Walt DeMorris Memorial
by Walter Johnston
The long
anticipated Walt DeMorris Memorial race, postponed by our ever
rain infested late season racing schedule, was delayed one day
by rain, but racers won out over the weather as cool, partly
cloudy skies prevailed on Sunday. Teams from the northeast were
ready to meet to compete for bragging rights and a winner's
purse of over $2000 in the Walt DeMorris Memorial at Mountain
Speedway.
Practice was held on the originally scheduled Friday night, with
a majority of the teams showing up to get their cars dialed in
on Mountain's 1/3 mile asphalt oval. A few drivers mentioned
that the track was 'tricky' their first few laps, but with
set-up changes, they agreed it would be a fun race, and whatever
quirks they'd found were overcome in practice that night. Quite
a few said they really liked the track, especially the amount of
practice time they had been given to get the right set-up for
the race.
After Saturday's postponement,
Sunday morning found all the Late Model runners in the pits
early, getting the last minute work accomplished to have their
cars as perfect as they could make them before heading out for
time trials. After an application to the track of a traction
adhesive, two more practice sessions provided the opportunity to
dial in just a little better handling, scuff some tires, and
just get seat time on what to many was a still unfamiliar race
track.
Time trials were the first order of business after the
driver's meeting, and 25 Late Models took to the track, one at a
time, to race against the clock. Mike Rodriguez, a regular
competitor at Mountain, set fast time at 14.489, with a
difference of 1.669 seconds separating the field down to 25th
place qualifier Brian Sescila at 16.193. The top six in time
were inverted for the start, with sixth place Buzzy Eriksen set
to start on the pole.
After 3 very exciting Street Stock
heats, the Late Models lined up for the 100 lap feature. The
field was paced by Mountain Speedway's Pace Truck, and a Nassau
County Sheriff's car in honor of Walt DeMorris, who was a Nassau
Sheriff's Deputy for many years. The cars were lined up on the
front straightaway, and Walt's mother gave the command to start
engines. The field circled the track in a "Missing Man"
configuration in honor of Walt as the spectators applauded.
At the drop of the green, the field took off, but yellow was
out as the 90 of Geno Steigerwalt and 5 of Brian Sescila
collided in turn 1, bringing out yellow. Steigerwalt, winner of
Best Appearing LM, was out for the day as a wrecker was needed
to remove his car from the scene. On the complete restart, Larry
Fisher #19, a Mountain regular, took his Plum-Air Ford into the
lead, as Eriksen's #68 Harley-Davidson of Nassau Chevy dropped
back, also being passed by Mike Coll's #75 I-TRADEDIRECT
Pontiac as he moved into 2nd spot. Eriksen continued sliding
back as Mike Rodriguez Jr, in the Dr Groho #11, moved into 3rd
by lap 3, and Glenn Tyler in the Chico's Bail Bonds #42, battled
side by side with Eriksen for 4th spot. On lap 9, the first of
the day's cautions flew for a spin by Mike Mortimer's Unique
Golf Shop #14 off turn 4.
When the green flew again, Fisher jumped into
the lead as Coll and Rodriguez Jr battled for 2nd. Coll took the
spot as the top 5 now ran in a single file, but on lap 11,
yellow flew again as Sescila, Kevin Metzger (97), and Mitch Hawk
(17) came together in turn 3. on the restart, the 11x of Beau
Drobot spun, bringing the yellow out quickly once again. Fisher
assumed the lead once more as the green flew, but a fierce
battle between Coll and Rodriguez Jr was now taking place, as
the two ran side by side contending for 2nd, until Rodriguez Jr
spun in turn 3 and fell back to the rear as racing continued.
Tyler now moved into 3rd spot, with Todd Hoddick's Gor-den
Racing Engines 99 4th, and Ron Nurmi's 2 rounding out the top 5.
On lap 19, Hoddick passed Tyler for 3rd, and one lap later,
moved by Coll to take 2nd away. Hoddick was now in pursuit of
Fisher for the lead, catching up to his bumper by lap 26, but
Fisher held his line, and Hoddick's attempt to get by was being
thwarted by lapped traffic, so he just did his best to stay with
Fisher until an opening could be found. By lap 30, they were
clear of lapped traffic, and Hoddick made his move by Fisher on
lap 33. Obviously very fast, Hoddick stretched out a comfortable
lead quickly, but it was erased on lap 35 as Metzger's 97 spun,
bringing out another yellow. On the restart, Hoddick quickly
regained his comfortable lead, followed Fisher, Tyler and Barry
Gommer's 58 in 4th. Yellow was out again a few laps later as
Barry Callavini and Rodriguez Jr collided in turn 2.
With the green out once more, Fisher
remained 2nd, but Gommer got by Tyler for 3rd. There was a quick
yellow for a spin in the back stretch by RJ Oxee's Helman Group
#39 Pontiac, but he recovered quickly and green flew once more.
Hoddick totally dominated the field on the restart, but Gommer
got by Fisher to take 2nd, and yellow came out again on lap 41
as Callavini and Nurmi collided and spun in turn 4. On the next
restart, Gommer got up beside Hoddick in an attempt to take the
lead, but on lap 44, a spin by Scott Kulesa's #10 Ranco Sand &
Stone Pontiac caused another caution. Racing resumed again, with
Hoddick getting a clear lead as Gommer and Fisher ran 2nd and
3rd, but Tyler was pressuring Fisher for 3rd as the 50 lap
competition yellow flew, ending the first half of the race.
After each of the teams added 5 gallons of fuel
to their cars, the reason for the competition yellow, racing
resumed for the remaining 18 competitors, as the very dominant
Todd Hoddick flew into the lead once more, with Gommer in
2nd and Fisher battling Glenn Tyler for 3rd, as Eriksen ran 5th.
Meanwhile, Mike Mortimer, who'd caused the 2nd caution of the
race, had quietly worked his way back to the lead pack from
last and was running 6th. 10 laps later, Hoddick had stretched
his lead over Gommer to 15 car lengths, and Gommer had a
comfortable 10 car cushion between himself and Fisher, who was
still battling Tyler for the 3rd spot. On lap 72, caution flew
once more as Oxee and Greg Kleila came together in turn 1, with
Oxee going to the pits to repair left front sheet metal damage.
While this bunched up the field, Hoddick had 3 lapped cars
between himself and Gommer. On the restart, Hoddick took off
once more, while Gommer and 3rd place Tyler had to work around
the lapped cars as each battled for the 2nd spot. By lap 75,
Mortimer was now 4th, with Fisher having fallen back to 5th.
Hoddick had stretched his lead to 20 cars lengths by lap 80, as
Gommer and Tyler were now clear of the lapped cars, but only
another caution would even allow them to think about catching
Hoddick. That opportunity happened on lap 87, as Callavini spun
in turn 3 after contact with Jarrod Hayes' #08 Complete
Landscaping & Irrigation Chevy. Hayes was placed to the rear for
rough riding, and green came out once more, only to see Joe
Cerabino's #9 J&B Landscaping Dodge spin at the Start/Finish
line after avoiding a spinning Mitch Hawk's #17 in turn 4, and
another yellow.
Green flew once
more, and Hoddick built a 5 car lead in the first lap over
Tyler, now running a lone 2nd, with Gommer a distant and fading
3rd. Fisher caught and passed Gommer to take 3rd, as Mortimer
gets by Gommer to retake 4th spot, but after apparent contact
with Gommer, who went spinning in turn 1, and yellow flies once
more. Mortimer is black flagged for rough riding, moving Eriksen
up to 4th and Greg Kleila's #72 J&R Steakhouse Pontiac to 5th.
On the restart, disaster strikes as Tyler, running 2nd, is
involved in a front stretch crash which also involves
Kleila, Kevin Metzger's #97 Shadow Racing Chevy, Roger Maynor's
Daniel's Family Resort #28 Ford, and Scott Kulesa and a few
others. Only Kulesa is able to continue, as heavy damage is
suffered by the others involved. The top 5 is now Hoddick,
Fisher, Eriksen, Hayes, and Gommer. When the green flag flies
for the restart, Hoddick once again runs away with the lead, as
Fisher comfortably holds 2nd, and Eriksen, Hayes, and Gommer
continue to battle to better their finishes, but to no avail as
Hoddick wins the race by a 3.17 second margin over Fisher, with
Eriksen 3rd, Hayes 4th, and Gommer 5th. In addition to the $2000
winning purse, Hoddick, who led the most laps, takes home over
$300 in lap money, a very rewarding day for a very talented
driver and his team.
New and Notes: Skies were cloudy, with dark grey clouds
at some points during the day, but mostly sunny as the afternoon
wore on. It made the one day wait to get this race in worth it
for all, who endured miserable Saturday weather, the originally
scheduled day of the race. Some, we hear, took advantage off the
bad weather to catch up on their "partying skills", a few going
into early Sunday morning with their practice (no names
here)...a bit of a disappointment that many pre-entered
Riverhead Chargers elected to go to Lee Octoberfest, but the
date conflict is understandable with all the rainouts suffered
by so many tracks. But a strong field of 25 Late Models from NY
and PA made the Walt DeMorris Memorial a good race. A real nice
tribute to Walt, who loved racing and just having fun in
general...Usual friendly accommodations provided to all by
Mountain Staff, led by Race Director Billy
Bartley...Transponders worked nicely to provide scoring and good
source of stats for the race, with laps led, fastest lap times,
etc. It would be nice to see these in use at more venues in the
future....My story a little later than usual, but Sunday was a
long day, and preparation for future race coverage (Thompson
World Series, North/South Shootout) kind of put things back a
bit...don't miss the video clips at
JerseyRacing.com if
you missed Walt's race, they are very good. There is a link on
LI Jam message board...until next time, live well and be safe.
Source: Walter Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 25, 2005
