Stateline Speedway
  Saturdays May thru Sept.  Gates Open 5:30 pm. Racing at 7:00 pm.
4150 Kortwright Road, Busti NY      716-487-2368 / 814-688-4550

Tim Kelly Wins K.C. Auto Glass ESS A-Main and Randy Lobb Wins the Super Late Event at Stateline

By Glenn Slocum

             The Empire Super Sprint Tour 2002 made it’s final Stateline stop with twenty-eight sprinters on-hand   Randy Lobb lead every lap of the Super Late Model feature to post his second feature win of the year. Tim Kelly won the Empire Super Sprint Tour 2002 A-Main from his front row starting spot. Nathan Short was a first time winner in the Outlaw Cadet division. Dave Johnson and Rush Firestone won the Spectator features. Al Cressley won his third feature of the season in the E-Mod feature. AL Cressley narrowly defeated Pat McGuire for his third feature win in the Limited Late Model class.

             Ten cars reported for the ESS B-Main. Garry Troutman touched Dick Spadaro on the initial start and tipped over. After a quick check in the pits Troutman was able to continue. Spadaro had more problems on lap five as Randy Years and Billy “the Kid” Coffey led. Jared Zimbardi was running fifth at this point just out of a qualifying spot. Coffey moved to the front on the restart but the race was quickly stopped for Spadaro who had stopped in turn four. Coffey went on to win the event with Tim Zimbardi second Ray Preston third and Dan Bennett as the final qualifier.

             Rush Firestone took the early lead in the first Spectator feature. Merle Burlingame and Pat Passanise tangle on lap two causing the first caution of the event. Vic Earle lost the handle and second position on lap two allowing Paul Norman by. Steve Hulings passed Earle on lap five for third and started to run down the leaders. A car stopped in the pit entrance brought out the second caution with six laps down. Firestone still led with Norman second and Hulings third. Bill Baker Jr. spun on lap eight and Dave Auge stopped on the front stretch for the third yellow. Firestone won the two-lap dash with Norman second and Hulings third.

             Fred McClanahan lost the lead to Ron Fish after he was tapped by Walt Houser on lap two of the second Spectator feature. A stalled car stopped the face on lap four. Fish dropped to the rear of the field on the lap four restart letting Ron Bush have the lead with Dave Surenna in second. Surenna passed Bush on lap eight for the number one spot and Bush stopped in turn four for the final caution with one remaining. Dave Johnson running second on the last lap restart beat Surenna to the line to win the event.

             Nathan Short lead the first two laps of the Outlaw Cadet feature. Phil Knight broke on the backstretch for the first caution. Gary Eicher had moved from fifth to third with Todd Church in second. Eicher moved inside of Church on the restart and claimed the second spot and Jeff VanArsdale passed Church one lap later for third. John Boardman spun on lap five for the second caution of the event. Short pushed Eicher to the rail on the lap five restart to hold the lead forcing Eicher back to second. Eicher nearly spun one lap later and fell to fourth as VanArsdale moved to second and Jim Hilyer to third. Short was not challenged again and went on to win his first feature of the year. VanArsdale was second and Hilyer third. 

             Randy Lobb and Doug Eck were on row one of the Super Late Model feature with Rod Maloy and Rich Gardner in row two. Lobb just beat Eck to the line to lead lap one and lap two saw Maloy up beside Eck with Lobb in front by a half a car length. Rick Briggs spun on lap three to bring out the first yellow. Dick Litz, Pat McGuire and Kelly Frederes tangled on the restart and the field was quickly realigned. Lobb led the next two as Maloy and Eck swapped second and third. Steve Halpainy, Ted Kosinski and Briggs stopped the race on lap six for the third caution. Rich Gardner was fourth with Dan Armbruster fifth and Al Crocker sixth on the restart. Lobb got the jump on the restart with Maloy second then Eck and Armbruster. Frederes and Halpainy spun on lap eight for the fourth caution. Armbruster moved under Eck for third as Lobb and Maloy separated themselves from the field. Eck continued to fade and Bryan Emory moved to fourth on lap eleven. Lobb was in lap traffic on lap sixteen allowing Maloy to close. Lobb stayed low through the lap traffic never giving Maloy and opportunity to pass. Briggs had more problems on lap twenty for the fifth caution of the event and eliminating lap traffic as a problem for the leader. With six laps remaining Lobb was the still the leader with Maloy second, Armbruster third then Emory, Eck, Gardner and Dave Hess Jr.. Lobb quickly moved to a ten car length advantage over Maloy on the restart with Armbruster trailing Maloy by five car lengths. Randy Lobb ran the perfect race leading every lap with Maloy finishing second and Armbruster third.

             George Ely and Tim Kelly brought the K.C. Auto Glass Empire Super Sprint Tour 2002 A-Main to the line with Billy White and Tom Taber in row two. Point’s leader Mike Woodring started fourteenth right beside Lance Yonge who was currently second in points. Tim Zimbardi spun on the start necessitating a complete restart of the event. Ely, Kelly and Taber were in control at the start but a spin by Brian Dumigan brought the field under the yellow with two laps down. Yonge was tenth and Woodring fourteenth. Erin Crocker took an terrific tumble down the back stretch bring the red flag out. Crocker was okay but her racecar was towed from the speedway with both front wheels missing. Kelly passed Ely on the lap four restart and Taber got by one lap later as the yellow flew for Ray Preston who had spun in turn four. Kyle Drum ruined the restart with a spin in two collecting Preston. Bill Coffey had trouble on that restart spinning and stalling in turn four. Yonge was seventh by lap nine as Kelly began to stretch his lead. Yonge moved to fifth on lap eleven but was still a half lap behind the leader. John Karklin Jr. was pressing Taber for second when a multi-car incident on lap sixteen involving Phil Mott, early leader Ely and Don Sharp Jr. brought out the yellow and negating Kelly’s lead. Kelly remained the leader with Taber second Karklin third and Yonge fourth. Yonge moved to second one lap after the restart as Taber fell to fourth and Karklin was third. Yonge’s charge stopped there, as he could not catch Kelly who went on to win his first A-Main event at Stateline. Yonge was second with Karklin third.

             Dana Cummings lost the handle and the lead on lap two of the Budweiser Super Sportsman feature giving the lead to Scott Bayle with Randy Parmenter second and Dave Cummings third. Parmenter slipped high on the restart falling to fifth and letting Pat McGuire, Dave Cummings and Mike Kosinski by. Bayle had a ten-car length advantage at the halfway mark. A spin by Bob VanArsdale brought out the only yellow of the event on lap nine setting up a two-lap dash for the win. Bayle led the final two to win his third feature. Pat McGuire was second with Dave Cummings third.

           A spin by second running Mike Hess on lap two of the E-Mod feature slowed the race as Tim Rater led. Al Cressley took advantage of the restart to pass Rater for the top position as Dale Applebee moved into third followed by Shane Applebee. Dave Hess Jr. passed Shane Applebee for fourth on lap seven as Dale Applebee and Rater were running side by side for second. Dustin Carlson and Jason Covey brought out the yellow on lap ten allowing the field to close up behind Cressley. Dale Applebee fell back on the restart giving Dave Hess third. Cressley won going away with Rater second and Dave Hess third.

           Tom Schnars led the first lap of the Limited Late Model feature and Andy Sweetland lap two with AL Cressley third and Pat McGuire fourth. Cressley bumped Schnars to third on lap five and moved under Sweetland to challenge for the lead. Cressley took the lead one lap latter and McGuire moved under Sweetland for second. McGuire and Cressley started to move away from the field at the halfway point and Schnars took over third from Sweetland. With five to go it was still Cressley and McGuire nose to tail with Schnars third and Tom Hagberg fourth.  McGUire move to the outside of Cressley with sixteen down but a spin by Brian Fardink in two brought out the yellow. McGuire moved up beside Cressley with one to go but came up a half a car length short. It was Cressley’s third win of the season. Tom Schnars finished third.

