Over 70 cars entered the pit area at
Mountain on a partly cloudy, yet warm Saturday to contend for
victory in the 2nd Annual NELMA Late Model race, along with a
Super Pro Truck race and the Street Stock Shootout. The
combination had the pits humming with activity, as the teams
readied the racers for the final races of the season for each
class. 28 Late Models from all over the Northeast converged to
win bragging rights as the winner of the 2nd annual race, and
they were joined by 12 Super Pro Trucks and 23 Street Stocks,
ready to run the fast 1/3 mile paved oval.
Late Model time trials started off the day, with Larry
Fisher setting fast time at 14.535 for his lap around the track,
edging out Tommy Spencer by a mere .022 to win the pole award
for the race.
Two heat races were then held for
the Super Pro Trucks, and they were won by Frank Dumicich Jr.
and Danny Grennan. Rounding out qualifying, the Street Stocks
ran three heat races, won by Bill Vandeerveen, John Stonier, and
Chip Wanamaker.
The Super Pro Trucks took to the track first, with
Frank Dumicich Jr.’s #42 and Danny Grennan’s #38 up front, and
Grennan took the lead at the drop of the green, with Dumicich
and Mike Albasini’s #66 following, but caution flew on lap 2 as
Matt Odwazny’s’ #32 spun in turn 2. On the restart, Grennan held
the lead, but Mike Bologna’s #2x moved up to 2nd, as Albasini
held 3rd, and Dumicich Jr. fell to 4th. But Dumicich Jr. fought
back, moving quickly back to 3rd by passing Albasini on the
outside. Grennan and Bologna built about a 5 truck length lead
by lap 6, as Dumicich Jr. kept them in sight, while a battle for
5th formed between Erin Dumicich’s #95 and Frank Dumicich Sr.’s
#5 as they ran closely behind Albasini. Grennan continued to
hold off Bologna for the lead, as Dumicich Sr. finally took over
5th from his daughter on lap 14, and he was now all over the
tailgate of Albasini trying to gain 4th spot. Bologna closed on
Grennan for the lead on lap 18, but suddenly, Dumicich Jr. spun
at the start/finish line, and caution flew, slowing the race and
closing up the field. On the restart, Bologna jumped into the
lead, but Matt Odwazny hit the turn 1 wall hard, smashing foam
blocks in the process, but the blocks did their job, as Odwazny
was able to continue after changing 2 flat tires on his truck.
On the next restart, Grennan took off, with Bologna right on his
bumper, but Anthony Daleo’s #31 spun off turn 4 on lap 19,
bringing out the caution once more. On the restart, with only 6
laps to go, Grennan took off again, with Bologna looking
outside, which enabled PJ Vecchio’s #19 to get under Bologna and
challenge for 2nd. Going into turn 3, Bologna got under Grennan,
but they both slipped up, almost spinning, and as they
corrected, Dumicich Jr. dove under them and took the lead, just
before the caution flew once more to remove the restart cones
from the racing surface in turn 4. With only 3 laps left,
Dumicich Jr. took off at the drop of the green, but Grennan got
under him to challenge for the lead, getting just a bit ahead of
him for a moment, but Dumicich Jr. fought back, retaking the top
spot on lap 24, just as PJ Vecchio spun in turn 3, bringing out
yet another yellow flag. On the restart, Dumicich took off,
protecting his lead as Grennan and Bologna vied for 2nd. Grennan
looked for a moment as though he might get by Dumicich on the
outside, but Dumicich got everything he could out of his truck
as he held off the challenge, while Bologna put on a last minute
charge, edging out Grennan for 2nd spot.
The NELMA Late Models hit the track next for their 100
lap contest, with Tommy Spencer Jr.’s #07 sitting on the pole by
virtue of a redraw amongst the fast timers, with Larry Fisher’s
#19 to his outside. On the initial start, Kyle Harvell’s #8x hit
the 3rd turn wall, necessitating a complete restart. On the
restart, Spencer jumped into the lead, with Fisher and Mike
Coll’s #75 settling in behind, as Tony Volpe’s 11a and Jim
Wismer’s #7a battled side by side for 4th spot. On lap 2, Mike
Ames’ 44a and Joe Schneider’s #26 came together entering turn 1,
and the caution came out. Schneider was able to fix his mount,
but Ames was done for the day. On the restart, Spencer held the
lead over Fisher, as Coll and Wismer followed. Wismer got under
Coll to take 3rd as Earl Paules’ #58 followed to take over 4th,
and Dave Macomber’s #42 came up to 5th as Coll slipped backwards
in the high groove. By lap 10, Spencer was building a 3 car
length advantage over Fisher, who had to deal with Wismer’s
challenge for 2nd. On lap 11, Joe Kehrli’s #95 blew a motor, and
he slowly coasted around turn 1 &2 into the infield, but yellow
had to be thrown as the field rushed towards the spot. On the
restart, Spencer held off Fisher once more, and the field fell
into a single file for a time. On lap 18, Paules decided it was
time to make a move, and he passed Wismer to take 3rd just as a
6 car wreck occurred in turn 3, bringing out the caution again,
and negating Paules’ pass of Wismer. On the restart, Spencer
held the point, and the field followed in single file once more,
but not for long, as Paules made his move on Wismer again on lap
20, getting the position just before Joe Berretta smacked the
turn 1 wall real hard on lap 22, bringing out yet another
yellow. On the next restart, Spencer held on to the top spot as
the field followed once more until Kevin Metzger’s #23 and Roger
Maynor’s #28 collided, bringing out another yellow. On the next
restart, Paules took a look outside of Fisher, but Fisher closed
the door, until Paules looked once more on lap 25, and
successfully made the pass, dropping Fisher to 3rd. Spencer was
building a comfortable lead by this point, as Paules, Fisher,
Wismer and Joe Hoffman’s #20x followed. On lap 31, Dave
Brigati’s 1x spun off turn 4, and caution flew again. On the
next restart, Spencer led the top 5 runners as they pulled away
from the rest of the field, and Spencer himself started building
a substantial lead over the rest of them. On lap 34, yellow flew
again as Bill Catania’s #18 spun. When the green flew again,
Spencer held his lead as Paules, Fisher, Hoffman and Coll
followed in the top 5. By lap 41, Spencer had pulled away from
the other 4, building about a 15 car length lead by lap 45. On
lap 49, Coll passed Hoffman for 4th, as Lorin Arthofer’s #71
also got by Hoffman, but Hoffman took the spot back just before
the competition caution flew on lap 50.
After the break, during which teams could make
adjustments and top off their fuel, but not change tires,
Spencer took off once more as the green flew with Paules right
on his bumper, while Fisher and Coll contended for 3rd, and
Arthofer and Hoffman vied for 5th. On lap 58, Arthofer spun in
turn 3, bringing out the 1st caution of the 2nd half of the
race. On the restart, Spencer pulled away from Paules by 2 car
lengths, but that was short lived as Peter ‘ Buzzy’ Eriksen
brought out the next yellow when his car overheated and came to
a stop at the start/finish line on lap 66. Spencer held the lead
on the restart, but on lap 70, yellow flew again as Brigati spun
in turn 2. On the restart, Spencer continued to lead, but Paules
was looking right away, and on lap 73, Coll got under Fisher for
3rd spot, but they touched going into turn 3, and Fisher spun,
bringing out a caution again. Under caution, Fisher drove off
the track the wrong way down the backstretch, hitting Coll
head-on as he came to him. Track officials acted immediately,
disqualifying Fisher from the event, as Coll limped off the
track to the pits. Hoffman moved up to 3rd, Wismer back up to
4th, and Gerry Brighthaupt’s #3:16 took over 5th spot for the
restart. Spencer lead as the green flew, with Paules right on
his tail, but Ginny Quinones’ #59 spun in turn 3, and caution
was out again. On the restart, Spencer and Paules renewed their
battle for the lead, but Spencer remained the dominant car, as
they both pulled away from Hoffman and Wismer. By lap 80,
Spencer had opened a 3 car lead over Paules, and 3 distinct
groups of cars formed on the track, as the top 4 ran 20 car
lengths ahead of the rest of the field. On lap 83, Hoffman spun
off the front stretch, and caution was out once again. Spencer
took off at the green once more with Paules and Wismer in tow,
but Quinones spun in turn 4, bring out the last caution of the
race. On the restart, Spencer held the point, as Paules did his
best to keep up, and Wismer closed on Paules by lap 95, but
thereafter, Spencer and Paules pulled away from Wismer, and
Spencer grew his lead over Paules as the laps ticked off to the
end of the race, with Spencer totally dominating to take the
win, as he led all 100 laps in a stellar performance.
The last event of the evening, the 75 lap Street Stock
Showdown, saw Bill Vanderveens’ #19WTS on the pole and John
Stonier’s #35 to his outside. At the green, Vanderveen edged out
front, with Stonier and Mike Nichols’ #72 following, but quickly
on lap 2, Brad Kline’s #23 spun into the infield, bring out a
caution. On the restart, Nichols passed Vanderveen for the lead,
and 1 lap later, Chip Wanamaker’s #44c got by Vanderveen to take
over 2nd spot. On lap 7, a 2 car crash in turn 2, involving
Jennifer Kutz’s #42 and Tony Manganello’s #50x, brought out
another yellow. On the restart, Nichols held the lead, as
Wanamaker quickly got to his outside, and they ran side by side
in a terrific battle for the lead. Nichols held onto the top
spot by only a nose most of the time, as Wanamaker would edge
out front momentarily, and Nichols would take the spot back.
They ran each other cleanly, to the delight of the crowd, only
to have the battle interrupted by a single car spin by Jerry
Stanzione’s #6 in turn 3 on lap 15. When the green came back
out, Nichols and Wanamaker were right back at it, until lap 18,
when Jamie Smith’s #18 spun in turn 3, bringing out the yellow
once more. On the next restart, Nichols and Wanamaker were
running side by side soon after the green flew again, with
Nichols gaining the advantage by getting out front by lap 22,
but Wanamaker came right back again to challenge, as Vanderveer
hung on, watching from a close 3rd spot. On lap 25, Wanamaker
took the lead with Nichols now in pursuit, but on lap 27, Bob
Applegate’s #4x spun in turn 3, and yellow came out again. On
the restart, Wanamaker took off in turn 4, but Nichols stayed
right with him, and on lap 31, Frank Reakes #14 joined the up
front battle as he passed Vanderveer for 3rd, only to have his
car shut down 2 laps later, bringing out a yellow as he came to
a stop on the track near turn 2. With the green out once more,
Wanamaker and Nichols continued their battle, as Nichols got
under Wanamaker momentarily to take the lead, and Wanamaker
taking it back as they exited turn 2, and building on it after
taking it back. On lap 38, Jennifer Kutz spun in turn 1 by
herself, and yellow was out once more. On the next restart,
Wanamaker jumped out to the lead, but Nichols is giving up, so
the battle continued for the top spot. On lap 41, Kutz and
Manganello collided and spun together, again, in turn 2,
bringing out yet another caution. On the restart, the
Wanamaker/Nichols battle resumed once more, as they quickly got
back to running side by side for the lead. All that came to a
stop again as Kutz spun for a 4th time, with the officials
telling her to take her car off the track. She refused, and a
tow truck was sent to help her, but she instead refired her car,
hunted down Manganello, and dumped him in turn 3 before leaving
the track for good. Manganello, his right front badly damaged,
was also done for the night.
This seemed to help change the tone of the race, as
Wanamaker and Nichols did a little light banging into each other
under the same caution, but with no damage done. Curiously,
Vanderveer suffered some sort of trouble with his right front
suspension and left the race at this point. As green flew again,
Wanamaker took off once more with Nichols right behind, and 1
lap later, contact going into turn 3 made both spin, as 3rd
running Scott Meckes #26 took over the lead as caution came out.
Wanamaker and Nichols were both placed at the rear, and Scott
Meckes, took off at the drop of the green, with Rich Dimarco‘s
#461, now 2nd, in pursuit, but Dimarco spins in turn 4 after
contact from Bill Hunara’s #49, and yellow was out again. On the
next restart, Meckes took off, as Ricky Ross Jr.’s #99 chased
him, and Jim Yamelski watched from 3rd. On lap 53, Ross got by
Meckes for the lead going into turn 1, and then took off to a 10
car length lead by lap 58, when caution flew again for a spin in
turn 3 by Meckes. With only 7 cars left on the track at this
point, Ross took off once more on the restart, with Yamelski and
Stanzione in tow. By lap 65, Ross and Yamelski are way out in
front, waging their own battle for the lead, but on lap 67, Alan
Schlenker’s #38 and Bob Applegate’s #4x spun together on the
back stretch, and yellow flies again. On the restart, Ross and
Yamelski pulled away at the start, as Dimarco got by Stanzione
for 3rd, and did his best to keep up with Ross and Yamelski. By
lap 70, Ross was 4 car lengths in front of Yamelski, and
motoring towards an easy finish. Ross held on to win the race,
followed by Yamelski, Dimarco, Hunara and Stanzione, in a race
that went from competitive at the beginning to a survival of
attrition at the end.
News and Notes: In the Super Pro Trucks, Peter Rotzi’s
motor blew during his heat race, ending his day before it really
got started….CJ Lehmann suffered the same fate during his Street
Stock heat, reportedly blowing a large hole in the block of his
power plant…Steve LaFountaine of LAFilms fame was on hand from
the Island to video the races, and though he had some sound
difficulties, will have a very good video for all who want to
see these races ready in a couple of days. His contact info is
on our front page….Friday’s bad weather gave way to a pretty
decent Fall day for the event, with a few periods of darker
clouds appearing, but a steady wind kept them moving out as fast
as they appeared…our thanks to all who participated in this
stand alone event sanctioned by NELMA, we appreciate your
support more than words can truly say…Tracy Chirico and JA
Ackley put on “officials“ shirts, just for this race. Both will
return to whatever it is they do as of today. (Just kidding,
boss)…We still have a few more events to cover with you as we
descend into the off season, so stay with us as we bring you
coverage of the North/South Shootout and the Turkey Derby at
Wall in the next few weeks. In addition, we will be doing
feature updates of information pertaining to racing and various
teams throughout the off season, so let us know if you or your
team have any news you’d like for us to pass along. Until next
time, live well, and please be safety conscious every day.
Source: Walter Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 21, 2007
