Thursday, June 7, 2012

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.

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