"View From The Tower"
Fan Appreciation / News Watch 50
By: Gary Wilcox, AIS Head Announcer
The Adirondack International Speedway, located on the foot of the Tug Hill in sleepy Lewis County in northern New York, fired up the engines once again on Saturday and presented a 73-race team field in four divisions in a stellar evening of pavement racing for AIS's annual "Fan Appreciation" night, sponsored by Watertown, New York's "News-Watch-50" ABC affiliate.
Sixteen American Speed Association (ASA) Challenger Late Model division race cars took to AIS's tight oval for their weekly (ASA) 50-lap battle. Andre Roggie #03 and Ontario, New York's #711, piloted by Johnny Ventura, made up the front row. After a quick hot lap session before the start of the feature, Mark Scoville (ASA) # 21 launched an engine on turn two. Getting caught up in the slippery surface was the (ASA) # 8 of Shane Monnat from Croghan, New York. This put both Scoville and Monnat out of competition for the evening. The # 21 "Team Yellow" fans were hoping for a big night from Scoville and crew as Mark was celebrating his 26th birthday. It was not to be on this occasion.
As it usually happens at AIS, the cream always rises to the top, Three chauffeurs that were on the move to the front were the TJ Toyota # 3 of Tommy Cloce, The "Redwood Rocket", John Papin # 50, and the "Gentle Giant" Lee Gill # 7 from LaFargeville, New York. Gill and Papin were both tied to a rail, and it was the Ford against the Chevy again this week. When Papin was leading the (ASA) main, I clocked the #50 at 102.4-mph. Gill was just about the same, time wise. Now, the lapped traffic came into play. Watching Papin and Gill thread the needle around the lap traffic is nothing short of poetry in motion. In one of the final lap traffic sagas, Papin decided to take the high road and Gill took the bottom; and this was a mistake for Papin. Gill made the pass on the bottom to the lead and the checkered flag. At the end of the (ASA) 50-lapper, Lee Gill had lapped every car except Papin and Tommy Cloce. This marked Lee Gill's and the Gillee's Napa # 7 second feature win at AIS. Lee was also in a tie for second place in (ASA) points with Bryant Trim #59. With this big (ASA) win, Gill is solidly back in second place in points going into next weekend's (ASA) event.
The very first Got Good Cheese.com 500 for the True Stock division was a great race. This event was a salute to the North Country's Dairy industry in a 30-lap, $500.00 to win, feature go. Additional bonus money was provided for laps led and for the half-way leader. Tom Markham # 7 from Constableville, New York, led the lion's share of the event and was my pick for the winner early on. The man that is always on the move at AIS was the beautiful # 77 of Bobby Newman from Durhamville, New York. Patience in racing is something that you really have work on. For the "Durhamville Jet", it paid off and Bobby made the pass around Markham and won the big True Stock event. Newman performed some excellent doughnuts down front for the AIS fans and decided to do a Tony Stewart fence climb, which I thought was pretty neat. The only thing the "jet" forgot to do was put his race car in gear before he exited the car. As Bobby climbed the AIS fence, his race car started to roll away, with Speedway starter Chris Brass in hot pursuit. No damage was done, and Chris got the # 77 to a full halt. Congratulations to Bobby Newman and his # 77 True Stock race team for this big win.
I want to send a big thank you out to all of the sponsors of Got Good Cheese.com-500, True Stock event. Special thanks go out to Kent Widrick from the Lowville Dairy Co-op on Utica Boulevard in Lowville, New York. Kent has worked very hard on the sponsorship of the True Stock division at AIS in 2007, and Kent was instrumental in organizing the first annual Got Good Cheese.com-500. I can't wait until next year's race; it's sure to be a barn burner.
Hey, guess who was back in Victory Lane again in 2007 in the D & D Power-Sports Sport Compact 4 cylinder division? It was my old buddy, Rudy Widrick with his #94 Ford Fusion. That's number two for Rudy at the Speedway, and he is becoming quite the polished driver at AIS. Tommy Dubach #04 was all over Widrick for the lead, but Rudy stayed on the bottom, with his foot flat on the floor; and that's what got the #94 and race team to the Checkered Board Square. Congratulations to Rudy Widrick, his family and #94 race team.
The Westward Painting Co.'s Light Truck division set a new record at AIS on Saturday evening. Twenty-seven light trucks took the green in their 20-lap main event. Man, it was an exciting event right straight to the checkered flag, with Bill Aganier Jr. #77 making it back-to-back wins in the light trucks at AIS. The Speedway's front turn wall and AIS's new stiro-foam squares took a beating in the light truck main. First, 15-year-old Derek Smith # 53 from New Bremen, New York, came off of turn four and lost control of his truck, making contact to the wall and heavy damage to the # 53 Chevy. Derek has been plagued all year with starting positions in the back of the pack. Finally, Derek starts a feature event in position # 6 and this has to happen. Luckily, Derek was ok; and I hope the damage to the # 53 looked worse than it really is. In any event, Derek's Dad and Grandpa are very capable of getting the # 53 back to AIS by next weekend. Another competitor that hit the front turn wall in just about the same spot as Derek was the #14 of Larry Williams from Lyons Falls, New York. Williams did a lot of visible damage to his Ford Ranger. Larry was running in the top five when a small tap from another competitor put him into the wall. Get them race trucks back together Larry & Derek, and we'll see you on Saturday night.
I received a letter from my good friends Dave & Linda Evans. Dave & Linda have been very active with the Ride-4-Kids organization that helps support the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. The great fans, race teams, and staff at AIS helped this very worthy cause with $1,059.00 collected on July 14th. Dave tells me that the ride that was held in Utica, New York, on July 15th raised a total of $ 114,695.88; and that's great. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the continued fight against pediatric brain tumors.
In closing this week's view, I'd like to say I thought Chris Brass (Assistant Speedway Starter) did a splendid job of filling in as Head Speedway Starter this week in Tim Barone's absence. Frank Fazio, AIS's Race Director, was in assistance to Chris; and I know Frank was a lot of help to Chris. There's a lot of responsibility that's attached to that job, and Chris handled it like a pro.
Thank you so very much for the kind supportive e-mails I've received about my column and announcing efforts at AIS. It certainly means a lot to me, and I will continue to give the AIS fans 110% each and every week. Until next time, please be good to one another; and e-mails are always welcome. You can reach me at gears@twcny.rr.com. Thanks for reading "View From The Tower".