|
|
|
06/15/2014 |
|
|
 .
TRI-TRACK OPEN MODIFIED SERIES
PLACES RACE TWO IN THE BOOKS
.
Jon McKennedy Wins SBM
125
at Star Speedway
.
by
Denise DuPont
/ Polly Reid
|
 The
Tri-Track Open Modified Series completed the second of its three race at
Star Speedway with so much excitement that fans were on their feet as laps
wound down. The big payday came down to a six lap shootout. The three lead
cars that had separated themselves from the pack but saw their advantage
disappear when a caution came out on lap119. Les Hinckley knew the hard
fought lead he had just earned was threatened, Rowan Pennink, dropping to
third had another shot at the checkers while Jon McKennedy lining up second
knew he was going to get one more opportunity to show how strong his car
was.
On the final restart, McKennedy of Chelmsford, MA wasted no time powering on
the outside of Hinckley to become the final leader of the night crossing the
finish line for the checkers and the big cash payout.
“It feels great,” said McKennedy in victory lane. “The guys worked really
hard today. I was complaining a lot, I wasn’t happy with the car- we changed
springs, everything we could to make the car better. I told my spotter, Russ
Hersey, about 20 laps in, we got a race car here and everything worked out.”
McKennedy started the 125 green flag event ninth, moving up one spot by lap
25. With fifty circuits on the board, McKennedy had cracked the top five and
at the half was still a solid fifth.
The majority of the field pitted on lap 69 including McKennedy who lined up
deep in the field at fifteenth. “I thought I had a good enough car to do the
whole race with the same tires and keep the balance but I just knew it would
be really tough to hold off some of the cars that were putting on a new
tire. So, I elected to pit, I restarted somewhere around the fifteenth
position and within a few laps was running in the top five. The car was
great and I knew if I stayed out of trouble, we were going to win.”
Two more cautions before the century mark, McKennedy kept his car out of
trouble and lined up fifth on lap 98. This restart was the game changer for
McKennedy who worked his way to third and as the laps ticked off, the top
three, Pennink, Hinckley and McKennedy, broke from the field.
 Hinckley
made his move low for the lead on Pennink taking the top spot on lap 118 and
McKennedy followed in Hinckley’s tracks for second.
The break McKennedy needed was the final caution with six to go. At the drop
of the green, McKennedy’s car was solid as he passed Hinckley and never
looked back. “I had a nice launch off the corner when I shifted the gear and
was able to clear the leader by the time we got to the flag stand.”
“I want to thank all the fans for coming out, it’s a great night. I love
racing here. To win this race is pretty special- to say I beat thirty of the
best modifieds in the northeast is pretty cool. It wasn’t easy, those last
30 laps was probably some of the hardest I drove in a long time.”
“It’s a great group of guys involved,” said McKennedy about the Tri Track
Series. “Jim Schafer, Long Island Maniac, Kevin Rice and The Racing Guys- I
want to thank all of them, this wouldn’t be possible without them. It’s a
great series- I’m looking forward to Seekonk.”
After sitting out race one of the Tri-Track Open Modified Series to tend to
his son Allen’s needs, Les Hinckley of Windsor Locks, CT., decided at the
last minute to compete in Saturday’s SBM 125 IV Modified Open feature race
at Star Speedway. Hinckley was nineteenth in time trials, started his heat
race fifth and wound up starting the 125 lap feature event nineteenth out of
a field of twenty-four. “We did good in practice but did not qualify well.
Then we just did not pick up any speed with the new tires. It kind of put us
in a box because we had to do something new with our pit strategy. We pitted
a little bit earlier than some other guys and strained the right rear at the
end. If we had continued green for those last six laps we would have been
pretty good but with every caution that we had, we wore the right rear more
on the restarts. I knew that Jon had a new right rear and that he always
runs good here, so congratulations to him.”
The #06 team has always run well at Star and they did not give up tweaking
the car until it was dialed in enough to bring them to the front. Using the
high groove to his advantage, Hinckley picked off the field one car at a
time to the lead position. “Once we got the car straightened out, we passed
a lot of cars on the outside and then we also passed quite a few on the
inside. If you have a good car a lot of times you can gain positions quicker
on the outside because guys are more willing to give the outside up and they
protect the bottom more. On a lot of occasions I do not waste a lot of time
trying to get underneath a guy. I just go to the outside and if it works
there I get some cars. So the outside worked good for me. I passed a lot of
cars thee. But the bottom of the race track is the preferred place so it is
had to pass car there because drivers protect it. If you have a good
handling race car, this is a two lane racetrack that is for sure.”
Counting off the laps Hinckley knew the race was his as long as he did not
have to defend the lead in a race end restart. Then it happened, one last
caution with six laps to go and with a worn right rear he could not hold off
his competition. Hinckley had to settle for second. “The last caution killed
us. I told them on the radio: “I will do my best but the right rear has had
enough.” We pitted early to get some track position and it just I was
getting good on the restarts. I could see on the way around. The longer it
was green the better it was? If we did not get that last caution I think we
could have held Jon (McKennedy) off. But the caution came out and we pitted
for fresh rubber and he got by me. It was a good night.”
 Richard
Savary of Canton, Ma has competed weekly at Star Speedway in a modified and
he considers the track his home track. He started one position ahead of
Hinckley in eighteenth and used his knowledge of the track to secure a solid
third place finish. “We had a great pit stop and got out in front of some of
the faster cars like we want to,” said Savary. “Then I got myself boxed in
on my own on the bottom and all the fast cars went right by me. I had to
wait until late in the race until it singled out before I made my move. On
the outside the car was handling well as was Chris Pasteryak’s car. So we
were both just chewing on the outside and it was fun. At the end a couple of
guys rubbed wheels. And we capitalized on their rubbing wheels. And here we
are. From starting eighteenth I am pretty happy.”
The race was 125 laps and teams knew they were going to have to pit and
change at a minimum the right rear. The #99 team made a plan and stuck to
it. “Our pitting strategy worked for us today. I am sure that all the guys
were not happy with it. It was do you pit early or do you pit late. And it
hurt some of the guys that waited too long. Like the leaders that stayed out
and pitted late. They waited too long. Both Hirschman and Barrett pitted too
late. We pitted with a whole group of cars, but we beat them out of the
pits. My guys did a great job we were just in and out. I like the way they
did the lineup this year it was much safer. Faster guys started up front in
heat race. As I stated I put myself in a bad position and all those guys got
by me.”
The SBM 125 was one of the best modified races that we have seen in a while.
Drivers were out on the track competing, strategizing and running for the
win. Savary summarized the night up from a driver’s eyes best: “I thought
for the fans it was a pretty good race because it was a lot of side by side
racing. I know from where I was it was very busy there was no riding. A lot
of races lately have been nothing but riding until a certain point in the
race. Tonight I do not think I had my guard down from lap 1 to lap 125.
Outside of the yellows these guys were two by two lap after lap. You were
racing the whole time and that was fun racing. And it always seemed like
there was someone outside, someone on the inside or someone in front of you.
Hats off to the guys because there was a lot of bumping and banging but you
did not see a lot of wrecks.”
The Tri-Track Open Modified Series will complete round third with Seekonk
Speedway’s Modified Madness on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. With a $10,000
winning purse on the line, be ready for more side by side hard core modified
racing.
Race Notes From Star Speedway SBM 125 IV:
How would you say your race day was?
Les Hinckley
“I am worn out to be honest with you. It has been a long couple of months
here with my son. It was good to come back to the race track and have some
fun. It would have been nice to win. We came here last year after some
trying times and we have not forgotten about that. This year we come back
here with some weight on our shoulders again from all we have been dealing
with my son. The past couple of weeks he has done much better and we feel
that we have had a little bit of a load lifted from us. It is just fun to be
back. I love this place (Star Speedway). It is a good little track. We race
side by side with guys tucked up tight and it is a lot of fun. “
SBM 125 IV PAYOFF June 14, 2014 $46,301 (record purse) |
|
|
1. Jon McKennedy $6,175
2. Les Hinckley $3,725
3. Richard Savary $2,375
4. Steve Masse $2,650
5. Anthony Nocella $1,575
6. Rowan Pennink $2,500
7. Woody Pitkat $1,510
8. Max Zachem $1,300
9. Chris Pasteryak $1,750
10. Derek Ramstrom $1,400
11. Tommy Barrett $1,475
12. Mike Douglas Jr. $1,500
13. Matt Hirschman $4,141
14. Andy Seuss $1,500
15. TJ Potrzebowski $1,300
16. Kirk Alexander $1,000
17. Matt Galko $1,100
18. Jim Storace $1,000
19. Ryan Preece $1,000
20. Carl Medeiros Jr. $1,000
21. Todd Ceravolo $1,125
22. Todd Szegedy $1,150
23. Matt Swanson $1,100
24. Andy Jankowiak $1,650 |
|
DNS: Todd Annarummo ($200), Dennis Perry ($300), Chris Bolton ($200),
Jamy Beegor ($100), Colbey Fournier ($100), Rick Labrecques ($100), Josh
Cantara ($$100), Mark McClay ($100), Rob Richardi ($100). |
|
|
Source: Denise DuPont / Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: June
15, 2014 |
|
|
