Tim Sears Jr. Powers Gypsum Back-Up Car To Fulton Modified Victory Lane

Story By: DAVE MEDLER / FULTON SPEEDWAY – FULTON, NY – Tim Sears Jr. became a new parent with his wife Andrea on Thursday and then ended his exciting week Saturday with a trip to the Fulton Speedway victory lane in the Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modifieds.

Sears was behind the wheel of Larry Wight’s backup car for the weekend with his own No.83x on the sidelines. Friday night at the Brewerton Speedway he brought the car home with a pair of top-five finishes giving him confidence coming into Fulton Speedway Saturday.

In the 35-lap feature Sears was locked in a tight five-car battle at the front of the field moving into second place on a lap 13 restart. Once into second place it would take Sears just two laps to blast into the lead and drive away from the field building up leads of over three-seconds at one point. It was his third win of the year at the speedway as he chases Larry Wight in the quest for the track championship with two-point races remaining.

Other winners on Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux and Ingles Performance night were Corey Barker & Alan Fink (Sportsman) Dale Caswell (Late Models) Wesley Hayes & Tim Abate (Novice Sportsman).

Tim Mayne and Tim Kerr led the Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modified field down to the green with Kerr grabbing the early advantage.

With 5-laps complete Kerr who overcame heavy damage from a multi-car crash the night before at the Brewerton Speedway opened a half a straightaway lead over Jim Witko who was involved in the same incident. Behind the top-two Ryan Jordan, Billy Whittaker and Kody Graham were in a close race for third through fifth.

At the 10-lap mark the top-five remained the same except Tim Sears Jr. who moved into the fifth spot.

On lap-13 the yellow would wave slowing the fast race pace. On the restart Sears moved into second place and would only need 2-laps to drive into the lead.

With 20-laps showing on the scoring tower Sears opened about a ten-car length lead while Kerr, Witko, Jordan, Tom Sears and Jimmy Phelps who started 17th slugged it for second through sixth.

Sears was on rails putting cars a lap down while opening a 3.5 seconds lead with 10 laps to go. Jimmy Phelps, Kerr, Witko and Sears still showed in the top-five.

Lap-26 the caution would come out erasing the big lead Sears had built up and giving Phelps a shot at Sears and the win. When the green came back out Sears was just too quick as he drove away for the win. Jimmy Phelps, Jim Witko Jr., Tom Sears Jr. and Max McLaughlin finished second through fifth.

With 45 SUNY Canton Sportsman signed into the pits a pair of 25-lap features were run.

In the first 25-lap feature Nate Higgins would jump out to the early lead and would have a tight fight for the lead with Todd Root at the 5-lap mark as you could of thrown a blanket over Jessica Power, Corey Barker Kyle Fink and Ron Davis III racing for third through sixth.

At the 10-lap point Higgins and Root ran bumper to bumper and side by side with Barker closing fast on the top-two. Davis and Fink showed in fourth and fifth.

With 10-laps to go and locked in a tight three-way battle Barker was able to get by Higgins and Root to be scored the new leader of the race. Once out-front nobody seriously challenged Barker as he cruised to his first win of the year on the “Highbanks”. Ron Davis III, Todd Root, Kyle Fink and Chris Mackey finished second through fifth.

The last feature of the night was the second 25-lap Sportsman main that Mother Nature stepped in with a heavy rain ending the race past the halfway point (lap-13) making the finish official. Alan Fink took the lead on lap-9 after a tight battle at the front of the field with Dylan Zacharias and Ryan Hatherill. Dylan Zacharias, Ryan Hatherill, Billy Clark Jr. and Glenn Forward finished second through fifth. Nick Krause, Jackson Gill, Will Shields, Torrey Stoughtenger and Chris Cunningham completed the top-ten.

The 20-lap Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Late Model feature went caution free.

Dale Caswell jumped out to the early lead but he had company by lap-5 as you could of thrown a blanket over Caswell, Chris Fleming, and Bret Belden battle for the lead.

At the halfway point, Caswell held a slim advantage as Belden and Fleming were locked in a side-by-side race for second and third. Just behind the top-three Jason Occhino and Jason Parkhurst looked for a way to close in.

With 5-laps to go Belden and Fleming closed in on Caswell setting up a shootout to the checkers. Still glued to the top of the speedway there was no denying Caswell as he went on to his second win of the year at the speedway. Bret Belden, Chris Fleming, Jason Occhino and Chad Homan finished second through fifth.

In the first 15-lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman feature Wesley Hayes led every lap. The win was anything but easy as he had to hold off race long pressure from Casey Cunningham. Kearra Backus, Matthew Becker and Brad Williams finished third through fifth.

The second 15-lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman feature Tim Abate in only his third time in any kind of race car led every lap for the win. Like the first Novice feature, Abate’s win wasn’t easy as he had to win the drag race out of turn four to the checkers to win by a slim 0.056 of a second over Chris Bonoffski who was in his first race after moving up from the 4-Cylinders. Jake Petit, Kyle Rood, Kelly Smith and Rachel Zacharias finished third through fifth.

This Saturday, August 26 Burkes-Do-It-Best Centers of Fulton and Oswego present a night of high speed racing and crunching metal.

On the track, it will be the high-speed racing excitement of the 800 horsepower Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modifieds, SUNY Canton Sportsman, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Late Models and E&V Energy Novice Sportsman. After the racing get ready for the sights and sounds of crunching metal with the King’s Smash ‘Em Crash ‘Em “August Annihilation” Small Car and Youth Demo Derbies.

Shelby at Mad Hatter Adventures Travel Company will have a demo car ready for the youth demo. Signup for the drawing between 5pm-8pm in the midway.

Adult grandstand admission is $15 with everyone 18 years old and younger FREE. Pit admission is $27 participant, $30 nonparticipant. Grandstands will open at 5:00 with racing at 7:00.

Any questions you might have and for marketing opportunities please contact Cory Reed (315) 593-6531 orcory@fultonspeedway.com. For all the latest news go to www.fultonspeedway.com . Also like the track Facebook page www.facebook.com/FultonSpeedway.

Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux & Ingles Performance Night August 19 Results.

(Tracey Road Equipment Modifieds 35 Laps) – TIM SEARS JR., Jimmy Phelps, Jim Witko Jr., Tom Sears Jr., Max McLaughlin, Pat Ward, Tim Kerr, Billy Whittaker, Larry Wight, Ryan Jordan, Joe August Jr., Mike Bowman, Chad Phelps, Tim Mayne, Andrew Ferguson, Kody Graham, Brent Cross, Tim Harris, James Walsh, Tim Murphy, John West, DNS- Andy Noto DQ- Roy Bresnahan.

(SUNY Canton Sportsman #1 – 25 Laps) – COREY BARKER, Ron Davis III, Todd Root, Kyle Fink, Chris Mackey, Mike Button, Jessica Power, Jeremy Pitcher, Willy Decker Jr., Mike Phelps, Zach Sobotka, Jimmy Moyer, Jason Amidon, Tom Juno, Tyler Singleton, Chuck Miller, Steve Marshall, Dorian Wahdan, Aaron Cross, Aron Backus, Nate Higgins, DNS-JJ Courcy, Amy Holland.

(SUNY Canton Sportsman #2 – 13 Laps Rain) – ALAN FINK, Dylan Zacharias, Ryan Hatherill, Billy Clark Jr., Glenn Forward, Nick Krause, Jackson Gill, Will Shields, Torrey Stoughtenger, Chris Cunningham, Wade Chrisman, Tyler Trump, Mike Stanton Jr., Joe Sobotka, Tim Falter, Brett Draper, Richie Riggs, Kyle Perry, Rocky Grosso, George Sanford, Tony Finch Sr., Joey Bounagurio.

(Larkin Mowing of Oswego $25 Heat Race Winner Bonus) – Corey Barker, Alan Fink, Todd Root, Jessica Power, Billy Clark Jr.

(Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Late Models 20 Laps) – DALE CASWELL, Bret Belden, Chris Fleming, Jason Occhino, Chad Homan, Jason Parkhurst, Kevan Cook, Sean Beardsley, Alan Chapman, Harry Halliday, Steve Coit, Brandon Carvey, Max Hill, Stan Clark, Joey Buonagurio, Billy Eisele.

(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman #1 – 15 Laps) – WESLEY HAYES, Casey Cunningham, Kearra Backus, Matthew Becker, Brad Williams, Brandon thompson, John Dwyer, Dwight Nichols, Tyler Rogers.

(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman #2 – 15 Laps) – TIM ABATE, Chris Bonoffski, Jake Petit, Kyle Rood, Kelly Smith, Rachel Zacharias, Billy Sauve, Robert Gage, DNS-Bill Megnin.