Pinch hitter P.J. Stergios Delivers
Winchester, NH – “Pinch hitting” for brother Jake, P.J. Stergios won the 20-lap NEMA Lites feature Saturday night at Monadnock Speedway. It was the first-ever Midget win for Stergios who took control with some nifty back stretch heroics and then survived two restarts.
Stergios passed both Jake Smith and Russ Wood Jr. to take the lead following a lap-two restart. He had a comfortable edge when yellow flew again on lap 12. He got away from Wood and three laps later beat back a restart challenge from Shaun Gosselin.
With the car “coming in better and better” and with “a lighter fuel load,” Stergios was worried about the cautions. Although he “leaned it out under caution” when he came to the restarts he “brought it down slow and then just stood on it.” He learned that, he says, from watching “the good Modified drivers.”
Following the final restart Stergios left behind a torrid battle for second that eventually went to Gooselin. Anthony Nocella , Joe Chick and Paul Luggelle filled out the top five with Wood sixth.
It was the third win for the Stergios car, Jake, who was working Saturday night, getting the other two. “Our driving styles are very similar,” explained P.J. who also credited lessons learned during practice sessions a year ago at Monadnock.
RESULTS: 1. P.J. Stergios, 2/ Shaun Gosselin, 3. Anthony Nocella, 4. Joe Chick, 5. Paul Luggelle, 6. Russ Wood Jr., 7. Jake Smith, 8. Chris Haskell, 9. Mike Muldoon, 10. Eddie LeClerc Jr., 11. Kevin Park, 12. David Rose Jr., 13. Anthony Marvuglio, 14. Chris Leonard, 15. Eric Cabral, 16. Todd Bertrand.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR