ACCORD, N.Y. -- The "Gem in the Catskills" Accord Speedway swung back into action on Friday evening and reeled off an outstanding racing card for the great crowd on hand that witnessed the excellent racing action. The electrified crowd of loyal Accord racing fans were offered the opportunity to go trackside and meet and greet with the talented driving roster of the speedway on camera and autograph night presented by Royal King Dry Cleaners with locations in New Paltz, Stone Ridge and Poughkeepsie to serve their ever growing customer base. Speedway Promoters Gary and Donna Palmer had the speedway grounds in pristine condition and the outstanding track work prep of Gary Palmer presented the drivers with another fabulous racing surface that had the drivers in all divisions talking about it all night long. The event also marked the return of "Sail Panels" last night for the first time of the season as the winged appendages were brought back as an option for the Modified drivers for the remainder of the the 2012 racing season. The final outcome of the great evening of racing action saw "The DC Express" Danny Creeden romp to his third Accord win in 2012 after overhauling ten time winner Andy Bachetti on lap nine and go on and claim the victory. "The Concrete Kid" Kyle VanDuser raced to his fourth win of the season in the Healey Brothers Group Spec Sportsman headliner and "Mr Excitement" Kevin Ward was spot on in recording his fifth win of the season in the Camper's Barn Sportsman headliner. Veteran campaigner John Roese continued his run at the Ruge's Parts Center Pro Stock title as he notched his fifth win of the season in his Ford powered hot rod in an event that saw his father, Bill Roese, step out of a ten year retirement to slip behind the belts and record a seventh place finish. Connecticut wheelman Rich Wood overcame an early lead by Empire State driving talent Jon Moore to go on and triumph in the WRWD Radio sponsored Lightning Sprints in an event that earmarked the return of the division to weekly status for the remainder of the season. The Royal King Dry Cleaners Night at the speedway was a huge success that included a forty five minute intermission for the fans to connect with their racing heroes at trackside.

"The Wild Child" Andy Bachetti and "The Freskeeto Bandito" David Bush brought the All American Ford Modified field down for the start of the 30-lap main headliner. Bachetti wasted no time in seizing the lead and Creeden jumped on it right away to slip into the runner-up slot and take up the chase with "Iron" Mike Ricci making a bid as well. Bachetti was clicking off some good lap times but Creeden and was soon making a bid on his own to unseat Bachetti at the point. Creeden tried the top shelf and came up a tad short with Bachetti outhustling him on lap eight but Creeden dove to the baseline and turned up the wick to return the favor out of turn two and seize command of the event. The return of the sail panels to the race cars sparked a lot of interest from the crowd and the drivers responded with an excellent show as "Showtime" Danny Tyler, "The Statesman" Jerry Higbie and "The Jeffer" Jeff Heotzler were all making tracks to the front. Particularly impressive in only his second appearance of the season at Accord was fan favorite Heotzler as he started ninth and found the magic high and low during the early laps and then went basement dwelling as he burst past Bachetti for second and then closed the distance between he and Creeden as the laps clicked off. Creeden never faltered as he had his RJH Construction/Diamond Racing Engines sponsored hot rod on point as he steered his way in the Lucas Oil Products Victory Lane. Heotzler enjoyed a fabulous run with his second place performance and Jerry Higbie was stout all evening with a third place finish. Bachetti was fourth and Tyler rounded out the top five. Rich Ricci Jr from 13th starting spot raced hard to sixth place with Mike Ricci, Scott Ferrier, Will Auchmoody and Richard Smith completing the top ten.

The Camper's Barn Sportsman headliner saw defending track champion Kevin Ward blast into the lead at the start of the event with the "Kingston Cruiser" Greg McCloskey hot on his heels. Ward had his Troyer race car in tip top form as he found the top of the speedway much to his liking as he held the field in check throughout all twenty five laps to lay claim to his fifth win of the season at Accord with McCloskey solid in the runner-up role. The racing action was tight throughout the field but the battle for third attracted a ton of attention from the crowd as David Coene out raced a pair of talented youngsters for third place money. "Jammin" Jimmy Wells got a late start in racing in 2012 but the former flat track motorcycle champion put on a show with a great run for fourth place and point leader Anthony Perrego completed the top five. The second five saw great racing action as well with Ray See Jr, Darrell Ford, Chris Stevens, Jesse Marks and Mike Skelly completing the top ten finishers.

The Healey Brother's Group Spec Sportsman feature main event found "The Ironman" Mike DuBois leading the first lap before yielding the point to the high flying Kyle VanDuser who found the top shelf to be the fastest way around the speedway as vaulted into the lead off of turn two. From seventh starting spot came "Double J" Joe Judge and the former two time Pure Stock champion motored hard to work his way into the runner-up slot. Judge was able to move in close at the midway point but VanDuser turned up the wick in the latter stages of the event to go and record his fourth win of the season to extend his point lead in the division. Judge finished in second with "Tommy Gun" Tommy Johnson racing to third place, newcomer Tyler McKee in fourth in a great drive and Ken Boniface rounding out the top five. Brian McGuire, Darrell Ford, Rich Ricci III, Michael Traver and Phil Johnson rounded out the top ten.

The Ruge's Parts Center Pro Stock feature found the Ford powered machine of John Roese at the point for the start of the event and that was the veteran campaigner needed as he eased his Ford powered machine into the lead and held off a determined drive from Paul Aragon to claim his fifth win of the season at Accord. Aragon was the runner-up with newcomer Wayne Taylor running an excellent race to finish third, Ralph Ronk rallying late in the race to claim fourth and Emerson Cargain Jr completing the top five. The Batmobile of Bill Rion was sixth with Bill Roese in seventh, Troy Arnold in eighth, Charlie Rose in ninth and Chris Travis completing the top ten.

Jon Moore powered his way into the lead at the start of the WRWD Lightning Sprint main event and led for the first seven laps before giving way to the high flying winger Rich Wood who found the upper reaches of the facility to be the fast way around the speedway. One lap later Moore and Doug Norrie would get together and spin both out of contention. On the restart Wood clicked of some 12.89 second laps to go and record his second win of the season with Justin Phillips in the runner-up role. Peter Dance was third with "The Scalpel" Joe Szczapa in fourth and Dale Friedly rounding out the top five five. Phil Bessette, Peter Sindt, Jon Moore, Jerry Sehn and Joey Bonetti rounded out the top ten.

The Arkel Motors Pure Stock feature will start off next week's program.

MUDPLUGS:

The good friends from Royal King Dry Cleaners were the headline sponsor for the evening and enjoyed their time with the trackside presentation.

Dear friend and guru of Coastal 181 Lew Boyd was on hand for the evening and interviewed with announcer Steve Pados about the remarkable transition of Accord into the showplace it is today. Boyd was impressed with every facet of the Accord facility and brought along some great gifts from his Coastal 181 library that were gifted away by Pados for fans knowing the answers to some quickly timed trivia questions. Mickey Hayes, Scooter Van Ordt and Bill Goldpaugh were the recipients of the great prizes that included the book written by Boyd and assisted by Pados "Paved Track/Dirt Track" regarding the history of the Vineland Speedway in New Jersey and the Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania. To gain further information regarding the fine publications from the Coastal 181 Group, check out their website at http://www.coastal181.com

Heat races were run off quickly and Sportsman heat wins went to David Coene, Ray See Jr and the returning Frank Venezia. Tyler Dippel, Kyle VanDuser and newcomer Tyler McKee were victorious in the Spec Sportsman qualifiers. Modified heats were claimed by Mike Ricci, Danny Creeden and Andy Bachetti. Pro Stock heats saw John Roese and Paul Aragon claim wins and the Pure Stock division heats went Dan Speedling and Gary Ronk. Lightning Sprint heats saw Jon Moore and Justin Phillips claim victories.

