Race Results: July 20th, 2006

KIRKWOOD, NY - After being delayed one week due to rain the Race of Champions Dirt Modified and Sportsman Tours invaded the Five Mile Point Speedway Thursday night. Both feature events saw exciting three and four wide racing taking place throughout the entire racing program. Both headlining feature events saw the outcome of the feature in doubt right up until the end of both features.

In the RoC Modified 75 lap feature Alan Johnson passed Mitch Gibbs with an inside turn one pass with two laps to go to claim his second RoC Modified feature of the year. Gibbs who led from the 14th lap settled for a disappointing second with Jerry Higbie, Jr. finishing third for his best career RoC finish. Brian Weaver came on late to finish a strong fourth after being sent to the rear for a rule infraction on lap eight with 17th place starting Pat Ward coming home in fifth.

In the companion RoC Sportsman 40 lap feature Kyle Weiss, who ran the extreme low groove of the speedway the entire race found enough bite to pass race long leader Kenny Titus with three laps to go coming out of turn four. Jesse Kline, Butch Klinger, and Matt Janczuk rounded out the top five.

Race four of the RoC Modified North Region saw Jim Davis and Chris Ostrowsky bring the 28 car field down for the green. Ostrowsky looking for his first career Modified feature win jumped out to the lead followed by Davis, Alan Johnson, Mitch Gibbs, and JR Crouse. On a lap two restart Gibbs who started eighth rocketed into second by using his patented high groove at the track. Also making a strong move on the restart was Jerry Higbie, Jr. who moved into fourth at this point.

An early rash of yellow fever dotted the first ten laps of the feature with four separate yellow flag periods taking place. The fourth yellow flag on lap eight saw the strong run of Mark Flach, Jr. come to an end as he was spun out by Brian Weaver and Frank Cozze, both Weaver and Cozze were sent to the rear for the rule infraction.

Coming down to complete lap 14 current track point leader Gibbs took the lead with an inside turn four pass of Ostrowsky. Behind the leading duo the passing was fast and furious as positions three through seventh were changing each lap between Johnson, Higbie, Davis, JR Crouse, and a surprising Mike Doty. The great run of Ostrowsky ended on lap 18 as he jumped the cushion in turn one and made contact with the foam blocks the cover the outside concrete retaining wall.

On the restart Doty made everyone take notice as he rocketed from sixth to third and at the same time Pat Ward made his presence known with an inside move from ninth to fifth. With Gibbs leading Higbie comfortably the attention was focused on the wild battle that was taking place for positions three through six. From lap 31 through lap 42 Doty, Johnson, Ward, and Crouse all exchanged positions frequently in a crowd pleasing battle.

With 25 laps to go it appeared that the tires on the Gibbs Bicknell chassis was starting to go away as the car was becoming looser each passing lap. This loose condition enabled Higbie and Johnson to close right on in the back bumper of Gibbs. Meanwhile Ward had worked his way past Doty for fourth and was reeling the leading trio in. Behind Doty all eyes were focused on Weaver who was making a strong statement after coming from the tail end of the field as he entered sixth on lap 60.

The lead pack entered heavy lap traffic on lapped 62 and most observers felt that this is where Johnson was going to make his move. The first move by Johnson was on lap 68 in turn one when Higbie jumped the cushion Johnson motored underneath to take second. Johnson immediately closed in on Gibbs and a great duel for the $4,000 win was going to take place.

With five laps to go Johnson stuck his nose under Gibbs in turn two but Gibbs was able to hold on to the lead. However entering turn one just after completing lap 72 was the downfall of Gibbs as he jumped the cushion in the same exact spot that Higbie did five laps prior. Just like he did on lap 68 Johnson repeated the move by passing Gibbs and motoring away into the lead.

Johnson left no doubt as he opened up a ten car length lead after getting the lead and cruised to his second Race of Champions Dirt Modified Tour North Region feature win of the year. Alan drives for Jeff Rudalavage Racing and uses Bicknell chassis along with a Pat Morrison built small block engine under the hood. By using small block power Alan received a $500 bonus for being the first small block to cross the finish line and this made it a $4,500 payday.

Gibbs raced home in second with Higbie in third, Weaver got past Ward in heavy lapped traffic for fourth on the final lap.

