Uhrig, Nocella, Swift & Rolando Win on Seekonk Fast Friday Opener
Seekonk, MA — On Friday, June 3rd, Seekonk Speedway’s “Fast Fridays” debuted for the 2011 season. Starting the season with a clean slate, some of New England’s top prospects began their chase for the coveted series crowns. The Seekonk Youth Racing Association 600 and 750 classes, entry level mini cup classes entering their tenth season, Sport Fours, Pure Stocks, and the NEMA Lites circuited the Speedway in an exciting season premiere, paving the way for another year of fast and furious Friday nights at ‘The Action Track of the East.”
In the SYRA 600 feature, trouble struck early for the drivers in the front of the pack. Pole sitter Kiera Carpenter surrendered the lead on the first lap to Shelby Donovan. In turn two of the second lap, Somerset rookie Austin Blais made contact with Carpenter, resulting in a spin for the 88 of Carpenter. On the ensuing lap, leader Shelby Donovan spun at the exit of turn four after contact with Chase Belcher. Following the caution, the remainder of the race was settled under calmer conditions. Curtis Rolando, of Newport, Rhode Island, led the remaining sixteen laps and picked up the victory by approximately four seconds over David Lougee, Shelby Donovan, Austin Blais, and Jason Enos II.
The twenty lap SYRA 750 feature began with turmoil in turn two. A fierce battle on the opening laps, which saw pole sitter Christine Cavallaro drop to fifth and Willy Sanchez move from third to first, spelled trouble on the second lap. Running side by side, Branden Dion spun exiting the second turn, collecting Nick Lascuola, Adam Swift, and Kaitlyn Donovan, all of whom suffered only minor cosmetic damage. After the first restart was waved off due to poor formation, Adam Swift would take the lead on the fourth lap from Willy Sanchez. Swift, a native of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, never looked back. As the field jockeyed in his rear view mirror, Swift held his line and held off a late charge from Nick Lascuola to pick up the victory. Branden Dion, Willy Sanchez, and Kaitlyn Donovan rounded off the top five.
Another division seeking a new champion in 2011 is the Sport Four division. Both Ed Gould and Kyle Pacheco, the pairing that crushed the competition in the heat races, cruised once they got out front in the feature. At the onset, Taylor Therrien of Coventry, Rhode Island, led the opening lap. Jewett City, Connecticut’s Chris Bissell charged to the front on lap two, and widened the margin over second place until the caution waved on lap four after Steve Heath stalled his vehicle in turn 3. Once the green flag waved, Gould soon jumped ahead to the lead and Pacheco moved to second. 3D Racing’s John Lamake spun on lap twelve, but quickly re-fired the car to avoid bringing out the yellow flag. With Pacheco breathing down his neck, Gould struggled to maintain first position. However, a turn four twist by Devin Miranda set the stage for a green-white-checker finish. On the restart with two to go, Warwick’s Ed Gould held firm and picked up the victory in the Dan’s Place #6 by a narrow margin over Kyle Pacheco.
In the co-main event, the NEMA Lites made their first of four scheduled visits to “Fast Fridays.”
In the twenty five lap feature, Igo and Paul Bigelow set the set the pace in the opening stanza until the Feigel Motorsports #71 of Seth Carlson took the lead on lap four. Fairhaven, Massachusetts, driver Dave Moniz tucked in behind Carlson for the rest of the green flag stretch, until a spin on the backstretch by Kevin Park brought out the caution on lap fourteen. After a spin eight laps later by Paul Bigelow, a green-white-checker set off a wild sequence of events. With two to go, Seth Carlson had the lead over David Moniz and Anthony Nocella. Preparing to take the green flag, Carlson stalled in the starting box in turn four, waving off the restart and sending Carlson to the garage. Upon the ensuing attempt at a green-white-checker finish, Dave Moniz apparently missed a gear, opening the door for the Racedepot.com #29 of Anthony Nocella to pass with ease and take home his second victory of the season. Andy Barrows, Anthony Marvuglio, Scott Duell, and Carl Medeiros rounded out the top five.
The Pure Stock feature began under the pace set by pole sitter Randy Moretti. Before Moretti could jump out to a substantial lead, the caution flag waved on lap three as Chris Lima spun the #07 in turn 4 after getting the brunt of a three wide tangle with Ed Flanagan Jr. and Nick Uhrig. Upon the restart, it was clear the Nick Uhrig had the Pure Stock to beat. Within eleven laps, Uhrig drove his car from 16th on the starting grid all the way to the lead, passing Moretti and never looking back on his way to a commanding performance in the #11.
Fast Friday action returns on June 10 with a full slate of Pure Stock, Sport4, SYRA 750 and SYRA 600 action. Admission is just $5.00 for adults, while kids under 12 are FREE. For more information, check us out on facebook, or at seekonkspeedway.com.
Sources: Joel Sebastianelli/Seekonk Speedway PR
Pure Stocks
1) Nick Uhrig, 2) Randy Moretti, 3) Ed Flanagan Jr, 4) Bob Hinckley Jr, 5) Bill Chouinard, 6) Jesse Melberg, 7) Earl Curtin III, 8) Daniel Massa Jr, 9) Amy Heroux, 10) Tom Blackwell, Jr, 11) John Robidoux, 12) Jamie Salley, 13) Dave Derosiers, 14) Doug Benoit, 15) Bill Doyle, 16) Jay Sullivan, 17) Mark Miranda, 18) Derek DeMoura, 19) Melissa Charette, 20) Kerri Lynn Manfredo, 21) Chris Lima, DQ, Mark Boisvert
NEMA Lites
1) Anthony Nocella, 2) Andy Barrows, 3) Anthony Marvuglio, 4) Scott Duell, 5) Carl Medeiros, 6) Ryan Bigelow, 7) Randy Cabral, 8) Brandon Igo, 9) Russ Wood Jr, 10) Kenney Johnson, 11) Dave Moniz, 12) Seth Carlson, 13) Paul Bigelow, 14) Bethany Stoehr, 15) Kevin Park, 16) Christine Briggs
SYRA 750
1) Adam Swift, 2) Nicholas Lascoula, 3) Branden Dion, 4) Willy Sanchez, 5) Kaitlyn Donovan, 6) Ashley Kuhn, 7) Christine Cavallaro, 8) Tylar Nailor
SYRA 600
1) Curtis Rolando, 2) David Lougee, 3) Shelby Donovan, 4) Austin Blais, 5) Jason Enos II, 6) Matt Barboza, 7) Taylor Bowser, 8) Doug Meservey, 9) Brett Meservey, 10) Kiera Carpenter, DQ Chase Belcher