RoC SST Report

KURZEJEWSKI CROSSES LINE FIRST BUT IS DISQUALIFIED IN POST RACE TECH HANDING MOTORSPORTS EXPO SST MODIFIED WIN TO HANBURY ON FRIDAY NIGHT OF THE 58TH SUNOCO RACE OF CHAMPIONS

The featured race on Friday night, the Motorsports Expo sponsored SST Modified 100 during the 58th Sunoco Race of Champions was a race of twists and turns. With plenty of lead changes and mechanical problems sidelining the top runners during the feature, it was a question of who wanted to win the feature.

Many thought that veteran Mansfield, Pa. racer Dan Kurzejewski won the feature using a late race pass of defending r ace winner Tony Hanbury to claim the $2,500 win. However in extensive post race technical inspection by SST Officials the car of Kurzejewski was found to be in violation of multiple rules. With the Kurzejewski car being illegal the win for the second consecutive season was awarded to Hanbury of Owego, NY.

Before he was awarded the win Tony Hanbury spoke about his second place finish at the time. “ Yea we’re kind of disappointed with a second especially since we were leading the race near the end. But I had a fifth place car and the car wasn’t that great as it was tight. “

Tony who won this race last year spoke about the changes with the same exact car he used last year to win this race. “ Last year we were throttle loose and we made some adjustments for this year. This year the car was really fast when the sun was out and then it freed up for 10 to 15 laps in the feature. After that it tightened up, I knew it was going to happen I didn’t know when it was going to happen. “

For many laps during the feature Tony was caught behind Jeff Hammon. Tony was asked if that hurt his chances. “ No. I was all over him early but I wasn’t abusing the car at that point, I still got the center lines on the front tires. It didn’t hurt me too bad. “

“ A lot of guys come here to win, while some guys come here to finish and others come to here to finish top five or top three. We finished second, if we didn’t win it last year and if we didn’t lead some laps here tonight. I would have been very, very pleased with second, I’m still happy with a second. We worked hard all year long to try and win the track titles at Chemung and Spencer. We were coming up here to have fun and see what happens; we finished second so that’s good. “

Twenty – Four hours later after receiving the accolades of winning the feature the night before Hanbury commented on the win. “ I was happy with a second place finish but I figured there was something fishy with that 21 car and the way it sounded and how fast he was. “

After his apparent win Kurzejewski said that he and Hanbury had the exact same Gail Clark Race Engine under the hood. When informed of that statement Hanbury said. “ I don’t even think those engines were close. I know that motor was out and down to the engine builder this week. Whether it was the same motor I raced against all season long, it’s kind of depressing because that car beat us one night at Chemung. That car was very competitive with us all year long; I’ll give those guys credit for what they did to make the car go. But it wasn’t necessary to do what they did to make the car go so good. “

Jeff Hammon in his first race since breaking his left arm back on August 1st was second with Tom McGrath ending up in third. Kevin Timmerman was fourth and Zane Zeiner who pitted for a tire on lap 35 came back to end up fifth.

“ It was a good race, we ran well “ said second place finisher Jeff Hammon. “ It’s a real good finish for us especially with the quality of drivers we were racing against tonight. “

Jeff spoke about racing for the first time since suffering a broken left hand. “ It wasn’t that bad, the hand was a little stiff. I’m right handed and that is my dominate hand and it didn’t seem to bother me at all. “

Jeff spoke about his car tightening up during the race. “ Yea it was tight and that made it not too good on the short runs. We were much better during the long green flag runs. The short runs at the end kind of killed me but I’m very happy to end up second. “

Qualifying for the 56 car field saw heat wins captured by Hanbury, Timmerman, Chris Finnochario, Zeiner, Erick Rudolph, and Pete Brittain. B Mains were won by Jon Price, John Barber, and Matt Kurzejewski. The Non – Qualifiers race that was run on Saturday afternoon was won by Jim Pierce.

NOTES; Hot laps on Friday afternoon claimed several cars due to motor woes with the most notable being Wilbur Hebing who was running the championship winning car that Buck Catalano used at the Spencer Speedway. Paul Benard and Fred Taylor also developed motor problems in hot laps ending their day. Earl Paules was found to be using illegal headers in pre race tech inspection and was disqualified. Former race winner Billy Ray Pruitt was running the car normally driven by Kevin Lewis. SST and Sunoco RoC Officials decided during the program that due to the terrific car count that a Non – Qualifiers feature would be added to run on Saturday afternoon with the event being 15 laps with the top five cars getting purse money and the rest of the cars receiving a free Hoosier Racing Tire. Rick Kluth was slated to start third but was forced to pit to change a left rear flat during pace laps. The ignition box broke on the car of Erick Rudolph as he rolled to a stop during a lap 68 caution and was in second. Pete Brittain overheated while leading and was forced to retire from the event on lap 81. SST Provisional’s were awarded to Jeff Price and Joe Evans while Rick Zacharias was awarded the Past Champions Provisional.

MOTORSPORTS EXPO SST MODIFIED 100 FINISH; Tony Hanbury, Jeff Hammon, Tom McGrath, Kevin Timmerman, Zane Zeiner, Patti Pruitt, Jon Price, Matt Kurzejewski, Nick Cappelli, John Barber, Chris Finnochario, Bobby Osgood, Joe Evans, Brian Bowen, Daryl Lewis, Jr., Jimmy Zacharias, Jeff Price, Pete Brittain, TJ Potrzebowski, Russ Brown, Andy Jankowiak, JR Kent, Ryan Beeman, Erick Rudolph, Billy Putney, Mike Fiebelkorn, Jr., Billy Ray Pruitt, Justin Shepker, Todd Hoddick, Keith Gilliam, Rick Zacharias, Rick Kluth.

DQ – Dan Kurzejewski.

DNQ’S – Daryl Lewis, Sr., John Wilbur, Tim Gullo, Earl Paules, Phil Johnson, Dick Kluth, Craig Dolphin, Jody Buckley, Zach Shove, Wilbur Hebing, Fred Taylor, Jeff Ruddy, Jim Pierce, Don King, Mike Florio, Don Pringle, Mark Kline, Justin Petcosky, Jerry Gradl, Jr., Scott Combs, Steve Fuchs, Matt Lees.

LAP LEADERS; Potrzebowski ( 1 – 2 ), Hammon ( 3 – 14 ), Brittain ( 15 – 81 ), Hammon ( 82 – 83 ), Hanbury ( 84 – 88 ), D. Kurzejewski ( 89 – 100 ).

JR KENNERUP