|
Todd Hoddick of Cheektowaga, NY took advantage of a lap 73
re-start to get position on Dave Heitzhaus and grab a lead he would not
relinquish to capture the Budweiser 100 for the Northeast Late Model
Series at the Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex on Saturday evening,
August 30th.
In other Saturday action at the Western New York oval, Don King of East
Aurora, NY took a first career win in a surprising finish to the NASCAR
Sunoco SST Pro Modifed main, 2007 Carquest Charger champ Jim Loffredo of
Orchard Park, NY rolled to his first divisional win of the year, Taylor
Holdaway of Orillia, ON earned his first ever win in the Cup Lites Series
main, and veteran Wayne Turnbull of Paris, ON raced to the Caseys TQ
Midget victory. Nik Welshans of West Falls, NY picked up the victory in
the Native Pride Pro Four run, Eric Marzec of West Seneca, NY pocketed his
second Thiel Motorsports Hornets main of the year, and Mad Mike
Eckam of East Aurora, NY scored his second Alliance Auto Parts Figure 8
Car race of the year.
Glenn Gault, Jr. and Chris Ross brought the 26 car Late Model field to the
starting green of the Budweiser 100, with Ross outsprinting Gault for the
race lead. George Skora III worked by Gault for 2nd on lap nine, and only
needed three laps to reel in and motor by Ross for the lead. Dave
Heitzhaus was on the move from his seventh starting spot, taking Gault for
third on lap 14, then utilizing a lap 20 re-start to wrest second from
Ross.
The yellow appeared for the second time at the end of that lap for a
rugged turn three incident involving Joe Carbone and John Matuszak, who
was substituting for ailing son Bill. Neither driver was injured, but both
cars were done for the night.
When the green re-appeared on lap 23, Heitzhaus went right to work on
Skora, and two laps later, found room on the inside to take the lead off
of turn four. In the meantime, Todd Hoddick was moving forward in his UPS
Ford from his tenth starting position, getting by Ross for third and
setting off in pursuit of the lead duo. Defending Budweiser 100 champ Will
Thomas was also making his presence felt, as he motored into 4th on the
40th circuit, while Hoddick began to engage Skora for 2nd, as Heitzhaus
was opening up a healthy lead margin. Hoddick finally cleared Skora to
take second on lap 56.
Three caution flag periods between laps 62 and 70 erased the lead that
Heitzhaus had built up, and on the final re-start on lap 73, the Heitzhaus
mount was a bit slow at getting up to speed, which was the break Hoddick
was looking for, as he powered by Heitzhaus fo the top slot. Thomas was
able to work under Skora for third, and the top three began to distance
themselves from the rest of the field, although neither Heitzhaus nor
Thomas seemed to have anything left to challenge Hoddick over the
remaining laps. At the checkers, Hoddick held about a five car length
advantage over Heitzhaus, while Heitzhaus held a similar advantage over
Thomas. George Skora III held off a late race rush from past champ Vern
Bliss, who came out of retirement for this race specifically, to finish
fourth. Only five cautions slowed the event, and eighteen of the
twenty-six starters were running at the checkers, with the top twelve on
the lead lap.
In the 40 lap NASCAR Sunoco SST Pro Modified main, it looked as if Justin
Shepker and Todd Hoddick were going to settle the race on the final lap -
but then the script changed. The pair made contact out of turn 4 while
looking at the white flag, with Shepker going around. Both drivers were
moved to the rear of the field on the re-start, and for the
green-white-checker finish, Jonathon Price inherited the top spot.
However, the Price machine balked at the re-start green, and Don King,
having the best run of his 1 ½ year career, motored his Elegant Builders
Dayton chassis by Price and drove on to his first ever feature race win.
Price held on for second, while Joe Evans came back from an early race
spin to claim third.
The 30 lap Carquest Charger feature race started with a bang, as a six car
scramble at the green flag eliminated three entries. Once things settled
down, Jim Loffredo wasted no time in moving from the fifth starting spot
to get his Monte Carlo by Ted Welshans for the lead on lap 2. Loffredo
held off a mid-race challenge from Mark Hoch, and a late race surge by
Matt Welshans to record his initial win of the season. Welshans fended off
a last lap run by Greg Miszczak to place second; however, Miszczak
forfeited the third place finish after his ride failed post-race tech
inspection.
Dan Tybor and Bobby Holmes were dueling for the top slot in the Cup Lites
main when they made lap 22 contact on the back chute, and Tybor slammed
the concrete hard. Tybor emerged uninjured. Taylor Holdaway then inherited
the lead in his Holdaway Automotive mount, and kept Scott Wylie at bay for
the remainder of the event for his first Cup Lites win in three years of
racing. The event was called complete one lap short of the scheduled 35
circuits when Jeremy Ratajczyk and Dave Bitner got together in a
thunderous wall banger off of turn four as the white flag was showing.
Fortunately, both drivers were uninjured.
Wayne Turnbull scooted by Mark Schulz for the lead on a lap 3 re-start in
the 20-lap Caseys TQ Midget Series feature race, and held off a final
lap challenge from Jamie Collard for the win. Camden Barber came on late
to nip Mike Blair at the stripe for third.
Nik Welshans survived a stiff mid-race challenge from J.D. Roberts before
settling his West Falls Racing Nissan back out in front for the win in the
25 lap Native Pride Pro Four event. The victory was Welshans first win
in the Pro Four division. Roberts held on for second, while Josh Hathaway
placed third.
Eric Marzec raced his Marzec Construction/Nickel City Shirt Co. Dodge by
niece Kim Marzec on a re-start two laps from the finish for the win in the
30 lap Thiel Motorsports Hornet main. In a barn burner of a finish for
second, Eric Brown edged Mae Urban and Kim Marzec in a three wide dash
across the line.
In a crazy Alliance auto Recycling Figure 8 Car race, which featured a
roll-over and some extra-curricular out-of-car activities, Mad Mike
Eckam was very happy to be in front of it all, as despite getting up on
two wheels at one point early in the race, he sprinted away for an easy
victory. Bill Lutz finished a distant second.
News and Notes ... Late Model racers from three states and one Canadian
province converged to take on the high banks for the Bud 100 ... The
Northeastern Late Model Series will return in just two weeks for the final
76 laps of the rain interrupted Kayak Pools 100, which was put on hold
back on July 12th ... The Buffalo Bill s cheerleading squad, the Buffalo
Jills, took part in a challenge race prior to the start of the regular
racing program, utilizing Speedway owned four cylinder racers, and the
lovely Stefanie powered her way to the race win ... former long-time
Holland Business Manager and track partner Gordon Becker, now enjoying
retirement, was back for a visit on Saturday evening, enjoying a night at
the races ... veteran racer Mike McDonald substituted for Mike Flaig in
the Charger main, as Flaig was tending to personal obligations on the
holiday weekend.
RESULTS SUMMARY 8/30/08
Northeastern LATE MODEL Series Budweiser 100
Finish Start Car No Driver, Hometown Laps Completed
Running/out
1. 10. 49 Todd Hoddick, Cheektowaga, NY 100 running
2. - 7. 45 Dave Heitzhaus, Strykersville, NY 100 running
3. 12. 9 Will Thomas, Sharpsville, PA 100 running
4. - 4. 65 George Skora III, Eden, NY 100 running
5. - 15. 0 Vern Bliss, Arcade, NY 100 running
6. - 2. 4s Chris Ross, Ballston Spa, NY 100 running
7. - 9. 50 Mike Fiebelkorn, Jr., Eden, NY 100 running
8. - 13. 3 Jeff Brown, Hamburg, NY 100 running
9. - 6. 32w Scott Wylie, Blasdell, NY 100 running
10. 16. 24 Dave Rigan, Clarence, NY 100 running
11. 14. 5 Norm Taylor, Parma, OH 100 running
12. 20. 55 Matt Barndt, Bethlehem, PA 100 running
13. 8. 56 Scott Skora, Eden, NY 99 running
14. 22. 23 Jimmy Weller, Hubbard, OH 99 running
15. 24. 52 Joe Bizzarro, Erie, PA 99 running
16. 25. 53 Tom Reese, Jr., West Seneca, NY 98 running
17. 26. 18 Bill Catania, Erie, PA 97 running
18. 21. 29 Richard Arndt, Colden, NY 96 running
19. 5. 54 Mark Pennell, Lancaster, NY 65 mechanical
20. - 3. 91 Tyler Brown, Waterdown, ON 65 mechanical
21. - 1. 32 Glenn Gault, Jr., Hubbard, OH 60 mechanical
22. 11. 1g Lee Gill, LaFargeville, NY 34 mechanical
23. 23. 53x Jason Petri, Yorkshire, NY 25 mechanical
24. 18. 07 Nick Crassi, Gowanda, NY 23 mechanical
25. 19. 31 Joe Carbone, West Seneca, NY 19 collision
26. 17. 1 John Matuszak, Arcade, NY 19 collision
lap leaders: 1-12 Ross, 13-24 G. Skora, 25-72 Heitzhaus, 73-100 Hoddick
Caution flags: 5 lap 17, lap 20, lap 62, lap 65, lap 70
Heat Race Winners: Jeff Brown, Norm Taylor, Vern Bliss
NASCAR Sunoco SST PRO MODIFIEDS (40 laps): 1. (started 3rd) DON KING, 2.
