Casper Snares the Win in Pro Stocks
Kevin Casper started third but was by polesitter Daryl Stampfl and outside pole Austin Blais by the time they rolled into lap two. Stampfl and Blais had made contact, Blais drifted up and Casper seized the moment. Mighty Mike Brightman followed him into second and Stampfl dropped to third with Angelo Belsito on his bumper. Radical Rick Martin and Tom Scully gave chase.
Martin left some space underneath which was quickly filled by Scully. They battled down the backstretch, but Scully grabbed the position on lap five.
After another lap, Scully looked under Belsito, who pushed harder and pulled ahead but drifted up. Scully was coming and as Belsito dropped, he caught the leading edge of Tom’s nose and the latter spun in turn four.
Casper and Brightman came out of the starting box dead even and they ran side-by-side down the front stretch, then down the back. Brightman nosed ahead in turn three but Casper came back and they continued the duel. During the confrontation, Fred Astle, Jr. pushed past Scully and Stampfl into third.
Astle’s Everett’s teammate Dylan Estrella came up into sixth and had restarted alongside him. Astle went under Brightman after the restart to duel for second. As Brightman fell back, Estrella went underneath as “The Rocket” Ryan Vanasse moved in behind.
Casper had a two-car lead on Astle, and it was another four back to Estrella, Brightman, and Vanasse. Dave Darling and Rick Martin were now in the picture behind Vanasse.
Estrella began closing the gap over the next few laps. And Casper bore down, edging out to a four-car lead on Astle as Estrella closed in to five car-lengths. Brightman was now another ten cars back.
Lap nineteen saw Estrella arrive at Astle’s bumper and begin to look underneath. Astle denied the move. Casper was seven cars ahead and Estrella ducked under with nineteen circuits remaining. “ The field was now stretched out and running single file with little if any passing going on.
Lap 22 saw Estrella take over second and he began to close the gap to Casper. Brightman began to put a bit more space between himself and Vanasse. Behind them, Martin was on Darling’s bumper, followed by Scully and Blais.
Twenty-eight laps in and Casper’s lead over Estrella was down to three cars. Astle was ten back and Brightman as another ten. Vanasse was staying close. The order remained static over the next three laps until the field overtook Billy Joerres and lapped him.
Estrella was no longer overtaking and things stayed much the same until lap 37, when Darling suddenly spun in turn one. Martin was called on the assist. This laid the path for a three-lap shootout. On the first attempt to restart, the field faltered and at the back Darling and “Skipper” Bob Hussey came together while still inside the starting box due to the accordion effect. Hussey’s nose was broken and flapping. He went to the pits and returned with it taped back in place.
Second try and the field was away, but it was a single circuit before Belsito found himself around in turn two.
Now it was a green, white, checkered restart. Estrella got his nose ahead of Casper, who came back and they were side-by-side. Casper got a nose ahead and they went into the white flag lap, where Casper broke ahead of Estrella on the backstretch. They rushed around to the Checkers with Casper grabbing the win and Estrella second. Astle, Vanasse, and Brightman rounded out the top five.
Scully was in for sixth and completing the top ten were Blais, Darling, Dick Benoit, and Stampfl.
WEINSTEIN GRABS FIRST LATE MODEL WIN
Craig Weinstein, who has a significant history in Seekonk Pro Stocks, changed divisions and won his first-ever Late Model event on the second try, Saturday night. His win came at the expense of second-runner Ryan Lineham. Rounding out the top five came Tom-the-Bomb Adams, Vinnie Arrenegado and Gerry DeGasparre, Jr.
Tyler Tomassi kicked things off in his new paint scheme with Weinstein on the outside pole. Craig quickly took the lead as Tomassi got loose coming out of the box and slewed a bit. He recovered and held on to second with Adams, Ryan Souliere, and Lineham giving chase. Next time around, Lineham dived under and had Souliere’s spot on the next lap. He settled in behind Adams.
By lap six, Weinstein had a four-car lead but Duarte spun out of turn four and DeGasparre went sideways trying to duck but could not avoid making contact.
Weinstein and Tomassi lined up for the restart and Weinstein inched ahead coming away from the box. Adams tried to nose in under Tomassi, then succeeded. He had the position going down the backstretch in lap six. Lineham followed as did Souliere.
Now it was DeGasparre’s turn to ease Tomassi back a spot.
All the action was good news to Weinstein, who waltzed out to a half-straightaway lead. Adams had Lineham all over his bumper followed by Souliere, DeGasparre and Tomassi. Further back, Mark Hudson and Mark Jenison were battling side-by-side. The field by now was running single file.
Lineham now nosed under Adams but The Bomb shut the door. By lap nine, Weinstein was continuing to prosper by the action behind him and sported a lead nearly as long as the straight.
The single-file field remained in running order over the next four laps with Lineham still looking under Adams. Vinnie Arrenegado ducked under DeGasparre, looking for fifth and had the spot going into lap 12. Tomassi continued to pursue DeGasparre while keeping ahead of Mike Mitchell and Scott Serydynski.
Lineham was unceasing in his pressure on Adams. Arrenegado came up onto Lineham’s bumper, and the field made several circuits unchanged. With five to go, Weinstein continued to lead a giant step ahead of the pack. Adams, Lineham, and Arrenegado were running nose-to-tail, waiting for somebody to make a mistake.
But Jeremy Lambert spun out of turn two on lap 24. The restart would see Weinstein and Adams side-by-side with Lineham and Arrenegado behind them. DeGasparre and Souliere were in row three.
Weinstein was away on the break and Lineham took a good look under Adams, dived in and onto Weinstein’s bumper, passing under Adams. Adams dropped in and acquired Arrenegado on his bumper.
With four laps remaining, DeGasparre was under Arrenegado. They went through lap 27 battling but on the following circuit, Mitchell, Hudson, and Paul Newcomb tangled on the backstretch. This brought out a red flag and emergency crews responded. Drivers were OK, but Newcomb took an ambulance ride to the pits for observation.
The restart was a green-white-checkered affair with Weinstein entertaining Lineham at the front, followed by Adams and Arrenegado, then DeGasparre and Tomassi.
Weinstein retrieved his lead and Lineham acquired Adams underneath for some wheel-to-wheel running. Lineham had second coming under the white flag. One lap later, Weinstein had his first late-model win to add to one from his time in Pro Stocks.
Sixth went to Jenison followed by Serydynski, Nick Uhrig, and Bobby Tripp. Keith Caruso was just out of the top ten in eleventh and then Colby Lambert, making his first start of the season.
Tomassi took a spin crossing the finishing line, setting the field into chaos. Cars bounced and gyrated everywhere around the flagstand. At the end, Bobby Tripp sat just beyond the line with a good deal of damage to his nose. Serydynski was in the infield in turn one after bouncing off the wall in a very hard sideswipe. He had to go out in a two-wrecker hammock. Dan Johnson sat on the track just beyond him with a good deal of rear-end damage.
LALLIER GRABS SPORTSMAN
Division leader Tyler Lallier was handed a huge gift after racing was completed, when the two cars who preceded him across the finish line hit the bad side of tech inspection and, along with the fifth-place finisher were all disqualified.
Chad Baxter and Chris Gomes had waged an epic battle over the lead, right down to the final few yards on the tarmac. Baxter won out after Gomes had led the first 17 laps in the 25-lap event. Gomes avidly pursued Baxter over the final eight circuits but could not pry the lead out of his opponent’s grasp. Tech inspectors did it for him, but the trophy went to Lallier, who had finished third. It was another 1-2 finish for the family as his father, Paul Lallier roared in on his bumper. Austin “Porkchop” Erickson followed Paul under the checkers, but he was also caught up in tech and third then went to Scott Bruneau. Corey Fanning and Sparky Arsenault rounded out the top five, after all the DQ dust had settled.
Gomes had the pole for the feature with Paul Williams on his shoulder. Gomes shot away and Vinny Pangelinan ducked under Williams from row two. Baxter followed Pangelinan from the third row and started Williams on the great freight train going backwards. Williams was unable to settle in until lap two, where he ducked into eighth ahead of Arsenault, who had suffered the same fate.
At the same time, Chris Rioux had springboarded from row four on Baxter’s tail and was looking for some way around him. Three laps in and the field was already single file for the most part. Gomes had sped out to a ten car lead over Pangelinan and Tyler Lallier had elevated himself onto Rioux’ bumper with Paul behind him.
Lap five and Pangelinan had cut the lead to six car-lengths but another circuit saw Gomes push it back to ten. The chase group remained the same. Seven laps down and Baxter grew impatient and was looking under Pangelinan. He ducked under and they ran wheel-to-wheel down the back until Baxter pulled ahead in turn four. Gomes still had the ten-car advantage. Vinny dropped into third, followed by Rioux and Tyler, but Paul now had Kyle Casper ducking underneath; Sparky and Porkchop followed.
Ten laps in and Gomes was cruising 20 cars up on everybody. Paul and Casper still debated sixth, but a lap later, Paul won out.
Pangelinan looked underneath on Baxter but couldn’t go. Midway through the race and Gomes had a straightaway on the field – and then, Kid Chaos – Corey Fanning – spun out in turn one, evaporating the lead.
Gomes and Baxter made the front row for the restart, with Pangelinan and Rioux in their mirrors. Tyler and Arsenault were row three with Paul and Casper behind them. Bruneau had been moving up and joined Erickson in the fifth echelon on the grid. Tim Watson, Adam Pettey, and Williams went pitside during the caution; only Williams returned.
Gomes shot out by three-fourths of a car, but Baxter came up to speed and they battled side-by-side. Gomes nosed ahead and Baxter took it back. Finally, Gomes grabbed the lead and Pangelinan ducked under Baxter in turn two. Vinny pushed his nose ahead. But with ten to go, Casper was suddenly around in turn four. There was a good deal of fluid under his car and a good deal of Speedy Dry hit the pavement and he went off on the hook. During the time, Williams pitted and returned.
It was Gomes and Baxter again. Gomes edged out and Pangelinan came in under Baxter. But Vinny fell back just enough for Baxter to drop in and he looked under Gomes. With eight laps remaining, he grabbed the lead for the first time going down the backstretch. Vinny ducked under Gomes as Tyler watched for an opportunity. Rioux and Paul followed.
Lallier then nosed in under Pangelinan, taking the Pressure off Gomes, who shot after Baxter. They brawled through laps nineteen and twenty as the field strung itself out. Gomes unleashed a brutal attack on Baxter’s rear bumper as Erickson got past Pangelinan into fifth with Bruneau following.
Two to go and Baxter had a two-car lead on Gomes. The latter cut it to one going under the white flag into the final lap, but Baxter held him off to the checkers. Tyler crossed third.
Lallier made his podium speech to announcer Kevin Boucher from third place but was later elevated to winner.
Sixth on the evening went to Steve Axon. Completing the top ten were: Rioux, Pangelinan, Williams and Brad Johnson.
Duarte Tops Trucks
Mike Duarte came home the winner on Saturday Night after Radical Rick Martin’s win was caught by tech inspectors for the second time this season. Duarte and Martin had waged a particular war over the final laps of the race, to see Radical Rick cross the finish line first. However, his truck failed to pass inspection and Duarte was upgraded to winning status. This elevated the rest of the finishing order: Points leader Richie Murray gained second, while Lenny Guy, Connor Souza, and Mikey Cooper rounded out the top five.
Duarte had started on the outside of the second row, while Guy and Brittany Campbell shared the front row. Lenny took off and Souza ducked in under Campbell with Duarte following. Cooper also followed through, and Murray moved to fifth. The field strung out single file behind them.
Guy forged on at the front as Murray got under Cooper. Once more around and Duarte was looking under Souza.
Six laps in, and Guy was watching Duarte in his mirror. Souza followed with Murray at his back and now Martin was running fifth just ahead of Barry Shaw. The order held until lap eight when Murray began looking under Souza. Next time around Duarte dug in under Guy as Murray and Souza ran door-to-door. Murray finally completed the pass on lap ten in turn four. Duarte also moved ahead of Guy into the lead. Murray was looking at Guy, now, with Souza, Martin, and Shaw in tow. The order was unchanged over the next lap, but with twelve to go, Murray ran under Guy into second in turn four and started Guy on the great freight train to the rear.
Lenny was stuck on the outside until Shaw swept under him and then Perry until he was able to settle in at sixth. Duarte had been busy the whole time, generating a fifteen-car lead with nine laps remaining. Martin now looked under Murray and dived in. They battled door-to-door for three laps, hacksawing the lead, while Shaw sat on their bumpers and watching for opportunities.
With six laps to go, Lenny Sousa spun in turn one, bringing caution.
Martin had earned the outside pole on Duarte, while Murray and Shaw made up row two. Perry and Guy followed. They ran wheel-to-wheel from the green until Martin got a nose ahead in turn two. Murray looked under Duarte for a three-wide but couldn’t get in. He kept on looking while Duarte and Martin continued their duel. Radical Rick nosed ahead and fell back on lap 22 as Murray watched while holding off Shaw, who had Perry coming in underneath.
Two to go and the leaders were still side-by-side but next time around, Shaw suddenly spun in turn four, bringing up a green-white-checkered restart.
Martin and Duarte, Murray and Souza and Campbell and Guy lined up and took the green. It was dead even across the stripe, then Martin took a nose and had the lead in turn two. Murray chased Duarte under the white flag, but there were no changes over the final lap.
Martin’s victory was erased, however, by the tech infraction, giving Duarte a hard-fought win. Sixth on the event went to Shaw, who scrambled back up from the back over the final two laps. Completing the top ten were Darryl Church, Mike Cavallaro, Campbell, and Elias Dib.
Sources: SeekonkSpeedway.com