Buffalo, NY: Chuck Hossfeld, last year's defending champion of the Mr. Modified/Tommy Druar Memorial 50, arrived at Lancaster Raceway Park on August 21, 2004 with high hopes of a good finish. As did the rest of the DeLange Racing Team, as they attempted to bring home another Mr. Modified victory for sponsors Dave and Laura DeLange and DeLange Racing of Lockport, NY.

As if any added incentive was necessary, sponsor and two-time NASCAR Busch Series Champion Randy LaJoie was in town and would be in attendance at the race. LaJoie, stopped by Chuck's Ransomville, NY shop to check out the operation and had lunch with the team prior to the race. A former welder/fabricator at Randy's Concord, North Carolina based business - The Joie Of Seating, Chuck wanted to put in a good showing for his friend and former boss.

Randy's company, The Joie Of Seating, produces high quality racing seats for all forms of motorsports from Nextel Cup to Bandolero's. The Joie Of Seating travels to different race tracks througout the season to provide local short track drivers the opportunity to see the quality and craftsmanship of a LaJoie racing seat first hand. In addition they travel with custom apparatus designed to measure drivers for seats that match their individual dimensions perfectly.

When asked how he felt about LaJoie's seats, Hossfeld replied, "I've had one of Randy's seats in every race car I've driven since 1999. I think it is by far the safest and most comfortable seat around. I refuse to use anything else."

The DeLange Racing Team unloaded the car and went out for the first practice session. Chuck ran some competetive laps with good times that put him in the group of faster cars during practice. Twenty-four modifieds had showed up to qualify for the $5000 to win event. This broke down into three 10-lap heats with 8 cars in each, and the top 4 qualifying for the redraw.

Chuck started in heat 1 in 7th position and quickly moved up to grab a qualifying spot. He was comfortably headed for a 4th place finish, when two of the lead cars got together on the final lap and Chuck drove past for a 2nd place finish in the heat.

"We had a strong car all day, and I really felt we could get a top-3 finish in the feature if we stayed out of trouble," said Hossfeld.

That feeling would not last for long.

Five laps into the feature, a spin by pole-sitter Daryl Lewis Sr. (18z) sent the field scrambling. Hossfeld went high in an attempt to miss Lewis, but couldn't avoid making contact with his left front. Unable to drive the DeLange Racing modified, Chuck was forced to be towed back to the pits. The crew quickly surveyed the damage, which included among other things a broken spindle, and determined that the night, as well as Chuck's bid to repeat as Mr. Modified winnner, was over.

"I'm really disappointed. I had a good car tonight, and to have something like this happen only five laps into such a big race... it's just really disappointing," said Hossfeld after the race. "In alot of ways it comes down to the redraw. Drawing 11 out of 12 cars, that's just the way my luck has been this year."

Hossfeld still found a way to smile afterwards as he joked with Randy LaJoie, "I don't know buddy, I just can't seem to do well when you come to a race," commenting on the possible reason for his misfortune.

Buck Catalano (4) went on the win the race followed by Tim Mangus (93), Brett Scherrer (8), Jeff Ulrich (75), and Dave Wollaber (5) to round out the top five.

NOTE: Due to the rescheduled NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series New England Dodge Dealers/Budweiser 150 to be held Sunday August 29, 2004 at Thompson Int'l Speedway, the DeLange Racing Team will be forced to cancel their final appearance this season at Lancaster Raceway Park on Saturday August 28, 2004. The next and final race for the DeLange Racing Team will be September 18th, 2004 at Oswego Speedway in Oswego, NY for the 54th Annual Sunoco Race Of Champions 200.