After the feature the Phelps, NY superstar driver had this to say. “The track took rubber there at the end and I was good right in the middle of the track and that is where you had to be if you wanted to be fast. I think Mitch lost his tires there at the end as you could see he was loosing his grip, especially in the corners. When Mitch lost his grip and moved up there in turn one he left me a lane to pass and I took advantage of it. “

Qualifying for the talented 35 car Modified field saw heat races won by Davis, Cozze, Higbie, and Vic Coffey while James Cornell and Craig Terrell captured the B Mains.

The 40 lap RoC Dirt Sportsman Tour race number two in the North Region saw yellow fever dominate the early part of the feature. After failing to officially score the first lap on two different occasions, a single file start was called.

When the racing finally got going pole sitter Kenny Titus jumped out to the lead over Jesse Kline, Joey Colsten, Howard Jarvis and Matt Janczuk. Following a restart on lap three tenth place starter Kyle Weiss moved into fifth by running the extreme low groove of the fast quarter mile oval. Weiss from Hamburg, Pennsylvania made all eyes focus on him as he was the only car running the extreme low groove. Weiss moved into fourth on lap nine and after getting into third one lap later he and Kline raced in a spirited battle for second during the next 21 laps. Meanwhile Titus raced in the lead with no one applying any pressure on him. Even when Titus entered lap traffic on lap 21 he still led comfortably as Kline and Weiss still raced side by side for second. Just before the final yellow of the race would come out on lap 31 Kline jumped the cushion in turn four and that allowed Weiss to take second.

When racing resumed Weiss and Titus now raced side by side as it seemed that Weiss didn’t have enough to pass the high flying Titus. Coming down to complete lap 37 Titus made his only mistake of the race and it cost him the chance for victory. Entering turn four Titus bobbled just long enough and that little bit of an opening was all that Weiss needed as he motored underneath for the lead and win. Behind the leading duo were Kline in third, Butch Klinger in fourth, and Janczuk in fifth.

The winning driver who goes by the nickname of the “ Jallopa Jet “ had this to say about his $1,000 win. Weiss commented, “ The crew had the car great tonight. I really didn’t expect the bottom of the track to be that good, but my car stuck down there. Plus with everybody running the top you have to run somewhere else to get to the front and that is why I was on the bottom. I would like to thank all of my fellow Sportsman drivers for racing me clean tonight, especially the 59 and 9 car.” Qualifying for the 22 car Sportsman field had Steve Way, Kline, and Weiss win the heat races.

The next Race of Champions Dirt Modified Tour event at Five Mile Point Speedway will be Wednesday August 9th. The Modifieds in a South Region event will run 75 laps with $4,000 going to the winner. Nextel Cup driver Kenny Schrader will be in attendance on this night and he will be racing a Modified on this night. The BRC Lazer Late Model Series will also be action on this night.

Five Mile Point Speedway comes right back to racing in two days with their weekly Saturday night five star racing program. On the card for this Saturday night are Modifieds, Sportsman, IMCA Modifieds, Pure Stocks, and the BRC Lazer Late Model Series. Starting time for this Saturday is 6:30. For more information on Five Mile Point please call 607 - 775 - 5555 or log on to; www.fivemilepointspeedway.net.

COUNTER POINTS:Enjoying the action in the VIP Towers on this night were representatives of Jed’s Roadhouse and French’s Auto Parts. Both businesses support racing heavily and both businesses suffered extensive damage and losses during the recent flood. Track promoter Andy Harpell wanted to do something for these two businesses who help the racers out when they are in need and now they are in need of help too. Sportsman driver Jeremy Holt racing in pain all evening long due to an accident at work which injured his knee earlier in the day. Jim Gabriel, Jr. ran the second Joel Batzel entry, Jim got into the feature through a B Main but was knocked out early with front end damage. Batzel used Gabriel’s expertise to setup the car and it worked in the feature as he came from 27th to 7th before a flat tire ended his run. Justin Holland was disqualified in the Sportsman feature for hitting the car of Kyle Lewis under yellow flag conditions. Tim Votra impressively qualified in the Modified heats only to have the finish wiped out as he was using a softer compound tire than the rules allowed.