JANKOWIAK WINS NASCAR WEEKLY MOD RUN; KRIS HILLEGEER BREAKS INTO THE STREET STOCK VICTORY LANE FOR THE FIRST TIME

The headline division this past Friday at Spencer Speedway was the Race of Champions Tour Type Modifieds running their 100-lap Oswego RoC Qualifier.

Jan Leaty, from Williamson, led every lap to take his first win of the season at Spencer. His victory was his 15th career win at the track, moving him solely up to ninth on the All-Time Spencer Speedway Modified Feature Win List. T.J. Potrzebowski, Matt Hirschman, Rusty Smith and Eric Beers rounded out the top five RoC finishers.

“It was a good race for us tonight,” stated Jan Leaty in victory lane. “I am real glad that Mike is ok (referring to an accident that took his son out of second).” He then added, ”I am real glad the fans came out. It’s a tough time for short track racing and it’s so expensive. I’m really glad they supported us.”

More on the RoC event can be found in J.R. Kennerup’s race report.

In regular Four Star action at the track Andy Jankowiak picked up his second NASCAR Weekly Modified feature of the 2009 at the speedway. Jankowiak led all 35 laps to take the victory.

“We’ve had some motor problems the last few weeks, but we finally won one at Spencer,” stated Jankowiak. “We were the cause of many of our own problems the last few weeks.”

In Street Stock action Kris Hillegeer, also from Williamson, picked up his first feature ever in the division. Keith Butler Jr. made it three feature wins in a row and five total on the season in the Super Six division.

The Auto Value Four Cylinder Scorpions saw Bill VerWys take the “Pro” honors and the overall feature win. It was second place Ryan Brown winning the “Beginner” class.

The 35-lap NASCAR Weekly Modified feature saw Jankowiak dart from the pole starting spot into the lead over Kevin Timmerman and Andy Lewis. The yellow flew as the first lap was completed when Fred Taylor looped high off the third turn.

The restart saw Buck Catalano and Ricky Kluth spin exiting the second turn to bring out the yellow again.

Once under way, Jankowiak remained as the leader. On lap seven Bill Hebing sailed by Lewis for third. The front three cars looked to be in a break away from the rest of the field. On lap 16 the yellow flew when Kluth went around again in the second turn.

Again Jankowiak was able to out drag the competition and remain in command of the race. Amy Catalano remained in fourth but was being pressured by Chris Finocchario.

The race remained green with Jankowiak taking the victory, followed by Timmerman, Hebing, Amy Catalano, Chris Finocchario and Ryan Beeman in sixth.

Amy’s fourth place finish combined with Buck’s seventh place, and heat points, moved Amy into the NASCAR Weekly Modified point lead by a mere five points. It is the first time ever a female leads in track points in any modified division at Spencer.

The Street Stock 20-lap feature saw Kris Hillegeer pass Mitchell Wright for the lead on the second lap and then shoot away from the rest of the field. By lap seven Hillegeer held a five car advantage over second place Steve Malin in his Ford powered Street Stock. Malin in turn was some seven cars ahead of Bob Minacapelli in third.

Crate powered Jim Steffenhagen Jr. has to now run with harder tires and a rev limiter. He was still able to hold on to Minacapelli, running in fourth.

Malin was able to close the gap somewhat on Hillegeer, but fell short. At the finish line it would be Hillegeer followed by Malin, Minacapelli, Steffenhagen Jr. and Wright.

For Hillegeer, who dominated the Super Six division in 2006, it would be his first ever Street Stock victory.

“It takes a little bit to get a handle on these cars,” stated Hillegeer. When asked if he thought he could pick up some on the points he stated, “Phil (Alhart Jr.) is up there pretty much, but we might be able to close in on him a bit.”

The Super Sixes 20-lap main also saw a green-to-checkers run. At the drop of the green it was Keith Butler Sr. taking the lead over Rick Wilson and Van Grant. Butler Sr. then proceeded to pull away from Wilson establishing a seven car advantage.

On lap five, young Keith Butler Jr. moved to the outside down the backstretch and grabbed fourth from Patti Davenport. Butler Jr. proceeded to gain positions, when two laps later he found himself in second. Junior then closed the gap on his father. By lap 13 Junior was running side-by-side with his father down the front stretch. One lap later Junior held the lead.

But the action wasn’t over yet. On lap 14, Ryan Hillegeer slide by Butler Sr. for second. Hillegeer then started to close in on Junior. It was looking like it would be an all “Hillegeer Night”, but Junior held on for his third straight feature win. Hillegeer came home second followed by Butler Sr., Davenport and Wilson .

“It was fun racing with my dad for a bit there,” stated Junior in victory lane. “I help my dad and he helps me. Pretty much we all help each other out in the pits.”

