RPW Exclusive: Stewart Friesen Doubles Up To Take Modified Win At Utica-Rome Speedway

Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – VERNON, NY – Shortly after taking the win in the Empire Super Sprints CNY Speedweeks race, Stewart Friesen climbed aboard his Ferris Mowers #44 and proceeded to take the win in the 30 lap Modified feature on Bill Shea Memorial Night.

“Man, the Bill Shea race, so cool,” Friesen said after completing the double win. “Thanks to Chris Larsen from Halmar to let us do the grass kicker body in memory of Bill.”

The 4th starting Friesen was quickly up to 2nd by the completion of lap one. For the next 19 laps, he was chasing Rocky Warner, but he was not able to get be.

“He (Rocky) was really good. I just couldn’t get enough drive off the corner to get past him.”

A key moment happened on lap 17 as Warner made contact while trying to put a lap on Stacy Jackson. Jackson rolled to a stop to bring out the final caution of the race. That restart saw Friesen move to the lead that was never threatened.

“Lapped traffic got a little bit wild there,” Friesen said. “(Matt) Sheppard has been so fast here this year, we might have a little bit of work to do. But thanks to the whole Halmar team for working hard.”

Once Friesen was out front, attention shifted to the racing behind him. Tim Fuller raced his way into 2nd and Marc Johnson made a last lap pass of Warner to finish 4th. Michael Maresca finished 5th with Alex Yankowski 6th, Bobby Hackel IV 7th, Pat ward 8th, Tanner VanDoren 9th and Brandon Walters 10th.

On Friday, July 12th, it will be Standard Company presenting $5 Friday: $5 Grandstand Admission – All divisions plus Slingshots – Limited Sportsman Meet & Greet.

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[4]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller[5]; 3. 9J-Marc Johnson[9]; 4. JS98-Rocky Warner[2]; 5. 7MM-Michael Maresca[3]; 6. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[7]; 7. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[10]; 8. 42P-Pat Ward[6]; 9. 27-Tanner Van Doren[14]; 10. 22W-Brandon Walters[15]; 11. 34-Dave Constantino[8]; 12. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[13]; 13. 0-Glenn Styres[12]; 14. 63-Adam Roberts[18]; 15. 121-Will Shields[17]; 16. 8M-Tim Mayne[16]; 17. 97S-Randy Shantel[19]; 18. 91-Billy Decker[21]; 19. 1-Stacy Jackson[20]; 20. 77-Alan Barker[1]; 21. 1X-Willy Decker[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. JS98-Rocky Warner[4]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller[5]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[7]; 4. 9J-Marc Johnson[1]; 5. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[6]; 6. 8M-Tim Mayne[2]; 7. 97S-Randy Shantel[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[1]; 2. 34-Dave Constantino[7]; 3. 0-Glenn Styres[2]; 4. 77-Alan Barker[3]; 5. 27-Tanner Van Doren[6]; 6. 121-Will Shields[5]; 7. 1-Stacy Jackson[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[3]; 2. 42P-Pat Ward[5]; 3. 7MM-Michael Maresca[1]; 4. 1X-Willy Decker[2]; 5. 22W-Brandon Walters[7]; 6. 63-Adam Roberts[4]; 7. 91-Billy Decker[6]

Hot Laps: 1. 27-Tanner Van Doren, 00:18.783[17]; 2. 1Z-Jessica Friesen, 00:18.790[5]; 3. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:18.796[8]; 4. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:18.801[6]; 5. 7MM-Michael Maresca, 00:18.872[11]; 6. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:18.911[21]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller, 00:18.963[7]; 8. 77-Alan Barker, 00:18.978[1]; 9. 9J-Marc Johnson, 00:19.007[10]; 10. 91-Billy Decker, 00:19.138[3]; 11. 34-Dave Constantino, 00:19.158[2]; 12. 42P-Pat Ward, 00:19.302[19]; 13. JS98-Rocky Warner, 00:19.322[20]; 14. 1X-Willy Decker, 00:19.438[4]; 15. 22W-Brandon Walters, 00:19.609[18]; 16. 121-Will Shields, 00:19.743[15]; 17. 1-Stacy Jackson, 00:19.900[9]; 18. 63-Adam Roberts, 00:19.963[13]; 19. 97S-Randy Shantel, 00:19.984[14]; 20. 0-Glenn Styres, 00:20.114[16]; 21. 8M-Tim Mayne, 00:20.575[12]