FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EARL PAULES WINS ROC 75 AT THOMPSON
INTERNATIONAL
With the pre-season goal in
mind, Paules competed weekly at Thompson Speedway on
Thursday night’s this summer hoping to gain valuable experience for the
Modified Mania weekend. Apparently those
Thursday night trips to
On Saturday, Paules set fast time in time trials and from there he never
looked back. The top twelve fastest
qualifiers through time trails on Saturday re-drew for starting position in
Sunday’s event. The front row consisted
of Bobby Holmes and Pete Brittain for the start of the featured event. Paules re-drew
position number four outside of rookie sensation Kory
Rabenold.
Entering the event Brittain
was only one point behind Eric Beers in the regional standings. Five drivers (including Paules)
had a sold opportunity to win the point title.
At the conclusion of the day only fourteen points would separate the top
five finishers in the regional points.
When the green flew Paules wasted no time as he raced his from fourth place to
lead lap number one. Holmes, the pole
setter did a fantastic job on lap one as the leaders battled for the early
advantage and was shuffled off the fourth turn wall. He maintained his pace and only lost one
position in the exchange.
Out front Paules
wasted no time opening up a commanding lead over the field. Brittain ran in second place during the early
going while Holmes battled with him over the second slot. Back in the field Matt Hirschman, Eric
Beers, Ted Christopher and Chuck Hossfeld were trying to make their way to the
front. Each of the four had run in the
previous 150 lap event that day so a lot of interest was focused on them to see
if they physically wore out as the race went on.
On lap 19 the caution flew as
Hossfeld had a spring break in the rear of the Hillbilly Racing entry. Hossfeld was able to rejoin the field at the
rear without losing a lap. Out front
Christopher was now up to the third slot as he began to challenge the rookie
Holmes for second. Holmes, a one time
R.o.C winner in ’06 was not intimidated by the challenge as held off the
veteran chauffeur. Christopher was
looking for his first ever R.o.C Modified Tour win as
bad luck has often plagued the
A yellow on lap 29
reassembled the field. During this
yellow flag a period a number of teams headed to the pits to take on a new
right rear tire. Only one new tire was
allotted by R.o.C officials for the 75 lapper.
Paules, Brittain and Holmes all opted to
maintain track position over the new tire as the race would begin to quickly
change complexion. Christopher,
Hossfeld, Beers and several others all headed pitside
during this yellow perioc.
In the back Ken Bouchard was
having a steady drive as he broke into the top ten but all eyes were on the
front battle and the back of the field as the teams with a new tire began to
advance. By lap 40 both Hossfeld and
Hirschman had made their way back in to the top five as Paules
continued to lead the way with Holmes in second. The caution flew on lap 43 as Christopher’s
back R.o.C luck continued. The Brady #00
blew a motor while running in the sixth slot.
As the laps wound down
Hirschman and Hossfeld began to draw in on Paules as
the tires on the #8 began to fade. On
lap 66 Hossfeld fell victim to another mechanical problem as he broke while
running in second place. Hirschman
wasted no time in his pursuit of Paules on the
restart as he tried all routes around.
At the finish Paules would have enough to hold
on for his first Thompson win. Hirschman
wound up in second place followed by an impressive late race charging Eric
Beers. Holmes drove a solid race to
finish in fourth with Brittain crossing the stripe in fifth.
The late charge by Beers was
enough to vault him to the top of the final Central Region standings. Beers won the title by only three points over
Brittain. Paules
finished third in the standings only seven points out of first with Hirshman and Lee Sherwood winding up in a tie for fifth.
This weekend is the 56th
running of the Sunoco Race of Champions at Oswego Speedway For information on the 56th
annual Sunoco Race of Champions please contact the Oswego Speedway box office
at (315) 342-0646.
RACE OF CHAMPIONS
MODIFIED TOUR OFFICIAL FINISH
THOMPSON INTERNATIONAL
1. 8 Earl
Paules Kunkletown,
PA
2. 60 Matt
Hirschman
3. 14 Eric
Beers
4. 22 Bobby
Holmes
5. 99 Pete
Brittain Oakhurst,
NJ
6. 45 Dave
Wollaber Ransomville, NY
7. 55 Ken
Bouchard
8. 95 Lee
Sherwood
9. 63 Kory Rabenold Lehighton,
PA
10. 44 Rick
Kluth Brockport,
NY
11. 01 Mark
Tychoniewicz
12. 95m John
Markovic
13. 18 Ed
Marceau Chepachet,
RI
14. 79 Chuck
Hossfeld Ramsomville,
NY
15. 00 Ted
Christopher
16. 3 Daren
Scherer
17. 85 Lenny
Fischer
18. 48 Amanda
Sesley Matawah, NJ
19. 4 Ryan
Preece Kensington, CT
20. 27 Roy
Seidell East
Hampton, MA
21. 9x Matt
Clemens Slatington, PA
Hoosier Tire Hard
Charger: Ken Bouchard
Hoosier Tire Hard Luck: Daren Scherer
Sunoco Race Fuels Bonsu: Daren
Scherer
Lap Leaders: Earl Paules 1-75
Time Trial 5 point
bonus award winners: Earl Paules, Matt Hirschman, Ted Chirstopher,
Dave Wollaber
Next Event: 56th Sunoco Race of Champions 200 - 9/16
Top Five Central Region
Final Point Standings: Eric Beers (160),
Pete Brittain (157), Earl Paules (153), Matt
Hirschman (146), Lee Sherwood (146).