Hanbury Repeats In Weekly Mod Feature
HANBURY REPEATS IN WEEKLY MOD FEATURE, SHULLICK JR. WINS MSA SPECIAL
Tony Hanbury, from Owego , NY , repeated his feat from last week, winning the 35-lap NASCAR Weekly Modified feature run. This time he used a different car, owned by Joshua Reese and John Wilson, and prepared by Fred Taylor.
“We finally got the right rear tire setup right on this car,” related Hanbury. “It made a real big difference in the handling.”
In Street Stock action, Phil Alhart Jr., became the fourth different driver in four races to claim a feature win. Alhart Jr. led all 20-laps on his way to victory.
Super Six action saw Kris Hillegeer take feature win number four as he maintained his strangle-hold on the division. “The car was pushing a little coming out of the turns,” Hillegeer stated. “We’ll have to correct that problem before next week.”
Supermodifieds were in action for the first time since 1998. This time the Midwest Supermodified Association was on hand to run a 40-lap main. Dave Shullick Jr, from North Ridgeville , OH , took the feature win, his second on the MSA circuit this season. Denny Fisher, Greg Furlong, Bobby Bond and Charlie Schultz rounded out the top five finishers in the MSA main event.
The 40-lap MSA race started with Denny Fisher, from Amherst, OH, taking the lead at the drop of the green. As one lap went into the record books the yellow flew when Bobby Dawson, also from Amherst, OH, spun in the first turn.
The race resumed with Fisher showing the way. On lap seven the yellow flew a second time when A.J. Russell, Clovis, CA, went around in the third turn.
Fisher was now leading Greg Furlong, from nearby Hannibal, after Furlong made a daring move on Tim Snyder, Tilton, NH, on lap 12, to take the runner up position. Lap 19 saw Furlong lose second to Dave Shullick Jr.
The yellow flew on lap 22 when Tim Jedrzejek, Independence, OH, spun around exiting the second turn. The restart saw Shullick Jr. challenging Fisher for the lead. After six green flag laps, Shullick Jr. ducked low exiting the second turn and blew by Fisher for the lead.
A rash of yellows, after lap 30, extended the running time of the race. This put many teams in jeopardy of running short on fuel. The last lap saw the leaders serving to pick up fuel, as both Fisher and Shullick Jr. slowed and then were able to pick up speed again.
The checkers flew with Shullick Jr. winning his second MSA feature of the year. His first win came at Oswego back in early May. Denny Fisher, Greg Furlong, Bobby Bond and Charlie Schultz rounded out the top five finishers in the MSA main event.
The 35-lap NASCAR Weekly Modified race saw pole sitter Phil Wehrheim blast into the lead with Ryan Beeman in second. A long green flag run allowed these two to pull away from the rest of the pack. On lap five, Beeman tried the low side of Wehrheim going down the back stretch, but could not make his move stick.
Tony Hanbury, running in third, began to close the gap and catch the lead pair by lap 12. Hanbury tried a daring move to the outside of the leaders, but settled back into third. The first yellow of the race came on lap 19, when Buck Catalano slid off the first turn and at the same time Kevin Timmerman looped around in the fourth turn. Catalano had just passed Hanbury for third, while Timmerman was running seventh at the time of his spin.
The restart saw Hanbury take second as Beeman seemed to bog down, falling back to third. Hanbury then moved by Wehrheim on lap 21 to take the lead. He then proceeded to pull out to nearly a full 30 car length lead.
The final yellow flew on lap 32, when newcomer Eric h Stritzel slowed on the front chute. Following the restart, in a three lap dash to the checkers, Hanbury held on to claim victory over Wehrheim, Daryl Lewis Jr., Steve Malin and Fred Taylor.
Lewis’s third place finish and the exit of Catalano earlier, saw Lewis take the points lead in the division point race.
