RGeeProductions
05-17-2008, 09:47 AM
Buck Catalano had not been in SST Modified victory lane since 1999, when Spencer officials called the division the Grand American Modifieds. Last Friday he returned and picked up his 48th career SST Modified feature at Spencer Speedway. The SST 35-lapper saw Catalano lead every lap on his way to victory.
“I knew he (Kirk Rutherford) was all over me,” comment Catalano from victory lane. “He raced me clean and I was leaving the lane at the top open, but he never went up there.”
In the NASCAR Modified Special Whelen All-American 50, it was Wilbur Hebing taking the win, his 17th win at Spencer in a NASCAR Modified.
“The challenge of the night was saving my tires,” stated the winner. “I knew after sixty-plus laps I would need something at the end.”
Street Stock action saw Willie Strusz, a college student from Detroit, MI, easily take his second Spencer career win in the Street Stock 20-lapper. Strusz performed a back flip in victory lane, aka NASCAR’s Carl Edwards, to the delight of the fans on a cold and chilly evening.
The Super Six main went to the 2006 division champion, Kris Hillegeer. Hillegeer revealed he might not be running the entire season in the Super Six division, making the point chase a wide open affair this year. Last year’s champion, Billy Semmler, already has moved up to the Street Stock division.
The NASCAR Modifieds made their first of just eight appearances on the year at Spencer last Friday. At the drop of the green heat winner Wilbur Hebing shot out to a commanding lead. The other heat winner, Patsy Catalano, was not able to answer the call to the green and was given a did not start for the race.
Tim McMullen was able to hang with Hebing for a short time as the race remained green until lap 31, when Tom Wiest slowed exiting the fourth turn with a broken tie-rod and stopped on the front stretch.
The restart saw Hebing pull away from McMullen. One additional yellow flew. On lap 43, Mark Tychoniewicz seemed to bog down exiting the second turn while leading Buck Catalano and Mike Leaty. Catalano took evasive action, but Leaty made contact enough to send Catalano sliding through the infield grass and slamming into a dirt mound and light pole, ending his race for the night.
The last eight laps saw Hebing pull out to a three car advantage over McMullen. Chris Finocchario finished third followed by Tony Hanbury and Tychoniewicz to round out the top five. The NASCAR Modifieds return on June 13, for twin-25 lappers awarding double points.
The 35-lap SST Modifieds saw 22 cars answer the call. With a heads up start from the heat races Buck Catalano and Kirk Rutherford paced the field down to take the green. It would take three tries to get the race started. The first two were aborted by accidents. Once underway, Catalano jumped out into the lead with Rutherford right on his rear bumper. The third heat winner, Kevin Timmerman ran in third followed by Daryl Lewis Jr. Lewis Jr. was able to take third from Timmerman on lap eight using a low side pass exiting the second turn.
On lap 12 the yellow flew when Andy Lewis looped around in the first turn. Following two more laps, the race again went yellow when Fred Taylor looped down the front stretch and made contact with the inside pit lane wall.
Catalano remained in the lead. Rutherford was just a determined to stay on Catalano’s rear nerf bar, in second. These two were able to pull away from Lewis Jr. On lap 25, the yellow flew for the fifth time in the race when Mark Cline spun exiting the fourth turn. Three laps later Cline drew the sixth yellow when he coasted to a stop in the second turn.
Up front the running order remained the same with Catalano in the lead. The final yellow came on lap 33, when Phil Wehrheim looped his number 23 off the back stretch. This set up a two lap dash to the checkers. Catalano took the win followed by Rutherford, Lewis Jr., Timmerman and Terry Cheetham rounding out the top five.
“Winning these is easier when you start up front,” stated Catalano. “Even though we won, we did it with an extremely loose race car.”
The 20-lap Street Stock race started off with a yellow flag as pole sitter Tom Carino Jr. and Phil Alhart Jr. became hooked together in the fourth turn. Carino’s car suffered suspension issues and was done for the night. The restart saw Willie Strusz take a commanding lead over the rest of the field.
For eighteen circuits Strusz stretched out nearly a quarter track lead over Ryan Corso in second. The yellow flew on lap 18 when Billy Semmler and Dan Scott spun in the first turn. This bunched the field together for a two lap dash. Strusz took the win followed by Corso, Alhart Jr., Don Stevens and Semmler. In post race tech Corso was disqualified for a hidden master cylinder under his dash.
“That was a heart break to see that yellow come out with just a few laps to go,” commented Strusz. “But we were still able to get the job done.”
The 15-lap Super Six race went green-to-checker. Kris Hillegeer led the entire distance. Keith Butler passed Patti Davenport on lap six to take second. Davenport came home a distant third followed by Jesse Parks and Joe Bailey.
Racing returns this Friday at 7:30 with a Whelen All-American three star program featuring SST Modifieds, Street Stocks and Super Sixes. It will be VP Fuels night at the track.
Spencer Speedway is located just fifteen minutes east of Rochester, NY, along Route 104 in the Town of Williamson. Spencer Speedway is the local “NASCAR Place to Race” for upstate New York. Points earned each week at Spencer are counted into the national NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship.
54th SEASON OPENNER-WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN RACING NIGHT SUMMARY
SUPER-SIXES
HEAT: K. Hillegeer, K. Butler, P. Davenport, J. Parks, J. Bailey.
FEATURE (15-laps): KRIS HILLEGEER, Keith Butler, Patti Davenport, Jesse Parks, Joe Bailey, Tammie Bennett,
STREET STOCKS
HEAT: T. Carino Jr., P. Alhart, W. Strusz, M. Wright, D. Stevens.
FEATURE (20-Laps): WILLIE STRUSZ, Phil Alhart Jr., Don Stevens, Billy Semmler, Dan Scott, Mitchell Wright, Tom Carino Jr., Ryan Corso (disqualified)
NASCAR MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: W. Hebing, T. McMullen, C. Finocchario, T. Kinsella, T. Wiest.
HEAT 2: P. Catalano, T. Hanbury, M. Tychoniewicz, M. Leaty, B. Catalano.
FEATURE (50-laps): WILBUR HEBING, Tim McMullen, Chris Finocchario, Tony Hanbury, Mark Tychoniewicz, Todd Smith, Tom Kinsella, Terry Cheetham, Mike Leaty, Chris Ridsdale, Buck Catalano, Tom Wiest, Cody Jenkins, Don Stevens.
SST MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: B. Catalano, C. Finocchario, T. Cheetham, F. Taylor, T. Hanbury.
HEAT 2: K. Rutherford, D. Lewis Jr., R. Beeman, D. Lewis Sr., S. Malin.
HEAT 3: K. Timmerman, M. Lees, J. Polaski, D. Pringle, J. Hamman.
FEATURE (35-laps): BUCK CATALANO, Kirk Rutherford, Daryl Lewis Jr., Kevin Timmerman, Terry Cheetham, Chris Finocchario, Jeff Polaski, Matt Lees, Ryan Beeman, Andy Jankowiak, Jeff Hamman, Steve Malin, Tony Hanbury, Mark Tychoniewicz, Russ Brown, Phil Wehrheim, Mark Cline, Scott Combs, Daryl Lewis Sr., Fred Taylor, Andy Lewis, Don Pringle.
Gary M. Spaid
“I knew he (Kirk Rutherford) was all over me,” comment Catalano from victory lane. “He raced me clean and I was leaving the lane at the top open, but he never went up there.”
In the NASCAR Modified Special Whelen All-American 50, it was Wilbur Hebing taking the win, his 17th win at Spencer in a NASCAR Modified.
“The challenge of the night was saving my tires,” stated the winner. “I knew after sixty-plus laps I would need something at the end.”
Street Stock action saw Willie Strusz, a college student from Detroit, MI, easily take his second Spencer career win in the Street Stock 20-lapper. Strusz performed a back flip in victory lane, aka NASCAR’s Carl Edwards, to the delight of the fans on a cold and chilly evening.
The Super Six main went to the 2006 division champion, Kris Hillegeer. Hillegeer revealed he might not be running the entire season in the Super Six division, making the point chase a wide open affair this year. Last year’s champion, Billy Semmler, already has moved up to the Street Stock division.
The NASCAR Modifieds made their first of just eight appearances on the year at Spencer last Friday. At the drop of the green heat winner Wilbur Hebing shot out to a commanding lead. The other heat winner, Patsy Catalano, was not able to answer the call to the green and was given a did not start for the race.
Tim McMullen was able to hang with Hebing for a short time as the race remained green until lap 31, when Tom Wiest slowed exiting the fourth turn with a broken tie-rod and stopped on the front stretch.
The restart saw Hebing pull away from McMullen. One additional yellow flew. On lap 43, Mark Tychoniewicz seemed to bog down exiting the second turn while leading Buck Catalano and Mike Leaty. Catalano took evasive action, but Leaty made contact enough to send Catalano sliding through the infield grass and slamming into a dirt mound and light pole, ending his race for the night.
The last eight laps saw Hebing pull out to a three car advantage over McMullen. Chris Finocchario finished third followed by Tony Hanbury and Tychoniewicz to round out the top five. The NASCAR Modifieds return on June 13, for twin-25 lappers awarding double points.
