Dave Darling and Bobby Pelland III Make it Three for the Season; Ryan Lineham makes it Two, and Dan Leach Squeezes his Way to the Sport Trucks Win
Seekonk, MA — Dave Darling is finding 2012 to be just what the doctor ordered after finishing second in the championship chase the last 3 seasons. Over the course of this season, Darling has been one of the fastest and most consistent cars at the speedway. He proved it for the third time last Saturday night, putting his Bristol Toyota Scion Camry anywhere on the track he wanted, and cruised to his first 40 lap win.
Kevin Casper jumped out to the early lead, and held off the challenges of Ken Spencer and Dick Houlihan for the first 11 laps. Mike Brightman took over the second spot and started to pressure the Phil’s Propane Fusion. That lasted for 6 laps before Darling started to make his move. Darling took over second on lap 17, and using a restart on lap 19, took over at the halfway point and never looked back. While Darling was dominating the final laps, a lot of action was going on for second on back. In the closing laps, Brightman had his hands full with Tom Scully Jr, who moved around and into the runner up spot with just 5 laps remaining. Brightman held on for third, while Ryan Vanasse and Tom Scully Sr rounded out the top five.
Bobby Pelland III shook off a rough couple of weeks, and an ill handling car to put his A&A Auto Parts Chevy into Victory Lane for the third time of this young season. In the 30 lap feature, Ron Barboza Jr took off and set the early pace, as Dylan Estrella ran behind. Pelland, who started fifth moved into third in the opening laps and followed the lead pair. It wasn’t until the 25th lap when Pelland made his move. Seeing an opening on the inside, as Estrella was trying to move around Barboza, Pelland stuck the nose of his Impala underneath, and in a 3-wide pass for the lead, moved past Barboza and Estrella, and took over the lead. Following him through was Jeramee Lille, who was trying to pick up his second win of the season. Estrella was knocked out of the race on the following lap, as he and Dave Hutchens made contact down the backstretch.
Gerry DeGasparre moved past Barboza for third on the restart, and followed Pelland and Lille across the line. Barboza and Danny Thibeault were fourth and fifth.
Lenny Guy jumped out to the early lead in the Sport Truck 25 lap main event, while Dan Leach set up Guy, and made his move to the front of the field on lap four. John Paiva followed and moved into second just two laps later. The pair battled tough for the next 15 laps plus, before Paiva gave a push to Leach, and moved under to take the lead with 4 laps remaining. As they moved past the backstretch, Leach returned the favor, and slid underneath Paiva through the final corners. They pushed and shoved as they crossed the start finish line, with Leach picking up the win by half a truck length over Paiva. Guy was right behind in third, while Scott Dion and Barry Shaw Jr completed the top five.
For the second week in a row, Rey Lovelace was leading the Street Stock feature as defending champion Ryan Lineham closed in. This time, however, the pair raced with room between them, and battled side by side for several laps, before Lineham moved past into the lead. Lineham took over just at the halfway point and never looked back. Lovelace finished second, while Bob Bettencourt Jr was third, Scott Bruneau fourth and points leader Paul Lallier fifth.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR