HOLLAND, NY… 2013 track champion George Skora III from Eden, NY took home the top honors in the Getzoni Nationwide Insurance Agency NASCAR Pro Modifieds feature on a picture-perfect Saturday night as the Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex celebrated their 55th Season Opener. “Ol’ DW” Dave Whittaker from Orchard Park, NY picked up the victory for 2013 Bank of Holland NASCAR Charger Champion Tom Northem from Alden, NY took home the victory. Andy Nye from Lancaster, NY picked up the checkered flag for the New York Pennsylvania (NYPA) TQ Midgets “Hot Hands” Kenny Hejna from South Buffalo, NY took home the top honors in the NASCAR Hornets. Darren Lenhart from Buffalo, NY picked up the inaugural feature event for the NASCAR Future 4’s. Jason Adams from Glenwood, NY picked up the win in the M&M U Pull-It Figure 8’s.
Qualifying winners Tommy “The Rocket” Catalano and Kirk Totten led the Getzoni Nationwide Insurance Agency NASCAR Pro Modifieds to the green flag for their 35 lap feature event with Catalano showing the way early with Totten, defending divisional champion George Skora III, Jeff Brown and Neal Dietz Jr racing early in the top five. Rookie open wheel competitor Matt Druar spun in turn one to bring out the races first caution on lap nine. The restart saw Catalano take the outside lane with Totten to his inside and Totten was able to take over the lead. Catalano got loose and hit the wall on the back stretch collecting Amy Catalano, Dave Whittaker and Shawn Nye. Tommy Catalano, Shawn Nye and Dave Whittaker racers had the worst end of the accident as all three went off via the wreckers. The lap 10 restart saw George Skora and Jeff Brown on the front row with Skora taking the advantage.
Third generation driver Cam Barber worked his way into the top five as did former divisional champion Mike Fiebelkorn Jr before lap 15. Skora, Brown and Neal Dietz Jr started to pull away from Barber and Fiebelkorn at the races halfway point. Kirk Totten, after visiting the pits, worked his way back up through the field and made it a three car battle for fourth with Barber and Fiebelkorn.
Totten spun in turn four to bring out the caution on lap 32, setting up a three lap dash to the finish. The restart saw Brown and Skora go side by side with Skora taking the advantage. Barber and Dietz made contact on the final lap while going for third place. As a result, Skora would go on to the win over Brown, with Mike Fiebelkorn Jr, Amy Catalano and Joe Evans completing the top five.
Dave Whittaker and Brandon Glover led the NASCAR Late Models to the green flag for their feature event with Whittaker showing the way early. Josh Hathaway and Bill Osborn battled for third for several laps and Hathaway got loose and put his number 43 entry front end first into the back stretch concrete. Josh did climb out of his racer under his own power. Glover and Whittaker came together in turns one and two to bring out the second caution of the event. On the ensuing restart, Glover, Whittaker and Jason Gwin went three wide entering turns three and four with Gwin and Glover coming together. That set up a six lap shootout to decide the Late Model feature with Whittaker taking the lead and pulling away to pick up the win. Brandon Glover came back and took second away from Bill Osborn right at the start-finish line with Jason Gwin completing the field.
Jim Loffredo and Dave Vona led the Bank of Holland NASCAR Chargers to the green flag for their 30 lap feature event and it was Loffredo jumping into the early lead with 2013 divisional champion Tom Northem moving into second. Eric Brown and Rich Carnes went side by side for third place early on with Brown moving into third by lap five. Brown’s great run early came to an end when he suffered a flat right front tire. Rookie Trevor Pettit spun in turn three to bring out the races first caution after going up in a puff of smoke. On the lap 17 restart, Northem went to the outside and cleared Loffredo for the lead. Northem was able to hold off Loffredo to pick up the victory. Rich Carnes, Zach Myers and Kris Hamann completed the top five.
After a pair of early race cautions, Andy Nye was able to take the lead in the early circuits of the NYPA TQ Midgets 20 lap feature event over Dave Wollaber with defending Series champion Kyle Hutchinson, Jonathan Reid and Jim Fleischman racing in the top five. Hutchinson was able to take the lead away from Nye on lap eight. Hayden Newcomb flipped several times after trying to avoid contact with Jonathan Reid and Dave Wollaber. Newcomb was able to climb out of his racer under his own power. On the single file restart, Nye was able to regain the lead with Kyle Hutchinson and Jonathan Reid battling in a three car battle for the win. Nye was able to hold off Reid and Hutchinson for the win.
Kenny Hejna and Chris Powers led the Hornets to the green flag for their 30 lap feature event and it was Hejna quickly taking over the race lead. Powers was able to take over the lead on lap three after Hejna had to take evasive action to avoid hitting an early lap car. On an early race restart, Hejna was able to regain command of the field with George Anthony, Powers, Ashley Kirchberger and Jeff Szafraniec running in the top five. The caution lights came on just before the races halfway point for Bob Bogner who came to a stop just off the racing surface. On the restart, 2013 divisional champion Ben Russo worked his way up through the field and moved into the top five just as Chris Powers was able to retake the lead at the halfway point. Powers and Hejna would continue to battle for the lead for much of the second half of the race and Powers was able to pull away but heavy lap traffic allowed Hejna to reel in Powers. With the top two only a few car lengths apart, the caution would come back out on lap 26 for Joe Mastrocicco who hit the turn three Armco barrier. On the late restart, Hejna was able to pass Powers and was able to take his Liberty Solutions, Wieland Automotive, DagoFast Racing number 9 to victory lane. Chris Powers, George Anthony, Jeff Szafraniec and Ben Russo completed the top five.
Darren Lenhart and Mandie Orr led the Future 4’s to the green flag for their inaugural 10 lap feature event and it was Lenhart racing into the lead over Alex Deshaies. Lenhart pulled away from the field and was able to pick up the win. Kathie Ricketson passed Deshaies late and picked up the runner up spot. Mandie Orr completed the field.
Jason Adams and Don Haskell were on the front row for the M&M U Pull-It Figure 8’s to the green flag with Eck having the advantage. Brandon Tessmer and Shane Toms came together at the X to bring out the red flag. Both drivers were alright and walked away under their own powers. Adams was able to pull away from Joe Mastrocicco and Haskell to pick up the victory.
News and Notes: 2011 Whelen All-American Series New York State NASCAR Champion Amy Catalano had suffered a blown engine in her #64 Pro Modified during practice so she drove her husband Dave’s number 45 for the evening. Darren Lenhart, longtime crew member of Kenny Hejna’s number 9 Hornet won the first ever qualifying heat for the Future 4’s, the newest division for pure racing rookies. Fans are encouraged to pick up discounted admission tickets for the Budweiser 100 to be ran on Saturday June 7 at all participating NOCO Express Shops throughout Western New York. Fans that are looking for tickets to round one of Crash-A-Rama fueled by Kwik-Fill on Saturday June 14th are encouraged to stop by their area Kwik-Fill locations to pick up their tickets to “The Wildest Show on Wheels”.
Next Saturday, May 31, the Eastern Hills Mall will be presenting the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program which features the Getzoni Agency NASCAR Pro Modifieds, Bank of Holland Chargers, 4 Cylinder Hornets, NYPA TQ Midgets, and the M&M U Pull-It Figure 8’s plus the INEX Legends will be making their first start of the season on the highbanks. Pit Gates will swing open at 3:30pm while the grandstands will open at 4:45 and qualifying will begin at 5:00pm. NASCAR racing kicks off at 7:05pm.
We’re social; find us on Facebook (Holland Motorsports Complex), Twitter (@HollandSpeedway), and Instagram (@hollandspeedway) as weekly specials and news on upcoming events will be seen on the track’s social media pages for the racetrack and the all new HollandPaintballAdventurePark. Don’t forget to check out all of the pictures from each week’s racing program by logging on to hollandspeedway.smugmug.com For more information log on to www.hollandspeedway.com or www.hollandpaintballadventurepark.com.
OFFICIAL RESULTS – 5-24-2014
Getzoni Nationwide Insurance Agency NASCAR Pro Modifieds: GEORGE SKORA III (Started 4th), Jeff Brown (5), Mike Fiebelkorn Jr (12), Amy Catalano (8), Joe Evans (6), Kirk Totten (2), Matt Druar (11), Tony Carbone (7), Neal Dietz Jr (3), Camden Barber (10), Dean Kroll (13), Shawn Nye (9), Tommy Catalano (1) and Dave Whittaker (14)
Qualifying Winners: Tommy Catalano, Kirk Totten
NASCAR Late Models: DAVE WHITTAKER (Started 1st), Brandon Glover (2), Bill Osborn (5), Jason Gwin (4), and Josh Hathaway (3)
Qualifying Winner: Dave Whittaker
Bank of Holland NASCAR Chargers: TOM NORTHEM(Started 3rd ), Jim Loffredo (1), Rich Carnes (5), Zach Myers (13), Kris Hamann (9), Dave Vona (2), Ken Maltby (8), Ted Welshans (6), Tim Welshans (7), Tommy Wentland (11), Jerry Kosmowski (15), Rob Miszczak (14), Don Sitarski (12), Matt Fleming (16), Eric Brown (4), Trevor Pettit (17) and NIk Welshans (10)
Qualifying Winners: Jim Loffredo, Dave Vona
NYPA TQ Midgets: ANDY NYE (Started 5th) Jonathan Reid (7), Kyle Hutchinson (8), Dave Wollaber (3), Nick Groff (6), Vinnie Christiano Jr (2), Nelson Rung (13), Charlie DiRosa (4), Ryan Hessler (14), Greg Miszczak (19), Pat Smith (10), Gordie Steffan (17), Sean McNamara (15), Hayden Newcomb (9), Jim Fleischman (1), Chad Heywood (18), Scott Wylie (12), Scott Gleed (11), and Eric Musto (16). Did Not Start: Brandon Zavarbella
Qualifying Winners: Hayden Newcomb, Kyle Hutchinson
NASCAR 4 Cylinder Hornets: KENNY HEJNA (Started 1st) Chris Powers (2), George Anthony (3), Jeff Szafraniec (6), Ben Russo (19), Josh Hill (9), Ashley Kirchberger (4), Michele Maltby (8), Louis Carbone (7), Timmy Catalano (15), Carl Abrams II (13), Bob Palmer (10), Don Haskell (20), Donald “Butcher” Palmer (11), Grant Hill (14), Joe Mastrocicco (17), Bob Bogner (5), Timmy Swatsworth (12), Donnie Knapp (16), Brandon Tessmer (21) and John Blinston (18)
Qualifying Winners: Donnie Knapp, Kenny Hejna
NASCAR Future 4’s: DARREN LENHART (Started 1st), Kathie Ricketson (4), Alex Deshaies (3) and Mandie Orr (2)
Qualifying Winner: Darren Lenhart
Filed under: Local Headlines
Tagged with: Holland Speedway
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