Accord, NY - Rookie David Bush Records Second Modified Win At Accord Speedway On KB's Racing Photos Night
By Steve Pados, Accord Media

Even though a constant threat of rain hovered over many areas surrounding the greater Hudson Valley, Promoter Gary Palmer was able to dodge a bullet and offer another exciting racing card at his Accord Speedway last Friday night. With BBQ Chicken cooking on the outside grille, race cars on display behind the grandstand, and a large crowd on hand seeking to view some tremendous racing action, the seventh straight racing program at the speedway was completed without a hitch on KB's Racing Photos Night.

Scott Ferrier and Jackie Brown Jr brought the 23-car Rhinebeck Modified field down for the start of the event. Ferrier was quick on the hammer and led the first two laps of the event before yielding to the hard riding Jackie Brown Jr. Brown led through the next nine laps until a caution by the spinning Mel Schrufer stopped the exciting racing action. At this point, Ferrier inherited the lead as Brown was put back two places for his race-starting procedure. When the green flag came out it was Ferrier out front but he now was facing stiff competition from Modified rookie David Bush who just blasted into contention from his fifth starting spot. Another caution was displayed for the disabled machine of Jerry Curry and when the racing resumed again it Ferrier at the point with Bush in hot pursuit.

The racing at mid-pack again was phenomenal as one by one the top-notch field of talented racers began to find some racing room to work with. The first to break through was Rich Ricci Jr as the 10-time champion was again behind the wheel of his small block powered machine. Mike Ricci also broke into the top five in one of Rich Mastrocola's mounts. Rick Mill, John McGill, Jerry Higbie and Andy Bachetti all found some racing room around the wide playing surface and were soon contenders in the quickly paced affair.

On lap-18 as Ferrier was riding the top side, Bush shot across the track off of the bottom of turn-2 and made heavy contact with Ferrier. Ferrier backed out of the throttle but continued on as he now tried to track down the new leader David Bush. Bush quickly made tracks and began to pull out to a comfortable advantage in the remaining laps of the race and went on to win his second event of the season as a rookie in the Modified ranks. Scott Ferrier rebounded to finish second and Brown was in for a solid thrid place finish. Rich Ricci Jr was fourth and Jerry Higbie completed the top five. The second five consisted of Rick Mill, Mike Ricci, current point leader Andy Bachetti, John McGill and Jamie Yannone.

The Bryant's Towing Pure Stock event began with two-time winner Bill Judge assuming command at the start of the 15-lap event and leading through the first five laps. Ryan Coon was applying pressure to Judge but the high flying Mike Dubois quickly entered the picture. Dubois, using both the top and bottom of the raceway, quickly put himself into contention and dispersed himself of Coon by the fourth lap. Keeping up the revs, Dubois went topside on turn two and moved around Judge to take control of the event. Once in front Dubois raced out to a comfortable lead but the action behind him was outstanding as a 6-car battle assembled for a run at the runner-up slot. There was much shuffling of positions as they all chased Mike Dubois to the stripe and the win. Bill Judge held on to second with Ryan Coon hanging tough for third. Paul Aragon finished fourth and 15-year old Tommy "The Gun" Johnson continues to impress with another top five run and with his finish hangs on to the division's point lead.

The Enzo's Ristorante Pro Stock began with Roy Williams leading the initial lap of the event. Bill Deak Jr took over the lead on lap-2 and led for two laps.
Connecticut's Jon Routhier was stalking at the top of the raceway and found the needed horsepower to take over the lead with a power move on turn three to move into the lead. While Routhier led the rest of the way to win the event, he was challenged throughout the race by a strong contingent of drivers who made Routhier work extremely hard to record the victory. Bill Deak Sr rallied in the end to take the runner-up honors and Bill Deak Jr was third. John Roese
raced t oa fourth place finish and Emerson Cargain Jr completed the top five. Defending track champion Don Williams was sixth after coming from the back on a couple of occasions in the race.

The Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman event shaped up as a two stage event as "Little Richard" Richard Smith took control at the start of the event and led through the midway point of the race. Veteran campaigner Jeff Richardson worked his way through the pack from his 11th starting position and tracked down Smith by lap-10. Using the bottom of the raceway to perfection, Richardson completed the pass for the lead and once in front was smooth as silk in recording his second win of the year. 14-year old Tyler Boniface withstood some contact early in the race to slide into second in the last remaining laps to finish behind Richardson. Scott Mathews ran a great race to finish third and Bobby Hassenmayer ran a solid race to finish fourth. The steady Eric Moon completed the top five finishing order.

The Camper's Barn Sportsman feature was boosted by a healthy $250.00 bonus posted by Sportsman competitor Tom Dakake and his wife Kim from their Accurate Contracting Company. Mike Senecal took the lead at the start of the event and held the lead throughout the first 15-laps despite numerous crashes and skirmishes on the track that slowed the field through the first half of the race. "Highside" Howard Jarvis was working his magic off the cushion as he worked his way forward from his 9th starting position. Entering turn three on lap-15, Senecal hugged the bottom and Jarvis sailed in on the top. Jarvis got the great run off of the turn and became the new leader of the event. Jarvis led the final laps to win the event, but upon a scale check was found to be light at the scales and the win went back to second place man Mike Senecal in a surprising turn of events. Jarvis lost the $850.00 to win money and his points for the miscue at the scales. Mike Senecal was declared the winner with John Sundlof second, steady Jerry Craig third, Bobby Hentschel fourth and Jesse Marks completing the top five.

The Accord Mini Sprints were back in action and Mark Rogers took the early lead in the 20-lap feature and led through the first five laps of the event. Scott Goodrich came from 11th staring position to take over the lead on lap-6 and quickly moved out to a comfortable lead. Defending two-time champion Clint Roehrs seemingly came out of the blocks slowly in the feature run but soon found the quick way around the quarter mile speedplant. Roehrs worked hard to catch Goodrich but finally got by off of turn four and went on to win his second event of the year. Goodrich went on to finish second with the remainder of the top five being Mark Rogers, Will Casazza and JD Casazza.

MUDPLUGS:

Again some new faces made their way to the Accord playing surface. The Modified ranks were boosted by OCFS runner Frank Christiano and Fromer Spec Sportsman Champion at the speedway Mike Sabia. Some ride hopping also occurred with Jerry Curry moving over to the number 90 of Tom Demarmels and Mike Ricci assuming command of the Curry 10. Kevin Duryea sufferd through a rough night with his own 99 and utilized Mike Ricci's 1r to run in the feature event. The Spec Sportsman filed was bolstered by the addition of Robbie Konikowski and he raced to a 12th place finish in his initial outing at the speedway. Former Pure Stock runner Wayne Hajek made his first appearance of the year and drove the John Rood 47 with an added X to a 10th place in the Pro Stock feature.

Heat winners for the evening included Don J Williams and Bill Deak Jr in the Pro Stocks and Joe Judge and Bill Judge in the Pure Stocks. Spec Sportsman heats were won by Steve Pinto and Richard Smith. Modified heats were captured by Jerry Higbie, David Bush and Jackie Brown Jr. Sportsman heats were won by John Sundlof, Jerry Craig and Steve Meilleur with David Coene winning the consolation event for the sportsman cars.

The Pre-race interview show consisted of Pure Stock driver Mike Deyo, Modified driver John McGill and sportsman competitors Justin Holland and Tom Dakake. 16 year old Justin Grosz from Hawley, Pennsylvania was on hand with his new Midget on display behind the grandstand area. Grosz took part in the interview sesssion as well as he will launch his ARDC midget driving career next week at the Accord Speedway when the 69 year old Midget club brings their three-wide brand of racing excitement to the Catskill Mountains. Grosz, an established star in the 270 Micro Sprint ranks, is looking forward to his next step in his racing future in racing with the ARDC.

Next week's "Accordian" program will be dedicated to the ARDC Midget group as it will be the first time in the Palmer regime the powerful creations will embark on the completely refurbished raceway. The club ran Susquehana Speedway on Thursday night with Steve Buckwalter passing current point leader Randy Monroe Jr on the white flag lap to record the win. The club was scheduled to race in Winchester, Virginia on Saturday night but the race fell to the weather. Former Sportsman racer Tom Tomasko will be in action at Accord as he will return to the speedway in one of Brian Kobylarz's Two Dogs entries.
At press time, a ride was still being sought for current Modified points leader Andy Bachetti and it is still hoped the Corey Tucker owned Midget car will be on hand for the "Statesman" Jerry Higbie.

Along with the ARDC Midgets next week, the racing fans will be treated to an appearance by the Atlantic Coast Old-Timers group (ACOT) and have the opportunity to take a look at Midget racing cars from a past era of racing. The legendary open wheel driving star Jimmy Maguire will serve as the Grand Marshall of the event and will be available for autographs.

The Joe Winne Memorial race will take place on July 18th as the speedway pays tribute to one of the former stars of the speedway. Winne died of a heart attack in 2000 while warming up for the Eastern States 200 in Middletown, New York. July 18th will also mark banner night at the speedway with numerous prizes available to those who are chosen to have the best banner that evening. KB's Racing Photos has posted a $100.00 prize for the top banner chosen and additional gifts will be supplied by the Accord Speedway, Accurate Contracting, CARQUEST Gasoline Alley TV/Internet Show and bicycles from Mike Dubois Racing.

Midweek Madness continues this coming Wednesday night, July 9th as the Bikes, Quads, Karts, Lawn Mowers and Slingshots take to the quarter mile speedplant. More than 140 entries piled into the pit area for last week's racing action. The Slingshots made their second appearance and Anthony Perrego was victorious in the 15-lap affair. Jason Rosch was in for second with RJ Smykla finishing third. Zach "Z-Man" O'Connell provided plenty of spark when he was turned around early in the event and fought back to a solid fourth place finish. Kyle Van Duser completed the top five in the feature event.

Perrego will be making his big car debut this coming weekend at Accord when he takes over the controls of a former Jeff Heotzler owned race car.

Bryant's Towing Pure Stock: Mike Dubois, Bill Judge, Ryan Coon, Paul Aragon Jr, Tommy Johnson, Mike Deyo, Ray Tarantino, Will Dietz, Joe Narok, Steve Smalley, Ralph Ronk, Clarence Smith Jr, Rich Scott, Danny Rose, Steven Kanuk, Dan Knoth, Richard Stickle, James DeCicco III, Bill Halstead, Joe Judge, John Woinoski, Kyle Wright

Rhinebeck Ford Modifieds: David Bush, Scott Ferrier, Jackie Brown Jr, Rich Ricci Jr, Jerry Higbie, Rick Mill, Mike Ricci, Andy Bachetti, John McGill, Jamie Yannone, Nick Lapp, Dom Roselli, Bill Papula, Rich Eurich, Mark Pullen, Danny Tyler, John Lutes Jr, Barry Davis, Jerry Curry, Kevin Duryea, Mel Schrufer, Mike Sabia, Frank Christiano (DNS)

Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman: Jeff Richardson, Tyler Boniface, Scott Mathews, Bobby Hassenmayer, Eric Moon, Jack Skeritt, Danny Cross, Steve Pinto, John Calcagni Jr, Richard Smith, Dan Conklin, Robbie Konikowski, Tyler Odendahl, Phil Recchio, Kyle Plumstead, Greg Hastie, Sammy Dwy, AJ Williams, Vinnie DeCicco (DNS)

Campers Barn Sportsman: Mike Senecal, John Sundlof, Jerry Craig, Bobby Hentschel, Jesse Marks, Vinnie Gress, Randy Banks Jr, Greg McCloskey, Ray See Jr, David Coene, Darrell Ford, Steve Krom, Danny Hedges, Brad Rothaupt, Brian Krummel, Steve Meilleur, Tom Dakake, Howard Jarvis (DQ) Jeff Hulseapple (DQ) Justin Holland (DQ)

Enzo's Ristorante and Pizza Pro Stocks: Jon Routhier, Bill Deak Sr, Bull Deak Jr, John Roese, Emerson Cargain Jr, Don Williams, Al Christiana Jr, Larry Temple Jr, Terry O'Brien, Wayne Hajek, Lenny Helmich, Charlie Rose, Roy Wiiliams, Rob Rowe, Don J Williams

Accord Mini Sprints: Clint Roehrs, Scott Goodrich, Mark Rogers, Will Casazza, JD Casazza, Gary Reyer, Jim Johnston, Rich Sennett, Rick Russell, Rich Van Dermark, Robert Head

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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