May 12, 2012 12:29 AM EDT
Brady Fultz Fast at Black Rock
Rich Vleck, DUNDEE, NY, (May 11, 2012)- On a night when multiple lines around the Black Rock Speedway were not just usable but productive Brady Fultz put his No. 70 on the top of the track and drove away from a sportsman field for his first win of the year.
“Of course (it was good), it’s a Troyer”, said Fultz after being told in Victory Lane that the car looked good in the 20-lap feature. “The car was good last week but we just ran out of laps, but it was really strong tonight.”
Fultz, the Dundee native that was the 2007 Champion, started 12th on the grid but quick jumped up into second on the lap 2 before taking the lead from Fran Hilton on lap 3. Hilton would take the lead back briefly but on a lap four restart Fultz would rocket back around the veteran on the outside and would set sail on the rest of the field.
A caution with five laps remaining erased a full straightaway lead for Fultz but the final two restarts would not be much of a problem as he opened up his advantage over second-place running Rob Humphreys, who would be disqualified upon post-race inspection.
With Humphreys being removed from the finishing order, Ross Vleck was able to record a runner-up finish, his best career finish at Black Rock. Donnie Lawson rallied from a first lap incident to place third while week one winner Chris Daughrety and polesitter Fran Hilton rounded out the top five.
John Waters stayed perfect for 2012 with his second win at BRS in as many tries in the late model feature. Waters, of Whitesville, chased down early leader Quinn Sutherland without the aid of a caution, taking the lead from the No. 36 on lap 14 just before the only caution flag of the event waved.
“(Quinn) had a really good car, and I started to cut it down a little bit in lapped traffic,” noted Waters in Victory Lane. “I’m not sure if I would have got him without the lapped cars, he was running really well.”
Waters stalked Sutherland for about a half-dozen laps before taking the finally pouncing on the leader. Sutherland was able to hold on for a solid runner-up finish while Jason Knowles withstood the charges of his dad and brother to finish in third. Bruce Miller would run up from deep in the pack to cross in fourth, just ahead of Larry Knowles.
After coming up just short of the win on opening night, defending street stock champion Chris Fisher got back in to Victory Lane with an impressive performance in his No. 37.
Fisher, of Bluff Point, took the lead from youngster Dylan Cecce on lap eight and then held command over a hard-charging Larry Fenton Jr. to pick up the win. Fenton’s runner-up showing was his best finish since the end of 2010 while week one winner Bob Buono was a solid third. Jake Karlnoski was fourth and Cecce, who spun out on lap eight, rallied to round out the top five.
Defending IMCA Modified Champion Mike Smith became the first repeat winner at the track this season, leading all 20 laps after starting up front after hurting the motor on his No. 96 last week. In a race that had its only caution on lap one, Smith hit his marks for the final 19 laps without issue to easily score the win. Rich Karlnoski, the driver who brought out the caution on lap one, not only got back up to second, but closed up the gap on Smith in the late stages of the race. Phil Yaw made his way out of a fierce battle to come home in third, ahead of Shawn Bruce and Jared Spaulding.
In 4-cylinder action, Ray Speicher had three late-race opportunities to set up a move on Rich Sharpsteen II for the race lead, and on the final restart he built up enough momentum to pull off a slide job in turns one and two. Contact was made before Speicher took the lead and then once again when the duo were in turn four, but as they worked back to the line it would be Speicher prevailing for his first win of the year.
Behind Speicher and Sharpsteen was Bobby Teed, who quietly navigated the bottom lane and had a shot for the win off the final corner before crossing in third. A post-race incident for Sharpsteen would move him out of the top five and placing Teed second, ahead of Chad Ayers, Jayson Smart and Jeremy Trank.
In the final race of the night, the FWD 4-cylinders, who had their own feature this week,saw Steve Rogers and Brian Grant engaged in a tight yet clean battle to the line. Grant would execute a crossover move off the final corner and win the drag race back to the line to score the win.
Justin Eldridge took command of the bandit feature on lap two and while their were great battles going on behind, he had no issue keeping his No. 18 out front for his first career win.
