Dave Darling holds off the best from P.A.S.S. DeGasparre, Lineham and Cavallaro carry checkers
Seekonk, MA — When the afternoon started, the Johnson Landscaping Chevy of 2 time Seekonk champion Dave Darling was only there to shake the car down and get ready for the rest of the 2010 A.R.C. championship chase. “We had no plans on racing tonight,” Darling stated in Victory Lane. “We just got the car back, and wanted to see how the car was. I guess someone convinced Gary Johnson, car owner, to buy a set of tires and race. It might have been my father.”
When the initial green dropped, nobody in the house was ready for what came next. 103 green flag laps to start the race. Rick Martin took the lead from the drop of the green, but was pressured by Derek Ranstrom, who settled in right behind. For the first 50 laps, they had opened up a lead over the rest of the field, up to half a straightaway at one point. As the second third of the event went on, the field started to close in on the lead duo.
Defending race winner Tom Scully Jr ran third for most of the first 50 laps, but as they hit the one-third mark, Travis Benjamin moved past and started to close in on the top two. Scully started to fade, and Darling moved into fourth on lap 51. The pair started hunting down Martin and Ranstrom, and by the half way mark, the top four cars were nose to tail.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Benjamin moved up the racetrack, and started to put heavy pressure on Ranstrom, and moved into second on lap 79. That would only last for several laps, as started to slide back, and settled back into third. Ranstrom moved back into second, and started to give Martin a lot of pressure for the lead. The four-time Seekonk Champ was starting to lose his grip on the racetrack, and was using every trick in the book to keep Ranstrom behind. Ranstrom finally was able to squeeze underneath Martin As they crossed under lap 100 Ranstrom became the second leader of the 150.
Lap 103 saw the first caution of the event when Travis Benjamin cut down a right front tire, and couldn’t make it back to the pits. On the restart, Darling moved under Martin, and took over second. Martin was starting to slide around the third-mile oval, and on lap 107, Martin got a little to loose, and as he tried to save it, Trevor Sanborn made contact with him, sending Martin around.
Darling had saved enough tires for the run at the end, and used the restart to move himself into the lead on the restart. Darling had to put up with the West Boylston native, as Ranstrom put pressure on Darling for the next 20 laps. Sanborn, who started twelfth in the 24 car field, was on the move, and on lap 132 moved past the former P.A.S.S. Outlaw Champ, and set his eyes on the prize. But there was one thing keeping him away, and that was Darling.
Sanborn closed in on the Rehoboth native, but fell a couple of car lengths behind at the end. Darling picked up the win, the second in a row for the Seekonk regulars. Sanborn held on for second, with Ranstrom, Ben Rowe and Johnny Clark rounding out the top five.
In the 30 lap Late Model feature, Gerry DeGasparre spared no time, and moved from his second row starting position into the lead before the first lap was completed. Once out front, the four time LM champ was not about to let someone else take away the goal. Jon Dickerman moved into second, behind DeGasparre, and tried to wrestle away the lead. The first caution came out on lap four, when Frank Duquette went around on the backstretch, collecting Kevin Folan and Tyler Thompson. Thompson was the only driver not able to continue.
Dickerman, Bobby Pelland III and Dennis Stange settled into a rhythm, clicking off the laps in time. Matt Breault started using the outside lane, and worked himself into fourth by lap eight. He was able to make it past Pelland at lap 11, but started to backslide, allowing Pelland to get back by. Defending Champion Ryan Vanasse was the next to move under Breault and take away the position. Kyle Casper and Kyle DeSouza also moved past by the lap 20 mark.
Vanasse was on the march, and moved past Pelland on lap 19, and past Dickerman on the 21st circuit. He quickly moved up to the rear bumper of DeGasparre, but was not able to overtake DeGasparre, and had to settle for second. Dickerman finished third, with DeSouza and Casper rounding out the top five.
Mike Cavallaro’s return to the Sport Trucks has brought back memories of domination, as he picked up his third win in four races. Cavallaro started ninth, and after a couple of early restarts, he was up to third by lap four. As he and Rick Martin weaved in and out of traffic, it seemed whoever got to the front first was going to pick up the win. That race in a race went to the wayside when Martin was forced to pit on lap five for mechanical issues. His night would end on lap 16, when his engine started to pour enough smoke out of it that it encompassed the entire speedway. Flames were seen from under the hood of the Richie’s Auto Radio machine, and he pulled off the track, ending his night.
Michelle Dumas was the early leader, and held off Billy Clarke and Dan Leach for the first five laps, until Cavallaro pulled past and into the lead on lap 6. Ed Gannon III followed through on lap eight, and started to close in on the three time champ. Gannon held on to second until the 18th circuit, when Ted Berube moved into the runner-up spot. Try as he might, he could not move past Cavallaro and had to settle for second. Dylan Estrella took over third on lap 23, and completed the race there. On the final lap, Dan Leach squeezed past Gannon and finished fourth. Gannon rounded out the top five.
Twenty six cars took the green flag for the 25 lap Street Stock feature. Chris DeMoura jumped past pole-sitter Gerard Berthelette and set the early pace. Brian Spillane settled into the runner up position. Points leader and defending champion Mike Mitchell saw his hopes for a repeat take a big hit when he was forced to pit on lap one. When he came back out, he had lost a lap to the field, and had to settle for a 21st place finish.
Patrick Delaney took a turn running second, but slid back after only a handful of laps in second, when Scott Bruneau took over on a lap 12 caution for Sparky Arsenault. The next caution came out when Delaney and Bruneau tangled on the following lap.
Steve Axon lined up to the outside of the front row, with Ryan Lineham third. By the time lap 14 was completed, Axon had a slight lead on Lineham, while DeMoura slid back to third. Axon’s lead only lasted two laps, as Lineham took over on lap 16. While Lineham led the rest of the way, Rey Lovelace was trying to close in, and moved past Axon for second at lap 17. The pair continued to battle each other down to the wire, where they finished in a dead heat for the runner-up position. Axon was credited with second, while Chris Rioux worked his way up from 21st to fourth in the final rundown. Chris Beauleau rounded out the top five.
1 52 Dave Darling 150
2 44 Trevor Sanborn 150
3 35 Derek Ramstrom 150
4 48 Ben Rowe 150
5 54 Johnny Clark 150
6 8 Cassius Clark 150
7 98 Adam Bates 150
8 73 Joey Doiron 150
9 71 Gary Drew 150
10 85 Nick Ribbie 150
11 17A Scott Alexander 150
12 75 Gary Smith 150
13 14 Rick Martin 149
14 17X Ray Parent 149
15 88 Kevin Casper 149
16 90 Craig Weinstein 149
17 12 John Dabrowsski 147
18 1 Randy Turner 144
19 2 Tom Scully 142
20 96 David Hutchins 137
21 17 Travis Benjamin 101
22 7 Donnie Whitten 86
23 33 Richie Dearborn 69
24 30 Fred Astle 30
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR