Kinsella, Cunningham, Petrowicz, Kelso win at Fulton Speedway

FULTON, NY - First time winners and established champions graced the Fulton Speedway victory lane Saturday night. Tom Kinsella, John Cunningham, John Petrowicz and Darren Kelso were victorious on the tacky 3/8 mile.

In the 35 lap DIRT 358 feature, rookie Ryan Baye led the first 5 laps from his pole position until 1989 track champion Ted Lamb was able to take the top spot away. Baye was the ARANY rookie of the year in 1998 and started the year in sportsman and made the move into modifieds after a few weeks of racing in 1999. Lamb was hooked on the outside and seemed poised to take his first win in many years until the Fulton "hot dogs" began to run him down. On lap 19, Tom Kinsella, Dale Planck, John Barker JR and Mitch Gibbs were putting pressure on Lamb and he was holding them off until his car broke in turns 3 and 4 and pulled high to bring out the third caution of the race.

On the restart, Kinsella drove away to take the lead. John Barker JR faded and it would turn into a three-car race. Planck gave chase as Gibbs watched from his third place position. As the laps clicked off the three would run nose to tail with Gibbs eventually getting inside Planck to take second place. Kinsella would hold his high line around the track until Gibbs took a peek inside of him in turn 3 and Kinsella than moved down a groove and was able to hold off Gibbs for the win. For Kinsella it was his first of the season, "Its tough to get back into the groove here running just one night a week, but the car felt real good tonight."

Alan Johnson was eligible for the "Z'lectra Sport Back to Back Bonus" of $1300 as he won the night prior at Brewerton, but his engine went away in the heats and he did not run well in the feature and pulled pitside early. Next week the bones will grow to $1400.

In the 20 lap DIRT Sportsman feature, Jeremy Pitcher would lead the first eight laps from his pole position. On lap nine, a driver with many laps at Fulton would emerge to challenge. John Cunningham who started in the sixth position would make a move on the restart and take the lead, a lead he would not relinquish. Cunningham drove a small block modified for much of the nineties but moved back to Sportsman a few years ago and had not won a race since 1992. Howie Albrecht would challenge him for the last few laps and actually show himself to Cunninghams inside, but could not make the move and would have to settle for second. Early leader Jeremy Pitcher would finish third.

In the 15 lap Pro Stock feature, Bill Shantell jr. would lead the first 5 laps until long time Fulton regular Ricky Breed would take the lead. Breed was the first ever Mr DIRT Street Stock champion and it looked like he was in classic form early on, but John Petrowicz had other ideas. Petrowicz had been struggling for much of the '99 season, but on this night he would get past Breed in turn four and cruise to the win. Petrowicz was second in points and chopped Mike Watkins lead in half.

The final event of the night was for the Pure Stocks. A first time winner would emerge victorious as Darren Kelso would lead all 15 laps. The race was a good one though as Dave Mannise really made Kelso earn the win. Mannise was involved in an early crash and would fight his way back up through the field. Mannise was fast but not fast enough to challenge Kelso as he went on to record his first ever Pure Stock win after many years of trying.

This week at the Fulton Speedway Laqua Chevrolet of Fulton, New York will host "Family Autograph Night" as the fans will get to go down onto the track and meet their favorite drivers and see their racecars up close. Race time is 7 pm and the gates for fans and drivers alike open at 5pm.

RESULTS June 19, 1999

DIRT 358 MODIFIED FEATURE (35 laps): Tom Kinsella, Mitch Gibbs, Dale Planck, Todd Burley, Jimmy Phelps, John Barker, Dave House, Gus Schmidt, Roger Phelps, John Ventura, Ty Hunt, Jason Barney, Pete Taylor, Jeff Kotary, Ryan Baye, Tom Sears, Steve Hulsizer, Ted Lamb, Rick Miller, Roy Shields, Doug Fuller, Billy Woodworth, Jeff Rudalavage, Alan Johnson, Jay Hopkins and Pat Lynch.

DIRT SPORTSMAN FEATURE (20 laps): John Cunningham, Howie Albrecht, Jeremy Pitcher, Ron Richardson, Bill Shantell, Tim Johnson, Greg Doust, Mark Yorker, Willy Decker, Tim Sears, Paul Kinney, Ron Davis, Mike Lavarnway, Jim LaRock, Russ Hefti, Mark Tilly, Tim Mayne, Clayton Brewer, Rich Keller, Dave Bargabous, Dan Vail, Tony Buffa, Jim Bowman and Walt McArdell.

PRO STOCK FEATURE (15 laps): John Petrowicz, T.J. Fitzgibbons, Ricky Breed, Jerry Newman, Bill Shantell jr., Jason Rood, Jerry Holmes, Mike Watkins, Herm Flowers, Tim Harris, Paul Stoneburg, Chuck Thomas, Randy Coit and John Cooper.

PURE STOCK FEATURE (15 laps): Darren Kelso, Dave Mannise, Lou Levea, Chad Ray, Kevin Raymond, Ken Wentworth, Ricky DeGroff, Tom Loving, Dan Butterfield, Phil Trimm, Joe Bucke, John Lashing, Bruce Stanton, Dan Hatch and Ron Ventura.