Media Contact: Steven Ovens - woodhullracewaypr@gmail.com or (315) 729-3825 For Immediate Release – September 27th, 2016 – Shane Jackson photo -
(WOODHULL, NY) – The anticipation for the second annual Woodhull 100 was palpable Saturday afternoon in the pit area of the Woodhull Raceway. Thirty-three of the best Street Stock drivers the Fight Night All Star Series has to offer, converged on the third-mile Steuben County bullring for the first ever appearance of the series on the High Banks.
The pit area was filled with some of the best from Woodhull Raceway, Outlaw Speedway, Five Mile Point, Penn Can, Skyline, The Hill, I-88 and Bradford. Only one driver would walk out with the $1,000 winner’s check- and that driver was 2016 Woodhull Street Stock track champion Kurt Stebbins.
Stebbins battled late in the event with first Glenn Whritenour, then defending Woodhull Street Stock division track champion Dylan Cecce to get the victory in what was a photo finish.
The Hill Speedway regular Tom Savercool and Outlaw Speedway regular Jayson Smart led the field to Scott Lyon’s green flag for the one hundred lap event that would see the field take a fifteen minute break at lap fifty. Savercool took the early lead, but Stebbins was shot out of a cannon on short runs all night long.
The early portion of the event was marred by several caution flags, slowing the pace of the event. Once the race got into a rhythm from laps thirteen through twenty-seven, Glenn Whritenour started making his way to the front. The driver out of Jasper was up to third on lap sixteen and to the runner up spot by lap twenty.
Once into the second spot, Whritenour went to work on Stebbins for the lead in the event. The race for the lead intensified as Stebbins and Whritenour entered lap traffic on lap forty-four. Whritenour made his move with five laps left before the halfway break, and took the lead on lap forty-five.
At the caution flag, it was Whritenour leading Stebbins, Jon Carpenter who also had a strong car Saturday night, Tracy Dunn who was biding his time and Earl Zimmer who always finds his way toward the front of the pack in one hundred lap races. None of the leaders chose to make adjustments outside of refueling and air pressure. Had they made such adjustments, they would have had to restart from the tail of the field.
On the restart, Stebbins showed a sense of urgency to get back into clean air, taking the lead back from Whritenour on lap fifty-two. Two laps later, Daryl Krebs and Zimmer made contact and slowed the field with the caution flag. Dunn also had bad luck strike two laps after that, with a spin after incidental contact with Josh Sawyer. Both drivers continued on with forty-four laps in the event.
At that point, Dylan Cecce had recovered from a lap three spin to emerge into the top five in the running order. Cecce advanced to fourth on lap sixty-seven and then moved to a podium position with eighteen laps to go.
Up front, Whritenour was trying to work Stebbins to get under the Cummings Trucking, KB Graphics and Wraps No. 26, but could not get by. As the laps clicked off the board, the intensity climbed higher and higher. The caution was displayed with nine laps to go, allowing the lead pack to reset and Cecce to close on to the back bumper of Stebbins and Whritenour.
As the leaders took the two-lap to go signal, Whritenour finally got underneath Stebbins exiting turn two. As the pair entered turn three, each driver overcooked the corner and slid up into the middle and high groove. The two drivers, who have had classic battles all season long, slid sideways but managed not to spin completely out.
As Stebbins and Whritenour tried to recollect themselves, Cecce snuck by on the bottom lane to take the lead. At the same time, Teddy Morseman spun around drawing the caution flag. Cecce led Stebbins and Whritenour for a two-lap dash for the $1,000+ payday.
On the restart, Cecce didn’t put a big gap on Stebbins to turn one. Stebbins, who had an amazing short-run car Saturday night, found his way alongside Cecce as the pair entered turn three. Exiting turn four, Cecce and Stebbins made contact as they passed under the white flag.
Cecce tried the crossover move, but the tires were gone on the Potter Chassis No. 7. Stebbins washed up the track in turn three once more coming to the checkered flag, but Cecce lost the drag race to the double checkers by a nosepiece. Stebbins and Cecce made it a Potter Chassis 1-2 finish, Whritenour had to settle for third, Brett Marlatt was the hard charger in fourth and Jeredd Dennis turned a tenth place starting spot into a top five finish in the first one hundred-lap event of the Fall season.
