For
Release - Sunday June 7, 2009 From Jim Irvine Merrittville
Speedway Public Relations 905-892-8266
Thorold, Ontario (June 7) 25 years ago next month Richard Petty
won his 200th NASCAR Winston Cup Race in what is now the Sprint
Cup Series.
Race fans that flocked to Saturday June 6th's Seaway Hose &
Hydraulics Night at Merrittville Speedway saw another
driver reach that same plateau as Pete Bicknell scored his 200th
DIRTcar 358 Modified Feature Win.
The action-packed night began with some catching up from
previous weather affected events with Billy Hogue winning his
third Hoosier Stock Feature and Greg Panunte winning the opening
round of the 2009 King of the Crates Sportsman Series powered by
Niagara Motors.
Rob Overholt won his first Turn 4 Collision 4 Cylinder Feature
and in regularly scheduled action, Rob Murray and Chad
Chevalier visited Victory Lane in the Hoosier Stocks and
Original Pizza Logs Sportsman to close the night.
It was also one fan's time to take the spotlight away from the
drivers as Bill Clow miraculously won his second
straight Thorold ASI Group Blackhawk Booster Club 50-50 draw.
"I started racing in 1974," remembers Bicknell of his Late Model
Racer built in the auto shop at West Park High
School with classmate Danny Rizzardo, "drivers like Davey Moore
and Harry Sittler were my heroes when I was 20 . at
21 I started beating them."
It sure must have seemed like a throwback to his early days as
Bicknell passed the Sittler 37 for top spot about
half-way through the 35 lap 358 Modified Feature.
The Sittler 37 - owned by Harry's son Andrew though is being
driven in 2009 by former Sportsman Champion and second
generation driver Wayne Conn however.
Conn took control of top spot at the drop of Doug Leonard's
Green Flag and had his pace slowed several times for
cautions. Sophomore driver Travis Braun would provide the early
challenges until Bicknell got to the runner-up spot on
lap 8.
Quickly Conn was able to open up a comfortable lead on the field
but as the race approached the halfway point, Bicknell
closed in on the leader.
Conn was able to stay right with Bicknell but with the 5 laps to
go signal given - Bicknell stretched his margin of
victory to almost a straightaway at the double checkered flag
salute.
"It was both a pleasure and a honor to be present for this
milestone!," prided Snowden, "Pete is truly one of the greats in
this sport ... I am very proud to have him flying the Lucas Oil
colors ... Thanks Pete."
.
"The fans deserve a lot of the credit for this," remarked
Bicknell, "for supporting me . and racing in general .my crew
too . none of us could do it without all the people in the
stands . and the pits!"
Bicknell was followed by Wayne Conn, defending Champion Chad
Brachmann, Bill Bleich and Larry Lampman.
In his 35 year racing career which includes 19 Speedway Modified
Point Championships, Bicknell has won a lot more than 200
features when you consider his late model start as well as those
in a Big Block Modified not to mention non-DIRTcar sanctioned
events.
Including wins at Merrittville which is now 120, Ransomville
(41) and Humberstone (6), 'Mr. Small-Block' has also
reached victory lane at Syracuse (7), Ohsweken (7), Cayuga
County (5), Brockville (3), Cornwall (3), Can-Am (2),
Mohawk/Frogtown (2), Black Rock, Edelweiss, Granby and Rolling
Wheels Raceway.
The first feature to take to track was the rain delayed Hoosier
Stock Feature with the racing delayed further after a
false start by pole sitter Kevin Knapp.
Once under green for real Knapp jumped out to a big lead on the
field as the battle for second saw Kevin Kocarik, Mike
Calaguiro and Billy Hogue in a three wide war.
Hogue would grab second just as caution would slow the battle on
lap 3.
Knapp regained the lead on the restart with Hogue taking over
top spot on the backstretch. The pair were in quite a
see-saw battle before Hogue pulled away slightly before another
caution on lap 11.
Hogue set the pace through a couple more restarts as caution
delayed the last half of the race several times.
It wasn't slowing Dolf McCready's progress however as by lap 16
- he had made it to third after a 25th place
start.
