Story By: FIVE MILE POINT SPEEDWAY – KIRKWOOD, NY – Brett Tonkin recorded his first Sunoco Modified victory of the 2021 season on Saturday at Five Mile Point Speedway. The timing could not have come better as he edged out race runner-up Nick Rochinski by a mere three points to claim his first ever Five Mile Point Speedway Track Championship.
Tonkin entered the evening third in the point standings behind Brian Malcolm and Nick Rochinski. Tonkin held the point lead for most of the season only to lose it at the last race on August 28th. Malcolm took over the point lead on that night with his feature win over Rochinski. All three were certainly deserving of the title as they each held the point lead at different times during the 2021 season.
On Saturday, Rochinski started seventh and Tonkin in eight for the 30 lap Sunoco Modified feature event. Malcolm started fifteenth and his title hopes took a major hit on the very first lap of the feature. Malcolm was involved in a tangle in turn 1 at the drop of the green and broke a shock forcing him to lose 7 laps in the pits. Tonkin took the race lead on lap 11 from Joey Colsten and never looked back. Rochinski rallied late but ran out of laps as the last 22 laps went caution free. Tonkin took the win and the 2021 Track Championship. Rochinski finished second in the race and second in the final point standings. Malcolm finished fifteenth placing him third in the final point standings. Barry White still wound up fourth in the final point standings with one win and Brad Szulewski moved up to fifth on Saturday.
The race was red flagged on lap 7 when a multi-car tangle off turn four resulted in Barry White barrel rolling his #131 three times. Fortunately White emerged from his HigFab Chassis uninjured.
Gary Smith backed up his 2020 Insinger Performance Crate Sportsman Track Championship with another on Saturday night. Smith entered the night as the point leader and started fourth for the 25 lap feature event. Smith took the lead from Matt Brewer on lap 11 as the two ran side by side for the next fourteen laps. Smith just edged out Brewer for the win. The top five in points remained unchanged even though only 17 points separated the top four in the standings entering the evening. Ray Leonard, Dominic Roselli, Seth Zacharias and Brad Weaver were the final top five in the season standings.
Doug Polhamus edged Gene Sharpsteen in the race and the 2021 Street Stock Track Championship. Bethany Gilbert and Adam Gilbert became the first ever husband and wife Track Champions at the speedway. Both won their respective features and track titles. Bethany’s coming in the Novice Four Cylinder and Adam’s in the Futures Sportsman. Other Track Champions were Dave Brown in the 600 Modified and Justin Slezak repeated his 2020 title in the S.W.A.T. Exterminating Factory Stocks. Andy Bolles and Doug Newbigging ended up tied and Co-Champions in the Four Cylinder Expert Class.
SUNOCO RACE FUELS MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINSH (30 LAPS): BRETT TONKIN, Nick Rochinski, Justin Holland, Joey Colsten, Glenn Knapp, Dan Creeden, Brad Szulewski, P.J. Goodwin, Scott Landers, Doug Smith, Brian Mady, Doug Snyder, Dan Morganewicz, Rusty Smith, Brian Malcolm, Aleia Geisler, Gregg Turner, Barry White, Bobby Puckett, Frank Yankowski. 2021 Track Champion – Brett Tonkin.
INSINGER PERFORMANCE CRATE SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (25 LAPS): GARY SMITH, Matt Brewer, Bryce Bailey, Blaine Klinger, Seth Zacharias, Dominic Roselli, Ray Leonard, Jason Feinberg, Brad Weaver, Zane Roth, Brad Cicio, Dan Solomon, Mackenzie Marsh, Geoff Powell, Jake Mele, Ryan Conrad. 2021 Track Champion – Gary Smith.
SWAT EXTERMINATING FACTORY STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): JASON BEEBE, Josh Towner, Frank Mills Jr., Mike Chilson, Brandon Conklin, Todd Sutliff, Daniel Stevens, Nate Kriner, Blake Furman, Justin Slezak, Bob Mills, Sheldon Whitman Charlie Towner. 2021 Track Champion – Justin Slezak.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE FOUR CYLINDER EXPERT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS): KEN UNDERWOOD, Dave Simms, Doug Newbigging, Brian Salmini, Andy Bolles, Bill Price, Phil Burns, Marcus Beeman, Scott Miller, Jeff Hayes, Josh Wilder, John Maynard, Gregg Slater, Mike Jenks, Jason Seymour, Tony Frezzo. 2021 Track Champion – Andy Bolles/Doug Newbigging “co-champions”.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE FOUR CYLINDER NOVICE OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (12 LAPS): BETHANY GILBERT, Colbie Lockwood, Dakota Fuller, Josh Griffin, Rich Eggleston, Austin Slater, Scott Beach. 2021 Track Champion – Bethany Gilbert.
STREET STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): DOUG POLHAMUS, Gene Sharpsteen, Jerry Lobdell, Earl Zimmer, Kurt Decker, Nick Robinson, Chris Woodard, Dustin Decker, Josh Butler, Mike Wilbur Jr., Bobby Wagner, Dan Force, Cody Kershiner. DNS – Damon Decker. 2021 Track Champion – Doug Polhamus.
FUTURE SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): ADAM GILBERT, Dale Folejewski, Eric Windsor, Derek Cornish, Luke Powell, Ryan Zelosko, Ned Fitch, Josh Doty, Amanda Scholtisek, Josh Fedo, Kyle Smith. 2021 Track Champion – Adam Gilbert.
600 MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): JAMES RANDALL, Chris Jordan, Rich Powell, Chelsie Beebe, David Brown, T.J. Smith, Dustin Jones, Tom Shiner, Jason Sullivan, Tommy Groover. 2021 Track Champion – David Brown.