VERNON, NY- Donath Motor Worx sponsored the exciting first night of Victoria 200 weekend, which saw Tim Fuller pick up his first ever career win across all divisions at Utica-Rome Speedway. The night also saw a second driver pick his first victory at the track, as Randy Shantel took home the top spot in the Open Sportsman. Other winners included Rocky Warner in the 602 Sportsman and Glenn Forward in the Pro Street Stocks. Chuck Hebing won in the Empire Super Sprints. For more details, see the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints release.

Tim Mayne and Chris Mackey brought the Stampede Steakhouse Modified division to the green, but a handful of cautions slowed the race in the beginning laps, Matt Sheppard and Larry Wight, two of the top three in points. When the green finally returned to the race, Vic Coffey was the leader. His lead was in trouble, however, and Tim Fuller was on the charge, coming from his fifth starting spot. With Coffey down low, Fuller took his machine to the top side and completed the pass for the lead. Behind him, point leader Pat Ward was making tracks as he catching Coffey, with Stewart Friesen close behind. When a yellow came out for a spinning car on lap 12, both Ward and Friesen had worked their way into podium positions.

The restart saw Fuller once again take a sizable lead, leaving Ward and Friesen to battle it out for second. Ward ran the bottom while Friesen took the top, and Friesen was able to work his way by momentarily. Ward, however, fought back and found some moisture in his line and was able to take the runner up spot back four laps later. Friesen tried to search for a new line, but lost control and spun in turn four on lap 20, bringing the yellow out for the last time. On the final restart, Fuller once again created a lead for himself, but Ward was going away easily. He dove to the bottom again and again, trying to find any line to make his car work. Further back, Sheppard was fighting his way back from his early caution, fighting for a place in the top five. With Fuller taking the win and Ward settling for second, Mike Mahaney, Coffey, and Marc Johnson filled out the top five. Sheppard, Robby Bellinger, Alan Johnson, Erick Rudolph, and Friesen rounded out the top ten.

The 602 Sportsman came to the green with Rocco Leone and Geoff VanRiper at the head of the field. Leone, after a caution at the beginning of the race, took the early lead. With him at the front, the top five began to shuffle, with Cody Clark and Rocky Warner navigating the field and searching for the front. A yellow at the halfway mark of the feature slowed the race, and on the onset of the green, Clark took the lead away from Leone. He was instantly under pressure, however, as Warner was on a charge to the front, taking the lead on the 14^th circuit. He would lead the rest of the way. Clark took home second, trailed by Matt Janczuk, Kyle Kiehn, and A.J. Filbeck.

Tom Tophoven, alongside Randy Shantel, took the opening green for the Open Sportsman feature event. Tophoven’s lead did not last long, and Shantel powered by on the outside to take the top spot. With Shantel running away with the lead, Tophoven had to fight with Jeremy Vunk to keep his runner up position. Even with a yellow halfway through the race, Shantel was not to be stopped, and Vunk fought his way past Tophoven for second. At the end of the race, Jack Miller, Claude Hutchings Jr., and Steve Way trailed the top two across the line.

The final feature of the night, the Pro Street Stocks, began with the duo of Ernie Staelens and Gus Hollner taking the green. Mark Effner, coming from his fifth starting spot, took the lead on the first lap, followed by Bill Mason. Effner would lead for a majority of the race, but a yellow with seven laps left in the 20 lap feature put a hard charging Glenn Forward on the rear bumper of the leader. Forward took advantage of the restart, passing Effner for the lead and taking the win. With Effner in second, the rest of the top five was filled by Mike Welch, Chris Carr, and Ed Ostrander.

Next Sunday, a regular show of Stampede Steakhouse Modifieds, Open Sportsman, 602 Sportsman, and Pro Street Stocks is presented by NAPA Auto Parts and Gates-Cole Insurance. Gates open at 3:30 and racing starts 6. For more information, visit the track website at www.uticaromespeedway.com or call (315) 829-4557.

DONATH MOTOR WORX NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES RACE SUMMARY

STAMPEDE STEAKHOUSE MODIFIED FINISH (30 LAPS)- TIM FULLER, Pat Ward, Mike Mahaney, Vic Coffey, Marc Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Robby Bellinger, Alan Johnson, Erick Rudolph, Stewart Friesen, Anthony Perrego, Dave Rauscher, Chris Mackey, Tim Mayne, Brett Wright, C.G. Morey, Larry Wight, Mike Bowman, Andrew Ferguson, Matt Hulsizer, Danny Varin, and Dave Moyer.

OPEN SPORTSMAN FINISH (20 LAPS)- RANDY SHANTEL, Jeremy Vunk, Jack Miller, Claude Hutchings Jr., Steve Way, Tom Tophoven, Heath Carney, Cory Pike, Mike Richmond, Lucas Heintz, and Craig Pope. 

602 SPORTSMAN FINISH (20 LAPS)- ROCKY WARNER, Cody Clark, Matt Janczuk, Kyle Kiehn, A.J. Filbeck, Chris Cunningham, Rocco Leone, Glenn Forward, Nick Krause, Chris Johnson, Brandon Sweet, Corey Barker, Mike Button, Daryl Nutting, Todd Root, Brent Joy, Chris Stevens, Geoff VanRiper, Aaron Jacobs, Nick Webb, Joe Orlando, John Christian, Alan Fink, and Connor Cleveland. 

PRO/STREET STOCK FINISH (20 LAPS)- GLENN FORWARD, Mark Effner, Mike Welch, Chris Carr, Ed Ostrander, Marc Minutolo, A.J. Digsby, Bill Mason, Travis Welch, Gus Hollner, Bill Trexler III, Ernie Staelens, Frank Hyatt, and Jerry Streeter. DNS- Kavin Winton.

LUCAS OIL EMPIRE SUPER SPRINTS (25 LAPS)- CHUCK HEBING, Steve Poirier, Danny Varin, Stewart Friesen, Matt Tanner, Jason Barney, Larry Wight, Jessica Zemken, Davie Franek, Bryan Howland, Mike Stelter, Cory Sparks, Zach Wiegand, Tommy Wickham, Jeff Cook, Paul Colagiovanni, Paul Habeck, Parker Evans, Dave Axton, Kory Guerney, Shawn Donath, Jason Shultz, Dylan Swiernik, and Gordy Button Jr.