Collins Wins ‘Coldcracker’ During Five Mile Point’s Lid Lifter

Story By: ANDREW HARPELL / FIVE MILE POINT SPEEDWAY – KIRKWOOD, NY – With snow banks still piled on areas of the speedway property Five Mile Point Speedway held the 67th consecutive season opener on Sunday. Tom Collins, Jr. was the winner of the GRIT Crate Sportsman Series “Coldcracker” event worth $1,000.

After Saturday “testing and tuning” was washed out a special Modified Dash was added for the teams that came out to get some practice. Nick Rochinski was the 12 lap “Big Dog” Modified Dash winner. Kenny Underwood won the first event of the Fantastic Five Four Cylinder program at the speedway after starting last (24th) on the field. Aaron Bowes won the Combination Regional Xcel 600 Modified Tour event. Brett Bieber was the Dual Regional Tobias Slingshot winner and the annual “Tommy Boy 20” for Factory Stocks went to Buck Mills, Jr.

The 30 lap GRIT Crate Sportsman feature event found Collins and Dustin Jordan on the front row of the 24 car starting grid. Collins, a second generation FMP driver jumped out to the lead at the drop of the green. A star studded field was on hand as some of the best Crate Sportsman drivers in racing were battling two and three wide on the quarter mile. Perennial northeast Crate Sportsman star Rocky Warner started tenth but got caught up in a lap one skirmish that saw him drop to 24th on lap one. Warner kept the car going and began his assault from the back of the field.

2016 Five Mile Point Speedway Track Champion Kyle Rohner started seventh and quickly made his way to the front of the field during the early going. Back to back cautions on laps 4 and 5 would reshuffle the deck with Collins leading, Jordan in second and Rohner up to third. David Marcuccilli was in the fourth slot with past opening day winner Kenny Hammond up to fifth. When racing continued Collins pulled away as a tremendous battle took shape among the top five.

By lap ten the top five contenders were still the same but Marcuccilli had worked back past Rohner for third place. Back to back cautions flew again on laps 11 and 12 but when racing resumed the action was incredible on the quarter mile. Again, Collins was not seriously challenged but the racing from second to tenth was intense. Donnie Lawson, Corey Cormier and Pat Jordan joined the battle of front.

The final caution of the race flew on lap 26 as Jimmy Zacharias clipped an implement tire in turn four breaking the front end on the Lawrence racing ride. Zacharias had climbed to eighth place prior to the incident. When the green flew for the final time Collins took advantage as he opened up his lead by five car lengths. Rohner tried to chase him down over the final laps but could not make a bid for the lead. Collins would go on for the victory over Rohner. Dustin Jordan, Marcuccilli, Hammond, Pat Jordan, Lawson, Cormier, Warner and Nick Nye rounded out the top ten.

For both Collins and Rohner the new season was very reminiscent of the conclusion of 2016. Collins won the next to last event of the season worth $2,000 in an Open vs. Crate Sportsman event and Rohner was the winner of the season ending “Great Crate Race” worth $3,000.

Andy Brigham and Chris Taylor led the field to the green in the 20 lap “Fantastic Five Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinder” event. Brigham a standout in the division at the speedway took command from the drop of the green. The dynamic brothers of Nick and Frankie Kennedy quickly raced to second and third during the early going as Sheldon Whitman and Dave Simms ran in the top five by lap 5. Simms started 17th in the field and was making quick work heading toward the front. Also charging to the front early was eventual race winner Ken Underwood. Underwood started 24th on the grid.

After a lap 5 caution things began to really heat up as the leaders raced two and three wide. On lap 13 Nick Kennedy worked past Brigham for the lead. Frank Kennedy continued to apply the pressure for second place with Brigham holding on to his outside line. On lap 15 Underwood had advanced all the way to third place after passing Kennedy. The caution flew on lap 16 as Brigham saw his great ride go up in smoke as he came to a stop on the speedway. On the restart Underwood quickly worked past Nick Kennedy for the lead. Underwood would go on to lead the balance for the first win in the “Fantastic Five Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinder” program. Nick Kennedy finished second with Frank Kennedy third and Dave Simms fourth. Sheldon Whitman completed his great drive with a fifth place finish.

The annual “Tommy Boy 20” for Factory Stocks saw Josh Towner race out to the initial lead in the 15 lap feature go. Buck Mills, Sr. took command on lap 3 but was quickly challenged by Lanson Albanese. Mills saw his evening end with mechanical problems on lap 11. Albanese took over the point but on lap 14 was forced pit side with a flat tire. Buck Mills, Jr. took command at this point and would never look back. Mills would be followed across the line by Charlie Towner, Albanese, Jason Rinker and Jason Thomas.

Bailey Boyd led the first 18 circuits of the 20 lap Xcel 600 Modified feature event as he looked for his first ever Five Mile Point Speedway victory. The young Kirkwood driver looked impressive throughout the event. A caution on lap 17 ultimately derailed he great effort. When racing went green on lap 17 Boyd raced to the outside line of the speedway and Aaron Bowes quickly dove down low. Bowes took advantage and moved past on the next lap. Bowes went on for the victory. Modified chauffer Byron Worthing made a late race pass to capture second at the wire with Boyd finishing third. Ritchie Hitzler and Jon Josko rounded out the top five.

Brett Bieber was the winner of the 20 lap Tobias Slingshot feature event. Bieber took the lead on lap 2 from Tess Horvath and would lead the remainder of the way. Taylor Mills, Justin Mills, Russel Banky and Brian Tobey, Jr. completed the top five finishers.

GRIT SERIES CRATE SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (30): TOM COLLINS JR. ($1,000), Kyle Rohner, Dustin Jordan, Dave Marcuccilli, Kenny Hammond, Pat Jordan, Donnie Lawson, Cory Cormier, Rocky Warner, Nick Nye, Josh Keesey, Garret Rushlow, Randy Fox, Dale Welty, Lem Atkins, Tyler Thompson, Jimmy Zacharias, Moose Gulley, Pat LaPage, Tim Guild, Nick Plumstead, T.J. Frost, Mike Jackson, Ray Bliss.

BIG DOG CHALLENGE MODIFIED DASH: NICK ROCHINSKI, Mike Colsten, Ken Titus, Brian Nelson, Brett Barrett.

TOMMY BOY 20 FACTORY STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20): BUCK MILLS JR., Charlie Towner, Lanson Albanese, Jason Rinker, Jason Thomas, Jori Murns, Josh Towner, Greg Sleight, Buck Mills Sr., Will Manuell Jr., Chris Groover.

FANTASTIC FIVE FOUR CYLINDER OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20): KEN UNDERWOOD, Nick Kennedy, Frank Kennedy, Dave Simms, Sheldon Whitman, Josh Wilder, Randy Lane, Josh Amatuccio, Jeff DeGroat, Mat Mather, Brian Salamini, Kenny Evans, Ronnie Welch, Andy Brigham, Dan Cole, Michael Brown, Kyle Rogers, Jeremey Warren, Casey Burch, Eric Rawley, Rick Lunn, Rich Wagner, Derrick Evans, Chris Taylor, Jim Olin, Jason Colwell. DNS – Adam Gilbert, Trevor Williams.

XCEL 600 MODIFIED COMBINATION TOUR OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20): AARON BOWES, Byron Worthing, Bailey Boyd, Ritchie Hitzler, Jon Josko, Jason Dunkleburger, Kory Inglin, Eric Boyd, Josh Pepe, Tyler Bartik, Travis Rigante, Brian Blantenbiller, Dana Davis, Cody Manmiller, Tiffany Hitzler, Wyatt Harrar, Shawna Schibilia, Steve Sterner, Ray Gradwell, D.J. Hunt, Chris Kithcart, Nathan Brinker, Kamden Maby, Will Eastman, Logan Snyder, Travis Fictor, John Pepe. DNS – Dominick Amato, Luke Harrar, Brian Carber.

TOBIAS SLINGSHOT DUAL REGIONAL TOUR OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20): BRETT BIEBER, Taylor Mills, Justin Mills, Russell Banky, Brian Tobey Jr., Tess Horvath, Samantha Muller, Jim Pollard, Blaine Klinger, Bob Boughton, Emily Fleming, Dalton Maynard, Alex Boughton.