Cozze beats CVRA's best

MALTA - Frank Cozze of Wind Gap, Pa., withstood the hardest shots two of the Champlain Valley Racing Association’s best drivers threw at him, and then delivered a knockout punch of his own Tuesday night (July 1) to win the CVRA vs. The World 75-lap Big Block/Small Block Challenge at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Cozze, who opted to run a small block, took the lead on lap 11, and then turned back challenges from first Brett Hearn, and then Dave Camara, to record his first career win at the Malta track. Cozze walked off with a total of $8,000 - $3,000 to win and a $5,000 bonus offered by promoter Bruce Richards to any outsider who could come in and beat the CVRA’s best.

The event drew an all-star field of 60 cars, and with Hall of Famer C.D. Coville acting as grand marshall and signing autographs, one of the biggest crowds in years at the speedway was treated to a night of outstanding racing.

"This is a small block track. Why come with a big block," said Cozze, who used to tow into Albany-Saratoga Speedway during the late 1970s and early 1980s for the annual Super Shootout races. "I’ve been coming here for a long time, and I’ve always liked it here. Seventy-five laps and $8,000 to win. You can’t beat that. A show like this is great for racing."

Vic Coffey, making his first appearance ever at the Malta track, drew the outside pole for the feature, and went right to the lead, but CVRA regular Mike Ronca, who started on the pole, used a restart on lap five to move to the front.

But Cozze was already a factor. He had started sixth, and used the first restart to move into second.

Jack Cottrell, who seemed to be battling a handling problem early in the race, came to a stop between the first and second turns on lap 11, bringing out the second caution of the night, and on that restart, Cozze blasted around Ronca to get the lead.

Hearn and Dave Lape, driving the Andy’s Service big block, were also on the move early. Hearn had started 14th, but was one of the first drivers to discover how quick the top groove was, and moved into second on lap 13. Lape, who hadn’t raced at Malta since the late 1980s, was smart enough to follow Hearn, and moved into the No. 3 spot by shadowing Hearn around the speedway.

By lap 15, Camara, who had started 16th, had moved up to fourth and it was obvious that his small block was going to become a major factor in the outcome of the race.

Lape’s strong run came to an abrupt end on lap 19, when an engine problem made the car slow dramatically coming down the front straightaway. Camara slammed into the rear end of Lape’s car, but the damage wasn’t enough to affect the Camara Slate small block. But Lape was done for the night.

Cozze and Hearn were locked into a side-by-side battle for the lead. Cozze was hugging the cushion, forcing Hearn to continually make his runs from the bottom. But Cozze was able to keep his small block wound up, and Hearn couldn’t break his momentum. On lap 20, Hearn moved back to the top, but obviously wasn’t happy with just following Cozze around the speedway, so he dropped back to the bottom, and kept battling.

Billy Pauch, another veteran of the Super Shootout Series who was making a long-awaited return to the speedway, also was hooked to the cushion, and moved around Alan Johnson, driving the Beachy Motorsports/Pillsbury big block, for third on lap 30. But two laps later, Pauch jumped the cushion, lost a couple of spots, and never recovered.

Camara, who had been sitting right behind Cozze and Hearn, used a restart on lap 43 to finally get into second, and now it was his turn to battle Cozze.

Hearn, obviously unhappy with his inability to get around Cozze, gave up the No. 3 position on lap 53 to pit for two new rear tires. But that strategy backfired six laps later, when one of the tires went down, forcing Hearn to return to the pits again.

Camara used a number of late restarts to make runs at Cozze, using all of his knowledge of the speedway to throw everything he had at the 47-year-old Pennsylvania driver, but Cozze never gave up his line in the top groove and drove to his first career victory.

"I just kept running my line," said Cozze. "These guys have got so much power here, but I knew if I held my line, it was going to be tough for them to get by me."

Camara was second, with Alan Johnson third, Cottrell fourth and Pauch fifth. Cottrell, who won the first Big Block/Small Block Challenge race last year, passed the most cars, as he came from the rear of the field after his mishap on lap 11.

Rounding out the top 10 were Hearn, Coffey, Mike Ricci, Bobby Varin and Ronca. Ricci had been added to the field because he was a 2002 track champion.

The hard luck award of the night went to Tim McCreadie. During time trials, he turned the fastest lap of the night on his first time around the speedway, but on his second lap, the motor in the Sweeteners Plus car went sour, and he loaded up and went home.

McCreadie led the time trials with a lap of 16.548 seconds. Also breaking the 17-second barrier were Billy Decker (16.573), Coffey (16.668), Cozze (16.829), Lape (16.864), Jeff Trombley (16.888), Jerry Higbie (16.903) and Alan Johnson (16.932).

The pro-street stocks were also on the card, and Roy Fifield dominated the 30-lap feature to get his second victory in three nights, as he had picked up his first career victory on Sunday night at Devil’s Bowl. Fifield is a rookie in the division after moving up from the hobby stocks.

Carl Vladyka and Jimmy Eaton put on a heck of a battle for second. Eaton held the spot until the final lap, when he made a slip between turns one and two, which allowed Vladyka to make the pass and get the runner-up spot. Eaton was third, his best finish of the season, with Joe Santoro fourth and Bob Schmidt fifth.

CVRA VS. THE WORLD (75 LAPS): FRANK COZZE, Dave Camara, Alan Johnson, Jack Cottrell, Billy Pauch, Brett Hearn, Vic Coffey, Mike Ricci, Bobby Varin, Mike Ronca, Pat Ward, Jerry Higbie, Ken Tremont Jr., Jeff Trombley, Don Ackner, Ron Holmes, Rich Ricci Jr., Brian Weaver, Ronnie Johnson, Billy Decker, Ray Hoard, Craig Criscone, Mike Romano, Mike Perrotte, Jack Johnson, Dave Lape, Jim Ryan.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: ROY FIFIELD, Carl Vladyka, Jimmy Eaton, Joe Santoro, Bob Schmidt, Adam Tranka, Jay Fitzgerald, Matt Anatriello, Lori Cary, Bobby Gile, Butchie Irwin, Steve Burega, Cale Kneer, Don Daniels, Chris Maxon, Henry Tanner, Tom O’Connor, Dean Charbonneau, Brian Holbritter, Vince Santoro, Walt Brownell. DQ: Jim Groncki.