Mother Nature Intervenes

Mother Nature made her presence known at the Rock this past week. After dumping an inch and a half of rain there on Friday, the one-eighth mile clay oval became extremely tacky. Track Prep crews had a difficult time getting the track into raceable condition. But, they were able to keep working at it until it was at least good enough to allow the Micro Sprints to race on it. Unfortunately, the track was deemed unsafe for Kart racing and entrants were reimbursed.

The 600 Open feature was also affected by Mother Nature as rain began to fall right at during the 600 Sportsman Feature, shortening that race. Kyle Coffey, son of World of Outlaw Late Model driver, Vic Coffey, won the first of 3 heats with Danny Knoll III racing hard for the win. Heat Two produced some amazing racing between Canandaigua's Matt Smith and LeRoy's Brandon Goetz. The two drivers raced side-by-side for several laps before Smith edged Goetz out for the victory. Heat Three saw Pete Lute dominate the 10 lap race. John Kreckman placed second with Dan Knoll, Jr. showing Third. The 30 lap Feature will likely be made up this coming weekend.

In the 125 class, the night belonged to Cole "FasDass" MacDonald. The impressive young man swept both the Heat and Feature events, extending his lead in the championship. Jacob Lewczyk took second spot in the Feature with Jordan Noody coming home in Third. A tough break for last year's leading ladies in the class. Missy Clauss of Wyoming, New York, had difficulties with gearing and lost some time, eventually finishing in fifth. Clauss did, however, correct the issue during a caution brought out by Defending Class Champion, Kennedy White. Crateresque dips in Turns Three and Four caused White to control of her car and hit the Turn Four wall and knocked her out of the Feature.

The most taxing class of the night came at the expense of the 450 Super Sportsman class. Jeff Clauss defeated Jim Austin during the Heat event. Jim's brother, Joe, had his left rear wheel come off thanks to a broken cotter pin. The rough track would also plague Jim in the Feature as he was the first driver knocked out. Shane O'Grady showed some muscle as he and Clauss battled for the lead, eventually getting into each other and causing a caution. That put Joe Austin out front and he never looked back, claiming his first victory of the season.

A little more than halfway through the 600 Sportsman Feature, rain fell on the speedway. Out front at the time was Chad Richey. He came away with top points on the night as he finished second behind Josh Farnsworth in the Heat. Farnsworth failed to finish the Feature thanks to a blown fuse. Farnsworth later stated, "It was a blast to drive, but man was it rough out there." Jacob Szymkowiak had a strong showing as he came home in second with John Farmer continued his string of good runs with a third place finish.

Mickey Ciliberto dominated the night's racing action in the 600 Wingless class. He swept both the Heat and the Feature, topping John Colaprete, Jr. for the win.

Jacob Callan continues to dominate the Quad class as he swept the night's action over Paul Andrews.

Next week it's autograph night along with the Power Wheels race. See you on Race Day!

Knoll Gets First Of 2012

The first weekend in June brought in some cool, wet weather to Western New York. Limerock, however, remained dry and primed for an exciting night of racing. As the night went on, the track rubbered in and got slicker for the drivers. Brandon Goetz, a 600 Open driver from Le Roy, NY explained what the track was like. "As the track rubbers in, it feels like you are driving on ice. What I do is to aim for the tacky stuff on the inside of the track. That extra grip on the left front helps me get through the corners that much better on a night like tonight."

Goetz did use that to help him win the first of two Heats for the 600 Open class while Pete Lute took the top spot in the second Heat. Both ran strong in the 30 lap Feature but could not hold off the hard-charging Danny Knoll III or Tyler Walker in the Pizza Logs machine. Knoll cruised to the victory with Walker finishing second and Goetz taking the final spot on the podium.

Austin Shaw continued his dominance in the JR2 Clone class. He swept the Heat and the Feature for the night with Anthony Natrigo coming home in second in the "Duece". Hannah Weltzer ran her Gold Plate entry with the JR2s and took home the overall victory.

The Senior Clones saw Jody London dominate the night, taking the Heat and Feature victories easily. Gary Smith finished second and Guy Ellinwood rounded out the field.

In the 125 class, Jacob Lewczyk and Missy Clauss hoped their Heat wins would carry momentum for them into the Feature, but the fastest man on track for the night was Richard Johnson in the 43j. Johnson ran away from the field with Clauss being the only one that could match his pace as she finished second. Cole MacDonald finished 3rd after taking two victories in a row for the 125 Feature.

Jeff Clauss continued his 450 Supersportsman domination as he grabbed victories in both the Heat and Feature events. The wins, however, did not come without a little contact with Joe Austin in the Heat race. Austin's Left front made contact with Clauss' right rear, causing Austin to get loose. He overcorrected and nailed the Turn 4 wall, ending his night.

John Farmer improved on his strong run in the 600 Sportsman division with a sweep of the nights action. Josh Farnsworth ran second, but complained of handling issues. He found that his W Link Straps were bent after tearing down his car.

Jacob Szymkowiak started the evening strong with a Heat win in the 600 Wingless class. However, the Feature belonged to Pete Resch as beat Szymkowiak and Kyle Pierce to the line to claim the win.

Many thanks to the Hurricanes from Starlight Speedway for producing some great racing action at the Rock.