Story By: DAVE MEDLER / BREWERTON SPEEDWAY – BREWERTON, NY – Rob Bellinger from Cicero, NY won a hard-fought Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modified feature Friday night at the Brewerton Speedway for car owner Ted Barcomb.
Bellinger had a spirited close battle with Joe August lap after lap, finally wrestling the lead away on lap 22 of the 35-lap feature. Once out-front Bellinger then had to hold off challenges from Larry Wight and a fast closing Tim Sears Jr. for the popular win.
An emotional Barcomb related it was the first win for the famous black Barcomb No.11 since the fall of 1985 when Dave Leckonby put the car in victory lane for Ted’s father Cliff Barcomb who is in the DIRT Motorsports Hall of Fame as a car owner.
Other winners on Xtreme Auto Recovery and Ehrlich Pest Control night were, Chris Mackey & Alan Fink (DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman) Justin Williams (U.S. Air Force Mod Lites) Chris Bonoffski (Fleet Repairs Truck & Trailer Repair 4-Cylinders).
Joe August and Tim Harris would lead the 23 car Modified field down to the green with August grabbing the early advantage in the 35-lap main.
With 10 laps showing on the scoring tower August and Bellinger, who started ninth, were in a two-car breakaway at the front of the field with Nick Krause, Matt Hulsizer and Chris Hile racing for third through fifth.
By lap 15 August and Bellinger were in an intense battle for the lead while putting cars a lap down running inches apart.
When the scoring tower showed lap 20 August still led with Bellinger all over him, looking for a way by. Just 2 laps later Bellinger was able to take the lead away, being scored the new leader.
On lap 24 Larry Wight who started 14th moved into second and set his sights on Bellinger setting up a 11-lap slug fest to the checkers.
Over those final laps, Bellinger had to get through back markers while holding off every challenge from Larry Wight for the 0.681 of a second win over Wight. Tim Sears Jr., Matt Hulsizer and Chris Hile finished third through fifth.
A strong field of 40 DIRTcar Sportsman signed into the pits setting up a pair of 25-lap features.
Earl Rudy and Quinn Wallis would lead early laps in the first feature that would see Wallis open a 15-car length advantage over Rudy with Tyler Murray, Tyler Corcoran and Matt Janczuk showing in the top five.
At the 10-lap mark Wallis was running strong out front with a quarter-of-a straightaway lead over Rudy and Murray who raced side-by-side for second and third with Torrey Stoughtenger and Stephen Denton fourth and fifth.
After a quick caution on lap 12 Murray would take advantage on the restart, driving around Wallis and into the lead.
With 10 laps to go you could have almost thrown a blanket over the top-five of Murray, Wallis, Chris Mackey, Rudy and Denton as the final laps started clicking off the lap counter.
Mackey would work his way into the second spot on lap 18 just before a yellow would slow the pace. When the green came back out Mackey would bolt into the lead, leading the rest of the way for his second Brewerton win of the year. Tyler Murray, Stephen Denton, Quinn Wallis and Earl Rudy finished second through fifth.
In the second 25-lap Sportsman feature Jeff Prentice would lead the first 6 laps until Alan Fink drove into the top-spot.
At lap 10 Fink and Rich Townsend were in a two-car breakaway at the front of the field with Prentice, JJ Courcy and Mark Yorker locked in their own battle for third through fifth.
With 10 laps to go Fink and Townsend were still putting on a tight fight for the lead as Courcy, Yorker and Prentice still showed in the top-five.
Over the remaining laps Townsend threw everything he had at Fink as they ran bumper to bumper and side by side to the checkers. Fink held on for his second Brewerton win of the year despite a left rear tire that was going flat. JJ Courcy, Kevin Root, who came back from an early race jingle and Mark Yorker finished third through fifth.
In the 20-lap U.S. Air Force Mod Lite feature Tucker Halliday would take early command of the race while behind him the racing was two and three-wide battles for position in the early going.
At the halfway point Halliday still led as Brian Meyers, Justin Williams, Doug Williams and Rick Demo started to close in on Halliday.
On lap 16 defending track champ Justin Williams was able to drive into the lead and then go on to the win by a little over one second at the checkers over his dad Doug Williams. Tucker Halliday, Casey Sykes and Brian Meyers finished third through fifth.
Chris Bonoffski would take the lead on lap 2 of the 15-lap Fleet Repair Truck & Trailer Repair 4-cylinder feature and then would lead the rest of the way. The win wasn’t easy for Bonoffski as he had to hold off late race challenges from Quinn Wallis who finished second. Chuck Powelczyk, Evan Wright and Ray Bechler finished third through fifth.
This Friday, June 14th NAPA Auto Parts and Pro Edge Property Maintenance will present a night of fast, family affordable racing featuring the Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modifieds, DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman, U.S. Air Force Mod Lites and Fleet Repair Truck & Trailer Repair 4-Cylinders. The Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models will be in action on the Brewerton Speedway and Fulton Speedway doubleheader weekend.
Adult grandstand admission is $15 with everyone 18 years old and younger admitted free. Pit admission is $27 Participant, $30 Non-Participant. Grandstands will open at 5:30 pm with racing starting at 7:30 pm.
Any questions you might have please contact Cory Reed at (315) 668-6906 or cory@brewertonspeedway.com . For all the latest news go to www.brewertonspeedway.com and like the track Facebook and Twitter pages.
Xtreme Auto Recovery & Ehrlich Pest Control Family Autograph Night June 7 Results
(Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modifieds 35 Laps) – ROB BELLINGER, Larry Wight, Tim Sears Jr., Matt Hulsizer, Chris Hile, Pat Ward, Tom Sears Jr., Jimmy Phelps, Billy Decker, Chad Phelps, Ron Davis III, Joe August Jr., Nick Krause, Andrew Ferguson, Roy Bresnahan, Tyler Trump, Katelyn Hile, Jason Occhino, Jim Witko, Chris Hulsizer, Kyle DeMetro, Tim Harris, Tim Murphy.
(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #1 – 25 Laps) – CHRIS MACKEY, Tyler Murray, Stephen Denton, Quinn Wallis, Earl Rudy, Brandon Carvey, Tyler Corcoran, Billy Clark Jr., Jim Spano, Zach Sobotka, Dylan Zacharias, Torrey Stoughtenger, Dorian Wahdan, Jake Petit, Ricky Yelle, Bailey Groves, Riley Rogala, Corey Barker, Matt Janczuk, DNS – Tim Devendorf.
(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #2 – 25 Laps) – ALAN FINK, Rich Townsend, JJ Courcy, Kevin Root, Mark Yorker, Amy Holland, Jeff Prentice, Mark Effner, Rocco Leone, Mike Fowler, Jake Holmes, Joe Sobotka, Jeff Taylor, Mike Prentice, Colby Herzog, Brent Joy, Joey Buonagurio, Willy Decker Jr., Richie Riggs, DNS – Rick Rogala.
(U.S. Air Force STARS Mod Lites 20 Laps) – JUSTIN WILLIAMS, Doug Williams, Tucker Halliday, Casey Sykes, Brian Meyers, Rick Demo, Mike Mullen, Joe Garafolo, Tom Mackey, Hunter Lawton, Matt Magner, Roger Olschewske, Tom Perkins, Kelly Skinner, Sam Usborne, Ben Reed, DNS – Jim Dunham, Dave Brown.
(Fleet Repair Truck & Trailer Repair 4-Cylinders 15 Laps) – CHRIS BONOFFSKI, Quinn Wallis, Chuck Powelczyk, Evan Wright, Ray Bechler, David DeNova, Sam Curcie, Jerry Curcie Jr., Damien Bechler, Clayton Koch, Dylan Curcie, Stephanie Seeley, Jacob Dupra.