7/13/2005

SPRUCE, POREBSKI, HARTLOFF HEAD HOLLAND WILD AND WACKY WEDNESDAY WINNERS

Holland, NY: In Round 2 of Holland Speedway's Wild and Wacky Wednesday Series, Pat Spruce of Cattaraugus, NY captured his second 8-cylinder strictly stock Challenger event of the season, Brian Porebski of Hamburg, NY notched win number three in the Pro Four main, and Jesse Hartloff of Forestville, NY was victorious in the feature race for the WNY Mini Cups.

In other Holland action, Mary Place of West Valley, NY made it two straight wins in the Queen Bee division, while Dan Nellist of West Falls, NY made his initial outing of the season a successful one, with a win in the 4-cylinder strictly stock Hornet main. Rich Perkins of East Concord, NY rolled to his third win of the year in the Figure 8 Car main.

Although isolated thunderstorms dotted the Western New York landscape on Wednesday evening, Holland was able to get one in on Mother Nature, as not a drop fell around the Speedway throughout the day.

Pat Spruce worked his Seneca Gaming and Casino/Custom Auto Truck Monte Carlo by Rich Hoch for the top spot on lap 16 of the 25 lap Challenger go, and rolled away to hold a five car length margin of victory at the checkers. Hoch, who had led from laps 2 through 15, held off a lap 20 challenge from Matt Welshans to drive on to a second place finish, while Welshans fended off last week's winner Sean Kirsch to grab third.

The 25 lap Pro Four main was an entertaining, competitive event, as Dan Brew and Brian Slippy raced for the lead in the mid stages of the race, with Brew finally getting the advantage off of a lap 10 restart. But the Tom's Performance/Stadium Collision Nissan of Brian Porebski was on the move, getting by Rob Willard for third on lap 11, battling by Slippy for second on lap 16, and sneaking underneath Brew for the top spot on lap 21. Porebski would hold on for the win, as a great battle for second played out behind him. Brew would drop out with two to go with mechanical troubles, as Rob Willard pulled a gutsy three-wide-up-the-middle move to take the number two spot, just ahead of Slippy and Damian Fisher. Unfortunately, both Willard and Fisher would lose their top four finishes to camber rule violations in post-race tech inspection.

Jesse Hartloff raced his Dugan and Dugan Mini Cup racer by Kevin Suttner on lap 4 of the 20 lap event, held on through a mid-race re-start, then sped away to hold a straightaway victory margin at the checkers. Suttner, the winner a week earlier, had to settle for second place this time around, with Charlie Pellien taking third.

Past champ Dan Nellist pulled his R&R Tuttle Farms Honda out of storage on Sunday, brought it to the Speedway for the first time in 2005 on Wednesday, started 21st in the field, and needed only 17 laps to work his way into the lead en route to the win in the 30 lap Hornet race. Three-time winner Jesse Baker chased Nellist home in second, while Nik Welshans survived a last lap shuffle to finish third.

Mary Place led flag-to-flag in her Southern Tier Auto Center Honda to capture the 15 lap caution-free Queen Bee victory. Points leader Laura Yandricha kept it close, but had to be content with a second place showing, while Nicole Twoguns placed third.

Rich Perkins led green-to-checker in his Southern Tier Auto Center entry for the win in the 15 lap Figure 8 Car event. Greg Urban finished a distant second, with Jason Eck taking third.

News and Notes.... Three Did Not Starts of note - 2004 Pro Four Champ Bob Slippy was forced to trailer early with a blown engine in hot laps; 2004 WNY Mini Cup Champ Paul Young was forced to the infield with a broken rear axle just before the opening green flag of that division's event; and the racing debut of Ashley Kirschberger, daughter of long time Holland competitor Ed Kirschberger, had to be postponed when her 4-cylinder Queen Bee developed a massive fuel line leak during the late afternoon practice session.

Wild and Wacky Wednesday racing at Holland will continue on July 20th, with a Flagpole race added to the card. Race time is 7:30 pm, with adult grandstand admission just $4.00. For more information, contact the Speedway office at (716)-537-2272.

Holland Speedway Race Results - Wednesday, July 13, 2005

CHALLENGERS - 25 laps: PAT SPRUCE, Rich Hoch, Matt Welshans, Sean Kirsch, George Urban, Rick Roth, John West, and Ted Welshans. DNS - Jerry Carpenter.

PRO FOURS - 25 laps: BRIAN POREBSKI, Brian Slippy, Jason Adams, Mike Eckam, Dan Hutchinson, Rich Perkins, Shawn Lafferty, Dan Brew, Chad Pusloski, Rich Carnes, and Greg Urban. DNS - Bob Slippy. DQ - Rob Willard, Damian Fisher.

WNY MINI CUPS - 20 laps: JESSE HARTLOFF, Kevin Suttner, Charlie Pellien, Robbie Micoli, Tony Kulesza, Kris Hammon, and Amy Becker. DNS - Paul Young.

HORNETS - 30 laps: DAN NELLIST, Jesse Baker, Nik Welshans, Ricky Roth, Bill Mauerman, Jason Eck, Wayne Fisher, Bill Lutz, Bill Lass, Bob Marzec, Greg Diman, Joe Mastrocicco III, Chris Hazeltine, Noreen Koningisor, Rich Perkins, Greg Urbam, Tyler Roth, Eric Marzec, Jason Wozniak, Rob Roth, Jerry Toms, and Pat Spruce. DNS - Ed Kirschberger.

QUEEN BEES - 15 laps: MARY PLACE, Laura Yandricha, Nicole Twoguns, Noreen Koningisor, Sarah Shisler, and Marcia Sullivan. DNS - Ashley Kirschberger.

FIGURE 8 CARS - 15 laps: RICH PERKINS, Greg Urban, Jason Eck, Jason Wozniak, and Greg Diman.

Source: Rick Mooney/Holland PR
Posted: July 14, 2005