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9/12/2010 |
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"THE KING" WINS
INAUGURAL MODIFIED RACING SERIES RACE
Ted Christopher
wins “Shark Cycle 100” at Stafford Motor Speedway
by
Denise DuPont |
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 The
Modified Racing Series (MRS) went to Stafford Motor Speedway for their first
race ever on the historical half mile on Friday, September 11th. There were
thirty-eight modified teams which had made the journey to race their way
into the twenty-eight starting spots at Stafford’s inaugural MRS event.
Several NWMT modified drivers and Stafford’s own SK Modified division joined
the MRS regulars to create an impressive field of modified competitors.
But in the end, “The King” of modified racing at Stafford Motor Speedway,
Ted Christopher once again showed everyone why and how he earned his title.
Christopher won the “Shark Cycle 100” at Stafford after leading ninety-nine
of one hundred green laps of racing.
Christopher has mastered more than one hundred wins in six different
divisions at the asphalt he calls home. Up until this race though, a win in
the MRS division has eluded him. It is kind of fitting that he had to return
to his home territory to accomplish the
 task.
“It is really weird how I wait until I come to Stafford to finally get one
(win),” said Christopher from victory lane. “That car has been going really
good the last three races. We finished second to Rowan at Thompson and we
were good at Waterford until the ting (car) overheated. We took it (the car)
to our shop this week and cleaned it, the radiator and all kinds of things.
We put in more fans. It stayed so good until about fifteen to go and then it
started to get loose. They said if you get a caution they come right back.”
But the race did not see a yellow caution flag after lap thirty-five.
The #00 team of Joe Brady has been competing with the MRS races for the last
four years. Until this race though the team has had mixed results. Adding
the home track may have been one of the key things that the team needed to
pull all of the pieces together. “I have been trying for a while. Joe and
these guys really have this car going real good.”
Christopher took the well prepared car, found a groove on the track that he
felt comfortable in and went forward to lead 99 laps of the main event. “I
was just running a whole different line then other people. I was just
getting such a good bite off of two and four (turns). I tell you about
fifteen (laps) it definitely gave up. It (#00 car) just did not give up as
 much
as everybody else.”
Ron Silk crossed the finish line second after a great run for the Ed
Partridge #6 team. Silk had won his heat race and started the feature event
on the pole. When the green flag flew Silk led the field but he was passed
by Christopher after completing lap one. Silk settled into second and
running strong he stayed right behind Christopher the whole race. “We had a
pretty good car all day. This is the first race that I have ever run in this
series so it is good to get a decent finish. Our car was good for a while. I
was kind of saving stuff for a while. We were just getting too loose by the
end. I was too free at the end,” said Silk about the race. “Congratulations
to Joe Brady, Ted and them guys they had a really good car.”
Rowan Pennink completed the race with a podium finish in the Gary Casella
owned #25
 modified.
The team had a fast car right out of the trailer. Pennink scored the fastest
practice time, won the second heat race and started the race in second. “We
had a strong car all day. We were the fastest in practice and we won our
heat (race). I think that we were a little better than the #6 (car of Ron
Silk). It (the car) kind of went away a little bit at the end. We did not
have anything for the #00 but we are happy with a solid top three.”
In 2010, Pennink has been competing full time with the MRS racing. The team
has had a lot of ups and downs this year but has finally been able to pull
the right parts together. “I have to thank Gary Casella, Brian Crowley and
the whole #25 team for an awesome car,” said Pennink after the race. “Once
again we had a good point night. I am glad to come out of here with a top
three finish and the car in one piece.”
Jeff Malave loves racing a modified car and weekly competes in the track’s
SK Modified division. Malave ran the forty lap SK Modified event, finishing
third. He then jumped into his MRS mod which was waiting for him on the
sideline. “This is my home track,” said Malave from post race inspection.
“We are all happy. The team works hard. When you come away with two top
fives in one night it is a beautiful night. Both cars are clean.”
 Malave
had started the MRS feature event sixth and maintained his momentum on the
track to capture a fourth place finish. When he can he has competed in the
MRS races and his runs have been consistent. “I know these guys. They are
all clean racers so you have clean races.”
Chris Pasteryak returned from the injury list last week and has run in the
top five since returning to the MRS ranks. At Stafford he finished his heat
race second, started the race in fourth and motored to a fifth place finish.
It was not a win but it was a solid fifth place finish. Pasteryak would have
liked to have seen a caution to group the field together for the final race
laps. But after lap thirty-five, the yellow flag never flew. “We needed a
caution probably along with about half the field at the end. It was a lot of
fun. I just botched a restart, the last restart. And I got behind Eric
Goodale and he was going just good enough. By the time I got by him I was a
half a track behind the leaders. It was fun and the car is in one piece, so
we will go to the next one.”
 MRS
front runner, Les Hinckley surprised a lot of people when he pulled out on
to the track for practice. The Chuck Montville owned #06 left Waterford last
week with a badly damaged car not know what their future would be. But the
team did not give up. On the ride home they decided to give it their all and
spent the night working on the car. “We actually went home after Waterford
and stayed at the garage and stripped the car down enough so it was ready to
go on the jig on Sunday morning, But it was Labor Day and Kenny was busy. So
it (the car) was on the jig on Tuesday morning and we got it back Tuesday
night. We worked late pretty much every night and we were ready to load it
on the trailer Thursday night about midnight,” said Hinckley after the
Stafford race. “Everybody worked hard. It was a long week. As discouraged as
you are when it first happens you really have to just tighten up your belt
and keep at it. There is no quitting in racing.”
MRS teams now will have a couple of weeks off to regroup and prepare for
their next race at the Seekonk Speedway, the D. Anthony Venditti Fall
Classic, scheduled to take place on October 10th.
Race Notes from Stafford Motor Speedway:
Did the Tires Compound Make a Difference in the
Race?
Ted Christopher
“I think that they are a lot better than the 28’s. With the others we would
have been sideways by lap 40 with those. I know we run them at Thompson and
they are barely good for the forty lappers. They run them on the open show
there. These (tires) are real good. It just seemed like once you run a lot
of laps (without a caution) they glaze over almost.”
Chris Pasteryak
“I think that the tires hold up better but I think that the racing is worst
because of it. I really do. It is not as competitive. You have guys that
would specifically give up at the beginning of the race to be good at the
end. Now you pretty much have to be good the whole time. Or you can only
ride around where you are on the race track. It made cars that were off in
their handling just fast enough where they are still not handling really
good but they are fast enough to hold up a good handling car. And you can
almost see that a little bit with a few of the lapped cars. They are going a
lap down but if they are only a couple of tenths fastest there isn’t
enough.”
“I do not know what it is. I am not a tire engineer. There is not enough
give in them. And there is not enough compliance in them or actual grip,
because they are harder. They do not give up enough to allow you to move
around to try to pass anybody. You see that a little bit everywhere. Dwight
was way faster than the #21 at Waterford and he could not get him. Steven
was way faster than Max (Zachem) and the # 21 (Geoff Gernhard) and it took
him thirty laps to pass them at Waterford, and Waterford is usually a two
groove track. Stafford is normally a single file so it does not really
matter. “
“From a competitor’s side, we are better off because we are not wrecking a
lot of cars. But we also might be better off having a little bit tighter
racing at the end in the Modified Racing Series race.”
Did running as a regular in the SK division in
the past help in the MRS race?
Rowan Pennink
“I knew after having run here in the past with the tour and SKs and having a
decent amount of experience here that I would hopefully have a little bit of
advantage. But there is a lot of tough competition. There were six or seven
top of the line tour drivers in this show so I knew it was going to be
tough. We had an advantage over all the other MRS guys having the experience
here. So I expected to run upfront. And I ran upfront but I just did not
have enough for the #00 there. “
“We came to run the SK Mods here at the beginning here seeing that we would
eventually be running the tour. The tour comes to Stafford more than any
other track. So it definitely helped not only with the tour but now that the
MRS race is at Stafford it ending up paying off for us in this series.”
Would you have liked to have seen a late race
caution?
Jeff Malave
“No, we were fine where we were, because four of us broke away. I was just
trying to save the right rear and hopefully have something with ten to go.
But we did not save it enough.”
Les Hinckley
“From where I sat obviously there were not too many cautions. It seemed to
be a pretty clean race from what I understand. The field got pretty strung
out there and we got a little free. I think that we could have been a little
bit better with a caution to tighten the field up. That being said cautions
end up with guys with wrecked race cars and we do not like to see that also.
So selfishly, I would have liked to have gotten the field bunched up to get
some spots. But you never know if you are going to be the caution. Initially
I was happy when the race ended and the car was in once piece after the
month that we had. After about three or four minutes it began to set in that
I was aggravated because we should have been better.”
MRS Series Point Chase
The MRS series point chase has widened out a little with Jon McKennedy the
2009 champion leading the driver points followed by veteran Dwight Jarvis in
second. Rowan Pennink is now third in the series driver’s points, while his
car owner, Gary Casella leads the owner point chase.
Rowan Pennink
“We had a good car tonight. Not quite good enough for the #00 and #6.
I think that we might have taken over the owner points again. I think
McKennedy had the point lead and we beat him by eight or ten spots. It was a
good point’s day for us and I am happy with a third place finish.”
MRS Twin State and World Series on same day?
I guess it is a tough decision if I am leading the driver’s points. We will
see how that goes. I am leaning towards the World Series but we will see how
these next couple of races goes and we will figure it out then.
What are your racing plans for next year?
Jeff Malave
Next year we will be back here with the Davidson team and we will do as many
MRS races as we possibly can. We really like racing with the MRS. It is a
real working mans division. |
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Source: Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: September
12, 2010 |
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