First NELMA Race Runs At
Mountain Speedway Under Sunny Skies
by
Walter
Johnston
After a rainy
Friday morning and afternoon, practice was held for all 3 divisions of the
inaugural NELMA series at Mountain Speedway in Pennsylvania. Saturday showed
great promise, with sunny skies and even more race teams arriving for the
first ever NELMA event. A total of 25 Late Models were on hand, joined by 8
entrants for the Super Pro Trucks, and 15 entrants for the Street Stocks.
Time trials were held to determine the field for the Late Models, and #75
Mike Coll, Mountain’s 2006 Late Model Champion, set fast time at 14.522 to
win the pole. A pair of heats were run to determine the starting order for
the Street Stocks, and a single heat for the Super Pro Trucks helped
establish their starting order. A nice young girl was picked at random from
the spectators, and she determined that the top six in Late Model qualifying
would redraw for starting positions. #08 Jarrod Hayes drew number one
putting him on the pole for the event.
The NELMA
i-TRADEdirect Late Model Challenge100 was the first feature event of the
afternoon with Jarrod Hayes’ Long Island Big Brothers/Big Sisters/Complete
Landscaping Pontiac on the pole, #7A Dave’s Flemington Collision Chevrolet
of Jimmy Wismer on his outside, the race went green, with Hayes jumping
straight out into the lead, with Wismer tucking in behind. But yellow flew
immediately as Kevin Metzger’s SPONSORS WANTED #23 spun after contact in
turn 4. On the complete restart, Hayes took off once more, as #75 Mike Coll
slid by under Wismer to take second, as Wismer, #07 Tommy Spencer, Jr., and
#11A Tony Volpe rounded out the top 5. Hayes stretched out his lead slightly
at this point, but Coll caught up and started to try the outside groove to
make a pass, as Wismer pulled right up on Hayes’ bumper all of them fought
to hold their positions. Hayes was able to hold off the challenge and pull
slightly away, holding on to his lead. By lap 15, the top 4 had broken away
as they started to lap some slower cars, but on lap 16, as #34 Phil DeFranco
spun going into turn 1, spilling water on the track, the caution was out
again. On the restart, Hayes took off, but Coll stayed right with him, as
Wismer and Spencer stayed right behind them, but Larry Fisher’s #19 Plum Air
Ford, the fourth place starter who’d faded back a bit at the beginning,
started to make his presence known as he challenged Volpe for fifth and took
the spot. Fisher now set his sights on Spencer, and just as he passed
Spencer on lap 20, Joey McMurtrie’s #8 spun in turn 4, and caution was out
once more.
On the next
restart, Hayes shot out front again, but on lap 22, Coll got under Hayes on
the low side of turn 2, and after racing side by side, Coll passed Hayes for
the lead at the line on lap 22. Meanwhile, Fisher, quickly got by Wismer and
Hayes to take second spot, as Wismer hung on for third, while Hayes faded
back to fifth. Fisher was looking high and low to get by Coll, but Coll
poured on the power each time to hold him off. On lap 35, Fisher saw his
opening in turn 1, got under Coll, and passed Coll coming out of turn 4 to
take the lead, with Spencer also getting by to move up to second. Further
back in the field, Roger Maynor’s Daniels’ Family Resort/Victory Fleet
Maintenance #74 was running eighth, while Scott Kulesa’s Ranco Sand & Stone
#10, Buzzy Eriksen’s Harley Davidson of Nassau County #68, Roger Oxee’s
Helman Group #39, and Kevin Metzger’s Sponsors Wanted #23 were waging their
own battle for position, running nose to tail contending for tenth. Up
front, Fisher and Spencer had checked out on the rest of the field, with
third place Coll at least 10 car lengths behind, but Metzger suddenly spun
in the back stretch on lap 47, and yellow flew again, even as Metzger
recovered and rejoined the race. Maynor had now worked his way up to
seventh, and Fisher took off once more as green came out again quickly. A
competition yellow was thrown at lap 50 so the car could be refueled for the
100 lap grind.
On the next restart
after the fuel stop, Fisher took off, with Spencer right on his tail, but
yellow flew immediately as #63 Tom Scales spun going into turn 1. Fisher
again took off on the next restart and pulled away by two car lengths from
Spencer, but Spencer quickly caught back up to Fisher, along with Coll and
Wismer. On lap 53, #37 Jim Lamoreaux, Eriksen, McMurtrie and #17 Mitch Hawk
came together entering turn 2, ending up against the outside wall, and
yellow was out quickly. On the restart, Fisher took off, as Spencer and Coll
stayed right with him, and Wismer and Volpe hung back a bit, as Hayes moved
back up into sixth spot. But on lap 57, Joe Oliver’s Oliver Racing #24
stalled in turn 2, and caution was out again. On the restart, Fisher and
Spencer took off together, as Coll, Wismer and Volpe faded back a bit. Hayes
is now going to work on Volpe to take over fifth, but only seems able to
keep up with him a car length back. Fisher and Spencer have pulled way out
front by lap 65, but on lap 66, Eriksen spins and the caution flies again,
bunching up the field. On the restart, Fisher sets a nice even pace as
Spencer tries to figure a way to get by. On lap 69, Lamoreaux spun in turn
3, and the caution bunched the field again.
With green out
again, Fisher now leads a train of bumper to bumper cars, made up of
Spencer, Coll, Wismer, Volpe, Hayes and Maynor. Fisher was again setting a
good pace, as the top 5 still ran nose to tail, but Spencer was still
looking for a way around, and hounded Fisher to the inside and outside
looking for an opening, but each time it seemed like Spencer found his
opening, Fisher slammed the door and hung on to the top spot. While all this
was going on, they were pulling away from third place Coll, who now was 10
car lengths back. Fisher and Spencer continue to do battle, as Spencer is
able to follow Fisher wherever he goes, staying glued to his bumper as the
laps wound down toward the finish. Meanwhile, on lap 95, Hayes suddenly goes
low on Wismer and Coll, making his way from fifth to third spot in one bold
move. Fisher and Spencer continued to battle up front, with Spencer able to
get a look under going into turn 1 as they took the white flag, but they
suddenly came together, spinning out towards the wall, as Hayes shot under,
along with Coll and Wismer, as the yellow flew one last time. Fisher and
Spencer were both put to the rear of the lead lap for the restart, as Hayes
took the last green flag and led all the way around the 1/3 mile oval, while
Coll and Wismer battled side by side for second, with Coll winning the
battle by a mere .014th of a second over Wismer, while Tony Volpe
and Roger Maynor recorded 4th and 5th place finishes
respectively, to give the inaugural NELMA race a truly exciting finish. A
very surprised and excited Jarrod Hayes thanked all of his sponsors in
Victory Lane ceremonies, with a special thanks going out to Big Brothers/Big
Sisters of Long Island, along with John Wellman, for their last minute
additional sponsorship, which made their entry into the race possible.
The Super Pro
Trucks were next with their 30 lap race, with Danny Grennan’s PCHS Engines
#38 on the pole, and Bobby Gardner’s Bobcat of Long Island #45 to the
outside. Grennan shot into the lead, as Gardner stayed right behind, with
Curt Tori’s ARTS truck in third, as Dave Brigati’s WPW Wholesale Growers ran
fourth, and Mike Albasini’s Golden Auto Body #46 ran fifth. By lap 3,
Grennan was pulling away and serving notice that he was indeed fast, as even
second place Gardner had trouble matching his pace. The best racing was
happening for the third position, as Albasini, Dan Turbush’s Dantona
Industries #8, and Brigati ran in a tight pack contending lap after lap for
the spot. Grennan, meanwhile, had checked out on almost everyone, leading
Gardner by over 9 truck lengths at lap 20. Turbush, meanwhile, was mounting
a challenge on Albasini, but Albasini was able to hold him off and pull away
for a solid third place running spot by lap 25. Grennan continued his
domination up front, and sailed home to take the victory, followed by
Gardner, Albasini, Turbush, Brigati, #32 Howie Bott, #12 Jerry Stanzione,
and #25 Curt Tori.
Lat on the schedule
were the Street Stocks, 15 cars strong. #14 Elliot Wohl and #26 Scott Meckes
started on the front row, and Meckes set the pace at the drop of the green,
as Wohl followed, but a battle for third developed quickly, as #29 Norm
Barnes and #43 Ron Frees battled side by side for 3rd. On lap 3,
#42 Jennifer Kutz spun off turn 2; unable to refire, she was towed to the
pits. On the restart, Barnes and Wohl came together hard going into tunr 1,
with the yellow coming back out, and Barnes was put down for rough riding.
On the restart, Meckes continued to set the pace, with Frees and #9 Jim
Yamelski right behind, with #4 Barry Callavini fourth, and #461 Rich Demarco
fifth. Meckes kept a car length lead over Frees, as Yamelski ran a tight
third, but Dimarco now ran alone a bit further back, and Scott Lehmann’s
Halpin Brothers #16 challenged Jerry Hilderand for fifth, taking the spot on
lap 10. On lap 11, Callavini spun at the Start/Finish line, and yellow was
out. On the restart, Meckes pulled away from Frees, but Frees caught up
quickly, and a lap later, was looking to the inside of Meckes for the lead,
but Meckes beat him off turn 2 to hold on. On lap 14, yellow came out once
more as Jimmy White Jr.’s Busy Bee Pest Control #19 spun. On the next
restart, Meckes again led Frees, as Yamelski and Lehmann battled each other
for third. Yamelski held the spot as Lehmann went high coming off turn 2,
and was passed by DiMarco and Hilderand, relegating Lehmann to sixth.
Meckes, meanwhile, had stretched his lead over Frees to 10 car lengths, as
Frees now had his hands full battling with Yamelski for second. By lap 25,
Meckes’ lead had widened even more, as Frees and Yamelski continued their
battled for second, and 5 laps later, Hilderand caught up, making it into a
3 car battle for position. By lap 35, Meckes was only going to be caught if
he had a problem, as he now had a ¼ lap lead over Frees, and Frees finally
pulled away from Yamelski, Dimarco, and Hilderand. Meckes continued to
stretch his lead to the end, as Frees sailed home in second, Yamelski a
solid third, DiMarco fourth , and Hilderand fifth. The rest of the field
finished as follows: 6. Wozniak, 7. Lehmann, 8. Callavini, 9. Truszkowski,
11. Katona, 12. White Jr., 13. Helberg, 14. Kutz, 15. Barnes.
News and Notes: This
first ever NELMA race turned out to be a lot of fun, though some had trouble
understanding how transponders related to scoring. They will learn in time
as more tracks start to use them… a good field of Late Models from many
tracks made the Late Model race really good, as many of these drivers got to
experience racing against each other for the first time… With lap sales
falling a bit short of the goal, it was decided to turn it into various
awards instead, assuring the sponsors who donated that their money was well
spent for the event… I’m sure no one wanted to win the ‘First one out”
money, but unfortunately, LM “Rookie” Uncle Richard Petey took the $50 prize
after being involved in the first incident of the race, which he couldn’t
avoid being involved in… The promoters would like to send a special thanks
to all who took the time to travel to Mountain Speedway and support this
series in it’s inaugural race. If nothing else, it will give them bragging
right to tell their friends, “I was in the first one!”, as this series can
only grow bigger as time passes, and word gets around… Amazing that the
winning Jarrod Hayes team almost had to sit this out because of sponsor
issues, until a last minute deal was put together with the help of John
Wellman and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Long Island, a name familiar to many
of us through their continuing sponsorships throughout our favorite sport.
We thank them, too…Ah, a weekend off (for me) next week, to prepare for the
long trip to Concord Motorsports Park and the North-South Shootout the week
after… Until we get the results and story of that great race to you, live
well and be safe.
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 21, 2006