10/30/2004
FRANKENDURO
A GREAT TIME
by Walter
Johnston
The Frankenduro 131 and Junk O’Lantern 100 were run
at Mountain Speedway on Saturday, and all had a really fun
time. Even though the weather forecast was iffy, the sun did
make a long appearance during the Junk O’Lantern 100, and
only a brief light shower between races made things a bit wet,
but track conditions were good, and the racing was even
better.
The Junk O’Lantern 100 was the first event of the
day, and 90 4-cylinder cars took to the track looking for a
win. A transponder check was done first to make sure everyone
would be fairly scored in this large field of cars. With
SpeedTV’s Sarah Jane Hunt on the pole, Pete Hunt on the
outside pole, the field took a rolling green after a few pace
laps were utilized to get the whole field up to a good
starting speed, so as to avoid the front meeting the rear
before the race even started.
The cars took off at the drop of Matt Odwazny’s
green, and madness reigned as the faster cars worked their way
through the field toward the front. The red flag was used
quite liberally early in the race for the safety of the
drivers and it was thrown whenever a car was left disabled
with the driver’s door facing oncoming traffic. The second
red of the day was used even before 10 laps were complete for
a t-bone collision entering turn #1 involving Ron Singley and
Dale Garrison blocked the track. With that quickly cleaned up,
racing resumed, and by lap 10, the #8 “Killer V” of Bill
Verwys Jr. was in the lead, with his team car, Pete Verwys Sr,
chasing him in second. By lap 20, Bill Verwys Jr had faded
from the top 5, but Pete Verwys has assumed the lead, with
Mark Hammer, Joe Jentile, Billy Price Jr. and Jon Smith
rounding out the top 5. At lap 30, Verwys was still in the
lead, with Jentile now chasing in a close 2nd.,
with Hammer running 3rd. Verwys spun out of
contention just before lap 40, but recovered quickly enough to
remain on the lead lap, despite heavy traffic and difficulty
in getting turned around in the right direction. Joe Jentile
now had the lead and was being pursued by Mark Hammer in a
very hotly contested race. By lap 45, Verwys was back into the
top 3, and the action just continued to get better as the laps
wore on. Now with only the top 5 on the lead lap, it became a
battle to get around the lapped cars and still keep up with
the lead for the top runners. By lap 70, only 3 were left on
the lead lap, with Jentile leading Verwys and
Mike “2/10” Odwazny. While the top two were running
side by side, low and high, for many of the remaining laps,
Odwazny eventually dropped off their pace and it was now a 2
car battle to the finish. During the last 5 laps, it was
anybody’s race, as the side by side racing continued, until
Verwys got out front with a great inside move off turn 4 as
Jentile got stuck behind lapped cars on the outside, and
Verwys’ “Killer V” #12 went
on to take the checkered flag first.
Rounding out the top
finishers was #41J Joe Jentile, #7C Dan Caciolo, #800 Scott
Garrison, and #666 Duane Garrison. Only the top two were on
the same lap, with Caciolo and Garrison 2 laps down.
Next came an intermission as the track was cleared of
debris, and the Children’s Halloween costume parade was done
on the front stretch. The 4-cylinder top finishing drivers
were the judges in the contest, and prizes were awarded for
the best of the costumes, with the top Boys and Girls winner
receiving new bikes, and other prizes were given to just
about, if not all, the other contestants
With the 4-cylinder race leaving a large amount of
debris on the track, the Frankenduro 131 took Matt Odwazny’s
green a little after 5 PM, with Dean Wolford and Howie Bott on
the front row, leading a field of 74 cars. The red was out on
lap 4 as a couple of cars collided and were blocking the track
in turn 2. After that mess was cleared, Howie Bott took off
into a commanding lead over the rest of the field. Red was out
again on lap 19 as the car of Carl Altemose was blocking turn
1 after a crash and spin. A quick cleanup followed and it was
back to green. Plenty of action all around the track, as Bott
held the lead and was pursued by an ever-changing group of
cars. On lap 51, an abandoned car was hit in turn 1, causing
the largest wreck of the race, as many cars piled into the
area before the red could bring the field to a halt. One car
lost its radiator, and ANTI-FREEZE right near the start/finish
line. Since much time would be needed for a cleanup, it was
left there as the rest of the wreck was cleared from the
track, and racing resumed. It was hot and heavy once again,
with Bott holding the lead though lap 70, when yet another
crash required a red flag. Bott continued slowly down the
front stretch and exited to the pits with unknown car trouble,
handing the lead to Tom ‘Slippery’ Slee, who was running
second, a lap down to Bott at the time of the red. Once green
was out again, Slee remained in the lead, as Bott didn’t
return immediately. Slee’s #10 was then chased by Keith
Boehm, Gary Walls, Bill Stockert and George Kohrmann. Over the remaining laps, Slee proved to be a formidable
racer, leaving the field behind him as he took off to a
convincing lead, leaving all pursuers a lap or more down as
Slee took the checkers in the first Enduro type race he’s
run in quite some time. After a tough beginning to his 2004
racing season at Riverhead, Tom was ecstatic with the win in
this race. Finishing behind Slee was #31 Gary Walls, #81 Keith
Boehm, #310Bill Stockert, and #32 George Kohrmann
Race notes: Announcer Mike Fields kept busy all
afternoon trying to keep up with the names of the SOOO many
drivers from all over the Northeast in both events. Formidable
task that it was, he did a good job, (with a little help from
yours truly at his side) and his able partner, Geno Ostroski,
his co-announcer for the show…. Thankfully, there were no
injuries to any of the drivers in the multiple wrecks that
seem to come with Enduros. Only once did the ambulance come on
the track, and that was for a driver who complained of a bit
of backache after a crash, but was deemed to be okay. A real
testimonial to the safety features these guys and gals build
into these cars, and the care taken by track officials to see
that minor doesn’t become MAJOR, by the judicious use of the
red flag…Missed the after race Party and Costume Contest
(sorry all) as my driver was tired after a long day and we
needed to get home. Pea-soup fog through the mountains on I-80
made that a wise decision, as it was slow going until just
before the NJ border, where the fog lifted. Overall, a very
good day of racing and a big tip of the LongIslandJam.com hat
to all who worked so hard to make it a good one.
Sources: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com PR
Posted: October 31, 2004
