5/31/09

RAIN SHORTENS DTRP SHOW AS DRUAR, GARLOCK AND PRICE VISIT VICTORY LANE

 
Lancaster, NY: Mother Nature rained on the parade at Dunn Tire Raceway Park on Saturday, May 30th, forcing the postponement of the Modified feature event. Before the rains fell however, three feature events were completed. Matt Druar claimed his second straight victory in the 4 Cylinders while Tim Garlock held off a late race charge by John Hewson to win the Street Stock feature. Jonathon Price finally won his first DTRP SST Sportsman feature with a dominating performance.

The 4 Cylinders were the first feature of the night on Military Appreciation Night at DTRP. Last week’s feature winner Matt Druar started from the third position and immediately began to challenge leader Derek Wagner. Wagner wouldn’t make it easy for Druar as Druar was forced to look high and low around the Wagner car for a chance to take the lead. On lap four Druar finally powered his way around Wagner on the high side to take the top spot. Druar soon built a sizable lead for himself and was the first to cross the finish line, taking home his second consecutive victory of the 2009 season.

The SST Sportsman took to the track for the first time this season with a field full of top notch competitors. Mark Pennell, Jonathon Price, Todd Hoddick, Tom McGrath, and Bobby Holmes brought the field to the green flag and Price immediately slotted into the top running position. McGrath soon moved into second and Jeff Price, who had started sixth, raced into the third spot. “Yellow Fever” plagued the early laps of the 35 lap feature with three yellow flags in the first 12 laps of the feature. Jonathon Price held onto the lead through multiple double file restarts with veteran Tom McGrath to his outside. By the halfway point of the feature the field had settled into a rhythm and Price had a dominate lead over McGrath, Jeff Price, Putney, and Jerry Gradl Jr. Jeff Price began applying heavy pressure to second place McGrath and on lap 24 contact between the two competitors sent McGrath spinning and Price tail for contact. The single file restart pitted leader Jonathon Price against Putney who had inherited the second place running position. With ten to go Putney was keeping pace with Price but couldn’t mount a serious challenge for the lead as Price had just enough breathing room as the leader. Jonathon Price held onto his lead and captured his first Dunn Tire Raceway Park SST Sportsman division checkered flag.

The fan favorite Street Stocks were next up on the racing card and gave the crowd quite a show with their trademark side by side, three wide racing and competitive field. Mike Nash, Matt Jurek, Cory Gallagher, Scott Mutka, and Tim Garlock started the race in the top five slots and at the drop of the green Nash took the lead while Garlock slotted into second. With Nash leading, Garlock was in hot pursuit and by lap nine, both cars were racing side by side, battling for the lead. Garlock was the victor of the battle and took sole possession of the lead by lap 11. However, the car on the move was John Hewson who had started in the ninth starting spot. By the halfway point of the race Hewson had moved up to third but was a considerable distance behind both Nash and Garlock. That changed though with a yellow flag on lap 14 of the 25 lap feature that bunched the field back up with a single file restart. Garlock got a good start and built a comfortable lead while Nash tried to fend off Hewson. However just three laps later Hewson got by Nash and set his sights for the leader. The race heated up with just two laps to go as Hewson was at Garlock’s bumper and Mutka, Jurek, Gallagher, and Jim Stein raced three wide around the track, swapping positions fourth on back. Up front Hewson was a man on a mission trying to get around Garlock for the lead. As the two came down to the checkered flag, Hewson dove low on Garlock coming out of turn four and got up as far as Garlock’s door, but Garlock crossed the finish line first and took home his first win of the season.

The Modifieds were scheduled as the last race of the season but Mother Nature had other plans as only one lap of the 50 lap feature was completed. The rain out sets the stage for double 50 lap features next week for the “Mighty” Modifieds. The June 6th show will also feature the 4 Cylinders, Street Stocks, and SST Sportsman. A “Pit Party” from 5:30pm-6pm is also scheduled where fans will be able to come down on the frontstretch and meet their favorite drivers. For more information visit the DTRP website – www.dunntireracewaypark.com – or call Director of Stock Car Events Lori Overdorf at 716-207-2824.

4 Cylinder Feature Finish (5/30/09):
1. (3) Matt Druar #57
2. (1) Derek Wagner #61
3. (4) Charles Buchanan #09
4. (8) Dan Roesch #69
5. (10) Tim Durfy #25
6. (7) Ken Hejna #9
7. (5) Kevin Morreale #14
8. (6) Dean Siminski #8
9. (9) Jayme Thompson #54
10. (2) Cassie McGrath #11
11. (11) Kalie Clementi #29.

Lap Leaders: 1-3 Wagner; 4-20 Druar.

Street Stock Feature Finish (5/30/09):
1. (5) Tim Garlock #88
2. (9) John Hewson, Jr. #58H
3. (1) Mike Nash #13
4. (4) Scott Mutka #23
5. (2) Matt Jurek #57
6. (3) Cory Gallagher #24
7. (7) Jim Stein #21
8. (6) Mike Maggiore #28
9. (13) Jeff Guidotti #20
10. (11) Dave Frieder #7
11. (10) Steve Cochran #70
12. (12) Gary Bartella #3
13. (14) Joe Haley #43
14. (17) Nate Straus #20S
15. (15) Gary Denea #33D
16. (18) Ed Nowak #96
17. (20) Rick Ortwein #58
18. (16) Debbie Jurek #65
19. (19) Joe Light #44
20. (21) Tom Kornowski #17
21. (8) Kris Hamann #8.
DNS: Bobby Hanel #33, Jerome Hruby #76.

Lap Leaders: 1-10 Nash; 11-25 Garlock

SST Sportsman Feature Finish (5/30/09):
1. (2) Jonathon Price #13
2. (8) Billy Putney #22
3. (11) Jerry Gradl, Jr. #2
4. (5) Bobby Holmes #8
5. (1) Mark Pennell #54
6. (12) Andy Jankowiak #57
7. (3) Todd Hoddick #49
8. (10) Russ Gian #9
9. Craig Dolphin #98
10. (6) Jeff Price #31
11. Frank Batista, Jr. #37
12. (4) Tom McGrath #12
13. John Julicher, Jr. #09
14. Sherri Hogan #74
15. (7) Billy Burd #11
16. Moose Rutherford #77
17. (9) P.D. Rutherford #11x
DNS: Tom MacLeod #29, David Tedesco #44.

Lap Leader: 1-35 Jonathon Price

MODIFIED 50 STARTING field (5/30/09, postponed to June 6 with one lap completed):
1. Tom McGrath #12
2. Eric Beers #45 (not returning)
3. Brett Scherrer #8
4. Billy Putney #88
5. Sege Fidanza #77
6. Karl Hehr #59
7. Erick Rudolph #59R
8. Jimmy Zacharias #71
9. Chuck Hossfeld #22
10. Jeff Hamman, Jr. #9x
11. Dave Wollaber #5
12. Danny Knoll, Jr. #15
13. Mark Tychoniewicz #01
14. Tim Santee #9 (not returning)
15. T.J. Zacharias #71x
16. Tom Wiest #35

Lap Leader: 1 Eric Beers

Source: Lori Overdorf/DTRP PR; additions: Mark Southcott/NYRaceZone.com
Posted: June 3, 2009