Davies' hopes go Bump in the night
Originally Posted in the Buffalo News
By Larry Ott
Late in the going Dutch Davies looked to accomplish a feat his brother Ron had done earlier Saturday evening, winning a United Late Model Series (ULMS) race at Little Valley Speedway. Davies' plan ended up with a bump in the road ' actually, in the form of Bump Hedman, who foiled Davies' attempt and won the nightcap.
When fog hit Little Valley during the running of its race program July 3, the ULMS event from that night was postponed and thus two 30-lap ULMS races were staged on Saturday.
After the second race was delayed at the start by a brief shower, Dutch Davies took the lead as Ron Davies, who had the outside pole, immediately went to the pits as the victim of a tire problem. Dutch held the lead over Ed Carley and David Scott. The rain returned on lap six causing a 30-minute delay. At that point Dutch Davies led Scott and Carley. Hedman, who started 12th, was up to seventh.
Once the race resumed Hedman put on an exciting charge, passing Scott for second on lap 16 and then reeling in Davies, who had built a seemingly comfortable lead of nearly half a straightaway.
Hedman's car was working well on the bottom groove of the track while Davies was running the high line near the wall. Hedman passed Davies by sailing underneath him in Turn Four on lap 23. Hedman began to stretch his lead as rain began to fall, forcing officials to end the event on lap 26. Davies was second with Todd Andrews, Scott and Carley next.
'When I was running third and I passed Dave Scott, I could tell that him and Dutch were on about the same speed and that I might have something for him," said Hedman of Sugar Grove, Pa., who is a regular competitor at Stateline Speedway. 'I was pretty confident that once I got by Dave, I had a shot at him."
Hedman's car also sat in Victory Lane with a front-end problem that he said developed late in the race. He called the win, his first at Little Valley, the biggest of his career.
The second race was smooth compared to the night's first 30-lapper. Ron Davies held the top spot for the first 18 laps until Doug Ricotta had contact with Scott in Turn Four while the pair was contesting third place. Scott spun out and the caution flag waved.
Under caution, Scott pulled up to Ricotta and gave him a couple raps with his front bumper. Scott restarted at the rear due to his spin and Ricotta was also banished to the rear as officials deemed him responsible for the incident.
On lap 23 the red flag was unfurled for a scary wreck when Dick Barton, while running third, hit the backstretch wall, collecting Scott and George Lee. Barton came into the event as the Little Valley point leader. Once the race resumed Davies walked away to the win over Andrews. Andrews had a solid evening, scoring a second and a third.
Along with his solid fifth-place finish in the second ULMS race, Carley provided great excitement in the 20-lap E-Mod feature when he passed Rich Michael Jr., in spectacular fashion on the last lap of the race following a restart. Carley had been stalking Michael for several laps.
'You just have to search and I can't pass if I follow so I have to move around and try to make something happen," said Carley. 'I knew on that last restart that he was going backward and it wouldn't take much to get him on the outside. I just had to hit my marks and get him on the outside.
'If you don't get in just right it will bottom out and throw the nose. It's a bucking bronco if you don't get in there right. So I hit it perfect on that last restart."
