Lancaster, New York – Lancaster Raceway Park closed out its stock car season with a bang with the 19th Annual US Open. Over 200 race teams were on hand, all wanting to add their names to the prestigious US Open Trophy. When all was said and done Chuck Hossfeld, Todd Hoddick, Kirk Rutherford, Mike Nichols, John Julicher Jr. Dave Wollaber, Brandon Hirsch, and Dennis Tybor were the 2007 US Open winners.
The US Open was split into a two day event with qualifying for all divisions on Saturday along with the Four Cylinder, Cup Lite, Super Stock, and SST Sportsman features.
Kicking off the feature events were the Thiel Motorsports Four Cylinders who, as always, put on a great beating, banging show for the fans. Twenty three cars took to Lancaster's inner oval with Jerry Carpenter leading the way from the pole starting position. The race was action packed from the start with cars all over the track and surrounding grass! Brandon Hirsch was a man on a mission though working his way up to third from his eighth place starting position by lap four. On a restart on lap seven, Carpenter's chance for the win evaporated as he was forced to pull off for a flat tire, handing the lead over to the driver of the 48 car. This put Hirsch right on the back bumper of the leader and he took advantage of the opportunity, taking the lead on lap twelve. Hirsch held onto to capture the Four Cylinder US Open feature win.
Next up on the feature schedule were the Ray Laks Resale Super Stocks. Twenty one cars were pitside but only fifteen made the call for the race. The field was filled though with Lancaster regulars and out of town "invaders", making for an interesting racing mix. Jake Logsdon started on the pole but his day would come to an early end as he hit the inside pit wall foam. The complete restart for the field put Jay Canonico, JW Flagler, Dave Johnson, Frank Batista, Mike Nichols, and Bobby Lippa Jr. at the front of the pack. Johnson and Nichols began to charge through the pack and soon became the front two runners. The Super Stock ROC Winner Nichols was not content with second and passed Johnson on the third lap. Lippa was also on the move and up to third, trying to catch leaders Nichols and Johnson and caught them by lap ten. Lippa and Johnson began battling for second, with Lippa gaining the position but also allowing Nichols to gain a half a straight away advantage. Lap 26 saw a late race yellow flag and regrouped the field together – Nichols, Lippa, Johnson, Batista, Bernhard, and Roesch. After the restart Lippa gave it everything he had to try to get around Nichols but it just wasn't enough. Mike Nichols crossed the finish line first for his first Lancaster US Open win.
The Cup Lite Racing Series was up next and fourteen cars took to the track for their feature race. Nelson rung and Jason Keen started on the front row with Dennis Tybor right behind them in third. Keen jumped into the lead at the drop of the green and just a few laps later began fighting off a challenge by Brian Wiesenburg. By lap fifteen the front running trio of Wiesenburg, Scott Wylie, and Tybor began to separate themselves from the rest of the field. After swapping the lead between themselves on and off, Tybor finally grabbed the top spot on lap 36. However Wylie wasn't content to sit back and let Tybor get away and challenged him right back. Finally as the laps clicked away Tybor was able to grab a sufficient enough led to cruise home to the Cup Lite US Open win.
Saturday night's main event was the Lorigo Insurance SST Sportsman feature which had thirty top notch drivers in the field including Tony Hanbury, George Kent, Kirk Rutherford, TJ Potrzebowski, and Nick Cappelli. Leading the field to the green flag was the front row of Tony Hanbury and Kirk Rutherford. Rutherford took command of the lead on the first lap with Hanbury, Potrzebowski, and Bobby Holmes falling in behind him. Further back in the field Tom MacLeod was moving up along with Erick Rudolph, who had to race through the consi to make the main event. A series of yellow flags dotted the first portion of the 75 lap shaking up the running order in the field. Rudolph had the quickest car on the track, taking third from Potrzebowski by lap 19 and took second from Hanbury just two laps later. At the halfway point, Rudolph was all over leader Rutherford looking for a way around him. Rudolph's luck would change for the worse however as on a lap 46 restart Rudolph lost control of the car and slammed the outside wall. He was okay but his night was over. With twenty laps to go Rutherford, Hanbury, Potrzebowski, and Billy Burd began to pull away from the rest of the field. However, a few late race cautions again regrouped the field allowing Hanbury a few more shots at Rutherford. Rutherford had the car to beat though and went on to win his second consecutive SST US Open win.
The cars and drivers were back on Sunday for another action packed day of racing with the TQ Midgets, Street Stocks, Late Models, and Modifieds.
The Probity Group TQ Midgets were slated to run first in the day's schedule and fifteen cars took to the inner oval. Mark Schulz started on the pole and he had Arik McGruder right next to him. The biggest threat was right behind him in the form of Dave Wollaber, who has been on a roll lately. A few early cautions put Wollaber directly behind Schulz with Collard, McGruder, Vinny Christiano Jr., and Wayne Turbull following in the top six. On lap nine Wollaber made his move to the inside of Schulz and took command of the race. Collard took advantage of Wollaber's inside move and went by Schulz for second. Collard went on to challenge Wollaber, not allowing him to create a huge lead over the field. With just two laps to go the yellow flag once again appeared and it was the "Christiano Army" battling it out amongst themselves for the top spots with Wollaber, Collard, Schulz, and Christiano Jr. as the top four cars. Wolllaber held off the late race challenge from his teammates and went on to capture his second straight and third overall US Open TQ Midget feature win.
