BREWERTON, NY, June 15, 2012 (By Dave Medler) – Early in the night at the Brewerton Speedway, Robbie Bellinger was asked about his season to date, being a new weekly competitor at the “D-Shaped Dirt Demon”. He related it was one of the toughest tracks to get a handle on being so different than anything he has ever raced on regularly. Friday night, Bellinger must have figured it out, as he became the seventh different winner in seven features run this season.
Bellinger looked to have a lead that was big enough, that nobody was going to challenge him for the win, till a caution with one lap to go that put point leader, and past track champion, Jimmy Phelps on his back bumper for the dash to the checkers. To add to the drama under the yellow, it was noticed that he had a right front brake that appeared to be locking up. On the restart Bellinger was not going to be denied, he took off from Phelps for his first ever Brewerton Speedway victory.
Other winners on K-Rock 100.9/106.5 Night were, Chris Fleming, Nationwide Insurance IMCA Modifieds, Joe Isabell, Beaver River Distribution Mod Lites, Chuck Powelczyk, Anchor Bar & Grill Four Cylinder Super Stocks, Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club, Ray Preston, Ally Amell and Norm Richardson.
Jim Witko Jr. and Robbie Bellinger led down the twenty-five car starting field down to the green, with Witko grabbing the early lead in the 35 lap Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modified feature.
By lap 5, Witko and Bellinger were setting a quick pace out front as they were being chased by, Chad Phelps, Alan Johnson and Roy Bresnahan. Two laps later, lap 7, Bellinger using the top of the speedway bolted by Witko to be scored the new leader of the race.
With 10 laps showing on the scoring tower, Bellinger still running the cushion, built-up a half a straightaway lead over Witko. Chad Phelps ran alone in third with Pat Ward and Alan Johnson showing in the top-five.
On lap 15, Bellinger was on rails on the cushion as he started putting cars a lap down. Witko, Phelps, Ward and now Jimmy Phelps ran second through fifth.
By lap 20, Bellinger was still in heavy traffic, but his car was working anywhere on the track as he continued to put cars down a lap and lengthen his lead. Behind Bellinger, Witko, C Phelps, J Phelps and Ward battled for top-five spots.
With 10 laps to go and no cautions, Bellinger was still on cruise control out front. Jimmy Phelps worked his way to second and started looking for anyway he could to start cutting into Bellinger’s big lead.
With 5 laps to go, Bellinger was still picking cars off as Phelps was still a straightaway behind till a yellow flew with one-lap to go when the leader and slower car made racing contact. Under yellow it was picked up by those in attendance that Bellinger was having brake problems. Would he survive that problem and point leader and past champion Jimmy Phelps for a circuit? Bellinger got a great restart as he was able to drive away from Phelps to be the first under the checkers for the popular first win at the track. Jimmy Phelps, Jim Witko Jr., Chad Phelps and Pat Ward rounded out the top-five.
After exiting his Thompson Road Tavern, No.8R in victory lane he was asked if there could be a better birthday present. “No, definitely not, after the year we have been here so far this is awesome. Hopefully we can keep it going next week.”
“We were side by side for awhile, then I kind of found a different lane around the top, we were able to get back by him. We were pretty good for the rest of the race,” Bellinger said about the winning pass for the lead on lap 7.
“We had that caution there,” with one lap to go Bellinger made contact with a slower car he was trying to get by to bring out the yellow, “That was kind of my fault and it could have done us in. But I was able to hold him (Phelps) off for the one lap dash.”
The Nationwide Insurance IMCA Modifieds put on a very entertaining 20 lap feature. Jason Amidon would lead the opening 9 laps when a caution would bunch the field up. On the restart Chris Fleming would take advantage of the outside to drive around Amidon to be the new leader at the halfway point. For the rest of the race Amidon would dog Fleming on every lap as they exited turn four coming down to the checkers side-by-side with Fleming picking up the narrow victory. Kevan Cook, Ryan Scott and Rob Keller rounded out the top-five.
Joe Isabell seemed to heading to the easy win in the 20 lap Beaver River Distribution Mod Lite feature. Nick Graziano had other ideas as he ran the race of his life as he was able to run Isabell down for a wild last lap. On the final corner, Graziano was able to dive under Isabell for a drag race to the checkers that Isabell was able to hold on for the narrow win of 0.074 of a second at the stripe. Gary Jeffries, Mike Mullen and Lowell Zehr chased the top-two across the line.
