For more info, please visit DIRT and Cayuga County Fair Speedway .
Weedsport, NY - August 13, 2006 - By Gary M. Spaid, Cayuga County PR
Alan Johnson picked up his second Cayuga County Fair Speedway DIRT Modified feature
win of the season on Sunday on Sun Tire/Westbury Lumber night. Johnson's 56th career
big-block win was enough to propel him into the Empire DIRT Series points lead, 37
points ahead of Jimmy Phelps. "It feels real good to win here," stated Johnson. "We
had a great car. It would go wherever I put it."
In DIRT Sportsman action John Juhl II, won his first-ever feature, starting on the
outside pole and grabbing the lead at the start before leading every lap on his way
to the win. The DIRT Street Stock class continues to be dominated by Dave Mannise in
Weedsport. Mannise was able to pick up his eighth feature win of the year in 12
point race starts ---still another win was added during the annual Fair in July---
at Cayuga County.
The Enduro finale produced little in the way of surprises. Craig Dingey won for the
fourth time this season. James Werner, Adam Keuer, Karl Werner and Barb Amidon
rounded out the top-five finishers.
The 35-lap Empire DIRT Series made-for-television main event started right on cue as
27 DIRT Modifieds took to the "battlefield." Pole-sitter Derrick Podsiadlo jumped
right into the lead as Dave Farney unfurled the green flag. Podsiadlo then began to
draw away from the field, establishing nearly a full three and a half second lead
before the yellow had to fly on lap 13, when Brett Tonkin slammed into the first
turn cement wall. Tonkin's impact tore his right front wheel off the car.
When the yellow flew Tom Sears Jr. was running in second holding off Shannon Whaley,
Gary Tomkins, Tim Fuller and Matt Sheppard. On the restart Sears made a bid at the
lead only to fall short. A second try at the lead on lap 17 proved much more
fruitful as Sears was able to complete the pass only to find multi-time feature
winner Alan Johnson right on his back bumper. Johnson took his turn at trying to
pass for the lead, but then settled into second conserving his tires. Finally on lap
27, following two laps of side-by-side racing, Johnson was able to take the lead.
The race now was for second on back. On lap 29, Tim Fuller completed the pass to
gain second but try as much as he could, Johnson was able to grab the feature win by
.340 seconds. The race lasted just 11:41 minutes. "We were real fortunate with lap
cars here tonight," Alan concluded.
The 20-lap DIRT Sportsman main opened with John Juhl II taking the lead at the drop
of the green and setting his sights on victory. John Behron was running a great race
in second before he was sent spinning around late in the race. The first of just two
yellows flew on lap nine when Jim LaRock slowed on the track with a flat tire. Juhl
was able to hold off runner-up Behron before the second yellow came on lap 17 for
Behron, who had spun in the first turn. Both Behron and Roy Bresnahan were sent to
the back of the pack for the restart.
Back under green Juhl continued to hold off the competition. Four laps later, at the
wire the finish was Juhl, rookie Tim Currier, Joe Williams Jr., Mike Entwistle and
Russ Hefti.
The DIRT Street Stock main went 15 laps with Nick Rizzo taking the early lead. On
lap two, Ryan Depuy hit the inside second turn cement wall and then sailed up and
over the structure. On the restart Rizzo held off Dave Mannise for only one circuit
before Mannise took command of the race for good on lap four. Then the only car
seemingly on the charge was Rick DeGroff's number 6, which worked its way into third
at the finish line. The top-five finishers were Mannise followed by Rizzo, Phil
Marsden, DeGroff and Jim Wallace.
CCFS SHORT: Ryan Depuy (Street Stock) and Jeremy Pitcher (Sportsman) were picked as
teams of the week. Pitcher, who left the racing surface with a flat tire instead of
slowing on the track and bringing out a yellow was also awarded additional passes
for his outstanding sportsmanship. Also getting a pass into next week's event will
be Mike Bowman, who also pulled off the track under green, not causing a yellow that
might ruin another driver's race.The Cayuga County website is undergoing some
changes. If looking for the updated points one can go to www.whowon.com and find the
speedway information.The night ended with Nick Danger blowing himself up in a bus.
"Nick" emerged uninjured this time but stay tuned for more Nick Danger stunts.
Racing resumes this Sunday, starting at 7 p.m. with the fifth round of the Empire
Series. The adult general admission ticket price is $15 or bring in your ticket stub
from the previous week and get a $5 discount at the window. Further schedule
information is available throughout the season by logging into
www.cayugacountyfairspeedway.com or by contacting the DIRT MotorSports NE office at
315/834-6606.
VALLEY TIRE/WESTBURY LUMBER presents the EMPIRE SERIES, RACE #4 NIGHT SUMMARY
ENDURO FEATURE (25-laps): CRAIG DINGEY, James Werner, Adam Keuer, Karl Werner, Barb
Amidon, Ken Minor, Kelly Smith, Bill Werner, Jeremy Werner, Eric Dawley, Rusty Karz,
Andy Burtless, Ed Gilner, Don Mack, Rex Karz, Nick Werner, Kevin Alfred, Monk
Weatherstone.
DIRT STREET STOCK
HEAT: J. Wallace, N. Rizzo, D. Mannise, R. DeGroff, M. Minutolo.
FEATURE (15-laps): DAVE MANNISE, Nick Rizzo, Phil Marsden, Rick DeGroff, Jim
Wallace, Mike Minutolo, Chris Hogan, Ryan Depuy, Nathan Peckham (DNS).
DIRT SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: M. Bowman, J. Williams Jr., R. Hefti, T. Juhl, J. Spano, J. LaRock.
HEAT 2: J. Juhl II, T. Currier, R. Bresnahan, J. Behron, M. Entwistle, R. Bellinger.
FEATURE (20-laps): JOHN JUHL II, Tim Currier, Joe Williams Jr., Mike Entwistle, Russ
Hefti, Tom Juhl, Eric VanSkiver, Rob Bellinger, Brandon Sweet, Jim LaRock, Jim
Spano, Roy Bresnahan, Greg Hixson, Anthony Steiner, John Behron, Jeremy Pitcher,
Mike Bowman, Sammy Reakes IV.
DIRT MODIFIED
HEAT 1: G. Tomkins, D. Podsiadlo, R. Phelps, J. Haers, P. Ward.
HEAT 2: T. Sears Jr., T. Fuller, B. Tittle, M. Sheppard, A. Johnson.
HEAT 3: D. Planck, R. Shields, S. Whaley, V. Vitale, V. Coffey.
CONSI: C. Bower, J. Phelps, B. Decker, D. Johnson, M. Ward, D.J. Forbes, B. Dunn, T.
Town, B. Tonkin, C. Homan, S. Beardsley, J. Isabell.
FEATURE (35-laps): ALAN JOHNSON, Tim Fuller, Tom Sears Jr., Matt Sheppard, Gary
Tomkins, Billy Decker, Dale Planck, Ryan Phelps, Pat Ward, Derrick Podsiadlo, Vince
Vitale, Justin Haers, Danny Johnson, Jimmy Phelps, Butch Tittle, Billy Dunn, Chuck
Bower, Vic Coffey, Roy Shields, Shannon Whaley, D.J. Forbes, Chad Homan, Mike Ward,
Joe Isabell, Sean Beardsley, Brett Tonkin, Todd Town.