Woodhull Set To Run Saturday; Fireworks Rescheduled; Grandstands Remain Closed

Story By: STEVEN OVENS / WOODHULL RACEWAY – WOODHULL, NY – The COVID-19 response and an altered scenario of opening dirt tracks in New York State has presented a situation where track owners and promoters have had to make adjustments for.

Woodhull Raceway and new owners Terry and Nikki Brewer have been no different.

The first-year ownership team has had to make adjustments to their 2020 schedule as New York State Executive Orders from State Governor Andrew Cuomo requires that the grandstands remain closed. Woodhull Raceway’s annual Instant Heat Wood Pellets Fireworks Show has been rescheduled to a date to be determined in August. With this weekend’s show opened up, High Up Trucking has stepped up to fill the void as Saturday night’s race sponsor.

Races have gone on with live streaming video being available to fans, but everyone has been on edge waiting for the ok to open the grandstands at Woodhull. While Phase 4 in New York State is set to begin on Friday June 26, Governor Cuomo ripped the rug out from many businesses that see large gatherings by stating places like malls, theaters and gyms would in fact NOT reopen.

That certainly is cause for concern for businesses like racetracks. While there is no official word at this time about when racetracks can open the grandstands, Woodhull Raceway is committed to opening their grandstands and midway as soon as the green light is given.

This week’s program will feature all weekly divisions including the Insinger Performance Modifieds, NAPA Crate Sportsman, Cummings Trucking Crate Late Models, Joe Willcox Performance Automatics Street Stocks, Woodhull Auto Supply Hobby Stocks, Wicked Tees Mini Stocks, Johnson Auto Front Wheel Drives and the Wicked Tees Warriors.

Point leaders coming into Saturday’s show include Billy Van Pelt who leads Modified points on the coattails of winning two features in a row. Ajay Potrzebowski leads the Sportsman division with an average finish of 3.0 off an opening night win and a Top 5 last week. ‘Porkchop’ Brian Knowles leads the Crate Late Models with two straight second place finishes.

Glenn Whritenour has been perfect with two straight victories to start his 2020 campaign in the Street Stocks. Jeredd Dennis started the season with a third place effort and broke through for his first win last week to lead the way for the Hobby Stocks. Jason Ketrow (Mini Stocks) and Codie Baker (FWD) are both perfect with two feature wins a piece. Jacob Tubbs has raced his way out to two wins and an early lead in the Wicked Tees Warriors youth division points race.

The Pits will open at 4:00PM with the season opening driver’s meeting scheduled for 5:45PM at the pit shack. Hot Laps will fire off at 6PM and the first green flag from Tony Van Pelt will fly at 6:30PM. Pit passes are set at $35 with Pit Passes for ages under 12 being a reduced price of $20. All divisions will be draw/redraw, transponders will be used.

In lieu of fans being able to attend the race program in the grandstands, there will be a live video feed provided on the Woodhull Raceway Twitch page. There will be more information out this week on a way for fans to make a small donation for the live video coverage.