A total of 21 Legends drivers from five different states made
their way to Bethel Motor Speedway this past Saturday, each
looking to take down the win and secure their place for the INEX
Asphalt Nationals to be held in Georgia during the month of
October. Among the entrants were Riverhead Raceway regulars John
Beatty and Kevin Nowak, both of whom collected top ten finishes.
Beatty, who finished fourth overall, was the winner in the
Semi-Pro division. Nowak finished tenth in the event. Chris
Chirico also made the trip up to Bethel for his first race in
the Street Stock class.
By the luck of the draw, Beatty started ninth in his heat race.
Kenny VanWickle, who has one feature win at Bethel in 2009,
started on the pole, and was chased for the majority of the
event by 2008 Sundance Vacations Speedway Legends champion Roger
Coss. By the time the race reached the halfway mark, Beatty was
up to sixth. He took over fifth on lap seven, and he finished in
that spot.
Nowak ran in the second heat race, coming to the starting grid
in seventh. Mike Alcaro, who currently leads in Bethel Legends
points, started on the outside pole and quickly grabbed the top
spot. Nowak was in eighth at the halfway point of the event, and
he finished in that position.
For the 50 lap feature event, Beatty lined up ninth, with Nowak
in 16th. VanWickle and Alcaro made up the front row. Alcaro took
the lead at the drop of the green, and Virginia ’s Brad Hancock
grabbed second on the initial lap. Beatty worked his way up, and
was running side-by-side with Coss for the fifth spot when the
two encountered lapped traffic and Coss secured the position.
When the caution waved on lap ten, Beatty was in sixth and Nowak
had worked his way up to 12th. Alcaro continued to lead on the
restart. Caution waved again on lap 16, and both Long Islanders
were in the same positions as they had been for the previous
restart. On the restart, Beatty was able to break into the top
five. On the next restart, Beatty was in fourth, while Nowak was
in 12th. Beatty took third, as the top three cars ran
nose-to-tail. On lap 29, however, Beatty’s car got sideways, and
the caution flew. Nowak sat in ninth, while Beatty had to
restart the event in 18th. Up front, Alcaro and Hancock paced
the field. When the caution flew again just three laps later,
Nowak remained in ninth, but Beatty had started working his way
back through the field and was in 14th.Two laps later, Nowak and
Matt Maring made contact, with both sliding through the infield
and bringing out the caution. Beatty sat in 11th on the restart,
and Nowak had to restart from the 18th spot. Beatty continued to
march through the field, taking ninth on lap 36, and eighth one
lap later as Alcaro and Hancock remained out front. When the
caution flew on lap 40, Beatty was in seventh, while Nowak
worked his way back to 12th. Beatty took sixth on lap 41, and
used an inside pass to get back into the top five three laps
later. Further back in the field, Nowak was also working his way
back up. A lap 47 caution set the stage for a three-lap dash for
the win, with Beatty in fifth and Nowak in tenth. In the closing
laps, Beatty was able to gain another spot, taking fourth with
two laps to go. Beatty crossed the line fourth, and he was the
highest finishing driver in the Semi-Pro division. Nowak
finished tenth.
For the first time in 2009, former Riverhead Raceway Blunderbust
champion Chris Chirico took to the track at Bethel in the Street
Stock division. Chirico was plagued by mechanical woes through
the course of the day as he made his debut in the division.
Chirico started his heat race on the outside pole, alongside
multi-time 2009 feature winner Vinny Stanton Sr. Stanton Sr. got
out front, and Chirico settled into second. He finished the
event in that position. For the feature, Chirico started in
third. On lap three, he lost a belt on the car, and he was
black-flagged at lap seven for losing water. Sixteen-year-old
Tommy Johnson won the 15-lap race.
Legends Feature Finish (50 laps): 1. Mike Alcaro, 2. Brad
Hancock, 3. Ryan Morgan, 4. John Beatty, 5. Kevin Yeatts, 6.
Kenny VanWickle, 7. John Demarmels, 8. Ron Poley, 9. Jason
Simmons, 10. Kevin Nowak, 11. Joe Graf, 12. Matt Maring, 13.
Karl Heisler, 14. Keenan Simmons, 15. Michael Blaskey, 16. Joe
DeGracia, 17. Joe Fresco, 18. John Hugate, 19. Roger Coss, 20.
Raven Schrantz. DNS – Mike Carroll.
Street Stock Feature Finish (15 laps): 1. Tommy Johnson, 2.
Kevin Skelly, 3. Gary VanOrden, 4. Vinny Stanton Sr., 5. Brent
Shaddock, 6. Mike Deyo, 7. Shawn Maloney, 8. Fred Graf, 9. Kyle
Wright, 10. Chris Chirico.
Source: Tracy Chirico /
LongIslandJam.com
Posted: August 3, 2009