 Results:

   Spectators:

      Heat 1: Ken Jackson, Brian Johnson, Ron Bush

      Heat 2: Barrett Brown, Dave Auge, Kevin Brumett

      Heat 3: Steve Hulings, Brian Crandall,

      Feature 1: Rush Firestone, Paul Norman, Steve Hulings, Mark Ramsey, Steve Keith, Pat Passanise, Devin Brumett, Bill Baker Jr., Vic Earle, John Kelsey

      Feature 2: Dave Johnson, Dave Surenna, Rich Becker, Jason Stutzman, Mike Ciffo, Brian Johnson, John Moore, Ken Jackson, Ron Bush, Ron Fish

 E-Mods

      Heat 1: Shane Applebee, Kevin Decker, Bill Thomas

      Heat 2: Mike Hess, Dale Applebee, Tim Rater

      Feature: Al Cressley, Tim Rater, Dave Hess Jr., Dale Applebee, Bill Thomas, Kevin Decker, Shane Applebee, Mike Hess, Justin Carlson, Tom Anderson, Stu Rickart, Jason Covey, Mike Samuelson, James Irwin

   Outlaw Cadets

      Heat 1: Nathan Short, Gary Eicher, Jeff Campbell

      Heat 2: Jim Hilyer, Jeff VanArsdale, Pete Alspaugh

      Heat 3: Todd Church, Louie DeDionisio, Matt Lamphere

      Feature 1: Nathan Short, Jeff VanArsdale, Jim Hilyer, Glen Slaney, Todd Church, John Pencille, Louie DeDionisio, Jeff Campbell, Chris Blose, Bill Dunn, Shane Jones, Gary Eicher, Dan Slye, Matt Lamphere, John Boardman, Rick Loomis, Dustin Eckman, Terry Daniels, Pete Alspaugh, Andy Knight, Lonnie Waldron

   Limited Late Models:

      Heat 1: Tom Schnars, Pat McGuire, Bobby Rohrer

      Heat 2: Andy Sweetland, Mike Moore, Paul Briggs

      Heat 3: Al Cressley, Tom Hagberg, Chad Ramsey

      Feature: Al Cressley, Pat McGuire, Tom Schnars, Mike Moore, Tom Hagberg, Bobby Rohrer, Paul Briggs, Chad Ramsey, Ron Seeley, Chris Sutton, Andy Sweetland, Les Lyons, Steve Moynihan, Mike Coyle, Andy Knight, Ed Simmer, Brian Fardink, Aaron Robinson, Ron Bem

   Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

      Heat 1: Pat McGuire, Mike Kosinski, Scott Bayle

      Heat 2: Dana Cummings, John Robinson, Don Stanley

   Feature: Scott Bayle, Pat McGuire, Dave Cummings, Mike Kosinski, Randy Parmenter, Don McGuire, Don Stanley, Pete Volpe, Joe Buccola Jr., Robert Nocero

   Super Late Model:

      Heat 1: Doug Eck, Al Crocker, Bump Hedman, Dave Hess Jr.

      Heat 2: Rod Maloy, Bob Craig, Bryan Emory, John Lacki

      Heat 3: Randy Lobb, Rich Gardner, Dan Armbruster, Dave Shagla

      American Racer Dash: Rich Gardner, Al Crocker, Bob Craig

      Consolation 1:

      Feature: Randy Lobb, Rod Maloy, Dan Armbruster, Bryan Emory, Rich Gardner, Scott Gurdak, Doug Eck, Al Crocker, Dave Hess, Bump Hedman, Wally Fox, John Lacki, Bob Craig, Matt Lux, Pat McGuire, Andy Boozel, Dave Shagla, Ted Kosinski, Dick Litz, Kelly Frederes, Craig Briggs, John Lobb, Chad Clemet, Steve Halpainy

  Empire Super Sprints:

      Heat 1: Bubby Kerrick  Lance Younge, Tom Taber, George Ely, Ryan Coniam, Mike Stelter

      Heat 2: Tim Kelly, Phil Mott, Erin Crocker, Bobby Podalak, Mike Woodring, Rob Dietrick

      Heat 3: Billy White, Don Sharp Jr., Mike Lutz, John Karklin, Brian Dumigan, Kyle Drum

      B-Main: Billy Coffey, Tim Zimbardi, Ray Preston, Dan Bennett, Jared Zimbardi

      A-Main: Tim Kelly, Lance Yonge, John Karklin, Mike Lutz, Tom Taber, Mike Woodring, Bubby Kerrick, Billy White, Ryan Coniam, Mike Stelter, Billy Coffey, Dan Bennett, Rob Dietrick, Phil Mott, Tim Zimbardi, Don Sharp Jr., George Ely, Kyle Drum, Brian Dumigan, Ray Preston, Erin Crocker, Bobby Podolak