ACCORD SPEEDWAY NEWS

Accord, NY- Rich Ricci Rockets Away To Second Accord Speedway Triumph
By: Steve Pados, Accord Speedway Media

With a week that began with rain, rain and more rain, Thursday finally saw the sun break through and left Promoter Gary Palmer in a total catch-up capacity in order to have the Accord Speedway ready for the Friday night racing action. Palmer accomplished his mission by racetime and the seven division show went off without a hitch and produced some results that had some younger drivers getting wins and some veteran performers gaining some luster after suffering through some problems at the beginning of the season. The evening of speed was presented by the fine folks at the Healey Brothers Car and Truck Dealerships throughout the greater Hudeson Valley. www.healeybrothers.com The checkered flag bonus was posted by AFCO Fuel Company located in Kingston, New York.

Securing wins at the sixth event of the season were "The Chairman of the Board" Rich Ricci Jr as he blistered through the field early to become the first Modified driver in 2016 to earn his second triumph of the season. "Jammin" Jimmy Wells put on a strong bid from night starting place and over took Brandon McGill to go on and capture his fifth win of the season in the Healey Brothers Group Sportsman division finale. "The Conductor" Bobby Butler worked his magic off of the hub rail to earn his third win of the season in his Short Load Concrete sponsored Sprinter. Bob Sleight regained some momentum from his opening night win to wire the field in the Arkel Motors Pure Stock feature. Samantha Muller had an easy run to capture her third win of the season in the Want Ad Digest All Star Slingshots. "The Hurricane" Hunter Lapp enjoys his trips to victory lane and added his fifth win of the season in the WRWD Radio Junior Slingshot main event. Youngster Tighe Sherlock only led one lap of the Ruge's Performance Center Rookie Sportsman feature but it was the last lap and it counted the most as he earned his first career victory at Accord.

"The Ice Man" Dom Roselli blasted into the lead at the start of the United Pump & Tank Modified main with Jesse Marks in tow. Rich Ricci wasted no time to establish himself as a man with a plan as he vaulted past Marks on lap three and went to work to challenge Roselli. Trying various channels of the raceway as he followed Roselli, Ricci challenged low and then took his race to the top only to find the bottom of the raceway to be faster. Ricci got a great run on Roselli down the backstretch and drove his car to the baseline in turn three to pull even and slip past Roselli in turn four on lap ten to assume command of the lead. Once he out in front of the field, Ricci was textbook as he raced away to a huge lead only to have a caution come out on lap-25 for a disabled Ryan Wood. On the restart, Ricci powered away and earned his second win of the season with Roselli a strong second place. Jesse Marks, in his best run to date, was third with Mike Ricci and Richie Eurich completing the top five. The second five were Anthony Perrego, Danny Creeden, Danny Tyler, Ken Ferrier and Brad Rothaupt.

The Healey Brothers Group Sportsman main proved to be Another Jimmy Wells show. Connor Otten, improving with each week, led the first eight laps before yielding to Brandon McGill. McGill raced away to a good sized lead but Wells was coming on strong as he raced to the front from ninth starting spot. A caution on lap-17 for a disabled Nick Johnson closed up the ranks for the restart. As the racing resumed, McGill remained in the front but was now being hard-pressed by Wells. With eight laps to go, Wells powered by McGill with a climb the ladder pass off of turn two and Wells would race away to another win at the speedway. McGill did a great job as he finally was able to finish a race with a fine runner-up performance. Phil Goetchius, Rich Ricci III and Collin DuBois completed the top five. Tyler Johnston, Robbie Knipe, Corey Cormier, Dave Demorest and the returning RJ Smith completed the top ten finishers.

The Arkel Motors Pure Stock feature attraction saw Bob Sleight jump out front with a great start and then drove away from the field at will to claim his second win of the season at the speedway. Hard-driving Jimmy Sykes earned a hard-fought second place finish with Livy Johnson third, Steve Williams fourth and Ray Tarantino in fifth and doing so with a left front flat.

Bobby Butler likes to race to the top of the speedway by the Redi Rock fencing, but on this night he found the baseline of the speedway much to his liking as he led all fifteen laps of the Ruges Parts Center NEWS Sprint Car finale to earn his third win of the season. Larry Ricci put on a close race but a later scramble for position cost him some real estate and he settled for runner-up honors. Brody Adamsky was a steady third with former Quad Champion Eric Jennings in fourth, Fred Proctor, Jesse James Bartleson and Don Smith following.

Jimmy Kraus had everything going his way in the Ruge's Performance Center Rookie Sportsman main but as he got into turn three on the final lap and spun into the fencing damaging his race car. Tighe Sherlock inherited the lead and led the final lap to earn a place in the Accord Speedway history books with his first ever triumph. Jason Feinberg was the runner-up with Matt Shultz, Ryan McCartney and John Dewiit completing the top five.

