Driver autograph session at holland Nascar Motorsports Complex

Driver autograph session at holland Nascar Motorsports Complex

WCIS Loses Another to Mother Nature

PERRY, NY….. For the fifth time in 2011, the management of Wyoming County International Speedway was forced to postpone the racing action on the 1/3^rd mile oval in Perry, NY. The scheduled events were to be highlighted by the Super Stocks running the Jim Roberts Memorial 50. The memorial race is in tribute to the former track welder at WCIS, Jim Roberts who passed away a couple of years ago.

Racing will return to the Bullring on Friday August 5^th as the Letchworth Valley NAPA Auto Parts Stores (Perry and Warsaw) present Soccer Night featuring Junkyard Soccer. There will be kids soccer games during intermission and the Junkyard Soccer contest to take place after the racing action is completed. The racing program will feature the Jim Roberts Memorial for the Super Stocks plus the SST Modifieds and the 4 Cylinders as well as Vintage Cars. The 52^nd Racer Reunion will also take place on a busy night at WCIS.

Pit gates and grandstand gates will open at 5pm with racing to get underway at 7:30pm. For more information, log on to www.wyomingcountyinternationalspeedway.com or follow the speedway on Facebook. You can also call the speedway office at 585-237-2580 or on race day at 585-237-2510. Free camping is also available.

Holmes, Zeiner and Casagrande Capture Sunday RoC Wins at Oswego

OSWEGO, NY… Day three of the 61^st edition of the Race of Champions Weekend came to a conclusion on Sunday afternoon at the Oswego Speedway after the completion of the Sportsman, Late Models and the Factory Stocks. Bobby Holmes won his first career event at the Race of Champions Weekend after winning the RoC Sportsman 100 while Zane Zeiner was victorious in the Late Model 100 and Tom Casagrande won in the Factory Stock event.

Lockport, NY pilot Bobby Holmes and Ontario’s Amy Catalano led the stout field of Sportsman to Race of Champions Hall of Famer Jim Burleigh’s green flag for the 100 lap event presented by the 2012 Motorsports Expo and the Gater Racing News and it was Holmes out front early. A multi-car pile-up on the first go around after Daryl Lewis Jr lost control of his Lewis Racing entry and slid into the turn three foam. Chris Finocchario, Chip Wanamaker, Andy Jankowiak, Jessie Kent and Kevin Lewis were all involved.

On the lap five restart it was Holmes leading the husband-wife duo of Dave and Amy Catalano with Zane Zeiner and Nick Capelli running in the top five. The second yellow of the event occurred on lap seven when Dunn Tire Raceway Park regular Craig Dolphin lost the handle of his ride on the front straightaway after contact with Tony Hanbury.  Dolphin was able to rejoin the field with Hanbury going to the rear of the field for his involvement with the caution.

The lap 13 restart saw Holmes and Dave Catalano run one-two with Zeiner and Mike Leaty running in the top four and Catalano got loose coming off of turn four, letting Zeiner and brother Buck Catalano on by the CP Ward General Contracting, PJ Radiator, Catalano Motorsports entry. Out front, Holmes with his DQ Properties, Original Pizza Logs entry was pulling away from Buck Catalano and RoC 200 and defending race winner Zane Zeiner in the top three with Dave Catalano and Nick Capelli rounding out the top five at the one-quarter mark in the event.

On lap 29, Mike Leaty and Nick Capelli would get around Dave Catalano with his wife Amy and Tony Hanbury chasing him down. One lap later, Catalano would pull his 54 mount pit side and out of the event. Craig Dolphin would also drop out of the event on lap 33 as did Erich Stritzel.  With Holmes in command, Zane Zeiner looked to the outside of Buck Catalano for the second spot and would clear the elder Catalano in turn three. Couple of laps later, Mike Leaty would do the same thing to Catalano but it took Leaty to turn one on lap 39 for position number three.  On lap 42, Jessie Kent lost the ride of his Kent Racing 16 entry into the turn one foam to slow the field down for the third time on the afternoon. On the restart, Holmes and Zeiner would pull away but not by much over Leaty and Capelli.

When the field crossed the halfway mark, Holmes continued to lead the field around the “Steel Palace” with Zeiner, Leaty, Capelli, Buck Catalano, Hanbury, Amy Catalano, Matt Kurzejewski, Bryan Sherwood and Daryl Lewis Jr running in the top ten.  As the race went on, Tony Hanbury was the fastest car on the speedway as the former winner of the event was trying to continue his charge to the front of the field, running in fifth after the 64^th circuit around the famed 5/8^th’s oval on the shores of Lake Ontario. The leaders were reeling on lap traffic as the race hit the three-quarter mark with Zeiner within a car length with the defending race winner tried the bottom side to get around Holmes but the Dunn Tire Raceway Park regular Holmes shut the door on Zeiner.

The caution would come out once again on lap 73 for Krieg Heroth going up in smoke. It was a tough break for the winner of the Small Block Supermodified event on Friday night of RoC Weekend. During the caution, Buck Catalano and Tony Hanbury went down pit road for a tire change.

The lap 78 restart saw Holmes continue to show the field around the “Steel Palace” on the bottom side of the speedway with Zeiner, Leaty and Capelli right there fighting for the second spot with Amy Catalano running in fifth. Bryan Sherwood would spin in turn four with just eleven laps remaining to bring out the yellow flag for the fifth time in the event.

The caution set up a four lap shootout with the top four pulling away with Hanbury trying to get around Amy Catalano for fifth place. The race was on but no one could catch Bobby Holmes as he won over Zane Zeiner, Mike Leaty, Nick Capelli, Amy Catalano, Tony Hanbury, Matt Kurzejewski, Daryl Lewis Jr, Buck Catalano and Rusty Smith completing the top ten.

“Love to race here and I love to be here at Oswego”. “We had a push late and Uncle Mike made a great call and I can’t believe we are standing here” said Holmes in victory lane. Runner up finisher Zane Zeiner said that “I had a push on short runs but got better as the race went on”.  For Holmes, it was his

In the TJ Toyota/Waite Toyota 100 it was Western New York pilot Ron Nurmi and Brian stone on the front row and it was Nurmi out front with Austin Kochenas, Jeffrey Brown, Zane Zeiner and Scott Wylie running in the top five.

Nurmi and Brown would pull away from the field of Late Models as Zeiner would pass Kochenas for third on lap 17 and Scott Wylie would try and do the same thing but was unsuccessful as the field crossed the stripe and completed lap 20. Travis Fisher and Bobby Weber were right there behind the battle for fourth as the leaders were pulling away from the field.

A short time later, Wylie would get the pass for fourth with Fisher and Weber getting around Kochenas before lap 25. The field of cars was stretched all around the “Steel Palace” and Fisher continued his way through the field as he got around Scott Wylie for the fourth position.

The leaders had the fastest cars of the event early on and the first yellow of the event came out on lap 44 for a spinning Joe Berretta on the front straightaway. Beretta was running just inside the top ten before the spin in front of the starter’s stand. Jeff Brown, Austin Kochenas and Bobby Weber went pit side and made changes and all were able to rejoin the field for the lap 48 restart.

Nurmi had some company in the names of Zane Zeiner and Travis Fisher on the restart with Scott Wylie right there as well. At the halfway mark, Nurmi continued to show the way over Zeiner, Fisher, Wylie and Jeff Brown in the top five. Zeiner would wait ten more laps before passing Nurmi for the lead with Fisher and Brown also going under the veteran driver from Western New York for positions two and three respectively.

The caution lights would come back on lap 66 for the second time for a spinning Scott Wylie. The third generation driver would be able to continue to rejoin at the back of the field. The restart saw Zane Zeiner pull out with a big advantage over Fisher and Brown. Problems for early race leader Ron Nurmi as he went under power and went down pit road. Nurmi rejoined the field several laps down.

