IT’S COZZE OVER PAUCH IN BARNBURNER ON THE EVE OF THE KING OF THE BIG BLOCKS!
It brought back memories for seasoned racing fans!
It was a show not many will forget as two drivers who have forged stellar careers in stock car racing over the span of forty years battled wheel to wheel and side by side for more than half the race.
Frank Cozze picked up his first Bridgeport Speedway win in more than twenty years a
s he held off the challenges of Billy Pauch to win the twenty-five lap 358 Small Block Modified feature event at the Bridgeport Speedway on the eve of the first running of The King of the Big Blocks! It was Cozze’s seventh Bridgeport Speedway win while Pauch sits tied for third on the track’s All Time Feature Winner’s List with fifty-eight wins.
It was Cozze’s fourth win of the season for car owner, Tom Umbenhauer. Cozze lined up along side of 2016 Bridgeport Champion, Ryan Watt for the start and quickly jumped out in front. Pauch drove into second from his sixth place start on lap eleven and the battle was on.
Lap after lap, Pauch would race ahead of Cozze on the inside as the two battled sid
e by side through the turns but it was Cozze who would roll the outside off the corner to regain the lead. Pauch edged ahead as the leaders raced across the line to complete lap seventeen but Cozze was back in front as the pair exited turn two on the next circuit.
Cozze and Pauch led a stellar field of talent to the checkered flag at the end of twenty-five laps. The amount of racing history represented in those first to spots is nothing less than staggering. Billy Pauch, Jr. finished third in his own Kid Racing No. 15. Dominick Buffalino finished fourth with Brett Kressley racing into fifth on the final laps.
Watt, Tyler Dippel, Craig VonDohren, Ryan Krachun and Rick Laubach rounded out the top ten finishers.
Steph Palmai-Carberry returned to Bridgeport’s Victory Lane when she picked up the win in the Hilborn Tri-State Race Savers Sprint Car (TSRS) feature event earlier in the evening after leading from the gree
n flag to the checkered. The winner was greeted in Victory Lane by her father and grandfather who have played integral roles in her racing career.
Tim Tanner raced into second on lap fourteen and began to cut in to the lead but was unable to get to Palmai-Carberry’s No. 99 before the checkered. Tanner finished second with Robbie Stillwaggon racing into third in the race’s final laps. Tommy Carberry, the winner’s husband finishing fourth with Mike Haggenbottom rounding out the top five. It was the final night of points for TSRS as Haggenbottom earned his fifth consecutive title with his fifth place finish.
Several hot lap sessions were offered for the Big Block Modifieds who will take center stage tonight (Saturday) in the first King of the Big Blocks event. Fifty laps of Big Block Modifieds with $12,000 going to the winner in an event sponsored by K&A Excavating Company and United Rental Inc.
By virtue of the quick laps in the final timed sessions, Craig VonDohren and Brett Kressley earned guaranteed starting spots in the King of the Big Blocks.
358 SMALL BLOCK MODIFIEDS (25 LAPS)
1 – Frank Cozze, 2 – Billy Pauch, 3 – Billy Pauch Jr, 4 – Dominick Buffalino, 5 – Brett Kressley, 6 – Ryan Watt, 7 – Tyler Dippel, 8 – Craig Von Dohren, 9 – Ryan Krachun, 10 – Rick Laubach, 11 – John McClelland, 12 – Duane Howard, 13 – Jim Britt, 14 – Tommy Scheetz, 15 – Ray Swinehart, 16 – PJ Oiver, 17 – Ryan Forte, 18 – Ron Roberts, 19 – Brian Papiez, 20 – Eric Kormann, 21 – Kevin Vaclavicek, 22 – John Pakenham, 23 – Mike Iles, 24 – Ryan Godown, 25 – Jimmy Horton, 26 – Richie Pratt
HILBORN TRI-STATE RACE SAVER SPRINT CARS (20 LAPS)
1 – Steph Palmai-Carberry, 2 – Tim Tanner Jr, 3 – Ryan Stillwaggon, 4 – Tommy Carberry, 5 – Mike Haggenbottom, 6 – Eddie Wagner, 7 – Joe Lord, 8 – Dave Brown, 9 – Joe Kay, 10 – Kyle Purks, 11 – Chris Allen, 12 – Samantha Lieberman, 13 – Bryant Davis, 14 – David Bonner, 15 – Harris Kohen, 16 – Tim Smolenyak, 17 – Douglas Snow, 18 – Scott Frack, 19 – Doug Suiter, 20 – Jeff Geiges, 21 – Rick Steif
Upcoming event
Saturday, October 1 – Poker Series Bonus Hand – Big Block Modifies, Crate/Sportsman, Outlaw Stocks & Powder Puff Races on the 1/4 mile
Saturday & Sunday, October 15 & 16 – Misfits 4×4 Fall Down & Dirty Weekend plus Demo Derby, 7pm Saturday
Saturday & Sunday, November 4 & 5 – URC/360 Sprints Big Track Classic plus Crate/Sportsman Showdown
Friday, November 11 – Wild Card Weekend – 358 Small Blocks, TSRS Sprint Cars, Outlaw Stocks plus practice for Saturday
Saturday, November 12 – Gone But Not Forgotten – 811 Dig Safely Poker Series Hand #5 – Big Block Modifieds, Crate/Sportsman & Outlaw Stocks