Dave Darling Doubles Up, Bill Bernard Blasts, Paul Lallier Lasts & Branden Dion Discovers Victory Lane
SEEKONK, MA — Dave Darling used a mid race restart to find himself leading the pack and went on to pick up his second win of the season. Darling started 16th in the 22 car field, and found himself in the right place at the right time over and over again, avoiding several incidents in front of him. By lap ten, he had cracked the top five, and was sitting second on a lap 17 restart when leader Mike Brightman broke and axle, allowing the defending champion to move his Bristol Toyota Scion Camry to the top of the leader board. Once out front, Darling never looked back, starting the season undefeated in the first two events.
Kevin and Kyle Casper brought the field down for the green, with younger brother Kyle edging out Kevin for the first couple of laps before Kevin spun, bringing out the first caution. On the restart, Kyle had Fred Astle lined up outside, and held him off for a lap before Astle took over. On the fifth circuit, it was Kyle’s turn to spin, with Kevin Folan getting the credit for the assist.
Mike Brightman worked his way onto the outside of the front row on the restart, and the pair started fighting back and forth for the lead. Astle took over for a couple of laps before Brightman squeezed under and took over the lead on lap 13. A restart on lap 15 put Darling third, behind Brightman. Darling took over second before the final caution came out on lap 17. As the field came down for the A&C Recycling Green, Brightman felt an axle break, taking him out of contention. Darling took over at the front, and pulled away from Astle and the rest of the field for his second win in two events.
While the 6 time champion held on for second, Dick Houlihan was third, with Kyle Casper coming back through the field for fourth. Mike Mitchell earned his first top five in the Pro Stocks with his fifth place finish.
Bill Bernard spent the first half of opening day racing for the lead before an incident took him out of contention. This week, while it looked that there may be a repeat of week one, fortune was on the side of the 60 year old Holliston native, as he picked up his first win of the season.
Several early cautions allowed Bernard to move quickly from his seventh starting position, and by the end of the second lap, his machine sat atop the leader board. Bill had his share of challengers, but used his drag racing experience to hit his mark each time. By the one third mark, opening day winner Jeramee Lille had moved up to second, and started to put some pressure on The Cardiac Kid. Lille was strong on the outside, but didn’t have enough to muster enough to squeeze past.
A lap 18 restart allowed defending LM champion Gerry DeGasparre Jr to move into second, and the six-time title holder tried to push Bernard, but he could not mount a challenge on the leader. With five circuits remaining, Lillie moved back into second after a restart, and with a green-white-checker run coming, he had one more shot.
As the pair raced across the line under the white flag, Lillie edged ahead of Bernard, but couldn’t complete the mission, as Bernard edged Lillie across the stripe under the checkered flag. Bernard held on for second, with DeGasparre third, Bobby Pelland III and Ryan Lineham rounding out the top five. Both Pelland and Lineham had to work through the field after early race contact found them coming from the back.
For the second year in a row, Paul Lallier found himself as the winner in week two. This time, he was able to celebrate with all his family, fans and friends. Paul took over the lead on lap eleven, and never looked back for his first win of the season.
Chris DeMoura took off at the drop of the green and led the first circuit before the first slow up of the event came out. Bob Bettencourt moved into second, and on the restart, put the blue and white #21 to the front, edging out DeMoura. Bettencourt set the pace for a few laps before the N Dighton native took back over. The pair swapped the lead back and forth several times before the pair made contact on lap ten, sending DeMoura into the pits and Bettencourt around on the back stretch.
While the fight at the front of the pack wasn’t a hard one, the action was going on for fourth on back. Rey Negley, Crystal Serydynski, Scott Serydynski and Justin Travis were all fighting amongst each other for position outside of the top five, swapping positions back and forth between them.
Lallier took off at the green, and held off Craig Pianka and Charles Beal on the final few restarts. Beal held on for second, Pianka third, opening day winner Rey Lovelace fourth and Jimmy Belmont fifth.
Former SYRA 750 champion Branden Dion jumped past early leader Lenny Guy on lap four, and held on through a late race restart to pick up his first career Sport Truck win. Guy led the first three circuits before the 15 year old took over.
Branden set the pace early, and had a long green flag run, where he was able to hit his marks on the track, and get more comfortable in only his second truck race. While the rookie was able to stay comfortably out front, the action behind him was hot and heavy. Rob Murphy had settled into second for the first half of the event, holding back the charges John Paiva.
Paiva raced hard and moved into the runner up position at the halfway point. He tried to close in on the youngster, but without a late race caution, couldn’t make up the ground. Mike Cavallaro looked like he was going to be able to make a charge, but slid back a little while he battled with Rick Martin. Mike moved into third on a lap 19 restart but couldn’t make the run to the front.
With only a handful of laps remaining, the rookie had to earn his victory, as he and John Paiva lined up for the race to the checkered. With the drop of the green, Dion took off and held on for a half a truck length victory over Paiva and Cavallaro, who was working the outside over the final laps. Murphy and Martin rounded out the top five.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR