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5/23/2010 |
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EAST BEATS WEST
AT ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY
Rowan Pennink
Third Different 2010 Winner
by
Denise DuPont |
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 The
Modified Racing Series (MRS) and Race of Champion (ROC) modifieds returned
to Albany Saratoga Speedway on Friday May 21st to complete racing activity
postponed a month ago due to weather. And yes the scene was definitely
different for the racers when they returned. Rain and slippery mud was
replaced with sun and dry dirt. The primary change though, was the field of
cars had whittled down from fifty to twenty-eight teams.
Gary Casella’s #25 race team was one of the teams that returned, overcame
many challenges and survived to become the winner’s of the first ever
modified “East-West Showdown”. The team’s driver, Rowan Pennink, put aside
early troubles to go forward and win the 100 lap event.
On lap 3 of the caution laden event, Pennink was involved in an incident
where the car sustained damage to the right rear and a flat tire. “The #55
got was up there and got into the rubber and hit the fence and came back
down right as I was going underneath. He hit me in the right rear and he
flattened the tire. I went down in turn one and there was just nothing
left.”
 After
the accident Pennink came back starting at the back of the field ready for
the challenge to make his was back to the front. “I was not too happy about
having to go to the back, but we just stayed patient and saved the tires.”
Showing the true champion that he is, Pennink was able to remain calm, avoid
further incidents and make his way to the lead with the help of his team.
“Brian did an awesome job spotting and he got me to the front without
getting caught up in any wrecks or anything. The car was unbelievable. Gary
did an awesome job setting the thing up and Bob again doing all the work at
the shop. Again it was an unbelievable race car that we had today.”
Regular ROC competitor Earl Paules, started fourth, managed to avoid mishaps
and crossed the finish line second. Paules took over the lead on lap
forty-eight after passing the dominate leader Pete Brittain. Then just when
it looked like the West had the race in their corner, Pennink came under
Paules to rob the race for the East. “My radio came unplugged and when he
(Rowan Pennink) was in second I never knew where he was.” Paules not having
the eyes and ears of his spotter drove not knowing he was soon to be
challenged. “So I would have ran a different line. But the line I was
running before I was pulling away from everybody. It was just one of those
deals.”
In the beginning of the race there were more caution then green laps. It
took four cautions and several yellow laps before the racers could get
beyond the first three laps for green lap racing. ”We just could not get
going. We could not get a lap in. Then we finally got a green flag then
caution, caution, caution…” Even with all the cautions, Paules maintained
his own running with the lead cars. “We ran second just about the whole
race. On restarts we tried to get going with out being beat by the third
place guy. That was tough.”
Driving the series founder’s car, Sean Bodreau was able to overcome car
troubles to make his way from a last place start to a podium finish in the
#17 MRS car. “I would say, it was a pretty tough race. There was not a lot
of give and take out there. It is pretty hard when it is a one groove track.
The restarts were critical. If you were in a good groove on the restart you
moved up. If you were on the outside you really had to struggle.”
“It was tough coming back up through the pack.” But with the many cautions
drivers at the back of the pack were able to sit back and put together
strategies on how to get through the field. Cautions allowed them to migrate
forward as leaders fought to keep their lead. “The restarts really helped.
It was really hard to pass. You had to work hard to get by a guy if he was
holding on to the bottom of the track. If he wasn’t giving up the bottom it
was tough. So the restarts definitely helped us. I had a good race.”
 Veteran
MRS driver, Les Hinckley, also made the truck from the rear of the field a
few times but the journey was worth it for the CMR Racing Team. They brought
home a fourth place finish. “It is a tough track and we made it more
difficult on ourselves than we had to. We got up to fourth on the outside.
We just missed it (the setup) a little bit. It was really good for about for
a fifty lap race and then it got a little bit too free early and we got
trapped on the outside. We tried to squeeze in down in on the inside and I
got turned around.”
After being turned around on the track, Hinckley headed to the pits and it
was time for the crew to do their job. They adjusted the car and Hinckley
headed back out for more racing. “But it (the spin) actually worked out good
because it gave us the opportunity to come in and adjust the car. That is a
difficult decision to make on your own when you are running in the top five
or ten spot. So after getting turned around, we came in and adjusted the car
and then marched back up to fourth.”
 With
four laps to go, ROC Champion, Matt Hirschman went from a potential fourth
place finish to fourteenth in the blink of an eye. Hirschman had all the
right moves going to complete in the top five when he had his plan altered
abruptly with a caution on lap 96. “I am just disappointed to not come away
with a top five,” said Hirschman from the pits. “We started twelfth and we
were able to get up in the top five.”
When young Jacob Dore made a late race move to pass Pete Brittain for third
Dore jettisoned over the top of Brittain eliminating from the top five the
two of them and the then sixth place runner Hirschman. “They tangled and I
was already committed a little wide into the corner (turn four). I went up
the track and I tried to come back down and miss them and I got clipped in
the left front end and it broke the suspension in the left front.”
The Albany Saratoga “East-West Showdown” race is now in the books and race
teams are going forward with Memorial Day Weekend race plans and their
dreams for a win.
The MRS will have a busy weekend as teams travel back to New York for an
inaugural race at Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, NY on May 29th and then
cross Lake Champlain to cap out their weekend at Thunder Road International
Speedbowl, Barre, VT on May 30th.
The ROC teams will also return to New York for 75 laps of racing at Oswego
Speedway in Oswego, NY on May 29th.
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Albany Saratoga “East-West Showdown” Race
Notes
Racers Thoughts on Racing at the New Asphalt
Track
Did you have issues passing on the track? Was there more than one groove on
the track?
Rowan Pennink
“My car turned so good I did not have a problem getting up a good run and
running up underneath people on the bottom but if you car was not that good
you had a hard time passing. I was able to pass plenty of cars.”
“Everyone said that the outside was going to be so terrible. But if you were
faster than someone you could pass them on the outside.”
Earl Paules
“The track was good. Once that top opens up a little bit, it will be better.
The track has a little bit of bite in it and it was good. It was fun.”
Sean Bodreau
“The track seemed to come in to it once it got a little more rubber on the
outside groove. It was a little better at the end of the race. I think that
the more rubber that they get on the track the better that it will be.”
Les Hinckley
“The track is hands down better than it was when were here in April. And
hopefully it continues to go that way. It was a lot racier than I though it
was going to be so that is encouraging. So hopefully the outside comes in a
little more as they continue to race and put more rubber on it. “
“It was tough making it back up through the pack. We had a good car and
passed a bunch of cars but it was tough. There is not a whole lot of
opportunity here to pass. You get the cars rotating pretty good and you get
where you can cut underneath a guy it works that right rear so bad.”
Matt Hirschman
“It is great what they are doing here. Any time a track is freshly paved it
tends to be a little tougher to race on. We did a little passing and stuff
but it was a caution filled race. I think that was part of the tough
conditions of being only able to pass a little bit. It definitely will be
fine. It is a good track.”
“Coming here was a learning experience.”
Combining Race Team from MRS and ROC Series
Rowan Pennink
“I race with so many different people that between the SKs, MRS and the
tour, it does not matter who you run against. You just try top beat
everyone.”
Earl Paules
“The competition was good. I was up front all day so I did not really have
to race with anybody. Pete (Brittain) a little bit and then the #25 car a
little bit and then the #17 car there at the end. Otherwise than that, it
was good.”
Sean Bodreau
“The more cars the better is the way that I look at it. They are all tough
guys and they run good. You have Matt, Earl, and Pete who had a rough run
tonight. They are all front runners and they all run good. So yes, I would
say the more cars the better.”
“Starting 28 might have been too much particularly for a one groove track
like this one maybe. It is hard when you have 50 cars like we had in the
beginning. There were only 28 cars that came back but it was hard to send
that many cars home the first time.”
Les Hinckley
“I could not have told you the difference unless you told me that there were
28. There was no big deal starting the extra cars.”
Matt Hirschman
“Originally you almost had too many cars. You had fifty cars here. If both
series support it in full it is almost too much. But there are probably a
couple of tracks or if this race was not the first race of the year for most
people to do. You would probably get a nice quality field of racers at some
of these places where neither group is going to pull a thirty car field. If
you put the two together, you could probably do it at only at a couple of
places.”
“There is nothing wrong with it. There are a difference where our rules
(ROC) versus their rules (MRS). They did their best to work it out but there
are some things that I probably would have liked to have seen done
differently if they were to do it again. But overall I think if it is in the
right place I think it would be a great idea. There are certain places where
I do not think it would be. The only reason that you could go back and say
maybe it was not a good idea here was because it was the opening of the
season, it was something new and everybody wanted to come try it out. That
was why you had fifty cars. That was probably too much. It was great for
fans to watch qualifying but not good for the amount of cars to go home. But
in its place, it worked out.”
Were There Any Issues with Tire Wear?
Earl Paules
“Yes the right rear with all the cautions and the heat cycles that the rear
went thought I just did not have the grip like I did earlier in the race. It
is a second place finish. We will take second and a car in one piece.”
Sean Bodreau
“Tire wear all depended on the pace that you took to run. The guys that were
running up front probably lost there tires at the end. They had to run hard
at the beginning of the race where Rowan and I we both went to the back
really early so we were able to conserve a little bit coming up though. It
is all what you do for your pace in the race.”
Les Hinckley
“The whole thing went… but it was hurting the right rear. I think that we
tightened it up and got by some guys afterwards that were not as good but
there is not much of an outside here yet.”
“I think that we might have a had a little something left for them in the
end but after the red flag we had a front left flat so we barely finished at
all. It was a long night with a little luck.”
Thoughts on the Abnormal Number of Race Cautions
for Both Series
Earl Paules
“I saw one car that was in a caution three times. It is just one of those
things; it is pretty much the same people all the time (in the cautions).
What are you going to do; they are racing pretty hard back there.
Sean Bodreau
“Everybody wanted the bottom and they were fighting hard to get to the
bottom. We had a plan to go out starting last and if we saw a hole we would
take it and if not we would back off. We got caught up in a couple of the
cautions there and because of everybody wanting the bottom so. We got out of
it with minimal damage and we were able to pick and choose our way up though
to go home with a third. We will take it.” |
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Source: Denise DuPont
/ TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: May
23, 2010 |
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