NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS SOUTH For August 6th 2015
By Lou Modestino
-In what has been a hotly contested championship fight during the first half of the 2015 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, defending series champion Doug Coby is primed to kick off the second half of the year in the Call Before You Dig 150 at his home track of Stafford Motor Speedway.
Coby has been among the championship contenders all season long following his season opening victory at Thompson, but a mid-race crash at New Hampshire two weeks ago left the #2 Dunleavy Truck & Trailer Repair team facing a hole to climb out of to get back into championship contention. Coby and the #2 team did just that at the next series race at Monadnock, scoring the win and leading the most laps for a max points day. Coby now heads to Stafford for the Call Before You Dig 150 looking to pick up another win at a track where he has recorded 6 of his 15 career NWMT victories.
“I have a lot of confidence heading to Stafford because I really thought we were going to win the 125-lapper,” said Coby. “The caution came at the wrong time for us during that race. If it had stayed green, I think we were going to pass Ryan [Preece] and drive away and go win the race. When the caution came out we all pitted and I had to deal with coming back through traffic and then we got the penalty for over aggressive driving. We have a really good long run car and if we can have a 40 or 50 lap run at the end of the race, that would be a good scenario for us.”
After the Riverhead race at the end of June, Coby was tied with Preece for the NWMT points lead. His misfortune at New Hampshire dropped him back to fourth in the standings and 25 points out of the lead. Coby’s win at Monadnock vaulted him back up to third in the standings and only 15 points behind Woody Pitkat as the Tour heads to Stafford and he is feeling confident about his chances of being a championship contender during the final 7 races the season.
“I don’t know if Monadnock was a statement, I think we just showed that we’re not going to go away easy,” said Coby. “I think that race made more of a statement about our short track program. The quarter mile tracks are not necessarily tracks that I’m used to having success at and this year I finished third at Riverhead and we won and Monadnock. I think we’re showing that we’re rounding out our program with a car that runs well at every track that we go to on the schedule. I feel confident that we have a car that can win the last 7 races of the year and our goal is to get max points at every race we go to. I don’t think anybody is truly thinking about points right now. We’re all trying to position ourselves where we need to be and you only start to really think about points with 3 or 4 races to go.”
Coming off of a championship effort that saw Coby and the #2 team win once and finish in the top-10 in 12 of 13 races, the team made the decision to change their chassis program over to LFR Chassis. Coby says that the switch, although maybe a bit unconventional, has spurred the team to new heights.
“Qualifying has picked up a ton for us this year,” said Coby. “We have 3 poles and 2 outside poles in 8 races so we’ve been on the front row for 5 of 8 races. That’s a huge thing for our series, you usually have a better chance of finishing up front when you start up front. We made the change to improve our program and other than 2 bad finishes where I think we were running well enough that we could have won both of those races, I can’t really complain with how the season has gone for us.”
With Coby, Preece, Pitkat, and Todd Szegedy only separated by a total of 17 points in the 2015 championship chase, Coby says to stay tuned because the championship race should be tight all the way down to the last race of the season. “All four of us are good at the remaining tracks, Stafford, Thompson, Loudon, Bristol, and Riverhead,” said Coby. “With 7 races left, I think that you could probably make a case for each of us to be the favorites at 2 races each and it should be a great race. We’re only halfway through the year and there’s a lot of racing left for crazy things to happen. I’m very happy we’re still in contention and hopefully we don’t’ have any more mishaps like we had at Loudon.”
Another rare, significant Mercedes race car joins Lime Rock Historics slate
Murray Smith, chairman of Lime Rock Park’s annual Historic Festival, confirmed today that yet another Mercedes race car of note will be brought to the Labor Day weekend racing and concours event that this year celebrates Mercedes competition cars. A 1908 Mercedes Brooklands, the sole survivor of only three produced, will join a very special collection of other historic Mercedes competition cars at Historic Festival 33, September 3 – 7 at Lime Rock Park.
