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By Don Post, DIRT Sportsman Series Reporter
Port Colborne, ONT - July 3, 2005 - Thorold, Ont. driver Bill Bleich stood 16th
in points at Humberstone Speedway yet the popular Canadian knocked off the
Sunoco/Aplus Sportsman Super DIRT Series regulars Sunday in an upset victory
at the same Port Colborne oval.
Following extra track preparation to get the high-banked clay oval in shape for a
fast paced evening of dust free racing, 30 teams lined pit road to do battle over
the 50-lap distance. Bleich, who had not won to date this year, picked up a
victory in the third of four heats to start inside of the second row at the green.
New York invaders Randy Chrysler of the Tuscarora Nation alongside
Ransomville's Kevin Wills brought the 30-car field to the green. On the break
Wills went to the point in his Wills Dairy Farms-Newfane NAPA/Bicknell open-
wheel entry followed by Bleich, who put his Westport Machines Bicknell in the
runner-up slot on the initial circuit. Brockport's Brian Sage settled into third
position as the top-five was completed by Jordan's Russ Hefti and Chrysler.
The race stayed green until the first of eleven cautions flew as Nick Cupolo of
Thorold, Ont. spun exiting turn four in front of the leaders on lap nine. This
collected leader Wills who clipped the 14 year-old's mount setting off a chain
reaction. Chrysler's top-five run ended on the front chute with a broken front end
on his Randy's Smoke Shop-Iroquois Spring Water/Bicknell machine. On the
restart the second yellow flag flew as Cupolo again tangled with John Kaas.
The race returned to green and Bleich got a look at the top spot briefly on lap
nine as Sage powered to the front the following circuit. Bleich was scored in the
second position with Hefti and a limping Wills in fourth as Port Colborne's Rob
Ledingham completed the top-five.
The front-runners diced for position in crowd pleasing form with St Catharines.
Ont. native Wayne Conn Jr. entering the fray and displacing Ledingham in fifth.
Sage had his hands full in the Sweeting Asphalt Paving-Hulway
Landscaping/Bicknell ride as the top-four hounded his rear nerf bar until disaster
struck the Brockport native on lap 22. Exiting turn four the Western New York
veteran had something in the front end let go and he slowed in front of the field.
His nearest challengers did some great driving to avoid the broken mount of
Sage as the yellow once again was displayed, giving the lead back to Bleich.
The ensuing restart came to an abrupt halt as six cars piled into a first turn traffic
jam that ended with the red flag being displayed. The crash included George
Bosse, Rick St. Pierre, Jeff Leggett, Martin Polhill, Guy Bougie, and Paul
Gaboury.
The next restart was a charm as Bleich in his Westport Machines-Henderson's
Pharmacy Bicknell entry moved ahead for the final time in the 50-lap scramble.
Behind Bleich following the crash were front-five pilots Russ Hefti in his
Clearview Windows Sunsetter Awnings/Bicknell, Ledingham, Wills and Conn.
And at the crossed flags Stan Zanchin, Don Spiece, Darren Zumpe, Mark Chiddy
and George Bosse completed the top-ten.
Bleich proceeded to use his home track experience at the bottom of the
speedway to hold off a hard charging Hefti and Rob Ledingham in the K&N
Filters-Cortland Innovations/Bicknell. The sixth caution arrived soonafter for Wills
who had a tire go down --- an apparent result of the early race tangle. Yellow
lights flashed twice more, first when Rob Knapp of St Catharines encountered
the inside barrier in turn two then on lap 33 following a minor spin by Rick St.
Pierre in turn three.
Under green flag conditions some tight racing among the top-five put the
spotlight on Hefti who continued to work hard on the bottom to try and pry Bleich
from sacred ground that he was determined to protect. Meanwhile, Conn and
Ledingham had a duel of their own going as they approached the final ten
circuits before the ninth yellow flag waved on lap 42 for a Gaboury spin.
On the green the top-three of Bleich, Hefti and Ledingham fought hard with
Ledingham putting pressure on Hefti to give Bleich some breathing room. Port
Colborne native Ledingham found the low side to his liking as he muscled his
way past Hefti with five remaining. He then went to work on Bleich was still able
to hang on despite a loose race car. Bleich raced out of turn four on the 48th trip
only to see the unwanted 10th and final yellow flag of the contest.
Local fans were on their feet as the green came out with two remaining as Conn
raced past a fading Russ Hefti for third while Ledingham put heavy pressure on
Bleich on the bottom. Ledingham got a wheel under the fan favorite on the final
lap however the 15-year veteran held off the final bid to record his first tour
triumph in dramatic fashion.
Following Ledingham at the stripe were initial top-five finishers Conn, Hefti and
Stan Zanchin. After the customary post-race inspection, however, Zanchin was
disqualified for illegal headers moving Colden, N.Y racer Mark Chiddy into a
front-five slot and everyone behind up one position.
Bleich stated in victory lane, "This is my biggest win as the Tour races here each
year and always brings out the best drivers. I didn't think the thing was ever
going to end, and that last yellow really hurt. Fortunately, it worked out and I
have to thank all my guys and give credit to so many more that I can't begin to
mention."
Event Summary [*Official box score posted on www.dirtmotorsports.com and can
be viewed by first selecting 'DIRT NorthEast' on the corporate homepage then
clicking 'Sunoco Series' logo]
FEATURE
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER/HOMETOWN
1
3
108
Bill Bleich/Thorold, ONT
2
10
19jr.
Rob Ledingham/Port Colborne,ONT
3
13
8c
Wayne Conn Jr./St Catharines,ONT
4
4
0
Russ Hefti/Jordan, NY
5
16
54
Mark Chiddy/Colden,NY
6
2
111
Kevin Wills/Ransomville, NY
7
17
88
Don Spiece/Thorold, ONT
8
14
3
Jeff Leggett/Port Colborne, ONT
9
23
5
Dave Dykstra/Port Colborne, ONT
10
9
2k
Rob Knapp/St.Catharines, ONT
11
19
4j
Kevin Sharpe/Port Colborne, ONT
12
27
13
Dennis Giancola/St Catharines, ONT
13
23
11z
Darren Zumpe/St. Catharines, ONT
14
15
1B
George Bosse/St Catharines, ONT
15
12
84
Paul Gaboury/Welland, ONT
16
22
64
John Kaas/Welland, ONT
17
21
82
Ken Winfield/Fort Erie,ONT
18
26
120k
Kyle Inman/Darien,NY
19
24
7f
Tom Flanagan/St Catharines, ONT
20
29
99c
Nick Cupolo/Thorold, ONT
21
5
11
Brian Sage/Brockport,NY
22
18
15
Martin Polhill/Thorold, ONT
23
6
67b
Guy Bougie/Thorold, ONT
24
11
9jr
Tim Zack/Dain City, ONT
25
28
20k
Rick St.Pierre/Welland,ONT
26
8
p38
Rob Pratt/Brockport, NY
27
20
4s
Stan Lament/Niagara-on-the-Lake, ONT
28
1
t21
Roger Chrysler/Tuscarora Nation, NY
29
30
1g
Bill Gill/Fort Erie, ONT
30
7
*94
Stan Zanchin/Fort Erie, ONT
*Disqualified for iIlegal headers
Lap leader: Wills (1-9) Bleich (10) Sage (11-21) Bliech (22-50)
Heat Races (8 laps, all transferred to feature)
#1: Chrysler, Sage, Knapp, Conn, Spiece, Winfield, Dykstra, Cupolo.
#2: Wills, Bougie, Ledingham, Leggett, Polhill, Kaas, St. Pierre, Gill.
#3: Bleich, Zanchin, Zack, Chiddy, Bosse, Sharpe, Zumpe, Giancola.
#4: Hefti, Pratt, Gaboury, Lament, Flanagan, Inman.
2005 Sunoco/Aplus Super DIRT Series Point Standings
West Region (Top-25 thru Humberstone 7/3)
RANK - DRIVER - POINTS
1 205 Russ Hefti/Jordan,NY
2 191 Kevin Wills/Ransomville,NY
3 182 Rob Ledingham/Port Colborne,ONT
4 175 Bill Bleich/Thorold,ONT
5 155 Wayne Conn Jr./St.Catharines,ONT
6 130 Roger Crysler/Tuscarora Nation,NY
7 128 Brian Sage/Brockport,NY
8 127 Rob Knapp/St.Catherines,ONT
9 119 Stan Zanchin/Fort Erie,ONT
10 117 Rick St.Pierre/Welland,ONT
11 114 Guy Bougie/Thorold,ONT
114 Nick Cupolo/Thorold,ONT
114 Kyle Inman/Darien,NY
14 107 Martin Pohill/Thorold,ONT
15 100 Jeff McGinnis/Ransomville,NY
16 85 Scott Kerwin/Newfane,NY
17 83 Kevin Ridley/Geneva,NY
18 81 Darren Zumpe/St.Catharines,ONT
19 80 Jason Boyle/Middleport,NY
80 Mark Chiddy/Colden,NY
21 76 Mike Jeffery/Ransomville,NY
22 72 Tony Purgarich/Ransomville,NY
72 Don Spiece/Thorold,ONT
24 68 Mark Potter/Lockport,NY
68 Jeff Leggett/Pt.Colborne,ONT
HUMBERSTONE HIGHLIGHTS:
* The weekend car count as the Sunoco/Aplus Sportsman Super DIRT Series
got into full swing over the holiday weekend found a great field of 38 teams in the
pits at Ransomville Speedway that played to a packed house on Friday night.
