Darling Toils to First Win of the Season
SEEKONK, MA — Kyle Casper was magic at the front for most of the Pro Stock feature, much as last week’s feature. But track champ Dave Darling toiled up from tenth, then used his afterburners, made his well-known outside move and settled in front for the final laps to the checkers. Casper crossed second, but fell afoul of Tech Inspectors and lost his position. Rick Martin had started the pole, exchanged the lead through the first seven laps, and held was only outside the top three for two circuits. He was good for second place on the evening, followed by Kenny Spencer, Mike Brightman and Craig Weinstein.
Kyle and The Radical One broke dead even. Casper took advantage out of turn two and Houlihan stepped up from sixth to third before Spencer went sideways on a flat left rear tire.
Another skirmish followed with Rick and Kyle exchanging the lead while locked in, door-to-door, through lap eight. Casper grabbed the lead. Houlihan nabbed third and had awaited an opportunity. Kevin Casper followed in fourth with Kevin Folan in pursuit.
By lap 10, Kyle, Martin and Houlihan were locked nose-to-tail, looking for any error. Kevin followed and Weinstein settled into fifth. Darling was moving to the front, slicing a slab of sixth. Ryan Vanasse followed and Brightman edged Folan to ninth. Fred Astle moved Folan back again. By lap 20, Kyle still clung to the front, followed by Martin, Houlihan, Weinstein and Darling.
[Photo Gallery] by Michael Rothwell
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Vanasse began a slow fade. Brightman, Astle and Scully, Jr. grabbed position. Darling edged Weinstein and began closing on Houlihan in third and Brightman edged up on Kevin.
Lineham spun to the infield, then retreated to the pits. Kyle retook the lead out of turn three, and Martin settled in, followed by Houlihan, Darling, Weinstein and Brightman. Houlihan got under Martin with Darling on his bumper as a burst of sparks erupted under Astle’s car and on lap 29, Folan spun on the backstretch. He, Kevin, Lineham and Todd Annarummo rolled for the pits.
On the restart, Houli held the outside front with Martin and Darling following. It was wheel-to-wheel out of the starting box, before Kyle went ahead into turn three. Martin and Darling sparred behind them. Scully, Jr. slowed and brushed Brightman before coming to a stop near the wall in turn two after the two had been jousting for position. Scully lost a lap for an intentional caution.
The restart was called back after Houlihan ran to the front and was assessed with jumping the start; now Kyle had Darling alongside for the second restart on lap 31.
Darling dropped in out of turn four and the field stretched out. Brightman climbed past Astle and Weinstein and a rejuvenated Vanasse pulled into seventh behind Astle. But Angelo Belsito spun and Astle spun to avoid him. The scramble had the Scullys together near the wall between three and four, setting up a 5-lap shootout.
Darling, on the outside, was now in his element. Casper again seized the front but his last instae start from the box sent the accordion effect back and Daryl Stampfl found himself hard on the gas with nowhere to go; he dived under and created a three-wide with Mike Mitchell taking the brunt of it as cars went around. The next try saw Kyle out to a half-car advantage, but Darling held on, came back and they were door-to-door at the stripe. Darling went wide and hard and had the lead down the backstretch of the thirty-sixth circuit.
Spencer had passed Weinstein and Vanasse and engaged Brightman underneath in a wild tango before popping through underneath to wrestle away third place.
Rounding out the top ten were Weinstein, Vanasse, Astle, Bob Hussey and Bobby Pelland III.
Cardiac Kid Nails First Repeat Winner of 2014
Bill Bernard’s early season strategy might be feast or famine as he bridged a DNF in week two with wins at the opener and week three. His hot, new Crazy Horse late model was as hot as it has been all season in a no-holds-barred contest. His only problem was hitting a wet spot last week, spinning off the wall and taking a hit in the side from Branden Dion. He brought the car back with repairs this week, and grabbed a third in the heat. The feature went down-to-the-wire with week two winner Dylan Estrella. Bernard held the young charger off with a .112-second margin of victory. Bobby Pelland III made it three, spending the ending laps trying to nose under the skirmishing leaders and coming in just .137 off Estrella’s pace, for third. Champ Gerry DeGasparre bounced back after falling from fourth to eighth in the early going to seize fourth place on the evening and rookie Nick Lascuola powered in for fifth. All of the top five finished within the same second.
Branden Dion and Jeramee Lillie faced off at the outset with Charlie Rose and DeGasparre behind them Bernard and Pelland made up row three, ahead of Estrella and Nick Lascuola. Out of the box, Dion went toward the front as Lillie tried to work back down the stretch. He settled behind Dion as lap one came to a close. Rose, DeGasparre and Bernard followed.
Lap three saw Bernard move past DeGasparre as Dion, Lillie and Rose debated the front. Rose was past Lillie on the following lap, as the latter began a gradual slide that would take him back to eighth before he could recover. DeGasparre also fell back to sixth, but more quickly as Bernard and Estrella nipped at the competition, headed toward the front.
Bernard was by The Hammer on lap four and Estrella passed on lap six. Then both eased Rose out of second and back to fourth.
DeGasparre’s slide ended on lap 7 as Lascuola got underneath and into seventh. Gerry spent 5 laps gathering it back up before starting forward again, as Lillie dropped into his position.
Pelland was moving forward after dropping to seventh on lap three. He passed DeGasparre on lap five and Lillie on seven. Rose fell victim on nine, putting Pelland in fourth.
By lap eight, Bernard was on Dion’s bumper and Estrella made it a trio. Bernard was looking underneath by lap 10 and they were side-by-side the following circuit. Bernard had the lead coming out of turn four and Estrella followed under. Dion dropped in as Pelland closed making a tight line of four making furious circuits of the tarmac. By lap 15, however, Bernard had squeezed a car length ahead of Estrella, who was ten cars up on Dion and Pelland, still nose-to-tail. DeGasparre now had come ahead to follow Pelland.
Bernard moved two cars out on lap 17 as Lascuola moved outside DeGasparre, seeking fifth place. But Vinny Arrenegado spun on the backstretch, bringing a lap 18 caution.
Bernard and Estrella were side-by-side with Pelland and Dion behind them. Bernard had the lead into turn three with Pelland on his bumper and Estrella outside. Dion fell back, leaving a three-car brawl. Estrella came back alongside Bernard and DeGasparre worked to close in fourth, getting past Dion. Lascuola moved in on Dion and resumed their recent rivalry.
Bernard, Estrella and Pelland wound the track in a knot. Bernard slowed to hold the track forcing Pelland to brake hard, but Estrella could not take advantage. Bernard edged back out and Estrella came back alongside his rear quarter. Pelland was trying to find a way underneath as DeGasparre kept pace, watching. Dion and Lascuola were door-to-door over fifth. Bernard finally went to a lead out of turn two, but Eddie LeClerc and Rose got together and spun into turn two.
The race became a three-lap shootout with Bernard and Estrella again followed by DeGasparre and Pelland, then Dion and Lascuola. Again it was wheel-to-wheel out of the box. Bernard had a half car lead out of turn two, but it was Estrella getting the electronic call at the stripe. Bernard got a nose past out of two but they were again inches apart as they fought under the white flag. This time the transponders called it for Bernard. There was a firefight between Pelland and DeGasparre on their bumpers down the back and into the stretch. Bernard won the battle at the wire and Pelland claimed third.
Dion fell to sixth and Lillie had recovered to notch seventh. Arrenegado, Rose, LeClerc and Nathan Tracy filled out the finish in that order.
Axon Dominant in Streets Win
Former Streets champ Steve Axon climbed from eighth to the lead in the first eight laps, then held the front to the finish of the 25-lap Street Stock feature. His car was hooked up and fast on the evening and good decisions kept the motion forward. Once in the lead, he was virtually unassailable, including the only restart of the quickly-unreeling race. Cory Fanning chased him across the line, two seconds back, but lost his second to a technical infraction. Ed Gannon III came on late to garner second on the evening, with Scott Bruneau, Ray Lovelace and Oliveira the top five finishers.
Gerard Berthelette leapt off the pole and led the first seven laps, fighting off Tony Oliveira, then Stephen Potter for six laps. Fanning got sideways early on and Craig Pianka spun with Paul Lallier as the accordion effect reached them. Lallier recovered, losing two slots, but Pianka fell to the rear and struggled, taking it to the pits, sixteen laps before the finish.
