Fri 8/12 PETE LORETTO MEMORIAL presented by BRIGGS TRANSPORT
Super Late Model/Pro Mod/Street Stock/Mini Stock/Bandit
Davis Over Homan by an Eyelash at Freedom
DELEVAN, NY- Bryce Davis used a fast car, lap traffic, and a timely caution to nip Chad Homan, winner of 11 of 16 starts this season, at the line, in the “King of the Hill” for Crate Models at Freedom Motorsports Park, on Friday, July 29th before an appreciative crowd. Homan had led the entire distance, but the last few feet proved decisive.
A healthy nineteen cars were on hand this night, with 18 taking the green, as veteran John Waters, who flipped onto his roof in his heat was unable to start. Homan drew the outside pole and immediately set sail after outgunning Chris Fleming at the drop of the green. A fierce battle for second between Davis, who started third and Fleming, finally saw Davis claim the spot on lap eight when the two entered lap traffic. From there, Davis took out after Homan, closing within two car lengths on lap 13. Homan held on and opened a lead before the leaders entered heavy lap traffic on the 15th circuit.
The pivotal moment in the race occurred when the caution flew on lap 20 when a lap car spun in front of Homan in turn two, clipping Homan, who was able to continue. The restart showed Homan, Davis, Fleming, Mike Wonderling, and Jason Knowles the top five, with Davis immediately hectoring Homan for the lead before a lap 24 caution set up a frantic finish. The restart produced a multi-car scrum that took out sixth place running Paul Grigsby.
The subsequent restart, for a green/white/checker finish, saw Davis hounding Homan, and then on the final turn, Davis got outside and the two drag raced to the line, with Davis beating Homan by the thinnest of margins, .027 seconds to record the victory. Fleming, Wonderling, and Steve Dixon completed the top five.
An elated Davis, offered, “I knew that lap cars would be a factor. (At the line) I could see his little fender wing in the wall and I was hoping I didn’t get the wall. I knew with five to go we had a car to win. I just had to time it just right to get him if he messed up a little bit, get a little run on him, and keep him down. It just happened to be the last corner.”
In the pit area, Homan revealed, “We had that spin in two (on lap 20) and got the nose pretty well bent down into the race track. When the caution came out (on lap 24), it was white initially, but then it came out again with a green/white/checker. I was hoping I could last one lap, but then I didn’t want to push and have him go underneath me. Bryce is really good, and he did what he needed to do. He just sailed the top and got a run on me. It was good hard racing.”
In the 20 lap Pro Mod feature, young Zain Harvey, who inherited the win in the previous event at Freedom, when the leader was collected by a lap car, left no doubt he was the one to beat, as he vaulted into the lead from third on the opening lap and promptly left the field in his wake, opening a straightaway lead by the fifth lap. The caution flew for a spin on the fifth lap, but it proved to be only a minor annoyance for Harvey, whose car was on the proverbial rails and he once again distanced himself from the rest of the cars.
A caution on lap 11, bunched the field once again, and this time, Brodie Hill was able to exert some pressure, but not for long, as Harvey once again opened a commanding lead. At the line it was Harvey by over half a straightaway, with Hill a distant second. John Woodward, Justin Chaddock, and John Cline completed the top five.
In Victory Lane, Harvey allowed, “The car was really good. In the last few weeks we really figured this place out. It’s handling good. I was trying to be a little patient at the start, but I knew if I could get out in clean air, I could just run my own race.”
In other racing, the 20 lap Street Stock feature came down to a battle between veteran Tom Kemp and Joe Chamberlain, after Kemp made the move of the night on a lap 11 restart, bolting past Ian Travis and Chamberlin to take the lead and then holding off Chamberlain on a late restart to take the win. Also, Andy Schumacher won the Mini Stock feature when race long leader Bill Weller got squirrely in the final turn, allowing Schumacher to get by. Finally, Kaden Michael won the Bandit feature when leader Kaidden Wilson broke.
HOMAN WINS AGAIN AT FREEDOM, CAPTURING RON BAKER MEMORIAL RACE
ARCADE, NY…..Warm, sunny skies greeted fans and competitors at Freedom Motorsports Park Friday night for the Ron Baker Memorial for Crate Late Models, plus a program of Pro Mods, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Bandits.
In the Crate Late Model feature, Steve Dixon led from the pole until Chad Homan worked his way to second on lap 6. Two laps later, Homan pulled an outside pass to take the lead as Chuck LeFleur battled with Chris Fleming for third. Homan pulled away until the race’s lone yellow on lap 15. Dixon had a mechanical issue and fell by the wayside into the pits, which allowed Homan to pull a huge lead on Fleming, who had worked his way back into second place. LeFleur battled with Paul Grigsby late in the race for third. When the checkers flew, Homan snagged another win, followed by Fleming, Grigsby, LeFleur, and Murray.
Crate Late Model heats were won by Chris Fleming and Steve Dixon.
The 20-lap Pro Mod feature got off to a rough start with a multi-car pileup that involved nearly half the field in turn one of lap 1. Once that was sorted out, Dixon jumped out to the lead over Zain Harvey, while Adam Ashcroft slid into the top five after avoiding the opening lap chaos. Dixon, Harvey, and Ashcroft fought for the lead while Justin Chaddock and Critter Hemphill came into the top five after their involvement in the opening lap pileup.
Pro Mod heats were won by Steve Dixon, Critter Hemphill, and Tyler Oakes.
The 20-lap Street Stock feature saw Tom Kemp grab the early lead from Joe Chamberlin. Kemp pulled away from Chamberlin at the halfway point as Bill Taylor and Justin Neff battled for third spot until Neff spun on lap 11. Taylor and Chamberlin then battled for second as they tried to catch Kemp, with Randy Taylor moving in to battle Bill Taylor for third in the late going. At the finish, Kemp scored another win, followed by Chamberlin, Bill Taylor, Randy Taylor, and Ian Travis.
Street Stock heats were won by Joe Chamberlin and Tom Kemp.
In the 15-lap Mini Stock feature, Brad Whiteside pulled out a good lead from the drop of the green over a battle between Curt Rung and Andy Schumaker. As Whiteside held the lead and Rung and Schumaker battled, John Michael fought for the fifth spot with Holden Heineman. Bryson Hill spun out of the fourth spot with just a couple of laps to go, which set up a shootout to the finish. Whiteside held off Schumaker for the win, followed by Rung, Michael, and Heineman.
Mini Stock heats were won by Bryson Hill and Holden Heineman.
Kayden Michael held off Seth Johnson over the 10 lap distance to capture Friday night’s Bandit feature win. The Bandit heat was won by Kaden Michael.
Friday, July 1st, Mesler Trucking will present the Firecracker 40 for Crate Late Models, along with the Pro Mods, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Bandits. For more information, visit www.freedommotorsportspark.com .
RACE SUMMARY-RON BAKER MEMORIAL NIGHT-FREEDOM MOTORSPORTS PARK-JUNE 24, 2022
RON BAKER MEMORIAL FOR CRATE LATE MODELS-CHAD HOMAN, Chris Fleming, Paul Grigsby, Chuck LeFleur, Kyle Murray, Steve Dixon, Dustin Waters, Damian Bidwell, Jon Rivers, Bill Holmes, Steve LeBarron (DNS), DJ Krug (DNS).
PRO MODS-STEVE DIXON, Zain Harvey, John Woodward Jr, Adam Ashcroft, Tyler Oakes, Duane Powers, Brian Mohawk, Critter Hemphill, Tim Schram, Dalton Bradley, John Cline, Josh Wilcox, Justin Chaddock, Kyle Smith, CJ Sherwood, Brodie Hill, Garrett Miller.
STREET STOCKS-TOM KEMP, Joe Chamberlin, Bill Taylor, Randy Taylor, Ian Travis, Ron Richter, Justin Neff, Shylar Maybee.
MINI STOCK-BRAD WHITESIDE, Andy Schumaker, Curt Rung, John Michael, Holden Heineman, Robert Knapp, Joe Bieber, Cody Wise, Trent Chamberlin, Brian Johnson, Bryson Hill, Caleb Wolcott, Bill Weatherly.
BANDITS-KADEN MICHAEL. Seth Johnson.
Homan Thrashes Late Model Field at Freedom Opener
By DAVE SULLY
DELEVAN, NY- Veteran driver Chad Homan from Macedon, NY, journeyed to Freedom Motorsports Park for the track’s lidlifter on Friday, May 22nd and came away with a resounding triumph in the 25 lap Crate Late Model Feature. A healthy field of 13 Late Models boasted the likes of the previous week’s Genessee winner, Bill Holmes, along with long time competitors Paul Grigsby, Mike Wonderling, Randy Hall, and Jon Rivers. Unfortunately, car issues sidelined several cars. Holmes suffered fuel pump issues and wasn’t able to start, while Wonderling suffered damage in his heat, as did Randy Hall, sidelining them for the feature. Meanwhile, Grigsby had ignition problems and missed his heat forcing him to start scratch on the field. To top it off, Homan drew the pole, so the stars definitely lined up for him this night.
At the drop of the green, Homan eased in front after a strong challenge from Andy Michael early. Once clear of Michael, it was ‘see you later,’ as Homan drew out to a commanding lead in the caution-free event, that grew exponentially as the race progressed, reaching a straightaway after only three laps. His only real hindrance was when he entered lap traffic on the 13th circuit, when he encountered several slower cars battling for position, which briefly slowed his pace. Once clear of the lappers, he proceeded to build an immense lead of more than half a lap over Michael at the checkers and which saw him lap every car in the field up to third. Austin Allen, finished third, with Dave Dubois fourth. Grigsby battled up to finish fifth after starting at the rear.
In Victory Lane, Homan offered, “The 17 (Michael) put up a fight there early. Once I cleared him I felt like I had good momentum. I’ve never won here in anything. We’ve been kind of working on this type of surface and set up for that at some other tracks. The guys at Lazer give me just unbelievable stuff.” When informed that he had lapped up to the third place car, he offered, “I didn’t know that. I felt like I was getting held up by those guys and hoping no one was coming. The track was super racy. You could run top, bottom, anywhere you wanted to go.”
The Pro Mods had a good turnout of cars, as well, for their 20 lap feature, with 15 taking the green flag. Zain Harvey took the lead from the pole and built a five car length advantage, while veteran Adam Ashcroft fought his way into second from fourth. On lap seven Harvey slowed, as his right side hood latch failed and the hood raised up, allowing Ashcroft to take the top spot, with Dixon moving into second a lap later, taking John Woodward with him into third.
The leaders caught the slower cars on lap 10, followed immediately by a caution when veterans Critter Hemphill and Al Brewer got together in turn four. The restart produced a multi-car scrum in turn one. Through it all, the top three remained the same, with Ashcroft, Dixon, and John Woodward the principals. Ashcroft opened a slight lead,with Dixon stalking. Dixon was able to hound him over the final two laps, but Ashcroft held on for the win, with Dixon and Woodward close by.
In Victory Lane, Ashcroft declared, “At the end of last year, we hit on something. We’ve been trying stuff and it seemed like something clicked. Hopefully it keeps carrying on into this year.” On the race, he added, “I never went to the outside, but when you’re in second you get to search around a little bit. I saw his (Dixon’s) nose one time. I’ve raced with a him a long time and he always runs me clean.”
In other racing, Michael Oakes took the lead from the outside pole and led every lap in the 20 lap Street Stock Feature, with Justin Neff applying pressure toward the end Finally, DJ Williams swapped the lead with Jason Schumacher before prevailing in the 15 lap Mini Stock Feature.
NOTES: There was a representative crowd on hand in perfect weather, despite early day showers………..The total car count of 43 was representative of several tracks in the region, with fuel prices, tire, and parts shortages in the equation, as well, making it hard to predict the future.
Results:
Crate Late Models: (25 laps) – 1. Chad Homan, 2. Andy Michael, 3. Austin Allen, 4. Dave Dubois, 5. Paul Grigsby, 6. Adam Miller, 7. Jason Miller, 8. Jon Rivers, 9. TJ Downs, and 10. Chuck Lefleur. DNS: Bill Holmes, Mike Wonderling, and Randy Hall. Heat Winners were Homan and Allen.
Pro Mods: (20 laps) – 1. Adam Ashcroft, 2. Steve Dixon, 3. John Woodward, 4. Victor Earle Jr., 5. Jason Chaddock, 6. John Cline, 7. Critter Hemphill, 8. Garrett Miller, 9. Chad Arnold, 10. Tim Schram, 11. Dalton Bradley, 12. Al Brewer, 13. Tyler Oakes, 14. Zain Harvey, and 15. Josh Wilcox. Heat winners were Ashcroft and Dixon.
Street Stocks: (20 laps) – 1. Michael Oakes, 2. Justin Neff, 3. Tom Kemp, 4. Joe Chamberlain, 5. Jon Travis, 6. Jeff Sonnenberg, and 7. Randy Taylor. DNF: Shyler Maybee. Heat winner was Chamberlain.
Mini Stocks: (15 laps) – 1. DJ Williams, 2. Andy Schumacher, 3. Holden Heineman, 4. John Michael (bandit) 5. Joe Bieber, 6. Cody Wise, 7. Phil Vaughn, and 8. Bill Weatherly. Heat winner was DJ Williams. Bandit winner was John Michael.
We are looking for some help on race nights this season. We need some 50/50 sellers as well as someone who would like to help on the beer selling side of the concessions. Please look at our schedule and make sure your able to be there every night we are racing. These positions will be paid as well. If interested, please message us or email us at freedommotorsportspark@yahoo.com. It is a fun atmosphere to make a little extra money on Friday nights! Come join the team!
