Annarummo Comes Back for Some Home Cooking at Seekonk
Lillie, Lineham, & Rose Pick Up First Wins of Season
Seekonk, MA — 30 True Value Modified Racing Series modifieds came to town for their first of four visits to the “Action Track of the East”, and it was six time champion Vinny Annarummo picking up his first modified win of the season. Second generation racer Chris Pasteryak and Tommy Cravenho brought the 26 car field down for the green. Pasteryak jumped out into the early lead, while Cravenho started to slide back a little, allowing Annarummo to move into second in the opening laps. The race would be slowed for the first time on lap 6, when Michael Douglas Jr, Rob Goodenough, and John McKennedy all got together in turn 3. McKennedy and Goodenough were able to continue, but Douglas’ night would be complete. Dave Bergman also retired at this time. After a false restart, Vinny Who used the outside line to work his way into the top spot. It would be short lived, as Pasteryak took back the lead on lap 10. The two continued to battle side by side until the yellow came out for the second time on lap 12 for Jimmy Dolan, who spun in turn 4.
Annarummo once again used the outside to regain the lead on lap 15, and was able to pace the field for several laps. Pasteryak fell into line, with Cravenho, Ed Dachenhausen, and Dwight Jarvis running in the top 5 as the field crossed the ¼ century mark. On lap 27, the third caution flew for the Mike Holdridge spinning into the infield grass on the front stretch, while Bobby Drown and Stephen Masse got together in turn 1. It seemed the outside lane was the one to be in, as Pasteryak regained the lead on lap 27. Tony Ricci overheated and stalled his #4 in turn 4, bringing out the 4th caution. Using the outside lane, Vinny brought his Francis Farm #12 back to the front on lap 30.Pasteryak continued to work the outside lane, but to no avail, as he wasn’t able to regain the lead. While they battled for the lead, 3 time TVMRS champion Kirk Alexander and Dave Pinkham were working their way toward the front from their 24th and 24th starting positions. By the 50 lap mark, the top ten were Annarummo, Pasteryak, Jarvis, Les Hinckley, Ed Dachenhausen, Dick Houlihan, Pinkham, Dale Evonsion, Alexander and Cravenho.
Annarummo had opened up a 4 car lead by the time he started to encounter heavy lapped traffic on lap 60. This allowed Hinckley to move past Jarvis into third, and by lap 68, Hinckley was trying to take away the thunder from Annarummo, as he was working his way up on the outside. The fifth caution dropped on lap 69 when Dwight Jarvis spun down the front straight while battling for position with Pasteryak and Dachenhausen. Dick Houlihan retired to the pits with front suspension problems. Annarummo, Hinckley, Pasteryak, Dachenhausen and Dave Pinkham were the top 5. Lap 71 saw Chris Wenzel slide into the turn 1 wall. Once back up to speed, Hinckley hung tough with Vinny, as they raced side by side for over 10 laps. With 20 laps to go, the top 5 modifieds ran under a blanket. At this point, Jon McKennedy had worked himself into fourth with Alexander fifth. McKennedy got himself as high as third before the final caution dropped on lap 94 for Dale Evonsion who spun his #35 in turn 3. A single file restart was exactly what the doctor had ordered for Annarummo, as he was starting to slide around trying to hang on. A six lap spring to the finish was anything but easy for the Swansea MA native, as Pasteryak and McKennedy were all over the rear bumper. Pasteryak tried one last move on the final lap, but came up .105 second short, as Vinny Who sat back in victory lane at his home track. Pasteryak held on for second, with Mckennedy, Hinckley and Pinkham rounding out the top 5.
“THIS IS MY HOUSE” exclaimed an excited Annarummo. “We had no tires left at the end of this. This feels great. It’s my first win as a car owner in a long time, and my first in a modified. Thanks to Levesque Tree Service, Francis Farm, JRA Powder Coating, all the guys who put this together. I could go another hundred right now.”
