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07/15/2012 |
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LES HINCKLEY HONORS FELLOW RACER
WITH "RICKY'S RACE FOR KIDS" WIN
Hinckley Did It His Way To
Capture
Second 2012 VMRS Wins
by
Denise DuPont
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The Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) headed to Canaan, Fair Speedway,
Canaan, NH for the fifth annual “Ricky’s Race for Kids, 112-lap modified
race. The race honors the memory of the late Ricky Miller, a popular
modified champion that died in 2004 from injuries suffered in a racing
accident. The annual event benefits David’s House a home away from home for
families with ill or injured children receiving treatment through Children’s
Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.
Jon
McKennedy started the race on the pole and led the field right up until the
first caution. On the race restart, Les Hinckley passed McKennedy to take
over the lead. Hinckley had a perfectly setup car and dominated the rest of
the race. “It did not seem like there were going to be a whole lot of
cautions so I got to the lead and then got into a comfortable pace where the
car felt good.”
Chris Pasteryak, sat in third for thirty laps and then made the move of the
race. He leveraged lapped traffic to go three wide to take over second place
from Jon McKennedy. “Things do not always workout. I am glad that nobody got
wrecked. If I go back and look at it I do not know if I would do it again. ”
Les Hinckley now had slick Pasteryak in his rear view mirror. Pasteryak made
the #06 team kept their eyes open. “They told me that I had a pretty good
gap between me and Chris,” said Hinckley. “As the race played out, cars
strung out more on the track. I just drove to what I felt the car needed. I
did not have to back off too much.”
Maintaining his lead over Pasteryak, Hinckley crossed the finish line to
take his second 2012 race win. This victory meant a lot to Hinckley who
competed in Pro Stock cars with Ricky Miller. “We will take it. Winning
races is the fun part of racing and that is what we come here to do. The car
did not back up at all. That was what I had for the race and I was not
holding too much back.”
Winning
car owner Chuck Montville was all smiles in victory lane. The team worked
hard to get this win and they were finally rewarded for their efforts. “We
have wanted to win this “Rick’s Race for Kids” for a long time now and it
has finally happened. Tonight the car was just incredible. It was just so,
so fast. Our motor guy Bob Bruneau was here to watch see the win and that
was just awesome. Les had the car going on rails a round the corner I could
not be more proud of Les and the whole team. It was a great night.”
Supporter of the #06 race team, Debbie Marquis, once again had all the right
words for this win. “I am finally glad that we won the race for what the
race represents: David’s House, “Ricky’s Race”. Les, Butch and Ricky go so
far back. I really wish that “John Boy” (Hoyt) were here because he started
this whole thing. I can’t believe it. No I really do believe it because we
had an awesome car. And Les did a fine job. We won our first “Ricky Race”
maybe our luck in turning around. This is awesome it finally happened.”
Chris Pasteryak finished in second place after never finding a way to catch
the leader. “I do not know if I ever could catch up with the #06 tonight, he
was really hooked up. It was another good run for us and we will take it and
go forward. “
So the three wide pass for second gave Pasteryak the edge he needed to chase
the leader. But Hinckley was really hooked up and there was no catching him.
“I was thinking that we would get another caution a heck of a lot sooner
than we actually did. Maybe I should have gone harder, you never know. But
what are you going to do? I finished in second place. We are happy we will
take it. If I were to go back and do it differently after we lined up after
the yellow, I would do the exact same thing. “
Rowan
Pennink drove across the state of New Hampshire after a sixth place NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He jumped in the car
once he arrived at Canaan just in time to qualify the #25 Gary Casella. He
qualified eighth and knew that he needed a strategy to get to the front on
the short tight track. “It is a real fast track and it has a lot of grip, so
it is a fun track to race. We had a really good car. It was a strong run for
the #25 team. Les started up front and was able to conserve his tires a
little more than we did.”
“We came from eighth and got into third. Les on the other hand was able to
conserve and save his stuff to the end. Chris (Pasteryak) and I on the other
hand had to use up a little more to get up there to run with him. It is a
tough track to pass on. You could be 2/10ths faster than some body and it
could take ten, fifteen or twenty laps to pass them, even if you are way
faster than them.”
The VMRS teams will now prepare for a return to Thompson Speedway on
Thursday, July 26th. Teams will shift plans as they go from a small oval to
the largest track on the series schedule. See you there.
Race Notes From Canaan Speedway:
Some of the VMRS will make the run to compete in
the “Open Wheel Wednesday” event at Seekonk Speedway on Wednesday July 18th.
With a purse of $10,000 to win teams are ready to start counting the wad!
Chuck Montville
“I will use the race winnings from Canaan for sure. I will use it to go to
Seekonk next Wednesday to try to win $10,000 more.”
Chris Pasteryak
“Now we will go on to Seekonk on Wednesday night. It is a good race. It is
$10,000 to win. We have to go and support it so they will keep having it
every year. I always look forward to “Open Wheel Wednesday”.
The #05 race team has had a slow start to the
2012 VMRS race season. What are Canaan Fair Speedway’s race winner’s
thoughts on the season for the team so far?
Les Hinckley
“Things are going well. The beginning of the season was tough. Everybody
struggles at different points in the season, but that is what racing is. If
we win races then that is the fun part. And the rest will take care of
itself. We will take it (the win).“ |
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Source: Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: July
15, 2012 |
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