Rain washed out the plans of competitors for the North East
Late Model Association (NELMA) event on Saturday, but Sunday
proved to be a beautiful day for racing at St. Johns,
Pennsylvania’s Mountain Speedway. Late Models, Legends, Pro
Trucks, and Strictly Stock cars lined the pits for the day’s
events.
The first feature to hit the speedway was the 35-lap WPW
Equipment Rental Legends Car Fall Classic. The Foxwoods Resort &
Casino #20 of Connecticut’s Max Zachem and the Little Race Cars
#20x of Virginia’s Cameron Patrick led the field to the green.
Zachem jumped out front at the drop of the green, with Patrick
in second and the Manafort Bros./Gray Wolf Construction of
Connecticut’s Jason Palmer in third. On lap 2, Palmer moved to
the inside of Patrick for second, and the Roxbury Auto Wreckers
#17 of 2008 Mountain Speedway Legends champion Roger Coss
grabbed third the following lap. On lap 4, Palmer looked to the
outside of Zachem, opening the door for Coss to come
side-by-side to battle for second. Palmer held the spot. The
first caution of the race came on lap 7, as the #08 of Joey
Mattis hit the wall between turns 3 and 4. The restart pitted
Zachem on the inside against Palmer on the outside. Zachem shot
into the lead, followed by Palmer and Coss. Caution flew again
on lap 11 for the #86 of Robby Walton and the #90 of Karl
Heisler. The restart was again decided between Zachem and
Palmer, with Zachem charging out front again. This time,
however, Coss grabbed second and Palmer was shuffled back to
third. Another caution came on lap 12, when the #40 of Luke
Marzano spun on the backstretch and collected the Dynamic
Engineering #01 of New Jersey’s AJ Wright. Zachem had the pole
for the restart, with Coss now on his outside. Zachem retained
the lead, while Palmer moved to the inside to pass Coss for
second. On lap 13, the T/S Motorsports #88x of Long Island’s
John Beatty passed Coss for third. On that same lap, Patrick
made contact with Coss that resulted in Coss going around and
the caution being displayed again. Patrick was sent to the rear
of the field for his involvement in the incident. Zachem again
was out front on the restart, followed by Palmer and Beatty. The
Newtown Exxon #31 of Connecticut’s Michael Gervais Jr. went to
the inside of Beatty for third on lap 16, taking the position on
the following lap. Caution flew on lap 24 for Walton, who was
sideways on the track. Zachem brought the field to the restart,
with Palmer and Gervais Jr. in tow. Caution came out again on
lap 25 for Marzano. Zachem, Palmer and Gervais Jr. continued to
pace the field on the restart. The Crossfire Telecom #74 of Long
Island’s John Visconti and Heisler went around on lap 27,
collecting Marzano and drawing another caution. Zachem restarted
the field briefly, as the caution waved again on lap 28, as
Heisler spun on the track. Zachem and Palmer continued to lead
the field when the green flag flew again, while Alcaro
Motorsports #8 of New Jersey’s Mike Alcaro challenged Gervais
Jr. for third on lap 30. Caution came out again on lap 34 for
Walton. The one-lap dash for the win saw Zachem take the
checkers, with Palmer second and Alcaro third.
Next out was the 100-lap MyRaceLife.com Late Model Challenge.
The SLK Construction #07 of defending race winner Tommy Spencer
Jr. of Pennsylvania started on the pole, with the Leading Edge
Fabrication #42 of Long Island’s Dave Macomber on the outside
pole. Spencer Jr. came to the lead, and the Metzger Racing #23
of Long Island’s Kevin Metzger grabbed second, with the #08 of
Long Island’s Jarrod Hayes following through for third on lap 1.
On lap 5, however, Macomber battled back to recapture third.
Caution came out on lap 8 for dirt and debris on the track. The
restart pitted Spencer Jr. on the inside against Metzger on the
outside. The two were running side-by-side until the red flag
was displayed for an incident involving the TTS Concrete #7A of
Pennsylvania’s Jimmy Wismer, who took a hard hit into the
frontstretch wall. Several other cars suffered damage, including
Hayes. Metzger, however, had gained the race lead and would
restart from the pole after Wismer was deemed to be okay and the
accident was cleared from the raceway. Metzger shot out front
when the green flag dropped, while Macomber came to second.
Racing action halted once again on the same lap, as the caution
was displayed for an incident involving the #37 of Jim Lamoreaux
and the SWC/AMC #39 of Long Island’s RJ Oxee. Metzger again led
the field to the green. The Harley-Davidson of Nassau County #68
of Long Island’s Peter “Buzzy” Eriksen looked to the inside of
Spencer Jr. for third on lap 10, taking the position. Caution
came out again on lap 11 for an incident in turn 3 involving the
#41 of Francis Gross III and the Diamond Graphics #16 of Long
Island’s Kyle Harvell. Metzger led Macomber and the rest of the
field to the green, as Spencer Jr. went to the outside of
Eriksen for third on lap 11. Spencer Jr. continued to march to
the front, passing Macomber for second on lap 12 and pulling
alongside Metzger to challenge for the lead. Metzger retained
the lead, but Spencer Jr. returned to his outside on lap 15.
Metzger again held Spencer Jr. off, only to be overtaken by
Macomber on lap 17, with Eriksen passing Spencer Jr. for third.
Caution came out again on lap 18 for Gross III. Macomber brought
the field to the green on the restart, followed by Metzger and
Eriksen. When the green flag flew, Spencer Jr. was again on a
mission, passing Eriksen and Metzger on lap 18. Harvell spun in
turn 1 on lap 20, drawing another caution. Macomber again paced
the field, with Spencer Jr. second and Metzger third. Caution
came out again on lap 24 for the Radocha Excavating #40 of
Pennsylvania’s Todd Geist. The top three remained the same for
the restart. Spencer Jr. challenged Macomber for the lead as the
Hoffman Concrete & Construction #20x of Pennsylvania’s Joe
Hoffman tested Metzger for third. When the dust settled,
Macomber had the lead, with Hoffman second and Spencer Jr.
third. The Precision Construction #76 of Zane Zeiner came to
third on lap 26. Gross III went around in turn 4 on lap 35,
resulting in another caution. Macomber, Hoffman and Zeiner led
the field to the restart. Caution came out again on lap 48 for
Lamoreaux. The field restarted with Macomber out front, but a
track caution was thrown at the halfway point for teams to add
fuel and make adjustments.
When the race resumed, Macomber was out front, followed by
Hoffman and Zeiner. Caution came out on lap 52 for Harvell, who
was against the wall on the frontstretch. Caution came out again
on lap 53, after Hoffman and Zeiner made contact, sending
Hoffman sliding and resulting in a trip to the pits for Zeiner.
Macomber retained the lead, with Metzger and the Plum-Air, Inc.
#8F of Pennsylvania’s Travis Fisher in tow. The #28 of Long
Island’s Roger Maynor got spun on lap 55, with another caution
being thrown. Macomber again led the field, but caution flew on
lap 58 for Hayes and Lamoreaux. The drivers then enjoyed a
lengthy green-flag run, and by lap 75 Macomber and Metzger had
distanced themselves from the field. The next caution came on
lap 78 for Hoffman, who went around. Another long green-flag run
followed, with caution being displayed on lap 93 for Lamoreaux.
Macomber and Metzger continued to lead the field, while Spencer
Jr. overtook Fisher for third on lap 94. Another caution came on
lap 95, after Fisher made contact with the wall. Macomber once
again paced the field, and Spencer Jr. went to the outside of
Metzger for second on lap 96. On lap 97, Spencer Jr. and Metzger
both pulled alongside Macomber, making it a three-wide battle
for the lead. When the smoke cleared, Spencer Jr. had the lead,
with Metzger second and Macomber third. Spencer Jr. went on to
become the first repeat NELMA winner by taking down his second
consecutive win. Metzger finished second, with Macomber coming
home third.
In Victory Lane, Spencer Jr. stated: “It feels really good.
I’ve got to thank a lot of people. I’ve got to thank my crew.
I’ve got to thank my wife. I hit the wall a couple of times
coming out of turn 4, but like I said, the crew set the car up
good so I put it out there. I was sitting 12th at one point. It
didn’t look good from there.”
The Pro Trucks took to the track next for a 30-lap feature
run in memory of Carl Rackoff. The Teddy Bear Racing #5 of Frank
Dumicich Sr. sat on the pole, with the AAA Firewood & Mulch #41
of Chris Turbush on the outside pole. Turbush came to the lead
at the drop of the green, with Dumicich Sr. in second and the
Teddy Bear Racing #42 of Frank Dumicich Jr. in third. Caution
came out on lap 1 for the Rheem #88 of Roger Turbush. Chris
Turbush continued to show the way, and Dumicich Jr. passed
Dumicich Sr. for second on lap 2. On lap 4, the JYD Enterprises
#2x of Mike Bologna made contact with Dumicich Sr., resulting in
a caution. Turbush jumped out front again, with Dumicich Jr.
second and the #99 of Brian McElearney in third. Caution flew
again on lap 13 after the G-Force Collision #7 of Rich Giordano
spun and collected the Eddy’s Long Island RV Center #30 of Shaun
Gouldsbury. Turbush rocketed out front again, and McElearney
passed Dumicich Jr. for second on lap 15. The Edible
Arrangements #95 of Erin Dumicich came to third on lap 16.
Caution flew on lap 20 after Bologna went around on the
backstretch. It was quickly followed by another caution on the
same lap for an incident involving Dumicich Jr. and the Nelson’s
Auto Salvage #97 of Dave Koenig. Turbush was still leading the
field when the caution waved again on lap 23 for Bologna.
Caution came out again on the same lap after the Hollis Court
Collision #66 of Mike Albasini spun and was tagged by the Joseph
Daleo Contracting #28 of Anthony Daleo. The remainder of the
race was caution-free, as Turbush grabbed the win. McElearney
finished second, with Erin Dumicich third.
In other racing action, the second of three scheduled
Strictly Stock Showdown races was won by Ricky Ross Jr., who
passed his brother to continue his winning streak in the series.
The Roller Derby Auto Race was won by Pete Verwys.
And the Word Around the Pits…
Fast time for the NELMA Late Model Challenge was set by
rookie Late Model driver Travis Fisher, who posted a lap of
14.525. Fisher redrew fourth.
Dan Turbush ran practice at Mountain on Friday and suffered a
broken camshaft. Surprisingly, Turbush was happy sitting in the
stands on Sunday, watching sons Chris and Roger run in the Pro
Truck race. More than a few people would have lost money if they
had placed bets, as the general consensus was that Dan would be
back on Sunday ready to race.
Dave Brigati also ran practice on Friday, but was unable to
make the race on Sunday due to prior commitments to the EEKR at
Riverhead.
Johnnie Gloor IV qualified for the Legends Car Fall Classic
using a motor borrowed from Kevin Nowak. Gloor had damaged his
own motor, and Nowak offered to lend the team a motor. Gloor and
his team were very appreciative.
Several Legends teams originally planned to race at Mountain
on Saturday and Bethel Motor Speedway on Sunday. Bethel’s
Saturday show was pushed to Sunday due to the rain, and the
Sunday portion of the show – which included the Legends - was
postponed until Saturday, November 1.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 26, 2008
