MALVERTY
TAKES WIN AND CLOSES IN POINTS LEADER
by Walter
Johnston
The Chargers ran their normal Saturday night race as a
companion to the FMT race, and put on quite a show. Jimmy
Donnelly in the 27 was scheduled to start on the pole, but
during hot laps, his car was spilling fuel all over the track
and he went to the pits before the race even got started for
repairs. At the drop of the green, Jeremy McDermott was now on
the pole, with Eric Goodale outside. They came together in
turn 4 on the first lap, with McDermott spinning into the
infield as Goodale recovered and the rest of the field sped
by. Now up to second, Rusty Turbush chased Goodale until lap
10, when the yellow came out for a spinning Jack Orlando, who
had a tire go down as he entered turn 1. When the green flew
once again, so did Rusty Turbush, into the lead, followed by
Goodale, Rob
Tribuzio, Ron Hlatky, Dan Turbush, and Robin Vollmoeller. One
lap later, a 3 car wreck in turn 4 brought out another yellow.
Once back to green, Rusty took off, and Dan Turbush passed
Hlatky for 3rd, while one lap later, Tribuzio got
by Dan for 3rd, while Rusty and Goodale sailed away
from the field. Dan got back past Tribuzio for 3rd,
and took off after Goodale, getting by him on the last lap to
finish second to his brother. Goodale, Tribuzio and Hlatky
rounded out the top 5.
The Blunderbusts ran a double point 30 lap feature on
Doug Wholey Excavating Night. Paul Parisi and Bob Haeger
started on the front row, as the 67 of Wayne Okula got caught
in an opening lap jumble in turn 1 and spun, bringing out an
immediate yellow. A complete restart, with Okula going to the
rear, saw Parisi get the lead, with Eugene Malverty getting to
second after a short battle with Dennis Scott for the
position. Malverty then set his sights on
Parisi, passing him on lap 9 for the lead. One lap
later, the yellow flew again as Heager and Thomas Stock hit and spun in turn 1. Back to green, Malverty
held the lead, followed by Parisi, Scott Pederson, and Tom
Pickerell, the points leader going into the race, who earlier
in the day had blown the motor in his own #4 and borrowed the
53 of Dale Arnold. On lap 21, the 60 of Michael Brigandi and
42 of Wayne Meyer came together in turn 4, but spun clear of
the track, so the field remained under green. Malverty and
Parisi now found themselves deep in lapped traffic, and both
did a masterful job of weaving through it, with Malverty
finally pulling away from Parisi by over 3 car lengths, and
continuing on for the victory, which moves him within 2 points
for the point lead held by Pickerell. Doug Wholey presented
the top three finishers, Malverty, Parisi, and Artie Pedersen
Jr., with trophies for their hard work. Doug commented in
Victory Lane that he liked Blunderbusts so much, he just might
get one himself to race next year. Tom Pickerell and Kevin
Clarke rounded out the top 5.
Pit notes: 28 Blunderbusts and 27
Chargers signed into the pits. The 82 BB of Adam St.Lawrence
suffered mechanical problems and left before the heats were
run. The 77 Mod of John Blewett III and team packed up and
left before Modified time trials. 45 other mods on hand to
qualify for 28 starting positions, so 17 other teams suffered
disappointment of not making the feature.
