Nye, Sharpe & Woch Capture Lancaster Speedway Championships
Story By: DAVE BUCHANAN / LANCASTER SPEEDWAY – LANCASTER, NY – Lancaster National Speedway crowned its 2017 track champions for the X-Press Signs Stock Series on Saturday night during Season Championship Night. The final night of the regular season featured close racing and plenty of drama as drivers tried to capture ever y remaining point.
The Sunoco Sportsman title chase came down to three young drivers going after their first divisional crown with Shawn Nye of Lancaster leading Kevin Miller and Owen Bednasz. Nye padded his points lead through the heat races as he was the only driver of the three to earn points in the qualifiers. Kevin Miller’s night started on a bad note as he developed mechanical issues in his primary car during hot laps, and he had to borrow Joe Brainard’s car to compete.
In the 35-lap main event, Tony Carbone and Jayme Thompson started on the front row with Nye back in 10th, Bednasz in sixth and Miller 16th. Carbone grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag with Jake Lyon following him into the second position.
The trio of Carbone, Lyon and Bednasz pulled away from the pack early on as the race settled into a long green flag run. Lyon eventually got by Carbone for the lead on lap 12. He then started to open up a gap between himself and Bednasz and Carbone.
Tommy Catalano started 12th and quickly worked his way through the field. By lap nine he had made his way to fifth place. He eventually moved into fourth, and then started to chase down Carbone and Bednasz. The lack of cautions made it difficult, but Catalano eventually caught them with less than eight laps to go.
Lyon, meanwhile, continued to drive on as the race went caution-free. He opened up a half-straightaway sized lead over his next closest competitor while cruising to his first win of the 2017 season.
Catalano got by Bednasz late in the race to finish in second place. Bednasz had to settle for third place. Jeff Brown finished fourth.
Shawn Nye finished fifth to clinch the 2017 Sunoco Sportsman track championship. Nye captured two wins and consistent finishes to lock up the title in just his second season in the Sportsman. He got his start racing go-karts and TQ Midgets.
The Advance Auto Parts Street Stock championship was already decided before Championship Night began as Rich Sharpe of Lancaster had locked up the title thanks to nine feature wins in 2017.
Frank Prell and Ken Maltby led the field of 20 Street Stocks to the final opening green flag of the regular season. Prell took advantage of his pole position to take the lead during the opening laps.
Prell led until a restart on lap 7 as Maltby was able to wrestle the lead away. Maltby held the lead for four laps when he was overtaken on a restart by Andy Cryan.
Sharpe started 12th, and just like he has done in every other race this season, he was able to come through the field to be a factor. He was running second when the race on a lap 18 restart when he made contact with Cryan in turn 2. Sharpe spun out and Cryan was sent to the tail of the field for contact.
This handed the lead back to Maltby with just seven laps to go. He survived the final circuits to capture his first career Street Stock win at Lancaster.
Tim Welshans was credited with second place. Sharpe came back to finish third and finish off his championship season with another podium finish. Garrett Cleversley and Keith Flanigan rounded out the top five.
The closest championship battle was in the Roaming Buffalo 4-Cylinders with Bobby Woch starting the night with a one point lead over Jason Anasiewicz. Both drivers earned the same amount of points in the heat race to keep the deficit a just a single point going into the feature.
Joe Brunka started on the pole for the feature with Anasiewicz to his outside. The pair battled side-by-side for the lead during the opening 10 laps of the race.
Bobby Woch started seventh, but he almost gave up that starting position after his car developed transmission problems in the heat race. He and his team contemplated running home to get a backup car, but in the end they chose to run what they came to the track with.
Despite the transmission problems, Woch worked his way through field moving from seventh to third place by lap 10. A caution on lap 12 bunched up the field and gave him a shot to challenge Anasiewicz. The race restarted with Anasiewicz getting hung out to dry on the outside of Woch and his teammate Dan Dressel. Anasiewicz and Dressel made contact on lap 17 and Dressel spun out, which led to Anasiewicz being penalized to the rear of the field.
