« Friday – August 8 – So Far So Good! | Home | Raceway 7 to hold 358 Modified Special and Fan Appreciation Night on August 29 to Close Season »
by Jay Pees
Conneaut, OH, (August 8, 2008): Weather was threatening all day long, but when race time rolled around, the skies were clear and the temperature cool. The racing was hot as points championships were on the line. Bobby Powell won the Precision Weld Fab FASTRAK finale, leading flag-to-flag, but it wasn’t enough to catch points leader Jay Watson as Watson ran second, securing the title of Champion. The Applebee Motorsports E-Mod went into the final laps of their feature as leader Jack Young had problems early in the event, spinning and having to restart in the rear. Young worked his way through traffic and advanced enough positions to deny the championship to Rich Michael Jr. The Joslin-Landis Insurance Agency Street Stock points race was the tightest at the end with leader Ken Zimmer holding a slim 13 point advantage over challenger Dave McLaughlin. Zimmer’s night turned sour early in the feature when he was hit from the rear causing him to spin in traffic only four laps from the finish, allowing McLaughlin to win the championship by 3 slim markers, unofficial at the time of this release. Even though Ed Huge was the first to drop out of the Mini-Stock feature, his points cushion was enough to insure his season finished at the top of the chart. Raceway 7 wishes to congratulate all of the 2008 champions.
The Precision Weld Fab FASTRAK Late Models ended their points race with Bobby Powell and Bert Blackson on the front row. Regional points leader Max Blair was inside of row two. Points leader Jay Watson was eleventh on the starting grid. All Watson had to do to cement the title was start the event. Powell took off with the lead but yellow flew as the cars exited turn two when Bert Blackson spun in front of the field. Several cars were involved with former Super Late Model Champion Dick Barton leaving the race on the wrecker. Steve Hollabaugh also was unable to resume the event. By lap five Powell had a half-straight-a-way lead when Alan Dellinger slowed on the main straight while running second. For the restart Blair was now second and track champion Watson third. Watson quickly assumed the runner-up spot but Powell was able to open up a substantial lead and went on to his second win of the season over Watson, Blair, John Lacki, and Scott Jones.
Dave Willoughby and Mike Potosky were on the front row for the Applebee Motorsports E-Mod feature with Potosky opening up a sizable lead after just one lap. For the points championship, leader Jack young was mired deep in the pack with challenger Rich Michael running third at seven laps into the event when Young was involved in a caution incident, dropping him to the rear of the pack. Young steadily worked his way back into contention, eventually getting back to seventh, enough to secure the track championship. Potosky finished the event with the win over former track champion Joel Watson with Todd Roncaglione third, Rich Michael fourth, and Ron Roncaglione fifth.
By virtue of their finish in the King of the Hill event, Dave McLaughlin and Rusty Wheeler were up front for the start of the twenty-lap Joslin-Landis Insurance Agency feature. Wheeler took off with the lead and held it throughout the event. Dave McLaughlin ran second throughout the event. Ken Zimmer, the points leader coming into the event, spun in turn one at lap sixteen, costing him the points championship. McLaughlin, with his second place finish, became the 2008 points champion at Raceway 7. Dan Lewis wound up third with Steve D’Apolito fourth and Tim Deutsch fifth.
Jon Boyd took the early lead in the Mini-Stock feature with Bill Rabbits second. Bud Sergeff got by Rabbits for second midway through the event. On the final lap Dillon Kineston made it by Rabbits for third. For Boyd, it was his second win of the season. The action was interrupted by a red flag at lap eight for a fire in the Darren Hart machine. Hart was OK but the car was done for the night. Points leader Ed Huge retired from the event early with mechanical woes but had enough of a lead to win his first points title.
Seven Limited Sprints were in attendance and ran a 15-lap feature with Guy Griffin leading from the drop of the green until Rob Felix got by after a restart. Pete Miller got by Griffin for the runner-up spot on the final lap.
Precision Weld Fab FASTRAK Late Models:
Heat 1: Bobby Powell, Dave Osterberg, Dennis Lunger, Jay Watson, John Lacki, Bert Blackson, Scott Jones, Roger French, Alex Anderson
Heat 2: Max Blair, Steve Hollabaugh, Dick Barton, Alan Dellinger, Andy Buckley, Bob Dorman, Tony Hyde, Mike Lesky
Feature: Bobby Powell, Jay Watson, Max Blair, John Lacki, Scott Jones, Roger French, Rick Robinson, Tony Hyde, Dennis Lunger, Bert Blackson, Alex Anderson, Dave Osterberg, Bob Dorman, Mike Lesky, Alan Dellinger, Steve Hollabaugh, Dick Barton
Applebee Motorsports E-Mods
Heat 1: Gary Eicher, Todd Roncaglione, Rich Michael Jr, Justin Carlson, Gerry Kielar, Dave Willoughby, Jack Young, Bill Taylor, Hugo Litwiler, Dan McDonald, Rick Robinson
Heat 2: Mike Potosky, Ron Roncaglione, Joel Watson, Percy McDonald, Joe Gabrielson, Rick Pratschler, Ron Armstrong, Chuck Steinle Jr, Bill Henry (DNS), Jim Dellinger (DNS)
Feature: Mike Potosky, Joel Watson, Todd Roncaglione, Richard Michael, Ron Roncaglione, Gary Eicher, Jack Young, Gerry Kielar, Hugo Litwiler, Rick Robinson, Bill Taylor, Justin Carlson, Joe Gabrielson, Percy McDonald, Chuck Steinle Jr, Jim Dellinger, Dave Willoughby, Dan McDonald, Bill Henry, Rick Pratschler, Ron Armstrong
Joslin-Landis Insurance Agency Street Stocks
Round 1:
Heat 1: Rusty Wheeler, Mike Cross
Heat 2: Ken Zimmer, Chad Stevenson
Heat 3: Stacey Neubecker, Jim Flaherty
Heat 4: Dave McLaughlin, Joe Rohrer
Heat 5: Jamie Brown, Art Gilchrist
Heat 6: Tim Deutsch, Charlie Beck
Heat 7: Dave Ferringer, Dale Zimmer
Heat 8: Ed Bolyard, Mike Harmon
Heat 9: Carlos Aponte, Ed Snyder
Heat 10: Tony Spaghetti, Jason Stanke
Heat 11: Dan Lewis, Shaun Fawcett
Heat 12: Steve D’Apolito, Chuck Fultz
Heat 13: Bob Pollack
Round 2:
Heat 1: Rusty Wheeler, Bob Pollack
Heat 2: Ken Zimmer, Stacey Neubecker
Heat 3: Dave McLaughlin, Jamie Brown
Heat 4: Dave Ferringer, Tim Deutsch
Heat 5: Carlos Aponte, Ed Bolyard
Heat 6: Dan Lewis, Tony Spaghetti
Heat 7: Steve D’Apolito
Round 3:
Heat 1: Rusty Wheeler, Tony D’Apolito
Heat 2: Dave McLaughlin, Ken Zimmer
Heat 3: Dave Ferringer, Carlos Aponte
Heat 4: Dan Lewis
Round 4:
Heat 1: Rusty Wheeler, Dan Lewis
Heat 2: Dave McLaughlin, Dave Ferringer
Final: Dave McLaughlin, Rusty Wheeler
Feature: Rusty Wheeler, Dave McLaughlin, Dan Lewis, Steve D’Apolito, Tim Deutsch, Charlie Beck, Carlos Aponte, Shaun Fawcett, Art Gilchrist, Chad Stevenson, Chuck Fultz, Jamie Brown, Mike Harmon, Ed Bolyard, Jason Stanke, Tony Spaghetti, Ken Zimmer, Bob Pollock, Joe Rohrer, Ed Snyder, Dale Zimmer, Jin Flaherty, Mike Cross, Stacey Neubecker, Dave Ferringer (DQ)
Challenger Mini Stocks:
Heat 1: Vince Simms, John Boyd, John Cross, Bud Sergeff, Darrin Hart, Chris Pildner, Mike Gelhausen, Rickey Tackett
Heat 2: Ed Huge, Bill Rabbits, Chuck Simms Jr, Dan Nagy, James Miller, Dillon Kineston, Joe Plesniak
Feature: Jon Boyd, Bud Sergeff, Dillon Kineston, Bill Rabbitts, Chuck Simms Jr, Ricky Tackett, Mike Gelhausen, Dan Nagy, Chris Pildner, Darren Hart, James Miller, Vince Simms, Ed Huge, Joe Plesniak (DNS)
Limited Sprints:
Heat 1: Eric Williams, Guy Griffin, Pete Miller, Rob Felix, Kyle Layton, Jim Morris, Chad Mathews
Feature: Rob Felix, Pete Miller, Guy Griffin, Eric Williams, Kyle Layton, Jim Morris, Chad Mathews