8/6/06

WOLLABER, CARBONE, CAPPELLI, JOHNSON TAKE LANCASTER ROC QUALIFIERS

 
Following two weeks of wet weather the Lancaster Raceway Park finally got back to racing with a special Sunday afternoon features-only program. As an added bonus some of the feature winners were given a guaranteed starting spot for the Race of Champions at Oswego in September.

The mighty Modifieds saw their first racing action in a month with Dave Wollaber picking up the win in the 30-lap feature. Wollaber started third behind front row starters Brett Scherrer and Karl Hehr.

Scherrer grabbed the lead from the drop of the green flag, but Wollaber went to the front in a hurry. He passed Scherrer for the lead on lap three and never looked back.

Wollaber did not get away from everyone in the field as Sege Fidanza kept him on his toes the entire way. Fidanza moved into second on lap four and stayed glued to Wollaber’s back bumper for the final 26 laps.

Meanwhile, three others drivers slugged it out for the rest of the top five spots. Karl Hehr, Bobby Holmes, and Tom McGrath traded positions 3-5 on the race track for several laps until Holmes finally wrestled it away at the halfway point of the race.

Only once did the yellow flag come out as it flew on lap 22. Bob Reis developed an overheating problem and spun out in turn one as his car leaked water on the track.

This bunched the field up for the final eight laps and gave Fidanza and Holmes to get by Dave Wollaber. Wollaber, however, stayed out front and cruised to his first win of the season in the Modifieds. It was also his first win driving for Dave and Laura DeLange in the DeLange Racing/Englewood Collision #45.

Sege Fidanza held on to the runner-up spot. Bobby Holmes, Karl Hehr, and Tom McGrath rounded out the top five. Billy Putney finished sixth just one day after winning his first Modified race at the Oswego Speedway.

Joe Carbone showed off in front of his fellow UPS employees by winning the Bobcat of Buffalo Late Model feature on UPS day at the races. Carbone, a maintenance mechanic at UPS, passed Ron Nurmi for the lead with just four laps to go to get the win. The win is Carbone’s 24th at Lancaster, and breaks a tie with track owner Jim Reid for sixth most wins all-time in the Late Models.

Nurmi held on to finish second over a trio of Skoras as Rich Skora finished third, George Skora III finished fourth, and Scott Skora finished fifth.

Nick Cappelli picked up his third win of the year in the SST Sportsman. Cappelli started ninth and was forced to challenge a good friend of his to get the win. Craig Dolphin, who works out the same garage as Cappelli, was leading when Cappelli pulled alongside of him on lap nine.

Cappelli took over the lead one lap later and led the rest of the way. Dolphin finished second for his second-straight finish in the top two spots. Bill Burd, Justin Shepker, and Eddie Murray rounded out the top five.

“Dynamite” Dave Johnson won his second Jerry Gradl Motors Super Stock feature of the season. Johnson started on the pole and led all 20 laps. Wayne Bernhard finished second, but provided a stiff challenge to Johnson. Frank Batista, Doug Evans, and Paul Alberti also finished inside the top five.

The Glen Campbell Chevrolet Street Stocks had their biggest field of the year with 36 cars in competition. In a special twist to their racing program, the field split into two separate 15-lap features.

Points determined the lineup for each race with the drivers in the even positions in the standings placed in the first race. Drivers in the odd number positions were put in the second one. The top ten in points in each race were inverted with the 20th and 19th place drivers in the standings starting on the pole in their respective feature.

In the first race, Russell Knutsen picked up his second win of the season. He reeled in pole-sitter Andy Jankowiak, who had led from the drop of the green flag, and passed him for first with just three laps to go.

While Knutsen took the win, the two drivers that finished behind him picked up their best ever finishes. Jankowiak’s runner-up finish was his best run after leading the first 11 laps of the race. Rookie Cory Gallagher also had a great run with a third place finish. Gary Bartella and Joe Mergl completed the top five.

Kevin Mendel won the second feature for his first career win. Mendel took the lead with less than just five laps to go, and then held off a last lap challenge from Tom Agen Sr.

Agen’s last lap challenge cost him the second spot as Jim Bryant got by him. Bryant continues to lead the point standings in the Street Stocks. Agen finished third. Mike Maggiore and Scott Mutka closed out the top five.