Samantha Muller led all of the way to claim her third win of the season in the Want Ad Digest All Star Slingshot main event.

Hunter Lapp has been a rocket ship all season long and he slipped past early leader John Kendall to claim his fifth win of the season at Accord. Kendall was second with Ryan Auchmoody, Justin Sleight, Michael Corbin and Ashton Dewitt the final finishers.

GEMSTONES:

Heat races were run off quickly and Bobby Butler captured the lone heat for the sprinters. Samantha Muller captured the All Star Slingshot heat and Hunter Lapp was victorious in the Junior Slingshots. Rookie heats were claimed by Jason Feinberg and Jimmy Kraus. Pure Stock heats were captured by Livy Johnson and Bob Sleight. Sportsman heats went to Brandon McGill, Nick Johnson and Phil Goetchius. Modified heats went to Rich Ricci, Jesse Marks and Dom Roselli.

RJ Smith returned to action as did Vinnie Gress in the Sportsman. Travis Brockner returned in the Pure Stocks but encountered some problems in the feature. Sarah Bohlin, last week's feature winner in the All Star Slingshots ran into problems in her heat event and later scratched for the evening. Michael Corbin detonated a motor in the Slingshot feature.

Healey Brothers Staff George Alicea and Rich Clark were on hand with Healey team members and they enjoyed the racing action. Rich Clark interviewed with announcer Steve Pados and gave the Accord Speedway a glowing report from his vantage point. Clark wants to see everyone seeking a new or quality pre-owned car to visit him at their Beacon, New York showroom located at 557 Route 52 in Beacon, New York or call them at: 845-360-9823.

RESULTS:

United Pump & Tank Modifieds: Rich Ricci, Dom Roselli, Jesse Marks, Mike Ricci, Richie Eurich, Anthony Perrego, Danny Creeden, Danny Tyler, Ken Ferrier, Brad Rothaupt, Lem Atkins Mark Pullen, Ryan Wood, Chad Loidice, Ed Dachenhausen, Kurt Hundeland, Lenny Helmich, Scott Ferrier, Joe Judge

Healey Brothers Group Sportsman: Jimmy Wells, Brandon McGill, Phil Goetchius, Rich Ricci III, Collin DuBois, Tyler Johnston, Robbie Knipe, Corey Cormier, Dave Demorest, RJ Smith, Nick Plumstead, Connor Otten, Ralph Ronk, Cole Hentschel, Nick Johnson, Chris Stevens, Vinnie Gress, Justin Brewster

Ruge's Performance Center NEWS Sprint Cars: Bobby Butler, Larry Ricci, Brody Adamsky, Eric Jennings, Fred Proctor, Jesse James Bartleson, Don Smith Jr

Arkel Motors Pure Stocks: Bob Sleight, Jimmy Sykes, Livy Johnson, Steve Williams, Ray Tarantino, Steve Kanuk, Gary Ronk, Lenny Helmich III, Travis Brockner, Harry Bachman, James Goetchius, Sean Maloney (DQ)

Ruges Part Center Rookie Crate Sportsman: Tighe Sherlock, Jason Feinberg, Matt Shultz, Ryan McCartney, John Dewitt, Kevin Stevens, Chris Van Dusen, Sarah Smith, Tanner Johnson, AJ Williams, Jake Granacker (DQ)

Want Ad Digest All Star Slingshots: Samantha Muller, Sarah Bohlin (DNS)

WRWD Radio Junior Slingshots: Hunter Lapp, John Kendall, Ryan Auchmoody, Justin Sleight, Michael Corbin, Ashton Dewitt, Jake Mason (DNS)

Racing is on tap every Friday night at Accord Speedway from April through September. Pit Gates open at 4:30; Spectator Gates open at 5:00; Hot Laps are at 6:30 and the racing begins at 7 PM. Admission for Adults $14.00; Seniors (65+) $12.00; Children $3.00 (11+ under) Indoor Seating $20.00; Family four pack special: 2 Adults + 2 Children and $20.00 in Accord Bucks for $44.00 (a savings of $10.00) Special event shows do have an increase in admission.

June 17th brings the Dig Safely Night to the Accord Speedway for seven divisions of great racing excitement. An extra added bonus will be the 100-lap 4-Cylinder Enduro event presented by Emmanuel's Marketplace.

June 24th will be Bike Night at the speedway sponsored by Alex's Marine. The speedway is accepting bike donations from Sponsors, Race Fans, Drivers, Teams and Families. Contact the office at: 845-626-1142 or through email at: accordspeedway@yahoo.com

July 1st in just around the corner and once again Saugerties Lumber will present the Fireworks Extravaganza and the Famous Chicken BBQ. More information regarding the event will be added shortly.

July 5th is the Battle of the Bullring sponsored by New York Truck Parts

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://www.accordspeedway.com or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478.
At the Accord Speedway............................................

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