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11/29/2009
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ROWAN PENNINK
GAMBLES AND WINS TURKEY DERBY XXXVI
Not Pitting for
Fresh Rubber Was Winning Trump Card
by
Denise DuPont |
 Thirty-six tour type modified race teams came to Wall Township
ready to compete for a spot in the thirty-sixth Turkey Derby race at Wall
Stadium. Twenty-six cars survived qualification and took the green flag at
the start of the traditional Thanksgiving event.
The Turkey Derby race started as usual. Racers with home track
advantages dominated the track and were ready to take home the top spots.
But as the race end unraveled, a mean twist of fate was dealt to the then
race leader, Jimmy Blewett. With only nine laps to go, officials black
flagged Blewett for fluid leaking from his car. Until then Blewett had
proven he had the car to beat as he was able to pit and come back through
the field to take the race lead. While Blewett’s team dealt with issues in
the pits, ‘Lady Luck’ was there ready to give the #93 team of Rowan Pennink
the lead, which he took and made the final run for the win.
“He had a good car,” said Pennink about the #66 car of Blewett. “I
feel bad for him because he came through the field and got to the lead and
it is too bad for him that he had a problem like that, that put him out of
the race. It takes a little luck sometimes to get out there.”
 “Once he got in front of me, I was getting all loose from his
water. He was leaking pretty good out there. There was water all over my
windshield. When I stopped and they (track officials) checked my windshield,
there was a good amount of water there.”
In the end, the call not to pit for tires was the decision that had
Pennink right there in the spot to be when Blewett was black flagged. “We
made the call not to come in because there were some many cars left out
there on the track. We thought that it might be tough to come back up
through the field even with fresh tires. We might have gotten caught up in a
wreck. So we decided to stay out and gamble and it paid off for us. The guys
made an awesome call. I have got to thank the whole #93 team. I could not
have done it without them and my family. I just have to say a special thanks
to all them.”
At the race end there was re-start after re-start which brought the
field close and made for tough restarts and lot of paint swapping. “They
said I jumped on one re-start,” said Pennink. “So on the next one I waited a
little longer and Jimmy actually hit the gas before I did. So we were
swapping back and forth, rubbing a little bit. But that is Wall Stadium for
you. You are not going to race
 close without rubbing here.”
Pete Brittain sat back in third watching the race unfold. With less
than ten laps to go, he made a charge for the win after inheriting the
second spot. But when all was said and done, could he have gotten around
Pennink or was his second place finish all there was? “I could have dumped
him but he was running good race we were a little stronger than he was but
not quite strong enough to get around the outside of him. I wasn’t going to
dump him to win the race.”
There was a lot of bumping and hitting that went along with every
lap of this race. Even the experienced track drivers were challenged. “It
was a tough race,” said Pete Brittain after victory lane. “Wall Stadium is
always tough. It is a tight little race track that is always fast. You have
to know that going in”.
Veteran racer, Jamie Tomaino, had a podium finish as he raced
across the finish line in third place. Tomaino like Pennink made the gamble
not to pit and hoped in the end the tires would bring him a win. But even
though the tires lasted all 100 laps, they did not have enough to get him a
Turkey Day win. “The tires that we ran today are an issue. When I won the
race here in 1981, I went the whole way on a set of tires and I still had
plenty of grip. Unfortunately today’s tires don’t seem to hold up as good as
they did in the old days. The #93 car (Rowan Pennink) and myself stayed out
there the whole time and we had our hands full on the restarts. Once you got
going again the tires were good. But those restarts, with restart after
restart gets really hectic after a while.”
Even though he did not win, Tomaino was a good sport and
congratulated the Pennink team on their win along with lamenting with Jimmy
Blewett on his lost: “Congratulations to the #93 car. He did what he had to
do to win the race. Nothing for nothing, I know a lot of people do not like
Jimmy Blewett, but I think that he got a raw deal today. There was nothing
on my windshield when he was in front of me. I didn’t think he was leaking
anything or not enough to black flag him. I know he wins his share of races
and I know he probably would have won again today. But sometimes what is
right is right. That is the way I fell about it.”
 Jon McKennedy came to the Turkey Derby fresh off winning the 2009
Modified Racing Series Championship. He had not planned on racing at Wall
but when the opportunity was available he raced at the chance to take the
reins of the #16 SPAFCO car. “I have to thank all these guys for giving me
an opportunity to drive this car. It was a last minute deal. They called me
last night around 4 to 5 o’clock to drive the car. Kenny got sick. He has
the flu. I hope that he is feeling better.”
“So he asked me to drive. I said sure and it was a good day.” And a
good day it was. McKennedy managed to avoid incidents and hold on to finish
fourth in a field of tough competitors. “We started way in the back and to
come out of there with a top five was pretty cool.”
As Thanksgiving weekend comes to an end, another Turkey Derby Open
Tour Type Modified event becomes one for the history books. We will now have
to wait and see what the next year brings. Which drivers will be driving
which cars? Will there be new teams?
Turkey Derby XXXVI Race Notes:
Rowan Pennink
Does the Turkey Derby Race means a lot to you? Perhaps more than most
guys?
“Yes it definitely does. There are probably fifty or sixty of my
friends and family out there in the grandstands seeing that we only live an
hour away from here. It is the one time a year that everybody gets together
and comes and watches the 93 Pennink team come race. So I love it. To win in
front of all those guys means a lot to me."
Jim DuPont Video
Pete Brittain
When was the last time you won the Turkey Derby Race?
"The Turkey Derby I think I won back in 1990 to 1991 timeframe. We
went for the win last year with Jimmy Blewett on the outside. We did not get
it then and we are second again this year."
Jon McKennedy
What would you compare the Wall Stadium track to?
"Maybe a smaller Thompson except there is only one groove and it is
right at the bottom. It is similar in a way though with straight-away’s,
high banks, hairpin corners. I just wish that we did not have to run the
heat race. That was an extra fifteen laps on the tires and a couple heat
cycles. I really think that may have cost us the race win. A four place with
an extra fifteen laps on the tires you cannot complain, it was my first time
in the car."
Thought of competing at Wall Stadium with all these different drivers?
"I told them on the radio I wished I was back in the Super Modified. I
have never been hit so much, I mean I was hit in every corner. It is a shame
that is what they do here for racing. But you have to expect it. It is a big
race. It is hard to pass so I guess it is what it is."
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Source: Denise DuPont /
TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: November
29, 2009 |
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