Aug 23, 2009 11:10 AM EDT
Gardner and Miller Double Up
Craig Gardner saw an opportunity to get to the front on the opening lap of the sportsman event and made the daredevil maneuver pay off as he jumped out front and ran away from the field for his second feature win of the year and the month.
Gardner, of Watkins Glen, started in fourth and made an almost four-wide move down the backstretch to go full throttle on the top of turn three and make it stick to get the lead.
“It was a lot of fun, I got lucky,” said a jubilant Gardner in Victory Lane. “I was just at the right spot at the right time.”
With the sportsman cars so evenly matched each week, Gardner took the Swarthout Recycling No. 14s to front and then hit his marks as a wild scramble throughout the pack slowed the rest of the field in the 20-lap nonstop feature.
Fran Hilton established himself in second but would lose that spot on the final lap as the DIRTcar point leader Todd Henderson took that position away. Hilton would hang on to third.
A wild battle ensued for most of the race between overall point leader Donnie Lawson, Brady Fultz and polesitter Brett Buono. Buono would fall out in the final laps, allowing Lawson to hold off Fultz for fourth.
Bruce Miller was strong last week in his late model when he came home in second. This week, the guy he finished second to, his Dad Dave, kept the car in the garage and Bruce kept up his end of the bargain to put the Miller name in Victory Lane.
Miller, of Wellsville, held a one-second lead over Dale Welty throughout the caution-free 20-lap feature. It was the second win at BRS of the year for the driver that loves it when the track is fast.
“It was nice to have the long-green run, we usually don’t do that,” noted Miller in Victory Lane. “When you are running the cushion it’s tough to establish a rhythm but once I hit my stride we were good to the end.”
Miller dealt with minimal lapped traffic, but each time he did he kept the No. 92x of Welty 10 car lengths back. It was an even track on the night and tacky, which made things a little different.
“That rainwater helped the track out I think,” added the wheelman of the No. 80. “I didn’t even change the setup on the car after the heat and usually I have to tighten it up.
By virtue of his second place run, Dale Welty took back the top spot in an ultra-tight point battle between he and Dave DuBois, who brought it home in third.
John Waters won his heat and was fourth with Rich Karlnoski rounding out the top-five.
Carl Cleveland is usually most comfortable up on the cushion at the top of the track. That was a good thing for him because Frank Guererri Jr. was very fast up there as well but was not able to get by.
Cleveland, from Dundee, took the lead from Larry Fenton Jr. on lap seven and then fought hard to withstand the challenges by the point leader.
“I felt (Guererri and Chris Fisher) banging back there a little bit, they are tough competition,” stayed the personable veteran. “We made a few changes this week and loosened up the car, I think that made the difference.”
Guererri would hold off Fisher for second while Jason White limped his No. 35 home despite smoking throughout the second half of the race. Scott Sebring scored his first career top-five.
Terry Povoski slowly moved his way to front in the 4-cylidner division and was glad to have an extra 5 laps in the Black Rock/Woodhull Mini Stock Shootout.
“The Tornado” battled with his brother, Joe, in the closing laps, swapping the top spot three times late in the running.
Coming to the completion of lap 23, the top five were nose to tail stuck as close together as possible. When Joe Povoski’s No. 19a stumbled a little bit, it was just enough room to allow his brother to walk away.
Two of the early leaders suffered problems while showing the field the way around. Rich Sharpsteen II pulled in to the pits on lap 12 during a caution with an unknown problem, he would rally to sixth. Ray Speicher suffered a flat right front tire with eight laps left when he had checked out from the pack. The Beaver Dams driver would get back in to the top-10.
Dave Matwiejow was solid again and finished in second. C.J. Winslow put together a fine third place showing with Joe Povoski slipping back to fourth. Del Cummings would fight his way back through the pack to round out the top-five.
Dylan Cecce looked like his incredible win streak in the bandit division could be in jeopardy, but the youngster stayed hot, making a last-lap pass on Josh Wallenbeck for his 15th win of the year.
The Bath, NY driver was side-by-side with the No. 24 on a number of occasions throughout the race but could not complete the pass until coming off turn two on lap 10. Zach Teed was a solid third with Val Stephens and Dayton Cote rounding out the top-five.
Paula Wallenbeck rounded out the night as the Ladies 4-cylinder feature winner. The division point leader put all four wheels above the cushion and drove away from Erica Bell to strengthen her point lead.
Next week the racing continues but in full fashion, but also on the card will be a complete slate of wreckage as Wreckapalooza 2 invades Black Rock with the famous Motorhome Demolition Derby and the School Bus Race. The Charlie Pruden Memorial Street Stock Event will also spice up the show.
For more information, visit www.BlackRockSpeedway.com.
Black Rock Speedway Results: 8/21/2009-
Hoselton Auto Mall Crate Sportsman Feature (20 Laps)- CRAIG GARDNER, Todd Henderson, Fran Hilton, Donnie Lawson, Brady Fultz, Chuck Winslow, Tommy Juhl, Randy McCulloch, Tim Povoski, Brandon Butler, Brett Buono, Loren Lincoln (DNS).
Lap Leader- Gardner 1-20.
Heat Winners- Gardner, Hilton.
Freedom Village USA Late Model Feature (20 Laps)- BRUCE MILLER, Dale Welty, Dave DuBois, John Waters, Rich Karlnoski, J.J. Mazur, Mikey Wonderling, Chris Peacock, Brandon Smith, Nate Daggett, Quinn Sutherland, Bob Buono, Ron Mogavero.
Lap Leaders- Miller 1-20.
Heat Winners- Waters, Peacock.
Labatt Blue Street Stock Feature (20 Laps)- CARL CLEVELAND, Frank Guererri Jr., Chris Fisher, Jason White, Scott Sebring, Ralph Champion Jr., Jimmy Grant, Jim McAfee, Rob Parker, Kevin Boynton, Larry Fenton Jr., Jayme Gilbert, Josh Parker, Gene Parker, Jarod Brown, Kevin Morrison, Joe Knapp, Jared Hill, George Parker (DNS), Kurt Baker (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Fenton 1-5, Cleveland 6-20.
Heat Winners- Guererri, Hill, Fisher.
Signs Plus of Kanona 4-Cylinder Feature (25 Laps)- TERRY POVOSKI, Dave Matwiejow, C.J. Winslow, Joe Povoski, Del Cummings, Rich Sharpsteen II, Scott Bradley, Bobby Teed, Chad Ayers, Ray Speicher, Russ Wassner, Todd Hayward, Dan Snyder, Brian Thompson, Dave Amidon, Phil Yaw, Jared Hill, Brent Ayers, Erica Bell, Chad Winslow, Jason Barrett, Tracey Dunn, Brad Rathbun, Brian Grant (DNS), Brett Crawford (DNS).
Lap Leaders- J. Povoski 1-11, Sharpsteen 12, Speicher 13-17, J. Povoski 18-20, T. Povoski 21, J. Povoski 22, T. Povoski 23-25.
Heat Winners- Cummings, Speicher, Sharpsteen.
Ladies 4-Cylinder Feature (10 Laps)- PAULA WALLENBECK, Erica Bell, Val Stephens, Jamie Schuyler, Kailey Wassner, Amanda Schultsick, Sarah Potter, Lisa Cornish.
Lap Leaders- Wassner 1, Bell 2-3, Wallenbeck 4-10.
Home Necessities Bandits (10 Laps)- DYLAN CECCE, Josh Wallenbeck, Zach Teed, Val Stephens, Dayton Cote, Noah Herrington, David DuBois, Cody Clemens, Lisa Cornish, Evan Stiles.
Lap Leaders- Stephens 1, Wallenbeck 2-9, Cecce 10.
