High Octane R/C Friday Night Fever Rd. 3

    This week at High Octane R/C was the third round of a twelve week point series called Friday Night Fever.

    The weather outside was unseasonably warm and the action on the ultra fast indoor clay off road track was just as warm for a Friday night in February. Racers from all over NY filled the pits with their high tech 1/10 th scale 2 wheel drive trucks and the very popular and exciting 4x4 wheel drive class.

    High Octane R/C opened their new facility in late 2011 hoping to be the exclusive indoor dirt track in central NY.  It is working, brothers Pete, and Nate Reyes run the track, and on site hobby shop in Syracuse N.Y. They have had a lot of help through out their business venture, from the Levy brothers bringing in the clay and creating a very nice race surface as well as a host of other racers giving a  helping hand for their racing program three days a week. The race program is getting better every week as the wrinkles are getting ironed out making it a good show to participate in.

Cruz Zachary Leads Matt Levy, and Dave Compton during the pro 4x4 A-Main

     Round three proved to be another good night of racing with 58 entries filling the pits. Six classes make up the program of racing from the newest r/c Racers to the Willey veteran's that have been at it since the eighties. As the night gets started each of drivers scrambles to get the correct setup in their machine. Each trying to figure out what tire will work on the ultra fast Clay surface. The pits have an aroma of (Simple Green) which is used to clean and soften the tires. After the first two rounds of racing Dan Levy finds himself tied with his brother Matt atop the 17.5 two wheel drive class with Clay Wheaton and Dave Stisser close behind in third and fourth. In the 17.5 Sportsman two-wheel drive class Rob Mathews  clings to a six point lead over Giuseppe Barbieri going into the nights race. 13.5 Pro is a close battle as well with Jeff Hotaling holding a eight point lead over Sam Leary and Bill Suave who are tied for second. Anthony Scott holds the lead in 13.5 sportsman. In the all exciting 4x4 Open Pro Class Matt Levy keeps his 12 point lead over Nate Reyes and brother Dan Levy. Ross Leone and Nick Derose are battling for the top spot in 4x4 Open Sportsman.

Kevin Crandall wrestles his two -wheel drive around the tight turns during a heat race.(www.rcsoup.com)

 Pete started taking sign ups early this week to try and help get the drivers out of there at a decent time. The first heat in 4x4 Open Pro was a great battle for the top spot between Matt Levy and Cruz Zachary. As the horn sounded the trucks raced into turn one jockeying for racing room. Matt Levy appeared first out of the gaggle of trucks with Stisser, D. Levy and the rest of the field close behind. By lap two Zachary had passed everybody between himself and M.Levy. Chris Spencer was doing a fantastic job behind the mike calling the exciting race for Pete from his perch high above the track. Levy could hear that Zachary was into second, and Stisser now into third. As the clock wound down Matt found himself in the TQ spot and Stisser crossing the line for second. Cruz had a wire come off his battery on the final lap putting him into a hole for the second round.

    Cruz finished second to Levy in round two with 22 laps putting him second behind Levy in the main.

Matt Levy trying to get around Fellow AFU-2 driver Chris Spencer in the 13.5 Pro Class

17.5 Two-wheel drive pro Cortland's Dave Stisser Racked up 21 laps in round two putting him in the field for the nights A-main. Stisser went on on beat out Brian Bush, and (Jimbo) Jim Sherman   in the night A-main.
    Rob Mathews took the top spot in the 17.5 Sportsman A-MAIN. 13.5 Sportsman A-MAIN saw Caleb Hall edge out Justin Harden for the win with 28 laps.

    Next up was the 4x4 Open Pro A-Main with special announcer Chris Spencer calling the very tight battle for the points. Matt Levy And Cruz Zachary lead the field into the first turn setting up what looked like another epic battle between the veteran and the rookie. Cruz was on Matt's back bumper for the first few laps looking for a place to put his nose under Levy. As the two pulled away, Stisser and Bush were waging a war of their own for the their own for the third spot. Zachary looked under Matt right before the table top , but pulled back out setting Matt up for a move coming onto the back stretch. As Cruz hugged the pipe on the bottom Levy squeezed Zachary to the pipe giving himself a little breathing room going into the sweeper. Cruz got hung up on the pipe and fell back to fourth as Bush And Stisser flew by. Zachary once again worked his way back up to the second spot a ahead of Stisser. The two battled back and fourth until the came together coming down to the drivers stand. By this point Matt had started to lap the other trucks in the field. At the final horn Levy had taken the top spot with Brian Bush and Stisser second and third. Nate Reyes finished a strong fourth, and Dan Levy rounding out the top five.

Stisser leads the field through turn one in the 4x4 Open Pro class

    Jeff Hotaling held off a charging Matt Levy to take the honers in 13.5 Pro with Chris Spencer and Dan Levy a close third and fourth.

    Check out all the action images at http://silentshots.smugmug.com

Corn field classic 2011

Tully’s Annual Cornfield Classic Lax Invitational.

    Around 40 Lacrosse teams visited the small Central N.Y. town of Tully for their annual Cornfield Classic Lacrosse invitational. Teams traveled from all over New York and other states like Massachusetts, and New Jersey to take part in a wonderful tournament. Showcasing their talent for college recruiters from some of the biggest Lacrosse programs in the nation.

Conner Johnston

    The First games of this ever-growing event kicked off at 8:00 am on ten fields through out The Tully campus. Each team played 10 on 10 with two 25-minute halves. Score was kept for the first half and then the coaches would play their benches through out the rest of the game. This gave everybody a chance to play in front of recruiters from collages like SU, Cornell, Army, Hobart, Penn and other Dl- Dll, Dll schools.

Anthony Contento

    The Homer Trojans first game was the JV squad taking on Victor at 8:00 am on field 1 kicking off the day’s events. The Trojans played a tight game against Victor tying 4-4 at the end of the game. The Trojans JV team played their second game on field 1 as well winning that game 4-2 over Jamesville Dewitt. Dean Riley played a great game with a couple goals helping the Trojans get by JD for their second game of the day.

    Homer’s varsity first game was at 10:00 on field 7 against Watertown IHC for their first game. Both teams started out a little rusty. Neither team could get their offense clicking for the first few minutes of the first half. Watertown would strike first at the 19:00 mark getting one past Homer goal Keeper Jonathon Cottrell giving them a 1-0 lead early in the game. Aaron Zimmerman put Homer on the board after a nice goal from around the right side making it 1-1. As the clock clicked away you could see the rust falling off the players and they started to make good decisions and made some strong shots on goal. IHC put another one in the back of the goal to take the lead 2-1. The Trojans Defense started to look better the more the game went on. Anthony Contentoe made some nice plays for the Trojans getting the ball back and putting his squad in position to score another goal making it 2-2 with 12 minutes left on the running clock. The shooters for Homer seemed to take some quick shots not setting up for a good look on goal. Watertown scored again taking a 3-2 point lead. Aaron Zimmerman tied it up with a rebound shot making it 3-3. The Trojans ended up leading 4-3 at ½ time giving them the win.

    The second ½ was just as exciting as the first with both teams getting some good shots. Dyson Sprouse, and Casey Cleary both scored helping their team on the offensive side. Conner Johnston won some hard fought face-offs in the middle of the field for the Trojans as well, playing a big part in the teams win over IHC.

Josh Maxson

Field 1 was the site of Homer’s JV’s next game against Liverpool. The JV Trojans looked really good in their third game of the day.  This game was all Homer with a slew of goals from a few of their starters on the offensive side of the field. The defense played a solid game as well getting the ball back for their shooters on the other end of the field.

    Coach Cottrell’s Varsity team walked onto field 7 again for their second game against Ironderquoit. This game was pretty ugly from the start for the Trojans. Ironderquoit looked like they have been playing together all year. They scored at will against the usually strong Trojan defense. The Trojans had some good shots on goal, but they just couldn’t find a hole between the pipes to put them on the board until Zimmerman finally made a nice shot to score making it 9-1 Ironderquoit in the first half.  The Trojans fell to far behind in the first half to make a run at them in the second half to even make a game of it.

    In past years homer had good success in Tully, but this year they head into the winter with some work to do before the spring season gets here.

    Check out all of the action shots at http://silentshots.smugmug.com

Two Unbeaten Teams Go Head To Head

    The Homer Trojans JV football team came into last nights game 7-0 facing a strong 7-0 Cazenovia squad that was looking to go 8-1. A lot of local fans came out on this chilly October night to support their team and to watch a very close game.

    Homer won the coin toss excepting to receive the kick off to start the game. After a small return the Trojans offense took to the field looking to get their running game going, but fumbled the ball on their own 20 giving Caz the ball deep in the red zone. The Lakers came out with a QB keeper for a quick TD giving them a early 6-0 lead. Homer's next possession wasn't much better as they went three and out having to punt the ball away. Again the Cazenovia Lakers ran a QB keeper for a 40 yard TD run. The extra point try was no good making the score 13-0 Caz. 6:37 left in the first quarter. Homer lined up for the kick off and #44 Gage Root had a nice return setting up the Homer offense on the 46 yard line for a first down. The Trojans came out and handed the ball off to freshmen tail back Jayden Gavidia for a big 54 yard touch down run putting the Trojans on the board 13-6 (5:33)

Alec Bush

The strong Homer "D" GETTING A SACK!

    Homer's coaching staff called a on sides kick (that worked against Cortland) for their next play and it worked again giving the Trojans the ball at mid field. Cazenovia's defense stepped up and stopped Homer making them punt. The punt was downed inside the ten which set up a safety from the blue defence making it 13-8 Caz. You could see the momentum start to shift to the home team and they took full advantage of it by a 35 yard run around the right side by Alec Bush, giving Homer a 16-13 lead with 1:55 left in the 1st quarter. A few minutes into the second quarter the Laker's recovered a Trojan's fumble. They then ran around the left hand side for another TD. The extra point was no good. Score 19-16 Caz. # 20 Chris Birchenough lead Homer's next drive with some huge runs up the middle, moving the ball down into Lakers territory. A false start penalty finally ended the impressive drive giving the ball back to the powerful Cazenovia offense. Homer stepped up on the next set of downs by stopping the visitors and getting the ball back after a big fourth down stop. The horn sounded at the end of the first half with a close score of 19-16 Lakers. 

    The second half started out with both team struggling to get a substantial drive going making it a defensive struggle until #67 Anthoney Basile recovered a fumble and ran it in for a Trojan's Touch Down. The two point conversion was good with a pass from QB # 10  Eric Petrie to Homer's Receiver #84 Conner Simonetta making it 24-19 Trojans. Cazenovia bounced back with a pass for a TD taking the lead back 27-24. Homer's Birchenough put together some powerful runs giving Homer a TD at the 5:31 mark increasing their lead to 30- 27. The Trojans recovered another on sides kick to give them a chance to take the lead and put the game away. Cazenovia's "D" came out with other plans and stopped the Trojans getting the ball back with three minutes left in the game. The lakers tried to run their QB a couple times, but were stopped bringing up third down. The home town fans were cheering DEFENSE DEFENSE, trying to encourage the Big Blue. The Lackers set up their third down play with a wide open pass to the right side giving them 1st and goal on the 3 yard line. Homer stopped them with their goal line defense for the first two attempts, but # 8 for Caz. ran a QB sneak up the gut for a game winning TD. The game was as good as the pre - game build up said it would be. One team had to loose, but they both played outstanding and should be proud of their seasons.  

    

Friesen Wins Two In a Row ?

