Aug 20, 2015 05:30 PM EDT
Point Battles Shaping Up With Three Point Races Remaining At ‘The Rock’
DUNDEE, NY – For Immediate Release – August 20th, 2015 – Curtis Berleue photo –
As the regular season at Black Rock Speedway nears it’s ending, just three races from now, several divisions have seen point battles tighten up within the top five cars. Rich Sharpsteen and Jeff Daugherty have already clinched championships in the NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders and Creekside Entertainment Bandit divisions respectively.
‘The Hurricane’ Steve Paine is a Modified driver to keep an eye on going into Friday night’s action as it has been since June 19th that the seven-time track champion has graced Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane. The Waterloo, NY pilot takes a 36-point lead into Friday night’s action, six points more than a full race, but with three races remaining is still to be decided.
Alan Johnson’s Friendly Ford 14J finally broke into the runner-up position after last week’s feature, now holding a one-point edge on third place running Tyler Siri. Ron Cartwright Jr is only six points back of Johnson, making it a three-horse race for the runner up position behind Paine.
There’s even a very close battle to determine who will finish in the top five in Modified points as Brady Fultz, Cory Costa, Derrick Podsiadlo and Joe Dgien all find themselves within nine points of each other in positions five through eight.
In the Crate Sportsman Modified division, Casey Pavlick has cemented himself as the man to beat, taking a 52-point lead into Friday night’s racing action. Pavlick is looking for his second straight Crate title in a season where their team was putting focus on traveling and winning races. Top five finishes in the last nine points-paying races has likely secured Pavlick the title for 2015.
Behind Pavlick, however, is an incredible battle for second. Going into Friday night Chris Fisher and Steve Gray are tied in the standings with 337 points. Fisher has been itching for his first victory of 2015, while Gray has been riding a hot streak through late summer- taking the checkered flag in the last 2 out of 4 feature events.
The M&M Auto Sales IMCA Modifieds saw a shake up last Friday night as Keith Lamphere suffered an uncharacteristic mechanical failure in his Lamphere Truck Parts No. 98k. Lamphere’s DNF and teammate Jason Benjamin’s third place effort has narrowed the standings.
Lamphere will take an 11-point lead into Friday’s feature event over Benjamin. It’s important to remember that the IMCA sanctioned division scores one point less per position. Every car Benjamin puts between himself and Lamphere is another point closer to the championship. Who’s it going to be in 2015? It’s going to be a lot of fun as we find out starting Friday night.
Without a doubt the best point battle to follow this season has been the Morseman Racing Chassis Street Stocks. Jared Hill has led the standings for a majority of the season, but Nate Daggett and CJ Guererri have certainly kept Hill honest over the last month.
The lead has been as close as 10-15 points and as much as 36 points all within the months of July and August. A win on MRO Night August 7th allowed Hill to breathe a little easier but Guererri and Daggett will not go away. The lead going into Friday night’s feature will be 25 points.
Guererri has been digging and clawing for his first Black Rock Street Stock win, and the thought of potentially winning his first championship in the division only has to fuel the already burning fire under the hood of the CJ1. Daggett has had his moments of brilliance this season as well with wins on May 8th and August 4th.
Chuck Winslow has also made the Gene Balmer’s Used Cars No. 61 relevant with three wins in 2015. Winslow goes into Friday night 11 points behind Guererri and 36 points back of Hill. A win by Winslow, Guererri or Daggett and a poor finish for Hill could completely change the landscape as the trio approaches Championship Night on September 4th.
2015 has seen Rich Sharpsteen and his Flyin’ X ride cruise to eight feature wins on the season, including five-in-a-row from July 10th to August 4th enroute to clinching the NAPA Know How 4 Cylinder track championship last week. He has also finished in the top five 16 times out of the 19 total races run in 2015 for the division, which leads the division.
The rest of the division has their own space in the standings with Chad Ayers, Jeremy Trank and Erica Bell the top four. Scott Bradley and David Whetham will battle Friday night for the fifth spot in the standings. With three races remaining, the 2014 NAPA Know How 4 Cylinder track champion has a one-point edge over Whetham.
Jarod Brown has been at every single event in 2015, which has given him a commanding lead in the NAPA Know How Front Wheel Drive division in his No. 09. Jeff Moore is all alone in second while Codie Baker won two out of the three times he has been at Black Rock Speedway to hold the third spot. A late-season arrival, Ashlee Sutryk, has been gaining every week and now sits fourth in the standings over Chris Davis.
Friday night saw Jeff Daugherty get the baker’s dozen in the win column after winning the Creekside Entertainment Bandits 15-lap special event. Daugherty now has a 91-point advantage over Billy Bowers, which clinched the Bandit title for Daugherty.
Bowers is 14 points ahead of lady racer Pixie Kinner, who secured herself a podium finish in the points with her fifth place run Friday night. Brandon Kinner and ShiAnn Labar will duke it out to determine fourth and fifth with only three point shows remaining.
These point battles will only add to an exciting weekly racing program consisting of Modifieds, Crate Sportsman, M&M Auto Sales IMCA Modifieds, MRC Street Stocks, NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders and Creekside Entertainment Bandits.
General admission for Friday’s show is just $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $10 for ages 12-17 with children under 12 always being free of charge at Black Rock Speedway. Pit gates swing open at 4PM, grandstands open at 5PM with the green flag waving for the first time at 7PM sharp.
For more information race over to www.blackrockspeedway.com, follow Black Rock Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BlackRockSpeedway or follow us on Twitter @BlackRockSpeed
Black Rock Speedway is located at 82 Main St in Dundee, NY and holds dirt track racing weekly on Friday nights from late April through Labor Day Weekend in September. The speedway also hosts special events on the grounds with special races run during the fall months of September and October.
