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Ron Davies Nips Brother in LM
Thriller at Little Valley
By Dave Sully
(Little Valley, New York) In one of the
closest super late model finishes in recent memory, Ron Davies, from
Warren, PA, edged his brother Dutch by a short nose to win the
thirty lap feature before a good crowd of appreciative fans at
Little Valley Speedway on Saturday night, July 18th. The
race also featured an appearance by WOO star Shane Clanton, from
Copley, Georgia.
Ron Davies took the lead at the outset
from the outside of the front row, outdigging polesitter Bob Close.
Following a lap one spin by Bump Hedman, Davies surrendered
the lead to Mike Knight on lap two, but regained it on a lap four
restart. While this was going on, Dutch Davies was working his way
forward from seventh, claiming second on lap fourteen and then
steaming by Ron on the low side to take command on lap fifteen.
From there a classic high low battle
ensued with Dutch clinging to the bottom, and Ron, as is his wont,
rim-riding around the outside. As this scenario developed, Knight
began to pressure Ron for second. While Ron pulled away from
Knight, he came upon the slower car of Al Brewer, who was occupying
the space he needed.
This set up the pivotal event of the
race. With Dutch driving away and Ron stymied behind Brewer, Knight
brought out the caution when he slammed the turn two wall, noting to
the corner flagger, “I came in way too hot.”
When the race resumed, Dutch dove to the
bottom, while Ron climbed to the top and the race was on. With
Dutch determined to bottom feed, Ron careened around the outside,
tempting fate on every lap as the marbles and the wall loomed ever
so close. He could pull alongside, but Dutch was able to keep his
momentum down low. On lap twenty-nine Ron pulled alongside once
again in turn three, but this time when they emerged the distance
between them was considerable shorter. On the final lap Ron once
again made a move coming out of turn four and the two drag-raced to
the line with Ron just getting his nose in front as they crossed the
stripe. Ruhlman took third, followed by Close, and Hedman, who came
from the rear after the early spin.
Ron, who has been needing a win to turn
his season around exulted, “This track has always been kind of good
to us. We’ve got a setup that works here. We were a little off on
tires. The caution helped us at the end or Dutch would have won the
race. We just gave it all we had right at the end and we beat him
by a foot. It’s just great. My car owner has stuck with me. We’ve
just had an off year. Maybe this will get things going better.”
Asked when re realized he had won, he replied, “When I came across
the scales they had their fingers up No. 1. I didn’t even know who
won. It was a great race for everyone. I hope the fans enjoyed it,
because I sure did in the seat.”
For his part, a classy Dutch Davies
commented, "My car was so good on the bottom, there wasn’t any way I
was going to switch. It was just a good race. If I’m going to lose
to somebody, it would be him over anybody. It was a good clean
race. The fans really enjoyed themselves, and that’s what it’s all
about.” As for the end, he added, “I wasn’t really sure who won.
I knew it was real close. I needed that finish line to be back about
a hundred yards. It was just one of those deals where neither of us
made a mistake and he came out a little bit ahead. That’s how it’s
supposed to be. Two guys racing clean and hard and the best car
won.” As for the track, Dutch noted, “That’s as good as it gets.
The track guys did a fantastic job. It was smooth from top to
bottom. It was a little bit slick on the bottom and there was some
traction on the top, which made for some excellent racing in all the
classes. You could use the whole thing. I just found my niche down
on the bottom next to the tires where my car was the best. I just
hammered that all night long. We didn’t need the caution. That
probably cost us because he was a little softer on tires than we
were, so he got to cool his tires a little bit, which helped him and
hurt us, but either way, that’s the way it falls. You don’t know
where the cautions are going to come. You take your best guess at
the setup, and you go with what you’ve got.”
Clanton, who headquarters at Ron Davies’
shop, and who built Ron’s car, drove all day Friday from North
Dakota to make the show. He was having engine problems on the WOO
tour and needed to try to work the bugs out. Starting eleventh
after slapping the wall in his heat, he worked hard to get up to
seventh before he retired as the motor woes apparently continue. He
finished sixteenth.
The BRP Can Am 360 late models raced the
Brock Young Memorial, a prestigious race dedicated to a young racer
who died tragically several years ago. The race paid $1422 to win,
(One for 22, Brock’s car number), and perhaps fittingly, a close
friend of the family, Steve Dixon, emerged victorious, keeping Dixon
unbeaten at Little Valley this year, with three straight wins.
Dixon, from Smethport, PA, took the lead
from Scooter Pangrazio on lap eleven of a crash laden event,
avoiding the carnage all around him in the process. From there he
outgunned, Pangrazio, who surrendered second to Jeff Chesebro on the
final lap of the race, shortened from the scheduled twenty laps to
fifteen when a quick rain shower descended on the track. Larry
Knowles and Brian Kotarski completed the top five.
Dixon noted, “I was trying to stay out
of trouble and be there at the end. I took it easy until I could
actually race some of the guys I had to pass. I stayed out of the
wrecks and that helped a ton. On the pass for the lead, he added,
“Scooter saw oil on the bottom of the track and he went to the high
side. I had already driven through the oil on the bottom and it
wasn’t real bad. He kind of opened up the bottom and that’s where I
wanted to be.” As for winning the memorial, he added, “I’ve tried
to win this race a few times and never had, so I’m glad that I
finally did.”
In other action, Randy Hall, from Olean,
wired the field from the outside pole to win the twenty lap E-Mod
feature, easily outdistancing Brent Rhebergen, who grabbed second
from Brad Wall on the final straightaway. Heat winner Vic Vena
finished fourth, with Dan Davies completing the top five.
Hall observed, “It definitely helps up
front there, just get in the rhythm and break free. The car was the
best I’ve had in a while. The track was super tonight.”
Justin Baxter took the lead early in the
fifteen lap street stock race and cruised over the finish line
first, followed by Andy Michael, Jason Dobson, Adam Sixt and Adam
Ashcroft. Unfortunately for Baxter and Dobson, they were
disqualified for not having the required scatter shield or blanket
on their transmissions, a serious safety breech, giving the win to
Michael, from Allegany, his second in a row, and moving Sixt to
second, Ashcroft to third, Chris Austin to forth, and Butch Talbot
to fifth in the final accounting.
Finally, Steve Mowrey, from Olean, came
from tenth to win the ten lap mini-stock feature going away.
NOTES: The shower that caused the
shortening of the 360 late model feature, dissipated quickly,
allowing the rest of the features to run. With the rugged going on
the track, they were in danger of being checkered even if the rain
hadn’t come……….The track shuts down for a while, as the Cattaraugus
County Fair takes over, with the next show scheduled for Saturday,
August 29th, when the super late models will once again
headline the card. It will be Reunion Night, with special guests
from the former Roll-O-Bowl Speedway, a dirt track that ran from
1956-1960 in attendance as well.
RESULTS:
Super Late Models: (30 laps) ; Ron
Davies, Dutch Davies, Chad Ruhlman, Bob Close, Bump Hedman, Jeff
Hoffman, Greg Oakes, Ed Carley, Mickey Wright, John Lacki, Brent
Rhebergen, Al Brewer, Tim Schram, Jason Dupont, Mike Knight, Shane
Clanton, John Haggerty, Ron Baker, Brad Mesler, Todd Sweet, Jon Law,
and Dan Stives. Heat winners were Ron Davies, Knight, and Law.
360 Late Models: (15 laps. Shortened
from 20 due to rain) Steve Dixon, Jeff Chesebro, Scooter Pangrazio,
Larry Knowles, Brian Kotarski, Brian Knowles, Bryce Davis, Jr.
Peters, Dave Dubois, Jason Knowles, Neil Patterson, Mike Wonderling,
Quinn Sutherland, Don Krug, John Lichy, Jim Johnson, Mikey
Wonderling, Jason Boyle, Jon Waters, Jon Rivers, Jeremy Wonderling,
Greg Galligan, Dave Miller, Derek Boyle, Bob Close, and Bruce
Miller. DNQ- Matt Bove, Jr. Green, Tom Schnars, and Cecil LaBaron.
Heat winners were Kotarski, Mikey Wonderling, and Pangrazio. B Main
winner was Sutherland.
E-Mods: (20 laps) Randy Hall, Brent
Rhebergen, Brad Wall, Vic Vena, Dan Davies, Tim
Peterson, Tim Rockwell, Craig Bedell, Jeff Johnson, Kyle Bedell, Justin Tatlow, Mark Gilbert, Mike Eschrich, Nathan Hill, and Brian Fardink. DNS- Darren Tarabori, Tim Walden, and Jeremy Bucktooth. Heat winners were Rockwell and Vena.
Street Stocks: (15 laps) Andy Michael, Adam
Sixt, Adam Ashcroft, Chris Austin, Butch Talbot, Rob Stromecki, Josh
Wilcox, Cliff Johnson Jr., Shane Wolfer, Jason Schoonmaker, Jeff
Woodard, Barry Tingue, Andrew Eastman, Nathan Arnold, Steve Sklar,
Kyle Bradigan, Rich Wojtowicz, Tim Bruce, and Mark Loveland. DNS-
Dan Giboo. DQ- Baxter and Dobson. Heat winners were Baxter,
Talbot, and Dobson.
Mini Stocks: (10 laps) Steve Mowrey, Brad
Ullmann, Jim Gallaway, Levi Watson, Nick Snayczuk, Brian Kunselmann,
Dave Lowe Jr., Michael Miller, Kurt Goodell, and Paul Bidwell. Heat
winner was Mowrey.
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