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5/24/2009
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STEVE MASSE BEATS THE WIDOW MAKER
Young Gun gets First Win at Thunder Road
Speedbowl
by
Denise DuPont |
Summer started this year with a roar as the TVMRS brought modifieds back to
Thunder Road Speedbowl on Memorial Day weekend. This was the first visit of
the True Value Modified Racing Series to the small bull ring this year
returning after a successful run there last year. When the race ended on
Sunday, once again fans knew why they call the track Thunder Road and the
Modified cars ground pounders.
Nineteen year old Steve Masse won the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day 100
which gave him his first ever TVMRS win. Before this season, Masse had a
reputation of maybe being a little bit too aggressive and trying too hard on
the track. But with a good finish at Waterford Speedbowl and a win at
Thunder Road the young gun’s reputation has changed. “I have build up
confidence and my driving skills a little bit but it really is just a little
more patience. I do not think it is so much my driving skills but more that
I am taking it one car at a time and I am not trying to do too much at once.
And it has worked out good so far.”
Masse started the race seventh and patiently worked his way through
the field of cars to win the race. “I just took it one car at a time, one
pass at a time, one lap at a time and it felt good. Everyone is just
ecstatic with how we finished. It was a great win for us. We really needed
it.”
This year the car itself appears to be handling so much better. “I
just got great help from Northeast Racecar and Parts,” said Masse. “He (Brad
Lafontaine) helps us out a lot. He keeps us with the setups. I cannot thank
Brad enough. This year everything just has been falling in place.”
Whelen Modified driver Rowan Pennink has teamed up with veteran
team owner Gary Casella this year to run the TVMRS full-time. This
driver-owner relationship has proven to be a good move for both. Pennink
drove the Casella car hard staying within the top five for all 100 laps of
the race and ending the race in second spot. “There is plenty of room on the
track. It is plenty tight coming off of turn four there. On the restarts I
got put in the fence there a couple of times. There is a bunch of places
that you can pass out there. You just have to get good runs and get them in
the right spots.”
Pennink did get warned to avoid the front stretch wall and managed
to only graze the monster as he came off of turn four. “I got warned a
couple times about the widow maker (Wall on the front stretch at Thunder
Road). I hit it a couple of times and knocked the wheels out a little bit.
We had a good car all day. It was a little loose at the end. I have to thank
Gary Casella and the whole team for an awesome prepared car.”
During the race there were cars spinning and turning but Kirk
Alexander managed to stay safe and miss the action to take a podium finish
at Thunder Road. “We got real lucky and made it through a lot of wrecks. The
car was loose the whole race but we just stayed alive. Some fast cars
dropped off and I was there at the end.
Alexander won the inaugural race at Thunder Road last year but did
not quite make it to the front this year. “I am real happy with the finish.
I was happy just to crack the top five the way that things were going. What
we started with is what we had at the end. It is hundred laps not sixty or
seventy.”
Front runners Chris Pasteryak and Jon McKennedy were dealt a twist
of fate as one held the lead and the other competed to take it away from
him.
On Lap 87, Chris Pasteryak lost the lead when his car started
backing up on the track. He had led the race from the beginning. “The car
went from being anything to a little bit free on the long green to being
awful loose which is backwards from what a modified always does. I am not
quite sure what happened. We are going to look at it though.”
Chris did recover though and managed a ninth place finish.
“They knew that we were here and we lead some laps. We will figure it out
and come back better the next time.”
McKennedy on the other hand was not so lucky and went home with a
disappointing nineteenth place finish. McKennedy’s car was a strong
contender all day after turning fastest lap during practice and winning his
heat race. He was running in second place when his car started to overheat.
“The car overheated so we had to pull down. It was leaking and they black
flagged us. It was so hot that we could not get it cooled back down. Under
the yellow they black flagged me. It stinks because we had a good car. What
are you going to do? There is so many things that it could be. We have to go
through it all.”
As the holiday ended, the TVMRS left the ¼ mile high banked track
high in the hills of northern Vermont and the spectacular view of nature
behind as they headed back to their shops to rest up with a couple of weeks
off. The next event for the series will be Friday, June 5th at Twin State
Speedway.
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Source: Denise
DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: May
24, 2009 |
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