A Mercedes Brooklands finished fourth in the inaugural 1911 Indy 500 driven by Spencer Wishart, just 10 seconds behind Ray Harroun’s winning Marmon Wasp.
In the 1912 Indy 500, two Brooklands started – one by Wishart and one by Ralph De Palma – and De Palma very nearly won. In the car he nicknamed the Gray Ghost, he led 195 laps, but then a connecting rod broke. De Palma was able to coast one more lap but in the end he was classified 11th, behind winner Joe Dawson. (Wishart completed 82 laps and finished 15th.) These Brooklands were fitted with 583 cubic inch 4 cylinder engines.
The records of the individual Brooklands cars are difficult to distinguish from each other; the racers were leased and loaned to many owners and drivers. De Palma’s Brooklands was later lost in a fire.
The Mercedes Brooklands has been kindly lent to Lime Rock by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
“It was the Brooklands models that built the very foundation of Mercedes racing success from the early 1900s onward,” Smith says. “How wonderful for it to join the ‘722’ 300 SLR, the 1954/55 W196 and 1939 W154 Silver Arrow Grand Prix cars, and the 1914 Mercedes that raced in the French Grand Prix. A spectacular grouping.” In other news, Smith confirmed Historic Festival 33’s five-day schedule in addition to formalizing the nine race groups:
Schedule
Lime Rock Park Historic Festival 33
September 3 – 7, 2015
Thursday, September 3
4:00 p.m.
Vintage Race Car Parade Start from Sam Posey Straight
17-mile Drive on local roads to Falls Village Street Fair
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Falls Village Street Fair
Live music, entertainment, food, car show
Friday, September 4
7:00 a.m. Gates Open
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in B Paddock
10:00 a.m. – 5:08 p.m., Prac. & Qual. Groups 1-9
5:13 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Hardship Laps
Stirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
Saturday, September 5
7:00 a.m. Gates Open
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in Paddock B
9:00 a.m. – 5:25 p.m., All Groups, Races 1 & 2
Stirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
Sunday, September 6
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in B Paddock
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Sunday in the Park Concours on Sam Posey Straight
Gathering of the Marques Collector Car Show, Big Bend through West Bend
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., Awards Ceremony at Start/Finish Line
Stirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
Monday, September 1
7:00 a.m. Gates Open
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Swap Meet in Paddock B
9:00 a.m. – 5:25 p.m., All Groups, Races 3 & 4
Stirling Moss & Jochen Mass autograph sessions, times and locations TBD
The Race Groups
Group 1 for the Lime Rock Award
Small-bore road-going Sports & GT cars
Group 2 for the VSCCA Award
Dawn of Real Performance: Pre-war Competition Cars
Group 3 for the Rabagliati Awards
Formula Junior & Formula Ford
Group 4 for Skip’s Award
Let’s go racing! Post-war Club Racing Cars
Group 5 for Murray’s Award
Mid-century Sports Racers
Group 6 for Kent’s Award
Sportsman’s Choice… A delightful mixed bag
Group 7 for the Hagerty Insurance Award
Big-bore production Sports & GT cars
Group 8 for Herb’s Award
Not quite street legal… tastily Modified Production Cars
Group 9, Finn’s Fancy
Formula Libre post-1970 Sports & Racing Cars
At Seekonk Speedway
THE HAMMER NAILS HIS SECOND WIN ON LATE MODEL SEASON
Jeramee Lillie kept winding it up on the third-mile and worked his way from a third row start to take over the lead with seven laps to go. And despite points leader Bobby Pelland III’s best efforts to chase him down, Lillie came home with his second win on the season. Lillie’s efforts spoiled a great run by rookie TJ Moreshead, who grabbed the front at the outset and ran 23 laps in the lead before Lillie ran him down. Moreshead finished third, behind Pelland. Austin Blais and Charlie Rose rounded out the top five in the event.
