Estrella Holds Off Darling for Third Win
ESTRELLA HOLDS OF DARLING FOR THIRD WIN
Dylan Estrella put together an ample defense of the front and held off the normally unassailable Dave Darling over the closing laps of Pro Stock competition and came home with his third trip to Victory Lane for the season. Estrella had been cutting-edge throughout the feature, scaling his way past Mike Brightman, Fred Astle, Angelo Belsito, Rick Martin, and Daryl Stampfl to get to the front on lap ten.
Likewise, Darling came up from starting tenth through the same crowd and then some. He began visiting Estrella’s back bumper on lap 27 of the forty in the race. Darling has been there before and the crowd expected a brouhaha at the front between the two top drivers. They got more than they expected and Estrella and Darling played a tight chess match on the circuit moving their pieces around in assault and defense. In the meantime, The Rocket, Ryan Vanasse slipped into third to watch for slip-ups ahead of him.
Only three cautions marred the matchup, two in the first ten laps and then one with thirteen to go. The result was high-octane driving with a good deal of pursuit.
Martin started the outside pole and went door-to-door with Stampfl then grabbed the lead. Belsito got under Stampfl and Fred Astle, Jr. went to the outside for a three-wide with Belsito grabbing second behind Martin. Brightman got under and into third and Estrella followed Vanasse who grabbed fourth.
As Darling and Tom Scully, Jr dueled for position in the pack, Kevin Casper came loos and spun down the front stretch into the grass of turn one.
The lap four restart had Martin paired with Belsito ahead of Brightman and Vanasse. Behind them was a double-threat. Estrella in the low groove with Darling on his shoulder. They were followed by Scully and Astle.
The leaders were side-by-side out of the box until Martin got his nose ahead. And next time around he owned the lead crossing the stripe. Brightman ducked under Belsito and Estrella got below Vanasse. Next lap, Scully got below Darling.
Estrella ducked underneath Brightman and Belsito for a three-wide, setting Belsito into a spin and bringing a lap eight caution.
Now Martin had Estrella on his shoulder, pairing up Brightman and Vanasse in row two again.
Martin grabbed the front and Estrella took a look under as Brightman went outside. Scully got under Vanasse and Astle under Darling.
Lap ten saw Estrella making an attempt on Martin, getting underneath and then taking over the lead. Brightman ran third with Scully debating fourth with Vanasse. Astle followed with Darling and then Dick Benoit.
Over the next three laps, the field stretched out single file and Estrella gained a two-car lead over Martin. Scully and Vanasse continued door-to-door.
Estrella had a six-car lead on lap fifteen. Darling moved in under Scully after Vanasse had moved ahead. He eased Scully out of fifth. Astle took over and got by into sixth. By now, Estrella had expanded his lead to fifteen cars.
Martin was still second, followed by Brightman, Vanasse, and Darling, who was quick to look under The Rocket and steal the position in turn four. He pounced on Brightman’s bumper next and got under Brightman resisted and the ran wheel-to-wheel until Darling had third on the backstretch with fifteen laps remaining.
The field was running fast and single file and Estrella now was 20 cars up on the field. Martin was ten beyond Darling, who was pursued by Vanasse and Brightman. Scully now got under Astle Into sixth.
Final caution of the event came with thirteen to go, collapsing Estrella’s lead. Martin came alongside for the restart with Darling and Vanasse in row two. Brightman and Scully followed, ahead of Astle and Casper.
Estrella vaulted back into the lead and Darling drove under Martin. Vanasse then looked under Martin to grab third.
What followed were a dozen intense laps with the crowd holding its breath as Dave Darling emptied his bag of tricks to grab the win away from Estrella. Never more than a few millimeters from Estrella’s bumper, Dave applied pressure constantly. The bickering leaders pulled away, locked in combat but try as he might, this time Darling did not find a way around his opposition.
At the checkers, Estrella had his third win on the season. Darling settled for second and Vanasse completed the podium finish in third. Martin and Brightman rounded out the top five. Sixth went to Scully, followed by Astle, Belsito, Casper, and Benoit.
