FULTON ESS SPRINT CAR HONORS TO DAN KASZUBINSKI; SPORTSMAN FEATURE STOPPED BY RAIN

August 15, 2000

FULTON ESS SPRINT CAR HONORS TO DAN KASZUBINSKI; SPORTSMAN FEATURE STOPPED BY RAIN

Fulton, NY… The local boy made good at Fulton on Tuesday as Syracuse resident Dan Kaszubinski led from green to checker to pick up his fourth Empire Super Sprint victory of the season. The companion 25-lap Sportsman feature was halted on lap 3 when a heavy rainstorm set in. The race will be finished as part of the August 19^th program.

Kaszubinski started on the outside pole and took the lead at the drop of the green. Mike Stelter from Webster, NY settled into second behind Kaszubinski, but all eyes were on the 27c of Rick Wilson, as he blasted from 12^th to 4^th in two corners! By lap 8 when Howard Singer brought out a yellow it was Kaszubinski leading Stelter, Bobby Podolak, Wilson, and Randy Years.

The 91 of Scott Holcomb picked up his pace after the yellow and moved into third with a spectacular burst on the 11^th circuit. The Granby, CT resident appeared to be closing on the two leaders, but before he could mount a challenge the 8B of Alain Bergeron barrel rolled his car down the back straightaway and the field was stopped. Bergeron was uninjured in the crash.

Two laps after going back to green, Doug Emery and Mike Bozzuto came together and brought the yellow right back out again. Kaszubinski was proving to be strong on restarts, making it difficult for Stelter to get a good run on him at the drop of the green.

The final yellow came out on the next restart as Krissy Dow wound up facing the wrong way in turn four while the 42 of Mike Young wound up with a broken front suspension.

The final two laps saw Stelter bobble and lose a couple of positions, moving Holcomb and Wilson up second and third. Neither could catch the leader, however, as the young man they call “Kaz” had left the rest of the field behind when the green flag flew for the final time.

At the stripe it was Kaszubinski taking top honors with Holcomb, Wilson, Stelter, and Years rounding out the top five. A total of 29 sprint cars were in the pit area, as the ESS organization once again did a fabulous job of bringing in racers and putting on a show.

The Sportsman lined up for their 20-lap feature with a few sprinkles falling. It had rained early in the evening just long enough to force officials to rework the track surface before continuing with the ESS qualifying events. This time, the sprinkles stopped before the green flag flew.

Ryan Richardson led the opening lap of the Sportsman feature, but a red flag became necessary when Billy Shantel’s 97 slowed and the 18 of Rich Keller had nowhere to go but into the rear end of Shantel’s car. This led to Paul Benz spinning into the 18 of Keller, and both Ed Ferris and Ron Cettner got collected as well. While the cars were stopped awaiting the cleanup of the accident scene, rain began falling again.

The race was restarted, with the 19 of Paul Kinney shooting past Richardson to take command. As the field entered turn two with three laps down, Jim Bowman had something break on his 15 and the caution lights were turned on again. Gregg Carner also exited the race at this time.

Rain began to fall heavier as a thunderstorm had moved in. Track officials called the show a little after 10pm with three laps complete in the Sportsman feature. The race will resume from where it left off this Saturday night, adding another feature to the previously scheduled six.

A small field of Micro-Sprints were on hand for a 15-lap exhibition race, which was run earlier in the evening. Ed Dates from Red Creek, NY led the first couple of laps before being passed by the 18 of Tim Barnard.

Behind the leaders Tim Glidden, in a Dates team car, was running third with Mexico, NY’s Mike Barnes and Josh Philpott from Waverly, NY battling for fourth. Glidden was moving steadily through the field, and by the time lap 5 was in the books he had overtaken Barnard for the lead.

Philpott shook off the 91 of Barnes and moved into third, but need a yellow if he was to have a shot at the two leaders. That yellow never came as the Micros looked very comfortable on the high banks. Glidden battled Barnard right to the end, but the 18 of Barnard was too strong and took the lead back for good on lap 13.

Barnard scored the victory, with Glidden, who is also a Limited Supermodified racer at the Oswego Speedway, finishing second. 18-year old Josh “Jigsaw” Philpott ended up third, with Ed Dates fourth and former Quarter-Midget star Mike Barnes, who normally runs without a wing on his machine, put the airfoil on and finished fifth.

It was a fine showing for the Micro-Sprints, who normally run at the 1/8-mile Limerock Speedway in Caledonia, NY on Saturday nights, a track much smaller than Fulton. The exhibition was set up to see how the cars performed on the track, and they appeared to make the transition quite well.

This Saturday, August 19^th Sterling Trucks of Syracuse and Raymond’s Car Care present a six-star racing card featuring the DIRT 358-Modifieds, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, ESDCA Dwarf Cars, and the Jetettes Women’s Racing Series plus the conclusion of Tuesday night’s DIRT Sportsman feature. Gates will open at 5pm, with racing scheduled for 7pm sharp. For more information contact the speedway office at (315) 593-6531 or see them online at www.fultonspeedway.com.

ESS FINISH: DAN KASZUBINSKI, Scott Holcomb, Rick Wilson, Mike Stelter, Randy Years, Bob Podolak, R.C. Faigle, Mike Woodring, Steve Dow, Rob Dietrick, Bill Coffey, Bubby Kerrick, Lance Yonge, Tom Taber, Doug Emery, Tim Zimbardi, Kris Dow, Eric Robinson, Dick Spadaro, Mike Young, Mike Bozzuto, Alain Bergeron, Howard Singer.