7/23/06

RON NURMI, THOMAS, HERBERT, GROM GRAB CHECKEREDS AT WCIS

 
As the second half of the 2006 season at the Wyoming County International Speedway got under way, several cars would falter from the stress of the first half schedule. While mechanical problems got the better of some teams, other teams found success at the Perry Bullring for the first time in a long time, or for the first time ever.

Full-fendered racing took center stage at WCIS with round two of the Late Model Madness Series. Ron Nurmi of Hamburg captured the 30-lap feature for his first win at WCIS since 1999.

Nurmi launched from the outside of the front row to take the lead. His brother, Scott, started fifth by was up to second by the end of lap one.

The Nurmi family continued to run first and second until lap 18 when Scott would be challenged for position. Todd Hoddick ran under Nurmi coming out of turn four, but got loose and slid into him on the front stretch. Hoddick passed by Nurmi going into turn one, but in turn two Nurmi ran into his back bumper. Both cars spun out to bring out the race’s first caution.

Raindrops fell during the yellow flag period and delayed the race for several minutes. The wet weather subsided and racing resumed. Billy Ray Pruitt was now running second and he would give Ron Nurmi a run for the win.

Pruitt tried using his preferred outside groove to get by Nurmi, but could not get past him. Nurmi held on for the win with Pruitt settling for second. George Skora III picked up a couple of spots while running the outside groove and finished third. Barry Gommer and Todd Hoddick rounded out the top five.

The race was originally scheduled for 40-lap, but was shortened to 30 due to weather concerns.

Richard Thomas of Silver Lake picked up his first win of the season in the SST Sportsman. Thomas darted under Don Pringle in turn one to take the lead on lap seven. It is Thomas’s first win since 2005.

Pringle held on to finish second for his second-straight top three finish. Rookie Erick Rudolph continues to impress with his third-straight top five finish in his first three starts. Rudolph wrestled the third spot away from points leader, Wayne Lent, in the final laps. Dick Kluth finished fifth.

In the Super Stocks, Kevin Herbert posted his first win since 2001. Herbert was making just his second start of the year in Bob Herman’s backup car, when he inherited the lead on lap seven. It was Herman, who tangled with Josh Beardsley while racing for first to put Herbert in front.

Herbert cruised the final 13 laps to pick up the win. Jacob Logsdon finished second. Tony Pangrazio, Todd Stone, and Pete Pieczysnki rounded out the top five.

Kevin Grom earned his first career win the 4-Cylinder Wasps. First place was not a safe place to be in this race as twice the leader of the race found trouble. Matt Scott led until lap three when he went three wide into turn three with Tom Bellanca and Jeff Harvey. Scott and Bellanca both spun out, handing the lead over to Harvey.

Mike Meyers took the lead from Harvey after the restart. Meyers was looking for his first feature victory after winning his first heat earlier in the day. Jeff Pringle was in search of his fifth win a row as he chased down Meyers during the second half of the race. With three laps to go Pringle was racing side by side with Meyers when they tangled in turn two and spun out down the backstretch.

This put Grom in the lead, and he stayed there the rest of the way. Jeff and Ryan Harvey finished first and second. Eric Hastrieter and Frank Piccione rounded out the top five.

Josh Dietrich dominated the Junior Mini Cup feature for his first win, in just his first start. He’s the first driver besides Robby Becker to win in the Juniors. Becker finished second.

Kris Hammann won his first Pro Modified Mini Cup race at WCIS. He came out on top in a three-car battle with Robbie Micoli and Jesse Hartloff. Micoli took the lead for a lap, but Hammann wrestled it back.

Next week, July 30, the Super Stocks are off but the SST Sportsman and 4-Cylinder Wasps will be in action. The Slingshots by Tobias and Microds are tentatively scheduled to be on the race card as well. Racing starts at 2:30 PM.

RESULTS

LATE MODEL MADNESS ROUND #2
Heat Winners – Ron Nurmi, Billy Ray Pruitt

Feature –
1. (2) RON NURMI #2
2. (6) Billy Ray Pruitt #88
3. (3) George Skora, III #65
4. (9) Barry Gommer #58
5. (10) Todd Hoddick #49
6. (4) Kevin Lewis #8
7. (12) Bill Matuszak #1
8. (5) Scott Nurmi #20
9. (8) Art Logsdon #07
10. (7) T.J. Johnson #99
11. (1) Jeff Haas #25
12. (11) Brad Collings #28
DNS: Ron Richter #31x

SST SPORTSMAN
Heat Winners – Don Pringle, Erick Rudolph

Feature –
1. (3) RICHARD THOMAS #15
2. (1) Don Pringle #96
3. (9) Erick Rudolph #12
4. (8) Wayne Lent #94
5. (6) Dick Kluth #27
6. (5) Pete Yasses #71
7. (16) Ron Williams #E1
8. (4) Butch Crawford #72
9. (11) Jim Love #22
10. (2) Mike Bliss #72B
11. (13) Steve Fuchs #0
12. (17) Gary Walker #17
13. (15) Tom Wiest #35
14. (14) Dan Hoag #2
15. (7) Jim Pierce #29
16. (10) Jerry Harding, Jr. #57
17. (18) Bill Verwys #36
18. (12) Don Wylie #97

SUPER STOCKS
Heat Winners – Josh Beardsley, Bob Herman

Feature –
1. (8) KEVIN HERBERT #1x
2. (9) Jacob Logsdon #07
3. (6) Tony Pangrazio #41
4. (4) Todd Stone #28
5. (1) Pete Pieczynski #89
6. (5) Bob Herman #1
7. (2) Josh Beardsley #44
8. (10) Marty Hughes #09x
9. (3) Steve Vinyard #09
10. (7) Chris Ford #06
11. (11) Chris Stratton #01

4- CYLINDER WASPS
Heat Winners – Tom Bellanca Jr., Mike Meyers

Feature – KEVIN GROM, Jeff Harvey, Ryan Harvey, Eric Hastrieter, Frank Piccione, Dan Scott, Mike Meyers, Jeff Pringle, Otis Bradshaw, Sam Mazzarella, Robert Dennie, Cheryl Packman, Joe Sedia, Matt Scott, Tom Bellanca, Megan Fretto and Mike Shaugnessey.

WNY MINI CUP CLUB
Heat Winners – Josh Dietrich (Junior), Kris Hammann (Pro Mod)

Junior Feature – JOSH DIETRICH, Robby Becker, Daniel Majchrzak, Michelle Becker and Glenn Cascia.

Pro Mod Feature – KRIS HAMMANN, Robbie Micoli, Jesse Hartloff, Paul Faleski, Amy Becker, Tony Kulesza, Roy Becker, Ron Shisler, Kevin Suttner and Paul Young.

Wyoming County International Speedway - Sunday Racing 2:30 pm
35 Adrian Road/PO Box 203
Perry, NY 14530
(585) 237-2580 Office, (585) 237-2510 Track

Source: Dave Buchanan/Wyoming County International Speedway PR
Additions: Mark Southcott/NYRaceZone.com
Posted: July 24, 2006