    Super Dirt Week XL ended with some controversy and a smashed Trophy.The weather was absolutely perfect for the 40th anniversary running of the richest dirt track race in the world. Fans from all over the Northeast and Canada filled the Huge N.Y. State Fairgrounds for what turned out to be a very exciting finish.
    Saturday brought another Sunny day that was filled with great racing for all of the DIRTcar fans, with the Nationwide 150 and the Sportsman championship race Saturday afternoon.the day started with the non qualifiers race for the small blocks, with the points leader Carey Terrance taking the win putting him in the field for the 358 main event. Terrance ran into engine problems in his twin twenty race on Friday night making him have to race his way in through the last chance race.
    The field was now set for the Nationwide 150 that was going to be run early in the afternoon. All of the cars were lined up on pit road and the fans had an opportunity to see the crews preparing their modifies for battle on the "Moody Mile". Tires might play a part in the out come of the days race, with the track being really hard from all of the laps that had been run on it all week. Billy Decker was looking to make it four wins in a row at Syracuse winning the last three Nationwide 150 races. Andy Berchetti joined Decker on the front row for the start of the 358 feature. T-Mac Tim McCreadie were in the field along with Pat Ward, Danny (The Doctor) Johnson and all of the fast 358 drivers from the northeast. They all would like to put this win in their resume at the end of the day.

Billy Decker sideways in turn 3

    Decker pulled out into the lead when the green flag dropped setting up what would be the best place to be though out the race. Decker was the fastest car at The Mile all week in both the 358 and Big Block classes. Billy had set fast time in both classes and won both of his 20 lap qualifiers Friday night. Team Gypsum was looking to sweep the weeks events with just two more wins for the week. Decker led from lap 1-34 ,then made his mandatory pit stop on a lap 35 caution flag. Billy restarted the race in second place after all the teams made their pit stops. He worked on leader Martin Roy until lap 54 when Decker passed for the lead and never looked back. Friesen tried to make a move on the 91 of Decker on lap 148, but he couldn't make it stick. T-MAC had a fast bullet all day as well. Tim got behind the eight ball when he hit the inside wall in turn three puncturing his left front. At the end of the 150 laps It was Billy Decker winning the $20,000 and his sixth 358 race all time. Stewart Friesen was in the runner up position and Tim McCreadie coming back for a strong third place finish.

    Saturday night race fans migrated their way over to Rolling Wheels Raceway for the once a year appearance of the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. Last years WOO Sprint car Champion Jason Myers came to Elbride, N.Y. with a extra $50,000 in his pocket after winning the Open at Williams Grove Speedway the night before. Myers was looking to win four in a row at the "Fast Track". The temperatures were dipping low, but that didn't keep the fans away as the place was standing room only for the nights winged event. Craig Dollansky set fast time with an average speed of 140 mph on the 5/8th mile dirt track. Myers won the dash putting him on the pole for the nights 25 lap a main. On the start #6 Ian Madsen jumped out into the lead until the red flag flew for a wreck between Tony Stewart Teammates Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz. Kinser's team tried to get his Bass Pro Shops car back into the field but the damage was to much to repair in the infield. On the restart Myers took off into the lead pulling away from the rest of the field to win his fourth straight race in the last week. The win helped Jason increase his points lead on 20 time Outlaws Champion Steve Kinser.

T-MAC

    Early Sunday morning the dew was laying on all the campers and the fans were coming out of their make shift homes for the Grand Finally of the week. The pits were starting to get busy with the non qualifiers making last minute adjustments in their cars hoping to get into the $50,000 to win SEF 200. The Pro Stock cars were being called to the track for their weeks main event. Gater Racing News tent was full of racers and fans for the weeks church services. You could feel the energy in the air with the anticipation of the days main event.

    People were buying their last minute tee- shirts and souvenirs from SDW XL. As the pre race ceremonies were going on the teams were going over their pit stops for the race as well as making final adjustments before the drop of the green flag.

    Each of the drivers maneuvered their cars into the four abreast line up getting ready for the wave lap to the fans in the grandstands.

