Nocella Holds Off Thundering Herd for Bullring Bash Win at WMMP
N. Woodstock, NH – Woburn, MA’s Anthony Nocella fended off a snarling pack of the top Tour-type Modified racers in the Northeast to win the Bullring Bash Thunder in the Mountains 100 at N. Woodstock’s White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday, August 10. Nocella took the lead for the final time from Grantham’s Mike Willis on lap 69 and was never headed from there, capturing the inaugural event for the Bullring Bash Quarter Mile Challenge presented by RaceChoice.com.
Nocella earned the pole in qualifying and set the early pace after a pair of opening-lap yellows. However, the tone for the event was set early, as Woody Pitkat, Willis, Richard Savary, and Kirk Alexander were breathing down Nocella’s neck right from the start. Going into turn three on lap 17, Stafford, CT’s Pitkat dove inside Nocella, flying into the lead as Nocella got freight-trained back to fourth on the outside.
The third caution on lap 44 for Russ Hersey’s spin gave Willis his chance at the point. Pitkat chose the inside for the initial restart attempt, then opted for the outside on the next two tries to get the race going again. When the green flag finally flew, Willis made the inside work and the current Modified Racing Series (MRS) point leader drove into the lead. Nocella followed Willis through to second after Savary had given up the third spot to pit under yellow.
The hard-charging nature of the race picked up right where it left off with Tonawanda, NY’s Andy Jankowiak soon joining the front five to make it a six-car battle for the top spot. At the front, Nocella spent nearly 20 laps working Willis over, taking multiple looks to the inside off turn four. As the field completed the 68th lap, Nocella finally made the turn-four dive stick, and the former MRS Champion completed the pass for the top spot on the following circuit.
Just one lap later, Savary and Jankowiak tangled in turns three and four to bring out the fourth and final caution. Pitkat again had troubles on the restart, apparently missing a shift and falling to the back of the pack. The top-five duked it out to the finish from there, with Nocella, Willis, Savary, Alexander, and Jankowiak just inches apart.
Nocella drifted up the racetrack a little bit on multiple occasions with Willis ready to pounce at any opportunity. But the hole never fully opened and Nocella took the checkered flag to earn the $3,500 top prize.
Willis finished second while Jankowiak made a pair of late moves to complete the podium. Savary and Alexander completed the top-five. Pitkat, Chris Bolton, Geoff Rollins, George Sherman, and Hersey rounded out the top-10.
Pelham’s Casey Call earned a thrilling win of his own in the 35-lap main event for the Midstate Site Development Legends. Call also started on the pole and faced multiple challenges en route to the victory. West Newton, MA’s Luke LeBrun was hot on Call’s tail early as part of a five-car battle that also included Peter Bennett, Brandon Martinez, and Jack Walker. Cromwell, CT’s Bennett got underneath LeBrun for second on lap 13, which allowed Call to pull away slightly – but the top runners quickly closed back up again.
The race took a chaotic turn beginning on lap 23 with four cautions over the next five circuits. When the first yellow flag flow for Kevin Oliver’s turn-two spin, LeBrun got into the back of Bennett, causing hood damage the forced him to pit. That left Bennett and Martinez to challenge Call on the quartet of restarts. Each time, Call timed his jump perfectly to remain out front. Bennett then spun while making one final diving attempt in turn one with two laps to go, allowing Call to hang on for the win.
Martinez finished second while LeBrun made a remarkable drive through the field over the final 12 laps to take third. His brother Luke LeBrun, Walker, Mason Levesque, Devin Deshaies, Kyle Rogers, Shileigh Martinez, and Oliver finished fourth through 10th.
Groveton’s Quinny Welch conquered the Foley Oil & Propane Late Models for his fifth win of the season. The seven-time champion and current point leader started eighth in the 50-lap feature and remained patient as the field battled it out in front of him early.
Moultonborough’s Matt Morrill grabbed the lead on lap three, and for more than half the event, he was able to use the outside line to keep the pack at bay. At one point following the event’s first caution on lap-20, Morrill led a seven-car pack, with St. Johnsbury, VT’s Stacy Cahoon never quite able to make the inside lane stick on Morrill.
Once Morrill finally cleared Cahoon, Welch seized the newfound opening, powering through the pack and getting around Morrill with 20 laps to go. The second and final caution came out five laps later when Lyndonville, VT’s Scott Corey went hard into the turn-four tire barriers. Welch walked away from the field after the green flew again to take the victory and move closer to an eighth championship.
Morrill held off a four-car battle down the stretch to finish second. Cahoon came in third followed by Derek Ming and Oren Remick. Stephen Donahue, Evan Hallstrom, Allie Menard, Jon Savage, and Mike Foster also earned top-10 finishes.
Barton, VT’s Shane Sicard took his third straight win and seventh of the year in the Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers. Sicard spent the first half of the 35-lap feature battling with his brother Jody Sicard of Gilmanton as Jody was able to use the momentum of the high side to maintain the lead. As the field came to the halfway signal, Shane finally cleared Jody, and the defending champion sped off to the victory in the caution-free event.
