News Director 
Story By: STEVE PADOS / ACCORD SPEEDWAY – ACCORD, NY – Accord Speedway Promoters Gary and Donna Palmer presented a seven division show on Friday evening that went off without a hitch.
The weather was just right and the Catskills Mountain scenery is majestic to behold no matter what time of the season. The special show that was set for Wednesday night was unfortunately postponed to a later date to be named later in the summer as Promoter Gary Palmer took a nasty spill off of the grader when preparing the track for racing and has been in quite some discomfort since then. Mr. Palmer soldiered on to have the speedway ready for Friday evening and had the facility “fit as a fiddle” as he always does. Friday night produced another of those great nights as another great crowd was on hand to enjoy the evening of speed sponsored by the good folks at Dig Safely New York. (www.digsafelynewyork.com)
Jimmy Wells rocked the house with an outstanding drive to capture his second Modified win of the season at Accord and in doing so becoming the first driver to double down and collect his earnings in the Insinger Fuels Modified finale. “The Bushkill Bullet” Kyle Rohner captured his fifth win of the season in the Arkel Motors Sportsman main event. Livy Johnson celebrated her 18th birthday by driving past her fellow combatants to capture her first win of the season as she captured the Upstate Auto Pure Stock encounter. “The Travelin Man” Mick D’Agostino raced to his second win of the season in the WRWD Radio NEWS Sprint Car feature. Michael Corbin was triumphant in the WRWD Radio Rookie Sportsman feature event as he captured his ever win at the speedway. The Emmanuel’s Marketplace Fireball 4-Cylinder feature was captured by another first time winner as Jesse Torrens found the bottom of the raceway to be his ticket to the checkered flag and was victorious. The Emmanuel’s Marketplace Four Cylinder Enduros closed the show with a rip-snorting and entertaining fifty lap finale that found Shawn Maloney having the hot foot in a rousing win for him.
Eddie Burgess and Danny Creeden brought the field down for the start of the Insinger Fuels 30-lap headliner for the Modifieds. Creeden jumped into the lead from his front row starting spot and immediately found the center lane of the speedway much to his liking as he was able to control the top spot easily though the first twelve laps until a restart slowed the action. On the restart Jimmy Wells would move along side of Creeden and the pair squared off and it would be Wells winning the battle off of turn two to take command of the lead.
Creeden would follow but in the blink of an eye Anthony Perrego came knocking and took over the runner-up slot. By that time Wells had built up a solid lead and Perrego pullled out all of the stops to reel him and did. They would be nose to tail in slower traffic and Perrego took a couple of shots on the inside to try to slip past Wells but it would be Wells crossing the line first with Perrego a nip away in Rich Ricci Jr was third with Jerry Higbie and Danny Creeden completing the top five. The returning Andy Bachetti headed up the second five with Joe Judge, Richard Smith, Mike Ricci and Jesse Marks completing the top ten. The action was jam-packed with excitement throughout the entire 30-laps of racing.
The Arkel Motors Sportsman event found Mike Senecal in the lead for two laps before yielding to the high flying Leo Fotopolous. “The Architect” would roll out to a big lead but a disabled Greg McCloskey would bring out the caution on lap-17. On the restart it would be Kyle Rohner behind Fotopolous and Rohner kicked the race car up a notch as he drove by Fotopolous one lap later and built up a nice margin of victory at the checkered flag. Rohner would carve out a huge advantage over the field as he separated himself from the pack and he would go on to his fifth win of the season. Cole Hentschel was second with Leo Fotopolous, Nick Plumstead and Mike Senecal completing the top five. Alex VanPelt, Tyler Johnston, Danny Morgiewicz, Chris VanDuser and Anthony Recchio would round out the top ten.
Michael Corbin raced into the lead at the start of the WRWD Radio Rookie
Sportsman feature attraction. Corbin had a fast car and enjoyed a quick breakaway from the field. Only in the latter stages of the event did Travis Green get close to make it a solid event. Corbin would go on to capture his ever win at Accord in a full size car with Green in the runner-up role. Joe Coppola recovered from a spin to finish third while John Brown and the returning Samantha Muller would complete the top five positions. Charles Loiodice, Erin Paulison, Jared Miller, newcomers Travis Cogswell and Billy Fiske completed the field.
In the Upstate Auto Pure Stock event Livy Johnson seized the moment and would lead all of the way to give herself a big win on her birthday. Travis Brockner would race to second with Steve Williams, and the returning John Drake completing the top five. Emerson Cargain headed up the second five with newcomer Jimmy Maher, Ray Tarantino, newcomer JB Morris and Mike Arrigoni following.
Mick D’Agostino would jump into the lead off of turn four at the start in the WRWD Radio NEWS Sprint feature. D’Agostino would lead all of the way as he withstood many challenges from Jeremy Quick to go on and secure his second win of the season at Accord. Quick would finish second with Mark Conolly and Mike Traver finishing as the cars running at the end.
In the regularly scheduled Fireballers feature, Ed King led the first four laps before giving way to Jesse Torrens on a restart. Jesse Torrens would remain in front for the remainder of race and holding off challenges from Jerry Kingeter and Shawn Maloney. Torrens would hold on for his first career win at Accord and enjoy a big celebration in the WRWD Victory Lane. Kingeter, Maloney, Dave Donovan and Jeff DeGroat completed the top five. Anthony Tarantino, Marisol Torrens, Nicole Nelson, Willie DeGraw and Ed King would complete the top ten.
In the Emmanuels Marketplace Four Cylinder Enduro show closer, Jeff DeGroat would lead for the first 22-laps until yielding to the mighty fast Shawn Maloney. Once Maloney was in front he sailed around the competition with ease as he went on to his first win of the season. Jeff DeGroat would hang on for second with Johnny Bankich charging from 15th starting position to nail down third place. George Zeininger returned to action and was fourth with Shawny Hazel completing the top five.
GEMSTONES:
The hotly contested racing action was completed at 10:28 PM. Kudos again to Gary Palmer for working through much pain and agony to give the competitors an excellent race track to display their talents and for the fans to enjoy an evening of great racing action.
A special thanks goes out to our friends at Dig Safely New York. Area Rep John Yehl was in the house and interviewed with Announcer Steve Pados regarding the many benefits of calling “811.”
Writer Marie Doyons was also in the house referencing material she will be doing for the “Chronogram” Magazine. She also interviewed and stated just being on the speedway grounds made her a fan as the excitement spills over with each division that takes to the race track.
Heat wins went to Rich icci Jr, Danny Creeden and Jimmy Wells in the Modified division. Two heats were needed for the Sportsman with wins going to Matt Shultz and Leo Fotopolous. The Rookie Sportsman heats were claimed by John Brown and Michael Corbin. Mick D’Agostino captured the sprint car heat win. The Pure Stock heat wins were captured by Travis Brockner and Livy Johnson. Fireball heat winners included Willie DeGraw and Richard Smith.
Grandma Anne’s Pies were in the house and each feature winner was given a treat worth consuming for their dining pleasure.
RESULTS:
Insinger Fuels Modifieds: Jimmy Wells, Anthony Perrego, Rich Ricci Jr, Jerry Higbie, Danny Creeden, Andy Bachetti, Joe Judge, Richard Smith, Mike Ricci, Jesse Marks, Tyler Boniface, Rich Ricci III, Nick Johnson, Kenny Ferrier, Kyle VanDuser, Allison Ricci, Eddie Burgess, Tommy Johnson, Mark Pullen
Arkel Motors Sportsman: Kyle Rohner, Cole Hentschel, Leo Fotopolous, Nick Plumstead, Mike Senecal, Alex VanPelt, Tyler Johnston, Danny Morgiewicz, Chris VanDuser, Anthony Recchio, Dave Demorest, RJ Smith, Matt Shultz, Harry Baldwin, Greg McCloskey, Shane Henion,
WRWD Radio NEWS Sprint Cars: Mick D’Agostino, Jeremy Quick, Mark Conolly, Mike Traver, Andrew Davis, Eric Jennings
WRWD Radio Rookie Sportsman: Michael Corbin, Travis Green, Joe Coppola, John Brown, Samantha Muller, Charles Loiodice, Erin Paulison, Jared Miller, Travis Cogswell, Billy Fiske, Cole Stangle, Robbie Colburne
Emmanuel’s Marketplace Fireball 4-Cylinders: Jessey Torrens, Jerry Kingeter, Shawn Maloney, Dave Donovan, Jeff DeGroat, Anthony Tarantino, Marisol Torrens, Nicole Nelson, Willie DeGraw, Ed King, Ryan Heady, Brandon Conklin, Richard Smith, George Barringer, Ken Barringer, Bob Clarke
Upstate Auto Pure Stock: Livy Johnson, Travis Brockner, Steve Williams, John Hechinger, John Drake, Emerson Cargain, Jim Maher, Ray Tarantino, JB Morris, Mike Arrigoni, Steve Kanuk, James Goetchius
Emmanuel’s Marketplace Fireball 4-Cylinder Enduros: Shawn Maloney, Jeff DeGroat, Johnny Bankich, George Zeininger, Shawny Hazel