The 35-lap SST Modifieds saw 22 cars answer the call. With a heads up start from the heat races Buck Catalano and Kirk Rutherford paced the field down to take the green. It would take three tries to get the race started. The first two were aborted by accidents. Once underway, Catalano jumped out into the lead with Rutherford right on his rear bumper. The third heat winner, Kevin Timmerman ran in third followed by Daryl Lewis Jr. Lewis Jr. was able to take third from Timmerman on lap eight using a low side pass exiting the second turn.
On lap 12 the yellow flew when Andy Lewis looped around in the first turn. Following two more laps, the race again went yellow when Fred Taylor looped down the front stretch and made contact with the inside pit lane wall.
Catalano remained in the lead. Rutherford was just a determined to stay on Catalano’s rear nerf bar, in second. These two were able to pull away from Lewis Jr. On lap 25, the yellow flew for the fifth time in the race when Mark Cline spun exiting the fourth turn. Three laps later Cline drew the sixth yellow when he coasted to a stop in the second turn.
Up front the running order remained the same with Catalano in the lead. The final yellow came on lap 33, when Phil Wehrheim looped his number 23 off the back stretch. This set up a two lap dash to the checkers. Catalano took the win followed by Rutherford, Lewis Jr., Timmerman and Terry Cheetham rounding out the top five.
“Winning these is easier when you start up front,” stated Catalano. “Even though we won, we did it with an extremely loose race car.”
The 20-lap Street Stock race started off with a yellow flag as pole sitter Tom Carino Jr. and Phil Alhart Jr. became hooked together in the fourth turn. Carino’s car suffered suspension issues and was done for the night. The restart saw Willie Strusz take a commanding lead over the rest of the field.
For eighteen circuits Strusz stretched out nearly a quarter track lead over Ryan Corso in second. The yellow flew on lap 18 when Billy Semmler and Dan Scott spun in the first turn. This bunched the field together for a two lap dash. Strusz took the win followed by Corso, Alhart Jr., Don Stevens and Semmler. In post race tech Corso was disqualified for a hidden master cylinder under his dash.
“That was a heart break to see that yellow come out with just a few laps to go,” commented Strusz. “But we were still able to get the job done.”
The 15-lap Super Six race went green-to-checker. Kris Hillegeer led the entire distance. Keith Butler passed Patti Davenport on lap six to take second. Davenport came home a distant third followed by Jesse Parks and Joe Bailey.
Racing returns this Friday at 7:30 with a Whelen All-American three star program featuring SST Modifieds, Street Stocks and Super Sixes. It will be VP Fuels night at the track.
Spencer Speedway is located just fifteen minutes east of Rochester, NY, along Route 104 in the Town of Williamson. Spencer Speedway is the local “NASCAR Place to Race” for upstate New York. Points earned each week at Spencer are counted into the national NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship.
54th SEASON OPENNER-WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN RACING NIGHT SUMMARY
SUPER-SIXES
HEAT: K. Hillegeer, K. Butler, P. Davenport, J. Parks, J. Bailey.
FEATURE (15-laps): KRIS HILLEGEER, Keith Butler, Patti Davenport, Jesse Parks, Joe Bailey, Tammie Bennett,
STREET STOCKS
HEAT: T. Carino Jr., P. Alhart, W. Strusz, M. Wright, D. Stevens.
FEATURE (20-Laps): WILLIE STRUSZ, Phil Alhart Jr., Don Stevens, Billy Semmler, Dan Scott, Mitchell Wright, Tom Carino Jr., Ryan Corso (disqualified)
NASCAR MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: W. Hebing, T. McMullen, C. Finocchario, T. Kinsella, T. Wiest.
HEAT 2: P. Catalano, T. Hanbury, M. Tychoniewicz, M. Leaty, B. Catalano.
FEATURE (50-laps): WILBUR HEBING, Tim McMullen, Chris Finocchario, Tony Hanbury, Mark Tychoniewicz, Todd Smith, Tom Kinsella, Terry Cheetham, Mike Leaty, Chris Ridsdale, Buck Catalano, Tom Wiest, Cody Jenkins, Don Stevens.
SST MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: B. Catalano, C. Finocchario, T. Cheetham, F. Taylor, T. Hanbury.
HEAT 2: K. Rutherford, D. Lewis Jr., R. Beeman, D. Lewis Sr., S. Malin.
HEAT 3: K. Timmerman, M. Lees, J. Polaski, D. Pringle, J. Hamman.
FEATURE (35-laps): BUCK CATALANO, Kirk Rutherford, Daryl Lewis Jr., Kevin Timmerman, Terry Cheetham, Chris Finocchario, Jeff Polaski, Matt Lees, Ryan Beeman, Andy Jankowiak, Jeff Hamman, Steve Malin, Tony Hanbury, Mark Tychoniewicz, Russ Brown, Phil Wehrheim, Mark Cline, Scott Combs, Daryl Lewis Sr., Fred Taylor, Andy Lewis, Don Pringle.
Gary M. Spaid