ZANE ZEINER WINS FINAL RICHIE EVANS MEMORIAL AT TIOGA

by Carol Houssock

 

 (Owego, NY)   Bittersweet pretty much sums up the story at the legendary Tioga Motorsports Park, set to close forever after this abbreviated farewell season.  Even Mother Nature expressed her feelings, providing sunny skies for most of the day, but shedding some tears toward evening to force the end of the nightcap feature. 

 

For years Tioga (formerly Shangri-la) has hosted the annual Richie Evans 61-lap Modified classic.  Sunday’s race, the final one at the track where he produced such glorious memories, was one all 26 starters wanted for nostalgia’s sake.  That honor goes to Bath, PA’s Zane Zeiner, who took the lead from Jim Willis and never gave it up.  The race marked round 2 of the Sunoco Race of Champions Central Region.  Pete Brittain won the inaugural 2005 SST-Modified tour race, Mike Nichols kept perfect his winning ways in Street Stock action, and Daren Scherer dominated in the Legends division.

 

Jim Willis and Ben Reynolds drew the top 2 starting positions for the ROC feature and Willis led the way for the first 5 circuits.  A lap 6 restart put Zane Zeiner on the inside of row 2 and he quickly capitalized on that placement, taking the lead from Willis in what became his race-winning move.  A series of cautions came over the next dozen laps for single car spins, but the top 3 remained Zeiner, Willis and Matt Parsons.  The first multi-car tangle came while working lap 19, and again on the restart.  The double exposure eliminated Tyler Haydt, Lee Sherwood, Anthony Sesely, Tommy Flanagan and Wes Swartout. 

 

When racing resumed Zeiner and Willis were pursued by Parsons and Earl Paules but Zeiner flexed his muscles and built up a sizeable lead over the trio.  The best battle at the halfway point was the one for 4^th, when Bobby Osgood and Eric Beers worked their way from deep in the pack to the front.  Four more cautions came in the last half of the race, including one by Parsons with 7 laps remaining.  Zeiner led the single-file restart and made it look easy over those final laps.  He held on for his second Richie Evans Memorial win, over Paules, Willis, Osgood and Beers.  Jim Long, Jr., Ken Canestrari and TJ Potrzebowski won the 3 qualifying heats.

 

“This win means the world to me,” Zeiner told the crowd.  “I watched Richie race when I was growing up.  My first ROC win came here and now this one, it’s great.”  He went on to thank his crew and sponsors, many of whom have been with the talented driver for several years.

 

SST-Tour promoters axed the consolation race and allowed all 32 cars on hand to start their scheduled 100-lap race.  A pair of 8’s – a long shot in a Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament.  On Sunday it was the car numbers of Bobby Holmes and Earl Paules, who made up row #1 for the start.  Paules made the outside work for him and he took the lead.  The restart following the first caution, thrown when Steven Reed spun in turn 4, was costly for Holmes.  His car slammed the turn 4 foam, as did Zach Shove.  That brought Pete Brittain up to the front row, with George Kent and Richie Vanderpool lined up behind them.  Kent used the inside line to his advantage and took over 2^nd.  Zane Zeiner, who started 5^th, caught and passed Vanderpool and was running 4^th.  Don Wylie spun working lap 19 and the restart was pivotal for Brittain.  Lined up behind Paules, he muscled his way underneath and took the lead on lap 21. 

 

When the field reached lap 50 Tony Hanbury proved he was a factor to be reckoned with, having passed both Zeiner and Paules.  Bad luck found Paules on lap 55, when his car broke.  Brian Bowen and Wylie came along and had nowhere to go but off the track on the back stretch.  Eleven laps later it was Zeiner who had misfortune in turn 2 and that brought out the 12^th caution period.  Brittain was lined up ahead of Hanbury, Kent and an equally hard-charging Bill Hebing.  Rain drops had interrupted the race at lap 30 but they returned at lap 75 when the field was under the final caution period.  The drivers actually made the final call, giving thumbs-down to the track surface.  The race ended under caution at lap 75 and Brittain was declared the winner over Hanbury, Kent, Hebing and Dean Rypkema.  In qualifying it was Tony Hanbury, George Kent and Earl Paules taking wins.    

 

Henry Brown and Chuck Lohmeyer brought the Street Stock field to the stripe for the start of their scheduled 25-lap feature.  Brown took command but he was hotly pursued by Mike Nichols, who made his way underneath in a turn 4 pass.  Derrick Tarbox and Chris May brought out the first of 2 cautions when they got together in turn 1.  When lap 13 went up on the board marking the halfway point Nichols had a huge lead but Paul Frantz and Brown were dueling for 2^nd.  Frantz made the pass but had a lot of race track between him and the leader.  Tarbox broke a ball joint and brought out the other caution flag, at which time officials opted to shorten the race to 20 laps.  Nichols maintained his lead over the remaining 5 laps to record the win.  His other 2 races this season were at Chemung Speedrome, where he is undefeated.  Frantz got his best-ever Tioga finish as runner-up, followed by Brown, Lee Sharpsteen and May.  Chuck Lohmeyer and Henry Brown grabbed heat wins.

 

Daren Scherer, one of the true masters of Legends racing, drew the outside pole for their 20-lap feature.  An opening lap caution was costly for Brian Terrell, whose car was torn up coming off turn 4.  Art Priscott had an impressive run, leading the first 3 laps and again on lap 6.  Scherer used a restart as his opportunity to power his way into turn 1 from lap 7 on the race was his.  Rich Petrucco was also on the move and got around Priscott to run in the 2^nd position.  Scherer’s lead over Petrucco grew to nearly a full straightaway throughout the latter stages.  When the checked flag fell Scherer had yet another Tioga win.  Petrucco, Art Priscott, Bill Fitzsimmons and Justin Petcosky rounded out the top 5.  Scherer and Todd McCollum won their two heats.

 

With the exception of the Monster Truck show, things will be quiet in Owego until racing returns on Sunday, July 24^th for another ROC qualifier.  For all the latest news and information log on the track’s website: www.tiogamotorsportspark.com.  Asphalt Racing At Its Finest – Gotta Love It!

 

Results:

 

Sunoco ROC Modifieds (61 Laps)  ZANE ZEINER, Earl Paules, Jim Willis, Bobby Osgood, Eric Beers, Matt Hirschman, Rusty Smith, Daren Scherer, John Markovic, TJ Potrzebowski, Ben Reynolds, Jeff Frisbie, Jim Long, Jr., Bill Chandler, Scott Lesher, Matt Parsons, Tommy Flanagan, Ken Canestrari, Ryan Russo, Pete Brittain, Anthony Sesely, Wes Swartout, Tyler Haydt, Lee Sherwood, Don Dreher, Chet Dillenbeck

 

SST Modifieds (75 Laps)  PETE BRITTAIN, Tony Hanbury, George Kent, Bill Hebing, Dean Rypkema, Gene Sharpsteen, Wayne Lent, Jim Willis, Richie Vanderpool, Dick Kluth, Richard Thomas, Chuck Frisbee, John Markovic, Phil Slater, Rick Zacharias, Bill Chandler, Jr., Steven Reed, Tommy Ferrell, Tom Wiest, Tony Jilson, Earl Paules, Brian Bowen, Zane Zeiner, Cody Gregg, Tim Gullo, Don Wylie, Chet Dillenbeck, Ricky Knapp, Daryl Lewis, Jr., Bobby Holmes,  Zack Shove (DNS: Tom Zacharias)

 

Street Stocks (20 Laps)  MIKE NICHOLS, Paul Frantz, Henry Brown, Lee Sharpsteen, Chris May, Matt Held, Derrick Tarbox, Bob Ziegler, John Maynard, Dave Harbst, Chuck Lohmeyer

 

Legends (20 Laps)  DAREN SCHERER, Rich Petrucco, Art Priscott, Bill Fitzsimmons, Justin Petcosky, Todd McCollum, Matt Priscott, Rob Brierton, Zach Truesdale, Jimmy Kostarelos, Cody Frantz, Whitey Kowalczyk, Beth Urso, Brian Terrell