Dodorico Wins at Bethel
Several Long Island teams made the trek to
White Lake to take part in day one of “Bethel Motor Madness”,
the two-day event that will mark the conclusion of the 2009
season at Bethel Motor Speedway. When the day was over, Legends
driver Paul Dodorico had captured yet another victory at the
speedway where he was crowned champion three times. Both JD
Abrahams and Chris Young sat well within striking distance in
the quest to be named the “Bethel Motor Madness” champion in the
Legends class. Other Long Islanders who made the trip included
Justin Strumpf in the Legends, Tom Pickerell in the BMS
Modifieds, and Chris Chirico in the Street Stocks.
The Legends completed segments one and two in their three-race
miniseries. The lineup for the first race was determined by a
draw. By the luck of the draw, Abrahams started sixth, with
Young seventh, and Strumpf eighth. Dodorico took off from the
11th starting spot. Raven Schrantz and Tyler DeVault took off
from the front row. Scharntz took the lead at the drop of the
green, but the action was halted quickly as a multi-car incident
on the first lap involving both Abrahams and Young, among
others, caused the caution to be displayed. Both cars were able
to pull away, and both headed to the pits.
On the restart, Strumpf was up to third, and Dodorico sat in
fifth. Abrahams returned in eighth, and Young returned in ninth.
Schrantz was again on the pole for the start, and had Rich
Sennett on her outside. Schrantz again nosed out front. Coming
through turns one and two, her car got sideways, and she ended
up making contact with Strumpf, bringing the caution out again.
Strumpf’s car suffered damage, and had to be towed off the
track. Dodorico sat in third for the restart. Abrahams had
worked his way back up to fifth, and Young was in seventh.
Rich Sennett and Joe Graf led the field to the restart, and Graf
grabbed the top spot. Dodorico looked to the outside of Sennett,
and Dodorico took over second on lap two. Young worked his way
into fifth on lap four. Graf spun from the lead coming off of
turn two on lap five. Dodorico, who had been waiting for an
opportunity to challenge Graf for the lead, became the new
leader. As the race reached the halfway point, Young made his
way into the top three. Up front, Dodorico slowly distanced
himself from Tyler DeVault, who sat in second. Dodorico had a
close call on lap 16, as his car got sideways in turns one and
two. This enabled the rest of the field to close the gap, but
Dodorico was able to correct it and continue without
surrendering the lead.
Over the final laps, the top three ran nose-to-tail, as Dodorico
showed the way over DeVault and Young. When the checkered flag
flew, Dodorico found himself in the familiar Bethel Motor
Speedway Victory Lane, a place he has visited more than ten
times in his Legends career. His most recent win at the speedway
came in August of 2008. DeVault was second, and Young finished
third. Abrahams finished fifth, and Strumpf was credited with a
ninth place finish.
For the second race, the finish was inverted for all cars that
finished on the lead lap, with other finishers placed behind
them in the lineup. Abrahams started the second event on the
pole, with Young directly behind him in third. Neither Dodorico
nor Strumpf competed in the second feature.
Abrahams was joined on the front row for the start by Sennett.
Abrahams jumped out to the lead, and Young followed to take
second on the initial lap. DeVault worked his way into third. On
lap two, Young’s car slid into the infield, but Young quickly
corrected itself and rejoined the field, losing only one
position in the process. Bethel’s 2009 Legends champion Mike
Alcaro, who started the event in 12th, worked his way past Young
for third on lap five, and took over second one lap later. Young
regained the third spot. Alcaro used an inside pass to grab the
lead from Abrahams on lap seven. The only caution of the event
came on lap 12, after Graf spun into the infield.
Alcaro was out front for the single-file restart, and he took
off at the drop of the green. Abrahams was in second, with Young
hot on his heels over the closing laps of the race. Alcaro was
first to cross the line, and he picked up his teneth win of the
2009 season at Bethel. Abrahams was second, with Young third.
Another Long Islander who is very familiar with the track at
Bethel is Blunderbust driver Tom Pickerell, who has competed in
the BMS Modified class. Pickerell made his second visit in as
many weeks to Bethel, and he took part in segments one and two
for the BMS Modified class.
By the luck of the draw, Pickerell started the first event from
fourth. John Cote and Charlie Howe sat on the front row. Cote
shot out front, followed by Howe. Pickerell grabbed third on the
start. The caution waved on lap four, and Pickerell was still in
the same position. Cote and Howe took off from the front row,
with Cote powering into the lead. Howe settled into second,
while Pickerell and Johnny Demarmels ran side-by-side for third.
Demarmels took third, and then pulled alongside Howe for second
on lap seven. Jim Fugel made contact with Pickerell on lap nine.
Fugel spun, and the caution came out. Cote was on the pole for
the restart, with Demarmels on his outside. Pickerell sat in
fourth. Cote shot out front, as Demarmels settled into second.
Pickerell grabbed third. The caution waved again on lap 14 for
Dick Shaddock. Cote was out front for the single-file restart,
trailed by Demarmels and Pickerell. They finished in the same
order, as Cote grabbed the win.
For the second segment, Pickerell had the fifth starting spot.
Shaddock and Dan Wood made up the front row. Wood grabbed the
lead at the drop of the green, followed by Fugel and Pickerell.
Contact between Shaddock and Cote brought out the caution on lap
two. Wood restarted on the pole, and was joined on the front row
by Fugel. Fugel grabbed the top spot. Demarmels used an outside
pass to take second on lap three, and Cote worked his way back
into fourth one lap later. Cote took over the second spot on lap
six, and went to the outside of Fugel to grab the lead on lap
nine. Demarmels looked to the outside of Fugel for second, and
the two ran side-by-side for several laps before Demarmels was
able to take sole possession of the spot on lap 14. By that
time, however, Cote had built up an insurmountable lead as he
drove on to collect his second win of the day. Demarmels was
second, with Fugel third. Pickerell was fourth.
Former Riverhead Blunderbust champion Chris Chirico, who has
become a regular competitor in the Street Stock class at Bethel,
was able to compete in a holdover race due to the rain prior to
the division’s feature last week, as well as segment one of the
“Bethel Motor Madness” weekend. Chirico finished both feature
events on the lead lap, as he continues to make adjustments to
the car. Bethel’s 2009 Street Stock champion Gary VanOrden won
the holdover race after taking the lead on lap seven. He was
followed across the line by Charlie Houghtaling and Kevin Skelly.
Chirico finished eighth. The first segment of the division’s
“Bethel Motor Madness” competition was a caution-free event, and
was won by Vinny Stanton Sr. Skelly and Brent Shaddock followed
him across the line. Chirico was ninth.
Legends Segment #1: 1. Paul Dodorico, 2. Tyler DeVault, 3. Chris
Young, 4. Rich Sennett, 5. JD Abrahams, 6. Joe Graf, 7. Matt
Evans, 8. Raven Schrantz, 9. Justin Strumpf, 10. Barry Schrantz,
11. Joe DeGracia, 12. Joe Fresco, 13. Paul DeGracia.
Legends Segment #2: 1. Mike Alcaro, 2. JD Abrahams, 3. Chris
Young, 4. Tyler DeVault, 5. Rich Sennett, 6. Raven Schrantz, 7.
John Hugate, 8. Joe DeGracia, 9. Joe Graf, 10. Joe Fresco, 11.
Matt Evans, 12. Barry Schrantz.
BMS Modified Segment #1: 1. John Cote, 2. Johnny Demarmels, 3.
Tom Pickerell, 4. Norm Barnes, 5. Jim Fugel, 6. Charlie Howe, 7.
Dan Wood, 8. Dick Shaddock.
BMS Modified Segment #2: 1. John Cote, 2. Johnny Demarmels, 3.
Jim Fugel, 4. Tom Pickerell, 5. Norm Barnes, 6. Dan Wood, 7.
Dick Shaddock.
Street Stock Holdover Feature: 1. Gary VanOrden, 2. Charlie
Houghtaling, 3. Kevin Skelly, 4. Rich Wheeler, 5. Vinny Stanton
Sr., 6. Brent Shaddock, 7. Jason Chevalier, 8. Chris Chirico.
Street Stock Segment #1: 1. Vinny Stanton Sr., 2. Kevin Skelly,
3. Brent Shaddock, 4. Gary VanOrden, 5. Tommy Johnson, 6.
Charlie Houghtaling, 7. Jason Chevalier, 8. Rich Wheeler, 9.
Chris Chirico.
Source: Tracy Chirico/Bethel
Motor Speedway PR
Posted: October
4, 2009