Jeff Brown worked for several laps trying to get around Travis Fisher for second and passed him with 15 laps remaining. The race was on for third on back with Fisher, Weber, Kochenas and Wylie right there all fighting for the same part of real estate.

Zane Zeiner dominated the second half of the Late Model event and he won his second event of the weekend at Oswego. Jeff Brown finished in second followed by Weber, Fisher and Kochenas rounding out the top five.  

Tom Casagrande led from wire to wire to claim the French’s Auto Parts Factory Stock feature event at the Oswego Speedway. Casagrande would get around both Brandon Oltra, and Keith Frankenfield to claim the checkered flag for the second time in his career.  Casagrande never looked behind him and in victory lane, stated that he “had fun and loves racing at Oswego for the Race of Champions”.

2012 Motorsports Expo Presented by Gater Racing News RoC Sportsman 100: BOBBY HOLMES, Zane Zeiner, Mike Leaty, Nick Capelli, Amy Catalano, Tony Hanbury, Matt Kurzejewski, Daryl Lewis Jr., Buck Catalano, Rusty Smith, Andy Lewis, Kevin Lewis, Bryan Sherwood, Jody Buckley, Kreig Heroth, Dick Kluth, Chip Wanamaker, Erich Stritzel, Craig Dolphin, Dave Catalano, Jessie Kent, Andy Jankowiak, Chris Finocchario and Eddie Hawkins DNQ: Jimmy Zacharias, Lexi Wilson, Russ Brown, Matt Clemens, Barry Fitzgerald

Heat Winners: Mike Leaty, Tony Hanbury, Zane Zeiner, Daryl Lewis Jr

Consolation Winner: Jody Buckley

TJ/Waite Toyota RoC Late Model 100: ZANE ZEINER, Jeff Brown, Bobby Weber, Travis Fisher, Austin Kochenas, Scott Wylie, Joe Beretta, Brian Stone, Ron Nurmi, Geno Steigerwalt.

Gater News best Appearing Car: Geno Steigerwalt

Fast time: Bobby Weber (18.870 sec. 119.237mph)

French’s Auto Parts RoC Factory Stocks: TOM CASAGRANDE, Brandon Oltra, and Keith Frankenfield

Heat Winner: Tom Casagrande

The flag at Oswego with Richie Evans 61 ~steven

The flag at Oswego with Richie Evans 61
~steven

TJ Zacharias Torches Field at WCIS

PERRY, NY… A warm summer evening welcomed fans to Wyoming County International Speedway for Farm Days. Reisdorf Brothers as well as Lamb and Webster were the sponsors for the evening’s racing action on the historic 1/3^rd mile oval in Perry, NY. TJ Zacharias would win his second feature of the 2011 season in the SST Modifieds as did Tom Lalomia Jr in the 4 cylinders. The Super Stock feature win was picked up by Joe Mancuso, who went to victory lane for the first time in his racing career.

Feature Winner TJ Zacharias

Ed Schueler and Dick Kluth led the SST Modifieds to the green flag and it was Schueler out to the early lead. Kluth would get around Schuler for the top spot on the second lap of the scheduled 35 lap distance. TJ Zacharias would pass Kluth for the lead on lap five and last week’s feature winner Jim Love would pass Kluth for the runner up spot a couple of laps later.

Once out front, the Candor NY pilot would pull away from Love and Kluth in the top three. Racing was spread out all over the speedway as Zacharias would pull out to a sizable lead over both Love and Kluth as well as pole sitter Schueler until Schueler had problems on his Rear End Specialists machine and went pit side for the duration of the feature event.  After the restart green, Zacharias would command the remaining laps as TJ Zacharias would win his second feature win of the season at WCIS over Jim Love and Dick Kluth.

Perry residents Mike Chenaille and Brad Collings led the field of Super Stocks to the green flag and it was Chenaille out front early. Chenaille would lead the early stages of the feature event and it was Joe Mancuso on the move early on and was able to pass Chenaille for the race lead just before the halfway mark of the feature event.

Super Stock Winner: Joe Mancuso

Mancuso, in his Mancuso Designs, Fullone Trucking machine was leading the way with Jay Canonico trying to reel him in with Phil Alhart Jr running in third and that would be the way they would run to the finish as Mancuso would win his first career feature event. Canonico would finish second and Alhart would cross the line in third.  As a note of sportsmanship, 4 Cylinder campaigner Brian Johnson offered his ride to Austyn Fugle to use in the feature event as Austyn suffered a broken rear end during hot laps earlier in the night.

Brian Johnson (85) and Race Winner Tom Lalomia Jr (8ball)

Troy Collings and Joe Horvatits led the 4 cylinders to the green flag in their 20 lap feature event and it was the Birthday Boy Joe Horvatits out to the early lead. Heat Winner Jason Landcastle took the lead away from Horvatits entering turns one and two on the second circuit. Last week’s feature winner Tom Lalomia Jr would get around Landcastle and take over the top spot.

Once out front, Lalomia would pull away but Johnson threw everything that he could to get around the race leader but ran out of time as Tom Lalomia Jr would pick up his second win of the season at the Bullring over Brian Johnson and Jason Landcastle.

Next week is a special week at WCIS as we honor a great man in Jim Roberts with the running of the Jim Roberts Memorial 50 for the Super Stocks. Jim was the former welder at the speedway for many seasons. As part of the memorial race, there will also be a Chinese auction for the fans.  This race is one of the highlights of the schedule at Wyoming County with several of the top names of the Super Stocks ranks will be on hand.  Also on the racing card will be the SST Modifieds as well as the 4 Cylinders. As part of the night’s festivities, it is also the 52^nd racer Reunion. Any former driver at WCIS whether it is on the dirt or asphalt, is invited to return to the speedway to reminisce about racing in the “good ol’ days”. Pit gates and Grandstand gates open at 5:00pm with race time at 7:30pm sharp. For more information, you can log on to www.wyomingcountyinternationalspeedway.com or find the speedway on Facebook. You can also call the speedway office at 585-237-2580 or on race day at 585-237-2510.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

SST MODIFIEDS: TJ ZACHARIAS, Jim Love, Dick Kluth, Ed Schueler, Bill Roemasser

Heat Winner: Dick Kluth

SST SUPER STOCKS: JOE MANCUSO, Jay Canonico, Phil Alhart Jr, Mike Chenaille, Dale Wolfer, Troy Collings, Daniel Majchrzak, Austyn Fugle

Heat Winner:  Brad Collings

4 CYLINDERS: TOM LALOMIA JR, Brian Johnson, Jason Landcastle, Vinnie Muscarella, Eric Hastrieter, Joe Horvatits, Troy Collings, Chris Bugenhagen

Heat Winner: Jason Landcastle

New Cayuga County Fair Speedway Closes Gates

 By: Adam Ross (Dirt Track Digest.com)
JULY 19, 2011 – The New Cayuga County Fair Speedway (NCCFS) is temporarily closed for business – that’s one thing both sides agree on. The closure might be the only thing both operator Eric Kingsley and lease-holder World Racing Group (WRG) agree on.
WRG announced this week that Kingsley breached his contract, and he would no longer operate the NCCFS. The announcement came shortly after Kingsley announced he was severing ties with WRG and walking away from the facility.
Kingsley and WRG President Tom Deery began talks in November of last year for Kingsley to operate the Weedsport, New York, NCCFS in 2011. WRG holds the lease to the facility, and Kingsley took on the challenge of running the track.
The new project was problematic from the start. Mother Nature wreaked havoc early in the year and a dispute with the county over a monstrous water bill sparked rumors that things weren’t good between Kinglsey and WRG.
While things seemed to be on the rebound, a situation developed when Kingsley opened the rules for his Sportsman division to allow American Racer tires among other non-DIRTcar conforming items. The move was made to boost dwindling car counts. The result was DIRTcar owner WRG taking action.
“From my end the issue is the introduction of American Racer tires in the sportsman division,” said World Racing Group (WRG) President Tom Deery. “That was my breaking point. He breached his contract with us when he introduced different rules for a DIRTcar division.”
Kingsley sees things differently.
“Tom Deery called me and left me a message and said that I backed him into a corner,” said Kingsley. “He has a personal problem with American Racer tires, and he should keep it personal instead of in the business.
“I have nothing against the Hoosier Tire. They’re a great tire. It’s just that we wanted more cars. I was only going to do it for one week just to see if it (weak car counts) was me, if it was the track, or if it was the tires. Our car count doubled. According to Deery he said I was going to do that all along. Totally untrue.”
While some DIRTcar sanctioned tracks run DIRTcar divisions with different rule packages, Deery explains that it’s not acceptable for the flagship speedway in Weedsport.
“We have a lot of spec parts in our DIRTcar divisions,” said Deery. “It’s important that we maintain the integrity for all drivers who support our tracks and series. Certainly at the facilities we own it’s important for us to keep our branding and use our rules.”
Kingsley has a different explanation of where things went wrong.
“He (Deery) said I am not going to sanction them running those tires,” said Kingsley. “That was great news to me. Now he’s telling me I can’t even run the race track if those tires are there.
“I’m telling him the street stock class runs them. Why is that not a problem? What am I supposed to do? I’m not going back to where I was at. I said see ya.”
Kingsley has removed his equipment and product from the speedway, and DIRTcar is preparing to look at options moving forward.
“DIRTcar didn’t change anything or do anything,” said Deery. “We supported Eric in ways people will never know. Everything that has happened is a result of what Eric has done. I won’t say Weedsport is done, but it’s shut down temporarily. We’ll take a cooling off period, and we’ll go from there.”
Kingsley is disappointed that things have derailed after recent progress was made.
“When I announced it (the rule change) all of a sudden they said you are no longer dirt sanctioned sportsman,” said Kingsley. “To me that means do whatever you want to do. If you don’t have cars you definitely aren’t going to have the people. I’m not going to deal with people who don’t know what they’re doing.”
Deery maintains the time for change is during the off-season when rules meetings take place regardless of car counts.
“We have a process in place for rules changes, and the changes are implemented in December not July,” said Deery.
To Kingsley the issue is much simpler, and it seems personal.
“We proved them wrong,” he said. “That’s the biggest problem right there. They told me we wouldn’t gain any cars, and we did. I just want cars.
“The reason they leased that track is because they didn’t know what they were doing. We go in there and work our asses off and we got the place back. I’ve forgotten more about promoting than he knows.”
World Racing Group plans to keep its focus on the future. With big events scheduled for Labor Day and Super DIRT Week, Deery made it clear that the specials would remain unchanged.
“I’ve talked to two promoters already that would operate the Labor Day and Super DIRT Week specials at the very least,” said Deery. “Those events are safe.
“There are several options we will look at in the near future, but at a minimum the specials will be run as scheduled.”
In the meantime the gates to the New Cayuga County Fair Speedway are closed, but for how long?

A Look at the George Decker Memorial 100

HOLLAND, NY... One of the most prestigious events on the Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex’s schedule has been the George Decker Memorial 100 for the National Overhead Door Pro Modifieds. This event over the years has brought the stars and the cars of the Pro Modified ranks throughout Western and Central New York as well as Southern Ontario and Northern Pennsylvania to the Southern Erie County speed plant.

This year’s race will mark the 12^th running of this race that is in memory of George Decker. George was a major supporter of the open-wheeled modified division at Holland for many years as well as sponsoring many competitors over the years. Son Barry Decker stated that “this race has grown over the years to become one of the most prestigious events for the competitors of the modified class”. The 100 lap, $2000 to win showdown will feature 30 of the best open-wheeled Pro Modified drivers throughout the region on the Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex 3/8^th’s oval.

