10/9/2004

BRIAN BOWEN, TODD HODDICK, AND KEN BARBER COLLECT COCA-COLA FALL SHOOTOUT WINS

Wyoming County International Speedway wrapped up their 2004 campaign with their annual season finale, the Coca-Cola Fall Shootout. Despite a one week postponement, thanks to Mother Nature, a great field of drivers from across New York and beyond suited up for Western New York's final asphalt race of the season. 

The Super Short Track Series (SST) Sportsman also wrapped up their season, the first one of their existance with a 75-lap event. Kirk Rutherford and Bill Hebing shared the front row to lead the field of 24 cars to the green. Hebing, a two-timer series winner, was in the backup car of Brian Bowen, who started fourth. Rutherford led until race's first caution on lap seven as Hebing spun in turn three while chasing the leader. This bumped Bowen up to second and Billy Ray Pruitt to third. 

Bowen would beat out Rutherford on the restart to take the lead on lap 14. He would lead a four-car breakaway at the front of the field with Rutherford, Pruitt, and Chris Clark. The second yellow came on lap 16 as the cars of Mike VerWeire, Dave Jackson, Dick Werner would tangle while running at the back of the pack. Trouble would then move to the front field as Chris Clark went into a spin cycle and brought the yellow flag back out on lap 22. 

Billy Ray Pruitt would get by Rutherford for second on lap 28. Bowen and Pruitt would then check out from the field during stretchs of green flag laps. Kirk Rutherford would get bumped out of line on lap 36 as Wayne Lent got into the back of him and sent him spinning into the infield. Lent would join Rutherford at the tail of the field when the race restarted on lap 43. This reshaped the top five as Bowen and Pruitt were now followed by Bill Chandler Jr., Gene Sharpsteen, and Richard Thomas. 

Bill Hebing had been crawling his way back to the front of the field after his spin on lap seven. Following 40 laps of wading through traffic, Hebing found himself back up to seventh. A lap 54 tangle between Ed Weber and Steve West brought out the yellow again and bunched the field up. The race restarted with 13 laps to go and Hebing would try to complete his trek back to the front of the field. He would pass Thomas on lap 63, Sharpsteen on lap 66, and then Chandler on lap 68 to put himself third with five laps to go. However, Pruitt and Bowen were too far ahead to catch in the short amount of time. 

Brian Bowen pulled away from Pruitt in the late stages to clinch his first career SST Series victory. It was also his first career win at WCIS where he began his season running on Sundays afternoons until he broke his foot in an accident at the Perry Bullring. "It's bittersweet because the last time I raced here, I left the track in an ambulance," said Bowen in victory lane. On top of all that, he also becames the first-ever overall SST Series champion. Despite only winning one series race, consistent finishes in the other series races combined with his home track points from his championship at Tioga Motorsports Park gave him enough markers to unofficially clinch the title. 

The Late Models made their fifth and final appearance for the WCIS Late Model Madness Series. It was the largest field of the season for the "Fiberglass Warriors" with several top drivers from the WNY area joining in on the fun. Points leader Tommy Reese would start on the pole for the 40-lap feature with Bill Catania along side him. Reese would take control early and would hook up with Joe Schneider to pull away from Catania. 

A quartet of cars would join together to go after the lead duo as Brad Smales, Ron Nurmi, Todd Hoddick, and Vern Bliss would all get by Catania by lap five. Hoddick started ninth and would be the first one to break away from the secondary pack to chase after the leader. The former WCIS Street Stock champ Hoddick would get by Nurmi and Smales by lap 11. He then made almost an entire straightaway up to catch Schenider. 

Hoddick took the second spot from Schneider at the halfway point and then passed Reese for the lead on the following lap. The race's first caution happened on lap 29 as Vern Bliss tangled with Ron Nurmi while racing down the backstretch. Bliss spun and would have to come back through the field. He did but would tangle with Nurmi again with two laps to go. 

Hoddick continued to lead during the second half of the race and would walk away with the win. Reese hung on to second to clinch his second-straight WCIS Late Model title. Joe Schneider finished third. Each driver in top three came from a different area, showcasing wide range of drivers in attendance. Hoddick is a WNY/PA runner from Lancaster and Lake Erie, Reese was the hometrack regular, and Schneider came from Tioga in Central NY. 

