by Gary M. Spaid

WILLIAMSON, NY…The action was hot and heavy last Friday evening at Spencer Speedway with the running of twin 50-lappers for the Sunoco Modified division. Mike Leaty took command of the first 50-lapper on lap 12 and proceeded to pull away to convincing win.

“The car was quite working in practice. Then in the heat race it seemed better,” commented Leaty. “Come feature time it was on a rail. I have to thank the crew for this one.”

The second 50-lapper went to Kevin Timmerman. Just as in the first, Timmerman took the lead on lap 12 and finished nearly a full straight away ahead of Amy Catalano in second.

“In the first race we were held up by traffic. In this one the car was on rails,” related Timmerman in victory lane.

Mitch Wright took top honors in the Super Stock 25-lap feature, but later fell victim to tech. His car was found illegal and the win given to second place finisher Kris Hillegeer. Hillegeer now has four feature wins in the class, tying Jim Steffenhagen Jr., who spent the night behind the announcer’s microphone in the tower.

The Super Six 25-lap feature was battle royal with Tim Faro taking home his fourth feature win of the 2011 season. Faro grabbed the lead from Chris Andolino, exiting the second turn with just two laps remaining in the race.

“I have to thank Chris, he did a great job tonight,” related Faro. “This win is for my grandparents.”

The Four Cylinder Auto Value Scorpions saw Mike Bradshaw hold off Alison Knoepfler to take the 30-lap victory. “All I have to say id Happy Anniversary to my mod and dad,” stated Bradshaw.

A special appearance by the Casey Midgets took place with Camden Barber from Bliss, NY taking the victory. These midgets averaged nearly 85 mph for their 20-lap feature.

The first 50 lap Sunoco Modified feature saw the yellow fly on the initial green when Eddie Hawkins suffered mechanical issues and was not able to get around to take the green.

Once under way it was Fred Taylor in the lead followed by Jake Boerman and Bobby Lippa Jr.. On lap nine the yellow flew again, this time for a spin in the third turn by Scott Combs.

The restart saw Leaty take the lead and never look back. Two laps later Chris Finocchario passed Taylor to take second. He then took off after Leaty but it was just too late.

On lap 27, Timmerman passed Taylor for third. Timmerman then caught up with Finocchario, but neither could close the gap on Leaty.

Two laps later, lap 29, the yellow flew again when Dave Catalano sailed off the third turn while running eighth. The restart on lap 32, saw yet a third yellow. This time Bobby Lippa Jr. got sideways and slammed into the back stretch wall.

On lap 35 the red flag flew when contact between Jeff Ruddy and Toad Bradshaw exiting the fourth turn resulted in the Ruddy car slamming into the outside wall and destroying the front end on his car.

At the finish line it would be Leaty followed by Finocchario, Timmerman, Amy Catalano and Taylor.

“I want to dedicate this win to my sponsor, Brian Miller’s mom Wendy, who passed away this past week,” stated Leaty.

The second 50-lap Sunoco modified saw the top nine inverted for the start. This put Andy Lewis and Toad Bradshaw on the front row. As quickly as possible Amy Catalano worked her way into third and finally into the lead on lap eight, just before the yellow flew for an accident involving Bradshaw and Jerry Boerman.

The restart saw Catalano only able to hold off Timmerman until the back stretch, where he passed her on the outside to take the lead. Once out front he pulled away from the rest of the field. Following Timmerman across the finish line were Catalano, Leaty, Finocchario and Eddie Hawkins, who was not able to start the first feature.

Following the races, Finocchario waved off tech inspection, thus disqualifying himself from both 50-lap races.

The start of the Super Six main saw Erick Ruffell blasted into the lead. Four laps later, Chris Andolino caught and passed Ruffell exiting the fourth turn.

A yellow/red flag flew on lap eight when Tim Faro and Ryan Hillegeer looped around in the second turn while running in second and third. Once under way again it was Andolino leading Brian Hallett and Faro, who was given back his running position for trying to avoid the spinning Hillegeer. Faro then grabbed second on lap 12 and took off after Andolino.

As the field exited the second turn on lap 23, Faro made his move low under Andolino to take the lead. Faro took the checkers for the fourth time this season followed by Andolino, Brandon Allen, Hallett and Hillegeer rounding out the top five.

“This car is really fast around here,” stated Faro. “It’s like running on a rail.”

The Four Cylinder Auto Value Scorpions saw Joe Clark take the lead over Beth Dennie. On lap four Mike Bradshaw passed Clark for the lead. From that point on Bradshaw never looked over his shoulder as he sailed on to the victory in race that only saw the yellow fly once, lap 18. On that lap Dennis slowed off the third turn to cause the yellow.

At the finish line it was Bradshaw followed by Alison Knoepfler, Austin Montgomery, Kevin Bertolone and Clark.

The Super Stocks 25-lapper was all Mitchell Wright, as he led all 25 circuits.

“I was able to build up a big enough lead to hold off that late race charge by Hillegeer,” noted Wright. The only thing wrong with Wright’s statement was the post race inspection found issues with Wright’s car and awarded the win to Hillegeer, his fourth of the year. Billy Gleason finished second followed by Brian Gordon and Tom Fecteau.

The Casey Midgets saw Camden Barber take the lead on lap two from Jonathan Reid. On that same lap Justin Mapes took second. The front two would remain that way turning laps in the mid-80 mph range each lap around the flat half mile oval.

Barber took the win in the group’s first appearance at Spencer Speedway. Owen Bednasz, Reid and Dan Lawrence rounded out the top five finishers.

There is no NASCAR racing at Spencer on August 12, to make way for the RoC 150 lap race at Spencer’s sister track, the Chemung Speedrome.

Racing resumes at Spencer on Friday, August 19, featuring a full program of racing in all divisions. Double points for the Auto Value Scorpions will be on the line that evening. Fans will also have a chance to go down on the track during intermission for a meet and greet session with the drivers. NASCAR race time will be 7:30 p.m. sharp. For more information go on Spencer Speedway go to www.spencerspeedway.org.

Spencer Speedway is located just fifteen minutes east of Rochester, NY, along Route 104 in the Town of Williamson. Spencer Speedway is the local “NASCAR Place to Race” for Central New York. Points earned each week at Spencer are counted into the national NASCAR Whelen All-American Points.

NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN NIGHT SUMMARY

CASEY’S TQ MIDGETS

HEAT 1: C. Barber, J. Reid, A. McGruder, M. Blair,G. Steffan.

HEAT 2: O. Bednasz, D. Lawrence, J. Mapes, C. DiRosa, N. Rung.

FEATURE (20-laps): CAMDEN BARBER, Justin Mapes, Owen Bednasz, Jonathan Reid, Dan Lawrence, Shawn Nye, Charlie DiRosa, Mike Blair, Gordon Steffan, Nelson Rung, Arik McGruder

AUTO VALUE 4-CYLINDER SCORPIONS

FEATURE (20-laps): MIKE BRADSHAW, Alison Knoepfler, Austin Montgomery, Kevin Bertolone, Joe Clark, Otis Bradshaw, Dave Bradshaw, Russell Peets, Bro Bradshaw, Beth Dennie, Richie Gross, Andrea LaManna, Zach Willis, Dale Lazzaro.

HOOSIER TIRE SUPER SIXES

FEATURE (25-laps): TIM FARO, Chris Andolino, Brandon Allen, Brian Hallett, Ryan Hillegeer, Van Grant, Adam VanHall, Erick Ruffell, Kalea Nelson, Peter Cowell, Rick Wilson.

SUPER STOCKS

FEATURE (25-laps): KRIS HILLEGEER, Billy Gleason, Brian Gordon, Tom Fecteau, Brandon Larner, DNS: Tom Catalano, DQed: Mitchell Wright

SUNOCO MODIFIEDS

HEAT 1: J. Ruddy, F. Taylor, A. Catalano, T. Bradshaw, M. Lees.

HEAT 2: M. Leaty, K. Timmerman, B. Lippa Jr., D. Lewis Jr., S. Combs.

HEAT 3: J. Boerman, Eddie Hawkins, A. Lewis, M. Cline.

1st FEATURE (50-laps): MIKE LEATY, Kevin Timmerman, Amy Catalano, Fred Taylor, Daryl Lewis Jr., Andy Lewis, Toad Bradshaw, Matt Lees, Mark Cline, Scott Combs, Jake Boerman, Jeff Ruddy, Bobby Lippa Jr., Dave Catalano, DNS: Eddie Hawkins, Ed Hawkins. DQ’ed: Chris Finocchario.

2nd FEATURE (50-laps): KEVIN TIMMERMAN, Amy Catalano, Mike Leaty, Eddie Hawkins, Daryl Lewis Jr., Andy Lewis, Fred Taylor, Mark Cline, Scott Combs, Jerry Boerman, Toad Bradshaw, Dave Catalano, Matt lees, DNS: Jeff Ruddy, Bobby Lippa Jr., Ed Hawkins, DQ’ed: Chris Finocchario.