New cars and drivers added to the luster of the evening as the Modified ranks were bolstered by the return of veteran campaigner "Slick" Rick Mill, Garden State hot shoe David Hunt and Empire State driver Al McCoy. The Sportsman ranks saw Chris Adams, Frank Venezia and JD Taylor in the second Bloom owned racer. Mike Traver and Tyler McKee were newcomers to the Spec Sportsman ranks while "The Dirty Dog" Darrell Ford did double duty during the evening. Jeff and Jason Meltz were new additions to the Pure Stock ranks and Bill Roese was a new addition to the Pro Stock roster. The Lightning Sprints saw Mike Babgley and Zack Bennett doing duty at the speedway.

Longtime friend of the Palmer Family and former racer himself Brian Lynch was up from the state of Florida to take in the great racing at Accord and to assist Gary Palmer with a couple of projects at the speedway.

Account Representative Dave Neff, from the local minor league professional baseball team the Hudson Valley Renegades, took in the show and was thoroughly impressed with the great racing that took place on the speedway.

RESULTS

All American Ford Modifieds: Danny Creeden, Jeff Heotzler Sr, Jerry Higbie, Andy Bachetti, Danny Tyler, Rich Ricci Jr, Mike Ricci, Scott Ferrier, Will Auchmoody, Richard Smith, Tyler Boniface, Rick Mill, Chris Minardi, David Hunt, Al McCoy, Roy Williams, Brian Krummel, Brad Rothaupt, David Bush
Camper's Barn Sportsman: Kevin Ward, Greg McCloskey, David Coene, Jimmy Wells, Anthony Perrego, Ray See Jr, Darrell Ford, Chris Stevens, Jesse Marks, Mike Skelly, Vinny DeCicco, Dave Werber, Kenny Ferrier, Tom Cole, Jeff Hulseapple, JD Taylor, Frank Venezia, Joe Giachinta, Will Dietz, Randy Green, Mike Barrett, Tyler Dippel, Brad Szulewski
Healey Brothers Group Spec Sportsman: Kyle VanDuser, Joe Judge, Tommy Johnson, Tyler McKee, Kenny Boniface, Brian McGuire, Darrell Ford, Rich Ricci III, Mike Traver, Phil Johnson, Nick Plumstead, Andrew Reeves, John Sundlof, Tyler Dippel, Mike DuBois, Andrew Smith, Lem Atkins, Mike Lewis
Ruge's Parts Center Pro Stocks: John Roese, Paul Aragon, Wayne Taylor, Ralph Ronk, Emerson Cargain Jr, Bill Rion, Bill Roese, Troy Arnold, Charlie Rose, Chris Travis, John Rood, Jimmy Sykes, Dave Demorest, Hank Morin, Ron Rion
Arkel Motors Pure Stocks: Curfewed until August 10th
WRWD Radio Lightning Sprints: Rich Wood, Justin Phillips, Peter Dance, Joe Szczapa, Dale Friedly, Phil Bessette, Jon Moore, Jerry Sehn, Joey Bonetti, Rick Stone, Zack Bennett, Mike Babgley, Kyle Smith, Doug Norrie, Jason Roe

Racing is on tap every Friday night from April through September. Pit Gates open at 4:30; Spectator Gates open at 5:00; Hot Laps are at 6:30 and the racing begins at 7 PM. The Palmer Family in keeping true to their racing fans will show no increase in admission at the gate for regular shows with admission for Adults $12.00 (12+) Children $3.00 (11+ under) Indoor Seating $20.00; Family four pack special: 2 Adults + 2 Children and $20.00 in Food Vouchers for $40.00 (a savings of $10.00) August 10th brings Kingston Nissan Night into the Accord Speedway along with the WRWD Radio Lightning Sprints and the Upstate Limousine/Village Drop Shop Fireball Four Cylinders.

Midweek Madness presented by Hudson Valley Cycle continues Wednesday evening August 8th and runs through August 29th. For further updates and information regarding all of the news and additions to the Accord Speedway, log on to their very well documented website at: http://www.accordspeedway.com or call the speedway hotline at: 845 626 3478. For video work and the latest Accord Speedway racing action and racing videos from the golden era of the sport, contact Danny Ody at: 518 869 7631 or go his website at: http://www.oldspeedways.com For the purchase of banquet, action or victory lane track photos or special orders, contact Kevin at: http://kbsracingphotos.com