie campaign with a fourth place finish.
The 30 lap Late Models of Tomorrow finale was a bruising affair,
with
virtually every car in the field showing battle scars of some
sort when
it was over. T.J. Johnson and Eldon King III launched from
the front
row in this one, again with championship hopes on the line for
both.
King would take the lead early, with Johnson keeping things
close. A
series of bump and spins would keep the field tight after the
lap 20
mark, and on a lap 23 restart, contact between the leaders in
turn four
stacked up the field and forced Alan Fisher hard into the turn
four
wall. Fisher was not injured, but the front of his racer
was virtually
destroyed. Johnson retired pitside, while King restarted
at the rear
of the field, and Dave Whittaker assumed the lead.
However, a couple
of additional caution flags allowed King to keep his D&H
Excavating
ride in touch with the front end of the field, and he was able
to use a
late race restart to drive by Whittaker and take the victory and
the
points title. Mike Ticco came on late to edge
Whittaker for the
runner-up position. The championship is a first for King,
and he joins
his father, 1993 Late Model titleist Eldon King, Jr., on the
roster of
Holland title-holders.
Dave Krawczyk would dominate the Charger field in his WNY Wraps/Ohio
Tech Monte Carlo, running away with the 30 lap caution-free
event to
hold a nearly ˝ lap margin of victory en route to his first
Charger
points title. Any chance defending divisional champ Mark
Hoch may have
had to outpoint Krawczyk disappeared on lap 23 when the rear end
of
Hoch’s Malibu broke. While Krawczyk was sprinting away,
Jim Loffredo,
Ted Welshans, and Jerry Kosmowski were putting on a great race
for
second, with Loffred o getting the spot just ahead of Welshans
and Kosmowski.
The most intriguing points race going into the night was the Pro
Four
chase, in which the top four drivers were separated by only 15
points.
However, Nik Welshans took care of business by continuing his
late
season hot streak, leading the entire 25 lap caution-free race
in his
Klispie Motorsports Nissan for his sixth win of the year to earn
his
first career points title. J.D. Roberts kept the pressure
on Welshans
throughout, but had to settle for second, with Chad Pusloski
crossing
the stripe in third.
Though Eric Brown has been Holland’s winningest driver in
2009, he
needed help going into the 30 lap points finale for the Thiel
Motorsports 4-cylinder Hornets. Brown needed to
finish no less than
two postions ahead of Jeff Szafraniec to overtake Szafraniec for
the
title. Brown led early, but Bill Lutz would get by for the
lead on lap
10, while Jammer Meuckl and Szafraniec would make it a tight
4-way
scrap for the lead. Brown would slip under the Lutz ride
to re-take
the led on lap 19, while Szafraniec was doing his best to stay
within a
position. However, Szafraniec would begin to fade in the
latter
stages, as Brown would race on for his seventh win of the year
and his
first championship title. Lutz would hold on for second,
while George
Quintana would race back through the field after an early
stop-and-go
penalty to grab third.
Sylvia Miszczak would lead the caution-free 15 lap Thiel
Motorsports
Queen Bee event from start to finish, holding a full
straightaway
margin of victory at the checkers. Mae Urban edged
Samantha Lutz in a
great race for second place. However, the third place
finish was
enough to clinch a first points title for Samantha.
Jesse Baker borrowed the Marty Hughes ride, and survived a
splash back
into the cockpit from an overheating radiator late in the event,
to win
the 12 lap M&M U-Pull-It Figure 8 Car race. With his
second place
finish, “Mad Mike Eckam became the only 2008 Holland champ to
defend
his championship title.
Holland’s regular weekly divisions have now completed their
seasons.
The top drivers will be feted at the annual Awards Banquet,
which will
be held at the Airport Millennium Hotel on Walden Ave. in
Cheektowaga,
NY on Friday, November 20th.
The Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex will bring down the
curtain on
the 2009 season on Saturday, September 12th, with Crash-A-Rama,
Round
II, the “wildest show on wheels,” featuring the popular
full-sized
School Bus Figure 8 race, Monster Trucks Raminator and
Rammunition, a
compact car enduro, a compact demolition derby, and many other
events
of automotive destruction. Pit gates will open at 3:00,
with spectator
gates opening at 4:00. Crash-A-Rama will get underway at
6:30 PM.
Adult admission is $20.00. |
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NASCAR Raginwolf.com SST PRO MODIFIEDS – 40 laps: 1.
(started 11th) AMY CATALANO, 2. (1) Justin Shepker,
3. (4) Neil Hopkins, 4. (8)
Kevin Miller, 5. (3) Joe Evans, 6. (10) Kevin Lewis,
7. (7) Jeff Ruddy, 8. (6) Tim Welshans, 9. (5) Don
King, 10. (13) Dick Kluth, 11. (12) Mike Stevenson,
12. (2) Mike Fiebelkorn, Jr., 13. (9)Patrick Emerling.
2009 Champion: JUSTIN SHEPKER
LATE MODELS OF TOMORROW – 30 laps: 1.
(started 2nd) ELDON KING III, 2. (6) Mike Ticco,
3. (3) Dave Whittaker, 4. (5) Nick Crassi, 5. (8)
Scott Jarrell, 6. (4) Joe Carbone, 7. (1) T.J.
Johnson, 8. (7) Alan
Fisher, 9. (9) Jason Gwin.
2009 Champion: ELDON KING III
CHARGERS – 30 laps: 1. (started 1st) DAVE KRAWCZYK,
2. (3) Jim
Loffredo, 3. (5) Ted Welshans, 4. (4) Jerry
Kosmowski, 5. (6) Shawn
Lafferty, 6. (9) Rich Carnes, 7. (11) Zach Myers,
8. (8) Jim Mallaber, 9. (14) Dave Wilson, Jr., 10.
(10) Al Grimmer, 11. (7) Joe Eck, 12. (13) Mark
Harsch, 13. (12) Tom Northem, 14. (15) Bill Wise,
15. (2) Mark Hoch.
2009 Champion: DAVE KRAWCZYK
PRO FOURS – 25 laps: 1. (started 1st) NIK
WELSHANS, 2. (3) J.D.
Roberts, 3. (2) Chad Pusloski, 4. (4) Josh Hathaway,
5. (6) Mike Eckam, 6. (8) George Quintana, 7. (5)
Joe Mastrocicco III, 8. (10)Bill Lutz, 9. (7) Bob
Marzec, 10. (9) Eric Brown.
2009 Champion: NIK WELSHANS
Thiel Motorsports HORNETS – 30 laps: 1. (started
2nd) ERIC BROWN, 2.(4) Bill Lutz, 3. (3) George
Quintana, 4. (5) Jammer Meuckl, 5. (1)Jeff
Szafraniec, 6. (8) Eric Marzec, 7. (16) Josh Hunter,
8. (13)Ben Russo, 9. (17) Robin Frey, 10. (7)
Samantha Lutz, 11. (14) Kyle Skoney, 12. (9) Kim
Marzec Skoney , 13. (12) Butcher Palmer, 14.
(19)Dave Brown, 15. (6) Mae Urban, 16. (10) Dennis
Felton, 17. (15)Jerry Toms, 18. (18) Tony Carbone,
19. (11) Jesse Baker. DNS: Robert
Palmer.
2009 Champion: ERIC BROWN
Thiel Motorsports QUEEN BEES – 15 laps: 1.
(started 2nd) SYLVIA
MISZCZAK, 2. (4) Mae Urban, 3. (1) Samantha Lutz,
4. (6) Robin Frey,
5. (3) Kim Marzec Skoney, 6. (5) Elaine Pimpo.
2009 Champion: SAMANTHA LUTZ
M&M U-Pull-It FIGURE 8 CARS – 12 laps: 1.
(started 2nd) JESSE BAKER, 2. (1) Mike Eckam, 3. (3)
Bill Lutz, 4. (4) Waylon Price.
2009 Champion: MIKE ECKAM
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