The Street Stock 20-lpper was able to run green-to-checkers, with Phil Alhart Jr. leading the entire distance. On Stevens closed in on the leader in the closing laps of the race, but was not able to make a pass for the lead. Following Stevens were last week’s feature winner, Dan Scott, Billy Semmler and Willie Strusz to round out the top five finishers.
The Super Sixes also ran a 20-lap feature. One yellow flag flew on lap two, when Bill Malin hit the fourth turn wall head-on. Luckily management had place foam blocks in the area following a head-on accident by Kirk Rutherford the week before. Malin emerged uninjured from his bout with the wall.
Kris Hillegeer passed Keith Butler for the lead and the win on lap 10. Butler was able to finish second for the fourth week in a row. Jesse Parks, Patti Davenport and Joe Bailey rounded out the top five.
SPENCER SPATTER: The biggest Spencer crowd in nearly three years was on hand for this event…A special collection took place for Kirk Rutherford as drivers passed through the grandstands. Rutherford suffered an injury following his impact with the fourth turn wall last week. This collection was going to help with his medical bills. The drivers were able to collect over $2,500…The MSA cars moved on to run at Oswego Speedway the next evening.
This Friday, June 13, may be unlucky for some, but for Spencer fans the NASCAR Touring Modifieds will return, joining a complete program of NASCAR Weekly Modifieds, Street Stocks and Super Sixes. It will be the “50th Anniversary of Charlie’s Paving Night” at the track. The NASCAR Touring Modifieds will be running double point Twin-25’s. This will be their second appearance at the speedway in 2008. Racing begins at 7:30 p.m. sharp.
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.
CRAFTSMAN TOOL NIGHT SUMMARY
SUPER SIXES
HEAT 1: J. Bailey, J. Parks, T. Bennett, B. Malin.
HEAT 2: K. Hillegeer, K. Butler, P. Davenport.
FEATURE (20-laps): KRIS HILLEGEER, Keith Butler, Jesse Parks, Patti Davenport, Joe Bailey, Tammi Bennett, Bill Malin, Craig Butler (DNS)
NASCAR STREET STOCKS
HEAT: D. Stevens, P. Alhart Jr., D. Scott, W. Strusz, B. Semmler.
FEATURE (20-laps): PHIL ALHART JR., Don Stevens, Dan Scott, Billy Semmler, Willie Strusz, Mitchell Wright, Steven Greco.
NASCAR WEEKLY MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: P. Wehrheim, T. Hanbury, T. Cheetham, J. Hamman, A. Lewis.
HEAT 2: F. Taylor, D. Lewis Jr., M. Lees, S. Malin, E. Stritzel.
HEAT 3: K. Timmerman, R. Beeman, B. Catalano, J. Polaski, R. Brown.
FEATURE (35-laps): TONY HANBURY, Phil Wehrheim, Daryl Lewis Jr., Steve Malin, Fred Taylor, Matt Lees, Jeff Hamman, Andy Jankowiak, Jeff Polaski, Russ Brown, Kevin Timmerman, Zach Trusdail, Mark Cline, Terry Cheetham, David Sadlack, Eric h Stritzel, Buck Catalano, Ryan Beeman, Andy Lewis, Scott Combs (DNS).
MIDWEST SUPERMODIFIED ASSOCIATION
HEAT 1: B. Bond, C. Schultz, M. Lilje, S. Gioia III.
HEAT 2: G. Furlong, D. Shullick Jr., T. Snyder, J. Smith.
HEAT 3: D. Fisher, P. Lavery, J. Payne, R. Burch.
FEATURE (40-laps): DAVE SHULLICK JR., Denny Fisher, Greg Furlong, Bobby Bond, Charlie Schultz, Tim Jedrzejek, Pat Lavery, Jack Smith, Jason Spaulding, Otto Sitterly, Tim Snyder, Keith Gilliam, Randy Burch, Moe Lilje, Kelly Miller, Matt Palmer, Joey Payne, A.J. Russell, Lou LeVea, Brandon Fisher, Steve Gioia III, Bobby Dawson, Terry Gibson, Bob Bog.
Gary Spaid