As Eldridge lead the final nine laps without issue, Noah Herington and Lance Irwin had a strong duel for second, with Herington coming out on top for the rear wheel drive cars.
In the always-popular 1-on-1 Spectator Races, street stock regular Jake Karlnoski won in the car division in his Ford Mustang but could not get by the Dodge Ram truck of late model competitor Brandon Smith in the finale.
Under clear yet cool conditions that track crew’s hard effort shined with a fantastic racing surface for the first standard Friday Night program of the year being run off in an efficient manner. Next Friday’s card will feature the first Dart Machinery BRP CanAm Challenge race of the year plus a 4-Cylinder road course event. For more information, visit www.BlackRockSpeedway.com.
Black Rock Speedway Results: 5/11/2012-
Spectator Night
Hoselton Auto Mall Crate Sportsman Feature (20 Laps)- BRADY FULTZ, Ross Vleck, Donnie Lawson, Chris Daughrety, Fran Hilton, Karl Comfort, Loren Lincoln, Randy McCulloch, Trevor Sutherland, Jim LaRock, Serenity Sutherland, Gary Hotelling, Josh Keesey, Scott Waters, Josh Butler, Chad Dailey, Dale Welty, Brent Ayers, Chis Silvers, Ray Bliss Jr., Rob Humphreys (DQ).
Lap Leader- Hilton 1-2, Fultz 3, Hilton 4, Fultz 5-20.
Heat Winners- Humphreys, Hilton, Lawson.
Late Model Feature (20 Laps)- JOHN WATERS, Quinn Sutherland, Jason Knowles, Bruce Miller, Larry Knowles, Brian Knowles, Jared Hill, Buck Payne, Mikey Wonderling, Steve LaBarron, Wally Wade, Sparky Hills, Carl Cleveland, Bill Miller.
Lap Leaders- Sutherland 1-14, Waters 15-20.
Heat Winners- Cleveland, Sutherland.
Street Stock Feature (20 Laps)- CHRIS FISHER, Larry Fenton Jr., Bob Buono, Jake Karlnoski, Dylan Cecce, Nate Daggett, Jeremy Perkins, Rich Sharpsteen I, Tim Hettis, Les McCann.
Lap Leaders- Cecce 1-6, Fisher 7-20.
Heat Winners- Fisher, Buono.
IMCA Modified Feature (20 Laps)- MIKE SMITH, Rich Karlnoski, Phil Yaw, Shawn Bruce, Jared Spaulding, Bruce Tinsley, Steve Twigg, Don Reeves, Dave Yehl, Rob Wilcox, Don Alvord.
Lap Leaders- Smith 1-20.
Heat Winner- Karlnoski, Smith.
Signs Plus of Kanona/ Watkins Glen NAPA 4-Cylinder Feature (20 Laps)- RAY SPEICHER, Bobby Teed, Chad Ayers, Jayson Smart, Jeremy Trank, Russ Wassner, Rich Sharpsteen II, Del Cummings, Rick Horton, Chris Ayers, David Kinner, Zach Teed, Erick Bell, Val Stephens, Billy Cagle, James Kreidler III, Scott Bradley, Harold Fenton (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Kreidler 1-2, Sharpsteen 3-19, Speicher 20.
Heat Winners- B. Teed, Sharpsteen, Bradley.
Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinder Feature (12 Laps)- BRIAN GRANT, Steve Rogers, Jamie Eldridge, Alyssa Duby, Kale Wilkins, Josh Sharpsteen.
Lap Leaders- Rogers 1-4, Grant 5, Rogers 6-11, Grant 12.
Heat Winner- Rogers.
Home Necessities Bandits (10 Laps)- JUSTIN ELDIRDGE, Noah Herington, Lance Irwin, Allison Teed, Brandon Kinner, Desiree Force, Brandon Matthews, Joey Rodbourn.
Lap Leaders- Matthews 1, Eldridge 2-10.
1-on-1 Spectator Race Final: Brandon Smith (Truck) Defeats Jake Karlnoski (Car).