HARD CHARGE BY ARRENEGADO NETS HIM TWO-IN-A-ROW
Vinny Arrenegado wasn’t winning until five feet before the finish line. Prior to that, young Tyler Tomassi had control of the feature since taking it away from Paul Newcomb halfway through the feature. But Arrenegado, enmeshed in a five-way competition for the Late Model championship to be decided in two weeks, was determined. With six circuits remaining, he got by his primary competitor, Tom “The Bomb” Adams and Tomassi remained as the only driver between Arrenegado and two wins in a row. With division leader Adams seeking to get that spot back, Arrenegado went after Tomassi.
As the twin sticks went up from the starter’s stand signaling two to got, six cars were nose-to-tail at the front. Tomassi led, Arrenegado and Adams came next, then Ryan Lineham and Gerry DeGasparre, Jr. and then Mark Jenison – all in line for the championship and just a cat-whisker apart in the standings.
At the white flag, Vinny nosed under Tomassi for the pass. They went door-to-door through turns one and two and down the backstretch. They made contact in turn three. On the outside, Tomassi got loose. He hung on. They came out of turn four and it was a drag race to the checkers. It was over in the twinkling of an eye. That half-dozen cars crossed the line in a mob! Even number six – Jenison – was less than a second behind the leader. And the leader – Arrenegado – was just 29/1000’s of a second ahead of Tomassi. It’s what racing’s all about.
Tomassi and Paul Newcomb started it all off, sharing the front row. They ran wheel-to-wheel out of the staring box and through the first lap before Newcomb could edge ahead. He grabbed the full lead the next time across the line and Bobby Tripp dropped into third, gave Tomassi a rough time and took over third for a lap before Tomassi got it back. They continued side-by-side with Adams at their backs. Crag Weinstein had threaded his way into fifth with Lineham at his back.
Jenison came up outside of Lineham just before Ryan dropped under Weinstein.
At the front, Newcomb had a three-car lead over Tomassi. Tripp continued to pursue with Adams looking underneath. Adams went and ran through to take over third. Lineham moved in and went under as well and into fourth. Now Arrenegado paid Tripp the same compliment.
Ten laps in, Tomassi had overtaken Newcomb and now he looked underneath and nosed in to run door-to-door with Newcomb. Tyler led across the line into lap 12 with Adams on his bumper. The Bomb went under Newcomb for some wheel-to-wheel through turn two and down the back. He completed the pass in turn four. By now, Tomassi had a four-car lead. Newcomb was third, followed by Lineham and Arrenegado. Vinny nosed under for the pass and made it good with thirteen laps remaining. Now DeGasparre was knocking at Lineham’s back bumper.
Tomassi took a four-car lead into lap 20. Adams was fending off Arrenegado and now Newcomb had Lineham working his way underneath. Gerry D followed, just ahead of Jenison and Weinstein.
Twice more around and Tomassi led by six. Now Jenison was sneaking under Newcomb for position. But with seven to go, Newcomb and Weinstein made contact and went around. Newcomb took some time in the pits and returned.
The restart saw Tomassi and Adams side-by-side and behind them came Arrenegado and Lineham. They went side-by-side until Tomassi got a nos past in turn two. Now Vinny ducked under The Bomb for second and DeGasparre got under Lineham. Arrenegado shook loose from Adams and Lineham climbed to Tom’s high side to pass.
The entire field rushed out of turn four into lap 28 with two to go.
At the line, sixth went to Dan Johnson, followed by Mark Hudson, Tripp, and Weinstein.
SPARKY NAILS DOWN SECOND ON SEASON
Sparky Arsenault fought his way through to gain his second win of the season over Chad Baxter, while a late crash sent the championship confrontation between Tyler Lallier and Kid Chaos – Corey Fanning into an upside-down affair. Lallier was caught up by the wreck, shuttling him back to sixteenth while Fanning grabbed third behind Baxter. Scott Bruneau was fourth while Steve Axon rounded out the top five.
