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Rich Berry
PITTSBURGH, Penn. (July 13) - Steve Baker of Morgantown, WV was the winner of the Pizza Hut Red Miley 53 on Sunday night at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. In winning the 53 lap main event, Baker became the first repeat winner for the Unified Force Race Championship Super Late Model Tour presented by Comcast, but the biggest victory of his career was more important than that. In addition to the winner's purse of $5,300, Baker collected lap money for leading 52 of the 53 laps in addition to his winner's purse, making his total take for the night over $8,000.
With a field of 31 cars on hand, three qualifying races were run. Heat 1 was won by Lynn Geisler from third starting position. Davey Johnson won Heat 2 from starting spot 2. Heat 3 went to Steve Baker from the pole position, as this was only the second time this season that a UFo heat race has been won from the pole, a fete that Dave Hess, Jr. accomplished in the opening heat race at the season opening Challenger Raceway event.
In the redraw for the top 12 starting positions, Steve Baker was the third driver to draw, and he nabbed the coveted pole position. The outside pole went to John Flinner, the ninth driver to draw. No B-Main events were necessary as all 31 cars qualified to run the feature event, and the starting field was set.
With Baker and Flinner leading the field to green, they raced side by side for the entire first lap. But off of turn four, it was third starting Jim Stephans getting a strong run off the inside of turn four and he nosed past both front row starters to take the race lead at the line. Through turn one, fourth running Lynn Geisler slipped high and contacted the outside retaining wall, and spun to a stop. The field behind all made evasive maneuvers, but the caution waved for Geisler's damaged mount. Geisler limped to the pits under his own power, and his crew was able to make repairs and get him back into competition. However, after another lap 1 caution, Geisler retired from the event.
Back to green, Baker used the outside to pass Stephans to take over the lead. Stephans settled into second, with ninth starting Jared Miley quickly advancing to third. Keith Barbara and John Flinner locked into a battle for fourth, with Donnie Moran and Al Atallah battling for sixth. It was a tangle between the two drivers battling for sixth that forced the next caution, with seven laps complete. Both drivers suffered damage that sent them pitside, though Moran returned to the event before green flag racing continued. Baker controlled the double file restart, with Stephans chasing closely behind. Miley and Flinner swapped third, with Barbara riding fifth over 17th starting Mike Johnson. Keith Rodriguez spun in turn three with 12 complete, and leader Baker made a narrow escape to avoid the stopped car.
Back to green, Baker used the outside to once again nose ahead, as he continued to collect lap money. Miley slipped into second over Flinner, Stephans, and Barbara. Lap 15 saw the caution wave for a three-car tangle in turn three, and the restart saw a multi-car tangle in turn three triggered by a Dave Wade spin. Though several cars suffered damage, all drivers were uninjured.
Baker nosed ahead when racing resumed to continue earning lap money, as Flinner slipped past Miley for second. They continued to battle for second, as Barbara and Johnson continued to fill the top five. Lap 26 saw the caution wave for a scheduled fuel stop. While the majority of the field runs on gas, the PPMS spec-engine cars that are legal for competition in all UFo events utilize racing alcohol, necessitating the stop for fuel. With this the seventh caution of the event, it was indeed necessary as Baker's mount ran dry as the cars were lined for refueling.
On the double file restart, Baker again gained command as the field shuffled from four wide racing at the green into attempts to chase down Baker. Flinner moved to second over Barbara, Miley, and Alex Ferree. The man on the move now was Davey Johnson, running sixth. On lap 29, Johnson advanced past Ferree to fifth, and on lap 31 passed Miley for fourth. On lap 34, Johnson took third from Barbara, but Baker and Flinner were long gone. Slowly but surely, Johnson inched closer to second running Flinner as the green flag laps clicked by. Johnson seemingly needed a caution to have any chance at winning. At lap 43, Johnson was right behind Flinner, but Flinner brushed the lapped car of Mark Moats. As Moats spun into the turn four wall, it would bring out what was only caution of the second half of the event.
Johnson used the inside to pass Flinner on the restart, but settled in about eight car lengths behind Baker. Over the final ten laps, that distance fluctuated a few car lengths either way, but ended up around that very distance with Baker winning over tenth starting Johnson.
At the line, Flinner raced home third as he just barely held off Miley. Miley's fourth place finish was his fifth straight top five after he failed to qualify for the opening Tour event, and it was good enough to keep him in the lead in the UFo point standings. Barbara was fifth, as it solidly placed him third in the Series standings, 12 points out of the lead. By finishing sixth, Ferree retained second in Series points, five points behind Miley. Stephans was seventh, with Moran coming back from the tail after pitting during the fuel stop to finish eighth. Brandon Burgoon was ninth, and tenth finishing Gregg Satterlee kept hold of fourth place in Series points.
UFo Contingency Connection winners of this event included Pass-Maximum Award winner C.A. Medved, who started 31st and finished 16th. By a wildcard draw, Rodney Sweitzer earned a UFo Contingency Connection Award. Each winner will receive product certificate awards depending on the number of products for which a driver is registered and eligible out of the 75+ product sponsors. A driver eligible for 20 products will receive $500 in awards.
The next event in the UFo Race Championship Tour presented by Comcast will be on Sunday, August 3 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, WV for the running of the Earl Hill Championship. The winner of the 51 lap event at the quarter-mile bullring, the smallest track to host the UFo Series in 2008, will earn $4,000.
The UFo Race Championship presented by Comcast has over $400,000 of prize payoffs and contingencies for Super Late Model teams over the scheduled races including a points bonus for the top 10 drivers at the end of the season. The points bonus includes $1,000 for each completed event plus 100% of additional sponsor contributions. The tour has $40,000 of contingency awards available to drivers through the Contingency Connection Program. The Pass Maximum award winner from the feature event plus the top 2 drivers in UFo points that do not qualify for the feature will be awarded contingency prize bundles at the events. A driver eligible for just 20 awards out of the 100+ participating sponsors will win $500 of product certificates. Complete information on the UFo Race Championship presented by Comcast including payoffs and rules can be found at http://uforacechampionship.com.
UFo Race Championship 2008 Sponsors include Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic, Lias Tire & American Racer, Comcast, Bryan De-Signs & Decals and the Contingency Connection. Information on these sponsors may be found at http://comcast.com http://www.hoosiermidatlantic.com, http://liastire.com, http://bryandecals.com and http://contingencyconnection.com.
Feature - with finish, start, car, driver, and hometown
1, 1, 0, Steve Baker, Fairmont, WV
2, 10, 1J, Davey Johnson, Latrobe, PA
3, 2, 48, John Flinner, Zelienople, PA
4, 9, H1, Jared Miley, South Park, PA
5, 4, 17K, Keith Barbara, South Park, PA
6, 13, 4, Alex Ferree, Saxonburg, PA
7, 3, 38, Jim Stephans, Pittsburgh, PA
8, 11, 99D, Donnie Moran, Dresden, OH
9, 18, 17B, Brandon Burgoon, McDonald, PA
10, 6, 22, Gregg Satterlee, Rochester Mills, PA
11, 7, 6, Jim Lepro, Midway, PA
12, 26, 29R, Keith Rodriguez, Crescent, PA
13, 15, 17M, Larry Marks, West Mifflin, PA
14, 19, D42, Matt Dobnak, West Mifflin, PA
15, 29, 7X, Herman Bertolini, Creighton, PA
16, 31, 2M, C.A. Medved, Imperial, PA
17, 28, 23, Mark Moats, Hookstown, PA
18, 17, 2J, Mike Johnson, Imperial, PA
19, 12, 76, Dave Wade, Clinton, PA
20, 16, 84, Rodney Sweitzer, Stoystown, PA
21, 22, 81M, D.J. Miller, Hookstown, PA
22, 14, 0K, Kari Gasser, Girard, OH
23, 24, 99, Ben Miley, Venecia, PA
24, 23, 79, B.A. Malcuit, Strasburg, OH
25, 27, 8H, Shawn McGarvey, Coalport, PA
26, 25, 75, Mel Minnick, Jr., Uniontown, PA
27, 8, 02, Al Atallah, Bridgeville, PA
28, 20, T8, Steve Banal, Mooresville, NC
29, 30, 55D, Tom Duratz, Carnegie, PA
30, 5, 1C, Lynn Geisler, Cranberry Twp., PA
31, 21, 09, Lou Bradich, Chester, WV
Feature 1 Lead Changes - 1.
Stephans 1
Baker 2-53.
Heat 1 - 1, Lynn Geisler. 2, Jim Stephans. 3, Keith Barbara. 4, Jim Lepro. 5, Alex Ferree. 6, Rodney Sweitzer. 7, Matt Dobnak. 8, D.J. Miller. 9, Mel Minnick, Jr. 10, Mark Moats. 11, C.A. Medved.
Heat 2 - 1, Davey Johnson. 2, Jared Miley. 3, Gregg Satterlee. 4, Dave Wade. 5, Kari Gasser. 6, Mike Johnson. 7, Steve Banal. 8, B.A. Malcuit. 9, Keith Rodriguez. 10, Herman Bertolini
Heat 3 - 1, Steve Baker. 2, Al Atallah. 3, John Flinner. 4, Donnie Moran. 5, Larry Marks. 6, Brandon Burgoon. 7, Lou Bradich. 8, Ben Miley. 9, Shawn McGarvey. 10, Tom Duratz.
Updated UFo Series point standings -
1, 438.5, Jared Miley
2, 433.5, Alex Ferree
3, 426.5, Keith Barbara
4, 409.5, Gregg Satterlee
5, 399, Shawn McGarvey
6, 387, Mike Johnson
7, 383, Rodney Sweitzer
8, 369, Matt Dobnak
9, 367, Herman Bertolini
10, 360, Mel Minnick, Jr.
11, 282, John Flinner
12, 273.5, Steve Baker
13, 253, Davey Johnson
14, 242, Lynn Geisler
15, 239, Matt Gaston
16, 227, Chris Farrell
17, 225, Bobby Stokes
18, 223.5, D.J. Miller
19, 184, Mike Blose
20, 171.5, Al Atallah
2008 UFo Race Championship presented by Comcast Schedule
Date / Track / Event / Laps / To Win
April 13 / Challenger Raceway / PA State Short Track Championships / 51 laps / $5,000 - won by Robbie Blair
May 25 / Central PA Speedway / The Grizzly / 51 laps / $5,000 - won by John Flinner
June 1* / Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway / F-2 Shockwave / 2 x 30 laps / $5,100 Total winners were Steve Baker and Al Atallah
July 3 / Central PA Speedway / Yankee Doodle / 51 laps / $7,000 - won by Keith Barbara
July 13 / Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway / Red Miley 53 / 53 laps / $5,300 + $2,809 lap money - won by Steve Baker
Aug 3 / Tyler County / Earl Hill Championship / 51 laps / $4,000
Aug 17 / Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway / PENNational / 51 laps / $5,000
Sep 6 / Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex / King of the Knob / 51 laps / $5,500
Sep 18-19-20 / Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway / Pittsburgher 100 / 100 laps / $20,100
Oct 9 / Challenger Raceway / Mega-Blitz 2008 / 33 laps/ $3,000
Oct 10-11* / Challenger Raceway / The Ultimate / 91 laps / $22,000
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