FIRECRACKER
SMACKER FULL OF FUN
by Geno Ostrowski
The NEETS gang was at it again for yet
another holiday themed junk car enduro day. The race was “The
Firecracker Smacker on the 4th of Junkly” Sponsored
by the 422 Auto Group (buy here, pay here), R. McGlynn Auto
Sales and Drews Enterprises. The weather was beautiful and the
fans were all prepared to see the firework that the driver
would put on (literally for some).
The 104-lap small car event was first on the
card. Early in the event, the #41J of Joe “Millionaire”
Jentile jumped out to the early lead. By lap 40, Joe was ready
to lap the second place car and it looked like it was smooth
sailing for Joe. Shortly after, Jentile would find himself in
the pits replacing a flat tire. That caused the now top four
cars nose to tail with the #97 of Bobby “Peaseman” Pease
leading the herd. Trouble struck Pease and he had to make a
stop for a fresh sneaker. As the race progressed, pole sitter,
#666 of Duane Garrison regained the lead and never looked
back. Duane was followed across the line by the #8 of Frank
Petroski, #36 of Bill Verwys Sr., the M80 of Bob “Maddawg”
Wink and the #11 of Jon Smith. Finishing back in the 26th
position was the Assistant Producer of Dave DeSpain’s “Wind
Tunnel” on Speed Vision.
The 104-lap large car enduro spectacular was
just that. Racin’ Rich Johnson in the #1 automobile jumped
out to the lead and was challenged on occasion. Johnson
maneuvered through lap traffic like a knife through hot butter
almost lapping the entire field. Second place, #2/10 of Matt
Keahey was near a lap down, but Matt was still on the lead lap
at the end of the event. Howie “Dr. Destruction” Bott, who’s
#75 looked to be a threat at the beginning of the race
finished third, even with transmission troubles, fourth was
the #12 of Adam Aton. Adam spent most of the race in second,
spun out, & made his way back up through the field. NEETS
regular, Richard “Uncle” Petey brought his #43 Ford home
in 5th. But, failing post race inspection were the cars of
Matt Keahey and Adam Aton. Because of their DQ’s the #17 of
Joe Heintzelman finished fourth and the #555 of Bob
Niedermaier ended up 5th.
There were two Powder Puff events. The first
of the two saw small car race winner in the #36 take the
24-lap event by a 2-lap margin of victory! The second Powder
Puff event was simply amazing. The #1 car won the 2-lap
feature. YES, 2 laps. Two laps into the race, the #60 got
loose down the backstretch and found themselves on top of the
retaining wall.
The red flag was immediately displayed &
both driver and passenger were alright. Due to the damage done
to the fence and retaining wall, the race was called and the
#1 was the winner.
Constant Performance supplied trophies for
the two “Best Holiday Themed” cars,
which the fans themselves voted for based on their applause.
The small car winner was the #M80 of Bob Wink, who had an
actual firework display coming from his machine down the
backstretch. The #13B large car driven by Dave Barnickel was
voted by the fans as the best in its class.
The day was great, admission was cheap ($5),
the fans received many giveaways, along with free iced tea,
American flags for the youngsters, making the first annual
Firecracker Smacker on the 4th of Junkly a huge success. NEETS
would like to thank all involved, including Speed Channel for
a great day with great company.
