Local Headlines

by Matt Steffenhagen
Delevan, NY- Week five of racing at South Arcade Speedway brought with
it some of the nicest weather of the season Friday. The track was in
great shape as well with a fast top groove working in as the night
progressed. Steve Dixon of Smethport, PA would pick up his second
FASTRAK Late Model win in as many starts, and Nathan Hill would pick up
the win in the E-mods. Ron Mogavero, Sam Fuller, Curt Pastorius, and
Chris Muhleisen would take wins in the Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Pure
Stocks, and Sprints, respectively.
With the great weather, many street stock drivers made this night
their first visit to the speedway which racked up the car count in the
Lauterborn Electric Street Stocks to a season-high 23. With a great
field on-hand, 21 cars would make the call to start the main. Dan
Giboo ( 8 ) and Matt Pfalzer (20) would lead the field to the green
with Pfalzer going to the lead. The man on the move in this race was
Randy Taylor (10T) coming from 12th to 8th by lap 3. Taylor would
battle all the way to 5th before abruptly heading to the pits midway
through the race. Also on the move was two-time feature winner John
Ellwood (27) who drove from the 14th starting position and finished 5th
by race end. Out front, Pfalzer would run the high line for the
distance of the race, holding onto the lead until late in the going.
By lap 17, Ron Mogavero (75x) had worked his way into second. Mogavero
would challenge Pfalzer for two laps before getting past for the win as
the leaders passed under the white flag. Mogavero was apologetic in
victory lane about racing rough with Pfalzer, but the win "was a long
time coming" according to the enthusiastic winner. Finishing behind
Mogavero and Pfalzer was Jeff Woodward (18); his best finish of the
season.
After a tough previous week and an 8th place finish, 2009 Insinger
Performance E-mod champion John Woodward Jr. (18) was looking to get
back to his winning ways. TJ Downs (03) was also hunting for a win
after cutting a tire while leading last week. Downs would win his heat
race and lead the main until breaking at lap three. Woodward would
inherit the lead followed by Nathan Hill (38) and Mike Eschrick (9E).
Eschrick and Hill would battle for 2nd with Hill getting the better of
the 9E on a lap 15 restart. Out in front, it was Woodward until with
just four laps remaining a right front tire would go flat on the 18.
Hill would inherit the lead and go on to win his first feature event of
the season. In the Jerge's Auto Parts FASTRAK Late Models, with the
high-line looking good it was looking to be a John Lacki (7) type of
race track. Lacki would win his heat and redraw third to start the
main. Winner of the opening two weeks' races Justin Tatlow (81) would
start the feature on the front-row outside of Bob Kish (5). Tatlow
would go to the early lead. Last week's feature winner Steve Dixon
(50) would work past Lacki for third by lap three. John Lacki, running
his preferred high-line would get up out of the groove on lap four,
getting a piece of the turn four wall in the process. The mishap would
drop him to 8th but he would recover to 6th by race end. For most of
the race, Adam Sixt (6T) and Ike Fanton (41) battled door-to-door for
the 4th spot until Sixt spun at lap ten. On the ensuing restart, Steve
Dixon, now in second, would race side-by-side with Justin Tatlow until
finally getting past at lap 12. Coming from the tail, Sixt would come
back through the field to pick up where he left off by lap 21, finally
pulling off the pass for fourth with a slide-job on Fanton out of turn
four. Back out front, Steve Dixon hooked up and left the field while
running the top lane while Bob Kish was able to get by Tatlow for
second in the closing laps. The win for Dixon was his second in a row.
The sparks would fly in the Lauterborn Electric Pure Stocks from the
drop of the green flag. Zach Hamer (7) and Fred Ely (00) would lead
the field to the green. The two would get together at the starting
line with Ely being squeezed into the wall. The contact would not
affect either racer immediately. Ely would get the better of Hamer to
lead by lap four. Blane Krott (72) and Curt Pastorius (42) would race
Hamer for second until just a few laps later Ely would have a flat
right rear tire. When Hamer caught Ely, the two beat and banged until
the 7 car was spun in turn two and the Ely 00 went to the pits. The
yellow flag never flew for the incident allowing Krott and Pastorius to
race for the lead amongst themselves. Krott would break at lap 15
allowing Zach Hamer to salvage a second place finish after his ordeal.
Curt Pastorius would go on to win, his first victory of the season.
The Lauterborn Electric Mini Stock class grew a bit more this week
with many former Genesee Speedway regulars joining the action.
Although the outcome ended up the same as the previous two weeks, the
racing action really heated up with the additional racers in the mix.
Sam Fuller (38) would go to the lead off the start with Dave Burdick
(47) moving into second. Burdick and newcomer to the speedway Mike
Sweeney (73) would race wheel-to-wheel for the runner up spot lap after
lap at the start. The pair would work up to Fuller and go three-wide
with the 38 at lap seven with Sweeney taking a stab at the lead. Dan
Lockwood (08) would now make his way into the mix and more three-wide
racing would occur between Lockwood, Sweeney, and Burdick. Following a
lap 7 restart, Mike Sweeney would steal the lead away from Fuller only
to lose the handle on his car in turn 4 before coming to rest on the
frontstretch. Dan Lockwood would challenge Burdick for the remaining
laps to no avail. Out front, it was "Slammin Sammy" Fuller taking his
third mini stock feature win in a row.
The Insinger Racing Alcohol DIRTcar Sprints would make their return to
the speedway this night. In their heat race, local racer Brad Knab
(38) of Delevan would show everyone the fast way around the South
Arcade 1/3 mile. However, Chris Muhleisen (10m) of Arkport would begin
to close in on Knab in the closing laps. Also on hand were Jeremy
Barnard (86) of Albion and Bob Reis (4) of Elma. In recent years Reis
has campaigned Winged and Non-Wing Supermodifieds and a "Tour Type"
modified on asphalt. Between heats and features, Muhleisen would make
changes to the car that would pay off in the main. Muhleisen would
take his car to the top lane of the speedway and set sail on the field
for the distance of the event. Barnard and Reis would battle for
second with Reis running the extreme low side of the speedway and
Barnard working the top lane. Reis would come out on top with Barnard
parking before the end of the race. Knab would round out the top three.
South Arcade Speedway returns next week, June 18, with one of the
highlights on the 2010 schedule, a visit by the UEMS E-mods. Many of
the cars and stars of E-mod racing in the NY/PA/OH area will be on-hand
for the event. The pits open at 5:00, grandstands at 5:30, and racing
begins at 7:00. For more information, catch up with South Arcade
Speedway on Facebook, at the website www.southarcadespeedway.com, or by
phone at (585)293-2780 on weekdays and (716)492-4097 on race day.
South Arcade Speedway- June 11, 2010 Results:

Jerge's Auto Parts FASTRAK Late Models (25 laps):
1. STEVE DIXON #50, 2. Bob Kish #5, 3. Justin Tatlow #81, 4. Adam Sixt
#6T, 5. Ike Fanton #41, 6. John Lacki #7, 7. Tim Schram #1s, 8. Wade
Mohawk #64, 9. Ron Baker #74, 10. Garrett Stephen #79, 11. Tom Kemp #28.
Heat Winners: John Lacki,Steve Dixon

Insinger Performance E-mods (20 laps):
1. NATHAN HILL #38, 2. Mike Eschrick #9E, 3. Darren Tarabori #6, 4.
George Ritter #72, 5. John Woodward Jr. #18, 6. Carl Ballinger #53, 7.
Al Brewer #71, 8. TJ Downs #03.
Heat Winners: TJ Downs, Nathan Hill.

Lauterborn Electric Street Stocks (20 laps):
1. RON MOGAVERO #75x, 2. Matt Pfalzer #20, 3. Jeff Woodward #18, 4. Tim
Bruce #75, 5. John Ellwood #27, 6. Josh Wilcox #1W, 7. Dan Giboo #8, 8.
Jason Dobson #75D, 9. David Downs #02, 10. Doug Jones #87, 11. Byron
Dewitt #34, 12. Albert Blakeslee #67, 13. Bruno Mowery #49, 14. Josh
Smallidge #7J, 15. Joe Chamberlain #46, 16. Julio Padilla #68, 17.
Randy Taylor #10T, 18. Art Peterson #5, 19. Nate Arnold #41, 20. Matt
Bove #91, 21. Brian Peterson Jr. #40. DNS: Kyle Rupp #29, Pat Powers
#53.
Heat Winners: Ron Mogavero, Matt Pfalzer, Doug Jones.

Lauterborn Electric Pure Stocks (20 laps):
1. CURT PASTORIUS #42, 2. Zach Hamer #7, 3. Dale Hamer #7D, 4. Tonia
Ellwood #27, 5. Blane Krott #72, 6. Fred Ely #00, 7. George Conkey #11x.
Heat Winner: Zach Hamer.

Lauterborn Electric Mini Stocks (15 laps):
1. SAM FULLER #38, 2. Dave Burdick #47, 3. Dan Lockwood #08, 4. Richard
Kline #23, 5. Riley Ellison #24, 6. Jerry Carpenter #4, 7. Shawn Kemp
#23s, 8. Sarah Johnson #94J, 9. Mike Sweeney #73.
Heat winner: Sam Fuller.

Insinger Racing Alcohol DIRTcar Sprints (15 laps):
1. CHRIS MUHLEISEN #10m, 2. Bob Reis #4, 3. Brad Knab #38, 4. Jeremy
Barnard #86.
Heat Winner: Brad Knab.