 
    After the wave lap the drivers settled back into their starting positions. The crew chiefs were on the radios giving last minute plans for the long race ahead. The fans were on their feet as the DIRTcar Modifieds came out of turn four for the start of the SEF 200. The engines came to life down the long Syracuse mile straight away into turn one. Decker jumped out to the early lead with the rest of the field close behind. The 91 of Decker was the class of the field all week. Billy was hoping to tie Brett Hearn with five wins in the SEF 200 this year. The Decker crew has always been Strong at Syracuse and this year was no different. Stewert Friesen came to SDW as the defending champion and the first from Canada to win this sought after race.

Laubach out side of Hearn into turn three

    The race started with a few cautions as the drivers were trying to get into a grove and make some laps.  After the first set of pit stops Fiesen passed Decker for the lead, letting everyone know that he would be strong all day . The track held up pretty good with only a few holes in the corners. Local Favorite Matt Shepperd lead from lap 42-71, retired after loosing a left rear wheel. Sheppaerd finished 29th. Hearn's bad luck continued when his power plant went bad on lap 104. On lap 150 Rick Laubach went into the pits for his mandatory stop that would put him out front for the last fifty laps. Laubach looked like he had out smarted Decker and Friesen, but he was caught speeding down pit road. That played into #44 Friesens favor giving him the lead with less than fifty to go. Decker tried to get by Stewert by going inside and then working the outer groove. Friesen would have none of that holding off Decker to take the checkers and his second SEF 200 in as many years. Friesen was fined $25,000 dollars after post race inspection showed that he had an enlarged fuel cell. He was not happy about the findings and smashed the trophey showing his dissapointment. His crew chief Matt Hearn was the youngest Crew Chief to win at Syracuse at the young age of 22. Decker took over the points lead going into Brockville the following week.

Decker Doubles Up At Syracuse

    As the early morning frost burned off, the pits started buzzing with action from the teams getting ready for the two premier DIRTcar series classes. This would be the first time the drivers would get to make laps on the Mile this year.

Billy Decker

    The DIRTcar 358 Modifieds were first to run onto the "Moody Mile". The surface was on the wet side for the first few laps, but soon dried out and became faster every lap. The sun was starting to help put down rubber for the start of many laps on the "old girl". Each team was looking to get a set up into the car that would be good for the afternoons Time Trial action in both classes.

 (52)  DIRTcar 358 Modifieds ran their two qualifying laps, trying to get locked into the top six spots for Saturdays Nationwide 150. Friday night the rest of the competitors will have to race their way into the field, by running two qualifying races under the lights.

    Billy Decker ran his Gypsum Sponsored 358 Modified around the mile at 114.22 mph and posting the pole winning time @31.517. Andy Bachetti ran a quick lap of 31.762 putting him on the outside front row for Saturdays race. David Hebert, Willy Decker, Matt Shepard and #99l Larry Wight rounded out the top six for the running of the Nationwide 150.

    Next to take to the track were 62 Big Block DIRTcar Modifieds, each looking to put down a fast lap getting them into the top six spots for Sundays SEF 200

Andy Bachetti

Billy Decker's Big Block was Stout posting a 29.927 lap at 120.293 MPH, giving him the pole for the second time in the day. #49 Billy Dunn was the only other car to break into the 29 second bracket with a 29.936 putting him up on the front row for the start of Sundays big event. Rounding out the top six were Genoa's own Pat Ward, Tim (T MAC ) McCreadie, last years winner Sterwert Friesen and past champion Matt Shepard. The Track started to break up in the corners the more laps they put on it. We all hope that he famous holes do not develop this year in the corners, giving the teams fits through out the weeks racing.

    Friday the cars take to the track again with the Sportsman and Pro Stock cars making their first appearance of the week in Syracuse. Friday nights qualifying races will be run under the lights making it tougher for the teams to hit on a good race setup.
                                                                                                                                                               

Planck Get The First Win Of SDW XL At Cayuga County Speedway.

      Weedsport Speedway kicked of Super Dirt Week XL with a DIRTcar 358 Series Race as well as a Sportsman Modified race last night. Dale Planck from Homer, N.Y., a long time veteran of the series took home $4.000 after winning the 75-lap DIRTcar Modified Series race.

    Planck driving his Twin Leaf Express, Teo-Pro Modified dominated the star studded field, pulling out to a five second advantage midway in the event. Dale worked his way to the front from the seventh starting spot and on lap 38 wrestled the lead from early leader Danny Johnson from Rochester, N.Y. Dale also won a DIRTcar Series race at Cornwall Motor Speedway in Ontario Canada earlier in the year.

    Frankie Caprara had a good race with early leader Johnson finally getting by to take the second spot, nearly a straight away behind Planck. Danny Johnson finished  third, with Jimmy Phelps and Brett Hearn rounding out the top five. Planck's teammate Carey Terrance finished 11th keeping his DIRTcar Series Point lead.

    Dale will serve as Terrance's crew chief for the events at Syracuse. The team decided to focus on Carey winning the 358 DIRTcar Modified Series Point Title. Planck said "We just don't have the man power to field cars for both of us, plus run all the satellite races this week" Planck will also be racing his WOO Latemodel and 358 Modified at Rolling wheels on Thursday night looking pull the triple for the week and adding some $$$$ to his account.

SUPER DIRT WEEK 40 Preview

    The sun is going to shine on the 40th running of the fall classic in Syracuse. The campers started moving in to the massive NYS fairgrounds, for a week of Dirt Modified Racing.

    Today's Happy Hour Practice was cancelled due to the last two days of rain in the area. Track officials chose to stay off the track and let it sit until a full day of Modified madness on Thursday. Thursday at noon at least 16 of the past race champions will come back to the Moody Mile to relive some old memories as well as do some bench racing with some dedicated fans. Two time winner Buzzie Reutiman, four time winner Gary Balough will be among the cast of champions to talk to the media. Jack Johnson, Jimmy Horton, Kenny Brightbill, Brett Hearn, The Johnson boy's, and the most recent winners will attend the 12:00pm media event Thursday.

    Over 80 cars lined up under the main grandstands Tuesday for inspection that has become a event it's self over the years. Today a boat load of more cars will line up for the yearly inspection to start off the week of racing. A lot of things have changed since the first time I attended this race. From the cars them selves to the nice black top in the infield for the motor homes, and campers that pack the facility for the entire week. I remember camping in the horse barns the first few years before we had to move to infield in turn three. Most years we would be in turn three fighting off the bad weather, and water running over our shoes, just trying to survive for a week. I have met a lot of great people through out the years that remain friends today.

    This year will be the first time I've been back since 2001, I feel like a little kid again waiting to see all of the new cars.  The weather report looks to be beautiful for this years race, with sunshine and temps. in the 60, and 70's.

    This years SEF Small Engine Fuel 200 will have a new twist. Between laps 150-175 drivers will have to make a mandatory pit stop for fuel. In the past teams have made this a race a fuel mileage event. Officials have put this pit stop in, trying to make a more exciting finish for the fans.

    The infield is starting to fill up with big campers/Motor Homes. Cars are in the pits also, with the likes of Tim McCreadie is in the pits standing around chatting with friends. Last years winner Stewart Friesen is also here looking to repeat this year in the 200. Matt Sheppard has two cars under a tent being worked on as we speak.

The front stretch is the only part of the track that is wet, the rest of the surface is nice, and ready to run.

                     
It is great to see all of the new equipment here for the richest Dirt Track Race in the country. Danny Johnson is here with one car looking for another win at the Moody Mile. The vendors are busy setting up their displays awaiting the massive crowd that will fill this place for the rest of the week. Some of the fans are digging trenches across the road waysto put their water lines and electrical cords underground saving them from the traffic that will be constant here in the infield.
Stay tuned all this week for updates on all of the action her in Syracuse.

 

2010 Winner Stewart Fresien