Aug 17, 2015 12:43 AM EDT
Costa Scores First Modified Victory Friday At Black Rock Speedway
DUNDEE, NY – For Immediate Release – August 16th, 2015 – Curtis Berleue Photo –
Closing off the 2014 season, Cory Costa was red hot behind the wheel of a Crate Sportsman Modified. That success and a desire to race with the best propelled Costa to a full-blown Modified in 2015. Costa proved he belonged on Friday night, taking the lead from Dale Welty on lap 6 and pulling away from Alan Johnson and Steve Paine for his first career Modified victory.
The driver out of Corning, NY has had his fair share of ‘little victories’ and disappointments in 2015, but each bump in the road allowed the team to learn and improve for next time. The victory came as just another step forward as Costa raced his way into a Short Track Super Series A-Main just 3 days prior in an event that paid $400 just to take the green flag.
Come Friday night, Costa and team were hoping to ride the wave of momentum. Costa would win his heat race and proved to all in attendance that he was going to be tough to beat come feature time.
Dale Welty and Ron Cartwright Jr led the field to the green flag that was waved by former Black Rock Speedway head starter Jay Drinkwater. Jay and Sean Drinkwater were both in attendance after many years away from the speedway, which was a great flashback for race officials and drivers alike in the pit area.
Welty took the early lead but Costa was a man on a mission, going away from his fourth starting position. Costa made quick work of Cartwright and set his sights on Podsiadlo and Welty. He would dispatch of Podsiadlo for second and pulled up on the back bumper of Welty for the lead on lap 5.
As lap 6 was put on the board, Costa had taken over the lead and pulled away to nearly a full straightaway advantage. All of the bad luck, mechanical woes and getting caught up in other driver’s messes all went to the wayside on this night.
Johnson and Paine put on a classic battle between the two dirt modified legends, only to help Costa pull away and hide as the race wore on. ‘AJ Slideways’ and his new power plant under the hood of the Friendly Ford 14J took over second from Paine but didn’t have enough time to close the gap on Costa.
Costa crossed the line on lap 30 for his first career modified win over Johnson, Paine, Welty and Cartwright.
“It feels good to finally be here,” said Costa in Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane.
“Anybody that knows us knows how much effort we put into this thing. We’ve had it in a million pieces several times and just keep piecing it back together. I have to thank the crew. Luke Boom, he’s my right-hand man. He does all the wrenching for me on the car and is always there.”
Costa also spoke to the jump from the Crate Sportsman to the Modifieds, even though both divisions utilize the same dirt modified chassis.
“The motor is a huge difference and anyone that says they’re the same car- they’re not when you put this kind of horsepower underneath the hood. Boy they’re a lot of fun though!”
Casey Pavlick and Stacey Jackson put on a Crate Sportsman battle for the ages on Friday night with Pavlick coming away with his third victory of the season and extending his point lead.
Jackson led the race from the drop of the green in his Last Lap Express #22J, looking for his first Crate Sportsman win of the season after picking up a Modified win a month ago. Pavlick started sixth and worked his way carefully through the field and was challenging Jackson for the lead by half way.
It appeared that Jackson was going to have what it took to bring home the win but an untimely lap car in Turn 2 with 3 laps to go gave Pavlick the edge he needed to squeak by for the lead.
“I don’t know that the lap car actually helped me, but I think it got him out of his rhythm just enough to let us get a run on the top,” said Pavlick in Super Gen Products Victory Lane.
As the duo entered Turns 3 and 4, Pavlick took to the high side and rode the cushion to the lead as they came down to get Scott Hixson’s two laps to go signal. Pavlick drove away the final two circuits for the win over Jackson, Jordan Siri, a great run for Doug Smith in fourth and Steve Gray the top five.
“Stacey was way better than me on the top of 1&2, and better than me on the bottom of 3&4,” Pavlick said post-race.
Pavlick reflected on his mindset with three or four laps to go with such a fierce battle for the lead.
“It’s all or nothing at that point, no looking at the gauges just go for it.”
The M&M Auto Sales IMCA Modifieds had some late-race fireworks on Friday night, as Tony Harris appeared to win their 20-lap feature event. But a caution coming out as the checkered flag flew created confusion between race officials, fans and drivers alike.
On the last lap before the yellow, Todd Stone and Jason Benjamin were trading paint in Turn 4 for the win. While they were mixing it up, Harris went where they weren’t and beat Stone in a drag race to the line to take the yellow and checkered flags together.
Video footage viewed on Saturday morning showed that 3 cars crossed the line before the caution lights were activated, which would have signaled the end of the event. Black Rock Speedway Promoter Mike Jackson reached out to the Harris team to apologize for the missed call and ensuing confusion.
The speedway Race Director was also contacted over the weekend and he wished to extend his apologies for the missed call and confusion the incident created. He related that this was a situation where you have to quickly make a decision and afterwards, realized that unfortunately for the competitors and fans- the wrong call was made.
The call made on the track was that the race would go back to the last completed lap and see a one-lap dash for the feature win.
Todd Stone fended off a hard charge from Harris, who had to restart third, for his second victory of 2015. Harris had to settle for a disappointing second place finish, Jason Benjamin was third, Mark Griffin fourth and Ken Buck rounded out the top five. Point leader Keith Lamphere suffered mechanical problems after sliding off the Turn 3 banking and would not finish.
The NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders saw a familiar face grace Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane on Friday night as James Kreidler picked up his fifth win of 2015 in his 79k.
Desi Force and Scott Bradley took the initial green flag with Bradley jumping out to lead the opening seven laps but Kreidler was a one-man wrecking crew on this night. Kreidler took the Backyard Motorsports car to the front of the field on lap 8 and pulled out to a full straightaway lead at Scott Hixson’s double-checkered flags.
Joe Povoski and Bradley put on a great show for the runner-up spot with Bradley winning that battle. Povoski had to settle for third while high-point-man Rich Sharpsteen brought the Flyin’ X home in fourth. Jayson Smart crossed the line in fifth but would be disqualified in post-race tech inspection.
The top three point leaders in Sharpsteen, Chad Ayers and Smart would have their engine examined further by lead tech inspector Mark Wallenbeck post-race. Sharpsteen and Ayers were cleared while Smart was found with engine components not meeting NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders rules specifications. He was DQ’ed from Friday’s competition and will serve a 100-point penalty per the Black Rock Speedway rulebook.
The Creekside Entertainment Bandits got their moment in the spotlight, literally, on Friday night as late afternoon rains pushed their 15-lap special under the lights after the first three division heat races. Prior to the 15-lap special, sponsored by Creekside Entertainment, each driver and two members of their crew were brought on the frontstretch for driver introductions.
Photos and a special presentation to each driver from Stewart Ovens of Creekside Entertainment preceded their feature go. Kaleigh-Marie Fremouw sang the National Anthem and gave the command to start the engines for the special event.
Lady racers Pixie Kinner and ShiAnn Labar led the field to the green flag that was waved by Troyer Sipple for the 15-lap affair. Labar jumped out to the early lead to put her #42 first on the pylon on lap 1, but Jeff Daugherty made quick work of things.
Daugherty took the lead on lap 2, while Labar and Billy Bowers of Dundee got tangled up with both drivers going nose-first into separate implement tires in the infield. Both drivers were ok and continued on. Bowers would suffer mechanical problems later in the event and would be unable to finish.
Out front it was the Jeff Daugherty show as it has been on 12 other occasions in 2015. Brandon Kinner gave Daugherty a run for his money but would not have enough to get by the Comfort Zone Heating and Air Conditioning #22.
Daugherty went on to win #13 on the season, as he cruises toward his first track championship at ‘The Rock’. Kinner came home second, Labar recovered well for third, Polly Dean fourth and Pixie Kinner the top five.
Coming up this week will be a weekly racing program featuring all six divisions at Black Rock Speedway. The Modifieds, Crate Sportsman, M&M Auto Sales IMCA Modifieds, MRC Street Stocks, NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders and Creekside Entertainment Bandits will all be on the racing card.
Pit gates open at 4PM, Grandstands at 5PM, Hot Laps at 6:15PM and Racing taking the first green flag promptly at 7PM. General admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and ages 12-17 with children under 12 always FREE at Black Rock Speedway.
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.
Official Results Friday August 14th, 2015:
Modifieds (30 Laps): CORY COSTA (1), Alan Johnson, Steve Paine, Dale Welty, Ron Cartwright Jr, Derrick Podsiadlo, Mike Jackson, Mike Bowman, Brady Fultz, Tyler Siri, Joe Dgien, Fran Hilton
Lap Leaders: Dale Welty 1-5, Cory Costa 6-30
Heat Winners: Derrick Podsiadlo, Cory Costa
Crate Sportsman (25 Laps): CASEY PAVLICK (3), Stacy Jackson, Jordan Siri, Doug Smith, Steve Gray, Brent Ayers, Chris Silvers, Chris Fisher, Dale Welty, Loren Lincoln, Eric Bell, Zach Ziegenhagen, John Austin, John Agnew, Mike Buchanan
Lap Leaders: Stacy Jackson 1-22, Pavlick 23-25
Heat Winners: Doug Smith, Casey Pavlick
M&M Auto Sales IMCA Modifieds (20 Laps): TODD STONE (2), Tony Harris, Jason Benjamin, Mark Griffin, Ken Buck, Harry Ely, Nicole Spalding, Brandon Mathews, Sparky Hills, Bruce Tinsley, Brad Smith, Keith Lamphere, Scott Sebring
Lap Leaders: Todd Stone 1-20
Heat Winners: Bruce Tinsley, Jason Benjamin
Morseman Racing Chassis Street Stocks (20 Laps): GENE BALMER (2), Chuck Winslow, Kurt Stebbins, CJ Guererri, LaVerne Knickerbocker, Jeremy Potrzebowski, Carl Cleveland, Dennis Cummings, Jared Hill, Nate Daggett, Roger Kerrick, Ralph Champion, John Burritt, Bill Miller, Frank Chapman
Lap Leaders: Chuck Winslow 1-7, Gene Balmer 8-20
Heat Winners: Chuck Winslow, CJ Guererri
NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders (20 Laps): JAMES KREIDLER (5), Scott Bradley, Joe Povoski, Rich Sharpsteen, Chad Ayers, Jeremy Trank, Erica Bell, Zach Teed, Del Cummings, Dan Smart, Desi Force, Jarod Brown, Amy Buck, Jeff Moore, Ashley Sutryk, Ray Cornish, David Kinner DQ: Jayson Smart (Post-Race Tech)
Lap Leaders: Scott Bradley 1-7, James Kreidler 8-20
Heat Winners: James Kreidler, Joe Povoski
Creekside Entertainment Bandits 15-Lap Special (15 Laps): JEFF DAUGHERTY (13), Brandon Kinner, ShiAnn Labar, Polly Dean, Pixie Kinner, Dakota Evans, Billy Bowers
Lap Leaders: ShiAnn Labar 1, Jeff Daugherty 2-15
