Traveling With The Pro-4’s
Waterford, CT — With rain pounding on rooftops all over the New England area, most had doubts that they’d even get the opportunity to unload their cars at the annual Budweiser Modified National Opener and be able to run them on the track. By 10am however, the skies began to clear and the Waterford Speedbowl staff had finished drying the track so that warm-ups could begin. The excitement on the drivers and crews faces were a grand thing to see. For the Pro-4 teams, this was the first time this season that they were getting out to race. As the engines roared to life, those old familiar smells that drivers, crews, sponsors, and fans have come to love quickly filled the air.
When the division took the field for their heats, everyone was ready. In the first qualifier, the 4 of Cory “the Cub” Cleary grabbed the top spot with “Stormin’ Norman” Wrenn’s 1M car at his door in a photo finish. In the second heat, George Sherman’s 13 crossed the line in front of the 25 of Tyler Anderson.
There was enough time before the feature began for the teams to get their cars race ready and spend some time catching up with some of the others in the group. I took the time to meet and talk to some of the teams as well. It was quite a surprise to see a familiar face standing by the 07x. Robin Bergman (Sloane), who got her start in racing in the 4 cylinder division at Seekonk Speedway and quickly rose through the ranks into the Sportsman division, was in a firesuit. She was giving the chance to chauffer the car for the day and see if she liked it. Finding it very different than the fendered cars that she had learned on, she said it was weird to see the wheels of the car and get used to the handling but that it was really fun. I also had the chance to speak to the Richardis’. David’s car was there and running but Rob’s car ran into mechanical and ignition problems hours before the day was to start and it was decided not to bring it to the track until the team could fix the issues correctly. Kevin “the Hat” Bouchier has been named as the official Pro-4 announcer and was getting to meet the teams and drivers as well. David Bergman and Harry Kourafas were helping out on the teams whose cars and engines they had built during the winter to tweak everything and make sure that the cars were the best that they could be before the feature.
During the Drivers Meeting, Stan Mertz thanked everyone for coming and was looking forward to an exciting year with many new program sponsors and the definement of the two divisions in one type racing. Since 2004, the Pro-4 division has had two divisions running at the same time. The Limited division has smaller carburetors, less powerful engines and the cars are lighter and will have the letter “L” next to the number. The Regular division has more powerful engines and larger carburetors along with more weight. Rob Richardi Sr. reminded the drivers that this was a day to get out there and “Have some fun”.
Around 6:00, it was time to line up for the feature sponsored by the Racing Paper. Starting on the pole, Mark Giordano in the number 34, thundered of the line but got caught up with Tyler Anderson in the 25 on the exit of turn two bringing out the first caution of the day. This put Phil Lausier in the 07 in the first spot on the restart with Cleary on the outside. Richardi and Wrenn were in the second row. Cleary cleared the leader at the green but Wrenn’s car proved to be more dominate as he motored passed shortly after. By lap 6, Wrenn’s 1M was pulling away with Cleary attempting to catch up. On lap 9, a single car spin involving the 83 of Frank Perry brought out the second yellow. When the green was ready to be shown, Wrenn, Cleary, Sherman and D. Richardi made up the first two rows. Wrenn’s car immediately put some distance on the field but Sherman attempted to give chase. Norm Wrenn’s 1M proved to be the strongest as he finished the 25 lap Racing Paper Pro-4 Opener in the top position with Sherman, Cleary, Gorman and Perry rounding out the top five. Sixth through tenth were claimed by Giordano, Lausier, Mertz, Bergman and Anderson.
Next week’s Bot-L-Gas/RF Logic sponsored Monadnock Speedway race has been postponed indefinitely due to flooding at the track. However, be sure to mark May 16th off on your calendars so that you can watch these little modifieds with big fun run at Lee USA Speedway. Bot-L Gas/R F Logic will be the program sponsor for a night that promises to be full of enjoyment. SEE YOU THERE!
If you have something you’d like to know more about with the Pro-4 division or it’s competitors, please feel free to drop me a line at Cathiettigger2@yahoo.com or give me a call 774-826-5850. I’ll do my best to get the information and fit your answers into an upcoming column.
Quote of the week “See I told you you’d do better once you started to drive faster.” by DB
Sources: Cathie Tanner/YankeeRacer.com