Race Results: June 17th, 2006

KIRKWOOD, NY - Brian Malcom ended a several year winless streak at Five Mile Point Speedway on Saturday night by capturing the 30 lap Modified feature event on Fleet Pride night. Twin Sportsman Modified winners were Justin Holland and Brian Puckett with Joe Cole notching honors in the IMCA Modified Feature. The Street Stock winner was Les Gillettte with Scott Edwards winning the Pure Stock main event and Steve Simpson earning top honors in the 99.1 WAAL FM Figure 8 class.

Throughout the 2006 season Brian Malcom has had a very strong car in the Modified division but would just come up short, this past Saturday that all changed. Running the same ridge running outside style he put to use during the past Tuesday nights "open" event Malcom stormed to the lead on lap nine of the thirty lap event. Malcom took the point after working to the outside of George Hildebrandt and advancing from his eighth place starting slot.

By the midway point of the feature Mitch Gibbs had worked his way up to second place from his eleventh place starting spot. The fastest way around the quarter mile was the extreme high side of the speedway as a big cushion had built up over the course of the evening. During the waning laps Gibbs closed in on Malcom as the duo closed in on heavy lapped traffic. The lapped cars maintained their line on the high side of the speedway and both Malcom and Gibbs were forced to move their act to the bottom of the speedway. Although Gibbs closed in tightly he was unable to mount a serious threat to Malcom for the win. At the wire it would be Malcom, Gibbs, Hildebrandt, J.R. Crouse and Joel Batzel. Batzel advanced from the sixteenth starting spot by working the far reaches of the outside of the speedway.

The evening began with the heldover Sportsman Modified feature event originally scheduled for May 13th. Although fans had to wait over a month for the make up event it proved to be worth the wait as the teams went green to checkered without a caution. First year campaigner Justin Holland took command at the drop of the green flag from his outside front row position. Holland quickly pulled away from the field as Billy Deckleman and Butch Klinger battled for the second slot. During the late stages of the race Holland saw his lead evaporate as lapped traffic allowed Klinger to close the gap. On the final lap Klinger closed in but was unable to rattle the first year driver. Holland went on to notch his first ever Five Mile Point Speedway victory with Klinger, Jesse Kline, Eric Palmer and Eric Stephens rounding out the top five.

Brian Puckett has been trying to avoid a sophomore jinx in the Sportsman class and on Saturday he took a big step in doing so. Puckett used the high side of the speedway to sweep past pole sitter Jamie Cortazar on lap three of the twenty lap feature event. Puckett went unchallenged throughout as he recorded his first victory of the season. Brad Grimm, Chris Wood, Butch Klinger and Shaun Walker completed the top five.

Joe Cole rebounded from a disastrous last lap occurrence the Saturday prior. Cole had led nineteen of the scheduled twenty laps on June 10th only to have a mechanical problem cause him to spin on the final turn of the final lap. This week he again wasted no time in taking command as he moved out to the lead on the first lap from his outside front row starting spot. Brad Weaver tried to mount several challenges throughout the event but had his own battle as Mike Stoddard kept the pressure on. As Cole began to open his margin a bit Stoddard worked past Weaver for second with only two laps to go. Cole had no misfortune this week as he held on for the popular win. Stoddard notched his second consecutive runner up finish with Weaver hanging on for third. Brian Rhodes and Mike Stolaryck III completed the top five.

Doug Polhamus showed the way in the early stages of the twenty lap Street Stock main event. On lap eight Les Gillette took over the lead after starting in the fifth position. Gillette opened up a sizeable lead as Polhamus had to contend with a late charging Carl Heater. Heater had been involved in an earlier jingle that relegated him to the rear of the field. Heater moved past Polhamus for second place on the eighteenth circuit but it would prove to be too late as Gillette had enough to fend him off at the finish. Gillette wound up the winner followed by Heater, Polhamus, Dave Luff and Daren Stout.

Scott Edwards led wire to wire in the twenty lap Pure Stock feature event to become the second first time winner of the evening. Doug Stack made his way to the front during the latter stages of the event along with Jamie Batzel who had advanced from eighth starting slot. The top ten drivers all engaged in a torrid battle which kept some of the pressure off of Edwards out front. At the stripe Edwards held off Stack for the win. Batzel wound up third followed by Bob Mills and Shane Wolfe.

The 98.1 WAAL Figure 8 division had a solid eleven car field on hand for competition. Steve Simpson led the entire twelve lap distance for the win in the very popular class. Rob Warner, Ken Winn, Mark Andrus and Don Lantz, Jr. filled out the top five slots.

COUNTER POINTS: Another strong field of cars were on hand in all classes with the Modifieds boasting a count of twenty-eight....

Despite high temperatures a smooth and multi grooved race surface made for a number of three and four wide battles throughout the night as a big cushion made the outside line the fast way around....

The night had few on track incidents as both the Sportsman and IMCA Modified features went green to checkered without any cautions....

The Pure Stock main event saw only one caution....

The Modifieds had four caution flag periods in the thirty lap main with most notably one that occurred on lap seven....

A multi car tangle ensued after Dan Hineline, Daren Schuler and George Hildebrandt made contact on a restart off of turn four....

The wreck eliminated Hineline, Mike Doty, Barry White, Carl Nagel, Jim Crawn and Rich Keehle. Dana Wagner, Doug Hendricks and Stan Frankenfield, Jr. were also involved but returned to action without losing a lap....

A large crowd was on hand for the Kirkwood Community Night sponsored by Fleet Pride....

FLEET PRIDE RACE SUMMARY

FLEET PRIDE Modified Feature Finish:
BRIAN MALCOM, Mitch Gibbs, George Hildebrandt, J.R. Crouse, Joel Batzel, Alan Rudalavage, Glenn Knapp, Daren Schuler, Tom Oleski, Dana Wagner, Chris Ostrowsky, Doug Hendricks, James Cornell, Jack Admudson, Bobby Puckett, Stan Frankenfield, Jr., Kenny Hildebrandt, Dan Hineline, Mike Doty, Barry White, Carl Nagel, Jim Crawn, Rich Keehle, Gary Griffin.

Held Over Sportsman Modified Feature from 5/13 Finish:
JUSTIN HOLLAND, Butch Klinger, Jesse Kline, Eric Palmer, Eric Stephens, Brad Grim, Shaun Walker, Brian Puckett, Chris Wood, Jamie Cortazr, Jay Horton, Jeremy Holt, Willard Knecht, Billy Deckleman, Jason Griffiths

FLEET PRIDE Sportsman Feature Finish:
BRIAN PUCKETT, Brad Grimm, Chris Wood, Butch Klinger, Shaun Walker, Justin Holland, Jamie Cortazar, Eric Stephens, Dan Pompey, Bob Yager, Rich Wallace, Jason Griffiths, Jay Horton, Jesse Kline, Bubba Folk, Don Caldwell, Jeremy Holt, Eric Palmer.

FLEET PRIDE IMCA-Modified Feature Finish:
JOE COLE, Mike Stoddard, Brad Weaver, Brian Rhodes, Mike Stolarcyk III, Gary Dence, Kevin Cole, Tom Eiklor, Walt McClennon, Tyler Stoddard, John Rohsevich, Scott Bennett, Josh Sawyer.

FLEET PRIDE Street Stock Feature Finish:
LES GILLETTE, Carl Heater, Doug Polhamus, Dave Luff, Daren Stout, Henry Cook Jr., Joe Krisovich, Jim Millard, Jim Hughes Sr., Neal Dablasi, Mike Mills Jr., Joe Williams, Jerry Tonti, Bob Teribury, Darwin Greene, Jim Hughes Jr., Mike Dziak.

FLEET PRIDE Pure Stock Feature Finish:
SCOTT EDWARDS, Doug Stack, Jamie Batzel, Bob Mills, Shane Wolf, Jon Carpenter, Mike Codington, Mahlon Shoemaker, Joe Rafferty Jr., Steve Polhamus, Jeremy Shaw, Randy Richards, Cody Decker, Charlie Gilbert, Matt Spencer, Duane Head, Bob Conklin Jr.

FLEET PRIDE FIGURE 8 Feature Finish:
Rob Warner, Ken Winn, Mark Andrus, Don Lantz Jr., Jesse Velez, Steve Matson, Andy Matson, Dave Cronk.