By Steve Pados, Accord Media
Friday nights have become the staple for racing fans in the greater Hudson Valley to take a drive to the Accord Speedway to witness some of the best short-track racing the Northeast has to offer. This past Friday night was no exception to the rule as a large throng of racing faithful filled the Accord grandstands to the brim as 140-plus race cars and drivers tested all of the racing channels on the refurbished raceway. The fans came away from the racetrack knowing the competition was top-shelf, the racing superb, and that on any given evening most of the talented racers who are racing on their A-Game can come away with a top performance or win. David Bush in the Modifieds, Bill Judge in the Pure Stocks, Larry Temple Jr in the Pro Stocks, Larry Hendershot in the Sportsman, and Tyler Boniface in the Spec Sportsman all became first time winners in 2008 on Friday night at Accord. Spec Sportsman Hot shoe Vinnie DeCicco was the only previous feature event in 2008 that could lay claim to another feature win during a night of racing that showed the level playing field the great racing at Accord provides.
On a night sponsored by longtime speedway sponsor Camper's Barn RV, the Modified prize was buoyed by the $250.00 in bonus offered by the Precision Engine Service in Middletown, New York, making the winner's share of the purse a cool $2,000.00. John Lutes Jr and Jerry Curry brought the 23-car Rhinebeck Modfied field down for the start of the 30-lap headliner. Lutes grabbed the lead at the drop of Kenny Marshall's green flag and led the first circuit before yielding to the much improved Jerry Curry. Curry held the lead in his Empire Packing machine up until lap-11 when a caution flag slowed the action for the first time. On the restart, it was Lutes once again getting a great run off of turn-4 to retake the lead and relegate Curry to the runnerup role.
In the meantime, the "Slate Hill Statesman" Jerry Higbie, took over second place from Curry and began to reel in Lutes. Higbie appeared to be quicker in his Mid City Transit sponsored mount sporting Precision big block power, but just couldn't edge his way into the lead. With the great racing going on upfront, Modified Rookie David Bush was inching his way closer to the frontrunners in his Freskeeto's Food Service sponsored mount, from his 8th starting position. Bush, who was utilizing all of the racing channels to his advantage, chose the extreme outside lane to slip by Higbie and then drove by Lutes one lap later with a similar line to take over the lead on lap-23. Bush was the man of the moment as he opened up an advantage of 5 car length over Higbie at the end of the race to secure his first career win in Modified competition. Jerry Higbie was second in another great run. Mike Ricci, making his first Accord appearance in 2008, drove from 14th starting place to finish third. Andy Bachetti, the current Modified point leader, was fourth and Jackie Brown Jr continues his great work with another top five finish. Sixth through tenth were hot spots on the raceway all night long and Bill Papula drove a great race to finish sixth and defending track champion Rich Ricci Jr finished seventh. Last week's feature winner Rick Mill was eighth and John McGill and Danny Tyler rounded out the top ten finishers.
The heldover Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman feature belonged once again to Vinnie DeCicco. DeCicco took control of the event at the outset and drove to his second win of the season over the hard charging Greg Hastie who came from tenth starting position. Phil Recchio drove a great race to finish third. Dan Conklin finished fourth in the event and Eric Moon drove his best race to date at Accord to complete the top five.
The Camper's Barn Sportsman feature event was a true barn burner throughout. Darrell Ford took the lead at the start and threatened to run away and hide from everyone. Newcomer Brad Rothaupt, running his best race to date, kept pace in second until he lost the handle of the race car on lap-5 and spun to the inside of the raceway. On the restart, Ford once again powered away as Steve Meilleur and Shane Jablonka kept pace. A three car jam session on turn one slowed the field on lap-10 and on the restart it was Larry Hendershot working both the top and bottom of the race track to perfection as drove by the leader Ford. Once out front, Hendershot powered away to a sizable lead to win his first feature event in 2008. Ford kept pace and finished second in a great run. Last week's feature event winner Brian Krummel placed third with hard-riding Howard Jarvis finishing fourth and Steve Meilleur driving to a top five finish.
Charlie Schwartz Jr took the lead at the beginning of the Enzo's Ristorante Pro Stock feature event at the start and led until lap-4 when a determined Larry Temple Jr raced by Schwartz and proceeded to carve out a big lead. From the back of the pack came the defending track champion Don Williams, who was making tracks forward quickly with his Hewitt's Fabrication sponsored machine. While Williams was able to catch up to Temple, going past him was another story altogether. Lap after the lap the pair battled and Temple was able to nose out Williams for the win. Emerson Cargain Jr did his best work ever at Accord with a strong third place showing and John Roese finished fourth. Steve Hankle continued his great early season work by finishing fifth.
The Bryant's Towing Pure Stock feature event was highlighted by a spectacular flip by veteran racer John Woinoski on the fourth lap. Woinoski walked away from the mishap. The race was restarted and Bill Judge who began from the pole, raced out to the lead. Lots of scrambling in the ranks ensued and 15-year old driving star Tommy "The Gun" Johnson was quickly making his presence known with another great drive. Another racing scramble on lap-10 had Mike Deyo driving to the top of the raceway on turn four where he lost his grip and went into a half spin in front of the pack bearing down on him. Richard Stickle and Deyo made contact with pieces of race cars and cars flying off in all directions. A long delay to attend to Deyo, who was knocked out in the melee, brought a hush to the Accord crowd. Deyo was ok after the scary incident but a bit sore the next day. On the restart again it was Bill Judge leading the way and making sure he was in control of the verdict of the final finish. Judge came across for the checkered flag winning his first career feature event. A very emotional victory lane ceremony followed for the veteran campaigner and his son, defending track champion Joe Judge, who assisted his Dad with the interview in victory lane. Johnson was second in the final rundown with Paul Aragon Jr doing his usual great work with a third palce finish and steady Mike DuBois and "Cowboy" Bill Halstead rounding out the top five finishers.
In the final event of the evening, young gun Tyler Boniface, drove his Downes Forest Products/Victory Lane Auto Care/PBE green machine out to an early lead in the Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman regularly feature event and then had to fend off the advances of first Sammy Dwy and then the "Bushkill Bullet" Kyle Rohner to score his first career win at Accord. Boniface took the lead at the start with Dwy working the top side in an effort to move around Boniface. Rohner, another top prospect in the popular class, then began to challenge Boniface and took over the lead momentarily before a caution brought the field to a halt and in going back to the prior lap Boinface was reinstalled as the leader. Once the racing went back to green, Boniface was again challenged by Rohner but the Bushkill Falls Resort sponsored racer was beginning to act up with a bit of a push. Onto the scene came another promising rookie Bobbie Hassenmayer and the former karter slipped by Rohner and went to work on Boniface but fell a bit short in his efforts as the checkered flag fell. Boniface was the winner with Hassenmayer, Rohner, Dwy and Phil Recchio completing the top five finishers.
The Northeast Vintage Modifieds made their first appearance of the new Accord season a successful one as Howard Murphy drove his Johnny Harroll look alike Gremlin to the win in the feature event. Robby Casti hustled his Plymouth Coupe from last starting position to finish in the runnerup slot. Accord regular Rob Rowe did double duty on this evening and slung his humpback coach around the Accord clay with reckless abandon to finish third. Early leader Ray See Sr hung on to finish fourth and Mike Murphy drove his Ferriaulo 73 look alike Gremlin to a solid fifth place finish.
MUDPLUGS:
Many new cars continue to sign in on a weekly basis. In the sportsman ranks, Jeff Hulseapple returned to Accord aboard the Vitale Motorsports 1x entry formerly driven at Accord by Bobby Hentschel. Hulseapple was credited with a 15th place finish in his first outing. Charlie Winne made his first appearance as well and was credited with a 21st place finish in his return to action. Pro Stock additions included Terry O'Brien and Carl Ackerly. The Pure Stock ranks were bolstered by the return of the ageless one, Bert Long, whose last appearance at Accord netted him a win in the "Wreckage of the Catskills" weekend event.
Heat winners for the Pure Stocks icluded Joe Judge in his D&D NAPA machine, Steve Smalley in his Twin County Collision sponsored racer and Paul Aragon in his DNB Seamless machine. Pro Stock heats went to Canaan, Connecticut's Jon Routhier in his Canaan Auto Supply entry and Don Williams in his Hewitts Fabrications machine. Sportsman heats were won by Shane Jablonka in his family owned racer, Larry Hendershot driving his Hendershot Excavating entry and Tom Dakake driving his Accurate Construction race car. Spec Sportsman heats were captured by Bobby Hassenmayer in his Complete Forklift sponsored machine, Kylr Rohner in his Spectrum Communications entry, and Vinnie DeCicco in the P&H Diecast sponsored entry.
Modified heats went to Tom Demarmels in his Empire Packing machine, John Lutes Jr in his Lutes Family owned racer, and the hard charging schoolteacher Bill Papula in the family owned racer. Jamie Yannone captured the Modfied consi in his Alex's Marine sponsored mount and Ken Ferrier won the Sportsman Consi in his Empire Forklift sponsored racer. Mel Schrufer captured the Modified consi.
Jeff Richardson, the veteran campaigner from Goshen, New York, was forced to withdraw his racer from the weekly competition as he sustained a hard hit in held over feature event while charging through the field. Likewise for Kevin Smith as he got sideways during the hot laps and suffered an extensive amount of damage on his racer and was through for the evening.
Camper's Barn RV brought two recreational units to the speedway and the units were set-up behind the grandstands and gathered a lot of attention from the fans looking to find as affordable way to vacation without being hurt in their wallets.
The racing at the speedway was tremendous and the drivers were not afraid to test the racing surface from wall to wall as Promoter Gary Palmer continues to put a ton of time and effort into making the racing surface better each passing week. With one additional curfewed feature event remaining to be run for the Camper's Barn Sportsman, the fans will once again be treated to an additional feature event without adding price to the admission ticket. Minnewaska Motors will be the headline sponsor for next week's racing show. Pit Gates open at the speedway at 4:30 and the Spectator Gates open at 5 PM. Hot Laps are at 6:30 and the Racing begins at 7 PM. Admission prices are $12.00 per Adult and $3.00 for those 11 and under.
Mid Week Madness commences this coming Wednesday Night June 4th with small division racing featuring Slingshots, Lawn Mowers, Bikes, Quads and Go Karts. The Wednesday night shows have become the feeder series for the Friday night divisions at the speedway for those hoping to become the stars of tomorrow in racing. The show begins at 6 PM and is set to run until 10:30. For the racing fans seeking to find an affordable night out during the week, the Mid Week shows will be the ticket for a night of great fun and entertainment.
Bryant's Towing Pure Stock: Bill Judge, Tommy Johnson, Paul Aragon Jr, Mike DuBois, Bill Halstead, Clarence Smith Jr, Joe Judge, Steve Smalley, Rich Scott, Kyle Wright, Bill Merten, Phil Johnson, Bert Long, Ray Tarantino, Bill Bulson, Ryan Coon, Richard Stickle, Mike Deyo, John Woinoski, Dan Knoth
Rhinebeck Ford Modifieds: David Bush, Jerry Higbie, Mike Ricci, Andy Bachetti, Jackie Brown Jr, Bill Papula, Rich Ricci Jr, Rick Mill, John McGill, Danny Tyler, Kevin Duryea, Mel Schrufer, Jamie Yannone, Jerry Curry, Mark Pullen, Barry Davis, Danny Creeden, John Lutes Jr, Dennis Dietrich, Scott Ferrier, John Dixon, Tom Demarmels, Rich Budd Jr
Enzo's Ristorante & Pizza Pro Stocks: Larry Temple Jr, Don Williams, Emerson Cargain Jr, John Roese, Steve Hankle, Bill Deak Jr, Mark Lathrop, Jon Routhier, Al Christiana Jr, Terry O'Brien, Bill Deak Sr, Torin Betterton, John Rood, Bill Deak Sr, Roy Williams, Matt Curry, Torin Betterton, Charlie Schwartz Jr, Don J Williams, Rob Rowe, John Rood
Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman: Tyler Boniface, Bobby Hassenmayer, Kyle Rohner, Sammy Dwy, Phil Recchio, John Lieto, Jason Thew, Danny Cross, AJ Williams, Steve Pinto, Eric Moon, Scott Mathews, Jack Skeritt, John Calcagni Jr, Tyler Odendahl, Rich Lybolt, Vinnie DeCicco, Dan Conklin, Greg Hastie, Richard Smith, Steve Plumstead
Campers Barn Sportsman: Larry Hendershot, Darrell Ford, Brian Krummel, Howard Jarvis, Steve Meilleur, Shane Jablonka, Jesse Marks, Ken Ferrier, Ray See Jr, Steve Krom, Greg McCloskey, Jerry Craig, John Sundlof, Joey Giachinta, Jeff Hulseapple, Larry Badaracco, Brad Rothaupt, David Coene, Tom Dakake, Justin Holland, Charlie Winne
Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman: (Held Over) Vinnie DeCicco, Greg Hastie, Phil Recchio, Dan Conklin, Eric Moon, John Lieto, Kyle Rohner, Steve Pinto, Jason Thew, Rich Lybolt, John Calcagni Jr, Danny Cross, Tyler Odendahl, Tyler Boniface, Bobby Hassenmayer, Richard Smith, Scott Mathews, Jack Skeritt, SAmmy Dwy, Jeff Richardson, AJ Williams.
For further updates and information regarding the great racing at the Accord Speedway, logon to the their newly constructed website at: http://www.accordspeedway.com or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478
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