Utica-Rome report 2001-07-16

VERNON, NY - Todd Burley of Spencerport claimed his second consecutive DIRT 358-Modified feature win in dominating fashion last Sunday at Utica-Rome Speedway on Federated Auto Parts Night. Burley, 30, started fourteenth and took the lead on lap 22 from John Ramsey to claim the win worth $1,500, which was his fourth victory on the 2001 season behind the wheel of the Mirabito Fuel Group No. 89b Troyer machine.

Also winning on Federated Auto Parts Night were Shawn Donath of Syracuse in the DIRT Sportsman, Dave Moyer of Oneida in the DIRT Pro Stocks, Jeff Pastorella of Westmoreland in the Pure Stocks, and Dave Barrows in the Slingshots.

J.J. Michaels and John Ramsey led the 30-lap headline DIRT 358-Modified feature down to the flags of Starter Chip Burdick and Ramsey leaped out to the early race lead. Michaels came on to challenge for the top spot, but Ramsey held on to the position. Ron Holmes, the defending track champion, made his presence known on lap 5 and moved into the top five just as Todd Burley, Jason Barney, and Wayne Reutimann Jr. had a three-way battle for the fifth position.

At the halfway mark, the top five was Ramsey, Michaels, Holmes, Andy Romano, and Barney. Holmes, who had worked his way up to third, was catching second place J.J. Michaels just as the yellow flew on the backstretch when Jason Barney broke and tagged the outside wall going into turn three on lap 19. Reutimann was also involved but continued on after a quick stop. However, Barney was done for the night.

When the green flew again, all eyes were on Holmes and Burley, who were involved in the controversial race Burley won last week. Burley went right on by Holmes for third, and then on lap 20, a wild four wide move for the lead occurred off turn four between Ramsey, Michaels, Burley, and Holmes, but Ramsey was able to hold on to the spot, just as Burley took over second on the backstretch. With Burley running on the topside, and Ramsey down low, Burley was able to take the lead on lap 22 after a lap alongside Ramsey. Alan Johnson, who made a surprise appearance at the speedway, roared into fifth on lap 23, just as Ramsey and Holmes battled it out for second with Michaels in third.

Burley raced out to nearly a straightaway lead, but with two laps to go, one of the most frightening incidents at Utica-Rome in recent memory happened on the backstretch. Holmes and Michaels were racing for second, but contact between the two off of turn two sent Holmes bobbling along the outside wall. Steve Hulsizer clipped Holmes who was trying to recover, but that sent the Holmes machine around and head on into the outside wall. The car then switched ends, leaving the front end of the machine in front of oncoming traffic. Gus Schmidt, who was outside of another car, got squeezed into the outside, and right over the front end of the Holmes machine, sending him upside down. Schmidt's machine flipped end to end at least four times, landing on the nose section of his machine, as the red flag was thrown. With the totally wrote off car lying on its side, Schmidt immediately got out as the rescue crews reached the scene. Both drivers were not injured, thankfully.

When the race finally resumed, Burley kept his lead but Alan Johnson worked over Ramsey for second, but Ramsey was able to hold on to the spot as Burley went across the line for this fourth victory of the season and the seventh of his career at Utica-Rome. Ramsey was second and Johnson had to settle for third. Michaels was fourth, and Paul Jensen in fifth. Hulsizer, Romano, Mike Fusco, John Barker, and Ted Lamb rounded out the top ten.

"We've had a good car and motor here all year," said Burley, who has stretched his points lead to 85 points over runner-up Paul Jensen. "We raced everyone clean tonight and last week too. I think I did just one slidejob tonight."

358-Modified heat wins went to Ramsey, Holmes, and Barney.

Shawn Donath worked underneath defending DIRT Sportsman track champion Kevin Crave on lap 18 of the 20-lap event and went on to his first career feature win at Utica-Rome. Jamie Christian was second, with Crave recovering finishing third. Dan Yankowski was fourth with Paul Kinney in fifth. Christian, Tony Ross, and Bill Trexler Jr. won the heat races.

Dave Moyer started eighth, took the lead from Wayne Archer on lap 5, and held on for his first career 15-lap DIRT Pro Stock feature win after many years of trying. Bret Belden was a close second, Archer third, Jerry Holmes fourth, and Jason Rood in fifth. Moyer and Chad Ray won the Pro Stock heats.

