TJ Potrzebowskiís Flawless Performance Earns Him His Second Chemung Modified Win By Carol Houssock

Chemung returned to action Friday night, with a four-division program. The much-anticipated second annual Jim Potrzebowski Memorial for the Hobby Stocks saluted a great man and friend to many at the track. While three of the four features ran the distance, Mother Nature had her say six laps into the big event. That one will be concluded at a date to be determined, but the other feature winners celebrated their success. TJ Potrzebowski's second win in the Buckley's Automotive Modifieds brought the family together in victory lane. Gene Purvis continued his dominance of the Gene's Automotive 4 Cylinder division, while Tori Miller grabbed the Bandolero win.

Jesse Kent and TJ Potrzebowski won the heats in the Buckley's Automotive Modified division, while Nick Morick and Kevin Youngs started the 30-lap race from the front row. Youngs prevailed but a scary moment ensued on the twelfth lap when sparks flew on the front stretch. Lucas Bartlett had tagged the wall then headed down the turn one access road. Youngs and Potrzebowski, who had run side-by-side for several laps, then had a faceoff when the race resumed. Number 13 turned out to be lucky for TJ, as he took the lead. Four laps later, the motor on Zack Curren's #94 blew and he came to a stop in turn four. Lucky 13 played out again, with 13 laps remaining. Potrzebowski and Youngs treated the fans to a super and clean battle over those final laps. Potrzebowski got the win, with Youngs, Tony Hanbury, Kent and Lee Sharpsteen rounding out the top five. "Ray Marshall and the guys give me a great car, and Kevin gave me a clean race," he said. "But I wan to dedicate this win to my Aunt Pat, my Uncle Jim's widow. I really wanted to win tonight for her."

Ajay Potrzebowski and Shelly Rich worked tirelessly to present the 2nd Annual Jim Potrzebowski Memorial race for the Marion Decker Agency Hobby Stocks. With a ton of extra money secured from a laundry list of sponsors, drivers and fans were set to claim cash and prizes. Mike Nickels, Dennis Beardslee and Anthony Gullo won the three heats, after which the top four from each heat drew for starting spots one through 12. Decker's luck was with him, drawing the pole. The field was set, and the race got underway, but only for six laps. A thunderstorm rolled in, and the cars rolled back to their pits, ending the night. As of press time, the date for concluding the race had not been set. Fans who caught prize-winning frisbees should hang on to them, as the prizes will be awarded at the end of the 25th lap, whenever it takes place. All prizes for drivers will also be honored at that time.

The Gene's Automotive 4 Cylinders nearly ran a caution-free 20-lapper. Greg Moldt and Gene Purvis took the heat wins, then started fourth and fifth, respectively, in the feature. Augustine Worden and Ryan Purvis started from the front row, with Purvis powering around her car for the lead. He held that lead for seven laps, but his brother Gene was on the move with Moldt in tow. Gene got around Ryan on lap eight, but it took two more laps for Moldt to do so and secure second. Gene Purvis had a sizeable lead over Moldt, but the caution flag flew when Brandon Measheaw spun coming off turn two with 17 laps complete. With Gene and Greg side-by-side in row one, the fans knew it could go either way. It went the way of Gene Purvis, who led those final three laps and scored his fifth feature, including the past four in a row. The only feature he didn't win was on June 8th, when he finished second. "I thought I'd be ok til the caution came out. Greg is fast," he told the crowd. "But it felt like a good race." Moldt finished second, followed to the line by R. Purvis, Matt Jenkins and Worden.

Dallas Harbst led the first two laps of the eight-lap Bandolero feature, before being passed by Tori Miller. A restart following the first caution resulted in a big move by Harbst but a lap later Miller was back on top of the leader board. The second, and final caution, took both Harbst and Leevi Sharpsteen to the pits and an end to their runs. Miller and Easton Houghtaling were left to run the green-white-checkered finish, and it was Miller who captured her first win at the track.

Chemung switches to a Saturday night program this week, as the ROC Family of Series present a tribute to Ed Mguire. The ROC Sportsman Modifieds and ROC Super Stocks will each run 51-lap events, while the FOAR Score Dash Series will also be on tap to round out the program. Pits open at 3 PM, fan gates at 4 PM, and racing gets underway at 6 PM. Adult admission is $20, $18 for seniors, $10 for kids ages 5-12 and free for kids under age 5.

For information, log on to the track's website: chemung-speedrome.com, "like" us on Facebook: Chemung Speedrome - Racing at the Drome, or call Ray Hodge, Promoter, at 607-483-3468.

Of note:

No one claimed the 50/50. The winning ticket was red, number 100913.
The 07 Collectibles trailer is the only place to buy 2025 Chemung Speedrome apparel.

Results:

Buckley's Automotive Modifieds (30 Laps): TJ POTRZEBOWSKI, Kevin Youngs, Tony Hanbury, Jesse Kent, Lee Sharpsteen, Nick Morich, Jody Buckley, DJ Shaw, Dakota Anderson, Zack Curren, Charlie Sharpsteen, Lucas Bartlett, Tyler Harbst>
Heats: Kent, Potrzebowski

Marion Decker Agency Hobby Stocks Jim Potrzebowski Memorial: RAIN DELAYED WITH 6 LAPS COMPLETE. DAVE DECKER WAS LEADING CULLEN SHARPSTEEN AND JOSH PARKER. RACE WILL BE COMPLETED AT A DATE TO BE DETERMINE.
Heats: Mike Nickels, Dennis Beardslee, Anthony Gullo

Gene's Automotive 4 Cylinders (20 Laps): GENE PURVIS, Greg Moldt, Ryan Purvis, Matt Jenkins, Augustine Worden, Kyle Mortimer, Brandon Measheaw, Troy Hodge, Adriana Purvis
Heats: Moldt, G. Purvis

Bandoleros (8 Laps): TORI MILLER, Easton Houghtaling, Dallas Harbt, Leevi Sharpsteen