10/10/2004

JOE "MILLIONAIRE" JENTILE TAKES NEETS BRE250 AND CHAMPIONSHIP CROWN
by Gene Ostrowski

 

NEETS Driver Joe Jentile couldn't ask for a better day than Sunday.  Not only did Joe win the Bartley Racing Enterprises 250 for the second straight year, he also took home the NEETS season championship.  The smile from ear to ear in victory lane not only came from Joe, but also from his two new fans, Kayla Snyder and Jason Swope, who attended this NEETS grand finale in part of the Racing for Smiles program.

 

The day started out with a 25-lap D/A Modified feature.  Mahoning Valley regular, Kevin Hahn won the caution filled frenzy.

 

Next on the program was the 100 lap 4 cylinder NEETS enduro event in which 19 cars started.  The red flag was thrown early in the event when the #17X of Jeff Moclolo caught fire.  When racing resumed it looked the #18 of Pat Verwys was on his way to victory lane.  That was about to change when Pat was involved in a tangle with the #46 of Dave Maston.  Both was able to continue, but the incident handed the lead to Pat’s brother, Bill Verwys Jr. driving the #8 Eclipse.  The red flag did fly one more time when the #58 of Carl Altemose made heavy contact with the backstretch wall.  The car was left on the backstretch, making an interesting obstacle for the remaining drivers.  Toward the end of the race it was complete domination as Bill Verwys Jr. captured his second NEETS grand finale win.  Bill finished an impressive 3 laps on second place.

 

Before the 250-lap Pro Car feature even started, Phil Lomonaco, driver of the #14 J&J Racing Chevrolet found himself and the crew  rushing to repair the car from a severe crash in warm-ups.  The work was completed in time, protecting Phil’s second place point’s position.  The 250 lap double-points Pro Car feature was a fight at the start, and a definite fight to the finish.  Point leader Jentile didn’t start toward the front, but with a 250-lap race, anything can happen, and did it ever!  The red flew on the opening lap for the #88 of Jackie Zeigler.  Jackie’s throttle hung wide open and the result was some serious damage to the machine.  This was definitely not what the team wanted, but it did win Jackie the “Rough Ride of the Day” award sponsored by BV Sprinklers.  Everyone involved was all right & the racing resumed.  Throughout the 250-lap event many of the 29 drivers made many pit stops for tires and fuel, separating the veterans from the rookies.  The second and last red flag of the race came when the #15 of Glen Osborne lost a wheel in turn four.  In the end it was the #41 of Jentile to the stripe eight seconds ahead of second place Racin’ Rich Johnson.  Joe, once again lived up to his nickname as “Joe Millionaire” wrapping up a successful NEETS season.

 

NEETS also held a Racing for Smiles event throughout the day. Jason, Kayla and their families spent the day at the track meeting drivers, receiving autographs, trophies (BV Sprinklers), Shirts (Drews Enterprises), gifts and pictures.  Many drivers, officials and others donated various items for the youngsters.  They even received a few laps around Mountain Speedway in "Dr. Destruction" Howie Bott's racecar.  At the end of the day their smiles were even larger when they realized they should have rented a U-Haul to bring all their gifts back home.  Tomorrow is another day, but for many, memories of a lifetime were created. Our thanks go out to the drivers, sponsors and fans for their participation in this event.

 

Pro-Car Finish

Jentile, Johnson, Anzalone Jr., Bott, Lomonaco, R. Petey, Kibler, Sullivan, White, M. Petey, Brown, Malverty, Haegele, Wanat, Curtis, Paine, Pease, DeBetta, Osborn, Mercante, Heintzelman, Odwazny, Conklin, Kmetz, Gallucci, Tarras Jr., Eckard, Zeigler, Cunaccia

 

4 Cyl. Mini Series Finish

B. Verwys Jr., Pete Verwys, Barton, Pat Verwys, Underwood, Pyle, Nelson, DiCannio, Nolan, Maston, Kulik, Carman, Grocholski, B. Verwys Sr., Altemose, VanDriessche, Mociolo, Heager DQ, Pete Verwys DQ

Sources:  Gene Ostroswki/NEETS PR
Posted:  October 10, 2004