Stateline
Gardner Brings Down Curtain on 1900’s with Win at Stateline
By
Jay Pees
Rich
Gardner started from the pole in the final event of the 1900’s at Stateline
Speedway and went on to his second win of the season at the Busti, NY tract
Gardner did not lead the entire however as Matt Urban got by going into turn one
on lap two then speeding away to a five car-length lead by the time that the
first caution flag was waved on lap three for a spin by Steve Halpainy in turn
four. On the restart, Chad Ruhlman also got by Gardner and set out chasing
Urban, getting alongside in turn three, only to have the caution wave, this time
for a spin by Chris Brockway and Chevy Scott in turn four. This yellow proved to
be the final caution period of the season as Urban appeared to power away from
the field with Ruhlman and Gardner slipping back
On
lap six Gardner pulled alongside Ruhlman and the two raced side-by-side for two
laps before Gardner got the upper hand and completed the pass on the front
straight. Slowly, the distance between the front runners narrowed and Gardner
drew alongside the leader on lap seventeen. With Urban running high and Gardner
hugging the inside, the lead was traded several times during the next lap until
Gardner pulled out to a slim lead in turn one of lap eighteen. Urban pulled even
with Gardner in the turns but fell back behind the leader in the straights.
Going into turn three for the final time, Urban made his final attempt on the
leader, but Gardner crossed the finish line one-half car-length ahead of his
pursuer. Ruhlman finished third with Doug Eck running a steady race for fourth.
Pat McGuire was fifth with John Lobb, Randy Lobb, Andy Kania, John Venable, and
Chris Brockway rounding out the top ten.
Gardner,
Urban, and Ruhlman won their qualifying heats. Urban wrapped up his second
consecutive points championship with his second place finish. Gardner finished
the season long points chase in the runner-up position. Complete final point
standings will be announced Tuesday.
Chris
Hackett led the seventeen Limited Late Models to the green flag for their
Championship grind and led the first seven laps, giving way to John Lacki on the
exit of turn two on lap eight Lacki then held the lead until Kevin Decker got by
him coming out of turn four on lap fourteen. Pat McGuire also got by Lacki, but
was unable to catch Decker, who went on to his second victory of the season at
Stateline. Decker’s first victory of the season came in the spring
championship race for the Limited late Models. Lacki wound up third with Hackett
fourth and Ron Olson fifth.
Hackett
and Decker won preliminary heat events with Tom Schnars and Bobby Rohrer coming
across the finish line in a dead heat for the win in the third preliminary. With
his second place finish, McGuire captured the season points title for the
Limited Late Model class with Rohrer in second for the season.
Robert
J. Nocero won his first-ever feature at Stateline with a flag to flag run in the
Sportsman feature, run without interruption by the yellow flag. Nocero and Mall
Green ran side-by-side for three laps before Nocero nosed ahead to lead the rest
of the distance.
Tom
Kosinski, his son Mike Kosinski, and Nocero won their heat races. Unofficially,
Mike Kosinski emerged the Point Champion for the six-cylinder powered machines.
Gary
Eicher showed the way to the twenty Cadets in their first feature until
mechanical problem relegated him to the pits for repairs, handing the lead to
Tom Anderson on lap eight of the fifteen lap event. Ken Drake joined Anderson at
the front of the field early in the event, which saw six caution periods. At the
checkers, Anderson narrowly beat out Drake by the length of his front bumper.
Bryan Emory was third, Jim Hilyer fourth, and Ron Seeley fifth.
Ed
Streich came out of retirement only two races prior to the season finale, but
proved he can still put the car in front by winning the second Cadet finale
after leading the entire distance. Only two cautions slowed the event which had
Greg Johnson second at the conclusion. Ted Kosinski was third with Chad Carlson
fourth and Mike Kosinski fifth.
Quincy
Turner, Ted Kosinski, and Drake won the heat races with Carlson besting John
Galati for the honors in the “Run for the Money” match race for last
week’s winners. At the time of writing, the point totals for the Cadet
division had not been totaled, but only thirty points separated the front four
runners, Emory, Jeff Gunnell, Carlson, and Galati.
Paul
Briggs finished the first Spectator finale in front of the field with Kirk Faust
second and Waft Houser third. Randy Carlson emerged victorious in the second
Spectator feature over Ray Churchill and Doug Dunham. Andy Clark led the field
to the checkers in the third Spectator feature followed by Pat Gorton and Scott
Ottaway. Dave Hess, Jr won the final feature for the amateur Spectator drivers
by the narrowest of margins over Chris Sutton and Mark Grabowski. Point leader
Bob Frisbee had mechanical problems early in the feature and failed to finish
the event. The points have not yet been totaled for the division, but it appears
that the margin of victory will be less than five points between Hess, Sutton,
and Frisbee.
(Logo design by Karen Teets)