The Valenti Modified Racing Series kicked off their 2015 season this past Saturday night at the Monadnock Speedway for the Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash 100. Todd Szegedy took down the win in the Kevin Stuart # 85. Todd Szegedy and Matt Mead led the field to the green as Szegedy would lead the field into turn 1. Woody Pitkat would move into fourth at the start of the race. The first caution came out on lap 2 as Richard Savary and Dwight Jarvis collected front end damage. Jarvis would not return in the event. On the restart, Szegedy would lead as Kirk Alexander would move into second and Pitkat. Alexander passed Szegedy for the lead on lap 11 and a lap later Pitkat would move into second.
Russ Hersey would pass Matt Mead for fourth on the outside on lap 19. Hersey would get after passing Szegedy on lap 23. The second caution of the event would come out on lap 24 as Kevin Iannarelli would spin in turn 4. On the restart, Alexander would lead with Pitkat and Szegedy battling for second. Pitkat would get second position. At halfway, it was Alexander, Pitkat, Szegedy, Hersey, and Wrenn rounding out the top 5.
The third caution came out on lap 55 as Dylan Kopec was near the turn 4 wall. On the restart, Szegedy would move into second and retake the lead from Kirk Alexander on lap 57. The fourth caution would come out on lap 60 for a spin by Mike Douglas, JR. On the restart, Russ Hersey would move into second on lap 61. The fifth caution would come out on lap 69 as Richard Savary made slight contact with Mike Douglas, JR as Anthony Nocella was also involved. Kirk Alexander ran in the top 5 all night would go into the pits. On the restart, Szegedy would lead with Pitkat second. Rowan Pennink would pass Hersey for third.
The sixth caution would come out on lap 72 as Matt Mead would have front end damage to his car. The seventh caution would come out on lap 73 as Mike Willis, JR and Carl Mederios would spin. On the retart, Todd Patnode would move into fifth. There would be a pair of cautions on lap 74 for two different spins for Dylan Kopec and Mike Holdridge. On the restart, Szegedy would lead as Todd Patnode would pass Russ Hersey for fourth. The final caution would come out on lap 79 as Les Hinckley made contact with Dave Schneider. Sche Richard Savary and Todd Annarummo were also involved. On the restart, Szegedy would lead. Patnode and Pennink would battle for third. Patnode would complete the pass. Todd Szegedy would not look back as he won the Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash 100.
Szegedy talked about his win. ” The group of guys that I work with here have a lot of heart in racing. They love to do it. We enjoy our company. We have a good time at the track. Hard work pays off. We made some calls during practice. I knew the car was good but we made some adjustments made some calls. We worked as a team making those calls and it paid off. It’s just nice to know that we can put things together. It’s tough to make things work and have a plan to get it to work.” Szegedy Said
Szegedy was happy that the plans worked. For Szegedy, its not just about him winning. It’s all about seeing everyone on the team that is happy.
On the restarts, Szegedy knew he could not get excited but keep a level head and just run his line. ” It’s easy to jump on the throttle and try put it down. All it does is makes matters worse. You just gotta keep your pace and hopefully that’s good enough.” Szegedy Said
Woody Pitkat is off to a great start this season. Pitkat would finish second in the season opener on Saturday night. Pitkat started 5th in the event and rolled up to third. Pitkat was following Kirk Alexander around the track as he was try to learn some stuff for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event that will be held on July 25th.
He talked about battling with Todd Szegedy for the lead. ” A couple of times I ran Todd (Szegedy) real hard on the outside. I led those laps when the caution come out. I don’t know if they completed those laps. I gotta go talk to them about that because I feel like I should of probably been the leader when the caution come out because I beat him to the line and I think he even thought that one time because he kind of lagged back behind me.” Pitkat Said
Pitkat still feels its a great start to the 2015 season. He learned a lot of things to make the car better for the next race.
Todd Patnode would finish third in the event on Saturday night. Patnode talked about the battle for third with Rowan Pennink. ” It’s part of racing. Don’t really think of it more than that. We had a decent car. We missed it just a little on the setup. We started further back then the other guys that finished up there. We tried to take our time.” Patnode Said
Patnode thought he could get Woody Pitkat at the end but ran into two lapped cars and it canceled out any chances for Patnode to catch Woody Pitkat.
Rowan Pennink battled with Todd Patnode close to the end of the race as Patnode would pass Pennink for third. Pennink would call it hard racing. ” I might of got up a little bit high on Todd (Patnode). If I did I apologize to him. ” Pennink Said
Pennink’s car was tight in the center. He ran it hard but washed up a little bit. It went away on him at the end of the race.
Les Hinckley had a crazy night but overall was happy with a top 5 finish. He had a very good car in the beginning portion of the race. For Hinckley it was really hard to know what the car was doing because the car was pretty much doing everything. The team got the car dialed in towards the end of the race. ” It was a good finish. Just tore up a lot of stuff up.” Hinckley Said
A bolt broke in the trailing arm on the right rear during practice. When that happened the whole rear came back which ripped the driveshaft out of the transmission as it broke a bunch of parts. Hinckley is thinking about 4 or 5 events on the Valenti Modified Racing Series but unsure. Hinckley’s son Allen is doing well. Allen was playing baseball on Saturday. He had 2 hits and a couple stolen bases in the game. Hinckley will run the Northeast Race Cars And Parts Tri Track Open Modified Series for Wayne Darling beginning at Lee USA Speedway on May 17th.
Kirk Alexander came back to race with the Valenti Modified Racing Series on Saturday night. Alexander believes he missed the setup a little bit. He did lead a lot of the race. ” Something got whacked down on one of the restarts and so we came in and swapped tires. I was in fourth. We just got tangled up with the junk in the back but it was a little late to come in and wore the right rear off a little bit. I was trying to pace myself and Woody (Pitkat) behind me. We were literally running half throttle down the straights(straightaway). Just trying to save the car. Just weren’t enough.” Alexander Said
Alexander is planning to running the full schedule on the Valenti Modified Racing Series. He is also planning to run the Northeast Race Cars and Parts Tri Track Open Modified Series. Alexander would finish in the 13th position.
Dave Schneider had a crazy night. Schneider finished last in the heat race and in the consi. They made some adjustments for the 100 lap race. Schneider started in the 23rd position. He worked his way into the top 10. He spun on lap 79 but would finish in the 14th position.
Richard Savary would finish in the race in the 19th position on Saturday night. Savary started off the day with a good car in practice. ” What happens in MRS with that drawing system is just luck of the draw. We had a bad draw started in the back of the heat. Had some good cars. Ended up 7th in the heat. Had to run the consi which was no big deal. We just ran around in the back.”
Savary started in the back and planned to stay in the back. He pitted and did the tire change. He started to come up from the back but got caught up in someone else’s mess coming from the back. He could not return in the event after having a hole in the radiator.
The next race for the Valenti Modified Racing Series is on Friday night May 22nd at the Stafford Motor Speedway for an 80 lap race.
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz/Yankeeracer.com Photos By: Chip Cormie
The Valenti Modified Racing Series kicked off their 2015 season this past Saturday night at the Monadnock Speedway for the Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash 100. Todd Szegedy took down the win in the Kevin Stuart # 85. Todd Szegedy and Matt Mead led the field to the green as Szegedy would lead the field into turn 1. Woody Pitkat would move into fourth at the start of the race. The first caution came out on lap 2 as Richard Savary and Dwight Jarvis collected front end damage. Jarvis would not return in the event. On the restart, Szegedy would lead as Kirk Alexander would move into second and Pitkat. Alexander passed Szegedy for the lead on lap 11 and a lap later Pitkat would move into second.