Accord, NY - Popular John McGill Sails To Second
Career Win At Accord Speedway In His Final Campaign
By Steve Pados, Accord Media
The gates swung open early on Friday afternoon as the highly anticipated
return of Midget racing to the Accord Speedway was met by a standing room
only crowd anxious to witness the powerful little creations traverse the
high banks of Gary Palmer's racing playground in the Catskills. Bouyed
by great weather, an appearance by legendary open wheeler Jimmy Maguire,
a visit by the Atlantic Coast Oldtimers and the traveling band of the
popular ARDC Midgets, the refurbished raceway presented another of the
fantastic shows they showcase weekly from April to September.
Never wishing to be upstaged, the headline Rhinebeck Ford Modified division
was at the top of their game during their 30-lap feature attraction. Veteran
campaigners Mark Pullen and John Lutes Jr brought the 22-car starting
field to the line for the start of the event. The pair raced hard into
turn one with Pullen gaining the advantage and leading the first two laps
until the Lutes machine broke in turn two. On the restart it was Pullen
once again showing the way but he now had a dancing partner as "Jumpin"
John McGill was hot on his heels in his Mid-Hudson Concrete sponsored
mount. McGill tested the waters high and low for a few laps as he aimed
his racer towards the opening he was seeking. McGill found the room on
lap-6 as he dove to the bottom of the raceway on turn-3 and became the
new leader of the race.
While McGill raced away to a big advantage, the racing mid-pack was tight-knit
as one by one the talented drivers began to find the premium real estate
that would launch them forward. Mike Ricci was the first to find a seam
as he was once again at the controls of one of Jeff Mastrocola's Empire
Packing sponsored racers. Iron Mike moved into second place and set sail
for McGill but soon had Consolation winner Jerry Higbie racing to the
front from his 19th starting position. Higbie sliced and diced it nice
as he made his way into the heat of the action. With Big Block power at
his disposal, Higbie quickly moved behind Mike Ricci and Ricci went to
the defensive posture in trying to hold off the the "Statesman From
Slate Hill". Lap after lap Higbie worked the racing channels trying
to inch in front of Ricci and eventually made his way into the runnerup
slot off of turn-4 with a great inside move on lap-25..
While McGill was comfortably out front, Higbie had other ideas as he kicked
up the horsepower and took his Mid City transit sponsored machine to the
top-floor of the raceway. Higbie was clocked at a half a second a lap
faster than McGill and it showed up quickly as Higbie easily tracked down
"Jumpin" John as McGill was picking his way through traffic.
At the white flag Higbie had now moved to the backbumper of McGill and
was looking for an opening. McGill remained solid as he drove off of turn-4
to record his second career Modified win at the speedway. For the popular
McGill, the win was the icing on the cake as "Jumpin" John is
in his final year of competition in racing and was hoping to add another
Accord win to his resume before hanging up the goggles at the end of the
season. Animated as ever, McGill ran through the grandstand area with
the checkered flag much to the delight of the crowd and his victory celebration
lasted for quite some time after the win.
Jerry Higbie was a close second and with it adding further emphasis to
the fact a driver can drive from deep in the pack to a good finishing
position. Mike Ricci hung on for third as he was being haunted in the
final laps by the hard charge of his brother Rich. Rich Ricci Jr was fourth
and Mark Pullen drove a solid race to complete the top five running order.
Tom Hindley made his return to the speedway a successful one as he finished
6th in the final rundown. Kevin Duryea, Andy Bachetti, Jamie Yannone,
and Mel Schrufer completed the top ten.
In the Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman feature, "Slammin" Sammy
Dwy took the lead at the start and weathered many restarts to carve out
an advantage over the first nine laps of the event. Jeff Richardson, who
began from 14th starting position, used his vast experience to slice his
way towards the front and challenge. On the final restart of the event,
Richardon took advantage of the high-line driven by Dwy in turn one to
become the new leader in turn-2. Once in front, Richardson checked out
on the field in his Dirt Runners RC sponsored machine to record his second
straight win at the speedway. Dwy finished second in a great run with
14-year old Tyler Boniface continuing his great work to finish third.
John Calcagni Jr was fourth and Phil Recchio completed the top five.
The Enzo's Ristorante and Pizza Pro Stock feature event for the most part
was the Williams family show as Don J Williams took the lead at the start
of the event and then weathered many storms from the Deak family and Rob
Rowe and then held on as he fended off the hard charge by his father Don
Williams. Don J Williams led throughout the event to record his first
win in the Pro Stock ranks. Don Williams, the defending track champion,
was caught up in an early skirmish and had to come from the back of the
pack to make the late charge as he pressured his son to the finish line
to land in the runnerup slot. Rob Rowe was third Jon Routhier was fourth,
and Pat Zimmer, making his first Accord start of the year, completed the
top five.
The Camper's Barn Sportsman feature event began with Danny Hedges leading
the way for the first six laps. Hedges gave way to the rim-riding Steve
Meilleur on lap seven as Meilleur found the top side of the raceway much
to his liking. Meilleur enjoyed the lead for four laps before yielding
the lead on lap-11 to "Highside" Howard Jarvis. Jarvis, who
began from 12th starting position, highsided his way to the front early
on but dove to the basement on turn-4 to complete the winning pass on
Meilleur. Once in front, Jarvis drove off to a comfortable margin of victory.
The win was especially rewarding for Jarvis as he
also won last week's feature event but was DQ'd for a light on the scales
infraction. Bobby Hentschel used a late race charge to slip by Meilleur
with a couple of laps to go to finish in the runnerup slot. Steve Meilleur
was third, Brian Krummel was fourth and Ken Ferrier drove from 14th starting
place to complete the top five running order.
In the ARDC Midget race portion, York, Pennsylvania's Drew Heistand took
to the Accord clay like he owned it to record the win in the first Midget
race at Accord since 1986 when Nokie Fornoro Jr scored the win. PJ Garguilo
kept pace with Heistand and challenged throughout the 25-lap grind but
couldn't find
the sweet spot on the raceway to get by and finally settled for second.
Brett Arndt was solid throughout the running of the feature and finished
third. "Slick" Nick Wean was truly impressive as he utilized
all of the racing channels to come from 17th starting position to finish
fourth. Steady Steve Lenig kept pace throughout and completed the top
five running order. Sixth through tenth place featured a great run by
the returning Donnie Trent to finish sixth with current series point leader
Randy Monroe finishing in seventh. Stephanie Stevens returned to action
for the first time since sustaining an injury during the North Carolina
weekend tour to finish eighth and Steve Craig and Shane Penny completed
the top ten.
MUDPLUGS:
With more than 160 pieces of racing equipment jamming the Accord pit stalls,
the vision of the speedway resembled a throwback look to the golden era
of racing when every local County Fairgrounds Speedway hosted auto racing
events to the delight of the large volumes of racing fans. With the Atlantic
Coast Old-Timers (ACOT) having a tremendous turnout of their member's
classic racing vehicles, the standing room only crowd had the opportunity
to gaze at both the look-back at the yesteryear of racing as well as the
new-look thirty ARDC racers that made the trek north to compete at Accord.
The Pre-race interview show took on a new look and extended time period
as ARDC driving stars PJ Gargiulo, Randy Monroe, Ryan Smith and Andy Martin
all took part in the interviews with track announcer Steve Pados. Most
of the ARDC drivers had never set foot on the Accord Speedway grounds
prior to the race event and talked about set-ups and their racing season
earlier in the year. ARDC PR/Media man Mark Kielblock joined in with the
interviews and did his usual great job behind the mike in calling the
ARDC portions of the event. Grand Marshall for the prestigious event was
none other than the legendary open wheel star Jimmy Maguire and Maguire
was at his best in describing some of his memorable moments in his illustrious
driving career that featured a day late in the summer of 1963 when he
defeated USAC Champion AJ Foyt in a sprint car race at the Williams Grove
Speedway. Maguire signed autographs for more than 45 minutes as many of
his friends in the open wheel ranks paid him a visit for the special night
at the speedway. Also on hand for the event with the ACOT group was the
legendary racer Ray "Hully" Bunn. Bunn, in relief of Dick Egan,
won the very first Langhorne National Open race back in 1951.
New additions to the speedway included Modified pilot Josh Gaylord who
adpated to the Accord track quite well as he qualified into the main event
and recorded a 16th place finish in his inital speedway appearance. The
"Montgomery Missile" Anthony Perrego made his debut in the Spec
Sportsman ranks and although starting scratch in the field, raced his
way to a solid tenth place in his maiden voyage in the big car ranks.
Ken Boniface Jr also returned to action at the speedway. During the week
the Boniface team purchased the former Richard Smith racer and Boniface
was solid with a ninth place run in the
feature event. Sportsman competitor Greg Hocking made his intial appearance
of the season and was working the bugs out of the sharp-appearing racer.
Robert Ball added his name to the long list of racers competing in the
Pure Stock ranks.
Heat winners during the evening included Tom Dakake, Danny Hedges and
David Coene in the Sportsman ranks and John McGill, Andy Bachetti and
Rick Mill in the Modified ranks. The ARDC heats were won by Bruce Buckwalter,
Drew Heistand and Brett Arndt. Andy Martin captured the B-Main for the
Midgets. Jerry Higbie in the Modifieds and Vinnie Gress in the Sportsman
captured the Consolation events.
The Bryant's Towing Pure Stock division event was curfewed until next
week but some added incentive for the event comes in the way of a $50.00
bonus posted by DJ's Racing Collectibles for the driver who finishes in
the runnerup position during the running of the feature event.
The July 18th racing program will feature the Joe Winne Memorial race
as the track pays tribute to one of it's past Champions. B. Millen and
Sons Recycling are the host sponsors for the evening. The night will also
mark the return of Banner Night at the speedway as a tremendous list of
prizes will be offered to the best banners courtesy of the Accord Speedway,
KB's Racing Photos, Accurate Contracting, Dubois Racing and the popular
CARQUEST Gasoline Alley TV/Internet Show.
The Wednesday night Midweek Madness events unlabeled tour race for the
Slingshot cars produced a great feature event. Outside invader John Bellinger
took advantage of an early skirmish between leaders Jason Kosch and RJ
Smykla paved the way for a restart with Bellinger inheriting the lead.
Bellinger took off at the drop of the green flag and raced to a 6 car
length win over the "Z-Man" Zach O'Connell who had to recover
from an early race mishap and race his way back into contention. Charlie
Lawrence was third in the event followed by RJ Smykla and Kyle Van Duser.
The five division card will once again to go to war this coming Wednesday
night as the gates open at 5 PM with Hot Laps beginning at 6:15 and the
racing beginning at 7 PM. A very affordable $3.00 admission cost is charged
for the quickly paced show.
Bryant's Towing Pure Stock: Curfewed until next week
Rhinebeck Ford Modifieds: John McGill, Jerry Higbie, Mike Ricci, Rich
Ricci Jr, Mark Pullen, Tom Hindley, Kevin Duryea, Andy Bachetti, Jamie
Yannone, Mel Schrufer, Danny Tyler, Nick Lapp, David Bush, Scott Ferrier,
Donnie Elliott, Josh Gaylord, Jim Halpin, Jackie Brown Jr, Rich Eurich,
John Lutes Jr, Rick Mill, Barry Davis
Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman: Jeff Richardson, Sammy Dwy, Tyler Boniface,
John Calcagni Jr, Phil Recchio, Eric Moon, Dan Conklin, AJ Williams, Ken
Boniface Jr, Anthony Perrego, Tyler Odendahl, Scott Mathews, Bobby Hassenmayer,
Steve Pinto, Greg Hastie, Danny Cross, John Gesztesi, Jack Skeritt, Kyle
Rohner
Campers Barn Sportsman: Howard Jarvis, Bobby Hentschel, Steve Meilleur,
Brian Krummel, Ken Ferrier, Ray See Jr, Darrell Ford, Jesse Marks, Steve
Krom, Greg McCloskey, Carl Dawes, John Sundlof, Vinnie Gress, Tom Dakake,
Danny Hedges, David Coene, Jerry Craig, Randy Banks Jr, Mike Senecal,
Larry Badaracco
Enzo's Ristorante and Pizza Pro Stocks: Don J Wiliams, Don Williams, Rob
Rowe, Jon Routhier, Pat Zimmer, Bill Deak Jr, John Roese, Emerson Cargain
Jr, Al Christiana Jr, Terry O'Brien, John Rood, Bill Deak Sr, Matt Curry,
Lenny Helmich, Charlie Rose
ARDC Midgets: Drew Heistand, PJ Gargiulo, Brett Arndt, Steve Lenig, Donnie
Trent, Randy Monroe Jr, Stephanie Stevens, Steve Craig, Shane Penny, Tracy
Readinger, Jimmy Cammock Jr, Chris Zrinski, Tommy Tomasko, Bobby Goerner,
Tony Montesi, Scott Zipp, Scott Viets, Ryan Smith, Justin Grosz, Bethany
Viets, AJ Ernesto, Carey Becker, Bruce Buckwalter, Frank Polimeda, Andy
Martin
For further updates and information regarding the great racing at the
Accord Speedway, logon to the their newly constructed website at: http://www.accordspeedway.com
or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478
A TRAIL OF DIRT LEADS RIGHT TO OUR DOOR