Saturday marked the second and final day of the historic
indoor races in Providence, Rhode Island. EEKR go-karters Eric
Zeh, Justin Bonsignore, and "Wild Bill" Smith were all in the
Ocean State, looking to leave their mark in history. While Smith
didn't fare as well as he would have hoped, Zeh and Bonsignore
each brought home their second top five finish in as many nights
of racing.
Zeh and Bonsignore competed in the same heat race on Saturday
night. Zeh started the event from the fourth spot, while
Bonsignore was fifth. By lap 4, Bonsignore was in second and Zeh
was in fourth. Bonsignore took the lead on lap 5 and went on to
win the event. Zeh finished fourth.
By the luck of the redraw, Bonsignore started the feature
fourth and Zeh started eighth. Bonsignore became engaged in a
side-by-side battle with George Bark Jr. for the third spot as
soon as the green flag flew. The battle lasted until lap 3, when
Bark took the position. Bonsignore got shuffled back to the
fifth spot. When the caution waved on lap 9, Bonsignore was in
fifth and Zeh was in seventh.
Bonsignore grabbed the fourth position on the restart, while
Zeh was quietly picking his way through the field further back.
When another caution was displayed on lap 9, Bonsignore was in
third and Zeh had worked his way up to fourth.
The final caution of the event came on lap 19. Bonsignore had
the outside pole for the restart, with Zeh in third. In the
one-lap dash for the win, Zeh slipped past Bonsignore on the
inside to take second, and Bonsignore was shuffled back to
fourth.
For both drivers, it was the second finish in the top five
recorded in the two-day event. On Friday, Bonsignore finished
second and Zeh was fourth.
"Wild Bill" Smith was unable to qualify for the event. Smith
started his heat race in 12th, with the top seven karts
transferring to the feature. Smith had worked his way up to
tenth by the time the first caution came out on lap 2. However,
he was unable to move far enough up in the field to grab a
qualified spot. Smith started 9th in the consolation race,
needing to finish in the top six. He was involved in a caution
on lap 1, and did not make it into the feature.
Feature Finish (20 laps): Chris Daley, Eric Zeh, George Bark
Jr. Justin Bonsignore, Ron Midford Jr., Jay Dimond, Bryan Ray,
Evan Beaulieu, Nick Hadden, Ryan Arsenault, Tammy Smith, Mike
Perry, Clinton Mills, Tyler Robertson, Tim Buckwalter, Adam
Gage, Andrew Swisher, John Hillman, Andrew Hutchinson, TJ Laro.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
March 8, 2009
