Tim Sears Jr. Victorious At Fulton Speedway Saturday
Story By: DAVE MEDLER / FULTON SPEEDWAY – FULTON, NY – A large crowd Saturday night at the Fulton Speedway saw 139 cars sign into the pits for a fantastic night of racing on Penn Power Group Night. Official car counts were 26 Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modifieds, 41 Patriot Sprint Tour cars, 38 SUNY Canton Sportsman, 14 Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Late Models and 20 E&V Energy Novice Sportsman.
The big winners were, Tim Sears Jr. (Modifieds) Bryan Howland (Sprint Cars) Mike Phelps (Sportsman Feature #1) Jessica Power (Sportsman Feature #2) Dale Caswell (Late Models) Tom Juno (Novice Sportsman Feature #1) Stephen Marshall (Novice Feature #2).
In the 35 lap Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modified feature Joe August Jr. would lead the opening couple laps before Jim Witko Jr. drove by August into the lead as he looked to erase early season racing gremlins.
At the 10 lap point, Witko, August and Ryan Jordan showed the way at the front of the field. Behind the top three the racing was two and three wide between Pat Ward, Mike Bowman, Tim Kerr and Tim Sears Jr. for fourth through seventh.
At the halfway point, Witko and Ward crossed the start-finish line almost even, with Ward, one lap later, taking command of the race. Sears, Jordan and Max McLaughlin showed third through fifth.
With 10 laps to go Ward and Sears were putting on a show in the battle for the top spot while just a few car lengths back McLaughlin, Jimmy Phelps and Witko looked for a way to reel in the top two.
Over the final laps Ward and Sears would put on a show swapping the lead back and forth in and out of lapped cars with Tim Sears taking the narrow win over Pat Ward. Max McLaughlin, Jimmy Phelps and Chris Hile finished third through fifth.
In the 25 lap Patriot Sprint Tour A-Main Bryan Howland in his final season of 360 Sprint Car racing grabbed the lead at the drop of green setting a quick pace out front.
On lap 6 Fulton Speedway Modified regular Larry Wight moved from his 10th starting spot to second and started to close in on leader Howland who was already starting to look to put cars a lap down.
The yellow would wave on lap 9 erasing the advantage Howland had. This would put heavy hitters Wight, Mitch Brown, Chuck Hebing and Danny Varin with Howland for the restart.
At the halfway point Howland was setting a quick pace out front with Wight, Hebing, Brown and Varin looking for a quick way to close in on the leader.
Over the final 10 laps and no yellows to tighten the field up, Howland cruised to the victory. Larry Wight and Chuck Hebing put on a show just inches apart racing each other and lapped traffic to finish second and third. Danny Varin and Jonathan Preston grabbed fourth and fifth.
Once again the SUNY Canton Sportsman came out in force to have two full purse, full point 25 lap features.
In the first feature Mike Phelps took command of the race at the drop of the green and would lead every lap for his first ever SUNY Canton Sportsman win. The win was anything but easy as Phelps had to hold off a late race charge from Chris Mackey and Matt Janczuk. Point leader Jeremy Pitcher was fourth and Todd Root fifth.
Every Saturday Jessica Power makes the long tow from Kingston, Ontario to the Fulton Speedway to race, passing other speedways. The reason, she related, was to race some of the best there is and get better. All that travel and hard work paid off in the second 25 lap SUNY Canton Sportsman race as Power won her first Fulton Speedway feature.
Power had to hold off pressure early in the race from past feature winner Billy Clark Jr.. In the late going another feature winner Corey Barker threw everything he had at Power but she didn’t flinch dealing with Barker or lapped traffic as she was first under the checkers. Defending track champion Ron Davis III, Billy Clark Jr. and Friday Brewerton Speedway winner, Tyler Trump finished third through fifth.
In the 20 lap Billy Whittaker cars & Trux Late Model feature Bret Belden went from his 4th starting position to the lead on lap 2 using the top of the speedway.
At the halfway point, Belden still on the top side of the speedway held a narrow advantage over Dale Caswell as Kevan Cook, AJ Kingsley and Chris Fleming in the Brandon Ford 18 ran third through fifth.
On lap 14 Belden and Caswell made contact on the front straight as the leader suffered a rear flat.
Once in the lead Caswell drove away for the win over Kevan Cook. Chris Fleming, AJ Kingsley and Chad Homan finished third through fifth.
With just a handful of races behind the wheel of a race car, Tom Juno won his first ever race Saturday night.
In the first 15 lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman feature Juno would take the lead on lap 8 from Colby Herzog and never look back dominating the rest of the way. Tom Mackey, Ryan Gustin, Colby Herzog and John Strickler finished second through fifth.
The second 15 lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman feature had Wesley Hayes taking the lead at the drop of the green and set the early pace until Stephen Marshall took over the lead on lap 3. Once out front there was no stopping Marshall as he drove away from the field for his second win of the year. Wesley Hayes, Jimmy Moyer, Bill Sauve and Joe Abbass finished second through fifth.
This Saturday, June 10 Syracuse Haulers presents a five-star racing program plus Home Depot Kids Workshop. Home Depot will be located in the midway with fun activities for the kids.
Racing on the “Highbanks” will be the Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modifieds, SUNY Canton Sportsman, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Late Models, E&V Energy Novice Sportsman and JB Logging & Firewood 4-Cylinders.
Adult grandstand admission is $12 with everyone 18 years old and younger FREE. Pit admission is $27 participant, $30 non-participant. Gates 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 or cory@fultonspeedway.com. For the latest news visit www.fultonspeedway.com. Like the track Facebook page www.facebook.com/FultonSpeedway.
Penn Power Group Night June 3 Results
(Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modifieds 35 Laps) – TIM SEARS JR. Pat Ward, Max McLaughlin, Jimmy Phelps, Chris Hile, Larry Wight, Jim Witko Jr., Chad Phelps, Tim Kerr, Joe August Jr., Tom Sears Jr., Matt Hulsizer, Billy Whittaker, Mike Bowman, Rob Bellinger, Beth Bellinger, Katelyn Hile, Ryan Jordan, Tim Mayne, Roy Bresnahan, Kody Graham, Rick Regalski, Adam Roberts, Andrew Ferguson, Tim Murphy, Andy Noto.
(Patriot Sprint Tour 25 Laps) – BRYAN HOWLAND, Larry Wight, Chuck Hebing, Danny Varin, Jonathan Preston, Jared Zimbardi, Mitch Brown, Dalton Herrick, Darryl Ruggles, Kelly Hebing, Chris Steele, Brandon Kidd, Steve Collins, Steve Doell, Jake Brown, Steve Hutchinson, Scott Goodrich, Joe Trenca, Paul Habeck, Kyle Drum, Tyler Graves, David Just, Jeff Trombley, Cory Turner, Jordan Thomas, Sammy Reakes IV.
(SUNY Canton Sportsman #1 25 Laps) – MIKE PHELPS, Chris Mackey, Matt Janczuk, Jeremy Pitcher, Todd Root, Mike Stanton Jr., Tyler Thompson, Jeremy Dygert, Mike Button, Alan Fink, Kyle Kiehn, Willy Decker Jr., Brett Draper, Wade Chrisman, Joey Bounagurio, Jason Amidon, Chris Cunningham, Kyle Perry, Brandon Carvey.
(SUNY Canton Sportsman #2 25 Laps) – JESSICA POWER, Corey Barker, Ron Davis III, Billy Clark Jr., Tyler Trump, Will Shields, Glenn Forward, Jim Spano, AJ Miller, JJ Courcy, Nate Higgins, Ricky Yelle, Aron Backus, Garett Rushlow, Ryan Hatherill, Torrey Stoughtenger, Josh Blackwell, Pat LaPage, Nick Krause.
(Jim Larkin & Sons – Larkin Mowing of Oswego $20 Heat Winners) – Mike Phelps, Jessica Power, Jeremy Pitcher, Chris Mackey.
(Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Late Models 20 Laps) – DALE CASWELL, Kevan Cook, Chris Fleming, AJ Kingsley, Chad Homan, Jason Parkhurst, Sean Beardsley, Jason Occhino, Brandon Carvey, Alan Chapman, Steve Coit, Mike Kazmierczak, Bret Belden, Mark Green.
(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman #1 15 Laps) – TOM JUNO, Tom Mackey, Ryan Gustin, Colby Herzog, John Strickler, Jake Petit, Bill Megnin, Casey Cunningham, Dan Dupra, DNS-Dwight Nichols.
(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman #2 15 Laps) – STEPHEN MARSHALL, Wesley Hayes, Jimmy Moyer, Bill Sauve, Joe Abbass, Robert Gage, Tyler Rogers, Kearra Backus, John Dwyer, DNS- Matthew Becker.