One final caution on lap 18 set up a 2 lap dash to the checkers
with Hogue going on to his third win of the season.
Hogue was followed by Kevin Knapp, Dolf McCready, Ken Sargent
and Brent Begolo.
The Turn 4 Collision 4 Cylinder Feature had Chris Laskey in
control through a couple of early cautions. The early stages
had quite a battle for runner-up spot with Terry Larmet, Rob
Overholt, Rob Goulding, Tony Kelly, Matt Deschamps and
others looking to take the spot.
Soon after Rob Overholt was able to take over the lead out of
turn 4 to complete lap 6 caution would also slow his pace
after Jocelynne Wiley and Larmet came together sending Larmet's
car into the front stretch wall.
Two more cautions would slow Overholt - the second quickly
turning into a red flag on lap 14 after Terry Larmet would
again make heavy contact with the wall - at almost the same
spot.
Overholt resumed control on the restart with Rob Goulding and
Matt Deschamps putting on quite a battle for second in the
one lap dash.
With Overholt on to the win, Matt Deschamps would get by
Goulding with Trevor Goulding and Chris Laskey rounding out the
top 5.
As per DIRTcar rules, all of Merrittville Speedway's Sportsman
Division Drivers compete with identical engines - the
602 GM Crate Engine - available at any GM Parts Counter -
including the one at Niagara Motors.
With the help of the Virgil dealership - an all new King of the
Crates Series will feature 3 40 lap Events in 2009.
For the second time of 2009, the Sportsman front row had Greg
Panunte and Nick Cupolo leading the field to the initial
green. Panunte again won the battle of the 99's with the Port
Colborne driver the early leader.
Panunte and Cupolo would both pull away from the pack with
Panunte pulling away slightly through lap traffic.
With Panunte cruising out front - a battle for second finding
Cupolo now challenged by BJ Willard and Brad Rouse. Soon
the three were three wide with Rouse getting a good run to get
by both Willard and Cupolo.
Around lap 30 Willard would take over third but noone was going
to catch Panunte - who went on to take the King of the
Crates Series Opener powered by Niagara Motors.
Panunte's second win of the season also came with a $250 Bonus
from race fan and race team supporter Brian Staff.
The second round goes Saturday July 1st.
Panunte was followed by Brad Rouse, BJ Willard, Chad Chevalier
and Nick Cupolo.
Blair Young was first to lead the Modern Corporation Open Wheel
Lite Feature before Adam Murphy took control. Twice in
the first two laps, incidents in turn 4 would slow the event but
not Jamie Gilbert.
Gilbert eventually caught Murphy - taking over top spot on lap
5. Immediately Gilbert drove away to a comfortable lead
before another caution on lap 8 again slowed the field.
Gilbert resumed the lead on the restart with team-mate Shawn
Sliter now applying the challenge. Another caution again
slowed the pair with Gilbert again opening up quite a lead.
With one lap to go the race came to a stop after Adam Murphy
flipped his car down the backstretch after apparent contact
with Josh Sliter.
It was the second time in the young season that Murphy has
flipped his Five Star Racing Products self-built #28. Rumor
has it that the serial number on the beat-up car is # 13.
Regardless of it's condition - Murphy may want to build
himself another car.
Gilbert won the one lap dash to the checkers - celebrating his
second 2009 win with some donuts just before the start
finish line.
Gilbert and Sliter were followed by Adam Leslie, Tim Anderson
and Jordan Curran.
The start of the regularly scheduled Hoosier Stock feature saw
quite a battle between Billy Bleich and Rob Murray.
Bleich was first to lead before Murray took control. Bleich
regained top spot before contact between the two had Murray
ending up third.
Barry Blanchard quickly challenged Bleich with a lead change
just before caution slowed the field. With Blanchard out
front there was plenty of three and four wide racing through the
pack - the result - caution before another lap was
completed.
Blanchard was out front on the restart before Murray took
control with Shayne Pierce taking over the runner-up spot.
Blanchard lost control of his car in turn 4 and spun but was
able to rejoin the race without a caution.
Pierce was soon glued to Murray's rear bumper with the two
pulling away. Just after a yellow flag, Billy Hogue was on
the move - taking over second before losing control of his car
after contact with Shayne Pierce. Pierce was sent tail
for the incident.
Hogue's misfortune set up a one lap dash to the checkered flag
with Ken Sargent taking control of top spot out of turn
4 for the final time. Murray virtually launched his car back to
the lead in the drag race to the start finish line for
the win with Sargent, Billy Bleich, Dolf McCready and Brent
Begolo rounding out the top 5.
Like the rain-delayed Original Pizza Logs Sportsman Feature
before it, the early front-runners in the night cap shared
the same number - Rob Knapp and Ken Cosgrove in Knapp's back up
car.
Knapp had pulled away from Cosgrove and the field before a lap 6
red flag stopped the event for an incident involving
Brandon Easey. Easey had spun his car in turn 2 but hard contact
with Tyler McPherson found Easy wanting assistance as a
precaution. Easey was OK.
Cosgrove took control on the restart before Knapp regained the
lead along the backstretch. Chad Chevalier would soon
join the front-runners - taking over the runner-up spot. Both
Knapp and Chevalier would pull away - eventually
catching slower cars.
On lap 17 in lap traffic, Chevalier took over top spot - earning
his third win of the season. Knapp settled for second
with BJ Willard in third for the second time of the night. Ken
Cosgrove was fourth and Cody McPherson fifth.
UPCOMING AT MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY
The month of June continues at Merrittville Speedway with SMS
Machine presenting the New York Modified Midgets -
Saturday June 13th.
Also on the schedule are the L. St. Amand Enterprises 358
Modifieds in addition to Double Features for the Hoosier
Stocks, Modern Corporation Open Wheel Lites and Turn 4 Collision
4 Cylinders.
One of the 4 Cylinder Events is the rain delayed Turn 4
Collision Triple Crown Event.
The Westlane Robotics Team will also be on hand when the gates
open at 5:30 with Showtime is 7:00.
For further info call 905-892-8266 or visit
www.merrittvillespeedway.com.
Join us this season on a Saturday Night for A LUCAS OIL WEEKLY
RACING SERIES EVENT featuring FIVE Weekly Racing
Divisions featuring local heroes and up and coming new stars!
Make your plans . call your friends and maybe even get a car
pool together and enjoy a staycation at the speedway with
plenty of free parking and camping spots!
You're among friends at Boston Pizza and Merrittville Speedway.
Check your 2009 Merrittville Speedway Grandstand
Ticket stubs for a special offer from the Niagara Street Welland
Boston Pizza location.
Your Local Dirt Track is where it's
at!! Merrittville Speedway "The Best Family Entertainment in
Niagara"
MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY SPONSORS
The 2009 Lucas Oil Weekly Racing Series for Merrittville
Speedway's 5 Divisions is brought to fans by several
partners, including division sponsors L. St. Amand Enterprises,
Original Pizza Logs, Hoosier, Modern Corporation and
Turn 4 Collision as well as contingency sponsors Bicknell Racing
Products, Bilstein Shock Absorbers, Brodix Cylinder
Heads, Hoosier Tire, Lucas Oil Products, Inside Track Motorsport
News, Intercomp, ISC Racer's Tape, Jaz Products,
Kirkey Racing Fabrication, Motorsports Safety Systems,
Outerwears, Port City Racing, R.J.S. Racing Equipment, Racing
Optics, Schroeder Torsion Bars, Schoenfeld Headers, Ultra Shield
Race Products, Wrisco Industries and XRP, Inc.
Lucas Oil Products is one of the fastest growing additive lines
in the consumer automotive industry featuring a premium
line of oils, greases and problem-solving additives.
Through innovative product research and development, along with
aggressive marketing programs, Lucas Oil Products has
established itself as the top selling additive in the industry.
Race fans can look for Lucas Oil Products at their favorite
automotive retailer including Drummond Home Hardware in
Niagara Falls and through RCM Racing Equipment |