Jeff Pastorella came from the tenth starting position and held off the late race charge of Joe Dote to collect his fourth 15-lap Pure Stock feature of the year. Dote was second, followed by Waylan Wilczek, Herm Staats, and Jim Thomas. Bill Mason and Wilczek won the heat races. Dave Barrows retook the lead from Pete Neff on lap 7 and won the 20-lap Slingshot series race, his third victory of the season at Utica-Rome. Randy Marsh, Denny Tilison, Toby Tobias Jr., and Mike Teachout completed the top five. Barrows and Marsh were the heat victors.

Notes- 21 Modifieds, 24 Sportsman, 22 Pro Stocks, 19 Pure Stocks, and 16 Slingshots were on hand for Federated Auto Parts Night. The legendary Jack Johnson, second in points heading into the night, blew a new Mopar motor up in the heats, and left before the feature. Alan Johnson made a surprise Utica-Rome appearance behind the wheel of the Jake Spraker No. 1. Mitch Gibbs was behind the wheel of the Hiester Motorsports/Olsen No. 47e. Toby Tobias Jr., the creator of the Slingshots was on hand racing his Slingshot and promoting the division. The Modified chassis win count: Troyer 6, TEO 3, and Bicknell 1. The John's Mobile Homes/Ralph's Collision 358-Modified and Pro Stock Dashes for Cash were won by the Holmes brothers- Ron and Jerry, respectively. Fans also contributed to the purse for the Dashes. Coming up next Sunday July 22 is Nice N' Easy Grocery Shoppes Night featuring the DIRT 358-Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Slingshots plus One on One Spectator races. Race time is set for 6pm. For more information, contact the speedway office at (315) 829-4557 or log on to www.newuticaromespeedway.com.

<pre> UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY

FEDERATED AUTO PARTS NIGHT

RACE DATE: JULY 15, 2001

DIRT 358-Modifieds (30 Laps)- TODD BURLEY, John Ramsey, Alan Johnson, J.J. Michaels, Paul Jensen, Steve Hulsizer, Andy Romano, Mike Fusco, John Barker Jr., Ted Lamb Jr., Pete Taylor, Ryan Baye, Chad Ward, Wayne Reutimann Jr., Bill Shantel Sr., Joel Thomas, Ron Holmes, Gus Schmidt Jr., Jason Barney, Mitch Gibbs. DNS- Jack Johnson.

Lap Leaders- Ramsey (1-21), Burley (22-30).

Unofficial Point Standings- Burley 472, Jensen 387, S. Hulsizer 370, J. Johnson 366, Holmes & Schmidt 364, Barney 362, Baye 360, Ramsey 359, Michaels 352.

DIRT Sportsman (20 Laps)- SHAWN DONATH, Jamie Christian, Kevin Crave, Dan Yankowski, Paul Kinney, Tom Denton, Bill Shantel Jr., Tim Mayne, Jim Roberts, Donnie Wetmore Jr., Brian Murphy, John Kinsella, Steve Davis, Jessica Zemken, Jim Lavalla, Daryl Hagen, Tony Ross, Bill Trexler Jr., Craig Pritchard, John Christian, Gordy Button, Todd Thomas, Tim Clemons. DNS- Matt Novak.

Lap Leaders- Christian (1), Ross (2-6), Crave (7-10), Donath (19-20).

DIRT Pro Stocks (15 Laps)- DAVE MOYER, Bret Belden, Wayne Archer, Jerry Holmes, Jason Rood, Mark Effner, Brian Belden, Gerry Newman, Eric Vanderhoof, John Roese, Heath Carney, Bill Knapp, Charlie Pike, Mark Hoffman, Chad Ray, Dave Meeks, Dave Bruno, Chuck Jones, Bob Gloska, Gus Gould, Aaron Jacobs, Ray Fancher.

Lap Leaders- Archer (1-4), Moyer (5-15).

Pure Stocks (15 Laps)- JEFF PASTORELLA, Joe Dote, Waylan Wilczek, Herm Staats, Jim Thomas, George Schulze, Rob Seavy, Dave Arbes, Les Lewis, Bill Mason, Art Newman Jr., Dave Pope, Tim Nye, Mike Kirk, Corey Streeter, Andy Szewczyk, Mark Jennings, John Kanasola, Brett Haman.

Lap Leaders- Seavy (1-3), Pastorella (4-15).

Slingshots (20 Laps)- DAVE BARROWS, Randy Marsh, Denny Tilison, Toby Tobias Jr., Mike Teachout, Kyle Reuter, Dave Burnham, Pete Neff, John Powers, Ken Stafford, A.J. Digsby, Mike Gray, Bob Hoffman, Joe DeJohn, Mike Waterman, Chris Bartos.

Lap Leaders- Barrows (1), Neff (2-6), Barrows (7-20).

-URS