The fan favorite McGard Street Stocks were next up and after a LeMans style introduction on the front stretch, they were ready for their forty lap feature. Cory Gallagher, John Julicher Jr., Jeff Madill, Jason Deiter, and Scott Mutka were the top five starters and at the drop of the green, Julicher jumped ahead of Gallagher for the lead. The yellow flag appeared a few times in the beginning stages of the race and by lap six, although Julicher maintained the lead, he now had Madill, Tim Garlock, John Hewson, and Scott Mutka on his tail. Garlock was soon on Julicher's bumper, challenging hard for the lead. Garlock challenged hard for the lead for the majority of the race until Mutka passed him for the second position on lap 32. Mutka now only had eight laps to try to get around leader Julicher. Mutka had a few strong runs at Julicher but he was unable to get around him. Julicher captured his first US Open Street Stock feature win and was followed by Mutka, Hewson, Wayne Lavis, and Cory Gallagher. Third place finisher Garlock was disqualified following post race inspection.
The Bobcat of Buffalo Late Models took to the track for their 75 lap feature event with a strong twenty six car field. The top five starters for the prestigious race were Todd Hoddick, Mark Bliss, Chris Ross, Bill Matuszak, and Scott Skora. Two yellow flags in quick succession appeared jumbling the running order throughout the field. On the restarts Bliss challenged Hoddick for the lead with some great side by side racing. Hoddick prevailed each and every time though, maintaining his lead. Behind the leaders Will Thomas had taken control of third while Ross, and Bobby Weber comprised the rest of the top five runners. 2007 Lancaster Late Model Bobby Weber raced into fourth position and the field ran single file behind him. At the halfway point of the race Hoddick had a firm command of the lead while Bliss and Thomas were a bit back in second and third, and Weber raced by himself in fourth. Although more caution flags appeared from halfway to the end of the race, Hoddick, Bliss, and Thomas maintained their top running spots. After losing the 2007 Lancaster Late Model championship by just ten points, Hoddick ended his season on a winning note by capturing the Late Model US Open Late Model feature win.
The race that everyone was waiting for was the last race of the 19th Annual US Open – the RoC Modifieds. Twenty-six "Mighty Modifieds" were on hand for the feature. The top twelve from Saturday's heats redrew for the pole. Kirk Rutherford had first pick and picked the lucky number 1 starting spot. The rest of the top five redraws were Buck Catalano, Daren Sherer, Slater, and Mike Leaty. Chuck Hossfeld pulled the worst chip – number 12. At the drop of the green flag Rutherford took the early lead ahead of B. Catalano and M. Leaty but appeared to have some handling issues with the car. By lap ten, B. Catalano took advantage of the ill handling Rutherford and took command of the race. The field sorted themselves out in single file fashion and were running B. Catalano, Rutherford, Sherer, M Leaty, John Markovic, Tom McGrath, Erick Rudolph, Hossfeld, Patsy Catalano, and Billy Putney. Lap 41 saw the first caution of the 100 lapper as TJ Potrzebowski spun. The pits were opened up at lap 44 and Rudolph, Hossfled, Putney, Wilbur Hebing, Sege Fidanza, Jan Leaty, Pete Brittain, Brett Scherrer, Mark Tychoniewicz, and Potrzebowski all hit pit road.
Chaos would ensue on the first lap on the restart though as a huge pileup on the backstretch occurred. Involved in the wreck were JR Kent, Rick Kluth, Jimmy Zacharias, Putney, Hossfeld, Fidanza, Hebing, Rudolph, and J. Leaty. Fidanza, Hebing, Rudolph, and J. Leaty were all finished for the day. Under the yellow flag for the wreck, Rutherford and M. Leaty pitted too early and were sent tail for the infraction.
The lap 51 restart order had Jim Storace, JR Kent, Tom McGrath, Kluth, and Hossfeld up front. Hossfeld soon began his charge through the field, diving under Kluth to take fourth and then going high on the Kent to take third position just two laps later. Again just two laps later Hossfeld went to the high side of McGrath and captured second place and began hounding Storace for the lead. On Lap 59 Hossfeld got under Storace coming off of turn four and took the race lead.
Behind Hossfeld Potrzebowski, Brittain, Rutherford and M. Leaty were making their way through the field with Brittain up to fourth, Potrzebowski into fifth, and Rutherford and Leaty rebounding to tenth and eleventh after their penalty by lap 61.
The red flag appeared on lap 63 as Brett Scherrer took a hard hit into the turn four Thermal Foam. Rutherford had issues on the restart and dropped back from fifthe with brake issues. With 30 laps to go, Hossfeld led Brittain, M. Leaty and B Catalano but on lap 75 B. Catalano slowed with a failed clutch and retired on lap 76.
Just 20 laps remained and front three of Hossfeld, Brittain, and M. Leaty separated themselves from the rest of the field to race out the top three spots. Behind them John Markovic and P. Catalano raced each other, with both having good runs late in the race. With jut five more laps left in the race, Hossfeld could start breathing a little easier as Mike Leaty lost touch from the leading two after being held up behind some lap cars. Brittain also began to give Hossfeld some breathing room.
Hossfeld held on to capture the RoC Modified US Open win while second place finisher Pete Brittain captured 2007 RoC Champion. Also unofficially decided was the Lancaster Modified Championship with had Buck Catalano beating out Hossfeld by just two points.
From Lori Overdorf
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