Stefanik and Astle split DAV Fall Classic 100’s. Cantor, Vanasse, Mitchell and Martin also score
Seekonk, MA — Mike Stefanik and Fred Astle Jr spilt the victories in the 17th Annual DAV Fall Classics twin 100’s Sunday in front of several thousand people. Ryan Vanasse picked up the win in the 50 lap Late Model main event. Adam Cantor scored his first Seekonk Speedway victory in the NEMA 25 lap feature. 2009 Street Stock Champion Mike Mitchell was victorious in the Street Stock Open, and Rick Martin won his sixth career DAV trophy in the Seekonk Sports Truck/Mini Stock feature.
In the 100 lap True Value Modified 100 lap feature, Mighty Mike Stefanik won his first True Value Modified Racing Series win after taking the last qualifying position in the last qualifier on Saturday. Having to start 22nd out of 24 cars, Stefanik rode around near the back of the field before charging to the front after the halfway point, it was strategy that helped him to win his first race at Seekonk. “We made a decision to save our tires for the second half of the race” Stefanik said. “That was harder for me to do, ride around and wait, then the driving to the front part.”
Dwight Jarvis and Rowan Pennink raced wheel to wheel for the first few laps before Pennink overtook the former TVMRS champion for the lead. Rob Goodenough ran third with six-time champion Vinnie Annarummo running fourth. Joey Jarvis rounded out the top five. The first of five cautions came out on lap 11, when Carl Pasteryak spun in turn 2.
Pennink continued to show the way, as Goodenough settled into third place. By the time the field rolled around for the 15th lap, Todd Annarummo started to show some muscle, and moved into the top four. Richard Savary worked his way into the top five by lap 25, and ran there until the second caution came out on lap 45.
On the ensuing restart, Acustney VT’s Jarvis made a move, and took over the lead. Pennink settled into second, with Annarummo third. Steve Masse and Savary raced side by side for fourth, swapping positions back and forth. At the halfway point, Jarvis had opened up a comfortable lead over Pennink, Annarummo, Savary and Goodenough. Masse, Ryan Preece, Jimmy Dolan, Joey Jarvis, and Jacob Dore rounded out the top ten.
At this point, Stefanik started to put 30+ years of modified experience to work, and started moving through the field on the outside. When the third caution came out on lap 68, Stefanik was sitting sixth. Jarvis continued to show the way around the 1/3 mile, and was still turning impressive laps, but the 7-time NASCAR Modified Champion was on the way. When the caution came out on lap 85, Stefanik was lining up on the outside of the front row. The pair raced side by side for the next couple of laps before Stefanik moved to the front on lap 86, and shut the door a couple of laps later. Jarvis continued to hound the leader, trying to find the way back to the front. The final caution came out on lap 95, when Jimmy Dolan spun on the front stretch.
Per True Value Modified Racing Series procedures, any restart with 5 or less laps remaining, the field starts single file. That sat just fine with Stefanik, as he took of on the green. But it would not be an easy final five laps. Jarvis continued to search, and with three laps remaining, he looked to the outside, Little by little, he was making one final push, and as they came off of turn four, the pair were side by side. As they crossed the stripe, Stefanik edged Jarvis by .053 for his first career win at Seekonk Speedway. Jarvis was second, with Pennink, Masse and Preece rounding out the top five.
In the 100 lap Pro Stock feature, Fred Astle Jr picked up his first career DAV Fall Classic, edging out Rick Martin for the win, is a race for survival. Astle crashed out of his Qualifier on Saturday, and had to take a champion’s provisional to take the green. Rick Martin and Tom Scully Sr brought the field down for the green, with six-time DAV Champion Martin jumping out and leading the first 20 laps in the feature. Dave Darling, a two time DAV winner raced Martin side by side for several laps, taking the lead for the first time at lap 21. Martin took back over, but at the quarter mark, Darling took over and took off in the process. Martin pitted on a lap 27 caution, and had to come back through the field. Bobby Tripp was up to second at this point, but fell to third when Mike Brightman moved into contention.
Through the middle portion of the event, Darling was at the helm, and appeared to be on his way to the win, opening up leads of over a half straightaway at times. While Darling was dominating the race, Astle continued his march toward the front, moving into the top five at lap 40. A restart at lap 46 helped him close up the distance and slide into third place. At the half way point, Darling, Brightman, Astle, Bobby Tripp and Jake Vanada sat in the top five. Jody Tripp, Ken Spencer, Russ Hersey, Ray Parent and Tom Scully Jr rounded out the top ten.
After a lap 55 caution, which saw Bobby Tripp and Vanada get together, Astle moved into second and started to put pressure on the leader. Astle sat several lengths behind Darling. There was little passing at this point, as it was apparent that many competitors had started to lose grip on the 1/3 mile bullring. A flurry of cautions appeared over the next 20 laps, which put more pressure on Darling, as Astle took several shots at the lead during each restart.
It was during this flurry that gave Astle another shot for the lead. After a restart on lap 88, that the 88 of Russ Hersey got turned as the field was coming up to speed. Hersey bounced off the wall, and suffered race ending damage. The 88x of Jeramee Lillie was also involved in the incident. Astle was able to edge Darling across the strip on lap 89, and just as Darling edged back out front down the backstretch, another caution came out, allowing Astle to take the point on the ensuing restart.
As they headed into turn three to complete lap 90, Darling seemed to brush the outside wall, and when Ray Parent moved underneath, the two made contact in the corner, with Darling spinning into the infield. Martin moved into second on the restart, and pressures Astle to the checkered flag. Parent finished third, with Brightman and Dave Hutchins rounding out the top five at the end. This was Astle’s first win in a 100 lap feature, and his first DAV win.
“When I got into second, I looked up and asked my old man for some help,” an emotional Astle stated. “I can’t thank Pops enough. I just wish he was here to see it.”
In the 50 lap Late Model main, Ryan Vanasse inherited the lead on the opening lap, as pole sitter Matt Breault went around at the drop of the green. From there, he was able to set the tempo on the happenings behind him. Mike Cavallaro followed Vanasse for several laps before falling back to third on a lap 12 restart. From there, it was Bill Bernard settling into second, and putting some pressure on Vanasse.
Gerry DeGasparre Jr started sixth on the field, and ran quietly through the first 20 laps, running behind Kyle Casper in sixth. Gerry didn’t crack the top five until lap 17. Jimmy Rosenfield ran fourth at this time. As they crossed at the halfway, Vanasse led Bernard, Cavallaro, DeGasparre and Ray Parent in the top five.
Gerry started to close in the distance past the halfway, and slid into third on lap 27. On a lap 33 restart, Gerry moved into the second position, with Parent squeezing past Bernard for third. With a lap 46 caution, DeGasparre had one last shot at bringing home the one trophy that has eluded him. Vanasse and DeGasparre raced wheel to wheel for several laps, with DeGasparre moving to the top of the leader board on lap 48. But it was not to be, as the 2009 Late Model Champion was able to find just a little more underneath the hood of the Team V Transport Chevy and edge out Gerry for his second consecutive DAV Trophy by .052 seconds.
“This is a dream season for us,” Ryan exclaimed. “This one is for Dick & Jackie Houle. They’ve been with us for a long time, and I know they wanted this one.”
A year ago in this race, Adam Cantor was not in the show due to mechanical failures the day before. He made up for it in a big way in 2009, picking up the NEMA Midget 25 lap feature. Cantor followed pole sitter Erica Santos for the first six laps before taking over. By the halfway point, Will Wall had moved into second. Nokie Fornoro and Aaron Wall rounded out the top five.
Over the last 12 laps, Cantor had his hands full, as he had to battle lapped traffic and the Wall brothers. As they darted through the cars in front of them Will and Aaron closed in on Cantor, and tried to move past. But Cantor was not to be denied, as he held on for his first win at Seekonk, over Will Wall, Aaron Wall, Nokie and Erica Santos.
The Street Stocks at Seekonk have become one of the most competitive classes anywhere, and Sunday, they lived up to the hype. Former Street Stock DAV winners Scott Serydynski and Jim Silvia lined up on the front row and set the tone for the 30 laps from the get go. Silvia jumped out and led the first lap, with the divisions all time win leader coming back on lap two, as they exchanged paint hues around the speedway. By the fourth lap, 2009 Street Stock Champion Mike Mitchell started lurking in the third spot. The front tandem continued to run wheel to wheel, with Silvia taking the lead back on lap six. But that would only last one lap, as Scott took back over. Mitchell had closed in on the battle, and several times tried to make it a 3 wide bid for the lead.
On lap 12, he moved into second, and just shy of the halfway, Mitchell moved into the top of the leader board. Another caution at lap 18 closed up the field when Steve Axon went around. Silvia headed to the pits at this time, not to return. Sparky Arsenault was starting to make some noise, and sat third on the restart. Chris DeMoura and Mark Henshaw Jr rounded out the top five.
Serydynski edged out front one more time, and set the pace until lap 24, when Mitchell moved past at lap 24. The duo swapped the lead back a couple more times over the final five laps, with Mitchell picking up his first DAV trophy by less than 2/10 of a second over Serydynski. Arsenault, DeMoura and Henshaw rounded out the top five.
In the 30 lap Seekonk Sport Truck/Mini Stock main, it came down to two of the most dominant trucks over the past five years. Mike Cavallaro made a rare appearance behind the wheel of his Rebel Racing Chevy, and brought the firld down to the green. John Paiva moved into second for the first couple of laps before 10 time feature winner in 2009 Rick Martin moved back into second on lap four. From there, the top two ran nose to tail. Lenny Guy, who started 12th, had moved into the top three by the 2/3 mark, with Mike Ronhock and Steve Dumas into the top five behind him.
When the caution came out on lap 23 for a stalled Anna Gregoire, Martin had fallen a couple of lengths behind the three time Truck Champion. The pair raced wheel to wheel for the next several laps, with Martin overtaking Cavallaro for the lead on lap 24, and never looked back. Martin became the first driver to win six DAV trophies in his career, breaking a tie with NEAR Hall Of Fame Inductee George Savary. Martin has four wins in the Pro Stocks and two in the Trucks. Guy held on for third, with Ronhock and Dumas rounding out the top five. Billy Clark finished sixth, with Beth Adams, John Dumas, Jariah Roderick and John Paiva rounding out the top ten.
“We had to make room for new trophies, and the DAV’s are the ones I keep,” Martin said with his mom and dad looking on. “These are the ones that mean the most.”
On Saturday night, Robin Berghman picked up her first career Pro4 Modified win in front of her hometown crowd. Starting third on the field, she quickly moved up and inherited the lead when Dave Richardi spun out of the lead when he lost traction on the front stretch. Once out front, the only challenge came from Cory Cleary, who had several attempts at the lead on restarts, but could not muster a challenge up under green. Cleary finished second, with Brian Vincent, Andy Major and Phil Lausier rounding out the top five. Points leader Norm Wrenn was involved in an accident and failed to finish.
Anthony Nocella took home the NEMA Lites honors, winning their 25 lap main event. Ed LeClerc set the early pace, leading the first ½ of the race before Nocella moved up from his tenth starting position and took the lead. Once out front, he was never headed, and picked up his second win of the season at Seekonk. LeClerc fell to third in the final laps when Joe Mikitarian took over the runner up spot. Anthony Marvuglio and Randy Cabral rounded out the top five.
The Pure Stocks completed their season Saturday with a 25 lap feature, as Lou Robinson picked up the win. While he went from green to checker out front, the battles behind him were hot and heavy. 2009 Champion Scott Cestodio dropped to third when Nick Uhrig moved past on lap two. They swapped the runner-up position seven times officially between them over the first 23 laps. Jamie Salley used a couple of timely cautions and moved into the top three with only four laps remaining and into second on the final circuits. Uhrig fell off the pace over the final lap, costing him several positions. Randy Moretti finished fourth behind Cestodio, with Carlos Silvia rounding out the top five.
Casey Sanchez capped off the 2009 SYRA 750 season with the DAV trophy in his final SYRA event. Casey is making the move up to the Saturday ARC classes in 2010. He was followed by Bob Perry, who was running his first 750 class main, Adam Swift, Chris Igo Jr, Jake Spillers and Jacob Swift.
Dave Hutchins Jr capped off a championship season in DAV Victory Lane. Dave jumped out front at the drop of the green and never looked back. Several drivers took turns leading the rest of the pack, including Nick Lascoula, Willie Sanchez and Tylar Nailer. Sanchez won that battle, taking home the second spot, with Lascoula, Nailer and Branden Dion rounding out the top five.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR