Gervais Wins the Inaugural LegendStock 2008
by J.A.
Ackley
In only Bethel Motor Speedway’s second race back since a
one-plus year hiatus, LegendStock 2008 attracted 34 entrants
from around the Northeast and beyond, including competitors from
New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Minnesota, and
Georgia. A comfortably full set of stands saw an excellent
Legends car race, full of talent.
Time Trials
Time trials would determine heat lineups. The time-trialed field
would be broken up into four heats, each would invert its
qualified field. Connecticut’s No. 31 Michael Gervais Jr. would
take fast time with a 15.134 second lap around the quarter-mile
oval.
Heats
Race No. 1
The first heat saw the slowest time trailers of the day.
Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway’s No. 12 Glenn Maningo jumped into the
early lead off turn 2, but caution waved soon thereafter, as No.
691 Steve Gaul got loose in turns three and four and spins,
collecting No. 201 Frank Johnston and No. 64c of New Jersey’s
Chris Wramage.
The complete restart saw No.12 Glenn Maningo and Riverhead
Raceway’s No. 74 John Visconti lead the field to green. At the
drop of the green, the two would have an even start and battle
side-by-side. Caution would wave a lap later for No.42 Tom
Catanzaro’s spin off turn two.
Visconti and Maningo led the field to green again, with the two
touching in turns one and two, damaging Maningo’s bumper and
dropping Visconti back a bit. Right before the halfway point,
Maningo would get black-flagged for his loose bumper, paving the
way for Visconti to take the lead, Minnesota’s No. 16 Joe Graff
second, and No. 201 Frank Johnston third. Graff would test
Visconti’s might, and on the final lap, Graff dives lows under
Visconti in turn one and takes the lead off turn two to take the
checkers and the heat win.
Heat No. 2
No. 40 Luke Marzano and No. 86 John Hugate led the field to
green, with Marzano jumping into the early lead. No. 87 Mike
Stull and Riverhead Raceway’s No. 88x John Beatty go low under
Hugate and move up to second and third, respectively. The duo
would get back Marzano, as well as Minnesota’s No. 00 Tim
Brockhouse, who now is in third. No. 99 Jason Urso spun off turn
four, bringing out the caution.
Stull and Beatty restarted evenly, battling for a lap before
Beatty took the lead. Stull’s woes would get worse, as he would
suffer a spin in turns one and two and bring out the caution.
Single-file restart for Beatty helped him resume the lead, but a
very hungry Brockhouse would get by. With one to go, caution
waves when Pennsylvania’s No. 119 Drew Weisser and Stull get
together, with Weisser hitting the wall a ton, ending his night
early.
On the final restart, Brockhouse holds off Beatty to take the
heat win.
Heat No.3
The third heat’s front row consisted of No. 88s Steve Stull and
Connecticut’s No. 20 Max Zachem, with Stull getting the early
advantage. However, Zachem tries hard, testing Stull’s inside
and outsid. Zachem finally grabs in with a move on the low-side
off turn two. Meanwhile, defending Bethel Motor Speedway Legends
Car champion No. 55 Paul Dodorico moves into second and No. 88
Mike Alcaro to third. In the closing laps, Alcaro dived low off
turn four and passed Dodorico off turn two to take second. But
the battle helped Zachem take the win in the caution-free heat.
Heat No. 4
The final heat consisted of the fastest time trailers – with
Waterford (Conn.) Legends Car veteran No. 52 Mark Bakaj and
Riverhead Raceway’s No. 3 David Polenz starting up front. Bakaj
grabs the early lead with Riverhead Raceway’s No. 53 Kevin Nowak
trying to follow to second, but bobbles when Nowak hits the
infield dirt. The fastest time trailers also put on the fastest
heat, producing no cautions with Mark Bakaj grabbing the
checkers.
B-Main: 25 laps
No.87 Mike Stull and No. 86 John Hugate shared the front row for
the B-Main, where only the winner will advance. At the start,
Stull jumped into the infield with mechanical woes, providing
Hugate with the initial lead followed by No. 39 Jim Byrne and
No. 74 John Visconti. Visconti tries his all to pass Byrne, but
can’t make the pass. No.64c Chris Wramage dives low in turn 4
under Visconti and takes third. Just pass the halfway point,
Wramage tries the same move on Byrne in turn 3, but the two make
contact, with Byrne going for a spin and the caution comes out.
During the caution, No. 42 Tom Catanzaro goes up in smoke on the
backstretch, which ends his day early.
Hugate leads the single-file field to green. Wramage tries his
all to pass Hugate, but can’t make his attempts, both high and
low, work. With two to go, caution waves as Byrne goes for a
spin in turns three and four. During the yellow No. 92 Joseph
Fresco gets black-flagged for ill-cambered right front wheel.
This sets up a green/white/checker finish. Hugate takes off
while Wramage tries his all again. Going into turns three and
four, Visconti makes contact with Wramage, which sends Wramage
for a spin, paving the way for Hugate to win and earn his way
into the A-Main.
A-Main: 40 laps
Leading the field of 25 cars to the green would be Waterford
(Conn.) Legends Car veteran Chris Bakaj in the No. 32 alongside
the No. 53 of Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway regular Kevin Nowak. The
two would get off to an even start, with Nowak pulling away off
turn two. However, caution would quickly wave for No. 20 Max
Zachem, who spun in turns three and four while No. 48 Matt
Maring spun in the infield of turns three and four.
A complete restart was in order, with Chris Bakaj and Kevin
Nowak with once again, an even start. The two would race side by
side until Bakaj finally grabbed the lead off turn four. Nowak
would settle for second for the time being while Bakaj’s brother
Mark in the No. 52 raced in third. During the relatively long
green run, Bakaj developed up to a five-car lead over Nowak.
Caution would wave a bit later, as No. 311 George Cushman slowed
suddenly off turn 2 and got hit from behind, sending Cushman
into the backstretch wall.
The Chris Bakaj-Kevin Nowak battle continued when the race
resumed. The two would once again get an even start and race
side by side. Bakaj retained the lead the next lap off turn 2
with Nowak settling for second and Connecticut’s No. 31 Michael
Gervais Jr. moving into third. Gervais then set his sights on
Nowak. Gervais sets his move using the outside in turns one and
two. The two would battle side-by-side for a few laps before
Gervais takes it off of turn four. Then Nowak slides further
back in the field with No. 52 Mark Bakaj and New Jersey’s No. 88
Mike Alcaro sliding past him. Caution would wave later on when
current Mountain (Pa.) Speedway Legends Car points leader, No.
17 Roger Coss, goes around in turns three and four.
This time heading to the green, Chris Bakaj had a quick-charging
Michael Gervais to his outside. The two would get a good start
and coming off turn four, Gervais would take the lead. Alcaro
would follow Gervais’ move to take second while Bakaj settled in
for third. While Alcaro plots his plan for the win, caution
would wave as Riverhead regular No. 88x John Beat took a spin in
turn four.
At this point, there was 19 laps completed and Gervais would
have Alcaro to his outside. At the drop of the green, Alcaro got
an excellent restart. But, before it could get interesting,
caution would wave for No. 77 Justin Petcosky, who spun in turn
two.
The battle would resume, with Gervais getting the better start
and the lead. Meanwhile, the battle for third heated up.
Riverhead Raceway’s No. 3 David Polenz would battle Chris Bakaj.
The two would duke it out side-by-side for a few laps, and when
the dust settled, Polenz claimed third. A few laps later caution
would wave for No. 19 Don Newls, as he spun in turn three.
Meanwhile, defending Bethel Motor Speedway champion, No. 55 Paul
Dodorico, would enter the pits and end his night early.
Being after the halfway mark, it would be a single file restart
with Gervais leading Alcaro, Polenz, and the rest of the field
to the green. When the flag waved, the three would remain in
position. Meanwhile, behind them the two Bakaj brothers were
duking it out with No. 52 Chris Bakaj going high on No. 32 Mark
Bakaj. At the front of the field, Alcaro was still all over
Gervais’s car. Caution would wave again with 10 to go, as John
Beatty would spin in turn three.
The Gervais-Alcaro-Polenz battle continued, with Alcaro all over
Gervais and Polenz ready to pounce on any mishap. With five to
go, Riverhead Raceway’s No. 47 Mike Malone spun off turn two,
bringing out the yellow. After the quick yellow, the threesome
would continue their battle. Meanwhile, Georgia’s No. 8 Andrew
Smith dove low under No. 32 Mark Bakaj for fourth off turn two.
The two battled side-by-side and, off turn 4, Smith made contact
with Bakaj, sending him into the frontstretch wall hard,
collecting No. 77 Petcosky with him.
After the tow vehicles removed the cars, the race resumed and
the key battle now was for third. No. 52 Chris Bakaj dove low
under the Polenz after the line, but going into turn one, Bakaj
went in too hard, spinning himself out, bringing out the yellow
once again.
After Bakaj got his car running, the race resumed. However, the
top three were equally matched and Michael Gervais went on to
win the inaugural LegendStock event. Mike Alcaro finished second
while David Polenz finished third. All three classes of Legends
were awarded with guitar-shaped trophies and they were Michael
Gervais (Pro), Mike Alcaro (Semi-Pro), and Minnesota’s Tim
Brockhouse (Masters).
RACE Results
Pos / Car / Name
1. 31 "Michael Gervais (Pro)
2. 88 Mike Alcaro (Semi-Pro)
3. 3 David Polenz (Pro)
4. 8 Andrew Smith (Pro)
5. 53 Kevin Nowak (Semi-Pro)
6. 17 Roger Coss (Semi-Pro)
7. 13 Daren Scherer (Pro)
8. 00 Tim Brockhouse (Masters)
9. 20 Max Zachem (Pro)
10. 0 Mark Tischler (Semi-Pro)
11. 88s Steve Stull (Pro)
12. 48 Matt Maring (Semi-Pro)
13. 16 Joe Graff (Semi-Pro)
14. 19 Don Newls (Pro)
15. 40 Luke Marzano (Pro)
16. 88x John Beatty (Pro)
17. 47 Michael Malone (Semi-Pro)
18. 52 Mark Bakaj (Pro)
19. 86 John Hugate (Masters)
20. 32 Chris Bakaj (Pro)
21. 99 Jason Urso (Pro)
22. 55 Paul Dodorico (Masters)
23. 77 Justin Petcosky (Pro)
24. 311 George Cushman (Semi-Pro)
25. 201 Frank Johnston (Masters)
Source: J.A. Ackley/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
August 17, 2008