When the Series made the swing back into Canada for the second time this year
at the new Humberstone Speedway on Sunday night there was another great
field of 30 teams that lined pit road.
* In a conversation with young 14 year-old rookie Sportsman driver Nick Cupolo
from Thorold Ont., it was discovered that he has the desire to race the entire
West Region and all Combined races on the '05 SDS schedule. Nick said, "I'm
just getting started and learning something new each time I race. I'm looking
forward to getting down to the New York tracks as I've only watched races there
but never run. I really want to try the Fairgrounds in Syracuse but not sure my
parents are ready to let me do that." This young man is one of many in the
Sportsman Series that will continue to carry our great racing tradition into the
future. It seems quite refreshing to talk to these young people as they often
seem oblivious to all the politics that tend to envelop racing. They also seem only
to want to get in the car and race which is certainly a positive element.
Owners Pete and Linda Cosco took over Humberstone Speedway during the off-
season and have since built up a solid 25-car Sportsman field to headline their
Sunday card at the very clean and neat facility. They look to grow in the future
and have gotten off to a great start after the former Gasport Speedway was dark
last season.
East Region invader Russ Hefti had quite a Canadian vacation as he pulled in at
Humberstone after a great finish in the runner up slot at Ransomville on Friday.
He said prior to racing Sunday night, "We were good early at Ransomville then
started to get better in the last 15 laps. Had the race gone another 20 laps it
might have been even better." Hefti spent the weekend in Canada as he brought
the entire clan in a huge motor home that looked real comfortable. They went to
Thorold and raced at Pete Bicknell's Merritville Speedway Saturday night and
had a respectable 6th place run. When asked if they were staying over Sunday
night, Russ said, "We have to be at Rolling Wheels for the points on Monday
night so we're going back tonight when we finish." He had a solid fourth-place in
the Series race Sunday night at Humberstone.
A seven-year racer and currently third in points at Humberstone with one feature
win, Jeff Leggett from nearby by Port Colborne was the first car in the pit area
Sunday. He was able to race away from the major red flag mess on lap 22 to
wind up with a respectable ninth-place finish. He stated earlier, "We love racing
up here, there is a good field of cars each week and we're close to home."
Leggett pilots the no. 3 Counter Top Service-Frontier Dismantlers Bicknell entry
with Kovats power. It is one of last down tube chassis made by Bicknell Racing
Products that he won in the off-season a few years back.
The car number of St. Catharines runner George Bosse is normally 1b, however,
on Sunday there was still some old sheet metal from popular big-block Modified
driver Tim McCreadie's mount showing #39 on the side panels. Bosse's night
was spent in and out of the pits after several involvements in the 10 yellow flag
marathon.
In a brief conversation with the ageless Stan Friesen, a long-time Canadian great
that once raced all over the Northeast in the late sixties and early seventies,
some interesting notes were made. Asking Stan where his grandson Curtis
Friesen was on Sunday, he replied, "Well, he didn't have a good week, first
crashing at Fulton on Wednesday, then having a bad time at Ransomville Friday
and again last night at Merritville. He has a deal with Dave Just as he supplies
the boy his equipment. The deal is he has to pay for what he wrecks. They talked
last night and thought it best to sit it out the Sunday show. It was best to call Pete
(Bicknell) and get the parts together he needs," as he smiled and rolled his eyes.
I told Stan I used to watch him when I was 12 years-old at Waterloo Speedway,
he answered, "Now there was a place I could never figure out down in New York,
talk about wrecking cars, we don't want to go there."
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Race action in the Sunoco/Aplus Sportsman Super DIRT Series will continue in
the first Combined event of the 2005 season. The stars and cars of the East and
West Region get together in the first clash of the season at the ultra-fast Can-Am
Motorsports Park in LaFargeville, N.Y. on Wednesday night July 13. East Region
points leader Greg Doust will lead a contingent into the north country against the
best of the West in a 30-lap showdown. The race is expected to attract nearly 40
top traveling DIRT Sportsman teams and offer a preview of what September and
October hold in the quest for the overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr.
DIRT Championship.
SUNOCO/APLUS SPORTSMAN SERIES SPONSORS
The DIRT MotorSports(tm) Sunoco/Aplus Sportsman Series is brought to fans
across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series
sponsors Sunoco Race Fuels, Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and
DART Machinery. Promotional Partners include AMB i.t., RACEceiver, Zippo
Lighters and F.X. Caprara Car Companies and the contingency sponsors are
Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD Ignitions and Wrisco Industries.