Sep 7, 2015 08:17 PM EDT
Jared Hill Wins Title In ‘Walk Off’ Fashion; Siri, Pavlick, Tinsley, Sharpsteen, Kreidler & Daugherty Win On Championship Night
DUNDEE, NY – For Immediate Release – September 6th, 2015 – Curtis Berleue Photo –
Six out of the seven point leaders had either locked up or essentially locked up the points championship in their respective divisions but the Morseman Racing Chassis Street Stocks still had to decide theirs.
A championship, a spot in the Black Rock Speedway record books and a brand new 2016 MRC Chassis was on the line. In dramatic fashion, Jared Hill hit a walk-off in what was his and CJ Guererri’s ‘Game 7 Moment’ Friday night.
Hill was originally slated to go off in the third position but a problem on the Dennis Cummings 74D on the initial green flag put Hill alongside Jeremy Potrzebowski to take the green flag. Guererri’s handicap from the past three weeks included a victory on August 21st and relegated the No. CJ1 to start tenth.
The track took some time in the early laps to work in, particularly on the top side of the speedway. Hill learned that lesson early, falling back to the bottom half of the top five as everyone tried to sort themselves out.
Guererri also had problems moving forward as he was encaged in several two and three-wide battles inside the top ten. Restarts were challenging for Guererri as well as it appeared his line on each restart either had a problem or didn’t go off the green quickly. With a five-point deficit going into the feature it was already going to be an uphill climb without having heavy traffic to deal with.
Frank Chapman Jr would take over the lead on lap 6 and lead two laps before a right rear flat tire saw the ‘Freaky Fast 4’ spin in Turn 4, while leading. Potrzebowski inherited the lead for the restart but Hill was determined to win the championship by winning the race.
Hill got the jump on the restart and took the lead for good as the pair came down to complete lap number 9. The battle wasn’t over yet as Potrzebowski tagged the back bumper of Hill several times, trying to find a way by. Hill was driving the race of his life, charging Turns 1 and 3 harder than he had all season long.
Hill and the Beauty Craft, Creekside Entertainment, Creekside Racing No. 93 was up to the challenge as he would hold on for the win even after contact with a slower car on the last lap and secure the 2015 championship. Potrzebowski settled for a disappointing second place finish with Jake Karlnoski third. CJ Guererri made a valiant effort to get to fourth place with Chuck Winslow the top five.
“This car was pretty good tonight, until the lap car did what they did in 3 & 4 and I about needed a new set of drawers,” said Hill of the victory.
Hill knew that Potrzebowski was there, as the two waged war for the win.
“I felt him back there, he didn’t make it easy but more importantly he didn’t wreck me.”
Then switching gears from talking about his fourth win of 2015, Hill reflected on the efforts that went into winning his first Black Rock title.
“I have to thank my wife Jamie for always being my support, Alex, I couldn’t be here without Tracy’s help and his motor, my sister, Dan, Brenda and Alan, Jim and Sharon, Bob and Brent. My dad, he’s been watching me race a long time- this win and championship is definitely for him.”
For Hill, his first championship made him reflect on anyone who has ever been a part of his racing career.
“We’ve had so many people help us out whether it was back in the 4 Cylinders all the way to late models and street stocks. I want to thank everyone that’s ever helped me along the way.”
Steve Paine had already clinched his 8th Modified track championship at Black Rock Speedway the week before, but there was one more opportunity to find victory lane and send off 2015 with a bang. There was only one glitch in that plan- Tyler Siri and his Superior Crushing 5*.
Siri quickly assumed the lead in the 30-lap feature event which had trouble to start the feature, but after that opening lap slowdown would go green the rest of the distance.
The long green flag run saw Siri just blaze his American Racer tires for the 30-lap distance and put enough of a distance on Ron Cartwright Jr, Paine and Alan Johnson to keep the lead. Cartwright would close in on the back bumper of Siri but could only get that far before his tires gave way.
Paine was the next closest contender, who dispatched of Cartwright with a handful of laps remaining before setting his sights on Siri. Siri tried the low lane where Paine was running but had little success with his buzzed tires. Paine would reel Siri in on the last lap but could not make the move.
Siri took his fourth feature of 2015 over the champion Paine, Cartwright, Johnson and Brady Fultz the top five.
“Nothing left (on the tire),” said Siri in Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane.
“It’s tough when it goes that long green to checkered. We probably had just a couple laps left on that one. It’s tough when you’re out front because you don’t know where everyone else is.”
Paine spoke about his solid season that saw early struggles be rebounded with late season consistency.
“We had a real good year, we had one race we couldn’t start, but other than that I think we finished them all,” Paine said.
“(winning championships) is what we set out to do. First to win races and then second to win the title. I’d like to thank all my fans and all my sponsors for making this happen.”
Casey Pavlick returned one week away from illness to Black Rock Speedway and capped off his second straight Crate Sportsman championship with a victory on championship night.
Pavlick used the cushion to perfection as he has done countless times in 2015 to advance through the field during the 25-lap affair. The Campbell, NY native went to the top before Stacey Jackson would to get into the runner-up spot, and saved his best stuff for the move for the lead.
Exiting Turn 2, Pavlick had a monster run on leader Steve Gray and had just enough room to fit his C&S Services 18p between Gray and the backstretch wall. Gray could only watch Pavlick sail by as the Proctor Enterprises team has been searching for the right combination late in the season while Pavlick had been red hot.
Pavlick took the win and the championship in grand fashion getting the victory over Jackson, Gray, Loren Lincoln and Chris Silvers. Afterwards, Pavlick reflected on their crazy run through the summer months.
“The outside is the fastest way around and we hit on a setup that it just loves running up there,” Pavlick said.
“This new Bicknell is just awesome, there’s just so much more we can do with it. We really found something here that it likes.”
Keith Lamphere won the M&M Auto Sales IMCA Modified championship just by rolling through the gates on Friday night- his first IMCA championship at the ‘Fast Four-Tenths-Mile’. He would not get the feature win though as Bruce Tinsley would pull off his first IMCA Modified win after dominating the 20-lap feature event.
Tinsley was never really challenged during the event but the battle behind him for a podium finish was a good one. Harry Ely, Nicole Spalding and Lamphere put on a good show for the fans as Ely is still searching for his first Black Rock win of 2015. Spalding has made big strides in 2015 behind the wheel of her No. 17 hailing from Troy, PA.
Lamphere had fresh skins on his No. 98k as their team was prepared to leave for Boone, IA after their racing event at the Skyline Raceway Saturday. The point champion was content running fourth with an ill-handling car in an effort to keep it clean for the Super Nationals the following weekend.
Tinsley picked up win number one over Ely, Spalding, Lamphere and Todd Stone. Afterwards, Tinsley and Lamphere spoke about their respective success.
“I wasn’t quite sure if I’d make it or not, I was getting pretty tired,” said Tinsley in Super Gen Products Victory Lane.
“This is awesome, my first IMCA win!”
For Lamphere, Friday night was all business in securing the track championship.
“We were hoping to bring home the win tonight, but after the first caution the car went away and I was driving over my head,” said Lamphere.
“We’re ready to head to Iowa now.”
The NAPA Know How 4 Cylinders also saw their point champion go out in style as Rich Sharpsteen wheeled his ‘Flyin X’ to victory lane Friday night. Sharpsteen had wondered how well his machine would perform after taking a vicious hit the previous Friday night, which ended that race under a red flag.
Sometimes though, they run better after they’ve been tweaked.
Sharpsteen carved through the field as the fans have seen him do so many times this season enroute to his ninth victory on the year. Not only did Sharpsteen win the title at Black Rock, he also won the title at Woodhull Raceway- a feat that has never been accomplished before.
Jayson Smart came home in the runner-up spot, an impressive feat with the amount of passenger side damage he had on the side of the Speedway Performance sponsored entry. Backyard Motorsports entries Jeremy Trank and David Whetham finished third and fourth with Penn Yan, NY driver Erica Bell rounding out the top five.
For Sharpsteen, 2015 was about two goals- both of which were accomplished.
“This win here is for my girlfriend Ashlee,” said Sharpsteen.
“Last Sunday I was all done but she had her mind set that we were going to fix that car and come here and race. I pretty much sat in the chair all week hurt and her and the boys got it back together.”
With both of those titles in hand, the next question for Sharpsteen was would he stick with the 4 bangers or make another run at the Street Stocks?
“If it sells, we’ll be back with the street stocks. If it doesn’t sell we will be right back here next year,” said Sharpsteen about 2016.
Jarod Brown picked up the championship for the Front Wheel Drives in an effort that saw his No. 09 start every single feature in 2015. He got to celebrate with a photo and some champagne with the Backyard Motorsports crew in Champion Power Equipment Victory Lane.
“It was a rough one, we had our ups and downs,” said Brown.
“We almost didn’t make it here tonight, but we worked hard and made sure everybody else’s cars made it here too so we could celebrate as a team.”
That they did, as every Backyard Motorsports car made it to victory lane to celebrate except James Kreidler’s 79k who exited the feature early.
Kreidler picked up the win in the makeup 4 Cylinder feature, which restarted on lap 12 and finished out the 20-lap feature go. Kreidler was all business in victory lane to start the night’s racing action, knowing he had another feature yet to go.
“The car seems to handle no matter what the track conditions are,” said Kreidler.
“Hopefully we can keep this night going the way it is.”
That didn’t happen for Kreidler but he was impressive in 2015 nonetheless, winning on five of the twelve occasions he brought the No. 79k out of the shop.
Coming up next at Black Rock Speedway is Onyx Summit Weekend Friday and Saturday September 18th and 19th, 2015. It will be a great weekend of Crate Sportsman Modified racing, along with several other support divisions in attendance as well. Be sure to check with www.blackrockspeedway.com for all the late breaking news on this first-year co-promotion between the speedway and the Grit Racing Series founders Dick and Nick Stark.
For more information including weekly recaps, driver profiles, results, points and information on the $100,000 Contingency Connection Rewards Program race over to www.blackrockspeedway.com or visit Black Rock Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BlackRockSpeedway or follow us on Twitter @BlackRockSpeed
Black Rock Speedway is proud to partner with the Contingency Connection in 2015 to offer their race competitors over $100,000 in prizes. Drivers lucky enough to be awarded Contingency Connection books will save thousands of dollars on the parts, pieces and products that they use each week and every winter.
Black Rock Speedway Official Results September 4th, 2015:
MODIFIEDS, 12 cars (30 Laps): TYLER SIRI (4), Steve Paine, Ron Cartwright Jr, Alan Johnson, Brady Fultz, Eldon Payne Jr, Jordan Siri, Joe Dgien, Cory Costa, Brian Doolittle, Fran Hilton, Daryl Hilkert
Heat Winners: Tyler Siri, Steve Paine
Track Champion: Steve Paine, 8th Black Rock Speedway title
CRATE SPORTSMAN, 14 cars (25 Laps): CASEY PAVLICK (5), Stacey Jackson, Steve Gray, Loren Lincoln, Chris Silvers, Doug Smith, Chris Fisher, Adam Hilton, Brett Buono, Tim Guild, Brent Ayers, Dale Welty, Jimmy Morton, Eric Bell
Heat Winners: Loren Lincoln, Chris Fisher
Track Champion: Casey Pavlick, 2nd straight 602 Crate title
M&M AUTO SALES IMCA Modifieds, 10 cars (20 Laps): Bruce Tinsley (1), Harry Ely, Nicole Spalding, Keith Lamphere, Todd Stone, Brad Smith, Sparky Hills, Tim Sebring, Rich Karlnoski DNS: Brandon Mathews
Heat Winners: Keith Lamphere, Harry Ely
Track Champion: Keith Lamphere, first Black Rock Speedway title
MRC STREET STOCKS, 21 cars (20 Laps): JARED HILL (4), Jeremy Potrzebowski, Jake Karlnoski, CJ Guererri, Chuck Winslow, LaVerne Knickerbocker, Kurt Stebbins, Gene Balmer, Nate Daggett, Roger Kerrick, Artie Teed, Allison Teed, Ryan Krause, Frank Chapman Jr, Jon Carpenter, Dave Matwiejow, Carl Cleveland, Dan Mazzarese, Bill Miller, Dennis Cummings DNS: Rich Rider
Heat Winners: Jared Hill, Dennis Cummings, Frank Chapman Jr
Track Champion: Jared Hill, first career Black Rock Speedway title
NAPA KNOW HOW 4 CYLINDERS, 20 cars (20 Laps): RICH SHARPSTEEN (9), Jayson Smart, Jeremy Trank, David Whetham, Erica Bell, Scott Bradley, Desi Force, Chad Ayers, Joe Povoski, Zach Teed, Jarod Brown, Ashlee Sutryk, Bruce Kinner, Dan Smart, Steve Perkins Sr, Del Cummings, Brandon Taft, Chris Davis, Rich Post, James Kreidler
Heat Winners: Scott Bradley, Rich Sharpsteen, Zach Teed
Track Champion: Rich Sharpsteen, 4 Cylinder track champion at both Black Rock and Woodhull Raceway
August 28th Make Up Feature (Started at Lap 12): JAMES KREIDLER (5), Scott Bradley, Chad Ayers, Jeremy Trank, Del Cummings, Zach Teed, David Whetham, Rich Sharpsteen, Erica Bell, Jayson Smart, Dan Smart, Desi Force, Brandon Taft, Joe Povoski, Steve Perkins Sr, Rich Post, Bruce Kinner, Amy Buck, Bryan Thompson, Jarod Brown, Ashlee Sutryk DNS: Dave Kinner
CREEKSIDE ENTERTAINMENT BANDITS, 5 cars (10 Laps): JEFF DAUGHERTY (16), Brandon Kinner, ShiAnn Labar, Pixie Kinner, Dakota Evans
Track Champion: Jeff Daugherty, first Black Rock Speedway title
