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8/16/2009
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WATERFORD
SPEEDBOWL 08/15/09
2nd Annual Wings &
Wheels
by Hazel Meredith |
 Tonight’s program consists of the most exciting divisions
in local and regional auto racing - the NEMA Midgets, the ISMA Super
Modifieds, the True Value Modified Tour and Waterford Speedbowl’s own SK
Modified Division. Mother Nature assisted the event with a beautiful summer
evening with no rain in sight. The crowd is just as big as it was for last
year’s inaugural W&W event.
True Value Modified Tour Heat Races
This Tour uses the popular heat race format to qualify. Tonight’s
qualifying has three heats, with the top six from each heat moving to the
feature. There will be a “consi” race of non-qualifiers and the top four
from that race also move to the feature. In addition, there are two
provisional spots and two spots guaranteed for Waterford regulars.
In the first heat Rowan Pennink in the #25 took the win, followed
by #12 Todd Annarummo; #18 Eddy Spiers; #28 Dwight Jarvis; #15 Chris
Pasteryak; and # 70 Andy Seuss. Waterford driver Jeff Pearl in the #71
finished seventh – he will start in a guaranteed spot, but can also run in
the consi.
Second heat was won by Ed Dachenhausen in the #10, followed by #0
Mike Holdridge; #13 Steve Masse; #66 Mike Stefanik; #06 Les Hinckley; and
#51 Rob Janovic, another Waterford regular. The #97 of Ken Vogel Jr. spun
during the heat in turn three forcing the rest of the field to take evasive
action to avoid the car in the middle of the track.
The third heat ran clean with #3 Jeff Malave leading start to
finish. He was followed across the stripe by #17 Jack Bateman; #73 Jon
McKennedy; #69 Jim Dolan; #01 Ken Horton and #23 Mike Douglas Jr.
The powerful ISMA Super Modifieds took to the track for their heats
next. Pole sitter, #38 Ed Witkum Jr. of Westford, MA, jumped to the lead and
opened it up quickly. The #24 of Dave Sanborn and the #28 of Eric Lewis
would battle for the second spot.
On the fourth circuit, the #84 Mike Lichty spun in turn two
bringing out the caution. On the restart Witkum would again get the jump,
but just a couple of laps later, the #78 of Mark Sammut, who won at Lee last
night, blew up heading into turn four. He would spray oil all along the
front stretch, ending up in the fence in turn one. The red flag would be
thrown for the second lengthy clean up of the night.
Twenty minutes into the red flag, we got word that they were
changing the engine in the #78 and they planned to return to the track.
The #38 Ed Witkum Jr. would take his first ever ISMA checkered
flag. He would be followed by #28 Eric Lewis; #27 Jamie Timmons; #35 Jeff
Holbrook; #61 Dave Shullick Jr.; and #56 Jerry Dinnen.
The second heat was lead off the line by #55 Mike Keeler. By the
second lap, the #98 of Justin Belfiore would take over the point. He was
timed on the next lap at a blazing 12.8 seconds.
On lap five, the #5 of Vern Romanoski would signal the field that
he had a problem and stopped at the entrance of pit road. He machine was
smoking, and he quickly climbed out of the car.
The #94 of Dave McKnight would try the outside line trying to get
by Belfiore, but to no avail. Belfiore would hang on for the win – being
timed at an even faster 12.5 seconds, easily breaking the 100 mph barrier.
Finishing order following Belfiore is #94 McKnight; #9 Danny Lane;
#11 Chris Perley; #88 Ben Seitz; #29 Russ Wood; #37 Jeff Locke and #55 Mike
Keeler.
The third heat would be lead from start to finish by the #41 of
Mike Ordway Jr. followed by #10 “Liquid” Lou Cicconi; #97 Rob Summers; #61
Dave Shullick Jr.
Next is the True Value Modified Consi Race. Waterford regular #71
Jeff Pearl is on the pole, followed by #1 Dennis Charette, #14 Robert Drown
and #55 Joe Doucette.
Jeff would jump to the lead and lead the entire race, giving him a
spot in the main event. Also qualifying through the consi are #1 Charette;
#55 Doucette and #76 Shelly Perry.
FEATURES
Rob Summers withdrew from the feature due to mechanical issues with
the #11. The #94 of Justin Gaydosh led the field to the green for their
35-lap feature.
The #1 of Charette gets loose going into turn 1 on the 3rd circuit
causing multiple spin outs. Everyone manages to get going again and we head
to a re-start. On lap 5 Tyler Chadwick spins in turn one bring the yellow
back out.
After two re-starts were called back, we finally get going green.
Corey Hutchings in the #90 is side-by-side with Gaydosh challenging for the
lead. The field finally gets strung out when the #29 of Don Fowler spins on
the backstretch grass to bring out yellow number three on lap 8.
After just one lap of green the #4 of Ron Yuhas gets loose – he is
able to gather it back up, but several other cars spin through the dirt on
the front stretch.
It doesn’t take long for caution #5 in the first ten laps! The
leaders made contact and Corey Hutchings brushed the front stretch wall and
collected several other cars. The #94 of Gaydosh would get sent to the rear
for his involvement. The restart will have #3 Dennis Gada leading #4 Ron
Yuhas Jr., #71 Jeff Pearl and #91 Jeffrey Paul.
Gada edges ahead on the lead but Yuhas starts to move up on the
outside heading into turn three. Suddenly Gada’s car snaps around and into
the wall as his tire flies off and rolls down the front stretch. We haven’t
completed a lap yet, and caution #6 is out.
Yuhas jumps to the point on the restart followed by Pearl, Paul and
Chadwick. Chadwick quickly works his way to second with Paul third and Pearl
fourth. With 20 laps to go, Chadwick is on the bumper of Yuhas.
Point leader, Keith Rocco, gets back to fifth, while Chadwick
continues to try to find a way around Yuhas.
With ten laps to go Chadwick finally gets past Yuhas for the lead.
With seven laps to go, Joe Gada spins coming off turn four. Luckily, he did
not hit anything and the field was able to get by him as well.
Chadwith leads the field to the green and quickly pulls ahead of
Yuhas in second. Jeff Paul is third with a battle between “Kid Roc” Rocco
and Pearl for fourth and fifth.
Rocco clears for fourth and is setting his sights on Paul for
third. At the white flag Chadwick has opened up a big lead over Ron Yuhas,
who will finish second with Paul holding off Rocco for the third spot. It
took 40 minutes to run 35 laps.
NEMA Midgets
This is the 80th appearance of the NEMA Midgets at the Waterford
Speedbowl. Seventeen cars will take the green, led by the #2 of Lee Bundy.
Heading into turn three on the first lap, the fireworks started early as
three cars tangle in turn three and two more hit the wall in turn four.
Victims include the #22 of Chris Leonard, the #7 of Adam Cantor, #29 of Jeff
Abold, who won last week’s event, the #99 of Chris DeRitis and the #26 of
Greg Stoehr.
After a red flag for the clean-up, we get through the first lap of
green led by the #45 of Russ Stoehr. The top three quickly pull away from
the field – Stoehr, #47 Randy Cabral and #4 Nokie
 Fornoro (they practically
re-built his car after his wreck in the heat race). The next yellow comes
out after 9 laps for the disabled car of Mark Irving.
The #9 of John Zych Jr. spins on the back stretch to bring out the
next caution as Erica Santos brings her #44 to the infield with problems.
Eleven cars will take the green on the restart. As they cross the starting
line the #99 of Chris DeRitis gets loose, hitting the #2 of Lee Bundy
sending him into the grass. Both continue and we try the re-start again.
Stoehr is unstoppable as he flies to the lead again. However,
Cabral continues to tail him and tries the pass, but can’t complete. Stoehr
takes the win followed by Cabral, Fornoro and William Wall.
True Value Modified Series
At 9:55 p.m. the field finally takes the green led by the #25 of
Rowan Pennink. He’s followed by #10 Ed Dachenhausen, #12 Todd Annarummo and
#0 Mike Holdridge.
The #55 of Joe Doucette spins in turn 3 and gets tagged by the #13
of Steve Masse. Also involved were the #05 of Jacob Dore and #69 Jim Dolan.
Doucette heads to the pits for tires and returns, as does Dore.
Pennink and Dachenhausen lead the field back to the green. Pennink
gets the jump but Dachenhausen gets past him on the next lap coming off turn
three. The second caution comes out on lap six as #23 Mike Douglas Jr. spins
to the infield. #76 Shelly Perry tries to head to the pits as the car is
smoking.
Dachenhausen takes the point on the restart with Pennink trailing.
The #0 of Holdridge is third followed by Annarummo and #06 Les Hinckley.
Mike Douglas Jr. in the #23 spins again to bring out another yellow just 14
laps into the race.
The #41 of Karl Fredrickson as well as Douglas head to the pits.
Dauchenhausen leads the start again with Pennink, Holdridge and Hinckley
trailing. The #66 of Mike Stefanik is on the move and he takes fourth from
Hinckley on the next lap.
Lap 29 Hinckley moves to second and Stefanik is third. Pennink has
dropped to fourth. Lap 42, the 13th place car of Jon McKennedy finally gets
past Hinckley to take the position. Stefanik has moved to second and is
tracking the leader.
As the field takes the flags for the half-way mark, Andy Seuss and
Jeff Pearl get together heading into turn one. Everyone is able to continue,
and it will be an interesting restart.
McKennedy is up to eighth. Stefanik is running a car that has never been
raced.
Dachenhausen and Stefanik stay side-by-side battling for the lead
for 3 laps until Stefanik clears him to take the point. Dachenhausen is
second followed by Pennink and Hinckley.
Stefanik continues to open up his lead, running away from the
field. After Dachenhausen and Pennink, there is a big gap back to the rest
of the field as well.
The #12 of Todd Annarummo slows on lap 63 and heads to the infield.
Lap 72 the #10 of Ed Dachenhausen slowed as he headed into turn one. It
seems something broke on the car. That gives second to Pennink, followed by
Holdridge and Horton.
Heading into turn three of the re-start lap, Jarvis spun and hit
the outside wall, while Jack Bateman spun to the infield. Therefore, the lap
does not count. Stefanik leads them back to the green.
Mike Douglas spins once again in turn three, bringing out another
caution on lap 73. The #06 of Hinckley is sent to the rear for contact with
Douglas.
Stefanik gets the jump to the front but the starter calls it back.
He again gets by on the start and clears Pennink for the lead. But it
doesn’t last as another spin out brings the yellow back out on the next lap.
Great re-start with Stefanik getting back to the front. Holdridge
gets into the side of McKennedy who did a great job not to wreck coming down
the front stretch.
Holdridge in the #0 cuts a tire on lap 77, hitting the wall in turn
one. He collects the cars of Hinckley and Masse as well as Seuss. The red
flag is shown as this will be another lengthy clean up. This is the ninth
caution of the night.
Here we go green again – it’s 11:07 p.m. Stefanik leads Pennink,
Horton and Pasteryak. It will be a single file restart. Pasteryak almost
loses it going into one, but hangs on to run side-by-side with Horton.
Stefanik stays in front. Pasteryak clears for third with 17 laps to go and
there’s lots of action back in the pack.
The #70 of Andy Seuss spins in turn three on lap 88, but is able to
keep going. Ten to go, Stefanik is seven car lengths ahead of Pennink.
A lapped car slows Stefanik and Pennink gets by on lap 94. Stefanik
is slowing and heads to the infield on lap 97. It turns out his engine did
blow up.
 Pennink gets the win, followed by Pasteryak, Horton and Goodenough.
Pennink is the 8th different winner at Waterford. This is Pennink’s first
victory on the TVMS.
They are trying to hurry victory lane along to get the Super
Modifieds out before the midnight curfew for their 50-lap event.
Pennink said, “My car was tight all night, but as the right rear
started to wear, it came in better.” When asked if he thought he had enough
car to beat Stefanik, he stated, “I thought we were gaining on him and would
have a shot at him, but he started smoking and puffing smoke, so I laid back
so in case he blew up, I wouldn’t run into the back of him.”
He continued, “The cautions were frustrating. I wanted to get some
green flag laps going. We also waited in the cars for a while waiting for
the last race to finish.”
ISMA Super Modifieds
The big question is how much of the race will we be able to run?
There is a midnight curfew at the track, however, if the race is green
before midnight, it can run till a cautio or green flag comes out. It’s a
50-lap feature and we’re going green at 11:35 p.m.
The #38 of Ed Witkum Jr. will lead the field to the green. These
guys are loud, powerful, and FAST! In a heat race, Dave Shulick was clocked
at 12.2 seconds for 110.5 mph!!
The #41 of Mike Ordway takes the point after two laps, followed by
Lou Cicconi, Witkum and Jamie Timmons.
The first yellow comes on lap 6 as the #24 hits the wall in turn
three. The leaders are Ordway, Cicconi, Witkum and Timmons.
We go back to green at 11:43 – single file restart, but there is
plenty of side-by-side racing as they cross the stripe.
Ordway continues to pace the field with Cicconi just behind. They
have opened up a big lead on the rest of the field by lap 19.
It the half, it’s still Ordway, Cicconi and Witkum. #9 Danny Lane
has moved up to fourth. Lap 27, two cars gets sideways off turn three and
skate through the grass – both are able to continue, but the caution does
fly.
Ordway leads the pack to green, but quickly the yellow is out as
Witkum gets together with the #05 of Jeff Abold and loses a wheel as he hits
the turn three wall. Abold end up in the grass. That’s the second wheel
we’ve seen flying during “Wings & Wheels” night – will we see a “wing”
flying before the end of the night?
As the pack takes the green the #02 of Brandon Bellinger spins
between laps one and two, bringing the yellow back out. No laps were
completed. The two leaders pull away again, and Dave McKnight in the #94
moves to fourth.
Lap 32 the #71 slows and brings out the yellow for a very quick
caution. They managed to restart at 11:59. Ordway and Cicconi pull away
again, with Lane and McKnight 3rd and 4th. The #44 of Bobby Haynes Jr. is
fifth.
Ten laps to go Cicconi is trying every trick in his bag to get by
Ordway. He gets alongside Ordway and with six to go they catch a lapped car
forcing Ordway to back off or wreck. A car spins in turn two bringing out
the yellow and forcing the checkers to be shown as well with three laps to
go. “Liquid” Lou Cicconi takes the win followed by Mike Ordway Jr., Danny
Lane, and Dave McKnight, who if vying for Rookie of the Year.
This is Cicconi’s third win at Waterford. He also won this even
last year. He said he likes the tight tracks – “it’s like a chess match.
Sometimes I was so close to the wall I don’t know how I didn’t hit it.”
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Source: Hazel
Meredith
Posted: August
16, 2009 |
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