Louie Mechalidas returns to Seekonk Speedway Victory Lane in the Valenti Modified Racing Series; Thompson, Dion and Belmont make their appearances also
Seekonk, MA — Tyngsboro’s Louie Mechalidas brought the 24 car field down to the green flag, and held off the heavy challenges of Les Hinckley through several restarts, and Jon McKennedy at the end to pick up the win at Seekonk Speedway Saturday night. McKennedy slid past Hinckley with less than 15 laps to go, and pushed the Kevin Stuart owned machine to the finish.
Mechalidas and teammate Anthony Nocella brought the field down for the green, and Lou jumped out to the lead, one he would not relinquish for the 100 lap feature. But it was not an easy race for the Tyngsboro native to win. With the exception of a 13 lap stretch, Hinckley, of Windsor Locks, CT, hounded the leader, and on several occasions, pulled up alongside, trying to wrestle the lead away. It wasn’t until a late race restart when McKennedy, driving for Art Barry, slid under Hinckley and took over the pursuit. As Hinckley had done for more than 80 laps, McKennedy started his pressure on the leader, but could not overtake Mechalidas for the win. Tom Barret Jr moved past Hinckley at the end and took over the third position in the finishing order. Hinckley and Rowan Pennink rounded out the top five.
Tyler Thompson has found his way back to Victory Lane in picking up the 30 lap feature for the Late Models. Thompson, of Somerset, took the lead from the drop of the green, and held on through several cautions. Jeramee Lille challenged on the first handful of restarts, but could not get the jump to keep up with Thompson on the starts. 5 time and defending LM Champion Gerry DeGasparre Jr took over the runner up spot late in the race, and was able to keep up through several laps, but Thompson had his Chevy working to perfection on the inside lane.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
This was Thompson’s 3rd career LM win, and his first of the season. DeGasparre held on for second, while Bobby Pelland III was third. Bill Bernard and Dennis Stampfl, who were both involved in an early spin, came back to finish fourth and fifth.
Scott Dion made the move from the Pro Stocks to the Sport Trucks in 2012, and on Saturday, the transition was completed, as Dion picked up his first win in the Sport Trucks. For the first 20 laps of the 25 lap main, Darryl Church was doing his impression of a door knocker, as he tried everything he could think of to upset the Taunton native, but with less than 5 laps to go, Church was passed by Mike Cavallaro, Rick Martin and John Paiva, relegating him to a fifth place finish.
Jimmy Belmont of Seekonk became the newest member of the Seekonk Speedway Winners Club, picking up his first career win in the Street Stocks. Belmont started on the pole, and at one point lost the lead when Scott Cestodio edged him across the line. But Belmont battled back and took back over on the next circuit. The pair raced side by side for several laps.
While the duo were dueling, Ryan Lineham, Scott Serydynski were working their way through the field, and had made their way into the top five with less than five laps to go. On the final circuit, a lapped car moved slowly as the leaders approached at speed. The field was able to avoid disaster, but Cestodio and Lineham came out the worst for wear, as they both fell out of the top ten trying to avoid the slow machine. Serydynski took over second, while Scott Bruneau, Joe Kohler and Lallier rounded out the top five.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR