Higbie Wins 45th Heath Memorial.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RE:  Saturday, June27th results

Contact Information: fivemilepoint1@aol.com (775-5555)

 

JERRY HIGBIE, JR. WINS 45TH HEATH MEMORIAL AT FIVE MILE POINT SPEEDWAY ON SATURDAY NIGHT. 

 

 

KIRKWOOD, NY…Jerry Higbie, Jr. invaded Five Mile Point Speedway on Saturday night and won the 45th running of the Heath Memorial for Modifieds.  The victory in the 45 lap event netted him $2,000.  Higbie became the seventh different Modified feature winner in eight race in 2009 at the speedway.

 

The 45 lap Heath Memorial Modified feature was one for the ages as twenty-seven starters took to the quarter mile for the start of the prestigious event.  Tom Oleski and George Kostalansky led the field down for the start of the feature event.  Oleski quickly motored ahead and it became clear early that this was going to be a thrilling feature.  The early stages of the event saw a tremendous five car battle for the lead as Gary Griffin powered past Oleski on lap four to take the top spot.  Brent Wilcox, Kevin Bates and  rookie Shaun Walker ran with the top two as the five drivers swapped positions and lines on the speedway during the first eight circuits.

 

A caution on lap eight came out for a spinning Joe Krisovich.  During the caution period Oleski dropped to the pits with a left front flat tire.  When the race restarted it would go caution free until lap twenty-five.  Griffin continued to lead with Bates now in second and Walker lurking in third.  Finding just one battle on the speedway was impossible for the fans in attendance as Higbie began his charge from the fifteenth starting spot and June 13th winner Stewart Friesen was advancing from his thirteenth spot.  Friesen was wasting no time as broke in to the top five and quickly went to work on the leaders.  On lap 19 Walker worked past both Bates and Griffin for the lead as Friesen made his way up to fourth.  Griffin began to fade as the top five consisted of Walker, Bates, Wilcox, Friesen and now Higbie on lap 23.  Bates made his way past Walker on the very next circuit as the top five continued to exchange spots.  The caution flew on lap 25 as Jim Gabriel, Jr. slowed with a flat tire.

 

On the restart Bates continued to lead but Friesen quickly charged in to second place.  The two battled side by side for numerous laps as Higbie had now advanced to third and Mike Colsten broke in to the top five.  On lap 31 Friesen worked past Bates for the lead and looked like he was on his way to his second Heath Memorial victory in three years.  Things would change dramatically on lap 35 as Friesen pulled to the pits with mechanical woes.  Bates inherited the lead but now had the contingent of Higbie, Colsten, Walker and Wilcox all in tow.  On the restart Higbie immediately went to work on Bates for the lead.  Bates used as much of the track as possible to hold back Higbie as Colsten tried to rally past both for the lead.  On lap 38 Bates strong drive would come to an end as he and Higbie made contact while charging in to turn one bringing out the caution.  On the restart Colsten now had the bottom of the speedway dialed in as he made several bids over the last several laps.  Higbie ran the extreme outside of the speedway as Colsten would be able to draw alongside but Higbie would regain the momentum exiting the turns.  At the finish it would be Higbie over Colsten with Walker putting together another solid finish in third.  Wilcox and Brian Weaver completed the top five.  Positions six through ten were filled by Bob Trapper, Vinny DeCicco, Jamie Yannone, Danny Tyler and Griffin.   The victory for Higbie was his first ever at Five Mile Point Speedway.

 

The ultra wide speedway provided fantastic racing during the Modified feature.  A number of drivers came from deep in the starting field to earn their finishes.  Race winner Higbie started in fifteenth, runner-up Colsten started in tenth.  Bob Trapper advanced from fourteenth to sixth, DeCicco advanced from twelfth to seventh and Yanonne began the race in twenty-fourth and wound up in the eighth slot.  Carl Nagel, who was honored for his fiftieth year of racing was added to the field and came from the twenty-seventh starting spot to finish in thirteenth.  Twenty-two of the twenty-seven starters finished the event.

 

The twenty lap Sportsman feature event had the local fans on their feet as Kirkwood driver Harry Cook, Jr. looked for his first ever victory.  Cook looked solid as he darted out to the initial lead from his number one starting slot.  As the race approached the halfway mark a number of “heavy hitters” had worked to the back bumper of Cook as they looked to become a Heath Memorial winner. Brian Decker in a borrowed race car ran in second throughout the first half of the race but could not make a serious challenge on Cook. A caution on lap eleven bunched up the field and on the restart Decker spun triggering a five car melee in turn four.  This put Brian Puckett on the back bumper of Cook on the restart and Puckett quickly took advantage.  On the restart Puckett dove underneath Cook for the lead and he would never look back.  Once out front Puckett opened up a comfortable lead as Cook had strong challenges from both Jamie Batzel and Chris Wood.  At the stripe Puckett would garner his second victory of the season with Cook finishing in second, his career best.  Batzel, Wood and Decker completed the top five.

