Kenny Spencer breaks 2 year winless drought in Pro Stock Action; Jeramee Lillie wins 3rd LM feature; Gerard Berthelette picked up first Sam’s Club Street Stock win; Lenny Guy grabs first Sport Truck win
Seekonk, MA — Kenny Spencer of Taunton jumped out front on the opening lap of the 40 lap Pro Stock feature and never looked back as he picked up his first win in over 18 months at Seekonk Speedway. With Spencer out front, the field behind was jockeying for position. Kyle Casper of Somerset sat in the runner up position, following the Janine’s Machine around the 1/3 mile oval, trying to hold off the challenges of Tom Scully Jr.
Ryan Vanasse was working the outside lane, and moved into the third spot on a lap eight caution, and started to challenge Casper for second, but started to slide back on the outside, but settled in and followed the lead duo until Dick Houlihan slid underneath and took over the third position. On the final restart, Houlihan moved underneath Casper and moved into second.
Over the final fifteen laps, Dave Darling working his way toward the front of the field, and pressured Houlihan for second. The top three waged a hot and heavy battle for position, but in the end, there was no stopping the former LM champ on his quest for victory. Houlihan settled for a season best second, with Darling, Kyle Casper and Kevin Casper, coming back from a mid race spin for a fifth place finish.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Jeramee Lillie of West Warwick, RI used a lap 27 caution to challenge for, and eventually take, his third win of the 2012 season in the 30 lap Late Model main. Bill Bernard of Holliston jumped out front on the second lap, and opened up a sizeable lead, and appeared to be on the way to his first win since opening day in May. The field behind him, however, ran tight with Dave Hutchins Jr running the second spot. Third place swapped back and forth between Lille and Scott Dion over the first ten laps, before Dion fell behind The Hammer.
With seven laps remaining, Lillie moved around the Somerset sophomore, and took over the second position, and was about to settle for second when a caution came out on lap 27, and bunched the field together. On the restart, Bernard and Lille raced wheel to wheel, with Lillie edging The Cardiac Kid at the stripe on the next two laps. On the final lap, Lillie surged out front and wheeled to his third win of the season. Bernard held on for second, with Dylan Estrella moving past Lil Hutch for third at the stripe. Hutchins held on for a career best fourth, with Bobby Pelland III fifth.
In the Sport Truck feature, Lenny Guy of New Bedford jumped out into the lead on lap one, and never looked back in the non-stop 25 lap main event. Nick Uhrig ran second for most of the event, but a surging Rick Martin moved past with three laps remaining and started to chase down Guy before the checkered flew. Martin started seventh in the field, but was able to quickly work his way up to third before chasing down Uhrig. Mike Cavallaro and Scott Dion were fourth and fifth.
Gerard Berthelette of North Smithfield, RI picked up his first career Sam’s Club Street Stock win in one of the most exciting races of the season. Vinny Pangelinan jumped out into the lead on the opening lap, and held on until Berthelette, who started third, moved past and into the lead on lap six. But once out front, it was no Sunday drive, as former Street Stock champion Steve Axon moved along side, and the pair raced wheel to wheel over the final 18 laps, swapping the lead back and forth between themselves. Officially, Steve led six laps overall, but the race had everyone on the edge of their seats, and Berthelette, who has been fighting gremlins most weeks over the past several seasons, was finally able to put it all together for his first Sam’s Club Street Stock win.
Even as Gerard and Axon battled side by side, it was a three car battle to the checkered, as Manny Dias sat behind the lead duo for the final fifteen laps, putting heavy pressure on both cars. On more than several occasions, it appeared that Dias would make the race for the lead a three-wide affair, but with the holes quickly closing, Dias kept his machine lurking behind, waiting for a mistake that ultimately never came. Manny had his hands full as well, as Craig Pianka swapped positions with him as well in the battle. Scott Serydynski came through on the final few laps and took over the fourth position, putting Pianka back to fifth.
Pro Stock Top Ten:1 Kenny Spencer, 2 Dick Houlihan, 3 Dave Darling, 4 Kyle Casper, 5 Kevin Casper, 6 Mike Brightman, 7 Craig Weinstein, 8 Fred Astle, 8 Tom Scully Jr, 10 Dave Silvia.
LM Top Ten:1 Jeramee Lille, 2 Bill Bernard, 3 Dylan Estrella, 4 Dave Hutchins Jr, 5 Bob Pelland III, 6 Scott Dion, 7 Gerry DeGasparre Jr, 8 Greg Cotter, 9 Mike Marfeo, 10 Danny Thibeault
Sport Truck Top Ten:1 Lenny Guy, 2 Rick Martin, 3 Nick Uhrig, 4 Mike Cavallaro, 5 Scott Dion, 6 John Paiva, 7 Darryl Church, 8 Anna Gregoire, 9 Jim Hawkins, 10 Dana Saritelli
Sam’s Club Street Stocks Top Ten:1 Gerard Berthelette, 2 Steve Axon, 3 Manny Dias, 4 Scott Serydynski, 5 Craig Pianka, 6 Scott Bruneau, 7 Charles Beal, 8 Sparky Arsenault, 9 Rey Lovelace, 10 Joe Kohler
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR