PAT WARD ON A ROLL AT UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY, TAKE THIRD IN A ROW VERNON, NY- With summer now in full swing, Pat Ward is heating up like the summer temperatures as he took his third straight victory, fifth overall, on Gates-Cole Associates, Inc. and Eppy Electric night. Ward completed the charge without the aid of any caution periods to collect the $1,600 payday. At the drop of the green of the 358-Modified feature, Jim Davis launched himself into the lead from the third starting spot as he looked to shake the bad luck he has encountered the past few weeks. With the long green flag session, Davis was able to open up a lead as the heavy hitters were making their way to the front. As lap 10 clicked off of the 30 lap feature event, Davis held the lead over Ted Lamb, Paul Jensen, Pat Ward, and Jamie Christian. 15th place starter Ward was methodically making his way through the field, grabbing the third spot on lap 11 then grabbing second from Lamb on lap 16. Still caution free at this point, Ward closed in on front running Davis and as lap 20 was being scored, he swept to the outside of Davis for the lead. Ward would grab the lead and race off to nail down his fifth win of the season. Davis had his best run of the season with a runner up finish, holding back a fast closing Mitch Gibbs. Lamb and Christian rounded the top five with Bobby Varin, Stewart Friesen, Willy Decker, Jensen, and Danny Varin filling out the top 10. The entire distance was completed with no cautions. Tim Nye led opening three laps of the 20 lap Sportsman main from his pole starting spot, fending off third place starter AJ Filbeck until Filbeck was able to sneak by on the outside to lap four. Filbeck’s lead turn out front was short lived however, as Nye used the extreme bottom to get back by Filbeck. Nye began to slow shortly after that which handed the lead back to Filbeck on lap nine. On lap 11, Jeff Leslie powered by Filbeck in search of his first win of the season. An untimely caution for Leslie came out on lap 16, bringing a charging Matt Janczuk to Leslie’s rear bumper. 12th place starter Janczuk jumped at the opportunity by claiming the top spot on lap 17 and raced away for his first win of the season. Leslie, Jeremy Vunk, Jason Rood, and Casey Williams rounded out the top five. In the Pro Stock 20 lap main, Dave Moyer led the opening circuit with fourth place starter Bret Belden taking over on the second circuit. Sixth place starter Bill Knapp was the leader by lap three and as the lap clicked off, Knapp was still pacing the field. At the halfway point, it was Knapp being chased by Shawn Frost, Jim Normoyle, Mark Effner, and AJ Digsby. As the field took the five to go sign, Frost used the outside lane to sneak by Knapp with Effner closing in on the leading duo. Coming down for checkered flag, the top three went three wide for the win with Frost collecting the win with Effner nipping Knapp at the line for second. Knapp settled for third with Normoyle and Rob Seavy chasing. Scott Wheelock took command of the 15 lap Pure Stock main at the drop of the green, leading the opening six circuits. Ron Hawker charged from his 12th starting spot to take the lead of the event on lap 7 with Russ Marsden, Chris Carr, and Chris Cunningham also making their way to the front. Marsden nosed ahead for the lead on lap 11 only to have Hawker retake it on the next circuit and with one to go, it was Hawker, Cunningham, and Marsden battling for the win with Carr a close fourth hoping for a miscue among the top three. Cunningham shot between Hawker and Marsden for the lead coming out of turn two to take the lead and the win. Hawker, Marsden, Carr, and Wheelock filled out the top five spots. Jason Barney led all 25 laps in the Empire Super Sprint feature to grab his second consecutive ESS win at the speedway. Lance Yonge, Chuck Hebing, Cory Sparks, and Steve Poirier all trailed Barney in the green to checkered event. See ESS release for full results. This Sunday, July 13, the SUNY Canton Street Stock Series makes it third stop of the season at the Utica-Rome Speedway, joining a regular show of 358-Modifieds, Sportsman, and Pro Stocks plus the makeup Sportsman feature from June 15. . GATES-COLE ASSOCIATES AND EPPY ELECTRIC RACE SUMMARY 358-MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 LAPS)- PAT WARD, Jim Davis, Mitch Gibbs, Ted Lamb, Jamie Christian, Bobby Varin, Stewart Friesen, Willy Decker, Paul Jensen, Danny Varin, Bob Henry, Paul Kinney, Mike Mahaney, Jeff Kotary, Alan Barker, John Ramsey, David Orr, Bill Shantel Jr., Gus Schmidt, Darren Keyser, Andy Bachetti, and Brian Murphy. SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)- MATT JANCZUK, Jeff Leslie, Jeremy Vunk, Jason Rood, Casey Williams, Brad Alger, Mike Button, Bill Trexler Jr., AJ Filbeck, Jim Rothwell, Jack Miller, Aaron Jacobs, Craig Pope, Steve Yankowski, Todd Fey, Jeremy Wilder, Tim Nye, Steve Way, and Rick Lamont. PRO STOCK FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)- SHAWN FROST, Mark Effner, Bill Knapp, Jim Normoyle, Rob Seavy, AJ Digsby, Dave Moyer, Ed Ostrander, Joe Palmer, Dave Meeks, Rich Duanehauer, Chuck Wentrick, Bret Belden, and Tom Denton. PURE STOCK FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS)- CHRIS CUNNINGHAM, Ron Hawker, Russ Marsden, Chris Carr, Scott Wheelock, Frank Hyatt, Phil Norman, Kelly Pope, Tim Janczuk, Cale Hoffman, Jim Richmond, Waylan Wilczek, Chuck Cushman, Rob Thieme, Andy Potter, Jim Thomas, Keith Stevenson, Bill Mason, Rick Condes, and Glenn Weaver. EMPIRE SUPER SPRINT FEATURE FINISH (25 LAPS)- JASON BARNEY, Lance Yonge, Chuck Hebing, Cory Sparks, Steve Poirier, Mike Stelter, Jeff VanDusen, Doug Emery, Justin Barger, Tim Kelly, Bubby Kerrick, Jessica Zemken, Tommy Wickham, Doug Norrie, Alain Bergeron, Brian McDonald, Michael Parent, Jeff Cook, Brandon Warner, Russ Bennett, Lee Ladouceur, Gordy Button, Anthony Cain, and Normand Deaudreault.