9/5/2004

SHAWN DUNNING ROLLS TO WIN IN HOLLAND LATE MODEL BUDWEISER 100

Holland, NY: In Saturday evening's Budweiser 100 for the NASCAR Late Model Pro Stocks at Holland Speedway, Shawn Dunning of Pavilion, NY displayed a fast car and a patient driving style to lead the final 43 laps en route to the prestigious win, giving him a sweep of both of Holland's 100 lap Late Model specials in 2004. 

Other Holland winners in Saturday evening's action included Steve Kreitzbender of Springville, NY, earning his fifth Pro Modified feature win of the year, Ryan Zitzka of Lockport, NY who scored the win in the visit by the Casey's TQ Midget Series, and Charger division feature winner Ed Kicinski of Hamburg, NY. Damian Fisher of Springville, NY notched the Pro Four feature win, while Greg Urban was back in victory lane in the Figure 8 Car division. 

Shawn Dunning, who had set fast time earlier in the day in Late Model Pro Stock time trials, started the Budweiser 100 in his Sewer Specialty Services/PE Shock Service Monte Carlo from the eighth slot, following the inversion draw. Dan Domanowski and Bill Matuszak battled for the lead early in the race, but a violent lap 4 collision brought out the red flag, as T.J. Johnson and Jeff Brown collided and slammed the front chute wall, collecting Mike Fiebelkorn, Jr. in the process. The front end of the Brown car was virtually destoyed in the wreck, while the Johnson car suffered severe front and rear end damage. All drivers were uninjured, but all three entries were done for the evening. 

On the restart, Dave Hietzhaus, who had started sixth in the event, fired off from the third position and quickly motored by Matuszak and Domanowski for the top slot. As the Draper Trucking entry of Heitzhaus began to open up ground over the field, Mark Bliss moved into second place a lap later, with Dunning getting by Matuszak for fourth that same circuit. Dunning then began to display his patient driving style, waiting for openings, and pouncing when the opportunity was there. He found room to get by Domanowski for third on lap 9, then slowly made up ground on second place Bliss, drawing to the rear bumper by the 18th lap, and finally finding an inside lane to take second place away on lap 26. Dunning than began to slowly work into the lead that Heitzhaus had established. 

In the meantime, Vern Bliss began to make his presence felt, moving into the top five on lap 30, and chasing down Domanowski for fourth place. By the 40th circuit, Dunning had caught Heitzhaus and Vern Bliss had pulled up on rival Domanowski. Just as Dunning looked as if he was making an inside run at Heitzhaus for the lead, Bliss and Domanowski made contact in turn four with both spinning, bringing out the second caution period of the race on lap 45. Both Bliss and Domanowski were able to restart at the rear of the field. 

With the lap 46 restart, Dunning again started working the inside groove, and by the halfway point, was alongside of Heitzhaus. The two drivers put on a textbook display of great side-by-side racing for the lead over the next six laps, each taking turns at leading at the stripe, before Dunning was finally able to complete a pass and take the lead for good on the 57th lap. 

As Dunning began to motor away at the front of the field, attention turned to Todd Hoddick, who had started back in the 19th position, and Vern Bliss, driving back through the field after his lap 45 encounter. Hoddick first surfaced in the top five on lap 65, and five laps later, squeezed by George Skora III for fourth. Bliss was wasting no time making up ground, as by the 76th lap, he was around Skora for fifth, and, along with Hoddick, rapidly closing on third place Mark Bliss and second place Heitzhaus. During the chase, Bliss was actually able to slip by Hoddick for position. Two yellow periods for spins on laps 83 and 88 allowed the lead pack to close up, eliminating the breathing space that Dunning had established. The lap 88 yellow also tested the focus of the racers, as fluid on the track caused a prolonged clean-up period. 

Vern Bliss was able to get by brother Mark for third place on the 85th lap, and was able to make an inside move pay off to grab second from Heitzhaus on the 94th lap. Hoddick was able to squeeze under Mark Bliss for fourth two laps later. A lap 99 yellow for a George Skora III spin would give Vern Bliss a chance to test Dunning, and test he did. On the mandatory green-white-checker finish (for an event which would actually be 101 laps), Bliss tried both the inside and outside lanes trying to get a run on Dunning, but Dunning was up to the challenge, holding on to pass under the checkers a car length in front of Bliss. Hoddick worked by Heitzhaus on the final lap to claim third, while Domanowski, who had wound his way back through the field, took Mark Bliss on that final lap for the fifth position. 

In the 25 lap Pro Modified main which was slowed by but a single brief caution period, Steve Kreitzbender raced his Rendell Logging/Bar-Chel/ PitStop Pizzeria ride by Sherri Hogan for the lead on the 13th lap and never looked back, easily capturing the win. Sherri held off the persistant challenges of Chuck Anderson and Neil Hopkins to finish second, with Anderson, Hopkins, and Steve Hoxie completing the top five. 

The Casey's TQ Midget Series was on hand for their fourth Holland apearance of the year, with Ryan Zitzka taking the lead on the second lap, and running away from the rest of the pack. Second place Charlie DiRosa tangled with the lapped cars of Rich Watkins and Mike Blair to force a lap 16 caution which brought Zitzka back to the pack, but Ryan was able to pull away once again in the late going to earn the lap 20 checkers for his first Holland win. Curtis Friesen finished a distant second, with A.J. Hessler heading a tight four car battle for third. 

