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09/09/2012 |
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UNOH SHOWDOWN
WIN TO CHRISTOPHER IN FAMED BOEHLER 3
Thompson
International Speedway
by
Polly Reid |
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 It
was big. The buzz was there- the best of the best in
the NASCAR North and South Tour modifieds came to
Thompson International Speedway to compete in the
50-lap, $15,000 to win UNOH Showdown. The second
year that UNOH and Thompson have collaborated to
make this ‘the modified event of the year,’ it was
Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT in the 3 Ole Blue
making his move early for the lead and never looking
backwent on to claim the coveted UNOH Showdown
victory.
“We had a pretty good run going into the first
race,” said Christopher. “Scott (Richards) said he’d
make some adjustments to get it better and it really
did. I really want to thank them- Mike Boehler,
Scott, Greg, Rabbit, everyone on this crew for
allowing me to drive after the unforeseen
circumstances losing my other ride. It’s good to be
back in a car, especially when you’re winning.” In
addition to his payday and UNOH Showdown bragging
rights, Dale Wolbrink awarded Christopher a special
helmet painted by Ryan Young of Indocil Art in
victory lane in honor of the late Charles Kepley. “I
really appreciate this” said Christopher. “Charles
did so much for the North South race, he is
definitely missed.”
Jimmy Blewett came from a distant 27th starting
position to finish second with Ryan Preece third,
Donny Lia fourth and Doug Coby fifth.
The 32 car field was set by the finishes of the Town
Fair Tire Northern 75 and the Green Pointe Energy
75, NWMT winner Justin Bonsignore brought the field
to green with NWSMT winner Andy Seuss on the
outside. Christopher lined up tenth and while
Bonsignore was the leader early, Bobby Santos made
his move to take the lead on the second circuit
while Christopher passed for fourth by the first
caution on lap 3.
Santos on the restart with Ryan Preece and
Bonsignore the top three, Christopher turned his
fourth into a second and by the time seven circuits
were on the board, Christopher was the new leader.
Holding off the challenges of first Preece,
surviving a caution just before the half way mark
and then a final surge from Jimmy Blewett in the
final dozen laps, Christopher held on for the win
and the lucrative payday.
 “I
really didn’t think my odds were that good starting
tenth and I knew there were real good guys in front
of me- it was really weird, under the warm up laps
(NASCAR allowed a handful of laps prior to the green
to scuff tires), I was really fast, I mean it was
only warm up laps but as a driver you can tell how
your car feels and I was like, this car is getting
drive, I was thinking I just might have something
for these guys. I was happy we lined up on the
outside and got the run going good there, then I had
to pass. I had to. I didn’t want to stay behind
people. A lot of people always say ‘save yourself,
save yourself’ and after all these years, I’m still
not that mentality to do that. I had to go.”
Christopher continued. “I’m happy for those guys,
when I led laps at Bristol, it had been three years
since they led a lap with that car so to lead laps
and finally win with that car- that means a lot.
They’re really nice people, great guys to work with.
Scott and Greg are cool guys. I was disappointed at
Bristol ‘cause I had such a great car and I’ve led
so many laps there but haven’t been able to win
there. Next year.”
A 50 lap shootout isn’t much time to make your way
through the field. But someone forgot to tell Jimmy
Blewett about that. Taking the green more in the
back than anywhere else at 27th, that didn’t deter
Blewett who used the spot as a launch to the front.
“I’m just really proud of my guys, the only thing
that stinks about this is my grandfather left after
the first race, “this one’s for him.”
Blewett continued. “My car was just a tick off in
the first race, it looked like I didn’t have any
motor, like I wasn’t there, but the minor changes
for the second race, it puts you right to the front.
I enjoy doing runs like that because it proves to
people that work with me how much I really
appreciate it- they stick with me no matter how many
good runs I have or how many bad runs I have. My
grandfather funds my whole operation- he left to go
home not realizing we were going to be in the second
race.” The top ten transferred to the UNOH Showdown
plus five each North and South provisional spots and
two promoter’s picks, Blewett finishing 20th in the
first event, it would be easy to see why the Howell,
NJ driver might be watching this one from the
sidelines.
“My grandfather said he was tired and was heading
home but he told me don’t give up, keep going, keep
your nose clean, try the best you can and where you
finish you finish. He said he was proud of me. He
puts his money into this and without him, our
sponsors and our crew, I would not even be able to
be standing here right now.”
Preece finished the day with a pair of top three
finishes. “Thought I had something for the 3 there-
I remember when driving for them, I had a lot of
fun, congratulations to them. We had a phenomenal
day. We’re definitely working our way forward to
victory lane and I plan on being there before the
season is done.”
“Making a tire adjustment and tightening up the car
a little bit, that’s all we needed,” said Preece.
“It made it almost a completely different car, even
coming off the corner, it was unbelievable. It’s
just the fine tuning that makes you that much better
in the end. In the modified Tour, everybody’s right
there, it’s almost like you have to be perfect to
win these races and we’re close, definitely close.
It’s all crew chief, crew, we drive the cars, we
keep it out of trouble, but they’re the ones that
get us up front, those are the guys that keep me,
Teddy, Jimmy, Todd Szegedy, Ron Silk, Doug Coby all
up front. It’s all crew chiefs, crew, a lot of hours
in the race shop. We got it really racing today,
we’re looking forward to the rest of the races this
year.”
“We had some luck finally,” said Michael Boehler
after the Showdown withOle Blue car owner Jan
Boehler. “The first race, he was just too loose, a
lot of guys were, he was just hanging on there
getting in and coming off. It was a lot better this
time, they tightened it up a little bit and the
tires were good. This is good for the guys. It was
tough at Bristol a couple of weeks ago leading and
get a flat there. The guys worked hard, Teddy drove
hard and finally, it all came together. It’s been
like three years, a lot of races, a lot of tough
luck, if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be, in life
and in racing. The guys build this car in house, the
chassis, the body, a lot of the suspension stuff,
the bars, it’s even more gratifying to win. We’re
still trying to keep everything going 55 years
later.”
Crew chief of the Boehler 3, Scott Richards is doing
his part to contribute to the Boehler legacy. “We
didn’t do a lot of changes, we took a little bit of
stagger away and put some spring rubbers in. He told
us it was too loose going in and it was obvious to
the naked eye that it was too loose, that helped us.
I’m really excited, it’s been a long time since the
3 has been in victory lane and we do it because we
love the race car. This car here, Greg Fournier and
I actually built ourselves, the first one we built
in the stable, it’s pretty exciting to have it in
victory lane.” Richards laughed when asked how long
he has been with the team. “Ah, like twenty years,
twenty five years? Since I was a little kid. I grew
up across the street from the shop. Michael and I
were friends since we were little. We raced big
wheels together, we raced lawnmowers, whatever we
could get. I swept the floors, we played in the
racecars, Lenny yelled at us for sitting in the
racecars during the week- that’s how I learned it.”
The likes of Richards, Fournier and others on the
team and now Christopher, are indeed part of the
what makes the Boehler legacy a continued success-
55 years and counting.
The anticipated weekend is in the record books.
Donny Lia echoed best the general feeling of the
last two days of competition. “I'm thankful to see
Thompson and UNOH working together to do something
like this, it's really great for the modifieds- the
response of the southern guys coming up here, the
whole thing, it's a good deal."
Next for the NWMT is the rescheduled Riverhead
Raceway event on Saturday Sept 15th while the NWSMT
heads to Caraway Speedway Saturday Sept 29th. |
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Source: Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: September
9, 2012 |
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