“I knew I had heat,” said Stebbins who was understandably out of breath in Victory Lane. “I knew Whritenour was right there, but rubbing is racing. That was awesome.”
Stebbins talked about the move that nearly lost him the race that he dominated.
“We were definitely just going for the win. The 7 (Cecce) did a good job, we might have rubbed a little bit but we did a great job. This car was so good on short runs. This is awesome to be here in Victory Lane for the hundred lapper at Woodhull.”
Cecce nearly pulled off the upset of the season, but was one spot short.
“It was a third place car, but I knew they would probably beat the crap out of each other,” said Cecce. “I got under them, but that was the only chance I had. I went to fire (on the final restart) and the tires were just gone at that point.”
Whritenour had a race-winning car all night long, but it was the short-runs that seemed to be the kryptonite for the No. 15 finishing third.
“This thing would load up on the caution laps,” said Whritenour of a suspected issue with the spark plugs. “Kurt would pull away on those restarts, but after it skipped and cleaned out in three or four laps I could catch back up to him.”
The Fight Night All Star Street Stock Series will now head to I-88 Speedway on October 7th, part of the Short Track Supernationals event that sees racing on Friday and Saturday in Afton. They then will close out the 2016 campaign with a race at Andrew Harpell’s Five Mile Point Speedway on Saturday November 5th.
For more information race over to www.woodhullraceway.com, Like Woodhull Raceway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WoodhullRaceway or Follow Woodhull on Twitter @WoodhullPR.
Woodhull Raceway is located in Woodhull, NY, just 30 minutes West of Corning, NY and competes weekly on Saturday nights from mid-April through Labor Day Weekend. The track offers several special events including the Patriot Sprint Tour 360 Sprints and the Short Track Super Series Modifieds in mid-August.
Joe Willcox Performance Automatics Official Results Sept. 24th, 2016
FIGHT NIGHT STREET STOCKS WOODHULL 100, 33 cars (100 Laps): KURT STEBBINS, Dylan Cecce, Glenn Whritenour, Brett Marlatt, Jeredd Dennis, Rich Sharpsteen, Jon Carpenter, Earl Zimmer, Daryl Krebs, Josh Sawyer, Tom Savercool, Teddy Morseman, Jayson Smart, Allison Pierce, Jim Weatherly, Dan Mazzarese, Zane King Jr., Branden Morseman, Tracy Dunn, Dennis Cummings, Mike Wilbur, Dan Gardner, Bob Buono, Kane Stebbins, Jared Hill
DNQ: Matt Hamilton, Joe Layfield, Trevor Tompkins, Raymond Lindquist, Jeremy Perry, Gene Balmer, Dave Roberts, Charlie Towner
Heat Winners ($400 gift certificates to Potter Chassis): Mike Wilbur, Dan Gardner, Bob Buono, Glenn Whritenour, Jared Hill
Consi 1: Dan Mazzarese, Zane King Jr.
Consi 2: Brett Marlatt, Dennis Cummings, Teddy Morseman (Woodhull Provisional)
Contingency Award Winners:
Winner Bonus $100- Kurt Stebbins
Hard Charger (Joe Willcox Tranny Refresh) $295- Brett Marlatt +18 spots
Move of the Race $200- Dylan Cecce
Most Laps Led $50- Kurt Stebbins
19th Place on Lap 19 $50- Jeredd Dennis
Who Got The Shaft Award (DNF drivers random draw)- Kane Stebbins
Hard Luck Award $50- Teddy Morseman (back to the front three times)
Leader at Lap 44 $444 MRC Certificate- Kurt Stebbins
2nd Place Finisher $444 MRC Certificate- Dylan Cecce
9th Place on Lap 50 $50- Dennis Cummings
5th Place on Lap 50 $50- Earl Zimmer
13th Place on Lap 100 $50- Jayson Smart
1st MRC Chassis across the line (set of bumpers)- Teddy Morseman