Jeramee Lillie jumped up from his outside pole starting position and grabbed the lead away from Randy Clark as the field roared out of turn 2 for the start of the Late Model feature. While The Hammer would open up a commanding lead over John Dickerman, Gerry DeGasparre Jr, Kyle Casper and Kevin Casper were trying to work their way toward the front. On lap 11, while racing three-wide for 4th position, Bill Bernard and DeGasparre spun in turn 3 on lap 00, bringing out the first yellow. They would go just 3 laps before the caution flew for the second time when Tyler Thompson tried out for his pilots license and went over the nose of rookie competitor Mark Langlois.
At the 15 lap mark, Lillie was the leader with Kevin Casper now up into second, and working the outside lane. On lap 16, Casper would take over the top of the leader board. But it would only last that one lap, as Lillie put his Houle Motorsports Ford Fusion back into the lead. The third caution came out on lap 21, as Randy Clark spun in turn 2, and DeGasparre spun in turn 3. John Hanafin would get the call for the assist. Kyle Casper used the restart to move underneath his older brother Kevin, and move into second. Matt Breault caught Kevin Casper by surprise, and slid in underneath for third. One final caution on lap 26, and we were back underway for the final four laps. Jeramee Lillie held on for the win, with Kyle Casper, Matt Breault, Kevin Casper and Jon Dickerman rounding out the top 5.
“Big thanks to Dick and Jackie Houle for the power” Jeramee spoke after the race. “Thanks to all the guys who work on the car, Mom and Dad. That was a lot of fun”
After three blown engines and two broken axles, Flyin Ryan Lineham finally found his lucky rabbits foot, and picked up his first win of the season. The only caution of this event happened on lap 2 when Dick Cavallaro spun his Casey Title CO. machine in turn 4 with the pack all over him. No other cars were involved, but the yellow was thrown. Once back underway, Lineham opened up a commanding lead, while second place runner Bob Bettencourt Jr was trying to hold onto second. He was fighting with john Geremia for second. The pair would run nose to tail for several laps. At the halfway point, Lineham lead over Bettencourt, John Gerimia, Tony Oliveira and Justin Travis.
Once strung out, the field was able to complete the 20 lap main event in near record time. Lineham held on for the win by over 3 seconds. Bettencourt was second, John Gerimia third, Oliviera and Travis the top 5.
“This one goes to the guys who work on the car.” bellowed Lineham in Victory Lane. “It seems every time Jeramee wins, we have to also. I want to thank Pete Simpson for lending me this engine. Brian from Finest Racing Engines, couldn’t have done this without your help. We never got down with all of the adversary we faced.”
Zach Tucan quickly jumped into the lead in the 20 lap Seekonk Sport Truck feature over Lenny Guy. Charlie Rose Jr filled in the three spot early on, with Jody Tripp and Mike Cavallaro running fourth and fifth. Rick Martin had worked himself into sixth by lap 8 with last week’s winner Bill Prisco seventh. The lead changed hands on lap 13, as Rose put his Sanford Tree Experts Ford Ranger to the top of the board. By lap 15, Martin used the outside lane to get by Tripp, and now set his sights on the top 3.
Rose was not going to be denied, as he held on to pick up his first win of 2008 in the Seekonk Sport Truck Feature. Cavallaro was second, with Martin getting by Tucan for third and Ed Gannon rounded out the top 5.
“We had a pretty good truck under us tonight” beamed Rose in Victory Lane. “We missed a couple, but we are here tonight. That’s all that matters. Special thanks to my father who put the rear end together for us. It stayed to together.”
Racing resumes at the Action Track of the East on Friday night with our Fast Friday Series, featuring the Pure Stocks, Seekonk Youth Racing Association, and Go Kart racing. Action begins at 7, and is just $5.00 to get in. Saturday night, June 21, the ARC Pro Stocks return to action as CanDigit Excavating will present the first 50 lap main event for the Late Models. Gates open at 3, and the first qualifier goes off at 6. Come on down and check out the action.
Sources:Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR