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Speedway Illustrated's May edition
"
Racers Helping Kids"
by Karl Frederickson
pages 96-97
Featuring Crackers Motorsports Child Safety Program
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The Short Track Report
Rick Mill Returns To Accord 358-Modified Victory Lane
By Brett Deyo
ACCORD, NY August 19, 2005 - Rick Mill can credit the early laps for his return to Victory Lane at Accord Speedway.
Slicing through traffic in the first six circuits with a series of daring maneuvers, the New Windsor, N.Y., veteran won Friday night's GT Morgan Trucking, LLC 358-Modified feature at the Ulster County quarter-mile oval.
For the 45-year-old Mill, the $1,500 victory in the 30-lap event marked his initial triumph since teaming with car owner Peter "Crackers" Reynolds and first win at the Big A since May 16, 2003.
"We got to the lead quick," noted Mill, a two-time winner in '05 at Orange County (N.Y.) Fair Speedway, where he is a Sportsman regular.
"Before the race I stuffed a ton of gear into it and loosened the car way up, figuring we'd be able to go early but it might fade toward the end."
Mel Schrufer jumped into the lead from the front row, but it was clear from the initial green that seventh-starter Mill was the man to watch. In just five laps, the Crackers Motorsports No. 73 Bicknell sat third.
When second-running John Ferrier broke on the frontstretch one lap later, the two-time track champion pulled alongside Schrufer for the restart.
Putting his two decades of experience to use, Mill darted into the lead, but bobbled in turn two on lap seven. The miscue allowed Schrufer to nose back in front.
Mill took advantage of a caution on lap eight to regain his composure and dispose of Schrufer for good, with Jackie Brown Jr. coming from ninth to take second on lap nine.
"I shoved the nose over there in (turn) two," Mill said. "I saw him (Schrufer) come flying back through."
A spectacular incident necessitated the red flag on lap 10. Bill Papula's No. 1 did a series of four quick barrel rolls high in the air before landing on its wheels on the backstretch. Mark Flach Jr. went over twice and the Lutes Racing No. 21L landed on its roof. Both drivers walked away uninjured.
Brown was poised to challenge Mill when the race resumed. Keeping his No. 6X tucked to the extreme inside of the tacky oval, Brown worked steadily on Mill's back bumper lap after lap.
Brown's best opportunity to unseat Mill came on lap 21. Moving the leader slightly up the track in turns three and four, Brown pulled even with Mill on the frontstretch.
Mill quickly darted to the inside entering turn one, forcing Brown to jump on the binders to avoid contact with the inside concrete barrier.
Wisely, Mill never left the bottom again in the final nine laps.
"After that (Brown's move), I got right on the rail," Mill said. "The car was better down low and I actually got away from him a little there. I give Jackie credit; he raced me clean.
"It's good to get a win here. Pete's got some good equipment under me."
It was a milestone triumph for the 49-year-old Reynolds as well: his first victory at Accord as a team owner. The most recent triumph for a Reynolds-owned car occurred on Aug. 30, 2003 when Allen Shiffler won a 358-Mod main at Pa.'s Lake Moc-A-Tek Speedway.
Brown, 33, of Hurley, N.Y., was a season-high second in his family-owned Head's Up Machine-powered Teo-Pro car. "I lost the brakes with about 10 to go," he said. "I used them up. I could run wide open through (turns) three and four - it was just like a Sprinter, I'd break it loose and stand on the throttle.
"I'd run up on him there, but in (turns) one and two I couldn't slow down enough to get under him. I don't know who needed it more, me or Rick."
High point main Rich Ricci Jr. of New Paltz, N.Y., was third after starting 14th, taking the position four laps from the finish. Schrufer and 16th-starter Tom Hindley rounded out the top five.
Twenty-seven 358-Modifieds signed in for competition. Heat winners were Mark Pullen, John Ferrier and Schrufer. Tom Hindley won the consolation.
Second-year racer Steve Krom realized a lifelong dream, picking up career win number one in the time/rain-shortened 21-lap Sportsman feature.
Starting third, the Neversink, N.Y., driver powered by leader John Sundlof on the fourth lap and was never headed. The 40-year-old survived several mid-race restarts and a challenge from Tom Tomasko to pick up the $600 payday.