The Auto Value Four Cylinder cars took to the track first on the feature list for the evening. Outside pole sitter Russell Peets jumped into the lead at the drop of the green. He was immediately challenged by the only “Pro” class runner in the field, Bill VerWys. VerWys took a couple of laps but passed Peets for the lead. Mike Bradshaw followed VerWys through the hole and took second., with Ryan Brown in third.

Lap 10 saw Mike Bradshaw loop his car around in the third turn, giving up second to Brown and bringing out a rare caution flag. Just before the yellow Otis Brashaw had passed Brown for second. With the restart it only took Brown three laps and he regained the runner up spot. Brown started to close in on VerWys, but with just a 15-lap feature, he ran out of laps. Bro Bradshaw, Otis Bradshaw and Alison Knoepfler rounded out the top five finishers.

VerWys stated, “I felt this guy ( Brown) coming. All of the other drivers keep getting better each week also.”

As for the “Beginners Class winner Brown, he added, “This is a Pennsylvania car that cost us just $600. We added in some work and the whole thing costs us around $1,500.” When asked if he could catch and pass VerWys, he stated, I can catch him, but I don’t know if I can pass him. I would like to see the 33 back”, referring to Ed die Hawkins.

SPENCER SPATTER: Our get well wishes go out to Merle Spencer, who has been hospitalized the last few weeks. Merle and his brothers Del and Walt founded Spencer Speedway and ran the track until 1995. They returned to the helm after a short lived buy out. A couple of years ago the present owner, John White , bought the speedway allowing the brothers to finally retire.

Racing returns to Spencer this Friday, August 21, featuring a 100-lap SST Modified main event. The season started off with an SST special that was won by Tony Hanbury. Also on the race card will be a complete program of Street Stocks, Super Sixes and Auto Value Four Cylinder Scorpions. Race time returns to a 7:30 p.m. start.

Just three weeks remain in the 2009 Spencer Speedway season. Come and join in all of the weekly action.

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.

RACE OF CHAMPIONS NIGHT SUMMARY

AUTO VALUE FOUR CYLINDER SCORPIONS
HEAT 1: B. VerWys, R. Peets, D. Lazzaro, B. Dennie, B. Bradshaw.
HEAT 2: R. Brown, M. Bradshaw, A. Knoepfler, K, Bertolone, B. Malin.
FEATURE (15-laps): BILL VERWYS (Pro-Winner), Ryan Brown (Beginner-Winner), Bro Bradshaw, Otis Bradshaw, Alison Knoepfler, Russell Peets, Dale Lazzaro, Beth Dennie, Mike Bradshaw, Bill Malin, Kevin Bertolone.

SUPER SIXESHEAT 1: P. Davenport, R. Wilson, V. Grant, J. Kaper, J. Bailey.
HEAT 2: K. Butler Jr., R. Hillegeer, K. Butler Sr., A. VanHall, T. Faro.
FEATURE (20-laps): KEITH BUTLER JR., Ryan Hillegeer, Keith Butler Sr., Patti Davenport, Rick Wilson, Van Grant, Joe Bailey, Adam VanHall, Justin Kaper, Peter Cowell, Tim Faro, John Sippel, Denny Coyle.

STREET STOCKS
HEAT: S. Malin, B. Minacapelli, J. Steffenhagen Jr., K. Hillegeer, M. Wright
FEATURE (20-laps): KRIS HILLEGEER, Steve Malin, Bob Minacapelli, Jim Steffenhagen Jr., Mitchell Wright, Phil Alhart Jr.

NASCAR WEEKLY MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: A. Jankowiak, A. Catalano, K. Timmerman, B. Catalano, R. Beeman.
HEAT 2: B. Hebing, C. Finocchario, A. Lewis, F. Taylor, J. London.
FEATURE (35-laps): ANDY JANKOWIAK, Kevin Timmerman, Bill Hebing, Amy Catalano, Chris Finocchario, Ryan Beeman, Buck Catalano, Ricky Kluth, Phil Wehrheim, Eric h Stritzel, Andy Lewis, Scott Combs, Jody London, Daryl Lewis Jr., Fred Taylor, Mark Cline, Matt Lees.

ROC MODIFIEDS
FEATURE (100-laps): JAN LEATY, T.J. Potrzebowski, Matt Hirschman, Rusty Smith, Eric Beers, Rick Kluth, Billy Putney, Earl Paul es, Daren Scherer, Daryl Lewis Jr., Jim Storace, Tom my Cloce, Pete Brittian, Chip Santee, Mark Tychoniewicz, Bill Hebing, Kyle Ebersole, Mike Leaty, Chuck Hossfeld, Jeff Hamman, Tim McMullen, Doug Reume, Tom Wiest, Don Stevens

Gary M. Spaid