Knowles, Pangrazio Duel For Win On Troups Creek Season Opener At Woodhull
Story By: ROBERT SYMONDS / WOODHULL RACEWAY – WOODHULL, NY – A much cooler than normal mid-June day at the Woodhull Raceway brought the summer heat of racing competition. The Troups Creek Heating and Auto Parts Season Opener at the third mile clay oval did not disappoint. Over 116 cars filled the pit area with special COVID-19 measures in place including a sad look at an empty grandstand throughout the night.
The first event to hit the speedway, after qualifications was completed, would be the RUSH Late Models King of the Bull Ring. 16 RUSH Crate Late Models filled the infield for their yearly duel, to determine the King of the Bull Ring. The event is a round style elimination to determine the victor, two cars would hit the track and race for two laps. The first to the checkered flag will get to move on to the next round. The driver who does not make it the finish line first is eliminated.
After initial eliminations, the first set of semi-finalists would be Kurt Stebbins and Jason Knowles. Off the drop of the green, Knowles used the high side momentum to grab the lead and take the win. In the second semi-final, David Pangrazio takes advantage after John Waters’s car gets tight on the cushion on the final lap.
In the final round, the battle was intense. Knowles would start on the bottom and slide up in front of Pangrazio to take the lead on lap 1. The Jet gets tight on the last lap which allowed Pangrazio to try one last move. Off turn 4 for the final time, Pangrazio is full aside Knowles for the win but it was The Jet who would edge out in front for the win. “I didn’t realize he would be right there, he was great on the bottom lane,” Knowles said quickly in Victory Lane before heading back to the pit area.
Now the first feature event to hit the High Banks was the youngsters, Big Jim’s Wicked Tees Woodhull Warriors. In their 10 lap feature, Jacob Tubbs would quickly take the race lead from the fourth place position. Though he didn’t run away with the entire race, Levi Riley and Ethan Decker kept Tubbs at bay. Riley nearly passed Tubbs but Tubbs was too strong in his front wheel drive. Meanwhile, Bradley Morseman, Marshall O’Brien and Jaden Stone battled throughout the entire event for 4th while the top 3 pulled away. In the end it was Jacob Tubbs picking up the win over Levi Riley and Ethan Decker
The Insinger Performance Modifieds started out with Brian Doolittle and Josh Keesey leading the field to green. Doolittle seemed to be the best of the field very early as he would lead the first seven laps of the event while other drivers like Van Pelt, Lawson, Costa, and Fultz were making their way through the pack. The 21 time track Champion Billy Van Pelt was flirting with danger by putting his American Racer Tire right rear on the cushion where no one else would go; which is how he advanced so quickly from fifth to second place.
After a few tries, Van Pelt was able to get by Doolittle to take the lead on lap 8. While it seemed he would pull away with the race, Costa and Lawson were hot on his trail. Individually they would work by the Keesey and Doolittle for second and third through the mid part of the race. With eight laps to go, the race for the lead would be a classic top/bottom lane duel. Costa fought hard on the bottom but Van Pelt would use the high side momentum to take the Season Opening win. Costa finished second, Lawson third, Doolittle fourth, and Fultz rounded out the top five.
“This Bicknell was great up on the top,” Van Pelt mentioned in Victory Lane. “I knew Cory was gonna race me hard and clean. He’s one of the guys you have to be prepared to beat. I knew when I got to the top of the track, I just had to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes.”
The second feature to come out on the track was the Joe Willcox Performance Automatics Street Stocks. Dan Gardner and Glenn Whritenour led the field to the green flag. Gardner led the field for the opening four laps but Whritenour would use the bottom lane and take over the lead on lap five. While that was happening, Brett Marlatt passes Kane Stebbins for third and the battle rages on for a top ten between Kurt Stebbins, Mick Seeley, and Teddy Morseman. Marlatt passes Gardner for second just passed the half way mark. Glenn Whritenour though would be the first to the checkered flag to win the 20 lap feature over Brett Marlatt, Kurt Stebbins, Dan Gardner and Mick Seeley
Next up was the Johnson’s Auto Supply Front Wheel Drives for their 20 lap feature. Codie Baker would take off and hold the bottom lane all the way around the raceway. However through the mid-part of the race, Scott Lehman Jr would run his Valley Auto Center 6x a little lower in the bottom lane than Baker and actually passed Baker for the lead. In the end, Baker would put his Whites Repair 14 back on the bottom, take back the lead, and win the Johnson’s Auto Supply FWD feature over Scott Lehman Jr, Holden Heineman, Nate Freeland, and Todd McClain.
In the Cummings Trucking RUSH Late Models, Jason The Jet Knowles started on the pole and would leave his competition in the dust. Scott Waters quickly worked passed David Pangrazio, Darin Horton, and Kurt Stebbins to make his way up to second and was reeling in Knowles for the race lead when something broke on the 53. Pangrazio took advantage and closed in on Jason Knowles to repeat the King of the Bull Ring battle earlier in the night. In the last set of corners, Jason Knowles took his MobileTech Communication Corp number to the top and Pangrazio stuck his BEP Salvage number 136 to the bottom. Off of turn 4, Pangrazio would win after Knowles broke the suspension which completely stopped his car in the corner.
The Woodhull Auto Supply Hobby Stocks showed up to the track in full force with 21 cars lining the pit area. In their 20 lap feature, Scott Brown seemed to be the driver to beat as he pulled away from the competition at the drop of the green. The 2019 Track Champion was on the move through the field though along with Chris Woodard and Les Smith. On lap 17, Dennis made a move to get to the bottom and off turn 2, Dennis and Brown made some contact for the lead. At the checkered, the call on the track was to dock Jeredd Dennis two spots, back to third. Chris Woodard would come away with the win over AJ Neidermaier.
The NAPA Crate Sportsmans also came with a full field of 28 cars. Some rookie competitors in the class also made their debuts on Saturday including Kreg Crooker, Cayden Lawson, Carter Crooker, Danielle Thomas, Greg Crooker, Noah Talada, Tracy Dunn, and Dylan Gilbert. At the drop of the green, AJ Potrzebowski and Kreg Crooker fought for the race lead. Crooker also had to hold off some challengers such as Isabel Barron. Later, Crooker would half to return to the pit area early due to a mechanical issue. Jake Dgien would quickly race through the field in his cousin’s number 3k and battle Potrzebowski for the lead. Mayo AJ Potrzebowski would not be denied though as he would go on to win over Jake Dgien, Dale Welty, Isabel Barron, and David Mayo.
Jason Ketrow, the 2019 Wicked Tees Mini Stock Champion dominated the heat race and started on the pole for the 20 lap feature event. Brody Amidon worked his way up through the field passing Ray Hyer and Derrick Puryear to move his way into second. Jason Warner had som issues while running in the top 5 but he was quickly able to overcome it. Amidon would challenge Ketrow for the lead but Ketrow held the lead to capture the win over Brody Amidon, Jason Warner, Ray Hyer, Derrick Puryear.
Next week, Woodhull Raceway will host Lamb and Webster of Woodhull NY for the second week of competition on the high banks with the possibility of fans in Mid-July.
Woodhull Raceway Results – June 13, 2020 – Troups Creek Heating & Auto Parts Season Opener
Big Jim’s Wicked Tees Woodhull Warriors – 7 cars
Feature (10 laps) – JACOB TUBBS, Levi Riley, Ethan Decker, Bradley Morseman, Marshall O’Brien, Jaden Stone, Jordan Costley
Insinger Performance Modifieds (19 cars)
Heats: Mike Bills, Ajay Potrzebowski II, Brian Doolittle
Feature (25 laps): BILLY VAN PELT, Cory Costa, Donnie Lawson, Brian Doolittle, Brady Fultz, Dayton Brewer, Ron Cartwright Jr, Bob Silvernail, Brayden Bills, Tony Pangrazio, Patrick Hoopes, Ajay Potrzebowski II, Mike Bills, Josh Keesey, Joe Dgien, Ryan Tracey, John Venuto, Russell Morseman, Chris Ostrowski
Joe Willcox Performance Automatics (15 cars)
Heats: Branden Morseman, Glenn Whritenour
Feature (20 laps): GLENN WHRITENOUR, Brett Marlatt, Kurt Stebbins, Dan Gardner, Mick Seeley, Teddy Morseman, Kane Stebbins, Branden Morseman, Mike Williams, Brandon Birdsall, Luke Boom, Sherman Gage, Jeff Witt, Dale Rissinger, Brett Crawford
Johnson’s Auto Supply Front Wheel Drives (10 cars)
Heat: Codie Baker
Feature (20 laps): CODIE BAKER, Scott Lehman Jr, Holden Heineman, Nate Freeland, Todd McLain, Matt Prescott, Nick Brown, Garrett Wilson
DNS- Jacob McConnell, JD Vanskiver
Cummings Trucking RUSH Late Models (16 cars)
Heats: Kurt Stebbins, Jeremy Wonderling
TROUPS CREEK HEATING AND AUTO PARTS KING OF BULL RING: JASON KNOWLES
Feature (20 laps): DAVID PANGRAZIO, Brian Knowles, Jeremy Wonderling, Clayton Tarabori, Kurt Stebbins, John Haggerty, Tim Schram, Logan Zarin, Joe Layfield, Darin Horton, Jason Knowles, Scott Waters, Jim Buck
DNS- Steve LeBarron, Jason McGregor, John Waters
Woodhull Auto Supply Hobby Stocks (21 cars)
Heats: Scott Brown, Mike Spencer, Chris Woodard
Feature (20 laps): CHRIS WOODARD, AJ Neidermaier, Jeredd Dennis, Scott Brown, Les Smith, Bill Williams, Lee Bills, Mike Spencer, Dick Wallace, Leo Eldridge, Zach Kriner, Jim Sargent, Brent Williams, Jesse Tuthill, Carter Dennis, Riley Gordon, Mike Carapella, Nathan Kriner, Spencer Drake, Scotty Brown
DNS- Dennis Loucks
NAPA Crate Sportsman (28 cars)
Heats: Isabel Barron, Teddy Morseman, Connor Brown, AJ Costley
Feature (20 laps): AJAY POTRZEBOWSKI, Jake Dgien, Dale Welty, Isabel Barron, David Mayo, Carter Crooker, Blake Lawson, Adam Taft, Eric Grise, AJ Costley, Craig Irvine, John Austin, Aiden Grover, Danielle Thomas, Connor Brown, Cayden Lawson, Cole Youse, Greg Crooker, Art Goodier, Bob Butcher, Tracy Dunn, Noah Talada, Kreg Crooker, Chris Clemens, Kenny Peoples Jr, Teddy Morseman, Dylan Cecce, Dylan Gilbert
Big Jim’s Wicked Tees Mini Stocks (10 cars)
Heat: Jason Ketrow
Feature (20 laps): JASON KETROW, Brody Amidon, Jason Warner, Ray Hyer, Derrick Puryear, Chris Hand, Garrett Heffner, Dylon Morseman, Scott Lehman, Dana Stevens
