RPW Column: Jeff & Ray Hulseapple Scored Unusual Double At Orange County Last Weekend
Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – It was a great weekend this past Saturday and Sunday for the father/son duo of Jeff and Ray Hulseapple.
They accomplished something rarely seen in a weekend of racing, family wins at the same venue but different tracks.
On Saturday Jeff took the Arkel Motors Sportsman victory on the 5/8ths hard clay and on Sunday, son Ray won the Plus 25B race and finished 4th in the Open 450 on the OCFMX motocross track.
The duo were guests on the OCFS ‘Talkin’ Dirty’ podcast and Jeff spoke of how he was able to take a victory that he thought he couldn’t get as the race entered it’s latter stages.
“You have to have a lot of racing luck, and we’ve had it this year. Saturday, we were the 2nd best car up until that caution. That’s the only way we would have had a shot at it. Joey (Bonetti) was just out ahead that far. We were able to take advantage of the caution. I knew there was good grip on the outside and that it would stick.”
And Jeff talked about the hard work that the Vitale Motorsports team puts in each week.
“It’s important to be prepared when you get to the track. There is so much preparation that goes on at the shop. A lot of people just see what goes on Saturday night. A lot goes on during the week. Monday is our main day at the shop with Jeff Boyer and Nick Masci. Jeff is there by 9 in the morning, has the car unloaded, starts to wash it and strip it. Nick comes in and when I get off work, we get the bulk of the work done. If we had a good week, we can get it all done on Monday night. If we need more nights, we make the time to be there.”
Jeff also talked about racing for Vitale Motorsports.
“My car owner’s, Anthony Vitale and Lynn Vitale, are a tremendous family. Anthony has been around racing for many years. He raced here for years, driving a number 22, so racing is in his blood too. Racing has been in my blood and in my son Ray’s. Now my little one is into the bikes and Ray has taken him under his wing.”
Ray discussed with podcast hosts Pat Reiser and Brett Hearn about his physical training and his progression in motocross.
“I’ve been training with Aaron Lampy’s motocross camp and I also work work with his fitness trainer, getting me in shape and getting me to eat right. You have to have your body and mindset right to push yourself as hard as you can without getting tired. I started racing 125’s. They have like A,B and C amateur classes. I’ve been working my way to get up to A class. This year, I’m in B and hopefully next year I’m fast enough and in good shape to ride the A class.”
Even though Ray has driven a stock car a couple of times, he much prefers racing in the motocross.
“I definitely have more fun helping out with the car, making changes and working on it. I’d rather be it the pits helping my dad and watching him. I really do enjoy being on my motorcycle too.”
This Saturday, May 22nd will find the H.O. Penn 358 Small Block Modifieds, the Arkel Motors Sportsman and the Precision Hydraulic and Oil Rookie Sportsman in action.
Anthony Perrego remains on top of the 358 points and expanded his lead to 24 points. With his 3rd place finish this past Saturday, Tanner VanDoren has moved to 2nd in the points with Danny Creeden 3rd, Tyler Boniface 4th and Jimmy Horton 5th.
With his victory Saturday night, Hulseapple increased his points lead to 71 over Bonetti with Joey Bruning 3rd, Jake Bedell 4th and Bobby Flood 5th.
It looks like it will be a tight points race the season in the NAPA North East Parts Group Street Stock division. After the feature this past Saturday, Mike Vigiletti and Bob Sleight are tied at the top of the standings with Walt Henry, Jim Hajkowski and Dillon Gannon closely trailing in the top 5.
This Saturday May 22nd will see the H.O. Penn 358 Small Block Modifieds in action along with the Arkel Motors Sportsman and the Precision Hydraulic and Oil Rookie Sportsman. The Big Block Modifieds will be having the first of their Thursday events coming up on May 27th.
