Darling at Top of His Game, Wins Pro Stocks
DARLING AT TOP OF HIS GAME, WINS PRO STOCKS
Dave Darling came from eleventh place on the starting grid to eventually wrestle the lead away from Dylan Estrella on lap 25 of the scheduled 40, then ran in clear air the rest of the way to the checkers. Kevin Casper then moved in and on the final lap got enough of his nose past Estrella to steal second by 33 thousandths of a second. Estrella’s third was followed by Tom Scully, Jr. and Ryan Vanasse to represent the top five.
The fabric of the race changed as it progressed.
At the outset, Mike Brightman jumped off the pole position to lead the first 12 laps. Brightman and Austin Blais were briefly door-to-door after the green, but Brightman pulled ahead. Blais settled to the low groove for the chase but was assailed by Radical Rick Martin, who had started third. Martin pushed past Blais on lap three and set his sights on the leader.
Scully, meanwhile, was getting past Mike Mitchell into fifth, behind Estrella. Estrella edged Blais out of third while Darling was passing Kyle Casper into seventh. There was a lot of action at mid-pack, with Vanasse starting tenth, owing to his win on the previous feature. Vanasse and Darling had sparred in the early laps, then he had engaged Mitchell and followed Darling, passing Blais as he faded back after lap ten.
Kevin Casper was equally involved in the middle of the field, sparring with brother Kyle, Darling, Vanasse and then Scully. He passed Martin into fourth on lap 13, landing between Darling and Scully,
At the front, Estrella worked his way past Martin and engaged Brightman but after a brief duel, Brightman suddenly lost power and Estrella vaulted to the lead. Brightman was forced to retreat to the pits.
As Estrella took over the lead, Everett’s teammate Fred Astle, Jr. got onto his tail and looked for a way around for four laps until Darling moved into third and challenged Fred for second. They dueled for five laps before Darling edged him out of the runner-up spot and began working on Estrella.
When Darling cleared Astle, Estrella was five cars ahead. While Kevin Casper began a duel with Astle, Darling closed in on the leader. Casper challenged Astle as Scully played observer. Vanasse was trailing Scully and Blais, now on an upswing, was pursuing The Rocket. Bobby Pelland III was eighth behind him.
At the front, Darling closed the gap on lap 18 and set to work. He looked underneath on lap 20 and pressed forward. They came door-to-door and Estrella attempted to drop under, but Darling anticipated the move and kept the door closed. Casper moved up and took over the spot. Blais rushed underneath before Astle could drop and they dueled while Pelland and Martin waited behind them. With ten to go, Darling commanded the lead ahead of Estrella, Casper, Scully, Vanasse and Blais. Martin and Pelland were wheel-to-wheel but Martin pulled ahead. Pelland looked to drop under but couldn’t find the room.
Six laps remained and the field was single file and individuals were far enough apart, that the ending laps were a high-speed pursuit to the checkers. On the final lap, however, Casper augured in on Estrella enough to get underneath and nip him at the line for second.
Sixth overall went to Blais, followed by Martin, Pelland, Astle, Kyle Casper, Mitchell, and Billy Joerres.
ARRENEGADO: GREEN TO CHECKERS!
Vinnie Arrenegado put a real stamp on the early season by hauling down the first stop on the Late Models’ Phil’s Propane Triple Crown with a fifty-lap sortie at the front of the field. Arrenegado came off the outside pole, escaped polesitter Tyler Tomassi – and everybody else in the 19-car field for the entire race. It was a tour-de-force for the Late Model veteran, but not the easiest as he had revelations in his mirror that others were coming to try to steal his lead. Paul Newcomb was there until lap 17, then Tom-the-Bomb Adams replaced him. One more lap around and Derek Gluchacki arrived in third, prompting memories of the recent past when he and Adams had spent the latter part of the race swapping the lead.
But Vinnie charged on unheaded, firing home with a half-second lead over Adams; Gluchacki notched third, and Ryan Lineham and Mark Jenison came in to round out the top five.
Arrenegado set a torrid pace, such that five laps in, the field was stretched out single-file. Newcomb pursued, but Arrenegado continued to add to his lead, and Gerry DeGasparre, Jr. was working over Newcomb’s bumper and in turn had Jenison and Nick Uhrig looking to unseat him. Mark Hudson powered past Tomassi onto Uhrig’s tail with Chase Belcher stepping up to duel Tomassi for position.
Ten laps in, the order was still the same. On the next circuit, Lineham got under Belcher and into eighth. While Belcher and Dan Johnson filibustered for position, Stephen Potter brought out the first caution on lap 16 with a solo spin on the backstretch.
Vinnie took a nose on Newcomb at the strip and was solidly in the lead by turn four. DeGasparre got under Newcomb and behind them, Uhrig was engaged alongside Jenison. Two laps down the line and Arrenegado was building another lead, two cars ahead of DeGasparre. Uhrig and Jenison were still working each other over for fourth behind Newcomb. Adams had arrived in sixth while Hudson and Lineham brawled behind him. Gluchacki got past Lineham and Dan Johnson arrived to trade some paint with Lineham. Lap 21 again saw the field running single file.
Adams spun and continued but Bobby Tripp was forced into the grass calling a caution. Dane Saritelli headed pitside. It had started when Uhrig banged into Newcomb and they both ended at the back for the restart. Since Adams had continued after the spin, he was not considered an accident car and resumed his place. With Newcomb and Uhrig going to the rear, he found himself in the second row behind Arrenegado and DeGasparre.
It was dead even across the stripe on the lap 22 restart. Vinnie nosed ahead and Adams pushed under DeGasparre, then took second. Jenison took a shot at Gerry and then Hudson ducked in underneath. Gluchacki came into third behind Adams on the caution and Lineham ran fourth, just ahead of Jenison and Hudson. Again, the field quickly strung out. Jenison and Lineham fought over fourth place while Hudson awaited their results, looking for an opportunity.
Vinny got a couple lengths of breathing room and Adams had the same over Gluchacki while the firefight between Lineham and Jenison continued. DeGasparre had moved back up to wrestle with Hudson. Keith Caruso, Tomassi and Mike Duarte followed. Spaces stayed even between the top three, but they had a ten-car breakaway over Lineham, who led the rest of the field. Tomassi passed Caruso and then Duarte with fifteen laps remaining.
From there, the finishing positions had been decided. All that remained was a punishing, high-speed tour all the way to the checkered flag with Arrenegado coming down with the big win.
Adams grabbed second, followed by Gluchacki. Lineham was fourth and Jenison fifth. DeGasparre, Hudson, Tomassi, Duarte, and Belcher completed the top ten. Newcomb was just outside of that in eleventh.
BAXTER BROADSIDES SPORTSMAN IN CAUTION-FREE FEATURE
Chad Baxter came home the winner in the Sportsman division after Justin Travis led them from green to checkers – only to be disappointed by a DQ for a tech infraction. Baxter, however, had earned his place in victory lane. He had started on the low side of the second row, dropped to fifth on lap one then climbed back into second, all before crossing the stripe into lap three.
While Travis leapt off the pole to grab the front, where he continued throughout the feature, Baxter saw Captain Fun – Craig Pianka – slide past from his fifth place start. But Baxter, meanwhile, had to sink or swim in a crowd. He fired up and before lap two arrived, he’d gone back past Pianka as well as Kid Chaos (Corey Fanning). Passing Fanning was easier than getting away from him. Fanning dogged Baxter for the remainder of the 25 laps to collect second to Chad’s win.
Scott Bruneau is not to be overlooked, as well: he slid in behind Fanning on lap two and followed him to third two cycles later. Lest we forget Captain Fun, Pianka passed Donald Perry into fifth on lap four and the top five remained rock solid for the rest of the race. Without cautions, the field stretched out single file and ran like a long snake from start to finish. Elapsed time on the 25 lapper was recorded as 6 minutes, 22 seconds. Average speed, then, came out to 78.385 – not bad for the Sportsmen. Statistically, Baxter ran best, setting the best lap speed at 79.654 mph.
Once at the front, Travis ran hard and built a substantial lead, at times as much as ten cars. Once settled in, Baxter was able to keep the separation from stretching further. He had to be equally concerned with Fanning’s antics behind him, as the Chaotic Kid was looking for any way he could move into Baxter’s space. And the threat of the steady Bruneau behind Fanning was equally goading. Baxter was equally concerned with holding his pursuers at bay as he was at overhauling the leader.
Midway through, some action at midpack saw some interactions between competitors: Mike Brightman ducked under Donald Perry into sixth. Kyle Casper was also involved in the episode and latched onto Mighty Mike’s bumper. They chased Tyler and Paul Lallier as the quartet ran sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth for the rest of the way to the checkers.
The field was moving so fast and without cautions, a good deal of mixing with lapped traffic occurred over the final ten laps. Baxter was able to move through them quickly and began closing in on Travis until, with three laps to go, Perry was smoking badly from his right front and losing speed. His concern with the problems did not allow him to see Travis approaching and the latter had to slow radically to avoid him. Baxter closed in before Travis could compensate, but was unable to entirely cut the gap. Perry moved up and Travis roared on with Baxter still trying to close the distance.
The final laps were a high-speed parade to the stripe. Baxter had the win, while Fanning made runner-up. Bruneau, Pianka and Tyler Lallier were the top five, while Paul Lallier, Casper, Jesse n Melberg, Austin Erickson, and Adam Pettey completed the top ten.
SHAW BECOMES: FIRST TRUCKS DOUBLE-WINNER IN 2019
Barry Shaw did a lot on Saturday night to convince his fans and everybody else that he’s on top of things in his new Everett’s Team ride. Shaw started sixth and was at the front four laps later, depriving Connor Souza of the lead he’d grabbed from the pole. It wasn’t easy, as Rob Bryant continued to come to the front and was in second by lap eight after starting in the eighth position. From there, they engaged in fast pursuit through the final stanza with Shaw flashing under the checkers a half-second in front of Bryant.
It was a bellwether moment for both drivers. Shaw gathered in his second win on the young season and Bryant shook off the specter of last week’s tech DQ following his apparent win.
It was a tough night for rookie Mikey Cooper from the getgo. The division freshman who already has a win under his belt was off on the hook after a first-lap incident, but was able to gather things back up, return and eventually finished ninth on the field. It came after he and Darryl Dutch bumped each other, then Andrew Kun came in and made contact. All three bounced off in different directions with Cooper ending up against the wall just out of turn four. They pitted and returned and the race made a complete restart.
Souza was away from Ed Perry and outside pole Brittany Campbell crossing the stripe and Perry fired up to give chase. Shaw ducked under Mike Cavallaro and squirted into third. He came loose but was able to recover without losing position..
Three laps in and Tim Bolduc was waving the yellow from the starter’s stand for Nick Testone III’s spinout. Perry and Testone headed pitside for adjustments.
Souza looked to his right to find Shaw suddenly in the outside pole position and Bryant was filling his mirror with Murray on his outside. Then came Mike Cavallaro and Lenny Guy. It was door-to-door out of the box and down the frontstretch. Shaw took a nose in turn two, a half-length in turn three and was alone at the front coming off turn four. Bryant followed Souza in third with Cavallaro under Murray behind them. Mike Belanger, who had to retire from the heat race, was up from eleventh and in seventh and Cooper was already back up to eighth.
Shaw went to a four-car lead over the next lap and Bryant pressured Souza. Barry kept up his quest for the win by doubling the lead over the next 1/3-mile as Bryant took over second and Cavallaro worked in under Souza. Belanger and Murray were wheel-to-wheel for fifth.
Shaw lapped Tom Watson on the eighth circuit and was now a half-straight in the clear with the field strung out single file behind him.
Lap 10 saw Dutch heading for the pits under green. Murray was troubling Cooper for position, but the latter held him off. Cooper then ducked under Campbell. The field then settled in for more hard, single-file running with Shaw still holding his half-lap lead. Bryant was pressing to overtake, but at this point, the lead was not changing. Murray and Lenny Guy now dueled for position with Cooper just ahead in fifth.
With ten laps remaining, lapped traffic became a real concern as the leaders – and half the field – mixed in with several overtaken vehicles. They pitched and yawed their way through until, with seven laps remaining, Cavallaro’s horses suddenly quit galloping and he coasted to a stop just short of the pit exit. He had to be pushed in and ended his night.
Shaw and Bryant matched up for the restart with Belanger and Souza at their backs while Murray and Guy held down row three. Shaw grabbed the front right out of the box and Belanger nosed in under Bryant. Souza, Murray, and Guy followed just ahead of a duel between Campbell and Cooper. A resurgent Perry came up onto Campbell’s bumper but was loosening up.
Four laps to go and Bryant was able to escape from Belanger and they settled into second and third, with Souza, Murray, and Guy being followed by the battling Campbell/Perry combination. Shaw now ran five lengths into the clear air.
Bryant bore down, but going under the white flag, Barry still had command with a three-car lead. Murray got under Souza on a final surge to the checkers and nosed ahead.
At the stripe, it was Shaw for the win, Bryant snaring second, Belanger, Murray, and Souza rounding out the top five.
Sixth on the event went to Guy, followed by Perry, Campbell, Cooper and Nick Testone to complete the top ten. (Testone was the final car still on the lead lap.)
Sources: SeekonkSpeedway.com