Moreshead was off the pole with Mark Hudson at first hanging on his outside. But Nick Uhrig ducked under from the second row and Lillie got past Blais into fourth. Pelland came in under Blais. Rose, Vinnie Arrenegado and Dylan Estrella followed. Hudson couldn’t settle in due to the crowd below him and was relegated to the great freight train going backwards on the outside. Pelland and then Rose went by.
Pelland looked under Lillie for a three-wide as The Hammer ducked under Uhrig, but couldn’t complete the operation. He tried a second time, but the door was shut again. By now, Moreshead was 15 cars to the good on the rest of the field. But Lillie, Pelland and Uhrig had broken free and were running single file. Blais was under Rose, ahead of Hudson. Blais and Rose continued their debate for several laps while Moreshead continued to move away. Lillie had two cars on Pelland. Estrella was beginning to move and passed under Arrenegado, who was struggling.
But Lillie had picked up more speed and was narrowing the gap with Moreshead. By lap 19, it was down to three cars. Pelland was another five cars back while Blais was brawling underneath Uhrig. Blais took the position on lap 20. One more circuit and Moreshead’s lead was down to one car and Pelland was moving up: just three cars back. Blais was wearing down a big gap to Pelland.
On lap 22, Lillie was working under Moresheaed and took the lead on turn two of lap 23. Pelland closed up and the lead three were running nose-to-tail with Blais coming, pursued by Rose. Estrella was working his way underneath Uhrig. Lap 25 saw Pelland under Moreshead for second and they ran single file.
The order remained unchanged all the way to the checkered flag in a race that had run caution- free from green to checkers.
Estrella finished sixth followed by Uhrig. Hudson followed, ahead of Gerry DeGasparre, Jr., Dave Hutchins, Jr. and Arrenegado.
LOVELACE OUTRUNS FANNING FOR STREETS WIN
Reigning Street Stock champion Rey Lovelace nabbed his second win on the season in a rapid, green-to-checkers race that saw no holds barred. Lovelace spent the feature dueling with polesitter Corey Fanning. Rey started third and as Fanning went to the front on the green he followed from low in the second row. Outside polesitter Vinny Pangelinan battled alongside and they hacksawed the lead until, on lap three, Pangelinan began to edge out. Lovelace was keeping pace as Pangelinan assumed the lead on lap two. Vinny was in control out of turn two in lap three and Lovelace began working underneath Fanning. Thomas Adams was holding fourth but on lap five Tyler Lallier moved him back to sixth and one lap later, Craig Pianka took over fifth. Scott Bruneau nabbed sixth, leaving Adams seventh, ahead of Paul Lallier.
By lap eight, Lovelace was looking under Pangelinan, but Vinny shut the door. Another circuit saw Pangelinan, Lovelace, Fanning and Tyler Lallier running a tight line together . Lovelace looked to the outside then dropped back in and crossed under and Pangelinan was loose, edging up in turn two. He was unable to drop back in and Lovelace slid underneath. Lallier slid up to Rey’s bumper with Pianka and Bruneau in tow and Lovelace took the front alone. Fanning ran under Pangelinan and Tyler followed on through to third. Vinny dropped into fourth and Bruneau pursued. Pianka held sixth, ahead of Paul Lallier, Adams and Manny Dias.
Lap twenty saw Lovelace ahead by three cars. Behind him, Fanning, Tyler and Pangelinan ran nose-to-tail with Bruneau closing from behind.
Lovelace had a seven-car lead on lap 23 and Tyler was all over Fanning’s bumper. It left some openings and Pangelinan looked under but Tyler slammed the door. In the meantime, Bruneau took a run at Vinny but could not get by. Lovelace ran under the checkers, followed by Fanning, Tyler and Pangelinan, who held of Bruneau. Pianka came across sixth, followed by Paul Lallier, Adams, Dias and Jay Steele.
ROBBINS HAULS DOWN FIRST WIN IN LEGENDS
Chris Robbins finally broke the ice, carrying off his first trophy in Legends with a hard-won victory over Jordan Lamothe. Robbins jumped from fifth to second in two laps, then chased polesitter Stan Carpenter to lap 7. He took over the lead but two laps later Ryan Kuhn and Brandon Martinez got together. Lamothe restarted inisde the second row, locked onto Robbins’ bumper and followed through into second. They battled the remainder of the way to the finish with Robbins eking out a narrow win over Lamothe. Jesse Melberg diced his way to third and Ray Parent, Jr. had his best finish for fourth, followed by Joseph Marfeo in fifth.
Carpenter went from the pole to the lead right out of the box and Brandon Packard got under Parent for second. Robbins roared up from sixth onto Pacard’s tail and immediately claimed second while Kuhn and Martinez went under into third and fourth. Melberg was running sixth after starting eighth and ran under Parent. Lamothe followed, then got under Melberg and into fifth behind Carpenter. Martinez, Meanwhile, was moving forward, passing Kuhn into third on lap five and then Carpenter into second. Kuhn followed and they debated position and made contact bringing a lap nine caution.
Out of the restart, the field was coming through turn four when Art Marrero spun in turn foru and the field scattered to avoid. Curt Snow went high, was intercepted and he roled, went nose over, bounded into the air and slammed driver’s side first into the wall in mid-air – just behond the pit exit ramp. Red flags flew and ermergency response converged. Snow was conversant and stepped from the vehicle when it had been moved away from the wall. (It was the second such incident in Legends of the evening as Matt Carpenter wheel-hopped Sam Rameau in turn two during the heat, throwing Carpenter into a barrel roll, bringing him down on his wheels and ending his evening.)
When action resumed, Robbins grabbed the lead again and Lamothe pulled in on his bumper. Stan Carpenter had Melberg on his tail while Parent went to fifth after a duel under Marfeo. Meanwhile, Martinez was executing a three-wide around the field to get back into contention. He went around Jesse Jakubajtys as at the front, Melberg took advantage of Carpenter to take over third just before Marrero spun on the backstretch.
Again, Robbins grabbed the front on the restart as Melberg ran under Lamothe and Parent claimed fourth. Lamothe and Melberg went wheel-to-wheel. Robbins went out to a three car lead on Melberg and Lamothe as Jake Johnson got under Parent for fourth and Martinez moved in behind with Jakubajtys before Adam Thompson spun out of turn one. Robbins was away again and Lamothe repaid the favor by getting under Melberg to retake second. Johnson and Parent followed Melberg as Martinez attempted to go around Parent. Martinez took fifth and began to close on Johnson. But Brandon Packard looked under Martinez, who spun in turn one.
Robbins led the restart and Lamothe looked underneath but was refused. He tried again and they went side-by-side for the final laps as Melberg kept pace. The counters called Lamothe the leader on laps 22 and 23 but Robbins came battling back to lead laps 25 and at the checkers by .136 of a second. Melberg finished just .318 back. Kuhn finished sixth, followed by Molleur, Packard, Hammond, Martinez and Jakubajtys.
HERMAN NABS SECOND FEATURE IN SPORT FOURS
Ray Herman worked his way up from ninth to the lead halfway through the Sport Four feature, knocking Emily Charette out of the lead she’d had since the green dropped. He then held on to the checkers for his second win on the season. David Westgate followed for second just ahead of Gil Bradstreet. Michael Glad and David Simpson completed the top five.
Charette left Nick Mattera falling back on the outside as Dylan Cabral jumped from third to second to pursue. Glad went by Simpson and Mattera onto Cabral’s bumper as Westgate stepped into fifth. Glad went outside Cabral but couldn’t make the pass and Westgate closed up on Cabral’s bumper. The front of the field closed up nose to tail as Charette led Cabral, Glad, Westgate and the charging Herman on lap six. Mattera followed with Henry Lavalle giving chase and Corey Caddick moving in behind.
Herman went under Westgate for fourth and Glad then moved him back to sixth. Herman followed up, getting to second as Cabral went to the outside but could not pass. As Herman went around for the lead, Caddick was moving in the pack. He went three-wide and succeeded in getting by Simpson, Westgate and Glad in two triple-stacks. Caddick was now third, behind Cabral. Simpson, Westgate and Bradstreet pursued.
As Herman pulled away, Caddick fastened on on Cabral’s bumper. Herman stretched the lead to ten car lengths. Caddick looked outside then crossed under. But Matt Smith spun during the pass, in turn four. On the restart it was Herman and Cabal, followed by Caddick and Simpson.
Herman went to the lead while Westgate, Simpson and Caddick entered into a three-wide. Westgate and Cabral made contact, spinning Cabal. Now, the restart had Herman and Caddick at the front with Westgate and Bradstreet behind them. The lap 18 restart took three tries. First attempt saw Herman pull out by a nose
Anthony Nocella drove the family owned ‘Nocella Paving’ # 92 to victory Saturday night, August 1, in the Valenti Modified Racing Series sanctioned race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, ME. The race format was Twin 50
lap features.
The victory was the second series win for the 22-year old driver from Woburn, Massachusetts’s. Nocella is the eighth different driver to win at Beech Ridge. Nocella started the first 50-lap feature 4th in a 24-car lineup and raced around the front of the field showing a strong car that landed in victory lane.Nocella had a good car all night. He spoke of the first feature, scored ‘monza-style’, a point system from the two races that determines the finish.
“Got the car going pretty good in that first feature. The car was good up top (outside) we ran hard late in that one. Ran in second until half-way or so. He (Jon McKennedy) ran me nice and clean. Ran him hard for five or six laps on the outside and once I cleared him I could do my own thing. I was able to set my own pace.” McKennedy, of East Chelmsford, MA, settled for second, followed by Manchester, CT, veteran Mike Holdridge, Todd Szegedy, of Ridgefield, CT, and Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT, fifth.
The second 50-lap race was hotly contested at the front of the field from the drop of the green flag. Once in front, Richard Savary set a torrid pace until a late race caution created a restart with Pitkat now in second place from his 16th starting position. Pitkat, on the restart, made a daring cross-over move exiting the second turn to take the lead but contact with Savary thwarted that effort with both drivers forced from the front of the field and Todd Patnode, of Richmond, NH, rolling into victory lane. Patnode was followed across the line by Dennis Perry, of Pawcatuck, CT, Norm Wrenn, of Nashua, NH, Todd Annarummo,
of Swansea, MA, and Chris Pasteryak, Jewett City, CT, rounding out the top five.
The final point standings between the two races showed Nocella coming out on top of the final tabulations. Said Nocella, “we started 20th and some of the slower cars made it tough. You had to keep changing lanes. I think we had a little better car the second half but it was tough getting back up through. The twin 50’s you definitely run the car hard in both segments I think. But it makes it exciting for the fans and that’s good.”
Race Summaries:
Race #1
Margin of Victory: 1.392
Average Speed: 57.013
Best Speed: 78.440 (Mike Holdridge)
Best Lap Time: 15.283
Race # 2
Margin of Victory: 1.104
Average Speed: 40.953
Best Speed : 76.960
Best Lap By: Richard Savary
Best Lap Time: 15.577
Unofficial Order of Finish
1. Anthony Nocella
2. Todd Szegedy
3. Todd Annarummo
4. Jon McKennedy
5. Chris Pasteryak
6. Mike Holdridge
7. Norm Wrenn
8. Todd Patnode
9. Russ Hersey
10. Dennis Perry
11. Donnie Lashua
12. Brandon Dion
13. Richard Savary
14. Woody Pitkat
15. Mike Willis
16. Dan Meservey Jr
17. George Sherman
18. Colbey Fournier
19. Kevin Ianarelli
20. Jean Paul Cyr
21. Rob Richardi
22. Dave Schneider
23. Carl Medeiros
Stafford Speedway returned to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action with a Five-Star Series event on July 31st. Taking down NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly feature wins on the night were Ronnie Williams in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Tom Fearn in the Late Model feature, Joey Ferrigno in the SK Light feature, Andrew Hayes in the Limited Late Model feature, Phil Evans in the DARE Stock feature, and Devin O’Connell in the Legend Cars feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Todd Owen took the lead at the green but Ted Christopher was all over his back bumper and nearly made a move for the lead in turn 3 before backing out. Eric Berndt got a good run on the outside and he went to the lead at the line. Jeff Malave took a hard hit into the turn 1 wall to bring the red and yellow flags out.
