Darwin Green takes I-88 Modified Feature Win
Story By: STEPHAN CLAPPERTON / I-88 SPEEDWAY MEDIA Photos By: OTTO GRAHAM / RACERSGUIDE.COM
AFTON, NY- May 22, 2016– Darwin Greene captured the Greg Page Construction Modified feature win at I-88 Speedway on Rosa’s Restaurant and Pizzeria Night. Pole sitter Don Hart Jr. took the lead at the start of the race while Greene settled into second with Greene’s Mike Decker holding onto third place.
The race went to caution just after lap one when two time winner Andy Bachetti spun out in turn one. Bachetti, of Sheffield MA, went pit side and was unable to return to the race. Hart, of Bainbridge, opted for the inside lane for the restart putting Greene on the outside. When the race restarted Greene used the high side to get a run on Hart coming of turn two and when the leaders came to the line at the completion of lap two Greene held the lead.
By lap five Greene had opened a half straightaway lead over Hart while Oxford’s Rusty Smith had moved up from his seventh starting spot to challenge for second place. Working the inside line, Smith moved alongside Hart, the two running wheel to wheel until lap seven when Smith took over second place.
Greene began encountering lapped traffic on lap ten allowing Smith to begin to cut the gap to the leader. The caution came out on lap 13 as Masonville’s Mike Clapperton came to a stop in turn two. With Greene leading, Smith running second, Norwich’s Alan Barker now up to third and Mike Mahaney in fourth the race restarted. Mahaney took to the outside and worked past Barker to take over second.
With Greene pulling away, Mahaney continued to run the outside and on lap 15 moves into second place. The caution came out on lap 16 when Brandon Walters, of Sidney, spun out in turn two. When the race resumed, Greene was the leader with Mahaney, of King Ferry, second, Smith third, Barker fourth and Decker fifth. Mahaney looked to the low side while Greene used the top side of the speedway to his advantage to open a two car length lead.
By lap 21 Greene was in heavy lapped traffic with Mahaney following, but Mahaney was unable to catch the leader as Greene took his first win of the season. Mahaney crossed the line second with Barker third, Smith fourth and Otego’s J.R. Hurlburt fifth.
“What a run, great car. We put a good car together.” said an elated winner in victory lane. “I needed the experience and I tried to be nice to cars to get by them and it worked out pretty well and I’m feeling a lot more confident than I did last week when lapped traffic didn’t work to well with me” said Greene in reference to racing in lapped traffic.
Rudy Roth and Claude Hutchings Jr. brought the Chambers and O’Hara Open Sportsmen field to starter Ron Ford’s green flag for their 20 lap feature. Roth, of North Branch, took the early lead with Hutchings running the outside in second and Walton’s Aaron Shelton in third. Hutchings, of Sauquoit, shot into the lead on the outside coming off turn two on lap three. The first caution of the race came on lap three when Jim Gould, of Edmeston, and Afton’s Skip Pickwick spun in turn two.
Hutchings opted for the outside for the restart with Shelton, now running second, on the inside, Ricky Ross Jr., of Mountain Top PA third and Bethel’s Charlie Hendrickson Jr. fourth. After a bad start was waved off and a caution after Harpursville’s Gary Card Jr., climbed the backstretch wall before coming to a stop, the race resumed with Shelton getting a run on the leader and taking over the top spot on lap six.
Hendrickson continued his run to the front taking the lead from Shelton on lap 9 coming off turn two. The caution would wave again on lap ten as Bainbridge’s Tyler Hart slowed on the backstretch.
At the halfway point, Hendrickson led with Shelton second, Hutchings third, Ross fourth and Roth fifth. Three laps later Hutchings would spin out in turn three collecting Roth bringing out the caution. On lap 14 Hendrickson was the leader with Shelton maintaining second, Ross third, Walton’s Butch Klinger had now moved into fourth from his 15th starting position and Delanson’s Pat O’Hanlon was fifth. On the restart Klinger would slip under Ross to take over third while Hendrickson opened a three car length lead over Shelton.
While Hendrickson continued to pull away, Klinger began to work under Shelton and took over second on lap 18. At the line it was Hendrickson taking his second win of the season with Klinger second, Shelton third, O’Hanlon fourth and Ross fifth.
Matt Brewer captured the first win of his career in the Williams Tire and Auto Crate Sportsmen feature. Brewer, of New Milford PA, started on the pole and outraced front row partner Gary Card, of Harpursville to take the lead at the start of the race with Edmeston’s A.J. Digsby running third, Allan Hodge of Sherburne, fourth and Norwich’s Harold Humphrey fifth. Humphrey was moving to the front in the early laps of the race, slipping under Hodge in turn two and then Digsby in turn three on lap three.
The first caution of the race came out when Ryan Alsdorf, of Bethel, spun out in turn one. On the ensuing restart Humphrey began to pressure Card for second before taking over the position. The caution came out on lap seven after a four car tangle in turn two.
When the race restarted, Brewer led with Humphrey second, Card third, Nineveh’s Matt Roberts had moved into fourth and Digsby held down fifth. Brewer quickly opened a three car length advantage while Roberts worked the outside of Card before taking over the spot on lap nine.