The first event happened in the year 2000 as former track champion Neal Dietz Jr was the winner of the 50 lap affair. Dietz Jr repeated this feat to become the first two-time winner in 2002. Former divisional champion Neil Hopkins won in 2001 and again in 2003 as the “Neal and Neil Show” dominated this event through the early years.

The 2004 edition of the event was won by Steve Hoxie and another Steve won in 2005 as Steve Kreitzbender was victorious. The ’05 event was the first event that was sanctioned by the Super Short Track Series (SST) and Earl Paules won the SST sanctioned portion of the Decker. In 2006 Neil Hopkins won his third Perpetual Trophy.

Another add on to the event in 2007 as the race was bumped to a 100 lap event. The race was separated into two segments; a 25 lap dash for cash and a 75 lap feature event and former speedway champion Justin Shepker won the Dash for Cash while Steve Kreitzbender won his second George Decker Memorial. In 2008 and again in 2009, Jeff Price was victorious in the 100 lap affair and last season, Orchard Park native Patrick Emerling won an exciting event over Buck Catalano and John Barber.  

The 2011 edition of the George Decker Memorial will add even more incentives for the drivers as Phyllis and Barry Decker will be giving away $100 dollars to the top five non Holland cars that cross the line. This will entice the competition and also an incentive for the invaders to compete in this prestigious race. Also this year, former Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex Figure 8 champion Dale McCool and his business, McCool Paint Workz will be giving out an award for the Best Appearing Car.

The question still remains, who will take home the Will to Win Decker Memorial Perpetual Trophy in 2011. The answer to that question will be answered after the 100 lap event on the Holland high banks. The Speedway regulars will look to keep the win on their “home turf” but the invaders will look and try to take the victory as well. Joe Evans, Mike Fiebelkorn Jr, Andy Jankowiak, Amy and Dave Catalano, Neal Dietz Jr, Jeff Ruddy and more will all look to fend of the invaders. Some expected to be include Dick Kluth, Bobby Weber, Tim Hoegel, and former Late Model competitor Bobby Martin will all look to steal one away from the hometown favorites.

The Deckers would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters for making this race possible. Hamburg Overhead Doors, Boston Deli, Schrader Industrial Sales, Team Fabrication Bullett Recovery Systems, Fireside Inn, D&H Excavating, Twinco, Bob McKerrow and Sons, Blue Hill Farm, Drake Lawn and Garden, Draudt’s Farm Market, Klispie Motorsports, Advantage Truck.com, Nova Glass and Mirror, Star Service, Z&M Ag and Turf, Indoor Air Professionals, Aurora Car Care and RV Center, Fiebelkorn Collision and Racing Products, Pitstop Pizzeria, Rucker Lumber, T Nelson Sales, Al Morrison, AW Dye Insurance, Gator Equipment, LAMOT Series, Emerling Ford, Concord Mechanical, Shamel Milling Company, Pioneer Motorsports, Lamb & Webster, Alloy Welding and Fabrication, Orrin Becker, Spring Valley Landscaping, Pat White Construction, Valley Floor Company, Aunt Elaine and Uncle Mark, Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Bob, M &M Propane, Abbott Small Engines, Elma Liquor, Auto Wrench Connection, Martin Brothers Chevrolet, Jan-Cen Automotive, Sur burn Pest Control, Silverwood Farms, Southern Erie Construction, West Falls Racing, Julicher Automotive, and Rick Mahoney.

Barry and Phyllis would also like to thank Steve Kreitzbender, Mike Piscitello, Castle Products, AutoZone of Springville, Dale McCool of McCool Paint Workz, The Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex Management, Staff, Race officials and safety crew and Steven Petty of the Gater Racing News for all of their support for making this race possible.

Saturday’s program also features the Whelen All American Series including the LAMOT Late Models, Bank of Holland Chargers, Hornets, M&M U-Pull It Figure 8’s and the Casey’s TQ Midget Series.  Pit gates open at 2:30pm, grandstand gates swing open at 3:00pm while Qualifying gets underway at 5pm and NASCAR racing will start promptly at 6:00pm. For more information, visit www.hollandspeedway.com