Little Valley Speedway
Ron Davies tops ULMS foes at Little Valley
By Dave Sully
Little Valley SpeedwayLITTLE VALLEY, N.Y. (July 4) — Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., has been known as “The Rimrider," but he used the low groove for a dramatic victory Thursday at Little Valley Speedway.
Davies overtook Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., with two laps to remaining to capture his second NDRL's ULMS Racing Series victory of the season Thursday, winning $3,000 at the Freedom Daze special on the Fourth of July.
Knight, the ULMS points leader, settled for second with polesitter Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., finishing third at the half-mile oval. Dutch Davies of Warren, Pa., the winner’s brother, was fourth while Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., rounded out the top five in the 16-car field.
“The track was a little rough. I just had to abuse the car to get in there (the bottom). It looked like the lap car slowed him (Knight) up a little bit. I knew it was the only chance I had. Once I cleared him, I knew we were going to be OK,” the winner said. “The high side was still the fastest way around. It kept getting higher and higher, and coming off four you were running really close to that fence. The bottom was fast, but it was so rough I was afraid of destroying something on the car.
“I knew I couldn't run 30 laps there, so when I got the chance I passed Vic on the bottom, and I knew it was the only chance I had of passing Mike. I never thought I'd catch him from half a lap behind.”
Knight took the lead at the start from Coffey and immediately put some distance between himself and the rest of the field, actually entering slower traffic by the seventh circuit. Davies claimed second on lap 11, getting by Coffey, and then set out after Knight, who was flying around the big half mile and seemed invincible, having established close to a straightaway lead.
Then the scenario changed, as Knight became mired behind Brent Rhebergen and Davies changed his line to the bottom, dicing with a treacherous bump in turn one that required steel nerves to negotiate. By lap 25, Davies was making huge progress, drawing to within 10 car lengths by lap 25, as Knight finally cleared Rhebergen.
Roaring down the frontchute three laps later, with the lead now down to about five lengths, Davies made a heroic dive to the bottom once again, while Knight slipped high, allowing Davies to emerge with the lead. Knight tried to come back, but with momentum on his side, Davies went on for the crowd-pleasing win and the first-place check.
Notes: Davies drives a Capital Race Car sponsored by Hornbug Oil, Penn Gold Well Services and Octane Custom Designs. ... He also won April 27 in ULMS action at McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa. ... After a near-perfect track surface for the previous event, a bump in turn one caused problems and twice required regrooming by track workers. ... Chad Ruhlman won the Crate Late Model feature, tabbed the Bill Law Memorial to honor one of the pioneers in the division. ... Jeremy Wonderling won the BRP Can Am Series event after controversial contact with leader John Waters that sent Waters spinning into the backstretch wall. ... The event drew 92 race cars in all and 16 Super Late Models. ... Little Valley hosts an unsanctioned event including Super Late Models on July 12. ... ULMS competitors are back in action July 13 at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial, Pa., for a $5,000-to-win event.
Freedom Daze: (1) Ron Davies, (2) Mike Knight, (3) Vic Coffey, (4) Dutch Davies, (5) Boom Briggs, (6) Jason Dupont, (7) David Scott, (8) Brent Rhebergen, (9) Greg Oakes, (10) Matt Urban, (11) Terry Porter, (12) Bob Close, (13) Chris Hackett, (14) Dick Barton, (15) Pete Alspaugh, (16) Michael Oakes. Heat race winners (among 16 cars): Davies, Coffey.
