11/25/2006

Blewett Brothers Continue Turkey Derby Domination
by J.A. Ackley

This past Saturday, it was literally standing-room only to witness the annual last hurrah of the 2006 season, the Turkey Derby at Wall Township Speedway.  In addition to Long Island’s favorite Tour-type Modifieds, 5 other divisions were on hand to delight fans and competitors alike.

Tour-Type Modifieds – 100 laps

34 Modifieds were on hand to try to make it in to the Turkey Derby.  Taking fast time would be the #18 Huntington Honda entry of Donny Lia, with a fast lap of 12.036 seconds.  The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regular is no stranger to Wall, as Wall is where he first started racing, in the entry-level Legends Car division.

Upon the redraw, two wily Wall veterans were pitted against each other on the front row, the #8 of Tommy Farrell and the #14 of Ken Woolley, Jr.  The green flag would produce a long stretch of green laps with the field sorting itself nicely, with the #14 of Ken Woolley, Jr. comfortable in the lead, with 28 other competitors battling it out.  During this stretch, we would see the #11 of Steve Whitt tangle with the #18 of Donny Lia, resulting in the #11 of Whitt careening to the infield, but no caution.  The #18 of Lia seemed to be headed to catch #14, despite the unfortunate incident, but before we could see it happen, caution would wave for Modified veteran, #41 Reggie Ruggiero, who spun off turn 2.  During this caution, we would start to see pit strategy play out, with the #99 of fan favorite Jamie Tomaino pit for tires.

At the restart, the #14 Woolley and #8 Farrell would duke it out again, with the #14 Woolley once again getting a good start for the lead.  Green flag racing would continue for 8 laps until the #44 of Western NY Modified racer, Rick Kluth, would stop in turn 4, bringing out the yellow again.  Under caution #41 Reggie Ruggiero and #9x Chaz Surman would pit.

The restart would see #14 Woolley and #8 Farrell contend for the lead, and upon the waving of the green, the #14 Woolley got an excellent start once again, and sneaking by with him would be the #76 John Blewett III and #18 Donny Lia, with #8 Farrell falling back.  Caution would wave a few laps later for #87 Chip Wanamaker, whom spun in turn 3 after contact.  Fellow PA driver, #53 Brian Defebo would need a push off the track to the pits as well.

 

The restart would pit #14 Woolley against #76 John Blewett III.  The two would have an event restart, with Woolley closing the door by turn 3.  But before it could get interesting, the caution would fly for the spun #11 of Steve Whitt.  During the caution, the #03 entry of Long Island’s Ken Darch would pit.

The #14-#76 battle would resume upon the green, with the #14 Woolley strong arming the #76 Blewett for the lead.  Within a few laps once again caution would wave, as a quarter of the field spun in turn 4 and the backstretch wall garnered some damage.  Drivers in the turn 4 incident would include the #8 Tommy Farrell, #8x Eddie Brunnhoelzl III, #11 Steve Whitt, #11x Chuck Steuer, #44 Rick Kluth, #87 Chip Wanamaker, and #99 Pete Brittain.  After the wall was repaired, we were green again but just as quickly as the green flew, the caution flew for the #89 of Brian Cranmer whom was pushed up to the wall in turn 1.  During this caution, another fan favorite, #31 Tony Ferrante, Jr. was sent to the pits for leaking, souring his good run and ending his day early.

A few more attempts at the restart would result in two more cautions, when the #41 of Reggie Ruggiero broke an axle, and then the #93 of local Rowan Pennick spun in turn 2.  Caution would wave on lap 57 once again for the spun #11x of Chuck Steuer, which provided opportunity for the #76 of John Blewett III to pit.

The field would restart with the #14 Ken Woolley Jr. and #18 Donny Lia leading them to the green, and the inside line of Woolley would get a good start, with Woolley taking #99 Jamie Tomaino with him.  A couple of cautions would get dabbled between their battles of the war for first, with the #87 Chip Wanamaker spinning, #22 Zane Zeiner hitting the turn 3 wall a ton, #99 Pete Brittain spinning, and tangle between the #44 Rick Kluth, #54 Mike Bohn, and #55 Steven Reed.

With less than 25 laps less, it was do or die time for many racers.  #14 Woolley would get  a good jump on the #99 Tomaino once again, however, Woolley would take #12 Jimmy Blewett right with him, but before it could get interesting caution would wave for the spun #55 of local Steven Reed.

At the restart, the #14 Ken Woolley and #12 Jimmy Blewett would battle again.  However, Jimmy’s older brother #76 John Blewett III wanted in on the action too, and the action got a little too hot and heavy, resulting in a spinning #14 Ken Woolley, bringing out the caution.

After a brief cleanup, it would be a battle of the brothers, Blewett vs. Blewett.  #12 Jimmy Blewett would get an excellent start and following him to second would be another Blewett entry, #93 Rowan Pennick.  But quickly moving up the field and turning the heat on, would be New England competitor, #06 Les Hinckley, Jr., as on lap 79 he would pass the elder Blewett in the #76 for third.  6 laps later, Hinckley passed the second Blewett entry, #93 Rowan Pennick, for second and quickly set his sights on the younger Blewett.  With the laps winding down, Hinckley was looking for a way around #12 Blewett and off of turn 4, he makes his attempt.  But the #12 Blewett shuts the door, with Hinckley riding the wall for a brief moment.  The #12 Jimmy Blewett takes the checkers, the third year in a row for a Blewett, and the first Derby tour-type Modified win for the youngest of the clan.  Settling for second, would be a great run for the #06 entry of Les Hinckley, Jr., and rounding out for third would be #18 Donny Lia.

Other Interesting Info:

• The Wall Sportsman featured some of Riverhead Raceway’s Chargers, as they have done in previous years.  #57 Thore Foss would grab 10^th while #24 Joe Oliver had a rough day in 19^th.
• In the Street Stocks, Long Islanders didn’t fare so well either.  #1 Ray Minieri would take 16^th place, while former Turkey Derby winner, #34 Ken Matlach finished 23^rd.
• Legends Cars saw NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitor, Donny Lia return to his first division, where he finished 16^th.
• The Factory Stocks saw a few Northeastern Enduro standouts make it in the top 10, namely Howie (Dr. Destruction) Bott (2^nd) and Richard (DQ King) Petey (7^th).
• Many Long Islanders were seen invading the stands at Wall, including a Blunderbust crew of Dale Arnold, Tom Sullivan, and Doug Watson.  Each brought their crew chiefs along with them, but the only thing they forgot was their racecars.
• Neal Feola Jr. and family were also spotted among the crowd.
• Long Island native, Mike Odwazny was spotted walking around as well.  Mike has been ruling the microphones at Mountain Speedway this past year.
• Other Long Islanders (including our own Richie Grodski) rode in on the world-famous Hampton Jitney bus, courtesy of their race tour director, the one and only Ted Baxter.

Source: J.A. Ackley/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:  November 26, 2006