Competitors and fans were greeted with a very cool but sunny
day at Mahoning Valley Speedway for the final NEETS event of
the season. A healthy field of 64 cars and TRUX was on
hand for the "Mutha" Enduro. Fans were treated to 200 laps
of racing for the 4 cylinder and 6/8 cylinder classes, as well
as 100 laps of TRUX action. The day concluded with 10 lap
"dash for cash" events open to the top ten drivers in points in
both the 4 cylinder and 6/8 cylinder classes.
At the drivers' meeting, it was announced that this would be
the last NEETS race run at Mahoning. In order to quiet
potential rumors about issues between the series and the track,
it was stressed that it was simply a matter of the series being
discontinued at the track. NEETS is currently in search of
a home for the 2008 season. The drivers' meeting was
followed by a brief practice session for each of the divisions.
The 200 lap Unique Golf-sponsored 4 cylinder "Little Mutha"
event took to the track first, with 25 cars taking the green
flag. The event was historic in that it was the first time
ever that a race that distance was run at the track. The
red flag was thrown on lap 5, after the #63 of Nicki Wachs took
a hard hit into the wall near the starter's stand. Another
red flag came out on lap 11 for the #131 of Brian Nelson, which
was blocking the pit entrance. The rest of the race went
quickly, with the field stringing itself out around the track.
It was not, however, without attrition. By the halfway
point of the race, there were 14 cars on the track. Just
after the 100 lap mark, the #314 of Dan Luizzi pulled off the
track with a right front flat, but he returned quickly.
When the race was over, the NEETS 4 cylinder division had its
first repeat winner of the season, Brian Kunkel in the #19.
Don Rogers in the #09x won the division championship.
The TRUX were next on the schedule with the 100 lap "Mutha
Trucker" race. A large contingent of 11 Long Islanders
made the trip to compete in the event. A total of 16 TRUX
were slated to start the race, but the #55 of Rob Bader
scratched due to starter problems. The #61 of Harry Sager
took the early lead. It looked as though Woot Larence's
day would end early in the #37, as the truck was smoking heavily
from the start. Only a few laps in, however, Lawrence was
still coming on strong as he and the #5 of John Cozza put on a
side-by-side battle for 2nd. Lawrence would eventually
work his way past Cozza and get alongside Sager, grabbing the
lead on lap 31. Using the lapped #29 truck of Jim White,
Cozza was able to move to 2nd. Prior to the halfway point
of the race, the #6 of Jim Wichert pulled off the track,
followed by Cozza. Just after the race reached halfway,
the #58 of Jim Badalato pitted as well, though he returned
later. Cozza would return to the track, only to go back to
the pits. By lap 67, Lawrence had built up a half-track
lead over the 2nd place runner. Cozza would again return
to the track, this time looking strong, though he was numerous
laps down. The #38 of Don Nelson Jr. pitted and returned,
and Wichert returned just prior to the 75 lap mark. The
#21 of Mariah Lawrence would spin around and try to rejoin
traffic, spinning again in the process. The #53 of Kevin
Nowak would head to the pits, as would the #21. A total of
12 trucks were still on the track at lap 85. After some
contact with White in the #29, the #43 of Richard Petey would go
around. Petey would correct the truck and complete the
race to become the 2008 TRUX champion, while Woot Lawrence
claimed victory in the race.
Next, 23 6/8 cylinder cars would come out for the 200 lap "Mutha"
event. The #99 of Robin Schewire would take the early
lead, but the #75 of Howie Bott would overtake Schewire several
laps into the race. Schewire would go on to tag the
wall along the back side of the track just as the #30 of Ed
Brown also made contact with the wall in an unrelated incident between turns 1 and
2. Ed Brown would go to the pits, but later returned.
The #14x of Brian Brown was smoking early, but continued to
race. Under green, Ed Brown would return, slowing on the
back side of the track to push Schewire's disabled car through
the pit gate. Before the event had even reached the
one-quarter mark, the #41 of Joe Jentile took the lead, coming
from a last-place starting position. Richard Petey in the
#43 and Howie Bott in the #75 would put on an intense battle for
2nd. Ed Brown would again take his car to the pits.
Bott would head to the pits as well, and Petey would set his
sights on the leader. On lap 72, Petey would use the
lapped #01 of Jimmy White Jr. to work his way past Jentile for
the lead. However, Jentile would use the now-lapped #75 of
Bott to get past Petey again on lap 84. Just prior to the
halfway point of the race, Ed Brown would return to the track.
On lap 95, Schewire would tag the wall in an incident involving
the #116. By lap 115, there were still 21 cars on the
track, but several would pull off shortly thereafter, including
Brian Brown. He would return on lap 124, as Petey would
once again claim the lead. The red flag was thrown on lap
153 after the #74 lost its right rear wheel, which bounced
across the track right in front of the leaders. Brian
Brown would pit again, and return to finish the race minus the
hood. When the race was over, Richard Petey was awarded
both the race win and the season championship.
Fans were then treated to a 10 lap "dash for cash" for the
top 10 in 4 cylinder points. The field had been determined
before the day's events, and was originally scheduled to be the
first event of the day. Because of time constraints
(drivers were informed at the drivers' meeting that the lights
would not be used, so all racing had to be complete when it got
dark), the drivers agreed to hold these events after all of the
points races. Only four of the 10 eligible starters came
out on the track, and the #09x of Don Rogers won the race.
Of the 10 cars eligible for the 6/8 cylinder "dash for cash,"
7 pulled out on the track. Officials then decided to give
each and every driver an equal shot to win, lining the cars
up in a single line across the entire width of the track.
The 7-car line took off, and the #41 of Joe Jentile would claim
the victory.
At the conclusion of the day, only limited finishes were
official due to transponder issues. NEETS officials will
be reviewing all videos and addressing the problem. Once a
full official rundown is available from NEETS, it will be posted
right here on LongIslandJam.com!
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
November 12, 2007
