Rewrite: Belsito Records First Pro Stock Victory at Seekonk
SEEKONK, MA — Patience and taking chances paid off for Angelo Belsito of Auburn, MA. Belsito kept the lead on the final restart in Saturday’s Pro Stock feature against Kevin Folan and held off Craig Weinstein in the final four laps for his first victory.
“Thank the guys, I couldn’t be out here without them,” Belsito said. “Jeff Belyea, my other friend Jeff, my spotter Mike, my dad, my stepmom, both their companies. All these people that help me week in and week out.”
Belsito said that his competitors were trying to win the race on the first lap. Belsito was mired in traffic early in the race on the inside. Belsito used a pair of crossover moves to gain positions and setup his track position late in the race. He gained two by moving low when the top lane slowed and the second one came when battling Weinstein inside the top five.
“As a spotter, you can’t even come over the radio fast enough,” Belsito said. “The move’s already got to be taken.”
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Once he got to third place, race leader Kevin Folan and last week’s winner Tom Scully, Jr. were ahead on the inside lane. Folan was protecting the bottom, while Scully was trying a crossover move. When Scully’s Wheelock’s NAPA Auto Parts #2 got loose exiting turn four, Belsito made the pass for the win on lap 34 on the outside. Belsito enjoys the outside lane’s faster pace and his comfort zone was his best opportunity. Belsito said he can setup a pass better than the inside and predicted “I’m going to win a lot more races from the outside this year.”
“Tom (Scully, Jr.) he’s a tough guy to get around here,” Belsito said. “He’s got such a high entry, it’s hard for me to float it on the outside, and I’d seen him crossing up and crossing up that guy. The 17 (Folan) was slowing him down so much and I knew if I’d go to the outside, I’d have the best chance that I could from third place and it ended up paying off.”
“I got up there (on the outside) and they slowed up so much in the center,” Belsito said. “I was able to roll on by them and they got a little out of shape down below when I was able to get to the 17 and around him and the caution came out there.”
He took over the lead on lap 35 and nearly lost the race by the next lap. Contact with Folan sent the Belboys Trucking No. 8 sideways in turn four. Folan reclaimed the lead in turn one, while Scully drove low to get second. Contact at the front of the field got Folan loose. Scully spun to bring out the caution on lap 36. Since scoring reverts to the last completed lap, Belsito was able to retain the lead.
“He (Folan) drove right into my door, which I don’t know, I guess he didn’t want to lose the race, but I don’t know how I hung onto it,” Belsito said. ” … I just kept turning the thing right and then I went down into turn one still correcting it and I thought I was even going to lose it down there.”
A graduate of the INEX Legends Cars at Waterford Speedbowl talked about his experience.
“The Legends Cars man that turned me into a driver,” Belsito said. “If you can drive a Legends Car, you can drive anything. … The Legends Cars really polished me as a driver.”
Belsito said Seekonk was a “tough place to get around,” comparing it to the Silver City Quarter Midget track in Meriden, CT. “It was a tight, tight race track,” Belsito said. “…They would run such a small, tight groove and that’s what this track reminded me of.”
Belsito sold the Legends Cars and bought a new Distance Chassis from Jeff Taylor. “He built me a beautiful, great car,” Belsito said. Belsito chose Pro Stocks over Late Models because of the higher purse.
“We got the stuff, we own it and we kind of walked right into it with some money from the Legends Cars and it’s paying off.”
Inside the #No. 8 on Belsito’s car is “in memory of Jim McCallum,” a tribute to the Pro Stock champion his father worked with. Belsito raced Quarter Midgets at Little T and watched Pro Stocks at Thompson. “There was just something about full fenders just cool, cool,” Belsito said. “It was just awesome to watch. I always liked them.”
Belsito had a new track and division to adapt to, saying the Pro Stock was like a boat compared to a Legend. Once in the premier division at Seekonk, Belsito had a great start in May. He was fastest in time trials, second in his qualifying heat and won in his debut, until he was disqualified for a carburetor infraction.
“The first day I just wanted to finish the race,” Belsito said. “I couldn’t believe when I can across the finish line first, it was unreal. Nothing like that ever happened to me.”
His father reminds him daily that he believed they would be replacing body panels every week instead of battling for wins.
“The first week was tough man,” Belsito said. “I didn’t even want to come back. It was tough to get over that. It is what it is. … I come back, I fight, I work hard at what I do, and I knew it would pay off again and I knew we were fast week in and week out. These guys have got this car on rails every week.
“The first couple of weeks there after opening day, I had a tough time adapting to Seekonk and I got my licks and bruises and it didn’t show off…”
Belsito said he is ready to move on past opening day, focused on doing his best and winning races. “I know I can do it,” Belsito said. “I know I have the car and the guys to do it.”
He also wants to gain respect by not causing problems for his competitors.
“I just want to prove to myself, to these guys that I can run side-by-side and run with the best. …but I also want to be a threat. That’s what we came here to do. My car wants to and I’ve got the ability to drive it I think, so I’m going to put it wherever I can… I come here with a clean mentality, try to run everyone the cleanest that I can and that’s all I want to prove.”
Belsito owes his success in part to assistance from Ramstrom Racing, who helped Belsito understand the setup adjustments on a Pro Stock: Panhard bar, stagger, and sway bar. Rick Ramstrom’s team has two Thompson Super Late Model championships and wins on the Pro All Stars Series tour with Derek Ramstrom.
Ramstrom’s crew chief Jeff Belyea has helped with the setup. “He’s got that thing every week and makes my job easy,” Belsito said. “The knowledge that I got from him, from Ramstrom racing and all the guys over there has just put me so far ahead and saved me so much money to get me where I am today.”
“Just the knowledge of what you’re working with,” Belsito said. “…They show you how to set it up, how it’s going to react, let me feel as a driver what one or each do. … I couldn’t repay them back, it’s just too much.
“Great job on the radio from Mike, my dad keeping me calm,” Belsito said. “I was getting a little nervous there at the end. My best friend Jeff, he was in the shop before me today getting this thing ready with me. My dad, Jeff Belyea, Rick Ramstrom, Derek Ramstrom, all the guys over there that help out that help me out just thank you so much.”
Belsito is supported by his father’s Belboys Trucking of Auburn, MA; his stepmother’s RJ Wood, Inc. of Auburn, MA: DeBoise Auto Body of Worcester, MA; and A.F. Amorello & Sons of Worcester, MA.
Family friends Wendy and Frank of DeBoise Auto Body joined Belsito’s efforts this week, buying a set of tires for his car. “Good to get them in victory lane,” Belsito said. Belsito said the car was not perfect and that they would be better for next week’s feature.
Belsito’s dream is to one day race the Oxford 250, the prestigious $25,000 to win race held each July at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine. “It’s a lot of money,” Belsito said. “You’ve got to have a lot of manpower, a lot of planning.”
In the short-term, Belsito said that he would look to running Beech Ridge or Oxford if scheduling and time allowed to prepare the car.
“I’d love to go up and venture out to those tracks,” Belsito said. “Those are some good tracks like Seekonk up there. Good guys to run against too, so we’ll see what the year brings on the money, the sponsors. We’ll see what can put together.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com