ACCORD SPEEDWAY NEWS
ByAccord, NY- Great Racing And Lots Of Fun Highlight Halloween Havoc At Accord Speedway
By: Steve Pados, Accord Speedway Media
The bright colors of the fall foliage were displayed throughout the area as the sun rays were shining early on at the Accord Speedway grounds on Saturday. The later afternoon weather turned chilly as the day wore on but it did not deter from the excitement or the enthusiasm of the combatants or the great crowd on hand as the Accord Speedway closed the curtain on their regular season with the running of the second annual Halloween Havoc event. The Palmer Family completed their sixteenth successful season of ownership and promotion of their pristine quarter mile facility nestled in the foothills of Ulster County in New York State. The multi-faceted show brought out 120 race car entries of all makes and sizes with both male and female driving stars seeking to close out the season in a fender banging blaze of glory. The event was sponsored by the John J Liggan Insurance Agency located in Rosendale, New York. Special assistance came from Marty and his Upstate Auto Group, located in Germantown, New York. Many special activities for the children in the Halloween themed event throughout the day took away the sting in the air and the exciting action on the track provided the fans with a day they can remember for some time to come.
When all was said and done, Craig "Hollywood" Mitchell was tricked up and rocking with his Freedom Plains sponsored hot rod as he captured the United Pump and Tank "Run What Ya Brung" division headliner. Connecticut ace Chris Lynch was spot on and richer for the experience as he worked his way through the field the field in the fifty lap Healey Brothers Group Sportsman event that paid $1,000.00 to win. The Arkel Motors Pure Stock division feature found Bob Sleight in championship form as the 2016 track champion wired the field as he drove to victory in the biggest payday of the season for the affordable racing division. Doug Norrie took no prisoners as he drove to daylight early in the combination POWRi Outlaw Midget/Lightning Sprint event at the speedway and came away with an impressive win. First time Garden State invader Rich Mellor captured the Northeast Wingless Sprint Car event with a wire to wire win. Dave Donovan started deep in the 38-car field and came storming through the filed to take over the point before the halfway marks and cruised to victory to capture the Emmanuel's Marketplace Fireball Four Cylinder 50-lap Enduro finale.
The carnival-like atmosphere brought out a great crowd with plenty of children adorned in their Halloween attire. In a great gesture from the Palmer Family, the costume clad kids were all treated to a participation trophy and were further treated to some excellent candy treats administered from the drivers, fans and Accord staff during their Halloween parade through the grandstand area. Miss Accord Speedway, Michelle Campbell led the costume parade. Xavier McNeal, Kayla Ronk, Connor Maylan and Haylee Henneberry were the lucky recipients of bicycles donated by Upstate Auto. The Rich Roosa Family entertained the crowd with hayrides that traversed through the speedway grounds including the pit area so they could see the teams readying their racers for the day's events. "Uncle" Mike Hansen from WRWD 107.3 Radio joined in for the day's fun activities. Michael Hatzistergos provided the balloon sculpturing and pumpkin painting were some of the fun things to do at the speedway.
The "Run What Ya Brung" event proved to be interesting and entertaining as a nice field of unorthodox hot rods filled the pit area. Craig Mitchell scorched the track upon his arrival at Accord and it carried throughout the day as took the lead at the start of the event and was uncontested in his excellent drive to victory. Behind him was where the action was as up to six drivers all raced for runner-up honors. Mark Pullen ran an excellent race and held off all comers as he secured second place in his best run of the season. Danny Tyler was third in a hard fought battle with Randy Green finishing fourth and Kenny Ferrier racing to fifth in his conventional race car. Jimmy Becker was sixth with Richard Smith, Kevin Krom, Dillon Steuer, Brian Nelson and Dave Demorest following.
The Arkel Motors Pure Stock affair put the full fendered drivers to the ultimate test with a long distance event. Bob Sleight wasted no time in establishing the point and only the restarts brought the field in behind him as he owned the speedway from start to finish. Ryan Brockner ran an excellent race and came on strong to finish second. Former track champion Chris Streeter returned to action and finished up in third place with Livy Johnson fourth and steady Chris Kanuk completing the top five. Tom Southard, Curt Ayers, newcomer Zach Seyerlein, the returning Bob palmer and Harry Bachman completed the top ten.
Joey Bonetti took the lead at the start of the Sportsman fifty lapper after a first lap melee took some prisoners. Bonetti was pressured from the start by Stan Vishinski, Tighe Sherlock and Milton Mann. Making tracks of their own found Chris Lynch (13th), Brandon McGill (14th) and Danny Tyler (12th) moving quickly through the field. Chris Lynch was smooth as silk as his J&M Auto Repair sponsored hot rod was good whatever channel on the raceway he drove too. Lynch made his winning pass of Bonetti on lap-17 and led the rest of the way in claiming a great win at the speedway. McGill's solid second place finish went down the drain as he was found light at the scales and disqualified moving Danny Tyler into second in a great ride in the Mike DuBois owned racer. Joey Bonetti was third in a great run while Ryan Avery made the long tow down from New Hampshire and made the trip worthwhile as he drove from 22nd starting spot to finish fourth. Steady Leo Fotopolous completed the top five. Stan Vishinski, Milton Mann, Dave Demorest, the returning "Tommy Gun" Tommy Johnson and Nick Plumstead completed the to ten.
Jeff Champagne grabbed the lead at the start of the POWRi Outlaw Midget event that would be halted in turn three as Doug Norrie pulled a slider to grab the lead only to have Champagne run over his right rear wheel and send him into a series of flips. Champagne was unhurt in the incident. On the restart it was all Doug Norrie as he distanced himself from the field to go and capture the win. Keystone State ace Rohan Beasley made his first trip to the speedway a good one as he was a solid runner-up with Justin Phillips pushing him right to the checkered flag. Shilo Boyce, former track champion Peter Dance, Ricky Stone and Shea Montgomery completing the field.
Rich Mellor enjoyed his first ever trip to the Accord Speedway as the Wrightstown, New Jersey wheelman jumped out front at the start of the event and led all the way to capture the Northeast Wingless Sprint battle. Eric Jennings was second with Bobby Butler, Heidi Hedin, "Big" Al Cheney and 2016 track champion Jesse James Bartleson following.
The Emmanuel's Marketplace Fireball 4-Cylinder Enduro bombers began their event with a wild pile-up on the backstretch. While it didn't stop the event, negotiating the area made for some fancy maneuvering from all competitors. Early leader George Zeininger was slowed by a faulty sneaker and fell of the pace allowing Jeff DeGroat the lead. Dave Donovan began in 34th position but was hell bent for leather as he raced through the competition. Donovan finally caught DeGroat and the two traded off the lead for a few laps but DeGroat fell out of the event and Donovan was on a rail as he raced away through and around the field for the popular win. Joe Morris ran steady throughout and came away with runner-up honors while Johnny Bankich was a late addition to the field and came from scratch position to finish third in another great drive.
GEMSTONES:
The fun-filled day at the Accord Speedway brought out a great crowd, a great group of competitors and despite the chilly challenges from Mother Nature proved to be a great day for all racing fans and drivers concerned. The crazy and outlandishly painted enduro cars provided a nice diversion from the grounding pounding full size race cars and the bumping and grinding of the on track competition provided for a delightful fall day in the Catskill Mountains. The fun and the entertainment value of the low-cost divisions has proven to be a tremendous opportunity for the budget minded competitors to enjoy their love of racing without having to dip so deeply into their pockets. Jim Bleau with his "Halloween adorned" and bright colored lights-on hot rod earned the best appearing theme based racer and earned a pie from the good folks at Grandma Anne's pies. All winners also received a pie in the Lucas Oil Products Victory Lane.
Miss Accord Speedway Michelle Campbell braved the cold weather as she greeted the winners in the Lucas Oil Products Victory Lane with her big smile and a few shivers as the temperatures dipped quickly as the sun disappeared.
Heat race winners included Jared LaBagh, Stan Vishinski, Tighe Sherlock and Joey Bonetti in the Sportsman. Run What Ya Brung heat winners included Craig Mitchell and Mark Pullen. Pure Stock heats were captured by Steve Williams and Bob Sleight. Eric Jennings captured the lone NEWS Sprint heat. Peter Dance and Jeff Champagne were the heat race winners for the POWRi Midgets.
The Chefs in the Accord kitchen were not to be outdone as a variety of hand-crafted sandwiches, chicken noodle soup, fried ravioli and churros proved to be big hits and the food lines were kept busy all day with the fans really digging into the great cuisine offered by the speedway chefs. By the end of the racing activity most of the cuisine filled many hungry bellies at the speedway.
A big thanks to John J Liggan and his Insurance Agency for their annual sponsorship of the event. For more information regarding Liggan Insurance, check them out at their website: info@liggan.com.
Also a big thanks to Marty at Upstate Auto for his sponsorship of the bike raffle. For additional information regarding Upstate Auto, go to their website at: www.upstateautoinc.com Also a big thank you to the Kerhonsken Diner for some sponsorship help for the event.
To all of the fans wishing to purchase a DVD of the Halloween Havoc events, contact Tom Czaban at: 518-250-0001. Those wishing to purchase pictures can contact Bobby Armbruster at: 201-323-2913 or through email at: barmbr6493@aol.com.
RESULTS:
United Pump & Tank Modifieds: "Run What Ya Brung" Craig Mitchell, Mark Pullen, Danny Tyler, Randy Green, Kenny Ferrier, Jimmy Becker, Richard Smith, Kevin Krom, Dillon Steuer, Brian Nelson, Dave Demorest, Brandon McGill
Healey Brother Sportsman: (50 Laps) Chris Lynch, Danny Tyler, Joe Bonetti, Ryan Avery, Leo Fotopolous, Stan Vishinski IV, Milton Mann, Dave Demorest, Tommy Johnson, Nick Plumstead, Tyler Johnston, Jared LaBagh, Walt Hammond, Jim Kraus, Lenny Helmich, Mike Bull, Aaron Weaver, Frank Dorry Jr, John Aumick, Kyle Van Duser, Brad Horton, Jamie Yannone, Tighe Sherlock, Bobby DeLeon, Ralph Ronk, Jim Introne, Connor Otten, Brandon McGill (DQ)
Arkel Motors Pure Stocks: Bob Sleight, Ryan Brockner, Chris Streeter, Livy Kohnson, Chris Kanuk, Tim Southard, Curt Ayers, Zach Severlien, Bob Palmer, Harry Bachman, Steve Williams, Gary Ronk, Johnny Miracle, John Cole Jr, Jim Smith, Mike DuBois Jr, Eric Austin
Northeast Wingless Sprint Cars: Rich Mellor, Eric Jennings, Bobby Butler, Heidi Hedin, Al Cheney, Jesse James Bartleson
POWRi Outlaw Midgets/Lightning Sprints: Doug Norrie, Rohan Beasley, Justin Phillips, Shilo Boyce, Peter Dance, Ricky Stone, Shea Montgomery, DJ Moniz, Frank Malec, Duby Woodruff, Jeff Champagne, Nate Furman, Jimmy Jo (DNS), Adam Pierson (DNS)
Emmanuel's Marketplace Fireball 4-Cylinders: (50 Laps) Dave Donovan, Joe Morris, Johnny Bankich (Best Theme Appearing Car) Jim Bleau
Racing fans are encouraged to begin making plans for the Annual "Gobbler" spectacular coming to the speedway on November 26th. Modifieds, Sportsman and Pure Stocks will be in action for the Saturday event. More details regarding the event will follow shortly.
For further updates and information regarding all of the news and additions to the Accord Speedway, log on to their well documented website at: http://accordspeedway.com or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478.
At the Accord Speedway............................................
A TRAIL OF DIRT LEADS RIGHT TO OUR DOOR
