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04/21/2014 |
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ROWAN PENNINK MAKES IT TWO FOR TWO
AT MONADNOCK'S SPRING DASH 100
Roscoe Team Sets
Sights
And Is This A Sign Of Things To Come?
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by
Denise DuPont
& Polly Reid
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 Saturday,
April 19th, the Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) returned to Monadnock
Speedway for the “Spring Dash100”.
Rowan Pennink won his heat race, drew the pole, and then later led the field
across the finish line to capture a victory for car owners Gary and Kim
Casella. This was the #25 Roscoe Racing team’s first 2014 victory towards
defending their 2013 VMRS championship. The driver from Huntingdon Valley,
PA. made winning look like fun as he captured his second “Spring Dash “ win
in a row. “It has been a good race for us the past couple of years. It was a
tough race. The #13 and #21 cars were really strong. We just paced the race
how we thought that we needed to and it worked out for us. “
“I cannot thank all the guys on the #25 team enough. They put this car
together in short notice at the end of the winter to have it ready for
Waterford. We had a good car there but had a lot of bad luck.” Pennink got
caught up in a few wrecks at Waterford and finished the race fifteenth. From
Waterford, the team took the #25 back to the shop and went to work preparing
it for Monadnock. “We came here and this thing has been on rails since the
first practice. So Bob and Gary and this whole team did an awesome job
putting a car underneath me that I can win with.”
Five times he changed the lead with Bonsignore until the lead was finally
his to keep. “It was a little bit a game of cat and mouse. I had the lead in
the beginning and then he came up and I let him go because I did not want to
run that hard that early. Then at some point I figured it was going to be
easier to get by him now while he is taking it easy. For me to take the lead
early was better than battling with him at the end. So I went by him. Then I
backed it down once I got the lead so I would not kill my tires and he snuck
by me. So I had to get it (the lead) back one more time. And at that time I
thought that we could make it to the end and we turned it up and got a
little bit of a gap between me and the other two guys (Justin Bonsignore and
Steve Masse) on that final restart.”
Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, NY passed for the lead on lap 6 and then
had the time of his life behind the wheel of the Art Barry owned #21
modified. His first year competing in the series with a new ride, Bonsignore
is busy learning as he grows with the team. “I am so grateful to be able to
drive this car and to drive for such a great team. I tried to reward them
tonight but we were just one step short. It is kind of like what Woody said
a couple weeks ago at Thompson: “New team still trying to learn each other.”
Maybe pit or race adjustments on how much to tighten the car up. Kenny is
learning me and I am learning Kenny. So hopefully this is a sign of really
good things to come. “
 With
one of the biggest smiles we have ever seen, Bonsignore captured second
place. “That was a lot of fun. That was some of the best racing I have ever
seen in one race and I had a good time. The people who came out to the track
tonight saw some good racing. “
Bonsignore was the leader until lap 50 when the race pace was suddenly taken
up a notch. It was mid-race and on queue seasoned VMRS competitors started a
hard charge to the front. The quick change in action took Bonsignore totally
by surprise. “I did not think that it was time to go yet and I kind of
wanted to wait a little bit more.”
He wasted no time though getting back hard on the throttle and staying with
the lead pack. “We had a lot of fun swapping it back and forth. And pulling
that dive bombing thing into turn three where it is so tight down there. I
think between the three of us (Bonsignore, Masse and Pennink) we might have
touched bars once or twice, but it was just good, hard, fun racing. It is
cool when you can trust the guys that you are around. You know that you are
not going to get wrecked. And if something just does happen it is just
because everyone is going for the win.”
Rounding of the top three finishers was Steve Masse from Bellingham, MA. in
the family owned #13 modified. “I had a lot of fun racing today. We had good
clean side by side racing and it was just fun racing the guys out there.”
Masse said in post-race inspection with a big smile. “Justin, Rowan. Chris
and everyone in the lead pack were just real clean and I cannot say how much
fun I had out on the race track tonight. I was just driving the car and
having a ball. “
Masse challenged for the lead several times but third was the best he could
get. “We had a good car but I think that we just missed it a little bit. We
threw everything but the kitchen sink at it and we found a good setup for
this place. But the car was a little tight coming off the corners so when I
tried to get back to the throttle it was breaking free on me. Still that was
the most fun I have had racing in a long time. I am just happy to be here in
third place.”
 Chris
Pasteryak turned it up in the final circuits for a strong finish in the
Spring Dash 100. Coming from mid-pack at the green, the Lisbon, CT driver
dug deep for a solid fourth at the checkers. “Another top five,” said
Pasteryak who was on the podium in second last week at Waterford. “It’s the
best I’ve run here in the spring race. Normally we run really good in the
July race but the spring and fall race I kind of struggle a bit.”
Starting twelfth, the two time VMRS champion survived a host of cautions
working his way into the top five just past the half way mark. “We were
definitely in the crunch zone. I couldn’t really get a row to move up,” said
Pasteryak. “Then all of a sudden, the outside cleared up and I was like,
alright, now we can go. I had a real good car the whole time before that but
I couldn’t really show it because of all the side by side, there was no lane
to pick from. Then I did take a shot and got all the way up to fourth. After
that, I didn’t have quite enough forward bite to take on the top three.”
Pasteryak had a great view of the battle in front of him between Pennink,
Bonsignore and Masse. “It was a heck of a race to watch. I was far enough
back and had a little bit of room on Dwight and Todd behind me, I could
actually watch them- this tire should produce some really good racing.”
Starting his day by winning the heat race, Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT
redrew the third place starting spot. At the end of a chilly yet hot 100
laps around the quarter-mile high banked oval, he crossed the line fifth.
“Basically we took it easy in the beginning just trying to maintain track
position at the top with the leaders. There we could see how the car
balanced out and see what it’s going to do.”
In the top three from the green to just past the half way mark, Szegedy was
as high as second behind then leader Justin Bonsignore before dropping to
fourth after a restart. Trying to save his tires, Szegedy was at ‘quarter
throttle’ until it was time to turn it up. “When I wanted to go, I couldn’t
at that point.” With 25 to go, Szegedy in sixth passed Dwight Jarvis on the
final restart and held onto fifth to the checkers.
The VMRS returns to Monadnock two more times this season, Szegedy took away
some important info for the next event in July. “We’ll probably concentrate
on getting the car to rotate through the center and have forward drive.”
With a third last weekend at Waterford, a fifth this time out, Szegedy is
showing consistency early on that could be key to a very successful VMRS
season for the Kevin Stewart owned team.
VMRS teams will return to racing on Saturday April 19lth for 100 laps of
green racing at Seekonk Speedway’s Sim’s Spring Kickoff Classic.
If you cannot join us at the track, please join us follow the action on
http://www.thechromehorn.com.
Notes from Monadnock Speedway:
Your thoughts on the 2014 race season so far?
Justin Bonsignore
“Last week was a bump in the road as the season started but sometimes you
cannot control getting caught up in other people’s stuff.” Bonsignore was
caught up in a mid-race incident at Waterford Speedbowl that occurred after
Ted Christopher dropped fluid on the track.
“I am new to this series and I did not realize that on the first 15 to 20
laps that they ride around. So I got to the outside and I said to myself:
“Ya know what, I am going to go. And we got to the lead and I said: “Alright
now I will ride around and we did that for a while and it looked like when
Masse got to Rowan they all picked the pace up.”
“I have fun every time I come here racing and It was a real good run. We got
the lead really quick and I just tried to pace myself. I am still learning
with this series. It is a lot different than the modified tour. You really
have to save your tires over here and it has totally different tires. After
I took the lead I just tried to pace myself as much as I could. Then Masse
put on the pressure and shuffled us back. Then the three of us mixed it up
and that was a lot of fun. Everybody says how good and clean this series is
and that was a prime example of it. If the fans were not happy with that --
I do not know what is going to please them.”
“We are still learning as a team. It is only our second race together and
the first did not go so well last week. So this is our first real race
together and hopefully this is a sign of things to come for the rest of the
year. Hopefully we can contend for this title at the end of the year”.
Did the cold temperatures affect the racing?
Justin Bonsignore
“The car had a lot of grip. It could have been a little bit tighter to start
but we are good.”
Do you still have some concerns on the new right
rear tire?
Steve Masse
“I was worried about the tire during the heat race because at Waterford I
had a hard time passing. Then today I started the heat race second and I
dropped all the way back on the outside. I was blaming the right rear tire
but it held up during the race tonight so maybe it is better and then maybe
it is not. I do not know yet but hopefully it is better for the car”.
Your thoughts on today’s race?
Todd Szegedy
“The car felt neutral up until about lap 50, then it felt like it might have
been getting a little free off. I was waiting until the next restart to see
what it did and then the next restart- tight. It got so tight in the center
that it was tight on throttle then it would snap loose. At that point it was
hang on to the position. We’re gaining on it- we were a lot better than we
were last weekend at Waterford even though we finished two back from that-
the chassis balance is better. We’re headed in the right direction.” |
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Source: Denise DuPont & Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: April
21, 2014 |
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