Chuck Powelczyk picked up the win in the 15 lap Anchor Bar & Grill Four Cylinder Super Stock feature. He took the lead on lap 5 and was never headed. Jessica Redhead, Wendall Washington, Tim Dunn and Colby Herzog rounded out the top-five.
The Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club turned back the hands of time with a great display on the midway and racing on the track. Ray Preston, Ally Amell and Norm Richardson would pick up wins.
This coming Friday, June 22 AVR Electric presents a full night of racing excitement. On the race card will be the Tracey Road Equipment Big Block Modifieds, Beaver River Distribution Mod Lites, and the Anchor Bar & Grill Four Cylinder Super Stocks. (Nationwide Insurance Modifieds will have the night off).
The Original Pizza Logs 600 Sprint Tour will also be on hand as the “D-Shaped Dirt Demon” is the perfect track for these cars as they always put on a great show. Be sure to check out www.600sprinttour.com to see what the club is all about.
Gates will open Friday at 5:30 with the first green flag to wave at 7:30. Adult grandstand admission will be $12 with everyone 18 years old and younger admitted FREE to the grandstands. Pit admission will be $27 competitors/$30 for non-competitors.
Don’t forget to mark on your calendar forWednesday, July 18 as the 410 Sprint cars will be making their first ever historic visit to the “D-Shaped Dirt Demon”. The UNOH All-Star Sprints will invade the Brewerton Speedway.
Any questions about the season please contact Cory Reed at (315) 638-4056 or by e-mail at cory@brewertonspeedway.com with all your questions.
Keep up with the tracks throughout the season by visiting www.brewertonspeedway.com and www.fultonspeedway.com, on each speedway’s Facebook accounts and on Twitter at twitter.com/Fultonspeedway and twitter.com/BrewertonSpdway.
(TRACEY ROAD EQUIPMENT BIG BLOCK MODIFIEDS 35 LAPS) - ROBBIE BELLINGER, Jimmy Phelps, Jim Witko Jr., Chad Phelps, Pat Ward, Roy Bresnahan, Alan Johnson, Peter Britten, Larry Wight, Matt Sheppard, Willy Decker, Billy Decker, Matt Hulsizer, Ryan Phelps, Mike Bowman, Mike Mahaney, Chris Hile, Matt Fink, Dan Vauter, Rich Scagliotta, Tim Sears Jr., Tony Steiner, Steve Hulsizer, Ryan Bartlett, Chuck Bower, Johnny Hill.
(NATIONWIDE INSURANCE IMCA MODIFIEDS 20 LAPS) - CHRIS FLEMING, Jason Amidon, Kevan Cook, Ryan Scott, Rob Keller, Dan Searles, Brandon Carvey, Pat Chandler, John West, Lee Smiedy, Mike Jones, Fran Loosen, Brian Van Tassell, Tim Murphy, Rich Keller, Lou Levea
(BEAVER RIVER DISTRIBUTION MOD LITES 20 LAPS) - JOE ISABELL, Nick Graziano, Gary Jeffries, Mike Mullen, Lowell Zehr, Terry Lapham, Sterling Miller, Sam Usborne, Russ Brown, Justin Williams, Rob Grzelka, Gary Sampo, Kelly Skinner, Zach Babcock, Les Baker, Ryan Blackburn, Rick Demo, Lorrie Herbert, Jeff Isabell, Joe Garafolo.
(ANCHOR BAR & GRILL FOUR CYLINDER SUPER STOCKS 15 LAPS) - CHUCK POWELCZYK, Jessica Redhead, Wendall Washington, Tim Dunn, Colby Herzog, Sam Curcie, Richard Leahey, Lorraine Powelczyk, Zak Petrie, Bill Carista, Josh Cates-Bishop, Art Dupra, Jeff Herbert, Sam Carista, Levi Currie, Bill Root.
(MIDSTATE VINTAGE STOCK CAR CLUB 15 LAP WINNERS) Ray Preston, Ally Amell, Norm Richardson.