October 1, 2004

PAYNE, ROOD, & MARSDEN CLAIM CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS TO OPEN VICTORIA 200 WEEKEND
 

FULTON, NY – Eldon Payne Jr. of Hopewell scored the 30-lap 2005 Motorsports Expo Sunoco Race Fuels Sportsman Super DIRT Series victory to open the 19th Annual Dynomax Victoria 200 Weekend presented by OCNB at Fulton Speedway on Friday night. Also winning were Jason Rood of Oneida in the Leaf Racewear Empire Sports Network Pro Stock Super DIRT Series 30-lap event and Rusty Marsden of Mexico in the 20-lap Top Stitch Custom Embroidery Pure Stock Victoria Championship.

Eldon Payne Jr won his first ever Fulton Speedway feature in the exciting 30-lap Motorsports Expo 2005 Sunoco Race Fuels Sportsman Super DIRT Series event. Payne came from the outside pole starting position to take the early lead. Mike Button led for momentarily on lap 6 but Payne retook the top spot on lap 7. A tremendous battle for the lead continued as Button regained control on lap 8. Adam Ferri entered the battle for the lead shortly after lap 10, as a three car battle for the victory ensued. At the halfway mark, the top five was Payne, Button, Ferri, Kevin Wills, and Bill Shantel Jr. Payne edged out ahead on lap 17, but Ferri went low and took the lead on lap 21. Payne was applying the pressure as he led lap 27 at the line, but Ferri was the leader with just two to go. Payne had been working the high groove, and he used it to his advantage as he took over the lead for good on lap 28 and rode on to his first ever victory at the speedway. Second was Ferri, third was Wills, fourth was Shantel, and fifth was Button. Rounding out the top ten was Elmo Recker, Bob Henry Jr, Scott Schrader, Boyd MacTavish, and Paul Carey. The entertaining race featured only five cautions and nine lead changes.

Mike Button, Eldon Payne, Kevin Wills, Jessica Zemken, Sammy Reakes IV, Gus Hurlburt, Donnie Wetmore Jr, and Bob Henry Jr won the Sportsman heat races. Consis were claimed by Chad Phelps, Brian Sage, and Rob Ledingham.
 

Track regular Jason Rood won the 30-lap Empire Sports Network Pro Stock Super DIRT Series event presented by Leaf Racewear. Rood, who started on the pole starting position, took the early race lead with Joe Ladouceur right behind. Ladouceur took the lead on lap 4, but on a lap 6 restart, Rood retook the lead and would lead the remainder of the event. However, Rood would have to hold off the repeated attempts of Pete Stefanski who closed in on him as they came out of turn four. At the line, Rood beat out Stefanski by just more than half a car length. Ladouceur finished in third, Dave Schulz in fourth, and Clayton Benedict in fifth. Rounding out the top ten it was Jipp Oritz, Joe Stefanski, Bret Belden, Paul Stoneburg, and Ray Maloney. Six cautions slowed the event without any major incidents.

Pro Stock heat victories were claimed by Jason Rood, Dave Schulz, Joey Ladouceur, Joe Stefanski, Pete Stefanski, and Clayton Benedict. Beamer Guzzardi, Pat Hobbs, and Dave Bissonnette were the Consi winners.

Rusty Marsden claimed the 20-lap victory in the Top Stitch Custom Embroidery Pure Stock Victoria Championship event. Paul Harrington jumped out to the early lead with Charlie Gilbert and Dan Hoffman Sr right behind. Gilbert led briefly on lap 5, while Rusty Marsden, who started in the fifth position, had worked his way up into the top three on lap 6. Marsden fell into second by the halfway point of the event and applied pressure to Harrington, who has never won at Fulton. With just two laps to go, a lapped car allowed Marsden to work his way underneath to take the lead. Marsden held on for the victory, his second consecutive victory in the Victoria Pure Stock Championship. Completing the top five were Gilbert, Harrington, Phil Marsden, and Hoffman. David Pope, Dave Marcuccilli, Mike Welch, Ricky DeGroff, and Mahlon Shoemaker were the remainder of the top ten.
 

