'09 7 10 R.o.C. Wyoming County Int'l Speedway 75 Photos & Notes

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Heat Wins:
Heat 1 #45 Eric Beers
Heat 2 ?
Heat 3 #60 Matt Hirschman

Starting line up for the race was:
Row 1 #34 Rust Smith #66 Pete Brittain
Row 2 #53 Brian DeFebo #60 Matt Hirschman
Row 3 #6 Jan Leaty #42 Tony Hanbury
Row 4 #25 Mike Leaty #72 TJ Potrzebowsku
Row 5 #8 Earl Paules #44 Rick Kluth
Row 6 #45 Eric Beers #12 Eric Kocker
Row 7 #47 Jim Storace #5 Kyle Ebersole
Row 8 #14 Doug Reaume #3 Daren Schere
Row 9 #95m John Markovic #9 Chip Santee
Row 10 #88 Billy Putney #35 Tom Weist
Row 11 #10 Daryl Lewis Jr. #01 Mark Tychoniewicz
Row 12 #9x Matt Clemens

Feature:
The first 23 laps were contested without caution. Pete Brittain looked to have established the lead early and held it until this point. The first caution occurred on lap 23 when Mark Tychoniewicz tapped Bill Putney's left rear going into turn 1 sending Putney spining. No significant damage was done and both drivers pulled away. During the caution period, mid pack drivers Jan Leaty, Rick Kluth, Daren Scherer & Bill Putney pitted for their RR tire.
When the race restarted, Brittain and Rusty Smith began a great battle for the lead. Rust chose the high line while Brittain ran on the bottom. They continued this side by side battle until lap 31. Jim Storace ran into some congestion on the front stretch which bounced him off the wall & other cars. It ended with Tychoniewicz in the first turn wall with Jan Leaty finishing off the Tychoniewicz sandwich. Both drivers were done for the night while Storace continued with damage. Rusty Smith was the first to decide to pit from 2nd place. He was followed by the top ten running cars of TJ Potrzebowski & Mike Leaty as well as John Markovic & Jim Storace who all took their RR.
Now that Smith was at the back of the field, Tony Hanbury decided it was time to go after the lead. Brittain seemed to have left the bottom open where Hanbury began the attack. They battled hard not leaving each other too much room. The battle eneded on lap 35 when Brittain spun in turn 2. I did not see if contact occurred between Brittian & Hanbury to cause the spin. Brittain & Kyle Ebersole decided to pit for their RR during the caution. At this point, Hirschman was taking his time. He had fell back as far as 7th from his 4th starting position, but did not seem at all interested in racing so hard for the lead.
One driver who always races hard for the lead is Earl Paules. When the race restarted, he went right after Hanbury. A few laps after the restart, Paules had the lead. The #14 of Doug Reaume developed a flat which slowed the feild for a quick caution on lap 37. On the following restart, someon spun mid pack causing a big pile up in turn 1. Every driver pulled away without assistance. Brain DeFebo, Eric Kocker & Reaume took a RR.
One of the numerous battled for the lead continued between Paules & Hanbury. Paules took a lane that stretched the groove up about a half car length & Hanbury kept to the bottom. Paules kept up his momentum running high and pulled Hanbury down the straight away. They continued to put on a great show until lap 48 when Doug Reaume broke suspension & was done for the night. At this point, every driver except #14, 35, 01, 6, 9x & 10 were still on the track.
The rest of the battles up front were worth the price of admission alone. Matt Hirschman decided it was time to go on the restart. He may not have had a choice as Pete Brittain was mounting a charge after his lap 35 pit. Within three laps, there were three differnt leaders. Paules & Hanbury continued to battle while the #60 & #66 charged. On lap 62 the lead was Paules. Lap 63 lent itself to Hanbury. By lap 64, the smooth Hirschman who never abused his tires had the lead with Brittain close behind. Tires gone of Tony Hanbury's car caused him to fade. He began dropping through the top 10, then contact from behind by Kocker sent him hard into the front stretch wall. From 4th & 5th place, Paules & Beers Decided to pit for their RR, on lap 67 of 75! The race was not over yet.
On the initial restart, a LR went flat on Beers car causing him to spin. Matt Hirschman pulled the field by three car lengths entering one during the following two restarts. By lap 71, Brittain caught on & stuck to Matty's bumper coming to the restart. Matt noticed and brought the field to green much slower. The pace caused a chain reaction accident when 3rd place Rusty Smith got into 2nd Brittain, 4th place Billy Putney got into Smith & 5th place Eric Kocker knocked Putney sideways on the middle of the back stretch. Putney, Kocker, Ebersole, Potrzebowski, Markovic & DeFebo all had their nights end as they piled up into 1. Mike Leaty got into the front stretch wall on the following restart, halfing the field from where it stood on lap 70.
The stage was set with Paules & Beers on new RR's within the top 6 with 4 to go. Paules put the car 1-2 car lengths deeper in turn three then Daren Scherer, Smith & Brittian to gather 2nd. When the field took the whit flag, Paules was on Hirschman's bumper, visibly faster. Exiting 2, Paules could smell the lead under Hirschman. He pinched the car a little two low snapping the car loose, gathering it, then dirt tracking all the way down the back stretch, while sending sparks in the air when the RR nerf bar slid along the wall. The ride ended with Paules in the infield and Hirschman safe with the lead. The action did not stop there. With only one lap remaining, second place put on a great fight. Entering three on the last lap, Beers got a run to the outside on Brittain. Brittain moved up to take away the lane. Smith saw the opening under them both and took it. They shot across the line three wide capping off a night full of action.

Until lap 71, about 15 cars were still on the lead lap and in contention. The restart pile ups while fighting for position near the end effectively took out half of the remaining cars. The battles for the lead and multiple grooves put on a great show in front of what looked like a capacity crowd. In the end, the showmanship of hard charger Earl Paules came up just short of the smoothness and finesse of Hirschman. He picked up what I believe to be his 11th career R.o.C. win tying him with Eric Beers, Sege Fidanza & J.R. Kent on the all time list. Matty now only sits behind George Kent (22) and Jan Leaty (13) on the all time wins list.

Very Unofficial Results:
1.#60 Matt Hirschman (started 4th)
2.#66 Pete Brittain (2nd)
3.#45 Eric Beers (11th)
4.#34 Rusty Smith (1st)
5.#3 Daren Scherer (16th)
6.#8 Earl Paules (9th)
7.#44 Rick Kluth (10th)
8.#95m John Markovic (17th)
9.#25 Mike Leaty (7th)
10.#5 Kyle Ebersole (14th)
11.#53 Brian DeFebo (3rd)
12.#72 TJ Potrzebowski (8th)
13.#88 Billy Putney (19th)
14.#12 Eric Koccker (12th)
15.#42 Tony Hanbury (6th)
16.#47 Jim Storace (13th)
17.#9 Chip Santee (18th)
18.#14 Doug Reaume (15th)
19.#35 Tom Weist (20th)
20.#01 Mark Tychoniewicz (22nd)
21.#6 Jan Leaty (5th)
22.#9x Matt Clemens (23rd)
23.#10 Daryl Lewis Jr. (21st)

Notebly missing: #51 Wilbur Hebing, #59 Erick Ruldoph, #69 Tommy Close, #71 Jimmy Z, #71z Another Z, #85 Chris Z