Results

KIRKWOOD, NY… Kevin Bates became the fifth different Modified feature winner in as many races at Five Mile Point Speedway on Saturday night and the victory puts him in solid contention for the 2016 point championship battle as it now heats up.

George Hildebrandt and P.J. Goodwin sat on the front row of the 30 lap Modified feature event on Saturday night. Goodwin immediately raced out to the lead at the drop of the green. Bates wasted no time as he quickly advanced from his fourth place starting position. A number of heavy hitters were all starting in the top ten spots on Saturday as the competition has been intense this season.

Bates took the lead on lap 2 but Goodwin did not let him out of his site. Jeff Crambo was quickly in the mix as was Mike Colsten and defending Track Champion Shaun Walker as he advanced from his tenth starting slot. After three early race cautions the drivers settled down and the race would go caution free from laps 4 to 20. Bates continued to lead as Goodwin now had to contend with Crambo and Colsten as they applied the heat for second place. The lap 20 caution came out for what could have been a huge wreck on the homestretch. The lapped car of Ted Meixsell and Crambo got crossed up on the homestretch with Crambo ending up spun facing the wrong way. The entire field was able to take evasive action and Crambo was able to continue. Meixsell ended up pitside with a broken rear shock.

The speedway surface was ultra-fast and the close racing action was breathtaking as on the restart Bates now had Colsten and Walker in second and third. When racing resumed Bates was running the topside of the speedway with Colsten dialed in on the middle of the quarter mile and Walker glued to the bottom. Goodwin was still trying to rally on the extreme outside of the speedway back to the lead. The final caution flew on lap 24 for a slowing Frank Porreca.

The final 6 laps were some of the most intense laps of the season. Bates took the green again with Colsten and Walker running their same lines. Goodwin kept to the outside of the speedway as defending Penn Can Speedway Track Champion Kevin Hartnett tried to break in to the top five as he battled with Anthony Perrego. With two laps to go Colsten closed in on Bates and Walker changed his line to the outside of the speedway shutting the door on the patented line of Goodwin. At the finish Bates would hang on with Colsten edging out Walker for second. Goodwin was just out of third place and had to settle for fourth at the stripe. Hartnett completed his strong drive from twelfth to take over fifth place on the last lap.

The Crate Sportsman division has yet to see repeat winner in 2016 as well and that trend continued on Saturday. Tanner Harpell was the winner after a torrid battle with current point leader Kyle Rohner. The battle at the time looked to be for second and third place but wound up being for the victory at the end. Matt Roberts led wire to wire but was disqualified after post-race technical inspection. For Harpell it was his first win in the new 602 Crate Sportsman division at the speedway after being a previous winner in the Open Sportsman class. Rohner advanced from his seventh starting spot to claim second place at the finish. Mike Austin wound up third with Marty Bunker and Tyler Singleton rounding out the top five slots.

James Cornell is quickly emerging as the guy to beat in the IMCA Modified division after picking up another win on Saturday night. Cornell led from lap 3 to 20 for the victory but it certainly did not come easy. Two-time defending track champion Matt Cole chased Cornell down throughout the second half of the race after starting fifth. Cornell had already charged from sixth to take the lead. On two occasions Cole had gotten inside and along Cornell but was unable to make the pass stick. The duo ran side by side for most of the final ten laps without touching. Following Cornell and Cole across the line were Gary Roberts, Joe Novak and Ray McClure.

The Lightning Cat Expert FWD 4 Cylinder class had another thrilling event on Saturday as Nick Kennedy emerged the winner of the 15 lapper. For the second straight week the race leader literally saw their race end with a fire erupting. Last Sunday Dennis Keesler had that distinction and this week Don Doster, Jr. blew his motor while leading on lap 6. Both Keesler and Doster emerged uninjured over both weeks as the Five Mile Point Fire Department was quickly on hand to extinguish both incidents. Kennedy took over the lead on lap 7 and had a tremendous battle over the balance of the race with defending novice division track champion Matt McKernan. The two raced hard over the final 8 laps without any contact in a fantastic battle for the win. At the finish Kennedy was the victor by less than half a car length. McKernan finished second with Josh Wilder having his best career FMP finish in third. Troy Kress and Mat Mather rounded out the top five.

For the second consecutive Saturday Ryan Brockner recorded the victory in the 15 lap Factory Stock feature event. Jimmy “hotsauce” DiFulvio won for the third straight week in the Lightning Cat Novice. Meckenzie Marsh won her second career Slingshot feature on Saturday. Her first win came in August of 2015. The 12 year old driver was highlighted on the Ellen DeGeneres show last November after becoming the youngest female driver to ever win at the speedway. Marsh raced in a go kart match race with DeGeneres, Danica Patrick and Justin Bieber on that episode of the show. The Slingshot finish was fantastic as back to back winner Dalton Maynard chased down Marsh over the second half of the race but Marty Kelly, III came out of nowhere to take second on the final lap. Maynard was third at the finish.

COUNTER POINTS…Five Mile Point Speedway track owner Andrew Harpell announced a 4 race Sunday Summer Slam Series for Modifieds that will be held at the speedway beginning this Sunday, June 12th…The Modified Series will see 30 lap feature events paying $2,000 to win with a draw and re-draw format…The winner of the four race series will get a $2,000 bonus…The Xcel Modifieds will also have a four race series consisting of three of the Sunday dates and one Saturday…The Matt Roberts disqualification in the 602 Crate Sportsman event was based on bolts that were moved in the intake of the motor…Roberts had purchased the motor used and was unaware of any alterations…The FMP weekly rules do not provide for any removing of the sealed GM bolts…Moving forward track officials are working with Roberts to discuss whether the motor will be allowed to be torn down, reassembled and sealed per division specs. as of Monday…The disqualification will remain…Another strong field of Modifieds and Crate Sportsman were on hand…All 25 Modifieds took the green on Saturday…The Lightning Cat Experts again put on a strong showing with 19 teams on hand with the pits full once again with over 100 teams continuing the season long trend…Brian Puckett borrowed a Sportsman motor to be able to compete on Saturday in the Modified feature…Puckett was credited with an eighth place finish…

MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (30): KEVIN BATES, Mike Colsten, Shaun Walker, P.J. Goodwin, Kevin Hartnett, Anthony Perrego, Glenn Knapp, Brian Puckett, Brad Szulewski, Jeff Crambo, Randy Green, Mike Loney, Aaron Shelton, Bryan Batzel, Chris Wood, George Kostelansky, Tex Meixsell, Brad Knapp, Frank Porreca, Nick Petrilak, Eric Aquaro, Matt Solomon, Ken Hildebrandt, Mike Dougherty Jr., George Hildebrandt. Open Sportsman Bonuses: Brian Puckett, Aaron Shelton, Ted Meixsell.

CRATE SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20): TANNER HARPELL, Kyle Rohner, Mike Austin, Marty Bunker, Tyler Singleton, Kyle Pierce, Brad Weaver, Josh Mudge, Travis Smith, Devon Zona, Steve Andrulonis, Tom Hampton, Moose Gulley, Nick Branning, Randy Fox, Brad Cicio, Rosalyn Trautschold, Eric Bonham, Adam McGeorge, Leo McGurrin, Justin Lawrence. DQ - Matt Roberts.

IMCA MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20): JAMES CORNELL, Matt Cole, Gary Roberts, Joe Novak, Ray McClure, Brendon Shepard, Tom Velez, Tyler Stoddard. DNS – Beau Ballard.

LIGHTNING CAT EXPERT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (15): NICK KENNEDY, Matt McKernan, Josh Wilder, Troy Kress, Mat Mather, Tucker Harpell, Andy Brigham, Dave Simms, Dave Bainbridge, Andrew Bolles, Josh Hubbard, Ronnie Welch, Jeremy Warren, Don Doster Jr., Rick Lunn, Adam Gilbert, Frank Smith, Jonathon Siedlecky. DNS – Laverne Norton, Jason Colwell.

LIGHTNING CAT NOVICE OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (12): JIMMY DIFULVIO, Amanda Brigham, Randy Lane, Jared Palmer, Lynda Lawrence, Jason Colwell Jr..

FACTORY STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (15): RYAN BROCKNER, Chuck Culbertson, Chris Shimer, Charlie Towner, Zach Clapper, Ned Fitch. DNS – Dustin Burdick, Joe Donahue III.

TOBIAS SLINGSHOT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (15): MECKENZIE MARSH, Marty Kelly III, Dalton Maynard, Dan Malley, Jordan Lawrence, Alex Boughton, Bob Boughton, Shane Lewis, Blaine Klinger, Kyle Button.