Aug 6, 2015 10:19 PM EDT
“The Iceman” Waxes Field For Nascrate 50 Grit Series Victory
DUNDEE, NY – For Immediate Release – August 6th, 2015 – Curtis Berleue Photo –
The SUNY Canton Grit Racing Series returned to the ‘Fast Four-Tenths-Mile’ for their second and final stop of 2015 for an American Racer Series event. Stacey Jackson led the American Racer Series coming into Black Rock, but it was Steve Gray who would take the lead on lap 33 from Casey Pavlick and steal the show for the $1,000 victory.
Home track advantage paid off for Brent Ayers and Pavlick as they would win heat races and draw the front row for the 50-lap affair. When Scott Hixson’s green flag flew it was Ayers who raced away with the early advantage to lead lap #1.
Pavlick flexed his muscle early with the C&S Services 18p as he rocketed by Ayers to take the lead on lap 2. The current Black Rock Crate Sportsman point leader looked poised to defend home turf for his second Grit win of 2015. But the man on a mission early in the event was Dundee’s own- Brady Fultz.
Fultz struggled in the heat race and had to qualify through the consolation event, relegating the driver of the Troyer Racecars #70 to 20th on the starting grid. The crew went to work on the car in the races before the A-Main and hit on something to their drivers liking early on in the event.
Fultz utilized the extreme outside groove like only he has been known to do and quickly moved into the sixth position with an exciting three-wide pass on Rocky Warner on lap 11. Prior to the yellow flag being displayed on lap 14 for a spinning Loren Lincoln, Fultz had advanced to the fourth spot.
Pavlick took the green on the restart to pull away but Fultz was not done with his charge to the front. The Barney Moravec Water Wells #70 took third right on the restart and would take over the runner-up spot just two laps later on lap 16.
The yellow came back out for Eric Bell on lap 25 for an apparent front end problem, allowing for a side by side restart per grit series rules. On the restart Pavlick chose the bottom lane and held off Fultz’ bid for the lead once the green flag came out. Another driver that began working his way to the front once the field reached halfway was “The Iceman” Steve Gray.
Lap 31 saw the incredible charge to the front go up in smoke with a loud bang for Fultz as he entered Turn 1. The powerplant on the #70 expired, drawing another caution flag. Pavlick led Jake Dgien, Rocky Warner, Gray and Jordan Siri as the field took the green on the lap 31 restart.
Once the field got back under way, something was not the same for Pavlick as it appeared the handling had gone away in a bad way. This opened the door for Warner and Gray to close in and make a bid for the lead. Gray was able to navigate and dispatch Warner before making his move for the lead on Pavlick when the scoring pylon clicked off lap 33.
It took Warner another 7 laps to get by Pavlick, but once he moved into second it didn’t seem that the ‘Flying Squirrel’ could pull in on Gray to make it three-for-three in the last three Crate races at ‘The Rock’. Dgien had a great run going running third while Jackson appeared to have saved his tires for the end as he battled hard within the top five.
In the end it was all Steve Gray, who picked up his sixth Black Rock Speedway victory and seventh win of 2015 as he picked up a big win at Weedsport Speedway earlier in the year. Warner came home second in the Jake Spraker 1J, Dgien third after winning just a few days prior at Woodhull, Keesey fourth and the American Racer Series point leader Jackson completing the top five.
“I was trying to be careful working through the field for the first 25,” Gray reflected in Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane.
“I saw Rocky take off about lap 10 and I thought I better get going because this guy is fast.”
Gray and crew will be quick to transfer the car over to get ready for another big show at Weedsport on Thursday night- paired up with the Super DIRTcar Series Hall of Fame 100.
“We plan on going to Weedsport Thursday, so we’ll be competing against him again.”
Warner struggled by his standards on this night and talked about those struggles post-race.
“We were just a tick too free tonight to compete with Steve,” said Warner.
“I had the wrong shock on the car compared to what we had last time here. When it came time for the feature we weren’t sure what to change. I’ll tell you, I had a great time racing with this kid behind me (Dgien).”
For Dgien, a podium finish with the Grit Series was a continuation of their recent hot streak.
“It was definitely fun, we’ve got a good group of guys here to race with. This definitely helps build a lot of confidence.”
In the MRC Street Stocks it was Kurt Stebbins who won his heat to earn the pole starting position as the field was lined up ‘heads up’ from the heat races. Stebbins quickly pulled away to a large lead and looked to take his second in a row and third feature win of the season.
Lap 5 would find point leader Jared Hill in his Beauty Craft #93 have a right rear sneaker go down, drawing the yellow flag. Bad luck struck the leader Stebbins under this yellow flag as he would peel off the racing surface to head to the pits as well.
The restart would be the start of a Street Stock battle that won’t be forgotten any time soon at Black Rock Speedway. CJ Guererri assumed the lead after a pass of Daggett on the restart. Chuck Winslow, who showed the Sportsmanship move of the year in his heat race, was also making noise in his Gene Balmer’s Used Cars #61 in third.
On lap 11, Daggett had a perfect corner in Turns 1 & 2 and got a tremendous run down the backstretch to pull to the outside of Guererri entering Turn 3. Guererri was doing his best to protect the bottom, which allowed Daggett to swing by with the momentum as the pair completed lap number 12.
Winslow went to work on Guererri for second and would get by to then set his sights on Daggett for the lead. The two would battle lap after lap in the closing stages of the event. The race fans were on the edge of their seat, not knowing who was going to come away with the $500 victory.
On the final lap, Winslow gave Daggett a tap on the back bumper but Daggett did not waver. A perfect set of corners allowed Daggett to close the deal for win #2 of the 2015 season over Winslow, Guererri, Jeremy Potrzebowski and LaVerne Knickerbocker.
“It was scary and exciting all at once,” said a very happy Daggett in Super Gen Products Victory Lane.
“CJ got under me there, and I went high and said holy crap this works!”
There at the end, Daggett talked about trying to hold off and racing with Winslow.
“He’s a fun guy to race with. A lot of times on the last lap you cringe being in the lead. You know if he passes you, he passes you and doesn’t have to drive through you.”
Keith Lamphere dominated the M&M Auto Sales IMCA Modified feature, making it four in a row at Black Rock and his seventh win at the ‘Fast Four-Tenths-Mile’. Nicole Spalding, who picked up her first heat race win earlier in the night, and Todd Stone would lead the field to green.
Stone led the event early on as he has done so many times this season but Lamphere began to charge to the front. Lamphere had some added incentive to win on this night as his sponsor, Insinger Performance Racing Fuel, was the nightly sponsor presenting the racing action.
Lamphere would make a big for the lead and take over the number one spot and pulled away. He did survive a couple of cautions as Spalding had trouble twice and Sparky Hills found himself on top of the Sebring #44 machine in Turn 1 with his right rear tire.
Lamphere’s foe in the points race, Jason Benjamin, moved through the field as well and put on a great late-race battle with Harry Ely for the runner-up position. In the end it was Lamphere taking his fourth in a row over Benjamin, Ely, Brad Smith and Spalding recovering for a top five finish.
“The car wasn’t how I like it in the heat so we changed some stuff and it was hooked up in the feature,” said the soft-spoken Lamphere in Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane.
Rich Sharpsteen is used to coming from the back to the front to win in the NAPA Know How 4 Cylinder division in 2015. However, what he did on Tuesday was something he hasn’t done in 2015- win from the outside pole.
Sharpsteen in the Our Family Circle Tax Service ‘Flyin X’ led every lap Tuesday to bring home win #8 on the season at Black Rock. Chad Ayers would give him a good challenge early, as well as Jayson Smart, but they were no match for Sharpsteen.
The Dundee, NY pilot after winning his heat race took home his 12th heat victory and was the sixth time that he has won both the heat race and feature event in the same night. Sharpsteen would take the Custom Pest Control X car to Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane over Ayers, Smart, Erica Bell with another top five and Jeremy Trank rounding out the top five finishers.
“We still race in the old mindset where you used to have to race for heat points. We come in every night wanting to score maximum points,” said Sharpsteen.
“It’s a lot easier when you start up front, a lot easier than it has been the last couple of weeks.”
Friday night will be ‘Trevor Bayne’s MRO Night at Black Rock’ featuring a celebrity driver match race. The Patriot Sprint Tour will also be making their second stop of 2015 on Friday as well. Pit gates open at 4PM, Grandstands at 5PM, Hot Laps at 6PM and Racing taking the first green flag promptly at 7PM. General admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and ages 12-17 with children under 12 always FREE at Black Rock Speedway.
The sprint cars and modifieds will run full programs while the Crate Sportsman, MRC Street Stocks, NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders and Creekside Entertainment Bandits will race in an open draw format for full points with features only. The IMCA Modifieds will be off again as I-88 has a rescheduled Empire State Series event Friday August 7th.
For more information including weekly recaps, driver profiles, results, points and information on the $100,000 Contingency Connection Rewards Program race over to www.blackrockspeedway.com or visit Black Rock Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BlackRockSpeedway or follow us on Twitter @BlackRockSpeed
Black Rock Speedway is proud to partner with the Contingency Connection in 2015 to offer their race competitors over $100,000 in prizes. Drivers lucky enough to be awarded Contingency Connection books will save thousands of dollars on the parts, pieces and products that they use each week and every winter.
Insinger Performance Racing Fuel Night Results 8/4/15:
SUNY Canton Grit Racing Series Crate Sportsman, 26 cars (50 Laps): STEVE GRAY, Rocky Warner, Jake Dgien, Josh Keesey, Stacey Jackson, Casey Pavlick, Tommy Paige, Nick Guererri, Jordan Siri, Ray Bliss, Brett Buono, Dale Welty, Ryan Olsommer, Doug Smith, Brent Ayers, Todd Hayward, Rich Powell, Chris Fisher, Jimmy Morton, Chris Daugherty, Brady Fultz, Loren Lincoln, Tim Guild, Kyle Pierce, Eric Bell, Mike Williams
Lap Leaders: Ayers 1, Pavlick 2-32, Gray 33-50
Heat Winners: Brent Ayers, Steve Gray, Casey Pavlick
Morseman Racing Chassis Street Stocks, 10 cars (20 Laps): NATE DAGGETT, Chuck Winslow, CJ Guererri, Jeremy Potrzebowski, LaVerne Knickerbocker, Jared Hill, Kurt Stebbins, Roger Kerrick, Dennis Cummings, Allison Teed
Lap Leaders: Stebbins 1-5, CJ Guererri 6-11, Daggett 12-20
Heats: Kurt Stebbins, Nate Daggett
M&M Auto Sales & Service IMCA Modifieds, 10 cars (20 Laps): KEITH LAMPHERE, Jason Benjamin, Harry Ely, Brad Smith, Nicole Spalding, Scott Sebring, Todd Stone, Ken Buck, Brandon Mathews, Sparky Hills
Heat Winners: Nicole Spalding, Todd Stone
NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders, 16 cars (20 Laps): RICH SHARPSTEEN, Chad Ayers, Jayson Smart, Erica Bell, Jeremy Trank, David Whetham, Dan Smart, Brian Grant, Jarod Brown, JJ Kreidler, Jeff Moore, Desi Force, Mike Webster, Bruce Kinner, Ashley Sutryk, Scott Bradley
Lap Leaders: Sharpsteen 1-20
Heats: Jayson Smart, Rich Sharpsteen
