ALNRS News
Newburgh, NY — With a 6th place finish in Lee USA Speedway’s Octoberfest and only one race to go Randolph, VT driver Dylan Smith took  a commanding lead in the hunt for the 2008 ALNRS Championship. For the second race in a row Dighton, MA driver James Logan who held the points lead for the first eight races of season found himself on the outside of the track looking in as his #44 G. Lopes Construction, Bristol County Collision, Bristol County Vactions.com Ford Thunderbird would suffered a ignition failure midway through the feature race relegating him to a last place finish, this after James battled with Dylan during the second ten lap heat race with James coming away with the win by a nose.  Heat race one was won by Washingtonville, NY driver Paul Tuthill in the #88 Interstate Batteries Ford Thunderbird.
Based on their wins in the heat races Tuthill would start on the pole with Logan on his outside. There were three quick cautions during the first ten laps as the #3 driven by Bennington, NH driver Kyle Poodiack would spin his Peterboro Tool Co. Inc. SIS Photography, Chevy Monte Carlo coming off turn four on lap six. Lap eight would bring out the second caution as the father and son team of Victor and Nathan Johnson of Troy, NH would both spin on the front stretch as they exited turn four. After the restart contact between the #79 After Hours Auto Body, Aggregate Industries, Silver City Spindle Chevy Monte Carlo of Shane D’Agostino of Taunton, MA and the #34 Brookside Customs, Able Mountain Camp Ground Chevy Monte Carlo drive by Dylan Smith would bring out the third caution.
On the restart it would be Tuthill on point followed by Somers, CT driver Cody Gneiting in the MJ Boller Fabricating, Reliable Welding & Speed Ford followed by the #6Â of Shannon Smith, Â who traveled all the way back from North Carolina were she has just started her freshman year in college. Rounding out the top five were aDP Rivet Rookie of the Year contenders Tommy Barrett of Millis, MA and William Schneider of Northport, NY.
Lap eighteen would see the fourth caution of the race as Poodiack and D’Agostino would get together. Lap twenty would see the one and only lead change as Cody would slip past the #88 of Tuthill. It would also bring out the final caution as the #27 William Schneider and the #8 Michael Vasquez, Sr. would get together in the middle of turns one and two with Vasquez ending up on the short side as he spun his #8 KMV Racing & V-Twin Performance Ford Thunderbird.
On the restart Cody would hold off a hard charging Tuthill for the final five laps as he took his first ever win in the ALNRS. Rounding out the top five would be Tuthill, Shannon Smith, David Schneider and D’Agostino.
During a post race inspection of the top three cars ALNRS Tech Inspector Randall Brolsma would find an infraction on both the 89 of Gneiting and the 88 of Tuthill. The 89 would have illegal spacers which were placed in both lower a-arms and the 88 of Tuthill was missing the stock spacer in the lower right a-arm. Both drivers were technically disqualified based on the infractions and both immediately filed a technical protest. The protest was heard by Comp Car of NC officials on Monday, and based on their findings ruled in favor of both drivers much to the joy of Gneiting who finally captured his first ever ALNRS win.
The ALNRS will be off for the next two weeks as the teams prepare for the final race of the season when they attend the New England Outdoor Furnace Fall Challenge at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH on Oct. 25, 2008. Join us as we will crown our 2008 ALNRS Champion.
Sources: ALNRS PR