When a mist began to intensify and Jamie Yannone slowed with a broken right-front shock on lap 21, officials threw the checkered four laps shy of the finish.
"This is a dream come true," said Krom, complimenting his Precision-powered No. K3 Bicknell. "All my life I've gone to the races and always wanted to do this.
"I've got so many people that have helped me - Rick Mill, Jeff Heotzler, Randy Williamson from Bicknell, I couldn't have done it without them."
Tomasko was second, with a hard-charging Danny Creeden, Whitey Slavin and Nicole Tracy in tow.
John Sundlof was fourth on the track but was disqualified for being light on the scales.
Danbury, Conn.'s Al Archieri earned his first career win in the 15-lap Spec Sportsman headliner, leading the entire distance. Archieri fended off the continuous advances of Brett Graham for the win. Robbie Fairweather, Jeff Richardson and Doug Tyler Jr. finished third through fifth, respectively.
The Pro Stock main was the victim of the 45-minute rain delay that stopped the program mid-stream. The 20-lap feature will kick off the Aug. 26 card. Mike Manetta and Jerry Craig were the heat winners.
Ralph Utter Jr.'s outstanding rookie season in the Mini-Sprint division got another highlight Friday night.
The West Milford, N.J., driver scored win number three of '05 in a dominant performance, racing from third to the lead in just one lap. Utter's only serious challenges came on a pair of early restarts from second-generation shoe Bubba Broderick, who ultimately lost second to John Lieto on lap 11.
Lieto was the runner-up, ahead of Broderick, Skip Travis and John Guarino.
Mike Sabia picked up win number eight of 2005 in a wild Pure Stock 15-lapper. The Easton, Conn., native motored by Adam Douglas on lap 11, and raced on to the win. Douglas, James DeCicco III, Kevin Krusewski and Bill Rion rounded out the top five.
Racing resumes at the Action Track on Fri., Aug. 26 with a full program of 358-Mods, Sportsman, Spec Sportsman, Pro Stocks (plus the Aug. 19 heldover), Mini-Sprints, Pure Stocks and Vintage Modifieds sponsored by Mid-Hudson Concrete. Gates open at 4:30 p.m., with hot laps at 6:30 p.m. and racing promptly at 7 p.m. For more information, contact the speedway office at (845) 626-3478 or visit the website: www.accordspeedway.com.
BIG A NOTES: Three separate rain showers delayed the program: one during hot laps, another heavier shower at 8:30 p.m. that forced a 45-minute delay, and the mist that moved over during the Sportsman main.
Despite the weather, 27 358-Modifieds, 22 Sportsman, nine Spec Sportsman, 12 Pro Stocks, 17 Mini-Sprints and 18 Pure Stocks signed in....
It was Mill's second win in six days. He won the Aug. 20 Sportsman feature at OCFS in his self-owned No. 77....
Andy Bachetti was a lap-one casualty with driveshaft issues on the Downes Racing No. 40. It was especially disappointing for Bachetti, who felt he had "a car to win" after qualifying action....
Top NEMA (Northeastern Midget Association) rookie Mike Keeler made a rare Accord start in his No. 55 Sportsman. The versatile 19-year-old from Danbury, Conn., has taken part in SK Modified, big-block dirt Modified and Sportsman action in addition to his status as a NEMA regular in '05....
Once again, a tacky, dust-free track greeted the Accord fans....
The Short Track Report
Mill and Reynolds Form Accord Team
By Brett Deyo
Experience.
It was the deciding factor when Peter "Crackers" Reynolds sat down to decide whose name would be on the roof of his familiar red and white No. 73 358-Modified for the 2005 season.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of his Florida, N.Y., race team, Reynolds sought a driver who could achieve quick results at the tight quarter-mile Accord (N.Y.) Speedway. He was searching for a proven entity, a driver who knows the way around the Ulster County facility and had excelled there in past years.
Enter Rick Mill.
With a career that spans two decades and a pair of Accord 358-Modified championships (1997 and 2001) to his credit, the 44-year-old Mill fit the bill to the letter.
The veteran driver had spent the better part of the past two seasons in the Big A's grandstands. But the New Windsor, N.Y., native will get acclimated to a new aluminum seat in 2005: he'll slide into the Crackers Motorsports TRC-chassied small-block Modified.
An Accord regular since the early '80s, Mill was forced to scale back his own team to Saturday racing only in 2003. The move eventually resulted in the 2004 Orange County (N.Y.) Speedway Sportsman championship, but left Mill with a strong desire to return to the bullring.
After securing the deal with Reynolds during the March 5 Accord Awards Banquet, the hard-nosed racer is revved up to make a return to Accord, a track he forged his career on, first in the Street Stock wars, and eventually into the open wheel ranks (320 and eventually 358-Modified).
"I'm looking forward to being back at Accord this year," Mill reported last weekend at the Middletown Motorsports Car Show. "I always enjoyed the close-quarters racing there, and we have a lot of friends there. It's still the best paying track around.
"It will be a big help to drive for Peter on Friday nights. He's been around this sport for a long time and he's a gentleman. It's tough to field equipment for two nights back-to-back, especially doing it with one car (like Mill had been doing in 2003)."
Reynolds, 48, enters the '05 campaign with a great deal of confidence. He feels his car will end up in Accord's Victory Lane this summer. If that does occur, it will mark the first win for a Crackers Motorsports car at Accord.
The last win for Reynolds was Aug. 30, 2003 at Lake Moc-A-Tek (Pa.) Speedway with Allen Shiffler at the controls. Mike Ricci scored a big-block win for Reynolds at OCFS on June 8, 1996.
"I went after Rick for his experience," he said. "I've been watching him for years. He's a past champion at Accord and I was at Orange County on Saturday nights this summer watching him win the title in the competitive Sportsman division."
Reynolds long list of drivers in the past 10 years includes veterans like Mike Ricci, Frank Cozze, Larry Brolsma and Butch Tittle. He's also nursed along youthful racers like Shiffler and Mark Smith.
At this point, Reynolds believes it will be the grizzled Mill who will fit his team best.
"I'm not looking to pay for a learning curve," Reynolds stated. "I want results. With my program, I need someone that can get some wins. I'm convinced Rick is the right choice to deliver that success.
"One of the strengths of being around this sport for 10 years is that I've been able to build a program and develop it. The addition of Rick as a driver is a step in developing my program."
Mill will have some experienced set-up help in his Accord endeavors as well. Running a TRC chassis out of the Greentown, Pa., Fabrications by Tauschman shop, Mill can rely on Ed Tauschman's knowledge and relationship with Penske Shocks while adjusting to the TRC four-coil design.
"I'm looking forward to driving one of Ed Tauschman's cars," Mill said. "I spent some time with him at the show this weekend and he's got a lot of good ideas. He has a lot of knowledge that can only help us at Accord.
"I've had some success at Accord with a coil car in the past (in his '91 Troyer). After the two practice sessions, we should be ready for the Opener."
It will be a busy season for Mill, who will return to OCFS on Saturday nights with his own No. 77 Teo-Pro car to defend his Sportsman championship. He's also looking to incorporate the recently formed Race of Champions Sportsman Tour into his summer agenda.
In the early '90s Mill was a Sportsman Super DIRT Series regular (he later ran much of the big-block SDS) and he'd like to visit some different facilities.
Just because he will be racing often doesn't mean Mill isn't lazer-focused on Accord. The only driver without the last name Ricci to win multiple championships since the track's 1992 reopening wants to etch his name in the record books for point title number three.
"I think eight (championships) is enough for Rich (Ricci Jr.)," Mill smiled.
*****
Peter Reynolds is not the run-of-the-mill dirt Modified car owner.
He doesn't simply put a car on the track. He involves the community through a number of programs aimed at keeping America's youth safe and involving them in local auto racing.
Reynolds is active in Operation Fire Safe, TeamKids and the Race Against Drugs programs.
"I'm working with communities in New York's Hudson Valley region with my show car, promoting my Team Kids program," he said. "It's my goal to interact with young people and show them the value of safety through auto racing."
Reynolds was recognized with a President's Volunteer Service Award for his efforts in the past year to go above and beyond the call of duty.
As a result, his dirt Modified team was featured in the May 2005 issue of Dick Berggren's Speedway Illustrated. Karl Fredrickson penned an article in the nationally-distributed publication recognizing the contributions made by Reynolds off the track in the past year.
*****
Brett Deyo can be reached via e-mail at shorttrackreport@aol.com.
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