Paul Williams had owned the race for most of the distance. He went to the front from the outside pole right out of the box.Ray Lebrun gave chase from the pole, but Williams was headed away. Ed Flanagan, Jr dropped into third ahead of Vinny Pangelinan and Arsenault took fifth. Two laps in, Williams had a three-car lead and Pangelinan was working his way under Flanagan. Once into third, he began to work on Lebrun’s bumper and Arsenault pulled upon his. Three laps in and Williams now had a half-straight on the field.
Chris Rioux came up onto Arsenault’s tail on lap five and Chris Gomes followed closely.
Pangelinan got under Lebrun into second and seven laps in, Williams was enjoying a straightaway lead. Behind him, Pangelinan, Arsenault, and Rioux were running nose-to-tail and Kyle Casper was closing on them. Williams continued to add to his lead. Casper caught the group and now Baxter was bridging up to them.
Sparky overhauled Vunny and got underneath for the pass, moving into second. Suddenly, Flanagan was into the backstretch wall and his tire flew down the track in pieces. Williams’ long lead collapsed into a restart.
Since a lap had not elapsed, Pangelinan restarted in second with Arsenault low in the second row. The Lap 12 restart saw Williams away again with Arsenault getting under Pangelinan. Casper followed, hounded by Baxter. Pangelinan fell back and Baxter got under Casper for a three-wide with Vinny outside. Austin “Porkchop” Erickson then came in to make it briefly four-wide, but fell off. Steve Axon and Fanning moved in on him to run bumper-to-bumper. At the front, Arsenault and Baxter had moved in on Williams and they were running bumper-to-bumper as well. Fanning got by Erickson.
Lallier was closing through the pack, getting under Justin Travis into eighth. Fanning was closing on Baxter with five to go and Axon was working his way under Erickson. This morphed into a three-wide between Baxter, Pangelinan, and Travis. There was contact in turn two and Pangelinan went around.
Willaims and Arsenault lined up ahead of Baxter and Fanning. Erickson and Axon shared row three with Lallier and Travis behind them. Williams nose out and took the lead in turn one. Baxter ducked under him. Erickson challenged Fanning for position as Baxter bumped Williams. As they did so, Arsenault went tot he outside and into the lead. At the white flag, Arsenault led Baxter, followed by Williams and Erickson, who got into Williams and went around. It collected Lallier and Casper along with two other cars as they went into turn two as the leaders began to cross the finish.
Arsenault had his second win, while Baxter and then Fanning made the podium finish.
Sixth went to Adam Pettey, followed by Donald Perry, Joe Melberg, Jason Steely, and Pangelinan.
The wreck was costly for Lallier, who fell to sixteenth as he and Fanning were in a dead heat for the Championship points.
BRITTANY CAMPBELL WINS FIRST NASCAR TRUCK VICTORY
The threat that is Brittany Campbell came to fruition in the Sport Trucks division after the Labor Day weekend off from racing. Campbell started outside polesitter Nick Testone III and after a first lap restart, she powered off the outside pole into the lead and held the front for the entire race, save for lap five, when Lenny Guy was able to poke a fender past into the lead while crossing the stripe. Campbell reversed that in turns one and two and headed up the rest of the feature.
The two threats to take the championship – Richie Murray and Barry Shaw, Jr. – came in just after midway to pursue Campbell and each other to the finish. Murray protected his points lead over Shaw by finishing just ahead of his rival for a second to Shaw’s third. Guy held on to his third in the standings with a fourth-place finish, just ahead of Mike Belanger.
Perhaps the big hero on the evening, however, was Darryl Church. During the divisional heats, Shaw was collected coming through turn four and spun hard into the front stretch wall, Not the way you want to end a shot at the championship. But Church retired early from the heat, went to Shaw and offered his truck for the feature. Even though he’d never driven Church’s number four, Barry was able to shepherd it to place just behind Murray – and so the charge to the banquet head table continues between them.
Campbell has shown her skills over the season, steadily moving toward the front and the truck has given her great speed and handling. This time she put it all together. The handling was a major bonus in an opening lap situation that could have taken her out of the picture. On the original green flag, Testone and Lenny Sousa had come off the front side-by-side, with Campbell and Guy in row two. Testone jetted away and Sousa tried to drop in but caught Campbell’s right fender just ahead of the wheel well, spinning him directly in front of her. Guy had seen it begin and shot uptrack. Cambell had Sousa inches from her bumper, but made a quick, uptrack turn and escaped. Ed Perry, who had been on Campbell’s bumper, was not so lucky. As Brittany’s yellow tailgate flashed away, Perry was confronted by Sousa’s nose just a yard ahead. Perry turned down but hadn’t enough time or room to avoid and he glanced off the side of the bed, rode up and over the rear wheel and shot across the berm. Mikey Cooper was able to stop short of Sousa and Belanger shot through the infield grass.
It ended Lenny’s night and he went off on the hook.
The full-race restart now had Campbell alongside Testone. Guy and Perry followed with Mike Cavallaro and Murray in row three. Shaw had originally started scratch, but now was three spaces closer to the front.
Testone shot away, but Campbell gave chase on the outside, pushing by down the backstretch and crossed the stripe into the second circuit in the lead. Testone fell back and Guy attempted to pass on the low side as Murray came up alongside him. Perry nosed in under Murray but Campbell pulled away from the situation. By lap three, she was fifteen cars up with Guy running with Testone.
Suddenly, Testone was around and Perry was getting the call for the assist. Perry went pitside for some repair and returned.
Now Campbell had Guy on her high side; Jake Vanada and Murray had survived the gaggle of spinning cars and made up row two. Shaw had made the most of the five laps and chaos and sat outside in row four, behind Connor Souza and Cavallaro.
Lenny took a nose going through turns one and two and held it all the way to the stripe. It was the only lap that Campbell would be recorded out of the lead. Murray looked to make it three-wide, but fell back. Campbell now got her nose by Guy and Vanada nosed in under him, starting a three-wide. However, Campbell sprang away into the lead and Vanada went to second. Murray looked to make it another three-wide but it broke down quickly.
Seven laps in, Cavallaro and Guy were fighting for position, when Cavallaro slid onto the grass in turn three, slowed and popped back out in front of Elias Dib, who had nowhere to go and piled into Cavallaro’s back bumper. He ended in the infield, spewing steam and had to be taken off on the hook. Cavallaro drove to the pits and did not return.
Now Campbell had Vanada for company on the front row, ahead of Guy and Murray. Shaw had navigated through the confusion to sit low in row three, under Connor Souza. Before the festivities could begin, Vanada began steaming from his right front wheel well and released a stream of coolant through turn one. He retreated pitside. Guy moved up to the outside pole. This time, Campbell grabbed a nose in turn two and the full lead down the back. Murray got under Guy with Shaw locked onto his bumper. Brittany pulled away as Shaw took a look and a try at every possibility open to him, but Murray adeptly blocked each try. Guy settled into fourth. At the same time, Belanger rolled into fifth and the field extended itself out single file.
With ten to go, Campbell had been enjoying the front and had a four-car cushion over the brawling between Murray and Shaw. Murray pulled out and put some distance on Shaw. But Campbell began to see Murray getting larger in her mirror as he bore down. And Shaw was also closing the gap. With six to go, she came off turn four a bit loose and this brought Murray to her bumper. He looked under and she shut the door as Shaw came up to his tailgate.
Four to go and Murray was looking high but was denied. Shaw was dodging high and low behind him. Three to go and Murray was relentless but Campbell rebuffed all his tactics. Shaw fell off by a car length. Murray looked underneath again as they took the two to go sign from the starter. She closed the door once more. Shaw ran up to Murray’s bumper again. The white flag came out and still, they brawled – over the final third mile. Coming through four, Murray took another run underneath, but Campbell held on down the straight to the checkers and claimed her first win in the division. Murray and Shaw piled in behind her, leaving their question of the championship to another race.
Sixth on the evening went to Connor Souza, followed by Perry, Cooper, Testone and Maddie Harkin.
Sources: SeekonkSpeedway.com