The race went back green with Berndt taking the lead. Rowan Pennink was side by side with Owen for second and Ronnie Williams was right behind them in fourth with Ted Christopher fifth. Pennink got clear to second on lap-5 and he made a move to the inside of Berndt on lap-6 to take over the race lead. Williams was now third with Owen fourth and Christopher fifth. Ryan Preece, who started last in the field, was already up to sixth and going by Christopher to move into fifth on lap-8.
Preece took fourth from Owen on lap-9 as Pennink was starting to pull away from Williams and Berndt, who were running side by side for second. Williams got clear of Berndt on lap-11 and Preece was closing in on Berndt’s bumper. Preece made his move to take over third on lap-14 while behind them, Mike Christopher, Jr. went by Owen, Keith Rocco, and Ted Christopher to move up to fifth place. The caution came out with 21 laps complete for spins in turn 1 by Richie Cooper and John Catania.
Back under green, Preece made a bid for the lead to the inside of Pennink, but he fell back in line. Williams went by Pennink to take over the lead on lap-25 with Preece and Berndt now side by side for third behind Williams and Pennink.
The fight for the lead was beginning to heat up with 10 laps to go as Pennink was looking to the high and low sides of Williams with Preece right behind the lead duo. The three leaders deftly avoided lapped traffic on lap-32 and resumed their fight for the lead.
Pennink nearly got his nose under Williams in turn 1 on lap-36 but Williams was able to keep his car out front. Williams held Pennink off to the checkered flag to pick up his second consecutive and fourth overall win of the 2015 season. Preece finished third, with Mike Christopher, Jr. fourth and Berndt rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Rich Hammann and Josh Wood spent the first lap side by side for the lead before Wood went into the lead on lap-2. Ed Ricard followed Wood by Hammann to move into second and Tom Butler also got by Hammann to move into third. Hammann continued to slide backwards as Wayne Coury, Jr. and Tom Fearn took over fourth and fifth with Fearn getting by Coury to move into fourth on lap-7 as Ricard was all over Wood’s back bumper up front with Butler in third. Ricard and Wood touched coming off turn 4 which allowed Fearn and Butler to close in on the lead duo.
Fearn was on a charge, taking second from Ricard on lap-13 and he then went by Wood to take over the race lead on lap-19. With 10 laps to go, Coury was now up to third behind Fearn and Wood with Ricard and Butler behind him. Michael Bennett was now the car on the charge as he got around both Butler and Ricard to move into fourth with 5 laps to go behind Fearn, Wood, and Coury.
Coury was hounding Wood for second and he was able to finally make a pass for the position on lap-27. Coury’s move opened the door for Bennett to follow him through as Wood fell from second back to fourth. Fearn led the field back to the checkered flag to pick up his sixth win of the 2015 season. Coury was second, with Bennett, Wood, and Ricard rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Wesley Prucker and Bob Charland were locked in a side by side duel for the lead with Jay Goff in third and Joey Ferrigno and Aaron Goff side by side for fourth. Prucker spun coming out of turn 2 to bring the caution out with 3 laps complete.
Charland took the lead on the restart, but Ferrigno got a run down the backstretch and took the lead going into turn 3. Tony Membrino, Jr. was up to third with D.J. Burnham fourth and Jay Goff fifth. Ferrigno was beginning to stretch out his advantage over Charland and Charland then lost second to Membrino and third to Burnham. Burnham and Membrino then began racing side by side for second before Burnham got clear on lap-10 while Ferrigno continued to lead the race. Charland was still fourth with Payton Henry moving up to fifth. Geoff Boisjolie spun coming off turn 2 to bring the caution out with 14 laps complete.
