01/02/2005

FITZGERALD AND VERWYS RING IN NEW YEAR WITH WINS

Over 150 well-prepared holiday themed endruo cars and trucks hit Mountain Speedway Sunday for the second annual Drews Enterprises 'Beaters with Heaters'. The grandstands were packed full of fans anticipating the first race of the eight-race schedule for the ABC Car Crushing/NEETS Holiday Stock Car Series (NEETS HSCS). They may have been cold, but witnessed plenty of winter racing action.

The Valley Service Four Cylinder event christened the 2005 NEETS HSCS with their 125-lap melee. Ninety-four cars took the green, with the #00 of Tommy Walkowaik and the #1974 of Mark Hammer pacing the field early on. For some time it looked as though no one had anything for Walkowiak, but problems on the same lap later in the show ended their victory lane hopes. Lap 54 brought out the red flag for the overturned #33 of Bob Hendershot. Luckily both Bob and his passenger were unharmed and safely exited the speedway.

Next, the #97 of Bobby "Peaseman" Pease cruised into the top spot and now became the vehicle that everyone had to top. As the laps wound down, Pease looked unstoppable. That was until lap 114 where a flat right front tire brought forced him into the pit area. Bobby's misfortune turned to fortune for the second place car of Pat Verwys. Pat, one of the "Killer V's", crossed the strip first, just ahead of the #2X driven by Robin Vollmoeller.

The 125-lap Cottman Transmission 6/8 Cylinders took to the 1/3 mile for the last feature of the afternoon. Dr. Destruction Howie Bott in the #75 took the early lead, but an overheating problem sidelined him for the rest of the show. This handed the lead to Steve Haegele. Steve would stay at the point for some time, but eventually drifted back in the field. Tommy Walkowiak took the top spot until passed by the #4 of Tom Pickerell. Tom led the majority of the event with the 16X of Ray Fitzgerald chasing in a distant second. As the laps passed, Fitzgerald caught Pickerell and stole the lead, giving the 2003 NEETS Champion his first Holiday Stock Car Series win of the 2005 season.

Santa Claus and one of his elves visited from the North Pole delivering presents to all the children in the grandstands. The gifts were provided by a number of drivers, officials and fans. This season, NEETS HSCS will donate $1 from each general admission to a selected charity for each event. The charity from Sunday is Racing for Smiles. A check will be presented to the organization's coordinator at the 2005 Motorsports Show in Ft. Washington, PA later this month. The next NEETS NSCS race will be on April 2nd. For more info, please visit www.neetstour.net. Happy New Year from everyone involved with the NEETS Holiday Stock Car Series!

Sources:  Geno Ostrowski/NEETS PR
Posted:  January 2, 2005