On the lap one restart, Berthelette and Oliviera faced off with Gerard taking the front as Oliviera faded and Stephen Potter came up to challenge. Joe Melberg wrestled with his car, swerving all over the backstretch, scattering the field, but the race continued. He took the car to the pits after four grueling laps. Oliviera held third with Potter all over his bumper until Axon moved in to take the slot on lap five. Potter was edged one lap later.
Lap 12 saw Potter into Oliviera’s back, starting a spin, then into Bobby Bettencourt, who also spun, bringing a lap 11 restart. Axon had the pole with Potter outside. Potter went backwards from the green and retired to the pits.
At the back, Rey Lovelace had been rushing forward, going from sixteenth to 14th, past Vinny Pangelinan and Ray Negley, then two more on lap two. He jumped from twelfth to eighth on the third circuit and settled in until the lap eleven restart, which elevated him to fourth behind Gannon.
Bruneau got a big assist on the restart, grabbing three slots into seventh. Lallier followed his three- spot move into eighth and they jousted, getting by Pangelinan in the process with Bruneau taking over sixth. Lallier held seventh through the checkers and Pangelinan finished one spot outside the top ten.
One lap after the lap-eleven restart, Oliviera had a five-car lead. The lead stretched to 12 cars on lap 16. But Fanning and Gannon gathered it up and cut it to 10 on lap 19. Lovelace was trying to keep Bruneau at bay over the final five laps, but Bruneau edged past on lap 22 and held on to grab the position at the checkers.
Gannon was looking under Fanning on the backstretch on lap 21. The pair debated the issue for the remaining four laps to the checkers, and they came brawling across the line with mere inches deciding the issue. Fanning had held on by .051 seconds. Gannon was awarded the battle, however, by Fanning’s DQ in tech.
Lallier outlasted Negley to finish sixth; Chris DeMoura was eighth, followed by Austin Blais and Vinny Pangelinan to round out the top ten.
Murphy Nabs Win in Trucks
Rob Murphy jumped from fourth to the lead on the first two laps of the Sport Trucks feature and sailed off to a 25-lap feature win. His flight was through clean air, as Joey Wakefield engaged Mike Cavallaro in a spirited battle for second behind him. John Paiva waited impatiently until Cavallaro secured second on lap 22, then fought by Wakefield on lap 23 for third. Wakefield came home fourth with last week’s winner Nick Uhrig a tenth of a second back in fifth.
Wakefield and Lenny Guy matched up at the outset, but Guy had problems at the start and fell to third while Murphy went from fourth to second Cavallaro, meanwhile, jumped from sixth to fourth. Paiva moved to sixth, but fell back to seventh and had difficulty moving forward until the middle of the feature.
Chris Lima had engine problems and headed for the pits, but stalled in the entrance on the second circuit, bringing out caution. Wakefield and Murphy set up to dogfight with Guy and Cavallaro behind them. They were neck-and-neck out of the gate, but David Lougee and Marx Biello got together in turn for a spin.
Cavallaro and Guy dueled over third until Shawn DeMello looped out of turn three and Russ Borges went around in the slowdown. Another restart saw the field side-by-side until Murphy edged out in turn three. He had command into lap three and a five-car lead two laps later.
Cavallaro passed Guy into third on the restart as Murphy escaped Wakefield for the lead. Paiva moved up on Guy’s tailgate the next time around. Lenny won the spot back from Cavallaro. A three-lap dogfight saw Cavallaro move up to third again.
Cavallaro fastened on Wakefield’s bumper as Murphy expanded his lead to 10 cars. By lap 15, he was out to 12 cars as the duel behind worked in his favor. But now Paiva was homing in. The trio was nose-to-tail. With five to go, Cavallaro looked under Wakefield and worked his way up alongside as Paiva fumed and locked onto Cavallaro’s bumper.
Cavallaro then rushed ahead with three to go and Paiva followed into third. Murphy had too great a lead for them to close and they flashed across the line in second and third.
Rounding out the top ten came Guy, Chase Belcher, Mike Duarte, Lougee and Borges.
Sources: SeekonkSpeedway.com
Pro Stock
Late Model
Street Stock
Sport Truck