Ken Barber capped off his championship season with a win in the 30-lap season finale for the Street Stocks. Barber started from the pole and would pull away from the field with Russell Knutsen in tow. Knutsen was challenging Barber before a heartbreaking mechanical problem knocked out of the race on lap 18. Mike Nichols would go on to finish second. Former WCIS race director and Street Stock champion Roy Amedick finished third in the former Phil Lubanski car. 

Holland Speedway regular Tim Welshans captured the 20-lap 4-Cylinder WASP feature. Welshans held off WCIS track champion Bill Verwys to save the win. Dean Burdick led all 20 laps of the Pro Stock 4-Cylinder feature for his first WCIS win of 2004. Burdick had to stay in front of the person he bought his car from, Ken Gilbert. 

Charlie Pellien won his first career Mini Cup feature. Pellien was running second to a runaway Jesse Hartloff with three laps to go until a caution bunched the field up. He passed Hartloff for the lead on the restart, and Paul Young moved up to second. With his second place finish, Paul Young clinched the WNY Mini Cup Club Championship. 

Jim Majchrzak and the entire staff of WCIS want to thank all of the drivers and fans for their support in 2004. Racing will return to the Perry Bullring on Sunday afternoons in 2005. 

RESULTS 

SST SPORTSMAN 

Heat Winners - Chris Clark, Billy Ray Pruitt, Gene Sharpsteen, Brian Bowen 

SST Series "Fall Shootout 75" finish - BRIAN BOWEN, Billy Ray Pruitt, Bill Hebing, Bill Chandler Jr., Gene Sharpsteen, Wayne Lent, Richard Thomas, Patti Pruitt, Kirk Rutherford, Chris Clark, Dan Hoag, Bob Wilson Jr., Steve West, Jim Love, Mike VerWeire, Dick Werner Jr., Dave Jackson, Dick Kluth, Tom Wiest, Jerry Harding Jr., Ed Weber, Mike Logsdon, Paul Jorgensen, and Ricky Knapp Jr. DNS Butch Harris. 

LATE MODELS 

Heat Winners - Vern Bliss, Brad Smales, Ron Nurmi 

Feature - TODD HODDICK, Tommy Reese, Joe Schneider, George Skora III, Billy Ray Pruitt, Bill Catania, Bill Allen Jr., Dan Habuda, Scott Jarrell, Rich Higley Jr., Vern Bliss, Brad Smales, Kevin Herbert, Cory Lischer, and Art Logsdon. DQ: Ron Nurmi, Scott Nurmi. 

STREET STOCKS 

Heat Winners - Ken Barber, Don Pringle 

Feature - KEN BARBER, Mike Nichols, Roy Amedick, Bob Herman, Lee Sharpsteen, Pat Johannes, Steve Vinyard, Don Pringle, Jim Frandsen, John VanHooydonk, A.J. Cole, Russell Knutsen, Ian Siebert, Wayne Semmel, Rich Lippart, and Bill Chandler Jr. DNS Craig Orr. 

4- CYLINDER WASPS 

Heat Winners - Marty Hughes, Tim Welshans 

Feature - TIM WELSHANS, Bill Verwys, Matt Welshans, Marty Hughes, Matt Bove, Rory Walker, Ryan Corso, Mark Meyers, Mike Burley, Matt Ford, Jay Murphy, Dan Hutchinson, Josh Beardsley, and Justin Walker. DNS Rob Laskowski. 

PRO STOCK 4-CYLINDERS 

Heat Winner - Dean Burdick 

Feature - DEAN BURDICK, Ken Gilbert, Brian Slippy, Butch Crawford, and Scott Millard. DNS Matt Ford. 

WNY MINI CUP CLUB 

Heat Winner - Paul Young 

Feature - CHARLIE PELLIEN, Paul Young, Jesse Hartloff, Tony Kulesza, Rich Lippart, Robbie Micoli, Paul Faleski, Bill Ovitt, and Phil Hayne. 

Source:  Dave Buchanan/Wyoming County International Speedway PR
Additions and corrections: Mark Southcott/NYRaceZone.com
Posted:  October 10, 2004