Media Contact: Steven Ovens - woodhullracewaypr@gmail.com For Immediate Release – June 3rd, 2018 – Joe Kaminski Jr. photo -
(WOODHULL, NY) – Though the Modifieds are the premier division at Woodhull, the Street Stocks took center stage on Saturday night. It was the 14th running of the Scott Dennison Memorial on RLB Trucking and Team 25 Night.
Ten different drivers had won the prestigious race that has traveled through the Super Stocks, 360 Late Models and Street Stock divisions over the past thirteen years and that number would not change. Dylan Cecce joined an elite group with his second-straight victory in the Scott Dennison, joining Jeremy Wonderling, Bruce Miller and Glenn Whritenour as two-time winners. Cecce, however, wrote his own history as the only driver to have won this race two-straight seasons.
Mick Seeley and Mike Williams would lead the field to Scott Lyon’s green flag and it would be Seeley who led the event for the first ten laps. Cameron Mills, NY pilot Teddy Morseman used a nifty crossover move to take the lead from Seeley on lap number 11, but Morseman’s lead would only last five laps before disaster struck.
Something in the driveline came apart in a big way on the Berm Valley Transport No. 44 and came up into the cockpit, injuring Morseman in the process. Morseman shut the car down and took a hard right hand turn to the pit exit road off turn two. A yellow flag for a lap quickly turned into a red flag, as Morseman required evaluation by the track medical staff.
Morseman would later be transported by private vehicle to a local healthcare facility, where it was determined he had a fracture in the right arm/elbow. Woodhull Raceway and its fans send off wishes for a speedy recovery to the veteran racer.
When the yellow flag flew on lap 16, Cecce who started ninth dove into the pits as he had a flat left front tire. Under the red flag, the Potter Chassis crew made some other minor adjustments to the No. 7. Unlike the world of NASCAR, there is no rule in the Woodhull Raceway rulebook that prevents teams from working on their car under the red flag- so long as the car is in the pit area or on the hot pit lane.
The red flag period handed the lead back over to Seeley, but the next driver to claim his stake on this race was Tracy Dunn. Dunn raced within the top five all race long and wanted in the worst way to make his first win in awhile to be this prestigious race.
But while Dunn paced the field, Cecce was letting the rough side drag as he sliced and diced through the field. Cecce went three-wide with a couple cars who get together racing for position, which got him well inside the top five. Come lap 23, Cecce was under Dunn and took the lead as Dunn had developed a tight race car late in the going.
Cecce would pull away to win the 14th Annual Scott Dennison Memorial over Dunn, Mike Williams who had his best run to date in a long time, Jeredd Dennis who drove from 13th and Gene Balmer the top five.
“The car wasn’t very good in the beginning,” admitted Cecce. “We pitted there before the red flag for the left front flat and decided to change some stuff and it helped a lot.”
Cecce was the first driver to win this race in consecutive years and spoke to what winning this race meant to him.
“That means a lot to win this race especially. We are good friends with Teri Marie and her kids and it’s just great to win a race like that. I watched this race in the stands as a kid and just being in the stands you knew how much this race meant to guys.”
“It wasn’t very good in the beginning, was great in the middle and got horrible again at the end just fighting a tight car,” said Tracy Dunn who finished second.
“We’re finally getting the bugs worked out of it. Me and Scott were real good friends, it just means a lot,” said an emotional Mike Williams who had his best showing in a real long time on the High Banks.
The drama on Saturday night wasn’t just reserved for the Street Stocks as Van Pelt versus Cartwright Round 2 was on display in the Insinger Performance Modified division. Last weekend’s race between the two for the lead ended in both drivers finishing well outside the top five. The question fans asked each other under an early caution with Cartwright leading and Van Pelt running second was- Would there be an incident again for the lead?
If the answer was a good, hard race for the lead you would have been correct. Van Pelt went to the outside of Cartwright exiting turn four for the lead and would barely squeeze by. Cartwright tried to shut the door off the corner as he was rolling the bottom well, but Van Pelt and Cartwright would make contact with Van Pelt grazing the right nerf bar off the wall in a bid to take the top spot.
Once Van Pelt got out front, it was lights out for the rest of the pack as it was now only a race to see who was going to finish second. Van Pelt pulled out to a straightaway lead over the second half of the event. Cartwright, Joe Dgien, Donnie Lawson and Dillon Groover rounded out the top five.
“I knew I had to get in there all the way because I knew he was going to try and shut the door and block,” said Van Pelt in Instant Heat Wood Pellets Victory Lane. “I just held on and hoped like hell I would make it through.”
Cartwright pulled up alongside Van Pelt in Victory Lane and gave a thumbs up before returning to his pit. Van Pelt was asked if last week was now behind the two fierce competitors?
“I was already over it last week. We race hard, he wanted to protect the lead and I just couldn’t get away from him. I was over that last week, I was over it when I sat on the top of turn three and four.”
Stevie Hartman III picked up a big win for him and his team Saturday night in the NAPA Crate Sportsman feature. In a race that had trouble getting green flag laps on the board, Hartman had to chase down Brandon Butler and early race leader Jerry Aldrich.
Hartman won’t be racing weekly at Woodhull this season, as he enjoys his time as a high school senior. But on Saturday night, the No. 15 ride was stout. Hartman got by Butler and then Aldrich to take the race lead. You could see the track change from the beginning of the night and it appeared that Butler and Aldrich had the handle go away on the No. 16 and No. 89 machines.
Jake Dgien and Bobby Peoples would take advantage as they would finish in positions two and three.
“Not chasing the points has calmed things down a bit, we don’t have to worry about things like crashes or bad nights” said Hartman.
The Hobby Stock division sponsored by Woodhull Auto Supply saw one of the most hotly contested battles for the lead Saturday night. Greg Young and Carter Dennis battled lap after lap after lap, with Young on the outside lane and Dennis on the inside lane. Young could carry the momentum up top and would take the checkered flag.
However, post race tech inspection found ported heads on the No. 42 which would result in a disqualification. Young will lose money earned and points earned for June 2 as well as serve a 50-point penalty. Second place finisher Joe Birdsall will be scored with his second victory of 2018 over Carter Dennis, AJ Niedermaier, Brent Williams and Cliff Miller the top five.
A twelfth place starting spot would not deter Chris Woodard from claiming his third victory of 2018 in the Daugherty’s Auto Sales & Service Mini Stocks. Woodard would battle with Ray Hyer and early race leader and third place starting Jason Ketrow.
Woodard’s car was rotating the bottom side of the slick corners as well as any car in any division on Saturday night and that was the difference in securing the victory. Hyer held on for second, Ketrow held a comfortable position in third, while Scott Lehman squeaked out fourth place finisher and NAPA Auto Parts Driver of the Week Travis Webster.
The other exciting finish of the night came in the Bear’s Auto Body Front Wheel Drives. The teammates of Adam DelGrosso and Codie Baker put on a show that the fans remaining in the stands will not soon forget.
The final six laps of the race saw the No. 11 of DelGrosso and the No. 14 of Baker race door to door on each end of the raceway. DelGrosso had the power off the outside of turns two and four, but Baker was money on the bottom of one and three. On the final lap, DelGrosso got the run he needed on the outside of turn four to win the drag race to the line by two feet.
In Victory Lane, DelGrosso dedicated the win to Dolly Eccleston, who passed away last weekend after serving Woodhull Raceway as an official for 40 years. Drivers and crew from the pit area lined turns 1 and 2 for a moment of silence before the national anthem Saturday night in memory of the fallen staffer.
In the Woodhull Warriors sponsored by Daugherty’s Auto Sales & Service, Carter Crooker made it four-for-five in 2018 with another ‘W’ to add to his season total. But it wasn’t so easy, as Brooke McClain had a fast hot rod in her No. 3b ride.
McClain held the lead as long as she could, but struggled with a tight racecar on corner entry. Crooker rotated the bottom lane to perfection and took the lead with just three laps remaining. He would go on to win over McClain, Josh Isaman, Ronnie Dailey and Brody Amidon.
Next Saturday night at “New York’s Toughest Bullring,” Patrick Hoopes Trucking will present the CRSA 305 Sprint Cars. The night’s activities will include the 305 Sprint Cars, Modifieds, Crate Sportsman, Crate Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and Front Wheel Drives. The Hobby Stocks and Warriors will have the week off.
Race fans are encouraged to sign up for the fastest alerts from Woodhull Raceway’s Rained Out Alert system by sending the text message “WoodhullAlert” to 84483, message and data rates may apply.
For more information race over to www.woodhullraceway.com, Like Woodhull Raceway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WoodhullRaceway or Follow Woodhull on Twitter @WoodhullPR.
Woodhull Raceway is located in Woodhull, NY, just 30 minutes West of Corning, NY and competes weekly on Saturday nights from mid-April through Labor Day Weekend. The track offers several special events including the Patriot Sprint Tour 360 Sprints in May and July and the Short Track Super Series Modifieds in early-August.
RLB Trucking / Team 25 Night Official Results June 2nd, 2018
INSINGER PERFORMANCE MODIFIEDS, 25 cars (25 laps): BILLY VANPELT (2), Ron Cartwright, Joe Dgien, Donnie Lawson, Dillon Groover, Art Goodier, Cory Costa, Josh Keesey, Brady Fultz, Wally Wade, Mike Bills, Dayton Brewer, Russell Morseman, Bobby Davis, John Venuto, Patrick Hoopes, Larry Keegan, Brian Doolittle, DNS: Frank Dunning.
H1: Ron Cartwright, Brady Fultz, Billy VanPelt.
H2: Dayton Brewer, Russell Morseman, Joe Dgien.
H3: Bobby Davis, Donnie Lawson, John Venuto.
NAPA CRATE SPORTSMAN, 22 cars (25 laps): STEVE HARTMAN III (1), Jake Dgien, Bobby Peoples, Brandon Butler, Jerry Aldrich, Connor Brown, Chris Fisher, Kenny Peoples Jr., Tim Schram, Stacey Jackson, Brett Buono, Ajay Potrzebowski II, AJ Costley, Tim Guild, Blake Lawson, John Sekoll, Mickey Wilbur, Dave Richmond, Cole Youse, Ray Smith, Adam Taft, Bob Butcher.
H1: AJ Costley, Kenny Peoples Jr., Bobby Peoples.
H2: Jake Dgien, Jerry Aldrich, Chris Fisher.
H3: Steve Hartman III, Ray Smith, Dave Richmond.
SCOTT DENNISON MEMORIAL JOE WILLCOX PERFORMANCE AUTOMATICS STREET STOCKS, 16 cars (20 laps): DYLAN CECCE (4), Tracy Dunn, Mike Williams, Jeredd Dennis, Gene Balmer, Brett Marlatt, Brett Crawford, Mick Seeley, Clint Button, Tony Kelley, Glenn Whritenour, Dan Gardner, Ted Morseman, Kurt Stebbins, Jim Buck, DNS: Noah Talada.
H1: Dylan Cecce, Dan Gardner, Glenn Whritenour.
H2: Mike Williams, Brett Crawford, Gene Balmer.
WOODHULL AUTO SUPPLY HOBBY STOCKS, 8 cars (10 laps): JOE BIRDSALL (2), Carter Dennis, AJ Niedermaier, Brent Williams, Cliff Miller, DNS: Ted Morseman, Les Smith, Post Race DQ: Greg Young
H1: Ted Morseman, Cliff Miller, AJ Niedermaier.
DAUGHERTY’S AUTO SALES & SERVICE MINI STOCKS, 15 cars (20 laps): CHRIS WOODARD (3), Ray Hyer, Jason Ketrow, Scott Lehman, Travis Webster, Adam Austin, Kane Stebbins, Danielle Thomas, Derrick Puryear, Rick Amidon, James LaGrange, Josh Webster, Clay French, Karl Born, DNS: Brett Gleason.
H1: Rick Amidon, Chris Woodard, Travis Webster.
H2: Ray Hyer, Jason Ketrow, Adam Austin.
BEAR’S AUTO BODY FRONT WHEEL DRIVES, 13 cars (20 laps): ADAM DELGROSSO (3), Codie Baker, Matt Prescott, Nate Freeland, Nick Brown, Ron Dailey Jr., Scott Lehman Jr., Jake McConnell, Jack Ormsby, Garrett Wilson, Brendan Schweigart, Ryan Austin, Cara Pitts.
H1: Adam Delgrosso, Matt Prescott, Codie Baker.
H2: Nate Freeland, Ryan Austin, Scott Lehman Jr.
DAUGHERTY’S AUTO SALES & SERVICE WARRIORS, 7 cars (10 laps): CARTER CROOKER (4), Brooke McClain, Josh Isaman, Ronnie Dailey, Brody Amidon, Jordan Costley, DNS: Dylon Morseman.
H1: Carter Crooker, Brooke McClain, Dylon Morseman.