Davis Bests Van Pelt & Field To Take Win At Woodhull

Story By: STEVEN OVENS / WOODHULL RACEWAY – WOODHULL, NY – We’ve seen this script before. Mother Natures does her best to cancel all racing activity on a Saturday night…and somehow, some way, Woodhull Raceway laughs in her face and gets their show in. This was the case on Saturday night as Brico Technologies presented Fire, EMS and Law Enforcement Night along with Power Wheels races for the kids.

The racing was phenomenal all night long as Ted White and track maintenance crew hit track prep square on the head. The racing surface was table-top smooth and held just enough moisture to make it racy from the heats to the last feature.

Bobby Davis finally put all his troubles and bad racing luck aside on Saturday night, winning the 25-lap Insinger Performance Modified feature. Bad luck found Davis starting on the front row pole position alongside Brian Doolittle’s No. 7.

Davis led the event wire-to-wire but did not run away and hide by any stretch of the imagination. Early on it was Russell Morseman and Ron Cartwright Jr. who battled for Modified supremacy, before later on giving way to tenth place starter Billy Van Pelt and fifth place start Dillon Groover.

The uncle-nephew connection was eventually won by Van Pelt, who did his best to make a move on Davis for the lead. Davis had to survive several late race double file restarts but could not be shaken in his Ford Performance powered No. 60J. Those Ford ponies were working overtime and the chassis was biting hard to carry the Bradley Supply sponsored ride to Victory Lane.

“The car’s been good all year, we just needed to work the bugs out,” said Davis post-race. “(this win) means everything to us. Everything you work for just to come out here and grab one, but we have fun even when we break down.”

Davis got the biggest ovation of the 2018 season so far, as the victory Saturday night was for sure a popular one.

Jake Dgien used some late race heroics on the high side to crush AJ Costley’s dreams of slaying the bad luck dragon with a win on Saturday night in the NAPA Crate Sportsman division. Dgien, who started in position number eleven, picked his way through traffic and caught a couple cautions late to give himself a fighting chance.

Costley led the entire event up to the white flag and was doing yeoman’s work to hold off an eager and fast charging Kenny Peoples Jr. Peoples started eighth and made some superman-esque moves to claw his way to second behind Costley.

But the final restart with two laps to go was the moment that changed the entire complexion of the race. Dgien was lined up third for the Delaware Double File restart, with Costley and Peoples protecting the bottom and fighting with each other for space on the bottom.

“I wasn’t confident in the outside but I had to try it,” admitted Dgien. “That’s the problem with everyone running and protecting the bottom is you have to slow down so much. So I just ran the slick and tried to keep my momentum up.”

John Waters swept his Friday and Saturday night races, winning the 20-lap SWL Awards Crate Late Model Feature. Waters pulled away to a straightaway advantage over Jason Knowles and Steve LeBarron at the double checkered flags.

Knowles and LeBarron battled hard for the final handful of laps, as they not only raced each other but slower traffic as well. But in the end Waters proved why he is the winningest driver in Crate Late Model weekly competition history at Woodhull.

Dylan Cecce, after having won the opening two rounds of Joe Willcox Performance Automatics Street Stock competition, was forced to start no better than twelfth due to his handicap score. But not even that, nor a lap one incident with Brett Marlatt that sent both drivers to the tail for the restart, could stop the driver out of Woodhull from making it three-in-a-row.

But the fast car early was Teddy Morseman in the Berm Valley Transport No. 44. The Street Stock feature kicked off to an amazing start, with four different cars leading the first five laps of the feature. Morseman eventually came out of that battle with the lead and stretched out to a decent margin in traffic.

But Cecce was making a run toward the front, first getting by Tracy Dunn, then Jared Hill, who had one of his best Woodhull runs in quite some time, to take over second place. From there, Cecce began to close in on Morseman and waited for the door to open.

Cecce got that opportunity in turn one and filled the gap between the 44 and the inside uke tire. The two traded paint at the apex of the corner, but Cecce came off turn two with the lead. He eventually started to stretch the lead on Morsman over the closing laps and made the three-peat a reality for the Potter Chassis No. 7.

Cecce would also win the first round of the 2018 Clash for Cash Series put on by the Street Stock division sponsor Joe Willcox Performance Automatics. The five-car field ran a six-lap race with the winner taking the purse of $100.

Joe Birdsall won the Woodhull Auto Supply Hobby Stock feature, driving with a healthy dose of intestinal fortitude on the outside lane. Birdsall swept past race leader Greg Young on the frontstretch in a move that couldn’t have fit a sheet of paper between Birdsall and the wall.

Les Smith’s No. 8x Malibu was strong in his ride also but fell just one spot short at the checkered flag.

Chris Woodard finally got the monkey off his back in feature competition in the Daugherty’s Auto Sales & Service Mini Stocks, picking up the win over Ray Hyer. Woodard, driving the Crooker team’s No. 32, had previously been shut out over the first two weeks but made is three winners in three races in what should be a spirited battle for the championship all season long.

Karl Born got a much-needed top five run in his No. 06. Adam Austin and James LaGrange rounded out the top five.

Speaking of wreckless abandon, Ryan Austin scored his first triumph of the 2018 season winning the 20-lap Bear’s Auto Body Front Wheel Drive feature event. Austin at times looked like he was going to overcook the corner and give up valuable time, but made it work all night long and got through lap traffic the best.

Adam DelGrosso did everything he could do to hold Codie Baker off for second place. Matt Prescott and Nate Freeland filled out the top five.

In a spirited battle up front, Ronnie Dailey nailed down his first victory of 2018 and snapping the two-race winning streak for Carter Crooker in the Daugherty’s Auto Sales & Service Warriors. Dailey in his front wheel drive No. 76 sponsored by Morgan’s Auto Repair and Painter’s Meat Processing, held off several challenges from Crooker down low on corner exit to close out the victory.

Next Saturday night at “New York’s Toughest Bullring,” Griffith Energy and the Elkland Moose present the George Williams Memorial. A 35-lap Modified special paying $2,000-to-win. The night’s activities will include a full card of racing for all of Woodhull’s weekly divisions.

Brico Technologies Night Official Results May 19th, 2018

INSINGER PERFORMANCE MODIFIEDS, 21 cars (25 laps): BOBBY DAVIS (1), Billy Van Pelt, Dillon Groover, Cory Costa, Ron Cartwright, Donnie Lawson, Dayton Brewer, Art Goodier, Josh Keesey, Joe Dgien, Brady Fultz, Colton Wilson, Mike Bills, David DuBois, Bryce Martin, Russell Morseman, Patrick Hoopes, Brian Doolittle, Frank Dunning, Larry Keegan, Wally Wade

H1: Billy Van Pelt, Bobby Davis, Dillon Groover
H2: Frank Dunning, Brady Fultz, Colton Wilson
H3: Joe Dgien, Russell Morseman, Dayton Brewer

NAPA CRATE SPORTSMAN, 19 cars (25 laps): JAKE DGIEN (2), AJ Costley, Kenny Peoples Jr., Brett Buono, Tim Guild, Bobby Peoples, Stevie Hartman III, John Sekoll, Cole Youse, Brandon Butler, Steve Hartman Sr., Tim Schram, Bob Butcher, Stacey Jackson, Adam Taft, Blake Lawson, Jerry Aldrich, Ajay Potrzebowski Jr., Mickey Wilbur

H1: Jake Dgien, Kenny Peoples Jr., Brett Buono
H2: Ajay Potrzebowski Jr., Stevie Hartman III, John Sekoll
H3: AJ Costley, Bob Butcher, Tim Guild

SWL AWARDS CRATE LATE MODELS, 9 cars (20 laps): JOHN WATERS (1), Jason Knowles, Steve LeBarron, Kurt Stebbins, Darin Horton, Jason McGregor, Joe Layfield, Billy DuBois DNS: Whitney Horton

H1: Steve LeBarron, John Waters, Darin Horton
H2: Jason Knowles, Jason McGregor, Billy DuBois

JOE WILLCOX PERFORMANCE AUTOMATICS STREET STOCKS, 18 cars (20 laps): DYLAN CECCE (3), Teddy Morseman, Jared Hill, Tracy Dunn, Dan Gardner, Brett Marlatt, Zane King Jr., Kurt Stebbins, Mick Seeley, Mike Williams, Brett Crawford, Jeredd Dennis, Jim Buck, Tom Donahue, Jim Weatherley, Noah Talada DNS: Branden Morseman, Tom Savercool

H1: Brett Marlatt, Dan Gardner, Jeredd Dennis
H2: Dylan Cecce, Tracy Dunn, Zane King Jr.
H3: Jared Hill, Teddy Morseman, Brett Crawford

Street Stock Clash for Cash Round 1 of 4 (6 laps): DYLAN CECCE $100, Brett Marlatt, Brett Crawford

WOODHULL AUTO SUPPLY HOBBY STOCKS, 8 cars (20 laps): Joe Birdsall (1), Les Smith, Aaron Miller, Carter Dennis, Brent Williams, Greg Young, AJ Niedermaier DNS: Dylon Morseman

H1: Joe Birdsall, AJ Niedermaier, Colton Wilson

DAUGHERTY’S AUTO SALES & SERVICE MINI STOCKS, 17 cars (20 laps): CHRIS WOODARD (1), Ray Hyer, Karl Born, Adam Austin, James LaGrange, Jason Ketrow, Kane Stebbins, Derrick Puryear, Travis Webster, Josh Webster, Scott Lehman, Danielle Thomas, Jason Warner, Joshua Oles, Clay French DNS: Jeff Stone, Rick Amidon

H1: Adam Austin, Chris Woodard, Rick Amidon
H2: Ray Hyer, Scott Lehman, Kane Stebbins
H3: Karl Born, Jason Ketrow, Josh Webster

BEAR’S AUTO BODY FRONT WHEEL DRIVES, 15 cars (20 laps): RYAN AUSTIN (1), Adam DelGrosso, Codie Baker, Matt Prescott, Nate Freeland, Mike Ferris, Nick Brown, Scott Lehman, Dillyn Dailey, Brendan Schweigart, Steve Scott, Rich Wagner, Bryce Ordiway, Cara Pitts DNS: Will Torrence

H1: Nate Freeland, Codie Baker, Nick Brown
H2: Matt Prescott, Adam DelGrosso, Scott Lehman Jr.

DAUGHERTY’S AUTO SALES & SERVICE WARRIORS, 5 cars (10 laps): RONNIE DAILEY (1), Carter Crooker, Brody Amidon, Brooke McClain DNS: Will Torrence

H1: Carter Crooker, Brooke McClain, Ronnie Dailey