 

In what was almost a first time win for Cook in the Sportsman became reality for two other drivers in the twenty lap Pure Stock and IMCA Modified main events.  Todd Sutliff who has been impressive throughout the 2009 season took advantage of his outside front starting spot and took the lead on lap one of the Pure Stock main event.  Sutliff would go on to lead the entire distance without any serious challengers.  The victory was the first ever for Sutliff.  His prior best was a third place finish earlier this season. The Pure Stock event was slowed by only two cautions.  Harold Humphrey, Tyler Teagle, Doug Stack and Charlie Gilbert rounded out the top five.

 

The twenty lap IMCA Modified feature followed the first time winner theme as Tyler Stoddard took the lead on lap six and went on to record his first ever win at the speedway.  Stoddard appeared to have things well in hand throughout the event but numerous cautions would slow the action allowing second place finisher Cliff Pierce several restarts to try and take advantage.  The final lap of the event was fantastic and Stoddard and Pierce ran side by side for the win Mike Wilmot charged to the outside of the speedway.  The top three came across the finish line three wide with Stoddard edging out Pierce and Wilmot just behind in third.  Brad Weaver, and Steve Simpson completed the top five.

 

Kenny Underwood rebounded from a hard crash in the Tuesday night Colossal Cat event to score the Lightning Cat Expert victory on Saturday.  Bill Titus came off of his Colossal Cat victory to record the Lightning Cat Novice win on Saturday night.

 

Carl Nagel was honored for his fifty years of racing on Saturday night.  The annual former racers reunion saw former drivers from as far away as Arizona on hand for the event.  Nagel had his patented 7n car number retired and was awarded a “key to the quarter mile”  Racing continues this Saturday night with the annual “2 for 1” admission night along with a big FIREWORKS show.  The Race of Champions Dart Dirt Modifieds will be in action next Wednesday, July 8th for a 75 lapper along with a 40 lap Sportsman RoC event and round two of the Colossal Cat Challenge Series.

 

HEATH MEMORIAL MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH:  JERRY HIGBIE JR., Mike Colsten, Shaun Walker, Brent Wilcox, Brian Weaver, Bobby Trapper, Vinny DeCicco, Jamie Yannone, Danny Tyler, Gary Griffin, Ken Titus, Eric Palmer, Carl Nagel, Scott Ferrier, Bobby Puckett, Jim Gabriel Jr., Glenn Knapp, Frank Yankowski, Barry White, Joe Krisovich, Eric Stephens Jr., Matt Latwinski, Kevin Bates, Stewart Friesen, James Cornell, Tom Oleski, George Kostelansky.

 

SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH:  BRIAN PUCKETT, Harry Cook Jr., Jamie Batzel, Chris Wood, Brian Decker, Sammy Piazza, Brad Grim, Dwayne Robbins, Chris Stevens, Shawn Fitzpatrick, Mike Austin, Ed Cokely, Jerry Tonti, Charlie Hendrickson Jr., Kyle Cicio, Mike Dougherty, Joey Colsten, Mike Nagel Jr.

 

PURE STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH:  TODD SUTLIFF, Harold Humphrey, Tyler Yeagle, Doug Stack, Charlie Gilbert, Jonathon Carpenter, Mike Codington, Ryan Codington, Shane Wolf Jr., Butch Green, Justin Knight, Steve Polhamus, Duane Codington, Dave Conklin Jr., Rob Snow, Joe Warren, Herb Penny, Dwayne Jackson, Darl Ellis Jr., Billy Kinner.  DNS Bill Morrow.

 

IMCA MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH:  TYLER STODDARD, Cliff Pierce, Mike Wilmot, Brad Weaver, Steve Simpson, George Proctor III, Joe Cole, Bruce Tinsley, Mike Pratchler, Russ Jennings, Gary Roberts, Mike Stoddard, Gary Dence, Shawn Bruce, Jason Tuttle, Phil Clapper.  DNS – Patti Simpson.

 

LIGHTNING CAT EXPERT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH:  KENNY UNDERWOOD, Lanson Albanese, Cody Decker, Dan Smith, Frank Kennedy, David Simms, Josh Wilder, Jeff Hayes, Travis Hayes, George Snyder, Andy Colwell, Gary Kinne, Tim Price.  DNS – Dennis Keesler, Gene Wood.

 

LIGHTNING CAT NOVICE OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH:  BILL TITUS, Tyler Harpell, Shaun Colwell, Rick Sinsabaugh, Scott Heeman, Ken Ayres, Brian Titus, Kyle Ross, Jason Colwell, Brandon Clark, Matt Clark.