Vincent Sets the Pace at Seekonk Speedway
Seekonk, MA — Hello all! I return for the day stepping in while Amy is away. There were seventeen cars that made the event at Seekonk Speedway. After a series of hard hitting thunderstorms earlier in the week it was not clear if the weather would hold off long enough to get some racing in. The day started off nice with comfortable weather and clear skies, but as it progressed it became more and more humid.
Over the course of the day there were four practice sessions for teams to get their cars adjusted. There were not any incidents during the practices. All the cars looked good, not leaving a whole lot for teams to do for fine tuning.
For the first heat it would be #00 Dave Richardi on the poll with brother #12 Rob Richardi, Jr. on the outside. The boys were all quick on the accelerator on the drop of the green flag. #00 Richardi a bit loose on the back straight on the first lap giving way for #10 Brian Vincent to pass him low and #12 Richardi, Jr. following in his lead. The group remained tight throughout all ten laps making for some good Pro 4 racing for the fans. #10 Vincent grabbed the checkered flag for the first heat.
In the second heat it was #16 Stan Mertz on the poll with #99 Billy Joerres on the outside. #99 Joerres jumping on the green, pulled to the front of the pack. That would quickly change as #07x Robin Berghman passes #99 Joerres coming out of turn two getting to the back straight. Berghman set the pace for the whole ten laps, gaining a comfortable lead by the fifth lap. #83 Franky Perry trying to catch her in the final two laps runs very close to the infield hitting the curb but remained in control of his car. #07x Berghman clinched the checkered flag with ease for the second heat.
With a little down time before the start of the main event the Pro 4 drivers had a chance to interview for Beth Fuller. Coming from Foxboro Cable Access Beth and crew of Ray McKenna, Lauren Bitar, and Matt Shea are producing a promotional video to be aired locally in Foxboro, MA. Jim Darlington is coordinating segments of future races so that they can be aired in your community to help promote the Pro 4’s and gain a wider fan base throughout New England. If you are interested on having the video air on your own community cable channel please get in contact with Foxboro Cable Access to have a DVD sent, or for more information contact Jim Darlington.
To get things started for the feature it once again was #00 Dave Richardi on the pole and #12 Rob Richardi, Jr. on the outside. The boys were both on the neck and neck heading down the front straight as the flagger started the race. Things quickly came to a halt as the first caution was called on lap four. #99 Billy Joerres lost control and spun in turn two. For the restart it was #12 Richardi, Jr. on the pole and #00 Richardi on the outside. As fast as the green was dropped the yellow was back out. On the restart #29 Matt Sagar, #13 George Sherman and #86 Mark Charette collide in front of the flaggers tower with Charette literally hopping over #29 Sagar. #13 Sherman was sent into the wall of turn one, taking damage to his front and side nerf bars. #86 Charette had a broken front axle. In the mix of all this we also lost two more cars, #07 Phil Lausier got his car stuck in gear and #07x Robin Berghman broke her steering rack. #29 Sagar was able to return to the track after a quick check in the pits for the restart. As they lined up once again it was #12 Richardi, Jr. back on the pole and brother #00 Dave on the outside. The front group of seven stayed tight on the restart for the next three laps as they dropped into single file row. On lap nine #10 Brian Vincent was closing in on #12 Richardi, Jr. for the front position. As they rolled into lap ten on the front straight #12 Richardi, Jr. started to have sparks flying out from his engine. Dropping out to determine what the problem was gave #10 Vincent a clear shot for the lead. After getting into the pits Richardi, Jr. found that his starter wire had disconnected itself. With Vincent out front it was #25 Tyler Anderson and #01 Adam Norton in hot pursuit in the second and third spots. It was a battle for second for the remaining laps of the race, as #25 Anderson was able to keep #01 Norton in his rear view.
Vincent started to pull away with a three car lead by lap seventeen. As the guys drove into lap twenty #1M Norm Wrenn was on the tail of #01 Norton. As #10 Vincent crossed the finish line for the win, not far behind #01 Norton pushing his car to the limit was fighting for second with #25 Anderson came loose in turn four but is able to keep from spinning out of control. It was looking scary there for a moment.
Collecting his first win for 2010, the Seekonk Speedway winner is #10 Brian Vincent, in second is #25 Tyler Anderson, in third #01 Adam Norton, fourth goes to #1M Norm Wrenn and to round off the top five is #83 Franky Perry. For the Limited Division it was #99 Billy Joerres in first and #86 Mark Charette taking home second.
Congratulations to Brian Vincent and team for a fantastic win at Seekonk Speedway. Don’t forget to return for some more Pro 4 racing action on Saturday June 19th at Monadnock Speedway. ; ) -Sarah
Sources: Sarah Lemay/P4MNE PR