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NOCELLA,
MCKENNEDY SHARE TOP HONORS AT OXFORD |
Two
Massachusetts racers shared top honors Saturday
night, June 18, when Anthony Nocella of Woburn, and
Jon McKennedy, of East Chelmsford, each captured
wins in the Valenti Modified Racing Series twin
50-lap feature races at Oxford Plains Speedway,
Oxford, ME.
In the first 50-lap go, Chris Pasteryak, of Jewett
City, CT, started on the pole and led the opening
9-laps when Dan Meservey Jr, of Chatham, MA. took
command until lap 19.
Northport, NY’s David Schneider then grabbed the
lead and held it through the 34th circuit when
suddenly Nocella, in the family owned #92, took over
the lead and held on through lap- 50 to win his
second consecutive race and 4th VMRS career win.
Post race Nocella stated, “ I’d like to thank all my
guys. They gave me an awesome car again especially
having to start a little deeper because we won the
last time. The car was great early and we worked our
way through. It went away a little at the end but it
was good enough.”
On the inside pass of leader Schneider, “ I figured
I had a shot when I cleared (Richard) Savary to the
bottom there and Jon (McKennedy) was working the #
19 over (Schneider) pretty good. I didn’t know which
lane to go in but I saw him getting a little tight
there and when he washed up little trying to hold
off Jon figured I’d take a shot and go for it.”
Only two caution flags slowed the race. 17 cars
finished on the lead lap. The event was completed in
21-minutes.
In the second event, Carl Medeiros Jr, of Westport,
MA, and Branden Dion, of Taunton, MA, were the early
leaders but it was McKennedy, with Pasteryak giving
chase, showing the way prior to the half way point
with McKennedy holding on to the top spot to nab his
second win this season and his 17th career VMRS
victory. McKennedy pulls to within 2 wins to tie Les
Hinckley (19 wins) for 2nd on the all time win list.
The highlight of the second race was the strong
showing and runner-up finish by long-time veteran
George Sherman of Framingham, MA. Sherman started
the race fourth and ran steady through the event. In
the closing stages he passed Pasteryak for second
and his best ever finish with the VMRS. Drivers,
officials, family and friends, an emotional moment
for many in victory lane, greeted Sherman.
“I’d like to thank my crew. they got the car working
good for me. The car was getting better and better
for me every lap. I was hoping to do good tonight
but this is more than I expected.”
Sherman added, “I knew about halfway through the
second race I had something for the front. It feels
really good to have the car competitive. We’ve been
struggling and hopefully it’s a turning point for
us.
Sherman had long-time friend and racer Joe Doucette
serving as spotter who one night back in 2011, after
many years of trying, finally put his race car in
victory lane at of all places. Oxford Plains. Both
Sherman and Doucette came to the series from the
Pro4 Modified division.
Pasteryak, Russ Hersey, of Swanzey, NH, and Colby
Fournier, of Berkley, MA, rounded out the top five.
Fournier notched his best finish and was solid
through the second main event.
Three yellows were displayed in the second event. 9
cars finished on the lead lap. The race was
completed in 22-minutes.
Unofficial order of finish:
(Race 1) (1) Nocella, (2)
McKennedy, (3) Schneider (4) Savary (5) Pitkat, (6)
Meservey (7) Richardi (8) Hersey (9) Patnode (10)
Mead (11) Lashua (12) Pasteryak (13) Willis (14)
Sherman (15) Dion (16) Ianarelli (17) Medeiros (18)
Fournier (19) Bleau (20) Haley
Unofficial order of finish:
(Race 2) (1) McKennedy (2) Sherman
(3) Pasteryak (4) Hersey (5) Fournier (6) Willis (7)
Pitkat (8) Mead (9) Dion (10) Schneider (11)
Richardi (12) Savary (13) Medeiros (14) Meservey
(15) Ianarelli (16) Bleau (17) Haley (18) Patnode
(19) Nocella (20) Lashua
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Source:
John Spence / Valenti Modified Racing Series
Posted:
June 19, 2016 |
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