Pure Stock heat wins were claimed by Charlie Gilbert, Paul Harrington, Dan Hoffman Sr, Dave Pope, Russ Marsden, and Mike Dooley. Consi victories went to Chad Crouse, Gary Barton, and Dave Mannise.

Notes – The largest crowd ever for the Friday night portion of Victoria 200 Weekend was in attendance on the beautiful but chilly evening. 72 Sportsman, 61 Pro Stocks, 62 Pures, and over 50 358-Modifieds were in attendance putting over 250 cars in the jam-packed pit area. 358-Modified hot laps went off without a hitch with all cars in attendance taking practice on the spacious 3/8-mile clay oval. No major incidents interrupted the evening to help start the weekend off on a good note. Pit gates open Saturday for the Victoria 200 at 10am, followed by the grandstand gates at 11am. Hot laps will begin at 1pm, followed by racing beginning at 2:30pm. The 18th Annual Dynomax Victoria 200 should begin around 6pm. The rain date for the Victoria 200 is Sunday.

FULTON SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
DAY 1 – 19th ANNUAL DYNOMAX VICTORIA 200 WEEKEND
OCTOBER 1, 2004

2005 MOTORSPORTS EXPO SUNOCO RACE FUELS SPORTSMAN SUPER DIRT SERIES VICTORIA CHAMPIONSHIP (30-Laps) – ELDON PAYNE JR, Adam Ferri, Kevin Wills, Bill Shantel Jr, Mike Button, Elmo Reckner, Bob Henry Jr, Scott Schrader, Body MacTavish, Paul Carey, Jeremy Pitcher, Sammy Reakes IV, Ken Stafford, Rob Ledingham, Scott George, Scott Parliament, Jack Meeks, Russ Hefti, Kyle Inman, Gus Hurlburt, Jessica Zemken, Donnie Wetmore Jr, Mark Yorker, Kyle Lewis, Lance Willix II, Greg Doust, Kevin Bates, Shane Donath, Chad Phelps, Brian Sage.

LEAF RACEWEAR EMPIRE SPORTS NETWORK PRO STOCK SUPER DIRT SERIES VICTORIA CHAMPIONSHIP (30-Laps) – JASON ROOD, Pete Stefanski, Joey Ladouceur, Dave Schulz, Clayton Benedict, Jipp Ortiz, Joe Stefanski, Bret Belden, Paul Stoneburg, Ray Maloney, Roy DeLormier, Lee Burnett, Brian Kotarski, Mike Williams, Pat Hobbs, John Pietrowicz, Bob Buono, Bill Trego, Buddy Hencke, Tom Denton, Daryl Hilkert, James Henry, Jack Terrell, Harold Humphrey, Roy Fifield, Jody Swamp, Dave Bissonnette, Beamer Guzzardi, Joe Santoro, Jeremy Clark, Frank Guererri Jr, and Louie Jackson.

TOP STITCH CUSTOM EMBROIDERY VICTORIA PURE STOCK CHAMPIONSHIP (20-Laps) – RUSTY MARSDEN, Charlie Gilbert, Paul Harrington, Phil Marsden, Dan Hoffman Sr, David Pope, Dave Marcuccilli, Mike Welch, Ricky DeGroff, Mahlon Shoemaker, Dave Mannise, Nate Peckham, Art Newman Jr, Adam Depuy, Chris Cunningham, Zeke McKeown, Dick Stark, Dave Janczuk, Stan Clark, Jaren Israel, Gary Barton, Steve Woodworth, Gary Donahue, Mike Dooley, Darl Ellis Sr, Rob Whipple, Joe Buske, Curt Prevo, Dave Emmons, and Chad Crouse.

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