8/26/07

BUCK CATALANO TOPS MODIFIED BUD 50 FIELD

 
Lancaster, NY: It was quite a weekend for Buck Catalano as he won Friday night at Spencer Speedway and came to Lancaster Raceway Park the next night and took the checkered flag in the Modified Bud 50 feature. Catalano capitalized on a late race mechanical problem by race leader Tom McGrath to take his first win of the season at LRP. Also visiting Victory Lane on Saturday were Dave Wollaber in the TQ Midgets, Tom Agen in the Street Stocks, Dave Johnson in the Super Stocks, Nick Cappelli in the SST Sportsman and Matt Alix in the Late Models.

Starting the nights action off were the Probity Group TQ Midgets. Starting on the pole was Chris Bandelian and he took the initial lead at the drop of the green flag. However he soon found himself being shuffled back and Arik McGruder took over the top spot. McGruder also wouldn’t have much of a chance to savor the lead as veteran Wayne Turnbull dove inside on lap four to take command of the top running spot. Dave Wollaber, who had started fifth, was now running right behind Turnbull in second and on lap six grabbed the lead and effectively ended the lead swapping as he took command of the race, setting a torrid pace around Lancaster’s inner oval. A late race caution regrouped the field but it didn’t matter to Wollaber who again took off and claimed sole possession of the lead. Behind Wollaber, Turnbull, McGruder, Vinny Christiano Jr., and Bobby Holmes battled for position, but crossing the finish line first and taking home his third TQ win of the season was Dave Wollaber.

Tom Agen claimed his first win of the 2007 season in the McGard Street Stocks after a hard fought race. Agen grabbed the lead on lap three by passing leader Rob Bulger but then Agen had to contend with heavy pressure from the powerhouses of the street stock division – Cory Gallagher, John Julicher Jr., Andy Jankowiak, and Tim Garlock – who were all breathing down his neck as they raced behind him. Veteran driver John Hewson Jr. also ran with the top pack of cars until an incident on lap eight sent him to the tail of the field with Garlock, leaving Gallagher, Julicher, Jankowiak, Jeff Madill, and Scott Mutka as the challengers to Agen. However, Agen ran a smart race and was able to fend off the rest of the field and raced his way to Victory Lane.

The Ray Laks Resale Super Stocks once again put on quite a show for the fans as Dave Johnson out dueled Wayne Bernhard to capture his fourth victory of the year. The first and only yellow flag of the night cam on lap three and was a tough toll on the field. As Johnson and Frank Batista Jr. battled side by side for the lead, Bernhard, George Roesch, Jay Mudra, and Jay Canonico were involved in a chain reaction incident in between turns one and two. Canonico and Mudra were done for the night with heavy front end damage on both cars while the rest of the field was able to continue. On the restart it was Johnson and Batista battling for the lead again until Johnson took sole possession of the top running spot on lap seven. Bernhard passed Batista for second just one lap later and the battle between the top two drivers in points was on. Bernhard, who had made mechanical adjustments to try to run the outside line against Johnson, began a heavy assault on lap fifteen and it was a back and forth battle for the top spot. Crossing the finish line first and by barely a car length was Dave Johnson.

The Lorigo Insurance SST Sportsman were next on the racing card and saw a season high twenty one cars make up the starting grid. The SST’s put on a demonstration for the fans as they ran a green to checkered finish race with lots of hard, clean driving and passing. Russ Gian started from the pole position with Sherri Hogan to his outside. Hogan was strung out on the outside at the drop of the green and soon found herself back in seventh by lap four. Up front Billy Burd and Nick Cappelli were putting heavy pressure on leader Gian and Cappelli took advantage of a bobble by Burd to take second and then go on to take the lead from Gian on lap nine. By the halfway point of the race Cappelli had built quite a lead over Burd, Gian, Tom MacLeod, Erick Rudolph, and Kirk Rutherford. Within the second pack of cars an intense battle was brewing as both MacLeod and Rudolph were trying to advance their positions. With just five laps to go, Cappelli remained the leader with Burd safely behind him, although Rudolph had slotted into third, MacLeod into fourth, and Rutherford into fifth. Rudolph was quickly gaining on Burd while Rutherford was challenging MacLeod for fifth. There was not enough laps however for any more advancements on the track as the top five of Cappelli, Burd, Rudolph, MacLeod, and Rutherford crossed the finish line as the top five.

Jeff Brown Jr. and Scott Skora brought the Bobcat of Buffalo Late Model field down to the green flag for the night’s feature and Brown grabbed the initial lead. An early yellow flag forced a double file restart but after that the field ran clean and green for the rest of the race. On the restart Brown once again jumped into the top spot, although Skora was a victim of the outside groove as he got stuck up there and shuffled back through the field. Matt Alix and Bobby Weber took advantage of Skora’s bad luck and pounced on the second and third place spots. On lap three Alix grabbed the lead from Brown as he slipped underneath him and took Weber with him, relegating Brown back to third. Further back in the pack, Todd Hoddick and Ron Nurmi were making their way through the field and gained fourth and fifth positions respectively. Soon Hoddick and Nurmi were tag teaming Brown as they went low and took third and fourth position. By the halfway point Alix and Weber had built a lead on third place Hoddick by that wasn’t going to last very long as Hoddick soon caught second place Weber. As Weber and Hoddick dueled, Alix was able to cushion his lead. In a daring three wide move with a lap car on the inside and Weber on his outside, Hoddick dove through the middle to take the second spot. There were not enough laps however to catch the leader and Alix cruised home to his second win of the season.

The main event of the evening – the Modified Bud 50 – saw a strong field of eighteen cars that was filled with wily veteran drivers and young hotshoes, all battling for the prestigious win. Tom McGrath and Brett Scherrer comprised the front row as Danny Knoll Jr., Pete Brittain, and Buck Catalano comprised the top five starters. By lap two, McGrath took sole possession of the lead and left the rest of the field to battle for second place on back. Behind him Scherrer, Knoll, B. Catalano, Erick Rudolph, Brittain, Sege Fidanza, Chuck Hossfeld, and Wilbur Hebing sliced and diced for position. Knoll began applying heavy pressure to Scherrer and Knoll and B.Catalano came together and sparking in the process. Both continued but Knoll dropped back a few spots, allowing Catalano a chance at getting by Scherrer. On lap fourteen Catalano went to the outside of Scherrer and took Rudolph and Fidanza with him. Behind them they left Knoll, Hossfeld, Hebing, and Bobby Holmes to race for sixth on back. By the halfway point of the race McGrath had built a huge lead over the field as the second pack of cars consisting of B. Catalano, Rudolph, and Fidanza tried to gain ground on the leader while racing each other at the same time. A golden opportunity presented itself for the field in the form of a yellow flag on lap 26 which re-lined the field up in a single file restart with McGrath, B. Catalano, Rudolph, Fidanza, Scherrer, Hossfeld, and Hebing as the front runners. Once again however McGrath was able to jump into the lead. Behind him Hossfeld began moving up as he passed Scherrer for fifth while Hebing did the same, sending Scherrer back to seventh. Soon the top four of McGrath, B. Catalano, Rudolph, and Fidanza had gained some ground on Hossfeld and Hebing. Just ten laps remained as McGrath stretched out his lead over B. Catalano while Fidanza gave it everything he had to try to get around Rudolph. McGrath’s perfect night began going south as some late race mechanical troubles appeared as he slowed dramatically. The race leader spun out on his own in turn four, effectively handing over the lead to Buck Catalano. A single file restart was in order with Catalano, Rudolph, Fidanza, Hossfeld, and Hebing leading the way. Another late race yellow on lap 45 had the same restart order and at the green Catalano tried to gain some distance on Rudolph and Fidanza who were racing hard for the second spot. In the end it was Buck Catalano crossing the finish line first at the end of 50 laps as he captured his second win on just two days.

Next week at Lancaster Raceway Park, the stock cars have the week off, but will return on Saturday, September 8th as Time Warner Cable and AAA present “Mr. Modified” 50 lap Modified feature and a full card of stock car racing. For more information visit www.lancasterracing.com or call 716-759-6818.

Probity Group TQ Midget Feature finish:
1. (5) DAVE WOLLABER #1
2. (3) Wayne Turnbull #31
3. (2) Arik McGruder #21
4. (4) Vinny Christiano, Jr. #2
5. (8) Bobby Holmes #22
6. (7) Warren Mahoney #3
7. (11) Dick Mahoney #79
8. (10) Cam Barber #9
9. (1) Chris Bandelian #34
10. (12) Dean McConnaughey #99
11. (14) Russell Knutsen #33
12. (13) Shaun Szejnar #14
13. (6) Mark Schulz #X
14. (15) Randy Bolam #7 (subbing for Danny Lawrence)
15. (9) Mike Blair #8

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-5 McGruder; Laps 6-20 Wollaber
Heat Winners: Wollaber, Schulz

McGard Street Stock Feature Finish:
1. (4) TOM AGEN #3
2. (11) Andy Jankowiak #73
3. (6) Cory Gallagher #24
4. (7) John Julicher, Jr. #9
5. (9) Jeff Madill #6
6. (8) Scott Mutka #23
7. (10) Tim Garlock #88
8. (5) Terry Weldy #49 (subbing for Jim Bryant)
9. (14) Matt Jurek #57
10. (3) Bobby Hanel, Jr. #33
11. (17) Gary Denea #33D
12. (18) Gary Bartella #99
13. (2) Rob Bulger #32
14. (1) Bob Blaszak, Jr. #53
15. (22) Joe Light #44
16. (13) Don DeVille #61 (subbing for Tom DeVille)
17. (20) Paul Tessier #12
18. (16) Rick Ortwein #58
19. (12) John Hewson, Jr. #58H
20. (19) Debbie Jurek #65
21. (15) Mike Maggiore #28
22. (21) Ed Nowak #96
23. (23) Keith Flanigan #26

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-3 Bulger; Laps 4-20 Agen
Heat Winners: Hanel Jr., Garlock, Julicher Jr.

Ray Laks Resale Super Stock Feature Finish:
1. (1) DAVE JOHNSON #52
2. (4) Wayne Bernhard #23
3. (3) George Roesch #61
4. (2) Frank Batista, Jr. #37
5. (6) Jay Mudra #16
6. (5) Jay Canonico #13

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-2 Johnson; Laps 4-5 Batista; Laps 6-14 Johnson; Laps 15-18 Bernhard; Laps 19-20 Johnson

Lorigo Insurance SST Sportsman Feature Finish:
1. (5) NICK CAPPELLI #86
2. (3) Billy Burd #20
3. (7) Erick Rudolph #12
4. (4) Tom MacLeod #32
5. (9) Kirk Rutherford #11
6. (1) Russ Gian #9
7. (2) Sherri Hogan #74
8. (8) Eddie Murray #37
9. (10) Jon Price #13
10. (6) Scott Reece #16
11. (13) Frank Booker, Jr. #22
12. (11) David Tedesco #44
13. (15) Jeff Evans #91
14. (20) Rick Kluth #40
15. (14) John Barber #01
16. (16) Jerry Harding, Jr. #57B
17. (18) Luke Wozniak #57
18. (17) Dick Kluth #27
19. (21) Fred Taylor #44T
20. (19) Mike Stevenson #1
21. (12) Ed Weber #4

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-6 Gian; Laps 7-20 Cappelli
Heat Winners: Hogan, Cappelli

Bobcat of Buffalo Late Model Feature Finish:
1. (4) MATT ALIX #24
2. (6) Todd Hoddick #49
3. (5) Bobby Weber #11
4. (3) Ron Nurmi #2
5. (2) Scott Skora #56
6. (1) Jeff Brown, Jr. #3
7. (8) Mark Pennell #18
8. (7) Tommy Reese #54
9. (10) Dan Habuda #15
10. (9) Jeff Merritt #61
11. (11) Richard Arndt #29
12. (12) Art Hill #10

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-3 Brown; Laps 4-25 Alix
Heat Winners: Skora, Hoddick

Modified Feature Finish:
1. (5) BUCK CATALANO #4
2. (7) Erick Rudolph #45
3. (6) Sege Fidanza #77
4. (8) Chuck Hossfeld #22H
5. (9) Bill Hebing #66
6. (11) Bobby Holmes #22
7. (2) Brett Scherrer #8
8. (3) Danny Knoll, Jr. #17
9. (13) Patsy Catalano #45C
10. (4) Pete Brittain #66B
11. (14) Billy Putney #88
12. (16) Mark Tychoniewicz #01
13. (10) Rick Kluth #44
14. (1) Tom McGrath #12
15. (17) Tom Wiest #35
16. (15) Kevin Lewis #44x
17. (12) Sean O’Neill #7
DNS: Ed Grimmer #81

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-43 McGrath; Laps 44-50 B. Catalano
Heat Winners: Fidanza, B.Catalano

Source: Lori Overdorf/Lancaster PR
Additions: Mark Southcott/NYRaceZone.com
Posted: August 26, 2007