Jody Sicard came in second with Bradford, VT’s Amanda Wheeler grabbed the third spot late in the going. Michael Potter and first-time Tiger driver Ben Belanger completed the top-five.
White Mountain Motorsports Park returns to action this Saturday, August 17 at 6:30pm. All five divisions are in action with the Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers going 75 laps in the finale of their Triple Crown Series. The 7-Eleven Dwarf Cars will also run a make-up feature from the June 29 event. Admission for the packed card of racing is just $12 for adults, $3 for kids ages 6-12, and $25 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids).
For more information, contact the White Mountain Motorsports Park offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.whitemountainmotorsports.com.
BULLRING BASH THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAINS 100
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2019
OFFICIAL RESULTS
BULLRING BASH MODIFIEDS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Anthony Nocella ( 92 ) Woburn, MA
2. Mike Willis ( 83 ) Grantham, NH
3. Andy Jankowiak ( 573X ) Tonawanda, NY
4. Richard Savary ( 99 ) Canton, MA
5. Kirk Alexander ( 76 ) W. Swanzey, NH
6. Woody Pitkat ( 8 ) Stafford, CT
7. Chris Bolton ( 63 ) Weare, NH
8. Geoff Rollins ( 02 ) Groton, MA
9. George Sherman ( 93 ) Framingham, MA
10. Russ Hersey ( 88 ) Swanzey, NH
11. Matt Swanson ( 25 ) Acton, MA
MIDSTATE SITE DEVELOPMENT LEGENDS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Casey Call ( 90 ) Pelham, NH
2. Brandon Martinez ( 12 ) N. Kingstown, RI
3. Luke LeBrun ( 27MA ) W. Newton, MA
4. Eric LeBrun ( 17MA ) W. Newton, MA
5. Jack Walker (95J ) Nashua, NH
6. Mason Levesque ( 00 ) Dighton, MA
7. Devin Deshaies ( 54 ) Burrillville, RI
8. Kyle Rogers ( 32 ) Waterbury, CT
9. Shileigh Martinez ( 33 ) N. Kingstown, RI
10. Kevin Oliver ( 28 ) Raymond, ME
11. Peter Bennett ( 50 ) Cromwell, CT
12. Bob Weymouth ( 399 ) Pelham, NH
13. Jessica O’Leary ( 14 ) Warwick, RI
14. Aliyah Neale ( 14MA ) Royalston, MA
15. Frankie Sweeney ( 82 )
16. Zachary Martinez ( 14Z ) Kingstown, RI
17. Patrick Millette ( 38 ) Concord, NH
FOLEY OIL & PROPANE LATE MODELS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Quinten Welch ( 78NH ) Groveton, NH
2. Matthew Morrill ( 9NH ) Moultonborough, NH
3. Stacy Cahoon ( 83VT ) St. Johnsbury, VT
4. Derrick Ming ( 5NH ) Island Pond, VT
5. Oren Remick ( 21NH ) Monroe, NH
6. Stephen Donahue ( 2VT ) Graniteville, VT
7. Mike Bailey* ( 1ME ) S. Barre, VT
8. Allie Menard ( 06NH ) Dorchester, NH
9. Jon Savage ( 78VT ) Whitfield, NH
10. Mike Foster ( 7VT ) Williston, VT
11. David LaBrecque ( 57NH ) Thornton, NH
12. Scott Corey ( 22NH ) Lyndonville, VT
*SUB DRIVER: Evan Hallstrom, Northfield, VT
WELLS RIVER CHEVROLET FLYING TIGERS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Shane Sicard ( 4NH ) Barton, VT
2. Jody Sicard ( 49NH ) Gilmanton, NH
3. Amanda Wheeler ( 20NH ) Bradford, VT
4. Michael Potter ( 23NH ) Plainfield, VT
5. Ben Belanger ( 99NH ) Whitefield, NH
6. Jason Rogers ( 37ME ) W. Glover, VT
7. Nathaniel Parkin ( 88NH ) Bradford, VT
Sources: Michael R. Stridsberg/White Mountain Motorsports Park PR
(IMG_2345.JPG): Woburn, MA’s Anthony Nocella (center) earned the inaugural Bullring Bash Modified victory at White Mountain Motorsports Park over Mike Willis (left) and Andy Jankowiak (right). (Mark Alan Sumner photo)>>
(IMG_2115.JPG): Pelham, NH’s Casey Call (center) held off all comers to win the Midstate Site Development Legends feature. Brandon Martinez (right) and Luke LeBrun (left) took second and third. (Mark Alan Sumner photo)>>
(IMG_2228.JPG): Groveton, NH’s Quinny Welch takes a victory lap after earning his fifth win of the season in the Foley Oil & Propane Late Models. (Mark Alan Sumner photo)>>
(IMG_2234.JPG): Welch celebrates his Late Model win with runner-up Matthew Morrill (right) and third-place finisher Stacy Cahoon (left). (Mark Alan Sumner photo)>>
(IMG_2158.JPG): Barton, VT’s Shane Sicard (center) beat out Jody Sicard (right) and Amanda Wheeler (left) for the win in the Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers. (Mark Alan Sumner photo)>>