Under an almost full moon and
extremely cold conditions, the Hoosier Tire North-South Shootout saw two
exciting races run, with Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue, NY, in the Research
Oil #03 and Matt Hirschman of Northampton, PA in his #60 ROC modified set
fast times in their divisions, and they followed that up with victory in the
SK/SST Modified and Tour type modified races, besting a great field of
competitors in both events. Carl Pasteryak of Lisbon, CT in the Dawley Auto
Center #75 won the non-qualifiers race, and foregoing the purse, entered the
NSS as the final competitor to take his chances in that event.
In the SK/SST race,
34 cars took the green, with Rogers, who set fast time at 15.778, leaping
out to the early lead, but Tommy Farrell of Neptune NJ, the outside pole
starter, faltered a bit at the start, resulting in a 5 car pile-up going
into turn 1 that eliminated Pete Brittain in the Ling Trucking #66, the only
car unable to continue. On the complete restart, Rogers took off once more,
but Steven Reed of Freehold, NJ stayed with him for the 1st lap,
as Ronnie Silk, of Norwalk, Ct ran a distant 3rd. Behind them,
Jimmy Blewett, in the #12 and Tommy Cravenho battled side by side for 4th.
By lap 7, Rogers and Reed had pulled away by 15 car lengths in their battle
for the lead, with Rogers holding the margin over Reed, and the battle
continued until Rowan Pennink of Huntingdon Valley, PA, came to a stop in
the turn 2 dogleg, bringing out the 2nd caution, during which
Blewett pitted for adjustments to his car. Rogers shot out into the lead on
the restart, as Silk moved into 2nd, and Earl Paules came to 3rd,
as Reed faded to 4th. On lap 12, two separate crashes, one in
turn 1 involving 7 cars, and the other in the dogleg involving 5 cars,
brought the race to a halt under red as the track crews worked to sort out
the mess.
On the restart,
Rogers flew out front once more, with Silk, Paules, Reed and Woody Pitkat of
Stafford, Ct. rounding out the top 5. By lap 17, Rogers and Silk starting
lapping slower cars, threading their way through traffic as they set a
torrid pace. By lap 20, Rogers had a 10 car length lead over Silk, while
Paules and Reed ran nose to tail trying to keep pace, while Pitkat pulled
into the fray a few laps later to make it a 3 car battle. Rogers continued
to hold a commanding lead by lap 35, as Silk, Reed and Pitkat continued
their battle for 3rd. At the lap 42 mark, Pennink spun coming of
the 3rd turn after contact with Reed, also involving Bobby Santos
III’s #81, who spun avoiding contact, and caution came out, slowing the
pace. Reed was put to the back with Pennink, but Santos was returned to his
spot near the front of the field. On the restart, Rogers took off once
more, but Silk and Pitkat made a run at him, with Silk going high outside to
get almost along side, but Rogers held them off as the laps wound down.
Santos took advantage of this to move up from his 4th restart
position, passing Pitkat to battle Silk for the 3rd spot, and as
the entered the dogleg, the two made contact, with Silk going around and
Santos continuing on, as no caution came out, as Silk got going again right
away, and Santos set his sights on Rogers, but Rogers was long gone, as
Pitkat and Santos battled for the 2nd spot that Santos held. All
held their positions as the final laps ticked off, and Rogers, who led wire
to wire, took the victory, as Santos, Pitkat, Paules and Cravenho rounded
out the top 5. In victory lane, Rogers thanked his car owners and crew for
the great car they prepared for him to totally dominate the race, the
biggest thus far in Rogers’ career.
Next on the program
was the tour type modified 100 green flag lap race, with Matt Hirschman, who
set fast time at 15.333, on the pole, and Burt Myers, of Walnut Cove, NC, in
the All Star Truck Repair #1, to his outside. Hirschman took the lead from
the start, as Myers hung right behind, but 3rd starting Bobby
Grigas, of Marshfield, MA had fluid pouring out of his car through the
turns, and was black flagged from the race on lap 5 to address the problem,
which turned out to be a fuel overflow hose that needed to be capped.
Hirschman, meanwhile had totally checked out on the field, running 15 car
lengths ahead of Myers, who was being pursued by Chuck Hossfeld of
Ransomville, NY, who’d started 8th and quickly came up to 3rd
spot. Hossfeld, 12 car lengths behind Myers, had John Blewett III of Howell,
NJ right on his bumper, while Brian Pack of Walkertwon, NC ran 5th.
Hirschman had such a commanding lead that he’d already started lapping other
car by lap 12. On lap 17, Bobby Santos III, Andy Seuss and Ronnie Silk came
together entering turn 1, with Santos leaving on the hook with major damage
to the Al-Lee Construction #36, and bringing out a caution for cleanup. On
the restart, Hirschman took of like a shot, as Blewett grabbed 2nd
from Myers, and behind them, Plainville, CT.‘s Ted Christopher’s #00 battled
with Hossfeld for 4th, with Hossfeld grabbing the spot. On lap
24, George Brunnhoelzl III’s #2 and Nevin George’s #63 collided with the
lapped car of Brandon Hire, bringing out the caution and closing up the
field, and Hirschman picked this break to make his mandatory pit stop. On
the restart, Blewett III lead the race, with Myers challenging to his
outside, but Blewett held him off, with Hossfeld gaining 2nd as
Myers dropped back to 3rd. Hossfeld ran 1 car length behind
Blewett, as Myers fought off the attempt by Todd Szegedy’s #50 Wisk
modified, but Szegedy got by Myers to take 3rd, as Myers
continued to backslide, now being pursued by Ted Christopher. On lap 36,
James Civali’s Ramar-Hall #28 spun in turn 3, and caution flew again.
Blewett III, Szegedy, Christopher and a few others made their mandatory
stops under this yellow. On the restart, Hossfeld, now out in the lead, took
off quickly, but Anthony Sesely’s A-1 Auto #70 spun in the turn 2 dogleg,
and yellow was out immediately. On the restart, Hossfeld had Les Hinckley
of Windsor Locks, Ct to his outside, and held him off after a one lap battle
to hold the lead, as Hirschman, who’d worked his way back to the front after
his pit stop, now battled Brian Loftin’s #23 for 3rd, but Loftin
held him back. Hossfeld was now building his advantage to a 6 car length
lead over Hinckley, while Hirschman continued to look for a way around
Loftin, taking the spot on lap 45. On lap 46, Burt Myers spun coming off
turn 3, coming to a rest with little damage against the inside pit wall, and
yellow was out again. On the restart, Hossfeld took off, and Hirschman got
by Hinckley to take 2nd, but on lap 50, Hinckley and Sesely came
together on the front stretch, with Donny Lia also spinning to avoid
contact, and yellow flew again, with Hossfeld now making his mandatory stop.
As Lia attempted to get going in the right direction, he clipped Burt Myers
hard as Myers was coasting by, damaging both cars badly enough to retire
them from the race.
On the lap 50
restart, Hirschman was now in the lead again, with Earl Paules 2nd,
but Hirschman took off, while Paules tries his best to keep up, as
Christopher, Blewett III, and Rick Kluth round out the top 5. Hirschman
stretches his lead over Paules, as Christopher pulls away from Blewett and
Kluth, while Eric Beers runs 6th, and is gaining on Kluth.
Hirschman continues stretching his lead over Paules, while Christopher and
Blewett run 10 cars lengths in back of him, and Beers takes 5th
away from Kluth on lap 70, just before Gene Pack and Ryan Preece collide and
spin in turn 3, bringing out yet another caution. On the restart, Paules
gives his all to overtake Hirschman, as they ran side by side, but Hirschman
held him off, as Paules now had to battle Christopher for 2nd,
while Blewett tries to hold off Eric Beers’ attempt to take away 4th
spot. On lap 76, Billy Pauch Jr. in the Greenfield Dodge #06 spins in turn
1, bringing out one more caution. Hirschman held the lead on the restart, as
Paules and Christopher ran side by side battling for 2nd, and
Beers gets past Blewett to take 4th. Paules, meanwhile, has
pulled away from Christopher, while Beers was now challenging Christopher
for 3rd, but on lap 85, Hinckley spun, and yellow followed.
On the restart,
Hirschman quickly gains a 3 car advantage over Paules, as Christopher and
Beers pursue Paules to try and take 2nd spot. By lap 90,
Christopher was putting heavy pressure on Paules, while Beers rode
Christopher’s bumper. On lap 95, Hirschman is way out front, but Christopher
and Beers get down under Paules, with both getting past him, as Paules gets
dropped back to 4th spot, while Blewett now runs a distant 5th.
Christopher and Beers, who is reportedly running on only 7 cylinders, do
battle right to the end, as Hirschman sails home for a well deserved win,
with Christopher, Beers, Paules and Blewett rounding out the top 5. In
victory lane, Hirschman thanked his crew for setting the car up perfectly to
run as well as it did in the cold Carolina night.
News and Notes from the
Shootout: Frank Fleming was eliminated from competition after badly damaging
his #07 in a practice crash on Friday, with the unconfirmed rumor going
around that he may have a cracked rib as a result. The car was damaged so
badly the team just loaded it up…Entered for the weekend, but not making the
race were John Sutton (79), Josh Nichols (16), Daren Scherer (3), John Manno
(64), Greg Butcher (45), Danny Sammons (0), Marisa Neiderauer (74),, J.R.
Swansborough (06), Jamie Tomaino Jr. (98), and the aforementioned Frank
Fleming (07)…John Manno, running for the first time since moving to NC two
years ago, was making his first attempt at racing since the move. The birth
of a child and job change curtailed his racing activities for a while, but
John plans to do a part time Southern Mod schedule racing in 2007...I ran
into quite a few transplanted NYers at Concord, among them a ‘very happy to
be there’ Joe Colicchio, who looks like Southern living is treating him
well…Very unseasonably cold temps made for many shivering spectators, but
the crowd was generally as good as in past years when it was a bit
warmer…some Riverhead regulars working on pits crew in NC were Wayne Okula,
Ken Heagy and JR Bertuccio…the overall racing was great as Mods from 4
different series completed well with each other, providing the fans with a
great weekend…Support divisions a bit light: Pro Four Mods - 12 cars, Mini
Mods -8 cars, SK Lite (Crate Motor) 9 cars (and many yellows during their
race)…Nice turnout also among the Vintage Mods (13 cars) and Sportsman (14
cars)…Pro-Fours and Mini-mods, originally slated to race as one, were run in
2 different features because of speed differences, as the Pro-Fours ran much
faster in practice…Well, the long trips are now over, with only 2 possible
events left, the 33rd Annual Turkey Derby at Wall Township
Speedway and the Mason-Dixon Meltdown at South Boston, VA, Speedway, both
running on Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. It should be
interesting to see who chooses which…I’m done for the season, but we should
have some nice surprises to keep racing minded folks busy during the off
season, with more NEETS coverage and Atlantic City racing stories, so stay
with Long Island Jam for the best in racing and racing coverage…until then,
live well, and stay safe.