Turkey Derby XXXV promoter Jim Morton was
quoted this weekend as saying, “I never expected this,” and with
good reason. Morton was witness to remarkable crowds and
reportedly record car counts on both days of racing hosted at
Wall Township Speedway.
Once qualifying was completed on Friday,
the TQ Midgets took to the track for their 25-lap feature event.
Paul Lotier Jr. started on the pole and led until lap 18, when
Heath Henley took over the spot. Lotier fell back to third, but
was able to work his way back into the lead with only two laps
to go. Lotier won the event, followed by Mike Tidaback and Robin
Johnson. Tim Procter and Zach Martini rounded out the top five.
Next out were the Legends for their 25-lap
main event. Jason Rochelle started on the pole, with Patrick
Molesworth on the outside pole. John Beatty started fifth, with
Tom Sherman 11th and Kevin Nowak 26th.
Prior to the start of the race, Ryan Truex pulled his car into
the pits. At the drop of the green, Rochelle moved into the
lead. Ryan Flores looked to the inside of Molesworth for second,
and Flores grabbed the spot on the initial lap. Flores began
looking for a way around Rochelle on lap 3, but was forced to
settle in behind him. On lap 9, Molesworth recaptured second
from Flores, with Zach Alspach following through to take third.
The first and only caution of the event came on lap 10, after
Kevin Nowak and Bruce Roslin made contact on the backstretch.
When the field was relined, Beatty was in 7th, with
Sherman in 18th. Nowak rejoined the field in 24th.
The restart pitted Rochelle on the inside against Flores on the
outside. Flores jumped out to the lead on the restart, while the
cars behind him raced three-wide for second coming through turns
3 and 4. Rochelle emerged from the battle in second, with Zach
Alspach in third. On lap 15, Alspach passed Rochelle for second,
and Michael Gervais Jr. passed Rochelle on the inside for third.
The leaders would take the checkered flag in that order, with
Flores winning the race. Alspach was second, with Gervais third.
Duncan Molesworth and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top five.
John Beatty was the highest finishing Long Islander, coming home
10th. Sherman was 16th, and Nowak finished
21st. Instead of heading to Victory Lane for his
interview, Flores parked his car in the “III” painted on the
backstretch at Wall in memory of John Blewett III.
The Street Stocks then took to the track
for their feature event. Chip Wanamaker started on the pole,
with Nick Gargiulo on his outside. Long Island resident Ray
Minieri started 14th. Wanamaker took the lead on the
start, and Ron Frees used an inside pass to take second from
Gargiulo on the initial lap. Rich Mongeau moved into third,
shuffling Gargiulo back to fourth. Frees pulled to the inside of
Wanamaker on lap 1, and successfully completed the pass for the
lead. The following lap, Mongeau got past Wanamaker to take
third. Caution came out on lap 2 for David Jennings, who was
stopped against the wall at the exit of turn 2. The restart
pitted Frees on the pole against Mongeau on the outside pole.
Minieri was sitting in 12th. Frees jumped out front
on the restart, while Mongeau settled into second with Wanamaker
third. The top four cars were running single-file, with the rest
of the field stacked up two wide behind them. Another caution
came out on lap 3 for an incident involving several cars on the
frontstretch, including Jim Downey and Steve Hoffman. Frees and
Mongeau again made up the front row for the restart, with Frees
again grabbing the lead. Another lap 3 caution came out when
Anthony Grimaldi spun in turn 1, and Hofman also went around.
When the green flew for the single-file restart, the top two
cars of Frees and Mongeau almost immediately began to distance
themselves from the rest of the field. By lap 6, the two led the
third place sitter Wanamaker by nearly half a straightaway. On
lap 8, Gargiulo began looking to the inside of Wanamaker for
third. Gargiulo grabbed the spot on lap 9, but he was nearly a
full straightaway behind the two leaders at that point. The
yellow came out once again on lap 10, as Ricky Williams’ left
front wheel came off and bounced across the track. Jason
Arthofer was also involved. When the caution waved, Minieri had
worked his way up to the 10th spot. The field again
restarted single-file, with Frees out front. Elliott Wohl
utilized an inside pass to take the third spot on lap 12. Wohl
and Rich DiMarco made contact in turn 4 on lap 12, but there was
no caution and Wohl was able to hold his position. The leaders
began to encounter lapped traffic on lap 18. Minieri, who had
worked his way up to sixth, hit the wall in turn 3 on lap 20,
bringing out the caution. A total of 15 cars remained on the
track, but the caution came out again for Anthony Donnamarie,
who was then black-flagged, leaving 14 cars in the event. The
field again restarted single file, with Frees leading them to
the yellow-checkered combination that was thrown as a result of
Al Stone III hitting the wall in turn 4 on the white flag lap.
Frees got the victory, while Mongeau finished second. Wohl, John
McCormick, and Bill Vanderveen completed the top five. Minieri
was credited with a 16th place finish.
The final feature to be run Friday was the
Factory Stock 25-lap event. Ray Farfel started on the pole,
with Joe Constandi on the outside pole. NEETS regular Howie Bott
started 8th, while Long Islander Bill Stockert
started 12th. Farfel jumped out to the lead, with
Constandi settling into second. Gregg Clerico moved into third
on the initial lap. On lap 2, both Constandi and Clerico worked
their way past Farfel, taking over first and second,
respectively. By lap 6, the leaders were in heavy lapped
traffic. Caution came out on lap 13, after Bob Wycoff hit the
wall. Several cars got involved after the caution flag was
displayed, including Brian Flanigan and Tom Fratesi. On the
restart, Bott was in 14th and Stockert was 17th.
Constandi continued to lead the field on the restart. On lap 14,
Nick Shaw took over third, and he went on to grab second the
following lap. Clerico would not give up the spot that easily,
as he took it back on lap 18. He then went on to take the lead
on lap 21. Caution came out on lap 23, as Doug Bates Jr. lost
his right rear wheel. Bott was 13th, while Stockert
was 20th. Rob Longo brought the caution out again on
lap 29, as something in his car let go, spewing smoke. The race
restarted, but caution came back out almost immediately as
several cars were involved in an incident before a lap was
completed, including Dave Birdsall and Jan Meyer. Bott was up to
11th, and Stockert was 17th. When the race
resumed, Clerico continued to lead, and he went on to win the
event. Constandi finished second, with Shaw third. Clerico was
disqualified after the event for a reported weight infraction,
passing the win to Constandi. Shaw was given second place
honors, while Joe Mongeau
and Richie Byrne Jr. were credited with third and fourth,
respectively. Bott was credited with an 11th place finish, while Stockert
held on to finish 16th.
Saturday’s events began with qualifying for
the Sportsman/Crate Modifieds and time trials and consis for the
Tour Modifieds. In time trials, Matt Hirschman set fast time,
breaking the track record in the process with a lap of 11.996.
Rowan Pennink was second fastest, posting a lap of 12.073.
Rounding out the top six in time were Steven Reed, Jimmy Blewett,
Ken Wooley Jr., and Tony Ferrante Jr. The consis were won by
Jeff Malave and Earl Paules.
The first feature for the day on Saturday
was the Sportsman/Crate Modified event. Robert Geibel started on
the pole, with Mike Smith on the outside pole. Geibel jumped out
front, but contact was made between Kenny Reaves and Joey King
before the two even crossed the start/finish line, and the
caution came out. The field restarted, and Smith took the lead
on the second attempt at a start. Geibel settled into second,
with Kevin Davison taking third. The caution came out on lap 1
for Thomas Kearns, who hit the wall in turn 2. The single-file
restart saw Smith out front, followed by Geibel and Davison. On
the restart, the fourth-place car of Dom Casola washed up the
track, allowing Kevin Eyers to take the spot. On lap 4, Davison
utilized an inside pass to get by Geibel for second, and Eyers
followed to take third. Smith began to lap cars at lap 7 while
working on distancing himself from the field. At lap 10, Smith
was roughly half a straightaway ahead of Davison and Eyers, who
were running nose to tail. On lap 19, Dan Curtis spun between
turns 3 and 4, but no caution was thrown and Curtis pulled back
on the track behind Smith. Davison and Eyers were not able to
negotiate their way past the lapped car of Curtis until lap 25.
Smith was negotiating heavy lapped traffic ahead of the duo,
including cars that were running side by side for position. On
lap 37, Eyers pulled alongside Davison to contend for second
coming down the backstretch with a lapped car ahead of them.
Eyers was able to grab the position. The field came to a
yellow-checkered combination to end the race at lap 40, as John
Condit hit the wall in turn two and lost his right front wheel.
Smith was the winner of both the race and the Turkey Derby
championship title. Eyers was second, with Davison third. Robert
Sutphin and Charlie Kremer III completed the top five.
Next out were the Open/Tour Modifieds for
their 100-lap feature event. After the redraw, Ken Wooley Jr.
was on the pole, with Matt Hirschman on the outside. The second
row consisted of Tony Ferrante Jr. and Rowan Pennink, while
Steven Reed and Jimmy Blewett made up the third row. Chuck
Steuer started 14th, with Dave Sapienza 15th,
Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 17th, J.R. Bertuccio 21st,
and Tom Rogers Jr. 22nd. At the drop of the green,
Wooley Jr. and Hirschman were side-by-side, but Hirschman was
able to grab the top spot as the duo exited turn 4 to complete
the initial lap. Wooley Jr. fell into second, while Ferrante Jr.
and Pennink continued to battle side-by-side for third. Ferrante
was finally able to take possession of the position. By lap 5,
the field had spread out single-file around the track. By lap
20, the top four cars were running virtually nose to tail and
had pulled away from Blewett and Keith Rocco, who were running
in tight quarters in fifth and sixth, respectively. The leaders
began to lap cars at lap 28, and Brian Crammer was the first car
to be put a lap down. The first caution of the race came on lap
31 for an incident involving J.R. Bertuccio and Dave Sapienza,
and many cars headed to the pits, including Blewett, Earl Paules,
Tim Arre, Tom Rogers Jr., Chuck Steuer, and Crammer. On the
restart, Brunnhoelzl was 16th, with Steuer 22nd
and Rogers Jr. 24th. Hirschman restarted on the pole,
and immediately jumped out in front of Wooley, while Pennink
grabbed third from Ferrante. Behind them, Rocco and Reed were
battling for fifth. The two made contact and Reed brushed the
wall, but there was no caution and Rocco emerged in fifth while
Billy Pauch Jr. was able to grab the sixth spot. On lap 39,
Blewett and Billy Weichert made contact, sending two wheels of
Weichert’s car up over the guardrail in turns 3 and 4 before the
car came to a rest with all four wheels back on the track in
turn 4. The caution came out. On the restart, Brunnhoelzl was 17th,
while Rogers Jr. was 20th, and Steuer again pitted
and returned in 21st. Hirschman and Wooley again got
to battle it out on the front row, and Hirschman again jumped to
the lead. Caution waved again on lap 49 for Tim Arre, who was on
the backstretch with a right front flat. When the race resumed,
Rogers, Brunnhoelzl, and Steuer were 18th, 19th,
and 20th, respectively. Hirschman again grabbed the
top spot on the restart, with Wooley settling into second. There
was contact between Pennink and Ferrante as they battled for
third, and Pennink took the spot with Ferrante settling for
fourth. The next caution came on lap 58, after Les Hinckley spun
between turns 3 and 4. Several cars pitted, including Blewett.
Rogers Jr. was in 18th. Brunnhoelzl was 20th,
and Steuer was 22nd. Hirschman shot out front when
the race resumed, but Wooley and Pennink made contact in turn 2
while fighting for second and both spun, collecting Pauch and
drawing a caution. As a result, the restart pitted Hirschman on
the inside against Ferrante on the outside. Hirschman pulled
into the lead, with Ferrante second and Tom Farrell taking
third. On the restart, Pete Brittain got shuffled out of
position and into the infield, bringing out the caution.
Hirschman once again grabbed the lead, but Justin Gumley spun at
the exit to turn 2, and the caution was displayed. When the race
resumed, Brunnhoelzl was in 10th, with Rogers 14th
and Steuer 19th. Hirschman quickly moved out front on the next
restart. The top four cars were running single-file, with the
rest of the field doubled up behind them. As the field finally
got a green-flag run, Hirschman began to distance himself from
the rest of the field. Caution was out again, however, on lap
63, after Jamie Tomaino and Louie Mechalides made contact,
collecting Wooley on the backstretch. Rogers Jr. was in 13th,
while Steuer was 18th and Brunnhoelzl was 20th.
Hirschman took off on the single-file restart, leading Ferrante
and Farrell. There was contact between Farrell and Hinckley at
the exit of turn four and no caution was thrown, but it allowed
Paules to take possession of third. Blewett had worked his way
back up to the fourth spot by lap 72. Farrell and Brunnhoelzl
made contact, with Brunnhoelzl retiring his car to the infield.
Paules grabbed second from Ferrante on lap 77. The next caution
came out on lap 79, after Pauch spun in turn 4. Hirschman
continued his domination on the restart, while Blewett grabbed
third on lap 79. Ferrante slid backwards through the field,
falling back to 14th by lap 82. Rogers was running 6thand
Steuer was 10th. On lap 83, Blewett took second,
while Brittain moved into third. Blewett looked to the inside of
Hirschman for the lead coming out of turn 2 on lap 87 and
grabbed the spot in turns 3 and 4, bringing Brittain with him to
second. Caution waved once again on lap 90, as Gumley and Ken
Barry both spun in turn 2. Rogers and Steuer were still in the 6th
and 10th positions, respectively. Blewett led the
field on the restart. Doug Coby spun on the backstretch but was
able to correct himself and no caution was needed. Coby pulled
to the infield on the following lap with a right rear flat tire.
With five laps remaining in the race, Blewett and Brittain were
distancing themselves from the remainder of the field. Brittain
looked to the inside of Blewett on lap 95, but Blewett closed
the door. On the white flag lap, Brittain made a last-minute
attempt to grab the lead from the outside but lost control of
the car and spun in turn 2. Blewett went on to win the event,
with Hirschman second and Reed third. Paules and Rogers rounded
out the top five. Steuer was credited with an 8th
place finish.
Next up was the second day’s Street Stock
event, a 25-lap affair that would have a winner and also
determine the Turkey Derby Street Stock champion. Jim Downey
started on the pole, with Anthony Crimaldi to his outside. Ray
Minieri started 12th. Downey jumped out to the lead
when the green flag flew, but Crimaldi tried to hold on in the
outside lane. Dave Jennings came to the inside of Crimaldi on
lap 1, looking to take the spot. Jennings took second, with Bill
Vanderveen following to grab third. On lap 3, Vanderveen made
contact with Jennings as the two contended for second, with
Vanderveen taking the position. On lap 8, Downey got sideways,
allowing Vanderveen to bolt into the lead. Jennings grabbed
second, with Crimaldi taking over third. Downey fell into
fourth. At lap 10, Minieri was in 7th. The leaders
began to encounter lapped traffic at lap 12. On that lap, Ron
Frees, who started the event ninth, moved into third. Charlie
Digantomasso went around in turn 2 on lap 13, but no caution was
thrown. By lap 15, Minieri had broken into the top five.
Caution came out on lap 17 for an incident involving Ralph
Garguilo. On the single-file restart, Vanderveen led Jennings,
Frees, and the rest of the field. The red flag came out almost
immediately, as Chip Wanamaker got underneath Garguilo –
literally – and Garguilo’s car was stuck on top of the rail in
turn 1. When the lengthy clean-up process was complete, the race
resumed with Vanderveen still in the lead. Frees used an inside
pass to take second from Jennings on lap 19. Rich Mongeau passed
Jennings for third one lap later, and Minieri followed through
to grab fourth. Vanderveen drove on to take down the win, with
Frees second and Mongeau third. Minieri and Carl Thomas rounded
out the top five. With one win and a second place finish under
his belt, Frees was crowned the overall Street Stock Turkey
Derby champion.
The Wall/SK Mods took to the track next for
their 100-lap main event. Jimmy Blewett led much of the event,
but Rowan Pennink grabbed the lead on lap 72. When the checkered
flag flew, Pennink was the winner, with Woody Pitkat second.
Rob Schultz, Blewett, and Shaun Carrig completed the top
five.
The final event for Turkey Derby weekend
was the second Legends race. Tom Sherman was slated to start on
the pole, but he had expressed his intentions to run only on
Friday, and he had already made the trip home to Long Island. As
a result, Tony Hanbury started on the pole, with Max Zachem on
the outside pole. John Beatty started in 7th, with
Kevin Nowak in 20th. Hanbury jumped out to the lead
on the start, with Derek Hopkinson fighting to take second from
Zachem. Zachem tagged the wall on the frontstretch, allowing
Hopkinson to get by for second and Roger Coss to move into
third. Hopkinson got by Hanbury for the lead on lap 2. The
following lap, Zachem regained his composure and passed both
Coss and Hanbury, putting himself back in the second spot.
Caution came out on lap 3, as Mark Alcaro was in the wall. The
restart pitted Hopkinson on the inside against Zachem on the
outside. Hopkinson took the lead, with Zachem settling into
second and Jason Rochelle grabbing third. The battle for fourth
became a three-wide affair, but the caution came out on lap 5
for an incident involving several cars, including John Beatty
and Daniel Hemric. The restart again saw Hopkinson on the inside
and Zachem on the outside. Zachem got out front but the car
washed up in turn 2, enabling Hopkinson, Trevor Alspach, and
Mark Bakaj to get by and capture the top three spots,
respectively. Rochelle worked his way back into third, but he
and Alspach made contact. Alspach hit the wall, and the caution
came out again on lap 6. Hopkinson led Zachem and Rochelle to
the green for the single-file restart. Zachem moved to the
inside of Hopkinson for the lead, and the two came across the
line side-by-side, with Zachem holding the top spot by mere
inches. Hopkinson regained the lead, forcing Zachem back to
second. Shannon Mongeau spun on the frontstretch on lap 8, but
no caution was thrown. The caution came out again on lap 9, as
Mark Tischler’s car was in the guardrail in turn 3. Dan Roslin’s
car also had to be removed from the track. Nowak was in 12th
on the restart, with Beatty in 18th. Hopkinson got
the jump on the restart, but Zachem looked to the inside for the
lead. The two made contact, with Hopkinson spinning out of the
lead. Rochelle took advantage of the opening to put his car out
front. Zachem held on to second, and Hanbury grabbed third.
Hopkinson got his car righted and no caution was thrown. The
yellow flag came out on lap 13, however, as Hanbury and Malcolm
Campbell Jr. came together in the wall between turns 3 and 4.
Nowak was up to 7th, with Beatty in 9th.
Rochelle led the field to the green, as Zachem began to look for
an opening on the inside to pass for the lead. Zachem attempted
the pass on lap 16, with his left front wheel locking up coming
into turn 1 and he made contact with Rochelle, sending Rochelle
spinning from the lead, and drawing the caution. Ryan Flores
inherited the lead as a result, with Michael Gervais Jr. in
second and Bakaj third. Nowak restarted in fourth, with Beatty
sixth. Flores took off on the restart. Russ Cook and Matthew
Maring came together in turn 4, but no caution was thrown.
Caution came out on lap 19, after Bruce Roslin spun in turn 2
and Zach Alspach made contact with the car. The race was deemed
a complete event at that point. Flores was declared the winner.
Gervais was credited with second, while Bakaj was third. Patrick
Molesworth and Nowak completed the top five. Beatty finished
seventh.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
November 30, 2008
