McCaughey’s small-block skates to New Egypt win

New Egypt’s own Darren McCaughey seems to know the recipe for success when the racing surface is hard, smooth and slick: Forego the big Modified horsepower, stick with small-block power, and hook it on up for the win.

And that’s just what McCaughey did Saturday night, skating in for his first of the season at New Egypt Speedway.

"It’s a brand-new car, and we’ve been struggling with it, so this is a little unexpected," said McCaughey, who finished 17th and 23rd in the first two races of the year. "The crew worked their tails off, and we must have made 100 changes before the feature tonight. I guess now I look like a genius."

It was McCaughey’s kind of race track, and he made the most of it in the 30-lap Modified main event, sprinting away at first green while big guns Jimmy Horton and Frank Cozze battled it out behind him.

Horton actually got within striking distance of the leader in the waning laps, but McCaughey had that small-block wound up and cruised in to take his first New Egypt Modified win since July, 2001. Horton, last week’s winner, finished second, with Cozze third, Tim Tanner Jr. in fourth and opening-day victor Billy Pauch in fifth.

Defending division champion Gary Butler, of Phillipsburg, led wire-to-wire to record his first-ever Sportsman victory, becoming the first driver at the speedway to win in all three classes. Bill Tanner III gave Butler a run at the beginning of the 20-lap event, but ultimately settled for second. Jack Swain, Larry Kline and Brian Godown completed the top five.

Allenwood’s Ralph Gargiulo ran away with the15-lap Super Stock, his first of the year, with defending division champ Pat Conaway, Kim Cooke, Bryan Reed and Robert Melton chasing.

Craig Martin, Forked River, took the Edison Generator No. 747 to the winner’s circle in the 15-lap SS Sprint event. Opening-day winner Art Liedl was a fast-closing second, with 2004 division champ Mike David in third, John Snook fourth and Pat Freiberger in fifth.

It was another great race in the Mid-State Communications Rookie Sportsman Series, with a new face — Rich Miller of Flemington — in victory lane. Chad Bar­ney, who retook the point lead, came up short, finishing second. Jason Hamilton, Kristina McVay and Adam Huff trailed Miller and Barney at the line.

Next week, Gem Marketing presents Twins Night at New Egypt Speedway, with twin 20-lap features for the Modi­fieds and all twins, in sets of two with proof of birthday, admitted free at the front gate. Sportsman, Super Stocks and Rookies complete the race card. Gates open at 2:30 p.m. with first green at 5:30 p.m. Adult admission is $17, children 7-12 are $6, and kids 6 and under are free. For more information, call the speedway office at (609) 758-1900 or log on towww.newegyptspeedway.net.