Pitkat New England Short Track Showdown Champion
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
A R Bodies, Valenti Modified Racing Series 50
The Valenti Modified Racing Series highlighted the weekend at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and when the checkers waved Woody Pitkat of Sturbridge MA driving the Mayhew Tools sponsored #52 stood number one on the podium.
Pole sitter Steve Masse of Bellingham MA and Ted Christopher of Plainville CT charged off turn four at the drop of John Spence Jr’s’ green flag but by the end of lap one Pitkat raced by both to lead for the first of nine visits to the head of the pack.
“It was just a great day. It started out frustrating because of the tire stagger we wanted, but it turned out to be an awesome show. We put on a good show for the fans that were here. I want to thank Steve from Gunsmoke, he owns the car and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be here. And this crew won me the race, we chased an electrical problem all day yesterday, it’s all them. All I had to do was hold the wheel. It’s always awesome to run with Ted (Christopher) because he’s always good up here, and its nice to see Steve (Masse) run up front because he does whatever he can do to get to the race track. It was good to see Steve up there contending for the win” Pitkat also added “There’s a lot of stuff going on in your head on what you can do and can’t do and racing with some of these people you don’t know what they’re going to do, so it was good to be up front in clean air.”
Ted Christopher is no stranger to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and it showed with the way he maneuvered through traffic after pitting on lap 12 for adjustments, then used the draft to lead five different times in the event. Christopher’s bid for the win came up short by 0.017 seconds.
“The restarts killed us, but it ran pretty good down towards the end. I was trying to do the best I could but I didn’t want to rev it up too high and bend a valve. But I got to thank all my guys, Jerry and Jerry and all the guys that come up here and help me. And Pettit Racing Engines, everyone was worried about the steel heads but I went the whole way. The last few laps were pretty intense but it always is at New Hampshire (Motor Speedway), that’s what makes it so much fun.”
After getting their new motor installed on Saturday, Masse won his qualifying heat, started from the pole for the feature and never ran out side of the top five. He had a short-lived lead for one lap very late in the race and was in constant battles with Zane Zeiner of Bath PA, Geoff Gearhard of Bozrah CT.and David Schneider of Northport NY. Masse prevailed to finish third.
“This was really like my first race here. I raced the tour here but that was like practice, it was all single file with no passing. Today with the M.R.S. I was up front dicing it up. At the end it got a little dicey, it was my first restrictor plate race and it was fun. The car is in one piece with a third, maybe we can come back next year and win with it. I thought I had a winning car if I was in the right place at the right time. I got the lead with one and a half to go but I’ve never been in the lead here before and didn’t know what to do and drove it in too deep. It’s a tough day when you’re in the lead that late in the race and loose, but I guess that’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway” Masse said.
Pennsylvania driver Zane Zeiner had an outstanding run continuously swapping positions with the lead pack finally settling with a fourth place finish.
“Middle of the race we got free but it never got any worse and when we got the late caution the car actually came back to us, so we were getting great restarts. We definitely had a shot I thought, it’s so close and the timing has to be just right. But I’m really pleased and got to thank Barry Canal, this whole weekend we were on the phone back and forth. We just tried to stay close to the front to put ourself in position which was great. You really feel the draft here and don’t want to loose it, timing and pushing and when to let off is key. The more you do it the better you get.”
Even more outstanding was Geoff Gearhard who competing for the first time on the demanding one-mile oval started mid pack and drove his car wisely to end up with a respectable 5th place finish.
“I’m shocked we finished 5th after the problems we had at Stafford (Motor Speedway) and everything we spent to get here. Its awesome, you go to the track and you want to win but this finish is close. Right off the bat, the car was crazy loose, as the race went on the car got better and we got lucky, we avoided some trouble. I saw (Eric) Goodale’s right rear go down and I don’t know how I avoided him, that was a close one. And that was my first experience with the draft and you definitely feel it, you suck right up, you got to time everything right. I can see where things can get messy in a hurry, It was a blast.”
Heat winners were #13M, Masse—#13, 7,2017Christopher—#52, Pitkat
Summary,
Race-VMRS- New England Short Track Showdown 50
Track-New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon,N.H.–1.056 miles
Time of Race-1:14:10.936
Entrants-26
Margin of Victory-0.017
Best Lap Time-30.016
Beast Speed-126.652
Best Lap by- #52- Woody Pitkat
Cautions-(5)—laps-1-12-40-42-46
Lead Changes-(17)—#52,9 times for 27 laps—#13, 4 times for 12 laps—#58,3 times for 10 laps—#13M, 1 time for 1 lap
unofficial finish
1—52-Woody Pitkat
2—13-Ted Christopher
3—13M-Steve Masse
4—76PA-Zane Zeiner
5—11-Geoff Gearhard
6—19-David Schneider
7—25CT-Anthony Flannery
8—92-Anthony Nocella
9—17-Donnie Lashua
10–12-Rob Richardi Jr.
11–48-Jonny Kay
12–16-Colbey Fournier
13–45-Dan Meservey Jr.
14–4-Jeff Gallup
15–77-Matt Mead
16–69-Jimmy Dolan
17–58-Eric Goodale
18–85-Jeff Rocco
19–6MA-Sammy Rameau
20–97D-Bryan Dauzat
21–83-Mike Willis Jr.
22–99-Richard Savary
23–55-Joe Doucette
24–66-Andy Shaw
25–22-Roy Seidell Jr.
Next VMRS event: July 7, 2017 Claremont Speedway, Claremont, N.H.
Sources: James Snape
photos by Crystal Snape