A melee erupted at the rear of the pack on the restart with Cory Casagrande, Mark Alkas, Boisjolie, Paul French, Jay Goff, Wesley Prucker, and Carlos Gray coming together and spinning on the backstretch to bring the caution right back out. Ferrigno took the lead back under green with Membrino and Burnham going side by side for second. Membrino got clear on lap-17 while Henry was up to fourth and Charland was fifth as Ferrigno continued to lead.
Burnham went back by Membrino as they came to the white flag but it was all Ferrigno as he took down his fourth win of the 2015 season. Burnham finished second with Membrino, Henry, and Stephen Kopcik rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, R.J. Surdell took the lead at the green with Kelsey Rottino taking second. Andrew Hayes was third but he made a move to the inside of Rottino to move into second on lap-2. Al Saunders followed him by Rottino as did Paul Arute. Rottino continued to slide backwards as David Arute got by on lap-4 and Justin Bren was just about to complete a pass when the caution flew for spins by Glenn Bartkowski and Duane Provost in turn 1 with 4 laps complete.
Cliff Saunders and Jeremy Lavoie got together on the restart to bring the caution right back out. Andrew Hayes took the lead back under green with Paul Arute moving into second. David Arute was third with Bren in fourth and Bartkowski was back up to fifth after his earlier spin. Rottino backed into the turn 3 wall to bring the caution out with 12 laps complete.
Hayes and Paul Arute were neck and neck on the restart for the lead and as the field came to the stripe to complete the first lap, Paul Arute and Bren came together and then in turn 1, Bartkowski went up the track and right into Arute, which sent Bartkowski spinning as he drove off turn 2 and brought the caution out.
Hayes was the leader again back under green with Bren and Al Saunders side by side for second. Provost was fourth with R.J. Surdell in fifth. Paul Arute came charging his way back through to move into fifth but it was all Hayes at the front as he took down his second consecutive win. Al Saunders finished second, with Bren, Provost, and Paul Arute rounding out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Phil Evans took the lead at the green while behind him, Alexandra used a 3-wide move to climb into second. Dan Dembek and Trace Beyer were side by side for third with Frank L’Etoile, Jr. in fifth and Tyler Trott in sixth.
At the halfway point of the race, Evans was still in command with Fearn, Dembek, L’Etoile, Trott, and Beyer lined up in a single file six car train. Dembek made a move to get around Fearn on lap-9 and move into second. Dembek’s move opened the door for L’Etoile, Trott, and Beyer to all follow him by as Fearn fell from second back to sixth. Fearn then fell under attack from Brandon Michael on lap-12 as Michael took sixth and dropped Fearn back another spot to seventh.
Up front, L’Etoile had gotten around Dembek for second and he was applying heavy pressure to Evans’ bumper for the lead. Nicole Chambrello spun in the middle of turns 1+2 to bring the caution out with 14 laps complete and set up a green, white, checkered sprint to the finish.
Evans took the lead on the restart with Dembek pulling alongside L’Etoile for second with Trott and Beyer side by side for fourth behind them. The two side by side duels kept anyone from making a run as Evans led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2015 season. Dembek edged out L’Etoile for second while Trott edged out Beyer for fourth.
In the 20-lap Legends Car feature event, Mikey Flynn took the lead at the green while Noah Korner and Teddy Hodgdon were side by side for second. Korner took the spot on lap-2 and with Hodgdon on the high side, he lost third to Devin O’Connell and fourth to Dana DiMatteo. Jerry Macchia spun in turn 1 to bring the caution out with 4 laps complete.
Flynn took the lead again back under green and he held the lead until lap-9 when O’Connell went to the front. The caution came out one lap later to slow the field.
