Pauch protects home turf, beats DIRT stars

Billy Pauch, of Frenchtown, showed why he’s the winningest driver in the history of New Egypt Speedway, putting on a stellar show with two of his home boys to soundly trounce the Elite 11 DIRT Modified stars in last Wednesday night’s Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series Garden State Gunfight.

“This race was special in a lot of ways,” Pauch, 48, acknowledged after the $6,000 victory, his fourth win at New Egypt this year. “A good friend of mine, Lucy Kucker, passed away last week. For many years, she sold my T-shirts at the track and watched my kids. She was a real great lady — and I knew the next race I won was for her. She was definitely looking out for me up there, too, helping me pick my spots [to pass]. This one’s for Lucy. I dedicate this race to her.”

Although Pauch dominated early in the 100-lap Modified shootout, in the end, he did need a little help from upstairs to pull it off.

Starting fourth on the grid, Pauch raced under leader Jack Johnson to grab the point on lap 5. Ten laps later, the New Egypt regulars rose to the top, with Pauch leading 2004 track Superstars champion Ryan Godown and 2003 division titlist Frank Cozze surging from 11th to show in the top five. By lap 25, Pauch, Godown and Cozze were the lead threesome and proceeded to put on a high-flying show of their own in and around lapped traffic, just like they do every Saturday night.

It was lapped traffic that decided every last move in the race: on lap 28, Pauch got pinched behind a lapped car and Godown took full advantage, leaping to the lead. Godown held sway until Pauch powered around him on lap 43 — but Godown, and finally Cozze, were never far behind. With the top trio dodging and weaving through heavy traffic in the last half as the fans roared their approval, Pauch unexpectedly jumped the cushion in Turn 4 trying to navigate around a stubborn slower car on lap 78 — and Godown immediately grabbed the opening with Cozze in tow. Pauch was forced to settle into third. And then Godown got hit, with the lapped car of Pat Ward clipping him off the point with 12 laps remaining. Pauch pounced, pressing from third to first after momentary leader Cozze also jumped the cushion, losing position. A caution flag with 10 to go didn’t change the final order, but did make it interesting. Pauch shook off Godown’s last-ditch challenge to win the 59th race of his career at New Egypt. It was Pauch’s second triumph over the DIRT boys at his home track, and he remains the only local driver to ever beat the DIRT tour regulars in a sanctioned event at New Egypt. Cozze was third, with New Yorker Tim Fuller the first DIRT regular across the line in fourth, and Jack Johnson in fifth. Doug Hoffman, Billy Decker, Gary Tomkins, Vic Coffey and Chad Brachmann completed the top 10.

Ed Hughes, of South Toms River, won the companion 15-lap race for the Haldeman Ford SS Sprints. Rick Cozze, Kevin Nagy, Mike David and Ian Borden crossed the line behind first-time winner Hughes.

Tim Fuller was quickest in Modified time trials, clicking off a lap of 17.399 around the half-mile D-shaped oval. Heat races were won by Billy Pauch, Frank Cozze, Ryan Godown and Jimmy Phelps. Jimmy Horton and Jeff Isabell topped the two B Mains.

The star-studded 36-car Modified field included 10 former winners of the Eckerd 200 at the Syracuse, N.Y., mile.