Waterford
Speedbowl - Saturday, August 16, 2008 |
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The top three
at Waterford’s Foxwoods Kool 101 50 on Saturday were
Mike Lichty, Lou Cicconi and Chris Perley. |
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Jim Feeney Photos |
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LOU CICCONI
TAKES WILD ONE
AT WATERFORD |
Waterford, CT – It had been
almost a year since Lou Cicconi was behind the wheel of an ISMA
supermodified but he certainly didn't lose anything in that
time. Saturday at Waterford Speedbowl he slipped behind the
wheel of the Wentworth 10 and came home with a win at that
Connecticut oval in what was probably one of the most exciting
supermodified races in recent history. After a very rough time
getting the race started, 48 green flag laps were clicked off in
the 10 minute range. In that short time five different drivers
took the lead with "Liquid Lou" the final one. Cicconi's last
supermodified win came at the Star Classic in 2006. The
Waterford win was his second there in the five ISMA appearances.
The large swarm around Cicconi in victory lane included car
owners, Rick and Paula Wentworth, the crew and many
well-wishers.
"I really have to thank Rick and Paula Wentworth for giving me
this ride and everyone who helped out," the Aston, PA driver
said. "This is really great. I won the first race we came to
here. I think this is the fourth. Two out five. I could tell
when I was following the 61 and then the 84 that they weren't
going to take off. Dave just got lucky in the slow traffic and
stretched it. I knew with that last restart – green white
checkered, that the fight would be between me and Mike. If I'd
have given Mike a quarter inch he would have given it a try. I
knew I had to be real fast and smooth. I didn't want to leave
him any breathing room."
Mike Lichty, who lost his lead to Cicconi on lap 27, pursued him
with all he had until the end to settle for second.
"It was a good day, better than yesterday at Lee. The whole
PATCO team doesn't have much luck at Lee. Second is a great
finish for me tonight. It's great to see Louie back in a super.
The first time out in a year and he wins! I have to thank Reg
Welford a ton for helping put the 74 back together in the week
after we crashed the 84 at Mansfield. It was a long week.
"Lou had the car tonight. We weren't far behind him. Lap traffic
kind of worked to his advantage and it was just one of those
nights – not for us. We jumped out in the lead there and just
got beat in lap traffic. We stayed probably four or five car
lengths behind him for the rest of the race. Lap traffic was
pretty tough tonight."
Chris Perley was right on the lead duo's tail for much of their
battle to finish third. Said the current ISMA point leader of
his podium finish.
"I'll take a third. Louie did a good job. I thought Mike was
going to get it. I don't know when he's going to win one of
these things. We had a great battle it was pretty wild. It made
for a great race for the fans once it got started. Unfortunately
it took a long time to start. I was actually gun shy of the
right rear tonight and I made the crew tighten it up too much.
It was my fault really. The car just stayed tight. Hey, we kept
going. We didn't break down and we got a third place."
A huge crowd was on hand for the exciting night of racing and
they got their money's worth after a horrible start turned to a
fantastic finish. A red flew before one lap was complete when
the 27 of Jamie Timmons, the 5 of Vern Romanoski and the 78 of
Mark Sammut came together in turn four. Timmons received the
worst of it while Romanoski lost a rear end and Sammut was able
to restart.
The complete restart found the 97 of Rob Summers heading pitside
with a broken driveshaft. Then a three-wide maneuver in turn one
on the next green sent Mike Keeler's 56 on the hook and out of
the race. Keeler had just picked up a podium finish in the
preceding NEMA event.
Finally, on the next try the start stuck and it was a fast and
furious 48 laps ahead before it slowed again. If you blinked you
missed a pass or maybe two. Bobby Haynes Jr., who had picked up
his first heat win earlier, took off to lead the initial circuit
but Friday night's Lee USA winner Dave Shullick Jr. stormed up
from 10th to take over the point by lap 2.
Shullick set a torrid pace out front but the challengers were
staying in touch. Haynes, then Mike Ordway Jr., held second with
Mike Lichty, Cicconi, Dave Trytek, Brandon Bellinger, Perley,
Santos, Abold and more flying high and low around the "Bowl."
By lap 15, the mix of lap cars found Ordway Jr. catching up to
the back end of the 61 with Lichty, Cicconi, Perley, the top
five. But, four laps later Shullick suddenly pulled the 61 off
into the infield and Ordway was the new leader. Shullick said
later, "The power steering went but the car was working great
until then."
Ordway Jr. took the Holbrook 41 out a couple car lengths but
Lichty, Cicconi, Perley and Santos didn't give him much chance
to relax. On lap 26, Lichty, still looking for his ISMA career
first, passed by the 41 to lead lap 27.
There was just no letup in the action as the dizzying pace
continued. On lap 31 another new leader hit the board when
Cicconi got around Ordway Jr. who slid back a couple spots in
the spot swap.
With less than 20 to go, Cicconi, who had just gotten in the 10
that day, took charge but did not lose Lichty, Perley and Ordway
Jr. by any means. Also still racing hard were Haynes, Dave
Trytek, Jeff Holbrook, Bellinger, Mark Sammut and Abold.
Intense traffic – and not slow traffic – met the lead pack at
every turn and on every straight, giving Cicconi a little leeway
out front until, with two laps to go, the yellow, then red fell.
Jeff Holbrook and his teammate Dave Trytek, who had been running
just off the top five, sat in between one and two. Holbrook was
a bit shaken and the ambulance carried him back into the pits.
The sore and bruised Holbrook replayed the incident later from
his hauler. "The car was going good on the outside. I was
passing cars there. I came up on Dave and he twitched and got a
little loose. We touched wheels and I went in the wall and into
the air. And, that was it."
Now, after the mind-boggling pace of the last 48 laps, the field
bunched for the final two-lap shoot out. Cicconi had two lap
cars in between him and Lichty and Perley. Santos had just
grabbed a spot and sat fourth ahead of Ordway Jr.
The final green dropped and Cicconi was off like a streak.
Lichty and Perley broke by the lap cars but Cicconi now had the
advantage. Ordway Jr. stole back his fourth from Santos in the
final circuit as the checkered dropped less than a half a minute
later due to the high 12-second race laps the lead cars were
running.
"My only concern on that last wreck was that the car was running
hot and I was afraid of overheating under caution," said Cicconi
of those last two laps.
Ordway Jr., who sat in the infield with a breakdown at Lee the
previous night, was back in form Saturday. "The car was real
good at the beginning and we led a few laps after we got by DJ.
And, then it just got real tight. We had some trouble with lap
traffic. A couple guys got by me after a while and I was running
fourth. Santos got by me right before the red with two to go. I
got a real good restart and got back by him and ended up fourth.
I have to thank Jeff and the guys on the crew."
Santos, who had sat out the NEMA midget ride after his sister
Erica lost a motor in her car and took her brother's car into
the feature, was happy with fifth, although he would have
preferred the fourth. "We just got real tight at the end. The
car was good. I had a lot of fun this weekend. These guys did an
awesome job. They worked their butts off yesterday to even be at
the racetrack. So I can't complain about two top five finishes
in my first time in the Soule car. We're happy and I'm looking
forward to the next one."
Russ Wood, Jeff Abold, Mark Sammut, Brandon Bellinger and Scott
Martel finished up the top ten with Bellinger and Martel a lap
down.
Waterford Summary, ISMA Event #7
Heat 1: Bobby Haynes Jr., Mike
Lichty, Chris Perley, Mike Ordway Jr., Jeff Holbrook, Justin
Belfiore, Mark Sammut, Artie Rousseau, Dave Sanborn
Heat 2: Dave Trytek, Jeff Abold,
Bob Santos, Dave Shullick Jr., Jamie Timmons, Russ Wood, Scott
Martel, Bob Bond
Heat 3: Rob Summers, Lou Cicconi,
Mike Keeler, Brandon Bellinger, Vern Romanoski, Tim Adams, Eric
Emhoff
McKnight's 94 DNS heat. Motor change.
