CHEMUNG, N.Y. -- Blue skies and warm weather greeted race teams and fans alike, but no one expected things to heat up as the afternoon progressed. While George “The Duke” Kent took home the victory in a caution free 100 lap Modified race, other divisions saw wrecks abound and extra-curricular activities take place on the infield. Bringing home a well deserved victory in the Speedrome Juniors was Matt Kurzejewski of Mansfield, PA. The Street Stock feature was won by Rick Brown and the 4-Cylinders win went to Cody Marshall. Visiting driver, John Markovic of Bethlehem, PA, took his first win at Chemung in the B-Mod Feature, and Zane Zeiner captured a win in the Legends.

Matt Kurzejewski took the lead to open the Speedrome Juniors event with Jimmy Zacharias closing in on his tail. On lap 5, Zacharias spun in turn 4, giving Brandon Ameigh a chance to battle for the lead on the restart. Zacharias, quickly moving up from the rear, passed Jake Snell for third and then took the lead over Kurzejewski and Ameigh on lap 8. Kurzejewski battled back to take the lead and held on as Zacharias spun again in turn 4. With a last lap sprint, points leader Snell assumed second place behind winner Matt Kurzejewski. Snell was closely followed by Brandon Ameigh.

Two rookies, Paul Johnson and Tony Jilson, started the Street Stock Feature on the front row. As lap 1 unfolded, Lee Sharpsteen, Chad McDonald, and Rick Brown went three wide through turn 2. McDonald then made contact with Jilson on lap 2 after which the field settled down and sorted itself out to run single file. Rick Brown assumed the lead closely followed by Sharpsteen and McDonald, with Scott Reagan and Jilson rounding out the top 5 by lap 10. Brown began to pull away alone in the lead as McDonald and Sharpsteen battle for second. Reagan and Jilson faded briefly as the battle for second continued ahead of them. McDonald and Sharpsteen came together in turn 1 with McDonald taking the second place position. Not wanting to give in easily, Sharpsteen retook second on the next lap. Brown continued to extend his lead in the front. As the race wound down, McDonald again took second from Sharpsteen, and Reagan moved up to challenge Sharpsteen for third. Sharpsteen hung on and crossed the line behind Brown and McDonald. At the scales, however, things heated up between the crews of McDonald and Sharpsteen and before track personnel broke things up, both drivers were DQ’d. This gave Reagan and Jilson the second and third place positions with Ken Ham and Scott Vanderpool rounding out the top 5.

In the 4-Cylinder Feature, Cody Marshall took an early lead and began to pull away until a caution on lap 4 when Rich Sharpsteen spun in turn 2. At the restart, Natasha Robinson moved up to challenge Marshall and the two began to pull away from the rest of the field. Unfortunately, Robinson spun in turn 4 and brought out another caution sending her to the rear of the field. This allowed Jim Chimileski to battle for the lead, but he was soon pressured by Jared Hill moving in on his back bumper. Robinson was on a mission, however, and by lap 12 she had moved up 6 positions. A lap later she was challenging Chimileski for second and passed him on lap 15. Despite her valiant effort, she was unable to catch Marshall, who took home the checkers with a solid lead ahead of the pack. Jared Hill, Jim Chimileski and Paul Gush took third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Dan Kurzejewski and Gene Sharpsteen brought the B-Mod field to the green with Kurzejewski jumping out in front by turn 1. Terry Zacharias and JR Kent battled for third directly behind them. Zacharias made a bold move and thread the needle between two cars to take second. Ed Dachenhausen moved up to fourth. The top 4, Kurzejewski, Zacharias, Kent and Dachenhausen, then began to pull away from the field. Charlie Sharpsteen made every effort to catch them. By the time he reached Dachenhausen’s back bumper, Kurzejewski who was still out front, began to pull away alone. The first caution came on lap 11 as Chris Clark spun. Bad luck struck again for Kurzejewski as he was sent to the pits for an apparent leak. It was determined the car was still overheating as it has been for the last few weeks. On the restart, everything broke loose as a wreck between Kent and Zacharias in turn 2 collected Clark, Dachenhausen, Bill Chandler Jr., Charlie Sharpsteen, and Matt Jilson. Kent and Dachenhausen made it to the pits on their own power while Chandler needed a tow. The three other cars involved were able to continue. Kent and Dachenhausen quickly came back out of the pits to stay on the lead lap. At the restart, the top 5 were, Charlie Sharpsteen, John Markovic, Bill Morich, Matt Jilson, and Chris Daugherty. Markovic quickly took the lead from Sharpsteen with Morich on his tail as Sharpsteen was left to battle Jilson for third. Jilson eventually claimed the position. Charlie Sharpsteen then fought door to door with Gene Sharpsteen down the backstretch. Markovic and Morich began to pull away while Jilson attempted to reel them in. Dachenhausen, Kent and Zacharias battled for sixth, seventh, and eighth. By lap 22, the front six cars had closed up with Markovic in the lead followed by Morich, Jilson, Zacharias, Dachenhausen and Kent. Kent then received a black flag for an apparent fluid leak and before making it to the pits he spun in turn 2. On the restart, Jilson slipped to fifth. Another caution on lap 29 again closed up the pack. As the green flag flew to resume the race, more contact in turn 4 between Clark, Dachenhausen, Gene Sharpsteen, Jilson and Daugherty resulted in another yellow flag. Clean-up began as Gene Sharpsteen, Daugherty and Dachenhausen were taken to the pits by wreckers. They were unable to return to action, making this Dachenhausen’s first DNF. With the field once again racing, Markovic leads the pack with Morich and Zacharias still on his tail. Kent moved into fourth and the top 4 pulled away from the rest of the field. Looking high and low, Kent attempted to pass Zacharias and eventually took third on lap 38. The victory went to John Markovic who happily captured his first Feature win at Chemung. Post race sparks flew as Zacharias and Kent had words, but track personnel quickly took control of the situation before it got out of hand.

Visiting Featherlite Modified regular, John Blewett, found himself on the pole with Daren Scherer on the outside of the front row. Blewett led the field from the green with Pete Brittian and George Kent close on his heels. Dan Kurzejewski and John Markovic also moved up as Scherer faded to fifth. Kent assumed second after passing Brittain on lap 5. Kurzejewski followed suit, taking third. Chet Dillenbeck , driving a Zacharias vehicle, retired early on lap 6 with mechanical trouble. Blewett and Kent began to pull away while Markovic and Brittain battled for fourth. A close race between TJ Potrzebowski and Earl Paules was also being run for seventh. Kurzejewski caught up with the front two cars on lap 16 while Markovic assumed control of the fourth position. Brittain’s day ended early as he headed to the pits a lap later with mechanical trouble. Again Blewett and Kent pulled away from the field, and by lap 34 Kent began to work on the leader for position. One lap later, Kent claimed the lead and began to pull away. Back in the pack, the battle between Potrzebowski and Paules continued as the two raced door to door for several laps. Kent and Blewett pulled away again when Markovic was slowed up while passing lapped car Curtis Cowles. Mechanical trouble with the Kurzejewski machine ended the team’s day. With Kent still out front, Markovic closed in to create a three car battle. Bad luck stuck again, this time for Blewett , as smoke was seen coming from his machine and he retired to the pits. Markovic then made a bid for the lead as Kent’s tires began to go away. Having finally succeeded in passing Potrzebowski, Paules closed in on Scherer to take fourth. The top 4 were running nose to tail by lap 80. Paules, having suddenly come alive, began a charge to the front, passing Scherer on lap 86 and Markovic on lap 93 using the outside groove. He then pressured Kent high and low, but the wily veteran Kent held on for the win.

Tom Mitteer, on the pole, shared the front row with Modified driver Zane Zeiner to start the Legends Feature. As the green flag flew, they battled door to door through turns 1 and 2 with Zeiner taking the lead on the back stretch. Tony Hanbury, driving Jason Urso’s #99, assumed third with Daren Scherer close behind. Young gun Justin Petcosky spun alone on the back stretch to bring out the first caution. During the caution, Kevin Parsons stopped in turn 3 and called for the wrecker having experienced mechanical trouble with his machine. On the restart, the top 5 were Zeiner, Mitteer, Hanbury, Scherer, and Matt Priscott. Hanbury quickly made a run for second then pressured the leader a lap later. The field went three wide in turn 4 as Zeiner, Hanbury and Scherer wrestled for the lead. Zeiner pulled back letting Scherer assume control with Hanbury close on his rear bumper. Hanbury and Scherer came together on the next lap in turn 4 with Scherer spinning into the front stretch. During the caution, both drivers played bumper tag and were soon joined by George Scherer in turn 2. All three drivers were quickly disqualified for their actions. With the race once again underway, Zeiner was back in front with Matt Priscott and Tom Mitteer in tow. Zeiner pulled away from the field, Art Priscott came up to third, and Mitteer and Petcosky battled for fourth. Caution on lap 16 was called as Mitteer spun out of turn 4. Zeiner brought home the win with Art Priscott, Petcosky, Beth Urso and Miteer rounding out the top 5.

RESULTS

MODIFIEDS

1. George Kent, 2. Earl Paules, 3. John Markovic, 4. Daren Scherer, 5. TJ Potrzebowski, 6. Curtis Cowles, 7. John Blewett, 8. Dan Kurzejewski, 9. Wesley Swarthout, 10. Pete Brittain, 11. Chet Dillenbeck, DNS Jeff Frisbie

Heat Winners – George Kent and Pete Brittain

NASCAR B-MODS

1. John Markovic, 2. Bill Morich, 3. JR Kent, 4. Terry Zacharias, 5. Charlie Sharpsteen, 6. Matt Jilson, 7. Sean Stahl, 8. Ed Dachenhausen, 9. Gene Sharpsteen, 10. Chris Daugherty, 11. Chris Clark, 12. Bill Chandler Jr. 13. Dan Kurzejewski, 14. Larry Jaynes

Heat Winners – Dan Kurzejewski and Gene Sharpsteen

STREET STOCKS

1. Rick Brown, 2. Scott Reagan, 3. Tony Jilson, 4. Ken Ham, 5. Scott Vanderpool, 6. Paul Johnson, 7. Todd Stone, DQ – Chad McDonald and Lee Sharpsteen

Heat Winners – Lee Sharpsteen and Rick Brown

4-CYLINDERS

1. Cody Marshall, 2. Natasha Robinson, 3. Jared Hill, 4. Jim Chimileski, 5. Paul Gush, 6. Steve Pardis, 7. Brian Ameigh, 8. Gene Purvis, 9. Rich Sharpsteen, 10. Bernie Duggan, 11. Darryl Griffeth, 12. Scott Millard

Heat Winners – Natasha Robinson and Jared Hill

SPEEDROME JUNIORS

1. Matt Kurzejewski, 2. Jake Snell, 3. Brandon Ameigh, 4. Ashley Sharpsteen, 5. Nick Robinson, 6. Jimmy Zacharias

LEGENDS

1. Zane Zeiner, 2. Art Priscott, 3. Justin Petcosky, 4. Beth Urso, 5. Tom Mitteer, 6. Cliff Rought, 7. Matt Priscott, 8. Kevin Parsons DQ – Tony Hanbury, Daren Scherer, and George Scherer

Heat Winners – Daren Scherer and Zane Zeiner