EDDIE SITES CAPTURES PISTOL CHASSIS 40 FOR FIRST CAREER SKYLINE RACEWAY WIN
-Butch Green wins Turbo Blue Finale for Sportsman
Skyline Raceway’s 25th anniversary season came to an end on Saturday night with the 25th annual running of the Turbo Blue Finale. Keystone State star Eddie Sites chose the perfect night to win his first career feature at Skyline Raceway as he drove to victory in the 40 lap Pistol Chassis sponsored finale for the IMCA Modifieds, collecting the $1,000 top prize. Butch Green drove to victory in the final Sportsman event of the season with Earl Zimmer earning his third Skyline Raceway victory of the season in the Pre Stock division. Brandon Neilson also became a three time winner in the Junkyard Dogs with David Kinne winning his first ever Skyline feature in the Junkyard Pups.
The 40 lap Pistol Chassis IMCA Modified event saw Mike Smith and Rich Crompton pace the field to the green flag based on a redraw among the heat race qualifiers. Crompton led the first lap of the event before surrendering the top spot to Smith. The early stages of the feature saw the battle for the lead be between Smith and Fleming, both back racing on their home turf after impressive showings at the IMCA Supernationals in Boone, Iowa. Several early caution flags kept the field bunched up and the battles tight as Jerry Lobdell Jr. joined in the battle at the front of the field. Lobdell was able to work past Smith on a lap 11 restart and set the pace for a couple of laps before surrendering the lead back to Smith three laps later. At the halfway point, Smith held a narrow lead over Lobdell and Matt Roberts. Roberts was able to slip past Lobdell to take over the runner-up position with Smith seemingly in control of the race.
The entire complexion of the event changed on the 30th lap as a driveshaft failure caused Mike to come to a stop and eliminate him from the event, turning the lead over to Roberts with eventual winner Sites up to second from his seventh starting position. Roberts would lead the next four laps before Sites was able to make what would prove to be the winning pass on the 34th circuit. Sites would lead the final six laps to pick up the victory. Gary Roberts slipped past Matt Roberts late in the event to earn a runner-up finish over his son, Matt in third. Jerry Lobdell raced among the leaders the entire distance to finish fourth with JJ Courcy overcoming an early flat tire to rebound for a fifth place finish.
The 30 lap Sportsman feature came to the green flag with Lee DeWitt and Larry Hillis Jr. pacing the field to the green flag. DeWitt grabbed the early lead over Hillis and eventual winner Butch Green, who started the event from third. A lap seven restart would prove to be the pivotal moment of the race as Green pulled off a daring move in the first turn to slip past both Hillis and DeWitt to take over the race lead. Once out front, Green was dominant as led the remainder of the distance. “Fast” Eddie White made a run at Green, but mechanical problems eliminated him from the event on the 20th circuit. When the race restarted, Green led the rest of the way to score the win over Hillis, who finished second in a rare Skyline appearance. Nick Nye finished a solid third ahead of championship runner-up Tom Collins Jr. and early leader Lee DeWitt, who rounded out the top five finishers.
The 25 lap Pure Stock feature saw “The Logger”, Earl Zimmer drive to his third Skyline feature win of the season. Gene Sharpsteen started on pole and led the early laps, but a tangle between he and Chris Fisher while racing for the lead eliminated both from contention for the win. Lou Gordonier then led the next eight laps before Zimmer was able to make the winning pass just five laps from the finish. Zimmer led the final five laps, holding off a late charge from Rich Sharpsteen, who brought the Vancise Motorsports #83N home second. Kurt Stebbins finished third ahead of Gordonier and a fast closing Jeremy Potrzebowski.
Brandon Neilson closed out the Junkyard Dogs feature with his third win of the season. Neilson inherited the lead just three laps from the end when a close battle for the lead between Buck Mills Sr. and Georgie Brown saw the two tangle while racing for the lead. This turned the lead over to Neilson, who led the final three laps to earn the win. Jake Fowlston drove to a runner-up finish with Bob Lovine third. Grayson Albanese recovered from an early race incident to salvage a fourth place finish with Bill Leonard completing the top five.
The closest race of the night was the Junkyard Pups feature event, which saw David Kinne just nose out Bobby Wagner in a photo finish to earn his first Skyline feature win. The two battled hard the entire distance with Kinne earning the win with a pass off the fourth turn on the final lap. Wagner settled for a strong runner-up finish with teenage racing sensation Timothy VanDemark third. Newly crowned Four Cylinder champion Phil Burns finished fourth with Scott Forward completing the top five finishing positions.
At intermission, the Sportsman and IMCA Modified teams were honored with their point awards as trophies and point awards were distributed to the top five finishers in the season long point standings.
With the running of the Turbo Blue Finale, the 25th anniversary season of racing at the Skyline Raceway is now complete. Skyline Raceway management would like to thank all of the racers and fans for their support during a very successful 2012 season that saw 22 consecutive racing events run without a rainout. Speedway officials are already hard at work putting together plans for the 2013 racing season. As things come together over the winter months, look for updates on the speedway’s official website at
www.skylineracewayny.com.
