Chouinard, Robinson, Ladyga Prevail in Fast Friday Series

By admin August 24, 2007

Seekonk, MA —  Bill Chouinard of Swansea, MA extended his lead atop the championship standings by capturing his third 25-lap Pure Stock feature of the season at Seekonk Speedway on Friday night, August 24.  Chouinard started 16th in the 17-car field after winning his 8-lap qualifier in the Highland Real Estate-Swansea Independent Baseball league-Dan Silva Electric-Sanford and Son Auto Parts #8 Chevrolet and worked his way inside the top three in just four laps.

Vinnie Pangelinan led the initial go-around from the pole before Waterford Speedbowl regular Charles Beal blasted past.  John A. Robidoux took second the next time around, with Chouinard, Steve Cromwell, John Robidoux, and Carlos Silva in tow.  Cromwell drifted into the high groove and lost two spots on the next lap, while Chouinard made a sparkling move from the bottom to the top of the race track.  The Robidouxs locked horns and bumpers on lap 7, leaving the younger racer’s #93 stranded in the infield.

Once he became situated in the outside lane, Chouinard drove around the #30 of Beal and into first on lap 8.  At the halfway point, Scott Cestodio ran third, ahead of Silva, Jason Arsenault, piloting his sister Amy’s #9 Monte Carlo, Cromwell, John A. Robidoux, and Tom Blackwell.  John Frias spun to bring out the lone yellow with 21 laps completed.  Chouinard held off the advances of Beal on the restart as Silva charged past Cestodio into third.  Carlos pulled alongside Charles’ bright green machine before settling in for a strong third place run.

At the checkers, Chouinard, 33, triumphed by 0.809 seconds over Beal, Silva, Cestodio, and Arsenault.  Cromwell was sixth, ahead of Bob Hinckley, Tom Blackwell, Tom Melnick-Holland, and Rick Hayward.

 

In the Seekonk Youth Racing Association 750 restrictor plate division, West Warwick, RI’s Chris Robinson, 15, won his sixth 25-lap feature of the season and third in a row, holding off Brian Como, Jr. and extending his advantage in the ’07 title chase.  Jariah Roderick led the initial go-around before Jacob Swift and Kyle Kuchta spun to bring out the first caution.  On the restart, Robinson used the inside line to his advantage, passing the leader with a three-wide maneuver on lap 2.  Two additional cautions before the halfway point allowed Como to close in on Robinson and restart alongside him, but each time Robinson would clear the Charlton, MA native.

Brian Mondeau ran third for much of the event, battling with Kuchta and Roderick into the final laps.  Como closed in on Robinson’s rear bumper in the final two circuits but couldn’t mount an assault on the Sprague’s Repair #9, which came away with top honors by 0.248 seconds.  Como was second, followed by Kuchta, Roderick, and Dylan Estrella, who rebounded from an early-race pit stop to post fifth.  Steven Gardiner was sixth, ahead of Mondeau, who spun on the white flag lap and fell to seventh.

In the 600-plate division 25-lapper, 10 year-old Nick Ladyga of Voluntown, CT scored his first SYRA win in the Suchocki & Son Construction-Town & Country Discount Oil #38 Chevrolet.  Glenn Deming led the first lap, before a multi-car crash in turns one and two eliminated front-runners Chris Igo, Derryck Anderson, Jr., and Casey Sanchez and also damaged the car of Adam Swift.

Jake Spillers assumed the lead on the restart with Deming second and Ladyga, a veteran of the Quarter Midget ranks, coming from eighth to third.  Ladyga took the lead on lap four as point leader Timmy Brown raced his way into third.  While Nick put some distance between himself and the rest of the field, Brown worked his way around Spillers, finally taking the spot on lap 10.

At halfway, Ladyga led Brown, Spillers, David Hutchins, Jr., Deming, Kaitlyn Donovan, Carl Medeiros, and Jake Howes.  The top eight remained unchanged all the way to the finish, with Ladyga, Hutchins, and Deming, among others, garnering their best finishes of the season.  The night, however, belonged to Ladyga, who scored a decisive win by 1.49 seconds and unofficially closed to within 11 points of second in the overall standings.  Brown’s second place effort put him 30-plus points ahead of his closest competitor in the championship chase.  In recognition of his career best finish, Hutchins was awarded the Ultra Flex Racing Products $50 savings bond award.

Pure Stock Heat 1 (8 laps)

  1. #8-Bill Chouinard, Swansea, MA
  2. #39-John A. Robidoux, Swansea, MA
  3. #01-Scott Cestodio, Swansea, MA
  4. #93-John Robidoux, Swansea, MA
  5. #77-Carlos Silva, Swansea, MA

Pure Stock Heat 2 (8 laps)

  1. #9-Jason Arsenault, Attleboro, MA
  2. #48-Rick Hayward, Halifax, MA
  3. #13-Bob Hinckley, Acushnet, MA
  4. #36-John Frias, Fairhaven, MA
  5. #5-Randy Moretti, West Warwick, RI

Pure Stock Feature (25 laps)

  1. #8-Bill Chouinard, Swansea, MA
  2. #30-Charles Beal, Ledyard, CT
  3. #77-Carlos Silva, Swansea, MA
  4. #01-Scott Cestodio, Swansea, MA
  5. #9-Jason Arsenault, Attleboro, MA
  6. #10-Steven Cromwell, Fairhaven, MA
  7. #13-Bob Hinckley, Acushnet, MA
  8. #0-Tom Blackwell, Taunton, MA
  9. #91-Tom Melnick-Holland, Coventry, RI
  10. #48-Rick Hayward, Halifax, MA
  11. #5-Randy Moretti, West Warwick, RI
  12. #36-John Frias, Fairhaven, MA
  13. #33-Fred Villeneuve, Pawtucket, RI
  14. #53-Vinnie Pangelinan, West Warwick, RI
  15. #51-Joe Carpenter, Seekonk, MA
  16. #39-John A. Robidoux, Swansea, MA
  17. #93-John Robidoux, Swansea, MA

SYRA-750 Heat 1 (10 laps)

  1. #0-Kyle Kuchta, Niantic, CT
  2. #22-Brian Mondeau, Bridgewater, MA
  3. #9-Chris Robinson, West Warwick, RI
  4. #12-Stephen Gardiner, Jr., North Attleboro, MA

SYRA-750 Heat 2 (10 laps)

  1. #28-Jariah Roderick, East Taunton, MA
  2. #16-Brian Como, Jr., Charlton, MA
  3. #46-Dylan Estrella, North Attleboro, MA
  4. #56-Jacob Swift, Fairhaven, MA

SYRA-750 Feature (25 laps)

  1. #9-Chris Robinson, West Warwick, RI
  2. #16-Brian Como, Jr., Charlton, MA
  3. #0-Kyle Kuchta, Niantic, CT
  4. #28-Jariah Roderick, East Taunton, MA
  5. #46-Dylan Estrella, North Attleboro, MA
  6. #12-Stephen Gardiner, Jr., North Attleboro, MA
  7. #22-Brian Mondeau, Bridgewater, MA
  8. #56-Jacob Swift, Fairhaven, MA

SYRA-600 Heat 1 (10 laps)

  1. #38-Nick Ladyga, Voluntown, CT
  2. #5-Casey Sanchez, Providence, RI
  3. #2-Timmy Brown, Norton, MA
  4. #6-Jake Spillers, Ashburnham, MA
  5. #24-Glenn Deming, North Scituate, RI

SYRA-600 Heat 2 (10 laps)

  1. #65-Derryck Anderson, Jr., Warwick, RI
  2. #96-David Hutchins, Jr., Somerset, MA
  3. #75-Adam Swift, Fairhaven, MA
  4. #8-Chris Igo, North Easton, MA
  5. #95-Kaitlyn Donovan, Waterford, CT

SYRA-600 Feature (25 laps)

  1. #38-Nick Ladyga, Voluntown, CT
  2. #2-Timmy Brown, Norton, MA
  3. #6-Jake Spillers, Ashburnham, MA
  4. #96-David Hutchins, Jr., Somerset, MA
  5. #24-Glenn Deming, North Scituate, RI
  6. #95-Kaitlyn Donovan, Waterford, CT
  7. #10-Carl Medeiros, Westport, MA
  8. #58-Jake Howes, Carver, MA
  9. #75-Adam Swift, Fairhaven, MA
  10. #7-Justin LaCasse, North Attleboro, MA
  11. #65-Derryck Anderson, Jr., Warwick, RI
  12. #5-Casey Sanchez, Providence, RI
  13. #8-Chris Igo, North Easton, MA

Sources: Todd Baptista/Seekonk Speedway PR

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