ELBRIDGE, N.Y. — Pat Ward survived a massive 15-car pile-up, then put a big heap of hurt on the rest of the field as he went on to score his first Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series victory of the season, winning in convincing fashion Friday to kick off the 21st-annual World Series of DIRT Track Racing Weekend at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park.
Ward led the second half of the race to post his second-career tour victory at Rolling Wheels, out-distancing runner-up John Lazore, Vic Coffey, Jimmy Phelps and Pete Bicknell in the 99.3 The Wall World Series 75.
The 15-car pileup took 45 minutes for safety crews to clean up and eliminated six cars from the race.
The finish:
Pat Wart, John Lazore, Vic Coffey, Jimmy Phelps, Pete Bicknell, Pat O’Brien, Danny Johnson, Steve Paine, Kevin Bates, Rick Richner, Mike Adderley, Pierre Dagenais-Gatineau, Danny O’Brien, Robbie Grant, Mark Smoke, Mario Clair, Larry Lampman, Jr., Dan Vauter, Alan Johnson, Tom Juhl, Bill Gill, Billy Decker, Brett Hearn, Lance Willix II, Roy Tarbell, Ronnie Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Carey Terrance, Johnny Guarino, Rich Vinson.