Tombarello Wins “Moneybags” Race at Lee USA Speedway
LEE, N.H. — Defending track champ Tommy Tombarello combined a pair of feature wins with an eighth-place finish to win the overall “Moneybags” Tripleheader super-modified point championship Friday night here at Lee USA Speedway.
Driving the Ed and Bobby Witkum winged No. 21 super-mod, Tombarello took $3,200 from the more than $15,000 purse. It was a sweet comeback for the 32-year-old Haverhill driver who was eliminated early in last year’s “Moneybags” special event after being collected in a disappointing accident.
“This car was perfect. I can’t thank everyone enough,” said a thrilled Tombarello in Victory Lane. “This is an important race for us.”
Sparky MacGiver took second in the overall standings along with $1,800 on a tie with Jake Stergios, of Candia, N.H. Haverhill’s Mike Murphy was fourth in overall points.
Tombarello won the first feature after winning the pole position in time trials, covering the 3/8th-mile oval in a lap of 13.838 seconds, averaging 97.628 m.p.h. MacGiver, in the Bob Chabot No. 22 from Atkinson, N.H., was second and Ryan Gath, Chelmsford, was third. Moe Lattime, in the Dick Osborn No. 59 from Kingston, N.H., was fourth and Stergios fifth.
Six-time ISMA champion Chris Perley’s night suddenly ended on the fifth lap in a front straightaway crash. A muffler tip fell off from another car and bounced into the cockpit of Perley’s car, deflecting off his helmet at over 100 m.p.h. Perley instinctively tried to duck to the right and turned the steering wheel, smashing the new Witkum Brothers No. 14 into the wall with extensive damage. Perley walked away unhurt.
With the field inverted, Tombarello started last in the second 25-lap feature segment and placed eighth.
Murphy, another Haverhill driver, stunned the 16-driver field by winning that race while Stergios, MacGiver, Tony Carroll, of Epping, N.H., and Mike Spurling, Rochester, N.H., made up the top five. It was Murphy’s first career feature win.
Again the finishing field was inverted for the final 25-lap feature with Tombarello starting eighth but trailing MacGiver, Stergios and Murphy in points.
Wasting little time, Tombarello zoomed to the outside “groove” on the start of the final 25 laps and kept passing cars.
The race was red-flagged on the 11th lap when Tony Carroll’s No. 2 climbed MacGiver’s right-rear wheel at the end of the front straightaway, went up on two left-side wheels and slammed hard, rear-end first into the first-turn retaining wall. Carroll was taken to Exeter Hospital and later released, suffering a concussion and two broken ribs. His super-mod was totally wrecked.
Tombarello finally shot by challenger Mike Netishen after a wheel-to-wheel, side-by-side race for first on the restart, winning by a car-length. Netishen, Lattime, Stergios and Murphy made up the top five. Had MacGiver finished fifth instead of sixth in the final
segment it would have set up a five-lap match race with Tombarello following the final segment.
Legendary super-mod champion and Indy 500 veteran Bentley Warren was on hand to give out $500 for five “Hard Charger” awards from Bentley’s Saloon while Bob Harrington and Harrington Trucking gave out $500 in pole and outside pole awards plus Hard Luck bonus money for Carroll and Perley.
Sources: Lee USA Speedway PR