Fireworks and Racing: Fourth of July Favorites
The above videos are provided to us courtesy of Steve "LaFilms" LaFountaine. We can't thank him enough for all his help in sending these. He does a great job! Steve can provide videos of the full nights action, so contact him if you want to purchase a copy.
The track's annual 4th of July Celebration took place last night, featuring the 50 lap race for the Modifieds in front of a packed house of delighted fans. Also on the program were a 6 Cylinder Enduro, a Skid Plate race, and to end the night, a full sized Demolition Derby. The Modified’s ran time trials to qualify, with Chuck Steuer putting down a lap of 11.766 seconds, besting John Fortin and Bill Park, who both turned 11.930 laps during their runs. The redraw saw Chuck Steuer pick the pole, so his night was perfect up to that point. On to the racing stories..
The Blunderbusts rolled onto the speedway for the first event of the night, with Fred Nolan and Scott Sepe on the front row. When the green flag flew, Nolan nosed out front, getting help from behind from Rob Bader, as he pushed by to battle Sepe for 2nd, and as Sepe dropped back, Ray Shannon and Kevin Rommeney moved by to takeover 3rd and 4th, with Paul Parisi moving up to 5th. Nolan built a comfortable 2 car lead, but coming into turns 1 & 2 a lap later, Nolan spun on his own, handing the lead to Rob Bader. Nolan recovered to rejoin the race, but on lap 5, he apparently spilled some type of fluid in turn 3, and yellow flew as the field entered the turn, with Tom Pickerell and Bill Portney ending up into the 3rd turn wall. Neither would return to the race. When the green flew once more, Bader held the lead, as K. Rommeney moved up to challenge Shannon for 2nd, with K. Rommeney taking the spot as Bill Wegmann moved by Shannon to take the 3rd spot. Tim Mulqueen was able to shuffle Parisi back to 6th as he took over 5th spot, as Bader opened up a 4 car length lead up front. Bader stretched that to an 8 car length margin by lap 10, as the action behind him heated up. Wegmann successfully took 2nd from K. Rommeney on lap 10, as Tommy Walkowiak had worked his way up to 5th, with Terry Stiles up to 6th from his 19th starting spot. Walkowiak quickly challenged Shannon for 4th, taking the spot on lap 12, setting his sights on K. Rommeney in 3rd, taking that spot on lap 14. Behind them, Stiles passed Shannon to take 5th away on lap 16, while up front, Wegmann was closing in on Bader with 3 laps left in the race to within 4 car lengths, but a multiple spin in the back stretch brought out the caution on lap 18, setting up a 2 lap shootout for the finish. When the green flew, Bader and Wegmann ran side by side, while Walkowiak was riding Bader’s rear bumper, as K. Rommeney and Stiles battled for 4th behind them, with Stiles taking the spot as the field got the white flag, as Scott Maliszewski got by K. Rommeney for 5th. Bader and Wegmann were still battling for the lead, with Rob Bader inching out front to hold a lead of about 2 feet, which was all he would need to take the victory over Bill Wegmann. Tommy Walkowiak, Terry Stiles, and Scott Maliszewski rounded out the top 5. It was Bader’s first win of the 2010 season, after experiencing more disappointing finishes earlier in the season.
The Chargers were next with 15 starters for the night, led to the green by Erin Dumicich and Brian Doyle. When the green flag flew, E. Dumicich and Doyle ran side by side through lap 1, with Doyle taking over the lead as they exited turn 2 on the 2nd lap. E. Dumicich tagged along in 2nd, as Jeremy McDermott and Chris McGuire battled side by side for 3rd spot. That battle continued as Kevin Orlando watched from 5th, with McDermott sliding up beside E. Dumicich to challenge for 2nd. They ran side by side for a lap, with McDermott edging up as they crossed the line. This allowed Doyle to stretch his lead out to about 7 car lengths as the battle for 2nd continued. McDermott took 2nd away 2 laps later, With E. Dumicich dropping in behind him, as McGuire moved up into 4th, with Orlando following in 5th. McGuire then got along side E. Dumicich to challenge for 3rd, taking the spot a lap later, as McDermott began to close the gap on Doyle. By lap 10, E. Dumicich had Orlando trying to take 4th away as he rode on the outside, creating quite a battle as E. Dumicich did all she could to hold Orlando off as Daryn Miller put pressure on the duo from behind. McDermott closed in on Doyle, running only 3 car lengths behind, with McGuire running about 4 car lengths behind him. Orlando was now nosing ahead of E. Dumicich to take 4th by lap 13, as McDermott continued to close on Doyle, while Jay Henschel, running in 6th, suddenly spun off turn 2 into the infield after contact on lap 14, rejoining the race in the rear of the field with no caution coming out. By lap 15, McDermott was right on Doyle’s rear bumper, getting under him on lap 16 coming out of turn 4, but Doyle fought off the challenge to keep the lead, as McDermott kept the pressure on him. Behind them, Chris Turbush had gotten by Orlando and E. Dumicich, with Orlando ducking under her, dropping her to 6th, as Orlando held onto 5th spot. The battle up front between Doyle and McDermott continued, with McDermott trying everything to get by under Doyle as the exited the turns, but Doyle just stood on the gas to hold McDermott at bay, as Brian Doyle withstood all challenges by Jeremy McDermott to take the win, as Chris McGuire, Chris Turbush and Kevin Orlando rounded out the top 5 at the finish as Brian Doyle took his first victory of the 2010 season.
The Late Models came next, with Mike Mortimer and Mike Bologna on the front row of what was supposed to be an 11 car field, but Chris LaSpisa was a DNS as he reportedly was suffering motor ills. When the green flag flew, so did Bologna, jumping instantly out to a 3 car length lead over Mortimer off turn 2, as Mortimer settled into 2nd with Ken Alfano banging on his bumper trying to shale him up and get by as Roger Oxee and Kevin Metzger followed in 4th and 5th. On lap 3, Alfano was finally able to get under Mortimer, passing him and leading Oxee up alongside Mortimer to set up a brief battle for 3rd, which Oxee took a lap later. Metzger tried the same move and was almost by Mortimer, but Buzzy Eriksen, running right behind Metzger in 6th, bumped him, getting him loose, causing Metzger to get out of the gas, as Eriksen shot by moving into 5th. Bologna was maintaining a 2 car length lead over Alfano, who was 3 car lengths in front of Oxee in 3rd by lap 9. By lap 13, Alfano had dropped back enough that Oxee was now on his rear bumper, and by lap 16, Oxee had gotten to Alfano’s outside to make a move on him for 2nd spot, but couldn’t make the pass. Oxee then decided to look on the low side, finally getting under him off turn 4 on lap 19, taking 2nd away from Alfano as they exited turn 2. But Bologna was way out in front, and all Oxee could do was try to catch up. He closed to within 2 car lengths on lap 23, as Alfano, Mortimer and Metzger, who’d gotten back past Eriksen a fee laps earlier, trailed a good distance back. But Mike Bologna held on claim the victory, as Roger Oxee, Ken Alfano, Mike Mortimer and Kevin Metzger rounded out the top 5. The victory was Bologna’s 2nd of the season, and moved him into a 3rd place tie with Shawn Patrick in the LM standings.
With the Sun still shining brightly in the Western sky, the Modifieds rolled out to run the 50 lap, double point race. With Chuck Steuer on the pole, John Fortin to his outside, and Chris Young and Howie Brode lined up 3rd and 4th in the 21 car field. When the green flew, Steuer and Fortin ran side by side all the way around, but coming off turn 4, Fortin and Steuer touched wheels, with Fortin loosing control and slamming the outside wall. Behind them, with nowhere to go, Howie Brode and Ken Heagy piled in along with others as the caution flew before a lap could be completed. Fortin, the point leader going into the race, was finished for the night. After being separated by the tow trucks, Brode drove to the pits to make repairs, but Heagy was also done for the night with major front end damage to his mount. Brode was able to make whatever repairs he needed and rejoined the field in time for the restart.
With 19 cars left, the green flew again, with Steuer taking off alone to take the lead, as Young and Bill Park battled for 2nd spot, with Park taking it at the end of lap 1, as Eddie Brunnhoelzl III held 4th position, with Tom Rogers, Jr. in 5th. Young battled back with Park for the 2nd spot, running side by side as they continued to circle the track behind Steuer, who was building a larger lead as the battle behind him raged. On lap 3, Young chopped Park, gaining 2nd as Park had to back off, and he settled into 3rd. By lap 12, Steuer held a 5 car length lead over Young, as Park and Brunnhoelzl engaged in a battle for 3rd, while Rogers watched from 5th. Amber Fortin, John Beatty, Donny Lia followed, but on lap 23, David Roys spun in turn 4, and the caution flew once more. The green flew again with Steuer shooting out front, as Park challenged Young for 2nd once again, but Amber Fortin got punted by John Beatty and spun in turn 2, and the caution came back out before a lap was complete. Green flew again quickly, and Steuer took off once more. Young got loose coming off turn 2, but Park couldn’t capitalize on it, and found himself in a battle for 3rd with Brunnhoelzl instead, but Park held Brunnhoelzl’s outside challenge off, and as Brunnhoelzl moved to get back in line in turn 2, he and Rogers came together, with Rogers spinning and the yellow flew once more.
The green came out again, and Steuer took off, as Young and Park resumed their battle for 2nd, while Lia got up under Brunnhoelzl, shoving him out of 4th as Lia took over the spot. Young and Park continued their battle for 2nd as Steuer just built his lead once more. Young finally won the battle for 2nd, with Park slipping in behind to hold 3rd, as Lia and Brunnhoelzl followed. Rogers, after pitting earlier, had worked his way back to 10th , after restarting 13th, picking off cars one at a time as he advanced towards the leaders. By lap 35, the whole field was running single file, with Steuer leading Young, Park, Lia, Brunnhoelzl, Timmy Solomito, Dave Brigati, Jerry Solomito, Al Ermmarino, and Rogers. Suddenly, on lap 37, Park slowed coming off turn 2, with Brunnhoelzl moving into 3rd as Park came to an abrupt stop in turn 4 with a flat right front, getting rear ended by Lia as the caution came out once again. During the caution, Park and Lia played a little bumper tag, with Lia pushing Park as Park tried to exit to the pits to replace the tire, and in a surprise to just about everyone, the officials ruled the caution was ONLY for Park, and they placed Lia 3rd for the restart, despite what had taken place during the caution!
Green flew once again, with Steuer holding the lead once again, as Lia and Young began a brief battle for 2nd. With Lia on the outside, Young bobbled coming off turn 4, Lia moved into 2nd, and before Young could recover, T. Solomito and Brigati flew by into the 3rd and 4th spots. Brunnhoelzl and J. Solomito also moved by before Young could regain control and drop into 7th, just in front of Rogers, who was now up to 8th. Steuer held a 2 car length margin over Lia, as T. Solomito and Brigati ran a few car lengths in back of them as the field ran single file once again. Steuer built a 5 car length lead over Lia, who now had T. Solomito riding his rear bumper, but it didn’t appear that T. Solomito had enough tires left to make a challenge on Lia. Chuck Steuer held a comfortable lead as the field took the 2 to go signal, and he sailed on home to take his first victory of the year, along with the point lead, as Donny Lia, Timmy Solomito, Eddie Brunnhoelzl III and Dave Brigati rounded out the top 5 at the finish.
News and Notes: The Bay Fireworks display was spectacular, as always, with many in the crowd saying it was better than last year’s display. A few multiple shots during the show brought resounding applause from the crowd, as fireworks shot in the air in every direction, punctuated by loud explosions, as patriotic music play along with the display, which lasted about 20 minutes. A big thumbs up to Bay Fireworks for a great show… Eric Zeh made his debut driving Jon Ellwood’s 17x Charger, finishing 13th in his first Charger race… Rob Bader was ecstatic with his win, after suffering many disappointing finishes earlier in the season… Ditto for Brian Doyle, who has been working very hard to get his car right, and seems to have finally found the answer… Not so for Jay Henschel, very angry about the help he got spinning him out of a good finishing spot in the charger race… Shawn Wanat did a masterful job coming from 11th spot to win the 6 Cylinder enduro. James Kilkenny won the skid plate race and Jason Savoy won demo derby. .. Our Condolences go out to the Booker family, as Barbara Booker succumbed to complications in her battle with cancer last Saturday… Also to Gayle and Tommy Walkowiak. Gayle’s Mom passed away earlier in the week after a stay in the hospital with heart problems… That will do it for this week’s stories, and sadly, next week I will not be covering the races, as it is time for my annual vacation from everything with my loving and understanding wife. I hope everyone enjoys the Baldwin-Jarzombek-Evans Memorial 77 next week, along with a very full card of other racing. I will return on July 17th, and will, as always, have that full story… We should have some interesting videos from last night later on, so check back to view those.. Until then, live well and be safe. WJ
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