Ed Kicinski motored his Shelly Collision/Nova Glass Chevelle by Dave Wilson, Jr. for the top spot on lap 5 of the 20 lap Charger main, then drove away to earn the win in the caution-free event. Wilson aided his cause in the chase for the points title with a second place finish, with Rob Miszczak driving a steady race to a third place finish. 

In another caution-free race, Damian Fisher slipped his Southern Tier Auto Center Mercury Capri under Brian Slippy on the second lap, then held off a furious last lap charge by Brian Proebski to take hs third win of the season in the 12 lap Pro Four feature race. Brian Slippy held on for third. 

Greg Urban, driving the borrowed Steve Greenauer 4-cylinder, led the entire distance of the 10 lap Figure 8 Car feature race for his fifth win of '04. Nick Schaefer and Curt Golias finished a distant second and third. 

News and Notes - 13 cars were running at the end of the Bud 100, with the top 10 on the lead lap.... Kudos to Eldon King III and his crew, who were dealing with a fuel delivery problem in their Monte Carlo - King spent plenty of time in the pits during every caution period, as the crew tried various fixes, and the work paid off, as he soldiered on to a ninth place finish.... Both King and Todd Hoddick had potential top 8 time trial runs disallowed when both were determined to have ride height violations in post time trial inspections - both had to start the race from the rear of the field.... Double points were awarded in all five of the weekly divisions.... Pro Four points leader Bob Slippy took the evening off, but with a huge lead margin in the points chase, still has the advantage going into the final night of points.... Sharon Hughes was involved in a first lap Figure 8 Car scramble, and was under medical observation for an apparent arm injury. 

The five weekly NASCAR sanctioned racing divisions will wrap up their 2004 Holland racing season with the all division double point championships on Saturday, September 11th. Race time is 6:00 pm. For more information, contact the Speedway office at (716) 537-2272 or visit the Speedway web site at www.hollandspeedway.com. 

HOLLAND SPEEDWAY RESULTS SUMMARY - Saturday, September 4, 2004 

NASCAR Sunoco LATE MODEL PRO STOCKS Budweiser 100: 1. (started 8) SHAWN DUNNING, 2. (7) Vern Bliss, 3. (19) Todd Hoddick, 4. (6) Dave Heitzhaus, 5. (2) Dan Domanowski, 6. (5) Mark Bliss, 7. (13) Marty Kling, 8. (3) George Skora III, 9. (20) Eldon King III, 10. (14) Joe Carbone, 11. (17) Bill Catania, 12. (15) Art Logsdon, 13. (1) Neil Hopkins, 14. (4) Bill Matuszak, 15. (18) Rich Higley, Jr., 16. (16) Jason Petri, 17. (9) Eric Sanders, 18. (11) Mike Fiebelkorn, Jr., 19. (10) Jeff Brown, Jr., 20. (12) T.J. Johnson. 

Time Trials - Top Five: 1. Shawn Dunning (14.544 sec - 92.882 mph), 2. Vern Bliss (14.677 sec - 91.981 mph), 3. Dave Heitzhaus (14.732 sec - 91.637 mph), 4. Mark Bliss (14.736 sec - 91.612 mph), 5. Bill Matuszak (14.748 sec - 91.538 mph). 

PRO MODIFIEDS - 25 lap Feature Race: STEVE KREITZBENDER, Sherri Hogan, Chuck Anderson, Neil Hopkins, Steve Hoxie, Randy Jazembak, Jim Loffredo, Jeff Ruddy, Jason Kline, and John West. Heat Race Winners - Steve Kreitzbender, Randy Jazembak. 

CASEY'S TQ MIDGET SERIES - 20 lap Feature Race: RYAN ZITZKA, Curtis Friesen, A.J. Hessler, Bob Reis, Vince Christiano, Jr., D.J. Sossong, Dan Dadswell, Justin Mapes, Gordon Steffan, Joe Brzezowski, Charlie DiRosa, Rich Watkins, Mike Blair, Jim Fleischman, Arik McGruder, James Michael Friesen, and Chad Haywood. Heat Race Winners - Chad Haywood, Charlie DiRosa. 

CHARGERS - 20 lap Feature Race: ED KICINSKI, Dave Wilson, Jr., Rob Miszczak, Marty Hughes, Chris Kline, John Grandits, Bill Wise, Al Grimmer, Jerry Kosmowski, Tim Welshans, Jason Dieter, Jeff Bialkowski, Rich Calteaux, and Joe Fetzer. (DNS Chad Martin.) Heat Race Winners - Dave Wilson, Jr., Ed Kicinski. 

PRO FOURS - 12 lap Feature Race: DAMIAN FISHER, Brian Porebski, Brian Slippy, Michelle Roberts, Alan Fisher, Jay Murphy, Jason Adams, Mike Eckam, Dave Kirsch, James Steins, Chad Pusloski, "Big Dave" Zimmer, Greg Urban, Waylon Price, and Rich Carnes. Heat Race Winners - Alan Fisher, Brian Porebski. 

FIGURE 8 CARS - 10 lap Feature Race: GREG URBAN, Nick Schaefer, Curt Golias, Jay Murphy, James Steins, and Sharon Hughes. (DNS Rob VanWie.) Heat Race Winner - Greg Urban. 

Source:  Rick Mooney/Holland Speedway PR
Posted:  September 6, 2004