Tommy Meier - McKee wins; Tommy has problems

McKee wins; Tommy has problems

06/04/09

McKee wins OCFS feature

Points leader Chuck McKee became the sixth modified winner in six weeks of racing on Saturday night at Orange County Fair Speedway, beating Brett Hearn by 0.4 seconds. Tommy Meier, who has consistently been one of the fastest cars, had a rear-end gear failure early in the feature race.

McKee started seventh and quickly worked his way toward the front. He moved into fourth place on lap seven of 30. He passed Gary Edwards Jr. and runner-up Kirk Horton for second on lap 13 and displaced Steve Dodd on lap 14. McKee leads defending champion David Van Horn Jr. by 34 points.

Hearn, making his first OCFS appearance since opening night, started 11th and made up little ground over the first eight laps but he moved into seventh on lap nine, sixth on lap 10 and fourth on lap 13. Hearn passed Horton on lap 14 and Dodd on lap 29.

Dodd, Horton and Edwards Jr. finished 3-4-5. Van Horn Jr., Danny Creeden, Chris Whitehead, Jesse Kline and Ric Hill rounded out the top 10 running order. Dodd started on the pole in a special elimination race and rode it to victory over runner-up Van Horn Jr.

Defending sportsman champion Mike Ruggiero won his first race since opening night, beating Joe Conklin by almost a full second and re-taking the points lead. Erik Holmgren, Matt Hitchcock and Anthony Perrego finished 3-4-5. Ruggiero leads Hitchcock by six points.

Bill Pascual won his third pro stock feature of the season, beating Scott Kehr by almost a half-lap. Pascual leads Mike Dutka by 37 points.

Points leader Matt Burke won his first race of 2009 in the amateur pure stock division. Burke leads Frank Thissen by two points.