At the halfway point Brewer led Humphrey by five car lengths with Roberts in third and Card in fourth. Five laps later Humphrey would slow and pull his car into the infield putting Roberts in second
At the finish it was Brewer taking the win, Roberts second, Card third, Dolgeville’s Cody Clark fourth and Digsby fifth.
“I don’t know what to feel like right now. That was the calmest I’ve ever been in a car. It felt awesome” Brewer said about his first career feature win.
After Damon Decker was forced to take the night off due to foot surgery, Kurt Decker celebrated his birthday by jumped back in the car and drove it to victory lane in the Nu Look Collision Street Stock feature. With Kurt’s Modified on the shelf due to engine issues, the Afton resident decided to give his son’s Street Stock a run and it paid off for the veteran driver.
“Damon had an operation on his foot and we got a motor issue with the Modified and I said ‘I guess we’re not racing this weekend and he said the heck we’re not, you’re taking that street stock, you’re gonna run that” said Decker in victory lane.
Windsor’s Steve Polhamus and Rob Nober, of Mount Upton, brought the 19 car starting field to the green flag with third starting Jon Carpenter, of Candor, taking the early lead. The first caution flag of the race would wave on lap three when Ithaca’s Eric Boynton spun in turn two. The race restarted with Carpenter leading, Polhamus second, Windsor’s Matt Bowman third, Ray Lindquist fourth and Decker, of Afton, fifth. Decker took advantage of the restart and moved into third before the caution would come out for a four car tangle in turn four.
Carpenter chose the outside row for the restart with Bowman on the inside and Decker in third, Lindquist fourth and Norwich’s Bob Mills fifth. When the race resumes Mills slips under Lindquist to take over fourth and Decker moves into second.
After a lap five caution when Newark Valley’s Buck Mills Sr. slowed, Decker made the pass for the lead in turns one and two. With Decker in front, Carpenter second, Bowman third, Mills fourth and Lindquist fifth, Decker began to open a small lead.
Decker would go on to take the win with Carpenter second, Mills third, Bowman fourth and Oneonta’s Dustin Harris fifth.
Binghamton’s Steven Sherwood led every lap of the 15 lap MR Graphix Xcel Modified feature to take his first win of the season. Oneonta’s Will Eastman finished second with Johnstown’s Kyle Fallis third, Eric Boyd, of Binghamton fourth and Susquehanna’s Kamdin Maby fifth.
Bainbridge’s Rob Northrup capitalized on early race leader Brandon Clapperton’s bad luck to take the Butler Auto Sales EST truck feature win. Clapperton, of Sidney, pulled into the infield after a lap eight caution putting second running Northrup into the lead. Northrup would go on to take the win with Unadilla’s Ralph Cuozzo second, Bob Crandall, of Unadilla third, Afton’s Rob Loucks fourth and Doug O’Hara fifth. It was Northrup’s first career feature win.
The Vernooy’s Automotive Excellence IMCA Modifieds were off this week for an Empire Series Race at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee. Next week the Greg Page Construction Modifieds will be on the horse track in front of the grandstands for their Fan Appreciation Night.
I-88 Speedway Results from Rosa’s Restaurant and Pizzeria Night May 20, 2016
Greg Page Construction Modifieds (30 Laps) Darwin Greene, Mike Mahaney, Alan Barker, Rusty Smith, J.R. Hurlburt, Mike Decker, Mitch Gibbs, Brett Tonkin, Nick Nye, Brandon Walters, Don Hart Jr., Steve Babicek, Ken Titus, Paul Jensen, Kenny Sparks, Chris Bushnell, Jeff Sheely, Jeremy Smith, Dave Rosa, Matt Latwinski, Mike Clapperton, Andy Bachetti
Chambers and O’Hara Open Sportsmen (20 Laps) Charlie Hendrickson Jr., Butch Klinger, Aaron Shelton, Pat O’Hanlon, Ricky Ross, Craig Pope, Dave Rosa, Dwayne Jackson, Kevin Jordan, Lisa Williams, Skip Pickwick, Duane Knapp, Claude Hutchings Jr., Rudy Roth, Jeremy Vunk, Jim Gould, Tim French Jr., Tyler Hart, Gary Card Jr, DNS Jim Money
Williams Tire and Auto Crate Sportsmen (20 Laps) Matt Brewer, Matt Roberts, Gary Card Jr., Cody Clark, A.J. Digsby, Matt Priscott, Allan Hodge, Josh Mudge, Russell Hendrickson Jr., Harold Humphrey, Rosalyn Trautschold, Ryan Aldsorf, Chris Condon, Art Priscott
Nu Look Collision Street Stocks (20 Laps) Kurt Decker, Jon Carpenter, Bob Mills, Matt Bowman, Dustin Harris, Doug Polhamus, Tom Savercool, Dave Cronk, Rob Nober, Buck Mills Sr., Dan Babcock, Eric Boynton, Brett Barrett, Steve Polhamus, Ray Lindquist, Ralph Cuozzo Jr., Kevin Garland, Doug Stack, Matt Thies