(9) Jonathon Price, 3. (10) Joe Evans, 4. (5) Chuck Anderson, 5. (8) Mike
Fiebelkorn, Jr., 6. (11) John Barber, 7. (2) Tim Welshans, 8. (6) Patti
Pruitt, 9. (1) Mike Stevenson, 10. (7) Justin Shepker, 11. (4) Jeff Ruddy,
12. (12) Todd Hoddick.
Carquest CHARGERS (30 laps): 1. (started 5th) JIM LOFFREDO, 2. (12) Matt
Welshans, 3. (9) Bryant Burns, 4. (17) Marty Hughes, 5. (11) Mark Hoch, 6.
(1) Mark Harsch, 7. (7) Jim Mallaber, 8. (15) Rich Carnes, 9. (4) Al
Grimmer, 10. (3) Donnie Aquino, 11. (16) Sean Dolan, 12. (2) Ted Welshans,
13. (6) Shawn Lafferty, 14. (18) Mike McDonald, 15. (13) Joe Eck, 16. (8)
Tom Northem, 17. (10) Jerry Kosmowski, 18. (14) Paul Alberti.
DQ: Greg Miszczak (crossed line third started 19th).
CUP LITES SERIES (called complete after 34 of 35 laps): 1. (started 5th)
TAYLOR HOLDAWAY, 2. (6) Scott Wylie, 3. (4) Jason Keen, 4. (9) Bobby
Holmes, 5. (8) Glenn Attanasio, 6. (7) Nelson Rung, 7. (4) Jeremy
Ratajczyk, 8. (1) Dave Bitner, 9. (10) D.J. Hutchinson, 10. (2) Dan Tybor.
Caseys TQ MIDGET SERIES (20 laps): 1. (started 3rd) WAYNE TURNBULL, 2.
(5) Jamie Collard, 3. (13) Camden Barber, 4. (4) Mike Blair, 5. (6) Jim
Fleischman, 6. (12) Justin Mapes, 7. (14) Vince Christiano, Jr., 8. (10)
Charlie DiRosa, 9. (11) Dan Lawrence, 10. (7) Dean McConnaughey, 11. (1)
Mark Schulz, 12. (9) Russell Knutsen, 13. (15) Paul Faleski, 14. (16) Arik
McGruder, 15. (8) Bobby Holmes, 16. (2) Jonathan Reid.
Did Not Start: Chad Heywood.
Native Pride PRO FOURS (25 laps): 1. (started 5th) NIK WELSHANS, 2. (8)
J.D. Roberts, 3. (6) Josh Hathaway, 4. (9) Brandon Hirsch, 5. (4) Chad
Pusloski, 6. (2) Mike Eckam, 7. (3) Michelle Roberts, 8. (1) Bob Marzec.
Did Not Start: Jason Eck, James Steins.
Thiel Motorsports HORNETS (30 laps): 1. (started 18th) ERIC MARZEC, 2.
(13) Eric Brown, 3. (19) Mae Urban, 4. (6) Kim Marzec, 5. (14) Jammer
Mueckl, 6. (15) Ricky Roth, 7. (12) Kyle Skoney, 8. (9) Ashley Kirchberger,
9. (8) Peter Hauser, 10. (11) Bill Lutz, 11. (10) Skip Murray, 12. (1) Ben
Russo, 13. (7) Pit Murray, 14. (5) Patrick Emerling, 15. (3) Samantha
Lutz, 16. (16) Jeff Szafraniec, 17. (17) George Quintana, 18. (4) Joe
Mastrocicco III, 19. (2) David Warrior.
Alliance Auto Recycling FIGURE 8 CARS (12 laps): 1. (started 5th) MIKE
ECKAM, 2. (2) Bill Lutz, 3. (1) Waylon Price, 4. (3) Scott Pastorius, 5.
(7) James Steins, 6. (4) Jason Eck, 7. (6) Jason Adams.
|