Story By: FIVE MILE POINT SPEEDWAY – KIRKWOOD, NY – Five Mile Point Speedway opened its gates for the 73rd consecutive year on Sunday after just nine days earlier announcing a limited 2023 racing schedule.
Mike Nagel, Jr., a former opening day Crate Sportsman winner returned to victory lane in the 25 lap feature event. The victory was worth $1,250. Dominik Albanese, the Fall Series Factory Stock Champion at the speedway won the “Shirley Shootout” worth $750. The race was a remembrance of Shirley Zacharias.
The field for the 25 lap Crate Sportsman feature was star studded with many of the best regional drivers in the division converging on the speedway. Ray Leonard and Mike Nagel, Jr. led the field to the green flag at the start of the opening day feature event. Nagel took advantage of a very racy outside line to immediately take the lead. The race was only one lap in when the red flag waived. George Hildebrant jumped the wheel of Mark Shupp coming off turn two and flipped multiple times down the backstretch. Hildebrant, a former Modified feature winner at the speedway emerged from the car uninjured. He was done for the night. Shupp returned for a short time before retiring to the pits as well.
When the green flag flew again Nagel chose the outside line for the restart and immediately took control of the race. A great battle between Leonard, Seth Zacharias and Carter Crooker took place during the next several laps. The three car battle became a duo between Leonard and Zacharias for the next dozen laps. On lap 15 Zacharias slipped past Leonard for the runner-up slot. At this point Nagel had opened a straightaway lead over the field. As the laps began to wind down Nagel began to navigate lapped traffic as Zacharias quickly closed the gap. Nagel went on for the victory with Zacharias finishing second. Leonard wound up third with Kreg Crooker finishing fourth in his debut. Travis Green, a winner in 2022 finished fifth.
The 25 lap feature was slowed only once with the lap 1 red flag. The balance of the race went caution free.
Like Nagel, Dominik Albanese took advantage of his outside front row starting slot to race to the victory in the 25 lap Shirley Shootout for Factory Stocks. The race was a remembrance of Shirley Zacharias. Signworks Fleet Graphics posted the $750 winners share for the event. Kurtis Stickle, the 2022 FMP Track Champion in the class started on the pole. Albanese, the Fall Series Champion at the speedway was no stranger to the outside line on the quarter mile oval. He used every bit of the outside cushion as the front row duo battled throughout the 25 lap feature. Luke Mills kept pace with the battle for the lead as he ran in third though out the race awaiting any mistake. Albanese led every lap on his way to the victory. Stickle finished second with Mills third. Rich Sharpsteen, the fall finale feature winner finished fourth with Jordan Towner finishing in fifth.
Kyle Percy and Doug Newbigging led the 600 Modified starting field to the green in their 20 lap feature event. Newbigging, a former track champion in the four cylinder division was looking for his first win in the 600 class. At the drop of the green Percy raced out to the lead with Newbigging chasing in second. The only caution of the race flew on lap three when Newbigging spun. This put Justin LaDue on the front row with Percy. When the green flew again LaDue took command and never looked back. LaDue led the balance of the race and went on for the win. Percy finished second with Bryce Smith finishing in third. Newbigging finished fourth with Eric Boynton finishing in fifth.
The Futures Sportsman division saw the fall finale race winner, Lance Hill recording the victory. Hill took the lead from Charlie Towner on lap 11 and went on for the win. Avery Decker, making his first ever start in a “big car” finished second. Decker, had previously run in the Slingshot division. Towner wound up finishing third.
Justin Pope was the early race leader in the 20 lap Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinder Expert feature event. Pope led the first 15 laps only to have over-heating issues send him to the pits. On that same caution the second and third place drivers pitted as well. Kenny Underwood had a wheel come off and Eric Rowley dropped to the pits. Rowley did return to action. The first 15 laps were caution free before the huge shuffle in the order. When racing resumed Cameron Reichenbaugh took over. Dave Simms stayed close only to slow on lap 17 bringing out the caution. Reichenbaugh went on for the $400 win with John Maynard charging to second in the late stages. Simms came back for third with Pope and Rowley completing the top five.
Bruce Illenberg and Jesse Lovejoy had their own one-on-one battle in the Four Cylinder Novice class. Illenberg emerged the winner of the 15 lap feature.
COUNTER POINTS…Five Mile Point Speedway opened just nine days after a limited 2023 race schedule was announced…The speedway property is still contracted under a pending sale, the possible closing on the sale has been pushed back into the early fall…All of the staff and officials did an outstanding job organizing the program in such a short time frame…The racing in all of the classes was outstanding with very few cautions among the main events…Racing was completed at 8:10 p.m. and the quarter mile oval surface was in outstanding spring time condition despite 80 degree temperatures and 20 mph winds all day…Racing will return the next two Sunday’s…Racing will then return on Sunday, May 21st with the Modifieds joining the program…A total of nine races have been scheduled including the Tuesday, June 20th Mike Colsten Remembered event…
CRATE SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (25 LAPS): MIKE NAGEL, JR. ($1,250), Seth Zacharias, Ray Leonard, Kreg Crooker, Travis Green, Carter Crooker, Dave Rosa, Greg Crooker, Dale Welty, Ben Feldman, Brad Weaver, Eric Winsor, Mike Travis, Mark Shupp, Levi Riley, George Hildebrant, Corey Cormier.
FACTORY STOCK SHIRLEY SHOOTOUT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (25 LAPS): DOMINK ALBANESE, Kurtis Stickle, Luke Mills, Rich Sharpsteen, Jordan Towner, Nick Stark, Stan Matthews, Justin Lovejoy. DNS – Cody Fassett.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE FOUR CYLINDER EXPERT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): CAMERON REICHENBAUGH, John Maynard, Dave Simms, Justin Pope, Eric Rowley, Kenny Underwood.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE FOUR CYLINDER NOVICE OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS): BRUCE ILLENBERG, Jesse Lovejoy. DNS – Scott Young.
FUTURE SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): LANCE HILL, Avery Decker, Charlie Towner.
GRIT 600 MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): JUSTIN LADUE, Kyle Percy, Bryce Smith, Doug Newbigging, Eric Boynton. DNS – Tory Starway, Sam Hubbard.