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6/2/2010 |
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MEMORIAL DAY
WEEKEND WITH THE MODIFIED RACING SERIES
Chapter 1,
Airborne - Chapter 2, Thunder Road
by
Denise DuPont |
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Chapter 1
 Les Hinckley Wins at Airborne Speedway with a Wild Ride Right to the
End
Memorial Day Weekend was a long tough weekend for the Modified Racing Series
(MRS) as teams drove to Upper State New York for racing competition on
Saturday. After racing, teams then packed up shop and boarded the ferry to
get to Vermont for a second day of racing. The temperatures were not hot but
tempers flared and it was a weekend of unsettled racing and feelings for the
competitors.
It was also a weekend of racy racing, wrecked cars, rule books and tough
decisions.
The series made their premier showing at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh,
NY which turned out to be a gem of a speedway hidden in the foothills of the
mountains in the Lake Placid area. Modified teams unpacked their cars not
knowing what to expect. Racers went on the track and to their delight found
several grooves of fast racing waiting there for them to tap into.
 Veteran competitor Les Hinckley’s car took to the track as though it had
been put on rails. He started the race on the pole and dominated the race
until he was passed by fellow hard charger, Rowan Pennink. Then the battle
for the lead began. Pennink charged forward as a race horse trained to win
and Hinckley never gave up his hungry pursuit for the win. On the last lap,
lapped traffic played a key role in who
would
be the victor. Pennink who ran a strong line on the top of the track had to
make the decision on whether to jump to the bottom to protect his lead or
stay in the top groove. He decided to go to the bottom and was clipped by
Hinckley who had been charging to get pass Pennink for the win. Then as
Pennink fought to maintain control of his car, Hinckley shot to the top
groove and raced forward. The race suddenly turned into a drag race as the
two lead cars put the pedal to the metal and gave it their best to be the
first across the finish line. In the end Hinckley had the win by a nose. But
the racing action did not stop there as each competitor was not ready to let
off the gas and they continued their charge pass the finish line.
In the end there were sparks and torn metal as both cars came to rest in
turn one severely damaged. There are replays, stories and opinions but in
the end you have to listen and watch and make your own opinion on what
happened.
For Les Hinckley and the Chick Montville #06 team it was a win but not quite
what the team strove for. “It is definitely not the type of win that we
wanted. It is not for us, Rowan and Gary either. It was not good for
anybody. It is what it is. We will put it (#06 car) back together and move
on from here.”
 From the winner’s eyes and perspective: “We were beat in the last couple of
restarts, but we were better on the longer run. I sat on the track right
with Rowan. Lapped traffic got bottled up at the end a couple of times. I
was able to get to his (Pennink’s) back bumper. And then it got really
bottled up on that last lap. He (Pennink) chose the top getting into turn
three which was where he was running. There he was slowed up so much by
lapped traffic that it really opened up the bottom behind another lapped car
for me. I shoved it (#06 car) or drove it down in there. The coming off once
he (Pennink) saw that I was attempting to get in there; he crossed over and
tried to protect the bottom. But I was already there. I got into my right
front into his left rear. But I could not go down any lower and he got a
little crossed up in turn four and I got to the outside. I got crossed up
and went across his back bumper and then the two of us got straight and drag
raced to the finish line. I beat him by a bumper or maybe six inches. Then
after the start finish line we were drag racing we were going straight and
then he turned right on me long after the start finish line and put me up
into the fence. He (Pennink) is blaming me. He does not want to be
accountable for his actions. And I cannot change that so I am not going to
deal with it. It is what it is.”
Rowan Pennink ended up with the second spot and his second damaged race car
of the weekend. Here is what Pennink had to say about the last lap: “Before
the start-finish line he (Les Hinckley) hooked me. He got a wheel on me and
turned me sideways down the straight away. That is why he got the run on me
to cross the finish line before me. He bumped me and after that we crossed
the finish line. After that we smashed into each other by flying into the
wall. Not only did he destroy his car but my car too. His car is probably
not as bad as mine.”
Airborne was a racer’s paradise providing a very racy track with three or
more grooves to race in. The leaders were able to chalk up fast laps and in
the end when they caught up to the lapped traffic it added slicing and
dicing to the speed. So was the lapped traffic a factor in the final race
outcome? Here is what Rowan Pennink had to say: “Yes, I could not believe
that when got to lapped traffic that they were racing for track position
there instead of just taking the bottom or something. The MRS officials
should be on their scanner telling their spotters to get lapped traffic out
of the way. Basically they did not do their job. They (lapped traffic) were
blocking the track when I got to them on the last turn. Les could not have
gotten me. I held the bottom. The only thing that he (Hinckley) could do to
win the race was what he did. And that is to wreck me. It is unfortunate.
MRS is known for being strict about wrecking and spinouts. They are not
going to do anything about this because it was on the last lap.”
Two of the real veteran racers that have more seat time under their belts
than the rest of the field raced their hearts out but sat back and settled
in for a third and fourth position rather than to get mixed up in the heat
of the moment for the win. Dwight Jarvis crossed the finish line third
followed by Carl Pasteryak both with their race cars intact.
What unfolded in their minds as the lap last unfolded right there in front
of them?
Dwight Jarvis shared his thoughts, “I think that the lapped traffic had a
lot to do with that the way that it unfolded. I think that there were a few
tempers flaring. I would have rather finished third than to get wrecked. I
feel bad because both of those guys have wrecked cars. You should not
retaliate on each other like that. I think that there should be a penalty
because if there is not from now on when you go across the checkered flag it
is fair game to wreck someone.”
While here were Carl Pasteryak take on the lapped traffic, “There were a lot
of lapped cars there and everybody was racing hard for position. It looks
like one car got into the other one and got him turned. I could not believe
that they crashed after the start/finish line. But that is racing now days.
They do not drive at all like it use to be. I guess we just have to learn to
go with it and hope for the best.”
Well now that we have gotten beyond the race for the win what did the
drivers think of the Airborne Speedway and are they ready to go back there
again?
Winner Les Hinckley who led most of the race enjoyed the track and is ready
to race there again. “I love the place (Airborne Speedway). It is a very
racy race track. We had a good race car. I enjoyed it a lot. I had a good
time. I enjoyed it all. The race track was very racy with multiple grooves
that you could go in on the race track. It was a really exciting race to
race. It was excellent!”
Second place finisher and hard charger Rowan Pennink was very disappointed
with the race finish, but it did not tarnish his thoughts on the track. “It
is a great little track here. There is plenty of room to pass. There is a
good outside groove. It is an awesome track to pass and race on. The track
reminds me a little bit of Thunder Road and then kind of Monadnock. But it
is not quite the same. The track is way fast. You could drive it way into
the corner and there is grip all the way up to the top. You can run low out
there. If you have a good car the high groove is wicked fast up there. If
you were better than somebody you could go right around them.”
 Third
place finisher Dwight Jarvis has seen a lot of tracks in his career but his
eyes were lit up when he drove on the track. “This track is awesome. I would
rate this one right up at the top of any of the places that we go to. There
is a lot of room here. People at the track are real nice up here. He is
going to make some improvements here in the pits a little bit. But other
than adding a little bit of gravel it is real nice.”
“This track is unique. It has progressive banking. Tom Curley said you are
going to love that track and he is 100% right,” said Jarvis in the pits. “It
is a track you can race on and if you get into somebody it is your fault.
The track had several grooves and there are definitely three grooves here if
you dared to get on them. You can run anywhere on this track. The track is
real fast.”
Carl Pasteryak may have been fourth but he had the time of his life driving
the grooves at Airborne. “The track is definitely different. It is pretty
racy. It is very fast. There is an outside lane but it does give up. It does
make for pretty good passing but it is very fast. Once somebody slips or if
something happens you have a big wreck.”
Even though it was a long commute and stressful night of racing the racers
loved Airborne Speedway and would vote to come back again to race. Race
winner Les Hinckley gave the track a thumbs up. “Absolutely, I would like to
come back here again.”
But 2009 champion Jon McKennedy summed it up the best.”It is a fun track the
progressive banking gave us a lot of grooves to pull up on. My car preferred
the apron and when I wanted to go it went in like a rocket!”
Chapter 2
Steve Masse Make it Two for Two at Thunder Road SpeedBowl
Rowan Pennink gets Airborne at Thunder Road as his Wild Ride Continues
Sunday’s MRS racing moved to the hills of Vermont where the “Modified
Thunder” echoed from every mountain peak. The MRS teams crossed state lines
to a new track but they did not leave behind them the tension and zest for
racy, tight competition. Racing during Heat Race qualifying was caution
laden and several cars were damaged close to beyond repair. Rowan Pennink
ranked up on the top of bad luck as the race demons continued to slay him
and the #25 race team. During the third Heat Race he and former MRS Champion
Kirk Alexander, both wanted the win so bad that they both tasted it. After a
caution on the first lap, racers prepared for a restart. When Pennink and
Alexander crossed the start-finish line Alexander was behind Pennink.
Alexander gave Pennink’s rear bumper a tap that sent him flying in the air
onto a first turn dirt mound that jettisoned the car into the air. The
momentum and dirt flipped Pennink’s car and then set him down on four wheels
surrounded by a cloud of dust. It was only heat competition and already
there were several damaged cars!
 Last year’s race winner, Steve Masse, managed to avoid the accidents in his
heat race and went forward to claim his second consecutive victory at
Thunder Road Speedway. He started ninth in his heat race and came across the
finish line to qualify second. This earned him a fifth spot to start the
race. “I have been having the worst luck in drawing numbers recently. I have
been drawing last but the heat race paid off. There were a few wrecks that
brought me directly to the front. It was not anything major. My car is on a
rail today. The car was quick and awesome all day long. It is probably one
of the best cars that I have ever driven.”
After winning at a race track, one of the things that race teams never
forget to make a note of is the setup they used to get them the win. Did
their notes help the #13 team when they returned to Thunder Road Speedbowl?
“Absolutely, knowing the setup helped 100%. We ran the same setup we ran
last year. We only did minor tweaks during the day to get it the way that I
wanted it. The car was just awesome. My crew chief gave me an awesome car to
drive. I can not thank him or my dad enough. They give me awesome equipment.
I want to thank everyone. I cannot thank my dad, crew and sponsors enough
they are all awesome. We especially want to thank our new sponsor that just
came on a couple of weeks ago, F K Rod End.”
Making his way through the field of cars and keeping the #1nh car where it
needed to be, Rob Goodenough crossed the finish line second. He had tried to
charge for the lead but in the end had to settle for second. “That was all
we had tonight unfortunately. The car was definitely a lot better than what
we started with. The car was a second place car tonight. We were kind of
hanging on and really loose tonight. We were just trying to hopefully get
some breaks and that was all the breaks we were going to get out of that
race so we were really happy.”
 After his car broke the night before at Airborne Speedway, Goodenough’s team
got up bright and early Sunday morning to repair the car in time for racing
at Thunder Road. During practice Goodenough knew that his car needed
tweaking, but he was lost when it came to ideas on what to do. “What we had
today was based on Roy Blake, my crew chief. Without him I did not know what
this car was doing. This car was so bad I could not tell if the car was
pushing or loose. We were going up in the corner and then the nose was
falling in. I just did a four tire slide. This car was just so bad I could
not tell what to do with it. I just basically turned it over to him and told
him to gamble and try to get something with it because it was not any good
the way that it was.” And the gamble did pay off for the team because it
gave them the second place finish.
Ken Barry usually sits at the track watching the MRS team’s race. But this
year he has put on the racing gloves and jumped into Art Barry’s #2 car and
shown the rest of the field that he was not only watching but also taking
notes and learning how to get to the front. He did not make it all the way
to the lead but was happy to have improved his finish from the night before
with a third place finish. “We had a really good car. We have learned with
this series that you just have to be really patient in the beginning of the
race, take what your race is going to give you and hope that you have
something left at the end. We timed it pretty close this time. That last
caution took some away from it. We thought we could have had a second but
once you get the ten to go and everything tightens down it is hard to pass.”
 This was the first time Barry was behind the wheel at Thunder Road and it
was all the challenge that he thought it would be and then some. “This is
the first time that I have been on this track as a driver. I have only been
up here a couple of times to watch these guys run and that is about it. It
is a big challenge because turn four is barely wide enough for two cars
never mind two that are sliding around. We stayed out of the “widow maker”
all day. I saw a couple of guys hit it. It is tough with open wheels coming
around a corner.”
Barry did a lot of watching at Airborne and during the heat races at
Thunder Road and came up with a strategy that worked for their team. “Today
was just about being patient and getting down to thirty to go before you
decide to do much racing and it paid off today.”
Now that the WMT have put their Memorial Day Racing memories into the books
they have moved on to get ready for their return to Seekonk and another
state of racing on Saturday June 12th.
Memorial Day Weekend Race Notes
Airborne Speedway
Steve Masse
“It was weird yesterday. I drove my brand new car there (at Airborne
Speedway). There were a lot of bugs in it. That track is a half mile but
like a donut. It is kind of weird with big sweeping turns. It was kind of
tricky until you get the hang of it. We did not really show up with the
right setup.”
Rob Goodenough
“At Airborne we broke a power steering rack. Somehow or other the pressure
blew the steel off the end of the rack and just started pumping oil on the
right exhaust header. We repaired the car this morning. We got here first
thing this morning and put a rack in it. We were fighting the handling all
day long just trying different things. We wanted to get a better finish
coming back here. Hopefully we savaged the race and the crowd is happy with
it even though we did not have a very good start today. It definitely made
for a better weekend.”
Ken Barry
“I liked Airborne Speedway. It was fast there was more than one that was
fast. It was a nice track because there was more than one place where you
could pass. A lot of tracks that we go there is only one groove that you
really do anything on and it does not make for a lot of fun for the driver.
But there (Airborne) If was not handling in one place you just moved over
and found another place to go.”
“We really had a car all day (at Thunder road). We made a lot of strides on
it yesterday up there in the New York (Airborne Speedway). We carried it
over this weekend to today. We made all the right calls this morning.”
Racers thought on why racing on Memorial Day Weekend was such a
challenge?
Rob Goodenough
“They are putting a lot of pressure on us. We are getting great car counts
which are great. We have twenty-four slots and when you start to put eight
or ten cars out there for a heat race and you are only going to take five.
Then today they have fifteen cars for the consi and only twelve made it out
there for the five race spots. That is a lot of pressure on these guys. On a
little tight track where it is hard to pass for a twelve laps or even in a
fifteen lap consi, even with a good enough car, you do not have enough time
to get very far. It is just a lot on us. I know it is not looking very good
but that is just the deal. There were a lot of cars trying to get into a few
places”
This is Steve Masse’s third year in the series. What is his most
memorable thought so far in the MRS series?
“I hate to say it but it would be Thompson Speedway. I love that track. It
is the best. It is one of my favorite. I really wanted to win that race last
year. It did not quite turn out like I wanted to. I ran out of fuel. But
that happens. I do not know why that thought sticks in my mind but it does.
I would really like to win there. “
What do you credit win to? “I have to go with my crew. I came
here and we unloaded fast. During practice I knew I had a car that was fast
and there would be no problems. I knew that we would have no problem
competing for the win. The car was quick and awesome all day long.” |
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Source: Denise DuPont
/ TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: June
2, 2010 |
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