O’Connell took the lead on the restart with Flynn behind him in second. DiMatteo was up to third after restarting in fifth with Hodgdon in fourth and Korner slid from second back to fifth. O’Connell led Flynn to the checkered flag to pick up his sixth win of the season, but the real battle was for third between Hodgdon and DiMatteo. DiMatteo took the spot from Hodgdon as they came to the white flag, but Hodgdon came back strong on the final lap and beat DiMatteo back to the line for third. Ryan DeCandia rounded out the top-5.
SK MODIFIED® (40)
1) Ronnie Williams, Tolland
2) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa
3) Ryan Preece, Berlin
4) Michael Christopher, Jr., Wolcott
5) Eric Berndt, Cromwell
6) Frank Ruocco, Cheshire
7) Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury
8) Keith Rocco, Berlin
9) Matt Galko, Meriden
10) Ted Christopher, Plainville
11) Tyler Hines, North Haven
12) Todd Owen, Somers
13) Tommy Membrino, Jr., Prospect
14) John Catania, Agawam, Ma
15) Richard Cooper, West Long Branch, Nj
16) Jeff Malave, Manchester
LATE MODEL (30)
1) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma
2) Wayne Coury, Jr., Shelton
3) Michael Bennett, Willington
4) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma
5) Ed Ricard, Stafford Springs
6) Jim Mavlouganes, Bethany
7) Tom Butler, Stafford Springs
8) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
9) Rich Hammann, Tolland
10) Michael Wray, Northford
11) Chase Cook, Oakdale
12) Scott Cook, Oakdale
SK LIGHT (20)
1) Joey Ferrigno, East Hartford
2) D.J. Burnham, East Hartford
3) Tony Membrino, Jr., Plantsville
4) Payton Henry, Willington
5) Stephen Kopcik, Newtown
6) Nick Salva, Prospect
7) Kyle Jette, New Milford
8) Vinny Anglace, Ansonia
9) Daniel Wesson, Monson, Ma
10) Bob Charland, Stafford
11) Geoff Boisjolie, East Hampton, Ma
12) Todd Douillard, Palmer, Ma
13) Cory Casagrande, Stafford Springs
14) Paul French, Andover
15) Mark Alkas, Berlin
16) Jay Goff, Stafford Springs
17) Wesley Prucker, Stafford
18) Carlos Gray, Manchester
19) Aaron Goff, Stafford Springs
LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) Andrew Hayes, Charlton, Ma
2) Albert Saunders, Stafford
3) Justin Bren, Palmer, Ma
4) Duane Provost, Indian Orchard, Ma
5) Paul Arute, Tolland
6) R.J. Surdell, Manchester
7) Robert Bloxsom, III, Stratford
8) Glenn Bartkowski, Manchester
9) David Arute, Tolland
10) David Comeau, Palmer, Ma
11) Kelsey Rottino, Willimantic
12) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks
13) Cliff Saunders, Stafford
DARE STOCK (15)
1) Phil Evans, Uncasville
2) Dan Dembek, Hampden, Ma
3) Frank L’Etoile, Jr., Wethersfield
4) Tyler Trott, East Hartford
5) Trace Beyer, West Dover, Vt
6) Brandon Michael, Granville, Ma
7) Alexandra Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma
8) Nicole Chambrello, Kensington
9) Zack Robinson, Putnam
10) Chris Bagnall, Norfolk
11) Armand Cote, Jr., Rocky Hill
12) Jake Higginson, Waterbury
LEGEND CARS (20)
1) Devin O’Connell, Madison
2) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, Ma
3) Teddy Hodgdon, Danbury
4) Dana DiMatteo, Farmington
5) Ryan DeCandia, Chaplin
6) Jerry Macchia, Pawling, Ny
7) Noah Korner, Canton
8) Glenn Korner, Canton
9) Brett Crowther, Belchertown, Ma
It was a hot one at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in more ways than one as race fans braved near triple-digit temperatures for another afternoon of great racing action at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, July 29th.