2003belle

October 3, 2003
Mother Nature won again at Belle Clair Speedway. This was the last night for the 2003 season, see you in 2004.
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September 26, 2003
Weather won on the last scheduled night for points. Next Friday will be the last night of racing at Belle Clair Speedway for the 2003 season.
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Sept. 19, 2003
  The 2003 racing season for Belle Clair Speedway is fast coming to a close as there are only two nights of racing left on the schedule and this past Friday the season championship races were held for the UMP Late Models and UMP Modifieds.

  In the UMP Late Models pits, there were 19 cars on hand. In the first heat, Jimmy Burwell took the win followed by Dan Dondero, Mike Schults, Ron Jarrell, Rick Johnson and Billy Laycock. In the second heat, Jim Morrison won with Mike Hammerle, Rich Lawson, Richie Standridge and Dean Hoffman in tow. The third heat saw the win go to John Bohn with Jim Gibson, Don Klein, Frankie Martin, Dan Jacober and Ken Rumble trailing. The dash was lined up in inverted order by points. It went to Dondero followed by Burwell, Grondzki, Klein, Martin and Hoffman.

  The 25-lap feature lined up by points putting Martin and Hoffman on the front row. The green flag dropped and Martin took the early lead. The racing did not last long as on lap 2 Klein stalled in turn four and caused a chain reaction behind him with Morrison and Hoffman all bumping into one another. The caution was called for Hoffman, who parked his car, which was not working well all night.

  On the restart, Lawson looped his car on the front straight. The restart had Martin, Burwell, Klein, Dondero and Morrison in the top five. Burwell was running the top of the track and took the lead from Martin on lap 5.

  Burwell’s lead only last two lap as Martin retook the lead on lap seven. As the racing was continuing, Burwell lost the lead as he hit the outside front wall and got other of shape, but regained control of the car.

  There was a caution on lap eight for something that was not explained. The running order was now Martin, Burwell, Klein, Morrison and Dondero.

  The race only last two lap before the next caution came out for Schulte’s spin in turn four. The running order did not change from the last restart as Martin continued his march to the checkered flag.

  The racing continued with Martin in command and running on the bottom. The race last four laps before the next caution came out for Jacober in turn four. The up front running order did not change from the last restart.

  With Martin in command, the next change came during this green flag period to the end. Klein developed a left front flat tire and that slowed him down a bit, but he went backwards and would finish as the last car running from a possible third place finish.

   Martin went on to win the season championship race and his fourth feature of the year.   Martin, also, stretched out his command of the point lead and a good chance to win his second consecutive track title. Trailing Martin were Burwell, Morrison, Dondero and Grondzki to complete the top five.

   In the UMP Modified class, there were 20 cars on hand for the racing. In the first heat, Roger Fohne got the win followed by Dean Hoffman, Dave Thornton, Paul Reinneck, Bobby Johnson, Matt Koesterer and Marty Smith Jr. In the second heat, Brian Heizer took the checkered flag with Chris England, Stu Springer, Bobby Bitle, Jesse Carson, and Dave Seger in tow. The third heat went to Marty Smith Sr. with Tom Ratajczyk, Chris Gray, Wayne Downing, Denny Tribout Jr. and Dennis Tarrant in pursuit. The dash was also lined up by inverted point order. England got the victory followed by Ratajczyk, Gray, Thornton, Smith Jr. and Bittle.

  The 20-lap feature lined up by point order with Bittle and Smith Jr. on the front row. It was all Bittle as he got the jump on the dropping of the green flag and never looked back. The race was stopped once for debris on the track.

  The running order on the restart was Bittle, Gray, Smith, Thornton, and England. Bittle continue to lead the race with all the cars using the bottom of the track for their racing.

  Bittle went on to win his seventh feature of the year and stretched his point leading advantage over Smith. Following Bittle across the finish line were Gray, Smith Jr., Thornton and Ratajczyk.

   In the Allied Sportsmen class, there was a strong field of 24 cars on hand.   In the first heat, Dave Grzywacz got the win followed by Mike Harris, Jimmy Cummins, Brian Shubirg, Jeremy Dietzel, Rich Tettaton, Randy Rich and Shawn Seymour. In the second heat, Brian Dawson took the win trailed by Randy Tyson, Paul Bauman, Denny Tribour Sr., Tom Smallwood, Scott Leverich, Steve Malone and Larry Scheafer. The third heat went to Jim Mettille followed by Chris Sale, Chris Smith, Lonnie Casey, Chad Reum, Mike Kurtz, Mark Benedick and Dave Rogers. The dash saw Grzywacz gt his second win of the night with Dawson, Tyson,, Sale, Mettille, and Harris in tow.

  In the feature it was Sale with the win in a good race that almost went green for the 15 lap duration. It was Sale’s second feature win of the season. In second place was Tyson followed by Harris, Grzywacz, and Dawson. Once again the Sportsmen feature race was a good race for the fans to watch. When the Sportsmen can run clean and with few cautions, it is a good race.

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Sept. 12, 2003

  The 2003 racing season at Belle Clair Speedway is rapidly coming to a close as this week the season championship races were held for the Sportsmen and Pure Stock classes. Next week will be the season championship races for the UMP Late Models and UMP Modifieds. All classes had large car counts as Belle Clair was the only track to run on Friday night due to weather.

  In the UMP Late Model division, there were 23 cars in the pits. In the first heat, Don Klein got the victory over Rich Lawson, Mike Hammerle, Dan Dondero, Dan Jacober, Frankie Martin, Justin Anderson and Rickie Standridge. In the second heat, Vince Grondzki was the winner followed by Jim Burwell, Mike Schulte, Ron Jarrell, Ray Emling, Billy Laycock, Tom Carson, and Rick Salter. The third heat saw Jim Morrison get the win followed by Matt Taylor, Ken Rumble, Jeremy Sneed, Jim Gibson, Rick Johnson and Ed Pursell. The dash had Klein get his second win of the night with Grondzki, Morrison, Rumble, Lawson, and Burwell trailing. The semi sent Martin, Gibson, Emling, Carson, Jacober and Standridge to the feature.

   The front row of the 25-lap feature saw Klein and Grondzki take the green flag. Grondzki took the early lead with Morrison, Burwell and Klein following. The first of several cautions came out after completing the first lap for Jacober’s spin in turn one. The running order was Grondzki, Morrison, Burwell, Klein and Rumble.

  On the restart, Grondzki continued to lead, Burwell was running on the top of the track and moving forward. Burwell took the lead on lap 5, but was pressured by Grondzki and Klein.

  The big one came as Grondzki and Morrison got tangled up in turn three and both dropped out. Morrison was black flag for rough driving and Grondzki parked his car after not wanting to go to the back of the line.

  When the racing resumed, the battle for the front was between Burwell on the top and Klein on the bottom. Klein would take the lead and lead several laps to the crowd’s pleasure.

   The next and last caution came out on lap 16 as Sneed lost it in turn four. The top five was Klein, Burwell, Taylor, Dondero and Rumble. The battle for the lead was a good one as Klein continued to run on the bottom and Burwell was using the cushion on the top to move forward.

    The two drivers were putting on a good show for the fans as Burwell took the lead coming out of turn four and tried to hold the lead and get his third win in a row at Belle Clair. The win did not come as Burwell jumped the cushion in turn two on lap 22 and lost ground. Klein took over the lead and went on to hold off Taylor for his first win and the sweep at Belle Clair Speedway in 2003 and for the 65-year-old driver, his 557-career feature win. Following Taylor was Burwell, Hammerle, and Dondero to complete the to five.

    In the UMP Modified class, there were 23 cars on hand and several new drivers.  In the first heat, Chris Gray got the win followed by Danny Haynes, Brian Bielong, Roger Fohne, Mark Clary, Marty Smith, Justin Sneed and Matt Verbeck. In the second heat, Wayne Downing was the winner followed by Brian Heizer, Paul Reinneck, Ricky Heubner, Dave Sandage, Gary Haynes and Mark Steinwagner. In the third heat, Bobby Bittle got the win with Chris England, Tom Ratajczyk, Bobby Johnson, Larry Copelend, Jesse Carson and Mark Stolle in tow. In the dash, Gray got his second win of the night and was followed by Downing, Bittle, Haynes, England and Heizer.  In the dash, Clary, Smith, Carson, Steinwagner, Sneed and Stolle went to the feature.

  In the 20-lap feature, Downing and Haynes started on the front row. Danny Haynes took the early lead while running on the top of the track. The first caution came out on lap two for spinning Sneed in turn four. The running order was Haynes, Downing, England, Gray and Heizer in the top five.

  As the racing continued, Haynes was running on the top of the track and continuing to hold the lead, but was challenged by England and Downing. The second caution came out for Downing as he lost it in turn three and was done for the night. Now the running order was Haynes, England, Gray, Bittle and Hiezer.

  When the racing continued, the battle for the lead was heating up between Haynes, England and Gray. Haynes continues to use the higher line as England worked the whole track and Gray was was on the bottom. Gray took the lead on lap 11 before the next caution.

  That caution came on lap 12 as three cars got together. Clary, Smith and Steinwagener go together with Smith and Steinwagner retiring for the night. The running order was Gray, Haynes, England, Bittle and Bielong.

  When the race restarted, the battle up front was continuing as Gray, England, Haynes and Bittle fought for the lead. Gray was running on the bottom and was smooth. Haynes tried using the top, but started to lose ground to the other drivers. England used the whole track to move forward and take the second place.

  The final caution waved on lap 16 for a spinning Heizer in turn two. The running order was Gray, England, Haynes, Bittle and Bielong.

  Over the final four laps of the event, the top five would change again. Gray went on to collect his third feature victory of the year followed by England, Bittle, Haynes and Ratajczyk to complete the top five.

  In the Allied Sportsmen class, there were 24 cars on hand to fight for the season championship race. In the first heat, Brian Shubirg to the win followed by Brian Dawson, Denny Tribout, Chris Sale, Shawn Seymour, Steve Malone and Larry Scheafer. In the second heat, Brian Eaves took the victory with Tom Smallwood, Jim Mettille, Bob Casey, Chris Smith, Mike Harris, Dave Rogers and Mike Kurtz in tow. The third heat saw Paul Bauman get the win with Mark Benedick, Dave Grzywacz, Jimmy Cummins, Lonnie Casey, Scott Leverich, Rich Tettaton and Dean Pruett trailing. The dash went to Harris followed by Dawson, Bauman, Sale, Grzywacz, and Smith. The semi sent Pruett, L. Casey, Kurtz, Leverich, Shubirg and Eaves to the feature.

  The feature was lined up by points and that gave the front row to Grzywacz and Smith. Smith was driving Mettille’s car as his had problems. Grzywacz took the early lead, but the other up front starters challenged him.

  Bauman continued a steady drive to get to the front from his third starting spot to get the lead. Bauman went on to win the season championship race and his fifth of the year. Finishing in second was point leadr Grzywacz followed by Dawson, Sale, and Benedick to complete the top five. This was another good competitive race for this class as the racing was tight and no one tried to over challenge any one else.

   Next week the limelight turns to the UMP Late Models and UMP Modifieds for their season championship race and then there will be one more night of racing before the lights go out for the 2003 season and new champions at crowned.         

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September 8, 2003

The season continued on Friday night with a good track and lot of good racing. The pits were full with lots of cars in three of the divisions. As the season draws to a closing, next week will be season championship night for the Sportsmen and Pure Stock drivers.

   In the UMP Late Model division, there were 12 cars on hand for the event. In the first heat, Don Klein won with Rick Standridge, Dean Hoffman, Ron Jarrell, Dan Jacober, and Vince Grondzki in tow. In the second heat, Jimmy Burwell took the win followed by Jim Morrison, Frank Martin, Bob Brown and Scott Geaschel. In the dash, Burwell took his second win of the night with Hoffman, Morison, Klein, Martin and Standridge trailing.

   The front row for the 25-lap event consisted of Burwell and Martin. Burwell took the early lead and never looked back as he withstood two cautions to get his third feature of the year. Burwell used the whole track to get the win.

  The first caution came out on lap 5, as Geaschel, out for the first time, had engine problems and could not pull off the track in turn one. The running order was Burwell, Martin, Morrison, Standridge, and Klein.

  On the restart, Burwell continued to dominate and pulled away.  Martin was trying to catch Burwell, but could not do it. In the meantime, Hoffman was using the bottom of the track to advance and was running as high as third during the green lap period.

  The next and last caution came on lap 16 as Morrison and Hoffman tangled coming out of turn four. Both cars retired form the race. The running order for the restart was Burwell, Martin, Standridge, Klein and Jarrell.

  Over the next nine laps, Burwell and Martin continued to run first and second with Standridge in third. But the battle for fourth was intense as Klein and Jarrell went at it for that position. Jarrell was faster than Klein at this point but could not find a way to pass Klein. Finally going into turn three Jarrell got low and was faster and the two tangled. Both continued but Klein had his left front fender hanging off the car after the two got together. Jarrell took the fourth spot away from Kelin

  As the race continued to wind down, last starting Dondero moved though the field into fifth. At the checkered flag it was Burwell, Martin, Standridge, Jarrell and Dondero in the top five. Martin stretched out his point lead as there are only three more point nights on the schedule.

  In the UMP Modified class, there were 22 cars on hand to do battle. In the first heat, Chris England took the win followed by Scott Weber, Jesse Carson, Stu Springer, Marty Smith Jr., Tom Ratajczyk, Wayne Downing and Matt Verbeck. I the second heat, Marty Smith Sr. took the win over Mark Clary, Paul Reinneck, Chris Gray, Dave Thornton, Leon Rakers, and Dave Sandage. In the third heat, Denny Tribout Jr. took the victory with Roger Fohne, Bobby Bittle, Brian Heizer, Bobby Johnson and Jay Hughes in tow.

The dash saw England with his second win of the night followed by Weber, Smith Sr., Tribout, Fohne, and Clary. The semi sent Smith Jr., Thornton, Johnson, Downing, Ratajczyk and Rakers to the feature.

  The front row for the start of the 20-lap feature saw England and Smith Sr. start the race. England took the early lead at the dropping of the green flag. The racing was fast for the first three laps before Bittle and Springer got hooked up and could not get their cars separated.

  On the restart, it was England, Tribout, Weber, Fohne and Smith Sr. in the top five. England continued to lead, but Weber got to second during this green part of the race. Weber was trying to get the lead but was blocked by England. Weber was using a higher line around the track than England, but could not get the lead away from England.

  The next and last caution came out on lap 9 as Reinneck lost control of his car in turn four and collected several other cars as he blocked the track and those cars behind him had nowhere to go.

  On the restart, it was England, Weber, Tribout, Fohne, and Clary in the top five. On the restart, England continued to lead, but Weber was faster and pressing for the lead. As the two went into turn 3 on about lap 12, Weber tried the inside to make a move on England, but it did not work. As the two went down the front and into turn one, they tangled again, but Weber got the lead and Tribout moved pass England for second. 

  Weber was now in control and he went on to record his third win of the season in only four starts. Following Weber were Tribout, England, Fohne and Clary to complete the top five in a very spirited race.

  In the Allied Sportsmen class, there were 27 cars on hand. In the first heat, Randy Tyson got the win followed by Brian Shubirg, Ricky Horton, Scott Leverich, Dave Grzywacz, Chris Smith, 7, Dave Rogers and Roy Williams. I the second heat, Paul Bauman won with Mike Harris, Brian Dawson, Shawn Seymour, Rich Tettaton, Jeremy Dietzel, Mike Kurtz, Tom Smallwood and Pat Seymour in tow. In the third heat, it was Chris Sale with the win with Mark Benedick, Jim Mettille, Jimmy Cummins, Chad Reum, Lonnie Casey, Denny Tribout Sr and Bob Koch trailing. In the dash, Bauman got another win with Sale, Shubirg, Benedick, Harris and Tryson in that order. The semi sent Tribout Sr., Smallwood, and Smith to the feature and sent seven cars home.

   The feature started with Harris and Sale on the front row. The was another good feature for the Sportsmen drivers and the front was contested by several drivers and the last feature winner, Sale was right there battling for another win. But the win win went to fourth place starter, Benedick for his third feature win of the year. Following Benedick across the line was Sale, Tyson Jr., Harris and Dawson.
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August 30, 2003....Rain
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August 22, 2003

   The racing continued at Belle Clair Speedway with more cars in the pits and another surprise result. The weather was warm and the racing was good, but the track had a little too much cushion as it had to be graded twice to make for a better racing surface.

  The UMP Late Models had 15 cars in the pits with Ron Jarrell on hand for his first night of racing at Belle Clair as was Chad Burks. In the first heat Jim Morrison took the victory with Kenny Helmick, Don Klein, Rick Standridge, Dan Dondero, Dave Huite, Vince Grondzki and Dan Jacober in tow. In the second heat, Frank Martin won over Dean Hoffman, Jimmy Burwell, Mike Schulte, Bob Brown, Ron Jarrell and Chad Burks. In the dash, Morrison got his second win over Martin, Hoffman, Helmick, Klein and Burwell.

  The front row that started the race was Klein and Helmick. Fourth starting Morrison took the early leading by using the top of the track to get into first place. The race did not take long to slow down as Helmick had problems and slowed on the track. At this point in the race, Morrison had the lead followed by Klein, Burwell, Hoffman and Martin.

  On the restart, Morrison had all he could do to keep Burwell from the front, but Burwell would get the lead and never look back. Once in the lead, Burwell held off all challenges first there was Morrison. These two drivers put on a show as they fought for the lead lap after lap.

    The next caution came out on lap 11 as Helmick had front-end problems and hit the outside wall in turn one and was done for the night. The running order was now Burwell, Morrison, Standridge, Hoffman, and Martin.

    As the racing continued, there was a three way battle going on put front as seventh starting Standridge was running strong and putting pressure on Morrison for second lap after lap. The up front race was very entertaining and that had the crowd watching and wondering who would finish where.

  The next caution came out on lap 17 as Huite spun in turn four. Now the race was about to change, as the running order was Burwell, Morrison, Standridge, Martin and Hoffman. On the restart, a tangle occurred in turns three and four that changed everything. Morrison, Martin and Klein got tangled with Morrison getting the worst end in that event and he had to drop out. That moved the field up as Burwell, Standridge, Martin, Hoffman and Klein were now the top five cars.

  The final eight laps went green and the front two cars of Burwell and Standridge put on a show. Lap after lap Standridge was right on Burwell’s rear bumper on the high side of the track. When the checkered flag fell, it was Burwell with his third feature win of the year. Finishing second was Standridge with his best finish this year. Trailing Standridge was Martin, Hoffman and Shulte to run out the top five.

  In the UMP Modified class, there were 22 cars on hand. In the first heat, Marty Smith Jr. took the win followed by Bobby Bittle, Stu Springer, Brian Heizer, Tom Ratajczyk, Chris England, Mark Steinwagner and Matt Burbeck. In the second heat, Mark Clary got the victory over Paul Reinneck, Roger Fohne, Dave Sandage, Chris Gray, Bobby Martintoni(in Tribout’s car) and Kevin Burns. In the third heat, Jesse Carson took the victory followed by Gary Haynes, Wayne Downing, Dave Thornton, Kevin Epperson, Bobby Johnson and Bobby Dees. The dash went to Clary followed by Bittle, Smith, Carson, Downing and Reinneck.  The semi saw England, Gray, Ratajczyk, Martintoni, Steinwagner, Burns and Epperson get to make the feature. Epperson made the feature because Haynes could not compete.

   In the 20-lap feature, the front row consisted of Bittle and Reinneck. Bittle took the early lead and never looked back. The racing barely got going before the first caution came out for Thornton as he climbed the outside wall in turn one and was done for the night. The running order this early in the race was Bittle, Reinneck, Carson, Downing and Smith.

  When the race restarted, Bittle continued his front run and looked strong. The next caution came out as top five running Reinneck lost the handle and spun in turn four. Now the running order for the restart was Bittle Carson, Downing, Smith and Sandage.

   The race wen two laps before the final caution came out for Springer’s spin in turn one. Springer became the second car out of the race. The running changed as Downing got by Carson for second place with the other cars still in the same position on the track.

   The final 11 laps were run under green conditions with Bittle and Downing putting on a good show up front. At the checkered flag it was Bittle with his sixth win of the year followed by Downing, Smith Sandage and Clary to round out the top five. It was Sandage’s first time at the track and he started eighth and then finishing fourth was a very good accomplishment.

    The Allied Sportsmen class had 22 car in the pits. In the first heat, Chris Sale took the win over Brian Dawson, Denny Tribout Jr., Dave Seger, Shawn Seymour, Scott Leverich, Dave Rogers, and Dean Pruett. In the second heat, Mike Kurtz got the victory followed by Paul Bauman, Brian Shubirg, Lonnie Casey, Mike Harris, Chris Smith and Bob Hooker. In the third heat it was Jim Mettille with the win with Tom Smallwood, Jimmy Cummins, Randy Tyson, Mark Benedick, Dave Grzywacz, and Chad Reum trailing. In the dash, Sale got his second win with Mettille, Kurtz, Dawson, Bauman, and Smallwood in pursuit. In the semi, Smith, Seymour, Harris, Grzywacz, Reum and Hooker moved on to the feature.

   The luck was in Sale’s favorite on Friday night as he drew the number one pill to start on the pole for the feature with Mettille on the outside. Sale took the lead and held off all challenges to get a sweep for the night and his first ever feature win. Mettille held on for second with Smallwood, Kurtz, and Dawson rounding out the top five. Once again the Sportsmen feature was a good show with some good racing at the front of the pack. The best moves came from Smith, who started 13^th to finish seventh and Grzywacz, who started sixteenth and finished eighth.

   The features have been very good for the passed several weeks and the points battles in all classes, but one class, are tight. Come on out to Belle Clair Speedway on Friday nights as the season is winding down and the racing action is some of the best in the area.