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11/24/2007
CIVALI, GUMLEY WALL TURKEY
DERBY MODIFIED MASTERS
Molesworth, McCormack, Jankowiak
Also Win
Justin Gumley, of Colts Neck, came away from Wall Township Speedway as
Turkey Derby XXXIV modified masters Saturday. Joining Civali and Gumley
in the post-Thanksgiving Day classic were divisional winners Duncan
Molesworth, of Robbinsville, John McCormack, of Brick, and Andrew
Jankowiak, of Buffalo, N.Y. Civali becomes the first Wall "outsider"
since 1979 winner George Kent to capture the 100-lap Open Tour Modified
100-lap race. The Liberty Limousine No. 88 Raceworks-Chevrolet driver
used his inherited pole to lead all 100 laps on the banked paved
one-third-mile oval, finishing .430 sec. ahead of Jimmy Blewett, of
Howell. Blewett, aboard his late brother John III's No. 76 Troyer-Dodge,
kept on NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour runner Civali's tail the last 50
laps.
Friday's fast-timer lost his pole in an opening lap mishap
and used the first half to run from the rear of the 27-car field to
second. Fellow WMT member Tony Ferrante took third among 12 finishers.
The race was open to WMT, Sunoco/Dart Race of Champions Tour or other
cars with 150 more horsepower and larger tires than Wall's own
modifieds. Blewett was running "JBIII" 's Tour-Type and Wall NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series/Small Block modified for the last time. Both
cars were retired to the family museum and WTS retired the number 76
from all its divisions in a pre-race ceremony.
Gumley put himself in the right place and time to become the
34th different WAAS/SBM Modified 100 winner. The Manchester
Collision/Enterprise Rent-A-Car No. 02 Troyer-Chevy pilot was running
third to leader Ken Woolley, Jr. and Rowan Pennink when Pennink
overheated and Woolley began fading to fifth on lap 91. Pennink hung on
to the lead from Michael Bohn by .219 sec. at the finish. Rob Schultz,
Bob Boardwick and Woolley rounded out the top five of eight finishers
from among 27 starters. Blewett and reigning WTS WAAS track titlist
Kevin Flockhart were among the 19 nonfinishers when they collided while
running one-two on lap 75. Flockhart was an early leader before pitting
for tires on lap 44 - which was when Blewett took over.
Molesworth meanwhile gave his "hometrack" fans something to
cheer about in the 25-lap INEX Legends cars main. The No. 53 Mershon
Concrete 600 Racing-Yamaha pilot came from sixth starting spot to the
lead on lap 10 and held off all-time WTS Legends feature winner Mike
Stull by .464 sec. the other 15 laps. Molesworth had graduated from the
adjacent Garden State Quarter Midget Racing Club to late models at
Concord, N.C.'s Hickory Motor Speedway.
2004 WTS street stock camp McCormack took advantage of front
row men Craig "Pepe" Wallis and Sal Ligouri's lap six collision to take
his feature's lead. The Carpets-With-a-Twist No. 12 Pontiac Grand Prix
pilot defended his Saturday 25-lap race crown by 2006 titlist Bill
Vanderveen by 2.978 sec.
Jankowiak made his 12-hour round trip pay off with a victory
in the season-ending Value Towing factory Stock feature. The CleveHill
Auto & Tire No. 73 1982 Chevy Monte Carlo driver grabbed the lead on lap
six and held off 2005-06 class champ Rob Longo by .236 sec. after 20
laps. Lancaster (N.Y.) Speedway regular Jankowiak debuted despite
electrical problems with his tow truck and a Syracuse area snow storm.
Wall's Turkey Derby and regular season champions are to be
crowned at its Feb. 2 awards banquet at Lakewood's Woodlake Country
Club. WTS is to hold its first racer flea market 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 1.
Contact wallspeedway.com or
(732) 681-6400 for details and updates.
Source: Walter Elliot/Wall
Speedway PR
Posted:
November 24, 2007 |
