11/04/2005
John Blewett III Wins the North South Shootout Again
by
Walter Johnston
Drivers came from all over the Eastern U.S.
to compete in the North/South Shootout weekend at Concord Motorsports
Park, and they were greeted with beautiful weather and a great group of
competitors. 45 Whelen Modified Tour regulars, ROC Tour competitors,
True Value Series competitors and regular Saturday night racers all
gathered for the bragging rights as the winner of the third annual race.
They were joined for the first time ever by 41 SK-type/SST Modifieds
to provide one of the most competitive racing shows put on by Modifieds
of any kind on the East Coast.
#18
Donny Lia set fast time among the full-blown Mod competitors, with a lap
of 15.605 around the 1/2 mile high banked tri-oval speedway. He was
followed by #19 Zach Sylvester (in an Eric Beers car) with a 15.611 time.
#59 Matt Hirschman - 15.732, #5 Todd Szegedy - 15.732 (in the H.M. Hughes
Construction back-up car) and #12 Jimmy Blewett - 15.734 rounding out the top
5. The rest of the modifieds then went through a process of running four heats
to qualify three more cars from each of those, and two consolation races, with
four cars from the first, and three cars from the second, to make up 28 cars for the
starting field.
Another five drivers were awarded provisional, based on various criteria
ranging
from entry form date to past champion status.
The main event began with pace laps, where the
field was led by drivers from the local Vintage Modified division,
including Richie Evans Jr., in a replica of his father's coupe. They
pulled in, followed one lap later by the track's pace car, and #18 Lia
and #19 Sylvester led the field to the green. Lia got a good start,
jumping in front of Sylvester, but Sylvester hung right with him as
#5 Szegedy stayed right with them in third, while #59 Matt Hirschman and
#50 Chuck Hossfeld ran side by side contending for fourth. On lap 3, Hossfeld got out in front of Hirschman to take sole possession of
fourth
spot, as up front, Lia and Sylvester were still running like they were
chained together. On lap 12, the first yellow of the race flew for #41 Jay Hedgecock's spin into the
third turn inside wall, which also collected the
#43 of Kirk Alexander. Hedgecock's right rear nerf bar was rubbing
the rear wheel, so he had to pit, along with Alexander, who it
turned out had bigger problems with his front end, and he spent most of
the
rest of the race trying in vain to repair it.
With the green back out, Lia and Sylvester continued to run 1-2, but
yellow was out again on lap 18 as #1 Burt Myers and #4p Ryan Preece got together in turn 3, with the rest of the cars scrambling around them
to avoid contact. They recovered and joined the rear of the field as
green came out once more. Again, Lia took off, and Sylvester slipped a
bit, so Szegedy got by him to take second, but Sylvester fought back, and
one lap later
regained second spot. Hossfeld also got around his teammate Szegedy to move
into third spot, while #77 Doug Coby watched it all from fifth.
The tremendous battle continued between Lia and Sylvester as they began
to catch slower cars, with both getting by a faltering #79 Mike Christopher
by lap 27. On lap 29, #70 Andy Seuss spun in turn 1, bringing out
a yellow flag, and Mike Christopher retired his car from the race under
that caution. Green was back out quickly, and Sylvester was able to keep
pace with Lia, staying right along side, but a quick yellow was thrown
to get the car of #8 Earl Paules off the track to address a safety
issue. This time when the green was thrown, Lia got the jump on
Sylvester again, but Hossfeld
read the start right, and pulled under and past Sylvester to grab second,
as Coby
followed Hossfeld by and took third spot, putting Sylvester to fourth and Szegedy to
fifth, as thirteenth starter #76 John Blewett III had now worked his way
up to sixth. Lia had now stretched his lead over Hossfeld to four car
lengths, and it grew bigger as each lap passes.
On lap 36,
#2 JR Bertuccio and #69 Junior Miller came together in
the
turn 2 dogleg, and yellow was out again. Lia and Szegedy elected
to pit at this point, giving the lead to Hossfeld, who also elected to
pit the next time around, leading a veritable parade into the pits, as
#99 Pete Brittain, who'd pitted earlier, along with #33 Ken Heagy, remained on the track. Hossfeld lost
four spots in the pits when he got
blocked by Szegedy, as after all the stops are done (a mandatory pit
stop by each car is required), Brittain, Heagy, #99t Jamie Tomaino , Blewett III and Coby now make up the top 5 for the restart. When
the green flies, Brittain bobbles his car a bit as Heagy takes the lead,
but Tomaino is involved in a first turn wreck, and the yellow comes right
back out. On the complete restart, Brittain and Heagy battle side by
side, but Heagy gets the lead and pulls away as Blewett III and Coby
also get by Brittain, and begin their pursuit of Heagy. Blewett III,
with fresher tires, got by Heagy off turn 3 on lap 41, as the
yellow flies again for a spin by #4p Preece, and Brittain, Heagy and
Tomaino pit for fresh tires.
Blewett III, Coby, Sylvester, Seuss, and
#3 Eric Beers now make up the
top 5 as the green flies once more. Blewett III is getting pounded on
the rear bumper by Coby, as it appears Blewett is varying his speed to
throw Coby's rhythm off. That doesn't last long as Heagy, Tomaino, and
#4m Jason Myers spin off turn 2, and caution is out again. Tomaino
needs a wrecker, and is towed to the pits. As the green flies once more,
Coby pulls a bottom shot on Blewett III, bringing Sylvester into second as
they both pass Blewett III. Coby opens up a two car length lead over
Sylvester, as Blewett III slips further back into the clutches of Beers,
and Hossfeld has made up his loss in the pits and moved into fifth spot.
Coby leads the race at the 50-lap mark, and is having no success in
shaking a very determined Sylvester, who hangs right with him. They
continue to run this way through lap 65, when they start catching slower
traffic, and have to find a way around them. On lap 71, Blewett III has
caught up to Sylvester's bumper, and in heavy traffic, passes Sylvester
to take second, and by lap 74, catches and passes Coby for the lead once
more, with Sylvester making a great move to regain second as Coby drops to
third. Blewett III is now out of lapped traffic, and Sylvester hangs right
with him lap after lap. On lap 81, #45 Wayne Anderson spins off turn 3,
bringing out caution once more, and the field closes up as Anderson
recovers to rejoin the rear of the field.
Green is out once more, but Anderson is tapped and spins again in turn 1
on the restart, as Heagy and #81 Brian Pack suffer damage to their cars
in the scramble to avoid Anderson, and they both pit for quick
repairs. With the green out once more, Blewett III retains the lead, but
Sylvester is still hounding him, right on his rear bumper, as Coby,
Hossfeld and Beers round out the top 5. Beers suddenly slips, giving sixth
place #23 Brian Loftin the chance to take fifth, with Donny Lia, quietly
running in seventh also moving up a spot. Blewett III and Sylvester
break away by six car lengths from Coby and the rest of the pack by lap
90. Loftin and Lia both get around Hossfeld to take over fourth and fifth
spot, just as Brittain spins into the inside wall off turn 3, bringing
out another caution.
It is now going to be an 8 lap shootout for the finish, as the field
gets the green once more, and Blewett III and Sylvester roar away, while
Loftin sets his sights on Coby. Loftin gets around Coby for third on lap
93, but Blewett and Sylvester are eight car lengths ahead and Loftin isn't
gaining very much on them. Loftin gets to within two cars lengths of
Sylvester by lap 97, as on lap 98, Lia gets by Coby for fourth. Blewett III
manages to hold off a very determined Sylvester to cross the line in first
as the checkered flag flies, to win his second North/South Shootout in
three
tries. #19 Sylvester finishes second, #23 Loftin third, #18 Lia fourth
and #77 Coby fifth. Long Islanders #2 JR Bertuccio (16th),
#45 Wayne
Anderson (22nd) and #33 Ken Heagy (23rd) were all running at the finish.
In the earlier Sunoco Mod race, the promoters decided after
the consolation race to start all the cars in the division, so everyone
still running is eligible to start. The field is made up 39 of the 41
original cars entered, with 2 unable to answer the call to the green.
After a first lap wreck involving pole sitter #81 Bobby Santos III, #12 Jimmy Blewett grabbed the early lead, but
fifth starting #52 Woody Pitkat (52) took the
lead on
a lap 11 restart, as he and Blewett were chased by #91 Frank Ruocco,
#99 Pete Brittain, and #16 Rowan Pennink. Numerous yellows followed,
but Pitkat held Blewett at bay each time, as Blewett hung right with
him, but couldn't muster the speed to get past. By lap 30, they were
ahead of the rest of the field by over 10 car lengths. They encountered
lapped cars on lap 33, and on lap 34, Blewett was almost able to use one
of them to his advantage to get by Pitkat in turn 3, but Pitkat held him
off down the front stretch, and the yellow was out once more on lap 35
for a spin in the back stretch. On
the next restart, Pitkat held on to the lead, but Blewett was right on
his bumper, lap after lap, and they were again running a race by
themselves at lap 40. Pitkat built a two car length lead over Blewett by
lap 45, but that was erased as both barely avoided a spinning car off
turn 3, which brought out another caution. It was now set up to be a
five
lap shootout for the win, and Pitkat was up to the test as he put a
car's length between himself and Blewett by lap 46, and maintained it
right to the end. A very hard charging #31
Tommy Cravenho finished third, #16 Rowan Pennink was fourth, and #1 Ronnie Silk
finished fifth. #03 Tom Rogers Jr, who'd been running well in winning his
heat, suffered minor engine troubles on the firstst lap and finished 25th.
#17s Russell Savoy, a former Riverhead Blunderbust driver, finished a
respectable 18th after starting back in the thirties.
News and Notes from down South: Nice to see all the
people who made
the trek down from the North. The promoters had to be happy with a
turnout of 41
SK/SST cars, and announced before the races started that they would
be invited back for the fourth annual North/South Shootout to be held Nov.
3rd and 4th in 2006... Earl Paules, #8 Mod, voted best appearing Mod,
very deserving as both his regular and SST Mods are beautifully
maintained... #45 Wayne Anderson picked up a $500 bonus for being the lead
car with DMC Auto Exchange sticker on his car at the halfway mark of the
race. He purchased the sticker for a $10 donation before the race, as
did a few others. Good investment, Wayne! $500 also given by DMC to
hurricane Katrina relief fund in Wayne's name... Thanks go out once again
this year to Ken Heagy's Buoy One Restaurant team for all of their
hospitality to this writer during the weekend... Bob
Park says he may have run his last event, if he can find a buyer for all
his #19 Steve Park Racing Team equipment... Northern car count at 29,
Southern 16, totaling 45 full blown Mods on hand. Only 6 of a possible
12 entered non-qualifiers race, won by #0 Daren Scherer of Binghamton,
NY... Nice to run into Robin and Elaine Vollmoeller in the stands, who
were also visiting their real estate holdings in NC... Long ride to
Concord and back home, but very good racing and warm weather made the
ride worthwhile... $2.12 per gallon for regular gas in Fredricksburg, VA.
Wish I had a 50 gallon tank, LOL!...That's it from me for this racing
season, I hope everyone enjoys
the upcoming holidays, and we at
LongIslandJam.com look forward to
providing
you with ever expanding race coverage in the 2006 season... until then,
live
well and be safe.
Source: Walter Johnston/Only on LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
November 5, 2005
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