Bennett Grabs the Win
BENNETT GRABS THE WIN
Peter Bennett grabbed the win in a sloppy Legends race which saw eight cautions and finally suffered a red-checkered ending. Only 13 of the 25 laps had been completed. The field had been delayed by so many cautions that the final two restarts ran single file and they had been warned on the second incidence that the next caution would end the race. Leader RJ Marcotte broke his tires loose coming out of the starting box and spun all the way down the front stretch to bring out the red and checkered flags, ending the race. Bennett became the leader and was awarded the win. Brandon Martinez grabbed second, while Derek Gluchacki was third. Ryan Doucette and Brendan Hammann rounded out the top five.
The first caution came after one lap had been completed, and it took three tries to resume the race.
Marcotte, the polesitter, nosed into the lead over Andrew Carpenter and Mason Tessier ducked underneath into second. Brendan Hammann joined him and they grabbed the front in lap two, but Isaiah Newcomb spun on the backstretch to bring the first caution. On the first try for the restart, Bennett got sideways going into turn one and Dennis Pantani spun into the grass to avoid. On the second try, contact between Tessier and Hammann sent the latter spinning, and bringing up a third attempt to restart lap two. RJ and Rene Marcotte in RJ’s backup car made up the front row for the third try. Connor Souza and Ryan Doucette backed them up. Matthew and Andrew Carpenter were row three. RJ pulled away and Souza pushed ahead to get under Rene. But Matthew and Souza tangled coming out of turn one on the following lap, sending Matthew pitside for the night. This set up the fourth restart in two laps.
This time, Marcotte was away to the lead again. Derek Gluchacki dropped to the groove from outside the second row and looked under RJ to begin a three-wide but dropped back. Doucette ducked under Rene. But Josh Parsons tangled with Newcomb, sending the latter pitside for the remainder of the feature.
` This time, the restart got the field into lap six before Jacob Burns spun in turn one. The restart now had RJ with Doucette on his shoulder. Gluchacki and Andrew Carpenter were behind them, just ahead of Devin Deshaies and Bennett. Zachary Martinez was joined in row four by Tessier and Brandon Martinez shared row five with Hammann. The restart saw RJ away and Gluchacki rushed up to look underneath but was denied. He edged into second with Doucette on his high side as Bennett returned from the rear of the field to latch onto Gluchacki’s bumper.
RJ drove out to an eight-car lead as Bennett pried his way underneath Gluchacki and Doucette to make it three-wide coming across the strip just as Don Parsons spun in turn four.
This brought up the first single-file restart. RJ held the lead over Gluchacki and then generated a four-car lead. Bennett was on Gluchacki’s bumper behind Marcotte. Gluchacki could not hold the car to the low groove and Bennett slid underneath and into second. Brandon Martinez then slid underneath into third.
Fluid on the track caused another caution as two cars spun and the red flag flew for an extensive cleanup before resumption of racing. This led to the announcement that this would be the final restart and the next caution would end the race.
RJ, Bennett and Martinez/Gluchacki lined up. As the green fell, Marcotte spun his tires coming out of the starting box and spun down the front stretch to end the feature and award the win to Bennett.
Sixth went to Deshaies, followed by Tessier, Andrew Carpenter, Parsons, Zachary Martinez, Rene Marcotte, Tom Searles, and Don Parsons.
BENOIT BACK IN VICTORY LANE
Pure Stock’s 2018 champ, Doug Benoit held off Mike Henriques over the closing laps of the feature to haul down his first win on the 2019 season. However, Benoit who grabbed the lead from Joey Morrissette on lap four, spent most of the race fending off Greg Perry, who clambered past Morrissette into the runner-up spot on lap six. The Outlaw, Danny Massa looked to repeat last week’s feature win and clambered past Morrissette into fourth, but Perry and Henriques spent their time blockading him at the same time that they sought to take down Benoit. This was your top five on the evening – Benoit, Henriques, Perry, Massa and Morrissette.
Polesitter Morrissette had Tommy Blackwell on his high side as they came down to the green flag. Benoit lurked on his rear bumper and Perry sat behind Benoit. Henriques was pushing up behind Perry, to set the stage for the ensuing drama. Benoit nosed out on Morrissette, who suddenly found himself on that great freight train going backwards as all challengers had the low groove and were running nose-to-tail, As Joey pulled away from Blackwell, Benoit shot underneath the latter. Perry and then Henriques pursued with Massa and Ava Chouinard side-by-side behind them.
Benoit looked in under Morrissette and they ran door-to-door for a lap-and-a-half until Benoit went ahead going into lap four. Perry followed and then Henriques. Blackwell was next, while at the front, Benoit, Perry, and Henriques were running nose-to-tail. Massa got under Morrissette and they battled it out for two laps before Massa secured fifth behind Blackwell.
Eight laps down and Benoit had a two-car lead, while Perry and Henriques worked each other over behind him. Next time around, Massa got clear and Morrissette was finally able to drop into the low groove. Perry now had closed on the leader and was all over his bumper, while Henriques filled his mirror. A turn four spin by Marissa Morgan brought caution on lap 11.
It took two tries to get going again, but Benoit then pulled away and Henriques zipped in under Perry and they battled over second. Blackwell, Massa, and Morrissette followed with Amy Arsenault and Lenny Souza in pursuit. Perry pushed ahead and dropped onto Benoit’s bumper. They ran nose-to-tail until Nicholas Mignone brought another caution with a spinout.
Benoit pulled away; Perry and Henriques dueled and Perry again dropped into second. Massa was fourth behind Henriques and Sousa dug in under Blackwell. The lead four of Benoit, Perry, Henriques, and Massa were now nose-to-tail. Perry gave Benoit a bump and the group continued while Blackwell and Morrissette dueled for position.
With two laps remaining, Mignone spun again and brought out a green-white-checkered restart. Benoit grabbed the lead again, right out of the starting box. Henriques slipped in under Perry, who got very wide and Massa tried underneath. They charged down to the finish with Benoit leading the way and Henriques all over his back. Perry was able to nose ahead and squeeze into third crossing the stripe, relegating The Outlaw to fourth.
On the white flag lap, Morrissette was able to edge out Blackwell and the latter claimed sixth, followed by Sousa, Arsenault, Morgan and Emily Brightman.
ALMEIDA OUTLASTS LEVESQUE FOR FIRST WIN OF SEASON
Tyler Almeida grabbed the lead from polesitter Tim Ouellette on a lap three restart, then spent the remainder of the 20 laps with a clear windshield en route to his first win of 2019 and his second in two years. Karlin Levesque rushed into second on lap four and harried Almeida all the way to the finish line to capture second. AJ Manuel, Crystal Murray and Jordan Lopes rounded out the top five.
Ouellette and Christine Simpson came off the frotn row and Simpson grabbed the lead but Ouellette hung on underneath with Almeida and Levesque side-by-side behind them. Samantha Mattera and Tough Tim Bolger were wheel-to-wheel behind them. As Ouellette grabbed the lead, Almeida got under Simpson and Mattera ducked under Levesque. Almeida went to the wide side after getting past Simpson while Mattera and Levesque closed up on the leaders. Mattera got under Almeida briefly but Almeida spurted ahead to come alongside Ouellette. But Simpson spun in turn three, collecting Arthur Meack and then taking a crushing blow from Dave Pitassi. Pitassi was able to continue but Simpson went off on the hook and Meack had to be pushed pitside to conclude his night as well.
Almeida springboarded off Ouellette’s high side and captured the lead in turn one. As he worked out to a seven-car lead, Levesque pushed into second as Ouellette went into a rapid fade. Tough Tim slid into third with Mattera and Manuel on his tail.
Murray pursued Manuel and in turn was pursued by Jordan Lopes, Mikey Lefort, last week’s winner Dave Westgate, and Henry Lavalle.
By the midpoint of the 20-lapper, Levesque had snugged up to Almeida’s bumper and began looking to the high side to pass. Lefort was looking to Lopes’ high side as well. Levesque then tried the low side but Almeida shut the door. For the remainder of the feature, this duo became totally involved in working each other over.
With seven to go, Manuel looked under Bolger for fourth and Murray followed him through. Manuel then battled it out with Mattera for third and succeeded. He began to close on Almeida and Levesque. Mattera, running third, now had intense pressure coming from Murray.
With two laps remaining, Crystal ducked under Samantha and took fourth as the white flag began to flutter. Manuel had reached Levesque and went to work while Lopes was looking underneath Mattera. Both were able to succeed in last-lap passing before rushing under the checkers.
Mattera claimed sixth place and was followed by LeFort, Westgate, Lavalle, Rhistian Herman, Ouellette and Sabrina Beaulieu.
DELL GRABS INAUGURAL WIN
Samantha Dell planted a benchmark to her racing career by grabbing the win in Bandolero Outlaw competition. She did it by holding off the duo who robbed her of the position the last time out – Giovanni Ruggerio and Nathan Smith. This time, Giovanni edged Nathan by the same hairsbreadth margin of the earlier race. But Samantha – well, she was 3 car-lengths ahead and ready to celebrate.
She had started outside Smith in the second row, behind polesitter Isaiah Newcomb and Ethan Heilborn. Newcomb grabbed the lead and Smith ducked under Heilborn with Dell following him through to third. Heilborn dropped in behind her. Smith looked underneath but Newcomb shut the door. The lead trio tightened up and ran nose-to-tail in lap two, while Ruggerio ducked under Heilborn. Cameron Tavares gave chase as Ruggerio and Heilborn went door-to-door. Ethan pulled ahead but stayed on the high side while the trio at the front had pushed their margin out to a half-straightaway. But with eleven laps remaining, Nicholas Rose spun out in turn two.
Newcomb and Smith face-off, ahead of Dell and Heilborn. Ruggerio and Tavares followed. They were wheel-to-wheel across the stripe, then Newcomb took a nose and Smith dropped in behind. Dell looked underneath but Smith slammed the door.
The field strung out single-file and by lap eight, the lead was four cars. Ruggerio was running fourth behind Dell with Heilborn on his rear bumper. Riley Caron followed. Dell then dropped under Smith and they ran through turns two and three until Samantha pulled ahead in turn four. But with five to go, Newcomb spun out while negotiating turn four. Tavares had to spin to avoid him as the field came around.
Front row for the restart was Dell and Smith, while Ruggerio and Heilborn sat behind them, making it look like a replay of the previous feature. On the green, Dell nosed forward and Smith stayed outside for some side-by-side racing. Again, Dell pulled away in turn four. Ruggerio, Heilborn Tavares, and Caron followed Smith as Dell edged away into a two-car lead. Smith pulled out to a five-car advantage over Ruggerio. But Newcomb spun again and brought up a lap 12 restart.
The lineup was the same; Dell began to pull away but Tavares and Caron got together and went up into the turn two wall with Caron’s rear deck flying off and down to the infield. The red flag came out as track and safety crews converged, but Caron was able to climb out under his own power for an ambulance ride to the pits and a checkup by the EMT’s. Tavares was able to drive away while the wrecker crew lifted Caron’s car on the wrecker crane for the trip to the pits.
Dell, Smith, Ruggerio, and Heilborn lined up as before, this time with Joey LeMay and Newcomb in row three. Dell pulled away; Ruggerio went under Smith into second and LeMay grabbed fourth. Dell was three cars up on Ruggerio and held it under the white flag as Newcomb had problems and pitted. The final lap was an outright sprint with Dell sailing under the checkers for her first trip to Victory Lane. Ruggerio outlasted Smith by a nose for second. LeMay grabbed third and Heilborn was fifth. Sixth went to Tavares, followed by Stephen Bowden, Aubrey Keller and Rose. Tenth went to Newcomb, one lap down..
SMILIN’ REESE DOES IT AGAIN
Reese Bogue came off the outside of the second row, waited a lap while Brenden LeBelle slid into third from the low side. Ahead of them, Adam Harrison powered off the pole into the lead. LeBelle and Rob Murphy, Jr. pitched and yawed over second, running side-by-side until Murphy came loose for a moment. While he corrected, LeBelle and Smilin’ Reese took over second and third, respectively.
Harrison was three cars out by lap three but LeBelle closed the gap in a rapid move as the field encountered the first lapped vehicle. They ran 1-2 into lap five with Bogue in hot pursuit. They got wheel-to-wheel and LeBelle nosed in front taking over on lap five. Harrison spun, bringing out caution, bringing Bogue up onto LeBelle’s high side for the restart.
Bogue was able to dash out into the lead while PJ Evans, winner the last time out, dodged past Ethan Dion and Ryan Vanasse, Jr. into third. Dion continued in fourth, ardently disputed by Vanasse.
Reese ran out to a ten-car lead with five laps remaining, while behind him LeBelle was four lengths ahead of Evans who was leading a three-car nose-to-tail also featuring Dion and Vanasse, Jr. Collin Vanasse was closing on the trio.
Ryan was running in the second groove and repeatedly looking to go past Dion on the high side, coming alongside then watching Dion pull back ahead. They battled this way over the final laps.
Harrison had worked his way back up after restarting at the rear after his spin, to chase Collin down to the finish line.
Bogue continued to run hard, all the way through the checkers and LeBelle was unable to close in. He grabbed second, followed by Evans while Dion and Ryan Vanasse rounded out the top five.
Collin Vanasse Outlasted Harrison for fifth, and he was followed across by Harrison. Then came Mike Hanafin, Cacarias Kelley, Rob Murphy and Brent Robidoux was the last car running. Brandon Cowen and Colin Floyd had been forced to the pits after three laps.
Sources: SeekonkSpeedway.com