Brunka led every lap of the feature, but he had to hold off Chris Pennell throughout the second half of the race. Pennell stayed on Brunka’s back bumper in the closing laps, but he was unable to take the lead away. Brunka held on for his first win of the season.
Woch finished third to clinch his second career Roaming Buffalo 4-Cylinder track championship. Dave Brunka and Anasiewicz closed out the top five.
Dave Wollaber of Lockport, N.Y. won the 20-lap NYPA TQ Midget feature. Wollaber led most of the race, but he had to hold off Kyle Hutchinson and Bobby Holmes in the final five laps to secure the win. Hutchinson finished second and locked up the NYPA TQ Midget Series championship.
With the regular season in the books, Lancaster National Speedway can focus on the 29th annual U.S. Open weekend on September 22-24. The three days of racing and fun is headlined by the U.S. Open 125 for the Race of Champions Modified Series. Full details are available on the LNS&D website.
On Saturday, September 16, Lancaster National Speedway welcomes the Monster Truck Racing League for a family fun event. The monster trucks are part of a night of metal smashing and crashing that also includes a Demolition Derby. The event starts at 6 p.m. with a pit party from 4-5:30 where can get close to their favorite monster trucks.
About Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway: Founded in 1959, Lancaster National Speedway and Dragway, WNY’s Premier Motorsports and Event Facility, is a multi-use facility located on 77 acres just outside of metropolitan Buffalo, N.Y. The facility features a 1/8-mile drag strip, a 1/2-mile oval track and hosts several non-motorsports events such as car shows and concerts. For the latest information on Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway check out our website www.lancasternationalspeedway.com. Additional information for racers and fans can be found on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LancasterSpeedway) and on Twitter (@LancasterSpdwy).
RESULTS
SUNOCO SPORTSMAN
Heat Winners: Amy Catalano, Russ Gian, Jake Lyon
Feature: JAKE LYON, Tommy Catalano, Owen Bednasz, Jeff Brown, Shawn Nye, Scott Wylie, Jayme Thompson, Timmy Catalano, Mark Pennell, John Barber, Neal Dietz, Jr., Jake Vernon, Amy Catalno, Russ Gian, Kevin Miller, Bobby Weber, Tony Carbone, Dave Kozlowski, Mike Rogers, Dick Kluth, Sherri Hogan DNS: Tommy Krawczyk
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS
Heat Winners: Lou Carbone, Max Northem, Rich Sharpe
Feature: KEN MALTBY, Tim Welshans, Rich Sharpe, Garrett Cleversley, Keith Flanigan, Tommy Wentland, Jarrod Brown, Andy Cryan, Frank Prell, Jerry Kosmowski, Dylan Carbone, Lou Carbone, Dave Wilson, Trevor Pettit, Mark Hoch, Matt Druar, Max Northem, Nik Welshans, Chris Handley DQ: Jake Wylie DNS: Jay Canonico, Scott Wylie
ROAMING BUFFALO 4-CYLINDERS
Heat Winners: Chris Pennell, Joe Brunka
Feature: JOE BRUNKA, Chris Pennell, Bobby Woch, Dave Brunka, Jason Anasiewicz, Dan Dressel, Kayla Joseph, Charles Palmer, Jr., Casey Pew, Dave Anasiewicz, Mark Annis, Jr., Dave Milbrand, Jr., Bob Palmer, Michelle Russo, Jeff Szafraniec, Billy Weiss, Dave Evans DNS: Josh Schosek
NYPA TQ MIDGETS
Heat Winners: Erik Musto, Brandon Zavarella
Feature: DAVE WOLLABER, Kyle Hutchinson, Bobby Holmes, Brandon Zavarella, Vinny Christiano, Jr., Ryan Fraser, Erik Musto, Adrian Stahle, Arik McGruder, Andy Nye, Vinny Christiano III, Sean McNamara, Tony Patrea, Kevin Wilson, Tommy Catalano, Mark Schulz, Jeremy Conklin, Jim Musto, Charlie DiRosa, Patrick Smith DNS: Jamie Pew
