ESS/URC: Rolling Wheels results 2004-10-09

Big Field of Sprints Prove No Match For Trevor Lewis; Dominates Challenge Race at Rolling Wheels

ELBRIDGE, N.Y. -- Feeding off the momentum of winning the Bully Hill Nationals one month ago, Upper Black Eddy, Pa. pilot Trevor Lewis blitzed a talented field of 360 sprint cars to win the Empire Super Sprints (ESS)/United Racing Club (URC) Challenge Series event Sat. night at the Rolling Wheels Raceway Park. The driver of the Bill Turpin/Fred Kennedy owned #56, started in ninth, took the lead on lap eight and went on to win by half a track over fellow URC mates Jon Eldreth and Dave Ely.

"This is just amazing!" simply summed up by Lewis. "To win the Bully Hill race and now here at Rolling Wheels is just something me as well as this great team will remember for a long time. What a car, what a motor, what can I say. Fred and Bill give me the best stuff possible and it just makes my job easy."

Eldreth and Curt Shuttleworth brought the 27 car field down for Ben Vitale's green flag with Eldreth getting the jump over Ely and Tim Hogue with his Tastykake #39. It didn't take long for Lewis to make his presence as he moved to fourth on lap three, shot around both Hogue and Ely on lap five for the runner-up slot and his sights on the leader. It took just three tours on the Elbridge, N.Y. half-mile for Lewis to sweep by Eldreth and on to the lead.

As the laps clicked on, the only obstacles thrown in Lewis' path were a lap 13 caution and lapped traffic. "The lapped cars did worry me as the track was slick and cars were trying to use different grooves. I can remember coming up to some guys that were running three wide, that will get your attention." noted Lewis. "But, luckily I didn't have any troubles and just tried to run as hard as I could."

The red #56, J&J sprinter ran a pace that was far superior than all others and his margin of victory was mind-boggling. "The car just got faster as the race went on. The track is real slick tonight but I couldn't believe that as the laps went on I could run it harder and harder" said the winning driver shortly afterwards. "I couldn't believe at first when they told me how much I won by, but when you car is that good it can happen."

At the checkered flag, it was Lewis home for the $3,000 pay day, Eldreth was a distant second followed by Ely, the winner of the Great Race at Mercer on Sept. 18th. Kramer Williamson was in for a fine fourth place finish with the Tom Patterson owned #33. Williamson started dead-last in 27th, an amazing run for the sprint car legend. Hogue took fifth passing 2004 ESS champion Lance Yonge on the last lap. URC drivers Midge Miller, Dave McGough and last years winner Pete Green was seventh thru ninth with Shuttleworth, who ran both with the Patriot Sprint Group (PSG) and the Black Rock Sprints rounding out the top ten.

Two cautions did slow the pace on the 25 lap challenge event; On lap two, Sean Michael lost a front end after hopping a wheel and on lap 13 Scott Pursell hit the turn three inside wall and spun around for the final caution.

Taking the six heats were Kevin Welsh, Rick Wilson, Bryan Howland, Lewis, Eldreth and Bobby Podolak. The three C-Mains were copped by Pursell, Tim Kelly and Bobby Breen. The B-Main was won by Kyle Wilson with the Walt's Hobby Dash also won by Podolak.

Challenge Notes: A star studded field of 58 sprints in the pits--19 cars from URC, 18 from ESS, 14 drivers from PSG along with Becca Anderson in the back up Turpin/Kennedy #56, Southern Ontario Sprints runners Glenn Styres and Craig Downey, Oswego Speedway super modified chauffeur Otto Sitterly in the Howland back-up, Kyle Wilson who runs mostly DIRT mods, Western Pa. star Scott Bonnell and Super DIRT Week pro stock champion Dave Schulz made up the pit log--Not one sprinter found it's way on their top all evening--Rick Wilson was scheduled to start outside pole but passed the pace truck and has to start scratch--A good crowd came out to see the only appearance of the winged sprint cars for Super DIRT Week XXXIII.

RESULTS:

Heat 1 -- Kevin Welsh, Dave McGough, Randy West.

Heat 2 -- Rick Wilson, Tim Hogue, Justin Barger.

Heat 3 -- Bryan Howland, Dave Ely, Dan Kaszubinski.

Heat 4 -- Trevor Lewis, Curt Shuttleworth, Sean Michael.

Heat 5 -- Jon Eldreth, Mike Stelter, Midge Miller.

Heat 6 -- Bob Podolak, Lance Yonge, Kyle Purks..

C-Main 1 -- Scott Pursell, Justin Collett, Blake Breen.

C-Main 2 -- Tim Kelly, Billy Krull, Gary Gollub.

C-Main 3 -- Bobby Breen, Brad Knab, Darrell Bragman.

B-Main -- Kyle Wilson, Pete Green, Josh Weller, Justin Collett, Scott Pursell, George Suprick.

Provisionals -- PSG -- George Ely, URC -- Kramer Williamson, ESS -- Doug Emery.

Walt's Hobby Dash -- Bobby Podolak.

Did Not Qualify -Blake Breen, Bobby Kerrick, Bill Coffey, Kyle Drum, Tim Kelly, Jeff VanDusen, Becca Anderson, Billy Krull, John Karklin, Mike Kostic, Jason Clauss, Bill Bailey, Gary Troutman, Ashley Parlett, Don Sharp Jr., Otto Sitterly, Glenn Styres, Ray Preston, Luke Eriksen, Mike Stelter, Craig Downey, Bobby Breen, Dave Schulz, Scott Bonnell, Frank Senzio, Jeff Cook, Gordy Button, Brad Knab, Nick Fratto, Darrell Bragman.

A-MAIN - Trevor Lewis, Jon Eldreth, Dave Ely, Kramer Williamson, Tim Hogue, Lance Yonge, Midge Miller, Dave McGough, Pete Green, Curt Shuttleworth , Dan Kaszubinski, Kyle Purks, Kyle Wilson, Justin Collett, Gary Gollub, Kevin Welsh, Brian Howland, Randy West, George Ely, George Suprick, Doug Emery, Rick Wilson, Bob Podolak, Scott Pursell, Justin Barger Josh Weller, Sean Michael.

-ess-