Brewerton 98-09-25

DRAMATIC LAST LAP FINISHES HIGHLIGHT NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS AT BREWERTON BREWERTON, NY.....Three feature events, three last lap passes for the win. That was the main story of the F.X. Caprara New York State Championship events Friday night at Brewerton Speedway. Ron O'Neil got his first career Brewerton win in the IMCA Modifieds, Tony Buffa beat Troy Van Allen in the Dwarf car event, and Jim Olin survived a caution filled 4 Cylinder feature to grab the win. The IMCA feature began with Joe Price Jr. running hard for the lead with Rob Keller until the Keller machine flamed up underneath while he was holding the lead. Price got the lead back, but was locked in a tight battle with George Catanzano and several others. Track champion Sean Lias started near the back of the field and was steadily working his way up through the pack. At mid point Craig Simmons was also in the thick of the hunt for the lead, but he spun in turns three and four, knocking himself out of contention. While Price continued to hold the lead, Lias, Cory Fachini, and Jim Evans were joined by Ron O'Neil in an intense race for position. Lias broke out of this pack first to challenge Price for the lead and take it. O'Neil battled heavily with Fachini and Evans to finally grab the second spot. On the final lap, O'Neil used the outside lane and made a strong criss-cross move off turn four to come to the checkers just a bumper ahead of Lias. Fachini, Evans, and Frank Caprara rounded out the top five finishers. The Dwarf feature event was split into two segments of 25 laps each. In the first segment, Tony Buffa was the early leader, but Troy Van Allen was back on the march and stormed through the pack to grab the lead and stretch it out. As the first segment neared its conclusion, Buffa began to catch Van Allen in traffic but could not make a pass for the lead. The top fifteen redrew for starting order in the second segment. Van Allen started fourth and was quickly back up front, with Buffa right behind him a few laps later. On a restart, Buffa found bit on the bottom of the track and took the lead from the speedy Van Allen machine. Into and out of traffic, the duo swapped the lead, but traffic was cleared when a yellow flew with just a couple of laps to go. On the last restart, Van Allen tried everything he could to make the pass, even drawing alongside on the final lap, but Buffa held on for the win in the car campaigned during the 1998 season by Eddie Bell. Van Allen took second, followed by Pat Pontello, Bill Teliska, and Ken Gamlen. The 4 Cylinder feature was a wild affair that saw Jim Olin spin on the first lap. Through the race's 25-lap distance, many drivers took a turn at the lead, only to fall victim to crashes or mechanical problems. Near the race's end, Ray Chittenden had the top spot, but collided with Ken Klinkowsky while they battled for the lead. That left Chris Carroll in the top spot, with Olin right behind. Olin had come back to the lead pack once earlier in the race, but spun and had to start the process all over again. It paid off for him as he passed Carroll on the backstretch of the final lap to record the win over Carroll, Brett Hubbard, Harvey Calkins Jr., and Roger Olchewske. The final race of the 1998 season at Brewerton will be on Thursday, October 8th with the running of the Mr. DIRT 358 Modified Championship Trail event, a 100-lapper with two guaranteed starting spots on the line for the Prolong/Carquest 200 at Super DIRT Week. Dwarf cars will also be on the bill with action beginning at 7:30pm. RACE SUMMARY-F.X. CAPRARA NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS BREWERTON SPEEDWAY-SEPTEMBER 25, 1998 IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE (30 LAPS)-RON O'NEIL, Sean Lias, Cory Fachini, Jim Evans, Frank Caprara, Joe Price Jr., Dane Keller, Bill Klinkowsky, Don Alvord, John Bell, Bob Bradt, Doug McKane, Brendt Matzel, George Catanzano, Les Hubbard, John Thayer, Glen Erwin, Brian Cardinale, Joe LaValley, Ken Taylor, Bill Anderson, Aaron Jacobs, Craig Simmons, Colleen Finch, George Proctor, Rob Keller, Ed horn, Tony Finch, Neil Edgar. DWARF FEATURE (TWO 25 LAP SEGMENTS)-TONY BUFFA, Troy Van Allen, Pat Pontello, Bill Teliska, Ken Gamlen, Kevin Doll, Kevin DonHausen, Carl Crawford, RJ Grimshaw, Barry Virts, Jim Coher, Gordy Isham, Brian Cunningham, Ed Lawton, Eric Crawford, Mark Weilgelt, Jay Reid, Alan Barker, Lee Babcock, Dwayne Knapp, Bob McCarthy, Frank Doll Jr., Kelly Skinner, Gary Sampo, Bob Bird, Scott Nash, Nick Lewis, Dan Boyce. 4 CYLINDER FEATURE (25 LAPS)-JIM OLIN, Chris Carroll, Brett Hubbard, Harvey Calkins Jr., Roger Olchewske, Jon Amidon, Ray Chittenden, Ken Klinkowsky, Jeff Amidon, Roger West, Chuck Powelczyk, Toby Bennett, Ron Clark, John Clark, Mark Warner, Jeff Moore, Bob Whipple, Tim Koch, Kevan Cook, Channie Joyner, Lloyd Hinton, John West. Source: www.dirtmotorsports.com