Waterford Wings
and Wheels Racing Against Cancer 50:
1. Lou Cicconi Jr. (10), 2. Mike Lichty (84), 3. Chris Perley
(11),
4. Mike Ordway Jr. (41), 5. Bobby Santos III (32), 6. Russ Wood
(29),
7. Jeff Abold (05), 8. Mark Sammut (78), 9. Brandon Bellinger
(02),
10. Scott Martel (14), 11. Dave McKnight Jr. (94), 12. Justin
Belfiore (88),
13. Bobby Bond (25), 14. Dave Trytek (70), 15. Jeff Holbrook
(35),
16. Artie Rousseau (616), 17. Bobby Haynes Jr. (44), 18. Dave
Sanborn (24),
19. Dave Shullick Jr. (61), 20. Tim Adams (76), 21. Mike Keeler
(56),
22. Rob Summers (97), 23. Jamie Timmons (27), 24. Vern Romanoski
(5),
25. Eric Emhoff (2). |
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Speedbowl Ready For Wings &
Wheels |
(WATERFORD , CT - TRACK RELEASE)
Geography – length, width, surface – makes Waterford
Speedbowl an ideal spot for Saturday night’s Racing Against
Cancer Wings & Wheels presented by Foxwoods and Kool 101.
Three of the four fastest short track divisions in the
Northeast, led by the International Super Modified Racing
Association, are due. The Supers will be joined by the
Northeastern Midget Association, the True Value Modified
Series and the Speedbowl’s SK-Modifieds.
A portion of every ticket will go to Racing Against Cancer.
The gates open at 3:30 PM and racing begins at 5.
The True Values will go 100 laps, the Supers 50, the SKs 35
and the Midgets 25. All will qualify via heats and consis
(starting at 5 pm) that guarantees some hectic action.
There are no strangers in the mix. Each division has
established history at the Speedbowl. They come wanting to
make more history. ISMA President Howie Lane insists the
Speedbowl’s first 11-seconds lap is a possibility Saturday.
Back in May, ISMA’s Chris Perley turned a 12.489 seconds lap
(107-mph plus) en route to victory. It was, just a few
“ticks” better than Randy Cabral’s 12.848 (105-plus) in the
Bertrand Midget set a few weeks before. Those marks are now
targets for two divisions that pay special attention to lap
times.
Dwight Jarvis’ 14.075 lap and many SK times in the 14.150
range this summer are testimony that the True Value and SK
Modifieds are surpassing the century mark as well.
Bowl fans have their favorites in the touring divisions
starting with ISMA’s Rob Summers, the one-time SK champion
who’ll be coming with a True Value car as well. Summers
would like nothing better than adding a ISMA checkered to
his Speedbowl resume.
Ted Christopher will be returning in the Czarnecki #20. TC
would like to add to a Speedbowl resume that includes, in
addition to 33 SK wins, successes in the NASCAR Modifieds,
NEMA Midgets and Pro4 Modifieds.
True Value regulars Chris Pasteryak, Ed Dachenhausen and
Mike Holdridge are all former Speedbowl regulars. NEMA’s
Cabral, Nokie Fornoro, Erica and Bobby Santos III and Joey
Payne all have strong followings at the Bowl as well.
They’ll all be part of a host of short track giants that
includes ISMA’s Perley, Jeff Holbrook, Russ Wood, Dave
McKnight, Mike Ordway Jr. and Mike Lichty, NEMA’s Jeff Horn,
Greg Stoehr, Lou Cicconi and TVMS David Pinkham, Les
Hinckley, Kirk Alexander and Jean-Paul Cyr.
The Speedbowl’s SK fraternity – Dennis Gada, Keith Rocco,
Rob Janovic Jr., Jeffrey Paul, Ron Yuhas Jr., Doug Coby –
will be striving to excel as well. |
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