A.J. Hessler won the 20-lap TQ Midget feature by leading every lap. He held off Christiano Racing teammates, Dave Wollaber and Jamie Collard, who put a serious challenge. Dan Lawrence and Arik McGruder also finished in the top five. The stock car racing program at Lancaster is off until Saturday, August 19. That night is also Spirit Night as fans are encouraged to show support for their favorite drivers. The best fans of a driver in each division will win a trophy from A Cut Above Engraving. All divisions will be in action, including the Modifieds. Racing starts at 6:30 PM.

RESULTS

MODIFIEDS

Feature –
1. (3) DAVE WOLLABER #45
2. (5) Sege Fidanza #77
3. (6) Bobby Holmes #22
4. (2) Karl Hehr #59
5. (7) Tom McGrath #12
6. (4) Billy Putney #88
7. (8) Bob Reis #10
8. (9) Sean O’Neill #7
9. (12) Ron Martin #1
10. (11) Mark Tychoniewicz #44x
11. (1) Brett Scherrer #8
12. (10) Rick Kluth #44

BOBCAT OF BUFFALO LATE MODELS

Feature –
1. JOE CARBONE #31
2. Ron Nurmi #2
3. Rich Skora #75
4. George Skora, III #65
5. Scott Skora #56
6. Mike Ticco #65sr
7. Bobby Weber #11
8. Dan Habuda #15 <115>
9. Art Hill #10
10. Scott Nurmi #20
11. Dave Rigan #93
12. T.J. Johnson #99
13. Ray Valentine #11x
14. Mark Pennell #18
15. Tommy Reese #54

SST SPORTSMAN

Feature –
1. (9) NICK CAPPELLI #86
2. (3) Craig Dolphin #98
3. (6) Bill Burd #20
4. (8) Justin Shepker #60
5. (5) Eddie Murray #37
6. (7) Russ Gian #9
7. (4) Sherri Hogan #74
8. (10) Frank Booker, Jr. #22
9. (12) Ed Grimmer #31
10. (16) Jerry Harding, Jr. #57B
11. (1) Kirk Rutherford #11
12. (13) Mike Stevenson #1
13. (15) T.J. Petrie #57
14. (11) Ed Weber #4
15. (17) Will Hirsch #17
16. (14) Luke Wozniak #7
17. (2) Jerry Gradl, Jr. #2

JERRY GRADL MOTORS SUPER STOCKS

Feature –
1. (1) DAVE JOHNSON #52
2. (7) Wayne Bernhard #23
3. (4) Frank Batista, Jr. #37
4. (5) Doug Evans #57
5. (10) Paul Alberti #34
6. (8) Jason Gwin #30
7. (9) Jay Canonico #13
8. (6) Mike Scott #59
9. (3) Kyle Sharpe #92
10. (2) Rick Widmer #78
DNS: Ed Lechner #8

GLEN CAMPBELL CHEVROLET STREET STOCKS

Feature #1 – RUSSELL KNUTSEN, Andy Jankowiak, Cory Gallagher, Gary Bartella, Joe Mergl, Tim Garlock, Bobby Hanel Jr., Jeff Madill, Jim Stein, Bob Hanel Sr., Tom Deville, Bob Blaszak, Jeff Guidotti, Wayne Lavis, Tim Neis, Steve Cochran, Matt Jurek, Jim Sulzbach, Paul Tessier

Feature #2 – KEVIN MENDEL, Jim Bryant, Tom Agen Sr., Mike Maggiore, Scott Mutka, Gary Light, Rich Hoch, Rick Ortwein, John Julicher Jr., Dennis Pieczynski, Rob Bulger, Kaz Tarasek, Mike Fedele, Bill Wruck, Ed Nowak, Debbie Jurek, Joe Light, Tom Agen Jr.

TQ MIDGETS
Heat Winners (run on 7/29) – Jamie Collard, Dave Wollaber

Feature – A.J. HESSLER, Dave Wollaber, Jamie Collard, Dan Lawrence, Arik McGruder, Vinny Christiano Jr., Mike Blair, Wayne Turnbull, Jared Turnbull, Jim Fleischmann, Charlie DiRosa, Junior Haywood, Chad Haywood, Rob Croft, Mark Schulz, D.J. Sossong

Source: Dave Buchanan/Lancaster Raceway Park PR
Additions: Mark Southcott/NYRaceZone.com
Posted: August 7, 2006