Scully, Dickerman, Seitz Share Seekonk Speedway Spotlight
Seekonk, MA — Hot, humid weather and a plethora of caution flags dominated the action at the 1/3-mile Seekonk Speedway oval on Saturday night, August 25. Cranston, RI’s Tom Scully, Jr. avoided a whopping 10 yellows to claim his third victory of the season in the 40-lap Pro Stock division feature. Rookie Matt Hudon led the initial five laps from his outside pole starting berth but spun in turn two on a lap 6 restart, bringing out the third of four early race cautions and handing the lead to Scully, the second generation ace who had come from sixth to second in the opening circuits.
Kenny Spencer took second on the restart and pulled alongside Scully just before another minor incident slowed the proceedings. With six cautions coming in just the first seven laps, officials opted for a single file restart with Scully leading Spencer, Scott Fournier, and Rob Murphy. Despite turning slightly faster laps than the leader, Spencer could only close to Scully’s rear bumper and occasionally look toward the outside groove before the 26 year-old father of three would shut the door.
At the halfway point, Scully and Spencer led Murphy, Fournier, Mike Brightman, David Darling, Fred Astle, Jr., and Todd Annarummo. Brightman soon dispensed with Fournier and took third from Murphy with 15 laps to go after a long battle for the position. Astle spun with a flat tire on lap 22 and went around again on lap 27, forcing him to restart from the tail twice. Annarummo and Fournier crossed paths on lap 28, necessitating the 10th and final caution. During the final green flag run, Darling passed Murphy for fourth on lap 34 while Glenn Lawton, Astle, and Hudon worked their way into sixth through eighth.
Spencer stalked Scully all the way to the finish, but ended up 0.308 seconds behind the Subway of Seekonk-Tremont Tire #2 Chevrolet. “It felt like a hundred lapper,” Scully remarked after climbing from the winning mount. “What we won tonight was about what we spent fixing the car,” he stated, alluding to a crash into the outside retaining wall in the most recent event. “We started the night out a little tight, but were good once we got out front.” “If we were restarting side-by-side, I think we might have had something for him,” Spencer explained after finishing in the runner-up slot. “You can’t really do much on a single file restart. Still, we’re getting closer to the front every week.”
Brightman claimed a hard-fought third, ahead of the point-leading Darling, and Murphy. Lawton was sixth, followed by Astle, Hudon, Steve O’Brien, and Scott Dion, who all overcame early race incidents to place inside the top ten.
Conversely, the 25-lap Late Model affair was a caution-free race that went green to checker in just six minutes. In the end, 23 year-old Jonathan Dickerman of East Weymouth, MA prevailed for the second time this season, passing Mike Becker for the lead on lap@