Local Headlines

by Matt Steffenhagen
Delevan, NY- South Arcade Speedway kicked off Memorial Day weekend for
Western NY racing fans with its first special event of the season; a
$1000-to-win event for the 360 Late Models. In a hard-fought and
exciting race, Glenn Whritenour of Jasper, NY was victorious over
Jeremy Wonderling of Scio in the 25 lap main event. Other winners this
night were Vic Vena in the E-mods, Sam Fuller in the Mini Stocks, Fred
Ely in the Pure Stocks, and John Ellwood in the Street Stocks.
Fifteen 360 Late Models were on hand for the first event for the class
at South Arcade Speedway since July of last year. The night started
out poorly for a trio of competitors, with Tony Foth's (16) race car
climbing the front straight wall, flipping, and collecting Mikey
Wonderling (57J) and Eric Murphy (21). The three racers were not able
to get their cars repaired in time for the main. Glen Whritenour (15)
and Jeremy Wonderling (X) would lead the field to the green flag in the
feature event of the night. John Waters' race was cut short on the
opening lap when he nearly mirrored the wall-climb that Foth did
earlier in the evening, sending him pitside. Whritenour would go to
the early lead, but Jeremy Wonderling would race side-by-side with him
for the nearly the entire first half of the event, with the two
swapping the lead on numerous occasions. Whritenour would use the top
side of the speedway with Wonderling challenging to the low side.
Eventually, Whritenour would settle in to his groove and begin to
distance himself from the rest of the pack. Jim Johnson (93J) would
work his way from ninth to fifth before pulling off late in the race.
Jon Rivers (85) came from the back of the pack, scored tenth at lap
five, to be shown in fourth by lap 19. At lap 20 Rivers would clear JJ
Mazur (13jr) for third. With a late-race restart and two laps
remaining, Rivers would dive to the inside to challenge Jeremy
Wonderling for second. The great run would fall apart on the final lap
however, as Rivers would spin in turn one while driving as hard as he
possibly could to get by. Glenn Whritenour would go on to win,
followed by Jeremy Wonderling and Mike Wonderling (z1). The 360 Late
Models will return to the speedway on June 25, and after the great show
they put on in this race, it's sure to be a "can't-miss" event.
In the first two weeks of the season in the Insinger Performance E-mod
division, it was 2009 track champion John Woodward Jr. (18) taking home
the victory. The win streak would come to an end this week, however.
Woodward and Vic Vena (01) would start on the front row for the main
event. Vena would jump to the lead early and pull away from Woodward.
The battle to watch for much of the race was between TJ Downs (03),
Darren Tarabori (6), and Al Brewer (71). The three would battle back
and forth before Downs would lose the handle to bring out a caution at
lap 13. After the restart it was Tarabori working the top side on
Brewer. Brewer would make an advance to the low side each lap, but
Tarabori was able to carry speed up high, holding Brewer off to claim
third. Vic Vena would hold off John Woodward Jr. on the final restart
of the race before cruising to the victory, his first ever at South
Arcade Speedway.
In the Lauterborn Electric Mini Stocks it was former street stock
competitor Sam Fuller (138) taking the win. Second was Dave Burdick
(47) and third was Stacy Sturdevant (55). Mike Krott (72), filling in
for son Blane, and Curt Pastorius (42) would lead the Lauterborn
Electric Pure Stocks to the green flag. However, opening night feature
winner Zach Hamer would get a tremendous run on the field coming from
fourth to take the lead down the back stretch on lap one. Hamer would
lead until apparent mechanical woes would slow his efforts around lap
five, and he was only able to limp around until retiring on lap 8.
Fred Ely (00) started the race fifth and had worked past Pastorius to
run third by lap two. He would challenge Krott for the following two
laps before getting past on the high side at lap four. When the Zach
Hamer machine began to slow, Ely raced past for the lead. By lap 9,
Ely had stretched out a considerable lead over Krott in second. He
would hold on for the win followed by Krott and Pastorius.
The scheduled twenty lap main event for the Lauterborn Electric Street
Stocks quickly turned into a race of survival. The race was plagued by
cautions starting with a lap two incident involving Matt Pfalzer (20)
and Dan Giboo (8). The two would re-join at the tail end of the field
while out front it was Andy Michael (17x) and Doug Jones (87) battling
for the lead. Jones was able to pull ahead of Michael through turns
one and two each lap, however Michael would always come out in the lead
using the far bottom of the speedway in turns three and four. Ron
Mogavero (75x) would also work his way into the mix before spinning out
near the end of the race. With so many caution periods, the race was
shortened to just fifteen laps. A wild incident near the end of the
event saw Leon Szweda (26) get out of shape and catch the tire of
another car to flip between turns three and four, landing on his roof.
He escaped unharmed. Doug Jones would also exit the speedway early,
leaving Andy Michael to take the win over last week's feature winner
John Ellwood (27). The win for Michael was short-lived however as a
carburetor infraction in post-race inspection would result in
disqualification. The win therefore goes to John Ellwood, making it
his second SAS Street Stock feature win in a row.
South Arcade Speedway is back in action next Friday night at 7:00 with
a regular show featuring the Jerge's Auto Parts FASTRAK Late Models,
the Lauterborn Electric Street Stocks, the Insinger Performance E-mods,
the Lauterborn Electric Pure Stocks, and the Lauterborn Electric Mini
Stocks. For more information, you can catch South Arcade Speedway on
Facebook, visit the track website at www.southarcadespeedway.com, or
reach the speedway by phone at (585)293-2780 on weekdays and
(716)492-4097 on race day.
South Arcade Speedway- May 28, 2010 Results
360 Late Models (25 laps):
1. GLENN WHRITENOUR #15, 2. Jeremy Wonderling #X, 3. Mike Wonderling
#z1, 4. Carl Shetler #58, 5. Rich Hale #001, 6. Dave Dubois #012, 7.
Jon Rivers #85, 8. JJ Mazur #13jr, 9. Brady Wonderling #3j, 10. Brian
Kotarski #05, 11. Jim Johnson #93j, 12. John Waters #11. DNS: Tony
Foth #16, Mikey Wonderling #57J, Eric Murphy #21.

Insinger Performance E-mods (20 laps):
1. VIC VENA #01, 2. John Woodward Jr. #18, 3. Darren Tarabori #6, 4. Al
Brewer #71, 5. George Ritter #72, 6. Carl Ballinger #53, 7. TJ Downs
#03.

Lauterborn Electric Street Stocks (15 laps):
1. JOHN ELLWOOD #27, 2. Dan Giboo #8, 3. Matt Pfalzer #20, 4. Ron
Mogavero #75x, 5. Alan Kemp #71, 6. Tim Bruce #75, 7. Doug Jones #87,
8. Leon Szweda #26, 9. Matt Bove #91, 10. Joe Carmichael #27x, 11. Kyle
Rupp #29, 12. Jeff Woodward #18. DQ: Andy Michael #17x.

Lauterborn Electric Pure Stocks (15 laps):
1. FRED ELY #00, 2. Mike Krott #72, 3. Curt Pastorius #42, 4. Dale
Hamer #7D, 5. Joe Perrin #30, 6. Zach Hamer #7.

Lauterborn Electric Mini Stocks (12 laps):
1. SAM FULLER #138, 2. Dave Burdick #47, 3. Stacy Sturdevant #55.