Jeff Abold wins 3rd straight Boston Louie Memorial; Ed Moniz wins NEMA Lites main; Darling picks up 3rd win in last 4 races; Vanasse makes it 10 on the season; Mitchell & Andriozzi also win
Seekonk, MA — Jeff Abold came on late, with 9 of the 29 laps remaining in the Boston Louie Memorial for the Northeast Midget Association, to take his third consecutive win in the prestigious race memorializing the late Louie Seymour.
Abold had started seventh, and worked his way forward while Anthony Nocella dominated the first 20 laps. Abold passed BJ MacDonald on lap 18, then came rapidly up behind Nocella then underneath into the lead. Attleboro’s Randy Cabral had been on a mission from his 9th place start, and got by MacDonald with five to go, and then Nocella with three remaining. Greg Stoehr from Bridgewater edged Nocella for third on the last lap. Barry Kittredge rounded out the top 5.
Nocella went immediately to the front over MacDonald and began to distance himself from the rest of the field. By lap 10 he had a straightaway lead over MacDonald. Barry Kittredge dueled MacDonald for 7 laps, but then was overhauled by Russ Stoehr on lap 8. Five laps later, he took the spot back only to yield to Abold on lap 16. Abold was into second on lap 18 and to the lead on lap 20. Two laps later, Lee Bundy spun coming out of turn four, directly in front of the leaders. Abold made a quick right turn to dodge the spinning car and Nocella and Cabral dodged around him.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
The single file restart had Abold, Nocella, Cabral, Kittredge and MacDonald in order. They came off the green in that order as Stoehr came past MacDonald, Kittredge and Nocella for third. MacDonald, Keith Botelho, Jeff Horn, Chris DeRitis and Jeremy Frankoski rounded out the top ten.
Dave Darling made it two in a row, and made it look easy, coming from his eleventh place starting position to the lead on lap eleven. He then quickly separated himself from the field and ran home, 15 cars ahead of second place finisher, Rick Martin. The win, with points leader Fred Astle in fourth, closed the speedway.com/divisions/seekonk-divisions/pro-stock”title=”pro stock” >Pro Stock points race into a three-point bridge with next week’s seasonal points finale a critical event. With Darling trailing but in a virtual dead heat, even qualifier points will be important.
Kevin Casper came off the pole for the lead at the start, while Kyle Casper ducked under outside polesitter Tom Scully, Sr. Contact put Scully around and Kyle was called for the assist. Kevin and Martin faced off on the lap 2 restart. They went door-to-door until Scott Dion looped in turn 4. Mike Brightman took the rear for contact. This time Martin won the restart and Tom Scully, Jr. got under Kevin. Darling passed a trio, including Astle, coming to third place on lap four. A lap later, he was past Scully and setting his sights on Martin.
Lap 8 saw the leading quartet decided. Martin led Darling with Scully, Jr. holding third ahead of Astle and Kyle Casper would lose a spot to Brightman was in fifth. By lap 11, Darling was working over Martin’s bumper. Bob Hussey looped on the backstretch, setting the duo up for a shootout on the restart.
Martin held the front, but Darling came back and a door-to-door battle ensued; Darling began to edge ahead and had a nose over as they crossed the stripe. Kevin suddenly spilled coolant going into turn one, which spun him 180 degrees, sending him hard backward into the turn 2 wall. A red flag came out as Brightman spun in the spilled fluid. He was declared not to be an accident car and retained his position. Darling came out from the pole to the lead and had an 8 car lead by lap 15.
As Darling cruised, ahead by 15 car lengths, Martin had Scully, Jr. on his bumper, while Astle worried Scully’s back. Kyle had Brightman on his back, and Mike made an underneath move with light contact then went ahead to finish fifth. Casper came in sixth. Scully, Sr., Dick Houlihan, Colby Fournier and Phil Meany rounded out the top 10.
Ryan Vanasse was back to his winning ways, handily taking the Late Model feature in his signature dominant fashion over Tyler Thompson. Teammate Bob Pelland III was third, and points leader Gerry DeGasparre, Jr. saw his 20-point lead slim down again as he finished fourth ahead of Sparky Arsenault and Dylan Estrella.
Vanasse started sixth on the field, DeGasparre tenth, by virtue of his win the previous week. Estrella jumped off the outside pole for a bad start and was sent to the rear for the infraction. Pelland lined up outside Ron Barboza, Jr. for the restart and they went wheel-to-wheel. Pelland heated up the outside and Vanasse came in behind to duel with Barboza for second. He moved past into second on lap 3, while Thompson dodged under Barboza for third. By lap 6, Pelland led Vanasse, Thompson, Arsenault and DeGasparre as Estrella was working his way under Barboza.
Lap nine saw Vanasse closing on Pelland as DeGasparre made his way around Arsenault for fourth with Estrella in sixth.
Dave Hutchins, Jr. spun in turn 1 on lap 15, putting Vanasse outside Pelland for the restart. They dueled, while behind them, DeGasparre failed to immediately make it to speed and Thompson grabbed third. As they dueled, Pelland got loose on lap 17 and Vanasse went to the front; Thompson took advantage, grabbing second.
DJ Moniz claimed the front from Paul Bigelow on lap 10, surrendered it to Seth Carlson 9 circuits later, and then reclaimed it for the final six laps to the checkers. Moniz had started fourth, while Bigelow and his brother Paul had outrun second starter Lanson Fornoro at the outset. Moniz moved past Fornoro on lap 2, then troubled Ryan for four laps before moving into second. Lap 10 saw him past Paul for first.
Jake Smith looped in front of the field right after Moniz made the move and the three leaders had do make elaborate moves around him. Carlson jumped to the lead on the restart with Moniz on his tail. Lap 22 saw Randy Cabral blow an engine, leaving fluid from turn one to the wall out of two. Cabral came to a halt, but Jack McKeon got into the oil and spun out of two, ending up on his side on the front stretch. He was righted and the car pushed to the pits.
Moniz went back into the lead on the restart and did not give e the position up. Carlson followed him to the checkers. Anthony Nocella had worked his way from 13th starting position and into third on lap 23. He finished in third, followed by Jim Santamaria and Westport’s Carl Medeiros.
Brandon Igo, Bethany Stoehr, Jessie State, Cummings and Paul Bigelow rounded out the top 10.
Dan Leach seemed to have earned his first career win, leaping off the pole and holding the front from green all the way to the finish in a caution-free race. His dominant show, however, was erased later in the evening after tech inspectors discovered a rules infraction in the 43 truck. The sudden change gave trophy status to Rob Andreozzi, for the second time on the season. Andreozzi had come to second place from his sixth place starting position going into lap 2 and held the position through the finish including a late-laps battle with division leader Mike Cavallaro, holder of seven feature wins and always a threat. Andreozzi was able to hold him off, battling all the way to the checkered flag for an 81 thousandths of a second margin. Barry Shaw, Ed Gannon, the returning Rick Martin and John Paiva followed. Ronny Cornell, Lenny Guy and Billy Clarke rounded out the top 10.
Leach left Clarke behind out of turn two on the initial circuit. Anna Gregoire, having one of her best nights on the season, moved to second down the backstretch by ducking under Clarke. Andreozzi came quickly to second, followed by Shaw, Paiva, Cornell and Gannon. Leach had a ten car lead by lap five as the field strung out. Gannon quickly moved up behind Shaw with a quick pass under Paiva. Cavallaro had been coming up from seventh, where he had fallen after starting fifth and took his place in sixth.
Lap 10 saw Leach a straightaway ahead of Andreozzi who had 15 cars on Shaw. Gannon went to work, trying Shaw’s outside and Cavallaro passed Paiva onto Shaw’s rear bumper. As Gannon dropped back in, Cavallaro went to the outside; Gannon then tried to drop under and they were 3-wide. Contact between Shaw and Gannon had Shaw nearly perpendicular to his direction of travel. Gannon fell back as Shaw made a near-impossible save while Cavallaro bolted into third
With Leach into lapped traffic, keeping Andreozzi at bay, Cavallaro came up behind to harry Andreozzi all the way to the finish. Cavallaro padded his championship lead, with Gannon two places back. Mike had also added a point in qualifying, leading Gannon across the line in the second heat. Andreozzi won heat on over John Paiva.
Mike Mitchell neatly claimed his second feature win on the season and gained enough points to move into fourth place as last week’s winner, Rey Lovelace finished 13th. Lovelace had led Mitchell for the spot by 6 points. Meanwhile, Ryan Lineham nabbed fifth while his closest challenger, Sparky Arsenault was collected in an accident and finished fifteenth, granting Lineham another 10 points to the 40 point lead he held going in.
Tim Eaton and Vincent Arrenegado, Jr. led off from the front, and Eaton held the lead until Paul Lallier powered by on lap 2. Lallier held the lead through lap 10. Mitchell, who had started seventh, picked his way through the field as Eaton gave way grudgingly in one of his better races to date.
Arsenault got sideways out of turn one on lap six and picked up Craig Pianka. Sparky’s right rear quarter was dragging and he retreated to the pits as did Pianka. Arsenault returned for the restart, but Pianka was delayed, losing 4 laps. Paul Lallier restarted on the pole and took the lead over Arrenegado while Eaton ducked under for second. George Rego had started thirteenth, but restarted in seventh. He got by Lineham and then Arrenegado to fourth as Mitchell leapt from fourth to second.
By lap 11, Mitchell was closing on Lallier with Eaton on his back, and then coming around for the lead. He had it to himself on lap 13, with Lallier, Eaton, Rego and Steve Axon behind. But Dick Benoit went to the wall at the stripe on lap 15. He went off on the hook and Mitchell and Lallier again faced off at the front. Rego and Eaton were at their backs; Axon and Arrenegado followed, while Lineham and Gerard Berthelette followed. They went door-to-door, but Lallier fell off and Rego came under Lallier onto Mitchell’s tail. Lineham got under Eaton for fifth as Rego hounded Mitchell to the checkers. Axon finished third, followed by Lallier and Lineham. Scott Bruneau, Chris Beauleau, Eaton and Crystal Serydynski rounded out the top 10.
Sources: Kevin Boucher/Seekonk Speedway PR