McKennedy Adds Name to Star Classic Win List
EPPING, NH — When the ISMA Super Modifieds come to town you know you are in for some fast paced action, and Saturday night September 7 was just what a full house of race fans got. Star Speedway and the Webber family hosted the annual Star Classic 150 that brought in 27 of the finest ISMA racers from eight states, two from Ontario, Canada.
With rain in the forecast and an intermittent mist in the air, the program moved along quickly. In the end a very happy Jon McKennedy and crew were celebrating in victory lane.
McKennedy of Chelmsford, MA started on the outside of row one, alongside of pole sitter Joey Payne. By lap 6 McKennedy made a slingshot move to power his way into the lead. Turning laps under 12 seconds had McKennedy running in lapped traffic by the eighth circuit, but as fast as he was, Robbie Summers of Vernon, CT found a little more speed and shot by a surprised McKennedy on lap 34, becoming the new race leader.
[Photo Gallery] by Crystal Snape
Summers and McKennedy were the class of the field as the two ran bumper to bumper until lap 91 when Jon’s #79 sniffed out clean air and shot back into the lead in turn 3.Clean air is just what the 2005 Rookie of the year needed as he quickly ran out to a seven second lead to win his second feature of the 2013 season, and his first ever Star Classic.
In victory lane McKennedy said, “I was surprised when the 74 (Summers) got by me, but after the red flag (on lap 86 for Russ Wood’s accident due to a stuck throttle) the tires cooled and it was awesome for the last 40 laps. Clean air was a huge advantage.”
Second place Jeff Abold of Baldwinville, NY was extremely happy with his finish after starting back in the fifth row, and falling into a conservative pace, trying to save his tires and equipment. By lap 48 he found himself in fourth place after Chris Perley of Rowley, MA retired from the event with a broken drive line. On lap 110 the conservative run of Abold paid off when the engine in the Summers ride detonated, eliminating Summers for the night. With 20 laps to go, Abold slipped by a fading Liquid Lou Cicconi of Aston, PA, taking over second spot, but had no chance of catching McKennedy.
If you thought McKennedy and Abold were happy, third place Joey Payne of Fairlawn, NJ was ecstatic with his run. Starting on the pole in the Howie Lane #97, Payne immediately ran into trouble when on lap 2, the strut that supports the wing broke, making the wing inoperable. Payne quickly dropped back to fifth place, man-handling the car each lap. With Perley and Summers retiring early in the event, Payne found himself running fourth, and on lap 131 he worked a neat pass inside Cicconi for third place and a podium finish. After the race, Payne said “It broke on lap 2 and I wasn’t going to pit, just hoping it would start raining, so they would stop the race and restart it tomorrow, but it just never happened. Driving it with the wing not working was like pulling a parachute, but the car was just awesome all night.”
Two-time Classic winner Lou Cicconi hung on to finish fourth, and Moe Lilje of Vickery, OH came from 14th to finish fifth, the last car on the lead lap.
Sources: Jim Snape/YankeeRacer.com