Beaudry Wins a Wild One at Whip City,
Mark Taylor Wins Once, Flips Once
BY MARK McKEON
WESTFIELD, MA – After blowing an engine while going for the lead in his last outing, Jamie Beaudry probably would have been satisfied with a third place finish this week in the 1200cc Mini Sprint feature. Instead, he found himself in victory lane when leaders Paul Rose and Mark Taylor crashed during a restart. Taylor got the worst of it, flipping and cartwheeling down the front stretch. Pat Potter also flipped in the same accident.
“After we blew the engine, all we had left was a stock 1000cc, and that’s what we ran with tonight,” Beaudry said. “We got lucky tonight, but we were unlucky last time, so now we’re even.”
It was an Otis Elevator night for Taylor. Prior to his grinding flip in the 1200cc feature, he had won the 750cc main event.
Greg Smith picked up his first 600cc win of the season in a race that went green to checkers. Ricci Hirth was nipping at his heals for most of the race, but couldn’t get close enough to pounce. “The car was perfect, we didn’t change a thing after the heat race,” Smith said.
After a first lap restart, the 270cc feature also went caution free and Kendall Segar scored a decisive win. It was Segar’s first podium finish of the season.
Kyle Smith used a last lap inside pass to get by Makayla Lucia for his second consecutive 750 Sportsman win. The pair are now tied for the points lead.
Ryan Nicewicz has won four of the five Modified Lite features so far this season. This week’s win came in a race that was slowed only by a pair of yellow flags.
Joe Krawiec returned to his winning way of last season with a dominating performance in the Quad 4 Midgets. Scott Viets finished second, debuting a car owned by Modified racing standout and hall-of- famer Ray Miller.
270cc: KENDALL SEGAR, Seth Carlson, Frank Russo, Brian Boudreau, Wayne Ibitz, Tara Galko, Grant Sabo, Kurt Conklin, Ben Martelle, Joe Scanlon, Jim Johnston, Tony Massaro.
600cc: GREG SMITH, Ricci Hirth, Chris Lennox, Jay Coppo, Richard Crooker, Jim DeCambra, Dylan Campbell, Andrew Narducci.
750cc: MARK TAYLOR, Mike King, Phil Bessette, Rick Stone, Dan Schaubert, Tyler Jackson, Jack Fogarty, Nikki Ouellette, John Casazza.
750cc Sportsman: KYLE SMITH, Timothy Stick, R.J. Currey, Makayla Lucia, Cori Tufano, Shelby Klekotka
1200cc: JAMIE BEAUDRY, John Virgilio, Jerry Sehn, Jon Moore, Kristen Phillips, Charlie Pease, Pat Potter, Paul Rose, Mark Taylor, Peter Dance.
Quad 4 Midget: JOE KRAWIEC, Scott Viets, Kevin Tefft, Jamie Spalding, Denny Zimmerman, Jim Mossman, Tim Gallant.
Modified Lite: RYAN NICEWICZ, Robert Poloski, Eric Bacon, Brett Crowther, Roger Angers Jr., John Durst, Dale Shallow, Rick Ashlaw, David Deskis, Casey Ouellette.
250cc Youth: DEREK ROBBIE.
Karts – Novice: JAKE ELLIS, Tanner Correia.
Turquoise: COREY LEMELIN, Dylan Irish, Spencer Brockman, Matthew McCuin.
Junior: JEFF CHAMPAGNE, Ryan Irish, Nora Lemelin, Connor Leighton.
Lite: KATE LAFRENIERE, Steven Banach, Mike Hauser, Brandon Sorel.
Heavy: JAKE SAPOWSKY, Tim Gallant, Gary Sokoloski Jr., David Comeau, Bill Tack.
Modified Kart: ROGER FUJIMOTO, Victor Pomerleau, Scott Kalber, Craig Hublard, Jim Close, Rick Ashlaw, Paul Luntta, Eric Jorgenson.
2 Stroke: BRUCE DODGE, Steve Rockwood, Roger Angers Jr., Ernie Whidden.