Tom Scully Jr. holds off Ben Rowe for Cirelli Foods PASS 150. DeGasparre, Tripp & Delaney win in undercards
Seekonk, MA — Cranston RI’s Tom Scully Jr picked up the biggest win of his career, holding off multi-time PASS Champion Ben Rowe in the Cirelli Foods PASS 150. Scully started 15th in the 28 car field, and worked his way through the pack. Tom took over the lead from Ray Parent after a lap 74 restart, and held on through two additional restarts for the $4,000 plus payday.
“This is definitely the biggest win of my career,” a jubilant Scully said in Victory Lane. “It’s right up there with the DAV from last year.”
Kelly Moore was the early leader, but got together with Joey Pole on lap 7 while battling for the lead. Tom Scully Sr was also involved, ending the night for Sr Scully and Pole. Seekonk regular Dave Hutchins inherited the lead, and set the pace for the next 40 laps, keeping DJ Shaw at bay. Rowe started to move to the front around the 1/3 mark, moving around Hutchins at lap 50 for the lead.
Ray Parent, making his first PASS appearance, ran strong in the middle portions of the event, taking over he lead after a lap 64 restart. Parent held the top spot for the next ten laps, when Tom Scully Jr moved past at lap 75. Parent had to pit for fuel, and did so at the next caution at lap 80.
PASS points leader Johnny Clark raced in second for much of the second half of the race, but fell back to third over the final 20 laps.
Following Scully across the stripe were Ben Rowe, Johnny Clark, Dave Ramstrom and Dave Darling. Fred Astle Jr was sixth, with Adam Bates, Rick Martin, Dave Hutchins and Kelly Moore rounding out the top ten.
The race had a total of 10 cautions through the event. Ben Rowe, Kelly Moore and Derek Ramstrom were the qualifier winners. All 28 cars on hand took the green.
Gerry DeGasparre JR used a restart with 2 laps remaining to edge out late race leader Ryan Vanasse for his third victory of the season. Gerry started 1
1th in the 15 car field, and had to chase down Vanasse, who took the lead on lap 17, moving around Matt Breault. It was the third win of the season for DeGasparre, and his 29th Late Model victory, putting him in alone at the top of the Late Model All Time win list.
Tyler Thompson was the early leader in the 30 lap feature until Breault was able to get past and into the lead. Matt held the top spot for 13 laps, with rookie points leader Mike Cavallaro running second. Vanasse moved into second on lap 15, and into the lead at lap 17. When Marc Curtis spun on lap 24, Vanasse led with Cavallaro, Breault, DeGasparre and Jake Vanada rounding out the top five.
Cavallaro got the jump on the restart, and led lap 25 by a nose on the outside. As the raced down the backstretch, Breault took a look under Vanasse and made it three wide for the lead. As they raced into turn 3, Breault got into Vanasse, who rode into Cavallaro, spinning the Gemini Auto Sales 87. Breault went to the back for the assist.
Another restart on lap 28 closed the field up and gave DeGasparre a shot for the win. On the second take, the two raced side by side for the final two laps, with the 4-time Late Model Champion edging out Vanasse by .035 at the stripe for the win.
As the field came off of turn four for the checkered, Jimmy Rosenfield got loose and spun up the track, taking the Phil’s Propane Toyota to the wall. Casper found himself on his roof just past the start/finish line. Casper climbed out unhurt, but a little shaken and sore.
“I have to hand it to my guys once more,” DeGasparre stated in Victory Lane. “We got this thing going well now. A lot of people told me I would go back to back this week, but it wasn’t easy. Ryan was fun to race with.”
Jody Tripp made it five on the season, as he moved under Russ Borges for the win on lap 22 in the 25 lap feature. Jason Heroux was the early leader, and set the pace for the first four laps. Borges, who has been fighting bad luck all season long, took over the lead on lap five.
Once out front, Borges started to pull away from Heroux, and then Mike Ronhock, who ran second for several laps. Mike tried to close in on the leader, but the purple and yellow Ford was strong at the top. Tripp moved into second at lap 14, and started to close in on Borges.
With five laps remaining, Tripp moved under Borges, only to find the Ford was tough on the outside. The pair raced side by side for three laps before Trip finally secured the lead at lap 22. Over the final lap, Borges fell to third, as points leader Rick Martin followed Tripp into second.
“I was surprised by the way Russ was running,” Tripp mentioned. “I think he was stronger on the outside, and made it difficult for me.”
In the 25 lap Street Stock feature, Swansea’s Patrick Delaney led from green to checker for his first win of the season. Delaney is back full time in 2009,
but has only had a couple of good runs this year, plagued by troubles, bad luck and mechanical failures. Delaney held on through three cautions in the main event.
Roland Wheeler ran second for the first few laps until Crystal Serydynski moved into the runner up spot after a lap 3 caution. Chris Beauleau ran third, holding off several challengers. He took over second on a lap 14 restart, but fell back out of the top five over the last five laps.
Reigning Street Stock Champion Sparky Arsenault started eleventh, and used patience to move through traffic. He took over third on lap 16, and slid past Beauleau on lap 21. Charlie Rose Jr, making his first appearance behind the wheel of Ken Rego’s #12 was following Arsenault through the pack, and moved into fourth behind Sparky on lap 16. Charlie slid back to sixth before rebounding to fifth in the final tally.
Mike Mitchell came into the night 35 points ahead of Arsenault in the championship chase. He fell as far back as fifteenth on lap five, making the climb forward a difficult one. By lap 10, Mitchell was into the top ten, moving into the top five with eight laps remaining. Mitchell could only make it into the top three by races end. Steve Axon and Charlie Rose Jr rounded out the top five.
“We have been fighting this car all year,” a relieved Delaney said. “We even replaced the carburetor twice earlier tonight. This really feels good.”
Racing resumes on Saturday, August 22, as the True Value Modifieds return to Seekonk for the Del’s Lemonade 100. This marks the second appearance for the TVMRS in 2009. The 2008 version was washed out, while Vinny Annarummo won this event in 2007. Other winners of this event include Lou Mechalides and Kirk Alexander. Jon McKennedy was the winner this spring at Seekonk Speedway.
For ticket or event information, check out the website at seekonkspeedway.com.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR
Cirelli Foods 150 finish:
Pos Driver
1 2 Tom Scully Jr
2 4N Ben Rowe
3 54 Johnny Clark
4 35 Derek Ramstrom
5 52 Dave Darling
6 30 Fred Astle Jr
7 98 Adam Bates
8 88 Rick Martin
9 96 Dave Hutchens
10 47 Kelly Moore
11 60 DJ Shaw
12 17P Ray Parent
13 17A Scott Alexander
14 33 Richie Dearborn
15 85 Nick Ribbie
16 95 Steve O’Brien
17 20 Steven Legendre
18 6 Steve Desmaris
19 58 Ryan Vanasse
20 12 John Dabrowski
21 25 Mike Thomas
22 8 Cassius Clark
23 4s Chris Ross
24 7 Donnie Whitten
25 90 Craig Weinstein
26 97 Joey Pole
27 3 Tom Scully Sr
28 17 Travis Benjamin