Race Results: July 8th, 2006

KIRKWOOD, NY - Gary Griffin recorded his second career Modified victory at Five Mile Point Speedway on Peoples National Bank night. Eric Palmer was the Sportsman winner with Chris Strohl taking top honors in the Street Stock feature. Mike Stolaryck, III won the IMCA Modified main with Doug Stack winning in the Pure Stocks and Mark Andrus scoring the victory in the 99.1 the Whale Figure 8 class.

The start of the thirty lap Modified feature found Dan Hineline and Gary Griffin in the front row. At the drop of the green Hineline took the lead as Griffin was forced to sit back and wait for an error in the early stages. Hineline and Griffin pulled ahead slightly but the focus instantly began to shift to Mike Doty as he emerged from his eighth starting spot to third place in only three laps. The top three hooked up in a torrid battle as they used three distinctly different lines to pull away from the field. Griffin worked underneath Hineline on lap twelve as Doty looked for racing room on the bottom of the speedway. Doty worked past Hineline into the runner up spot on lap sixteen and set his sights on Griffin.

The top two pulled away from the remainder of the field as they worked their heavy lapped traffic through the second half of the race. Tom Oleski made his way into third place on lap twenty-one as Jim Crawn now began to apply the pressure to Hineline for fourth place. Out front Doty tried inside and outside of Griffin but could not work past for the lead. On the final two circuits the two ran side by side but Griffin would manage to get the better run exiting the turns. The final lap saw Doty try both the inside and outside of Griffin but at the stripe Griffin was able to hold on for a car length victory. Oleski saw his strong drive end as was sent spinning in turn four on the last lap. Hineline would cross the line third but was later penalized two spots for rough riding. This would move Crawn up to third at the finish with Mitch Gibbs and Hineline rounding out the top five.

Eric Stephens looked strong during the early stages of the twenty lap Sportsman feature on Saturday night. Stephens led the first ten laps of the event but Defending Track Champion Eric Palmer worked past on the eleventh circuit. From there Palmer would pull away from the pack. Current point leader Butch Klinger made his way into second place with just five laps remaining but could not mount a serious challenge for the win. At the finish it would be Palmer, Klinger, Jesse Kline, Stephens and Brad Grim.

The I.M.C.A Modified feature event was a caution plagued affair as the pace was slowed on a number of occasions. Mike Stolarcyk, III emerged the feature winner followed by Gary Dence, Tom Eiklor, Mike Stoddard and Kevin Cole.

Chris Strohl took the lead on lap eight of the Street Stock main event and never looked back as he recorded his first victory of the season. Strohl was followed across the line by Les Gillette, Jerry Tonti, Henry Cook Jr. and Neal Palladino.

Doug Stack recorded the win in the Pure Stock division. He took the lead after Jamie Batzel pulled to the pits with mechanical problems on lap thirteen of the twenty lap event. Stack was followed by Darl Ellis, Jr. Scott Edwards, Tom Garren and Charlie Gilbert. Ellis was later disqualified for illegal offset wheels moving Polhamus in to the top five.

The 99.1 the Whale Figure 8 feature was won by Mark Andrus.

COUNTER POINTS: The backstretch area has been designated as an overflow pit area weekly due to the continued large car counts…

A pit pass will be required to sit in the backstretch grandstand area in future weeks…

Car counts stood at 28 Modifieds, 19 Sportsman, 19 Street Stocks, 23 Pure Stocks, 11 IMCA Modifieds and 6 Figure 8’s…

The Modified win for Gary Griffin was only his second at the Point, his previous win came in the 2005 running of the Heath Memorial…

Several Modified teams made their first 2006 appearance, they included: Ed Harris, Jimmy Reppert, Dave Disinger, Jason Andrews and Justin Andrews…

Big Diamond Co-Promoter Dave Disinger qualified in the last transfer spot in the consolation event then wound up on his roof after a slow roll in the Modified feature, he was uninjured…

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL BANK SUMMARY

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL BANK MODIFIED FEATURE OFFICIAL FINISH (50):
GARY GRIFFIN, Mike Doty, Jim Crawn, Mitch Gibbs, Dan Hineline, Doug Hendricks, Dana Wagner, J.R. Crouse, Joel Batzel, Rich Keehle, Glenn Knapp, Barry White, James Cornell, Bobby Puckett, Chris Ostrowsky, Brian Malcolm , Jim Reppert, Justin Andrews, Daren Schuler, Jason Andrews, Tom Oleski, Ed Harris, Mike McCollum, Dave Disinger.

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL BANK SPORTSMAN MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20):
ERIC PALMER, Butch Klinger, Jesse Kline, Eric Stephens, Brad Grim, Justin Holland, Jeremy Holt, Jamie Cortazar, Brian Puckett, Jamie Yankowski, Chris Wood, Nick Rohinski, Jason Kleedorfer, Willard Knecht, Bubba Folk, Dan Cadwell, Rich Wallace, Shawn Walker, Bruce Gould.

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL BANK STREET STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20):
CHRIS STROHL, Les Gillette, Jerry Tonti, Henry Cook Jr., Neal Palladino, Doug Polhamus, Randy Tyler, Neal Dablasi, Paul Harrington, James Millard, Keith Villano, Daren Stout, John Williams, Dave Luff, Joe Krisovich, Jim Hughes, Carl Heater, Rich Post.

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL BANK PURE STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20):
DOUG STACK, Scott Edwards, Tom Garren, Charlie Gilbert, Steve Polhamus, Jeremy Shaw, Matt Spencer, Chuck Culberston, Gene VanAlstyne, Bob Melovitz, Bob Mills, Mahlon Shoemaker, Jamie Batzel, Duane Codington, Tom Harrington, Dan Babcock, Josh Towner, Joe Rafferty Jr., Paul Carpenter, Randy Richards, Mike Codington.

PEOPLE’S NATIONAL BANK IMCA MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20):
MIKE STOLARYCK III, Gary Dence, Tom Eiklor, Mike Stoddard, Kevin Cole, Brad Weaver, Joe Cole, Steve Hartford, Walt McClennon, Tyler Stoddard.

99.1 THE WHALE FIGURE 8's OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH:
MARK ANDRUS, Ken Winn, Steve Matson, Don Lartz, Jr., Dave Cronk.