Stafford
Motor Speedway - Wednesday, July 13th, 2005 |
Russ Wood picked up his first-ever
Stafford Speedway win on Wednesday night
after taking an exciting ISMA 50-lapper at the Carquest Xtreme Wednesday event. |
| Jim Feeney
Photos |
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The top three at
Stafford's ISMA Xtreme Wednesday
night were Lou Cicconi, Russ Wood and Pat Abold. |
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RUSS WOOD TAKES AN EXCITING ISMA WIN
AT CARQUEST EXTREME WEDNESDAY |
Stafford, CT: The event was billed as Xtreme Wednesday at Stafford Motor Speedway and
Wednesday’s ISMA 50 lapper lived up to the hype. The eventual top five put on a
series of battles worthy of the title classic. Russ Wood and Lou Cicconi waged a war for
the top spot with Wood taking the point for good with less than ten to go. Behind, Pat
Abold, Chris Perley and Joey Payne threaded in between lap cars to finish up the top five.
For Wood, the win was his 47th career ISMA win (2 of them non-pointers) as he continues to
top the All-time ISMA Lucas Oil-Helping Hands America win list. The combatants had the
fans on their feet and their hearts pounding on more than one occasion as they watched the
night’s finale, which followed a USAC hotshoe match race won by Ken Schrader.
Russ Wood, smiling broadly, commented after the win. “The car was awesome tonight. I
had some wicked racing with Lou and Pat. I thought they were pretty strong. I thought
they’d be there at the end but my car was getting better. It was flawless. The
traffic all went my way. It was a good win for the car and the team. The crew worked hard.
They made a few changes today. We’re extremely happy. “
Louie Cicconi, who ended the race in second, had stopped his 75 off the backstretch after
the checkered jumping from the car as it spewed hot fluid. He was sporting a cold pack and
bandage as his car passed over the scales. “It was an awesome race. Something in the
motor or a water line broke at the end. I think I did a good job getting out quick. I only
got a little burn spot on my arm. I had a lot of water on my legs but no burns. Thank God.
Russ and I were battling like there was a war going on. It was so clean. There’s a
lot of respect between us and he earned that win. I wasn’t giving it to him. He
earned it fair and square. I’m happy for him. There was a lot of traffic there and it
was fun to race through. I’ll tell you if it weren’t for Brian (Allegresso) I
wouldn’t be out there tonight. He fixed my racecar for me. It broke in the trailer on
the way to the track. We opened the trailer when we got here and it was on the ground. The
shock towers had broken off it. Brian fixed it. If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t
have been out there.”
ISMA point leader Pat Abold who has posted an admirable record to date was also pleased to
take home a second top three for the Dunigan team. “Third place is a good run. The
team had a good run tonight. I’m really happy for Russell. Those guys needed that. We
got a little bit tight in the middle of the corner. Third helped us a little in the
points. We just have to keep good consistent finishes and keep as competitive as we are.
It was a lot of fun racing out there tonight.”
Twenty-nine ISMA cars vied for a chance at running for the huge crowd on hand with Abold,
Joe Petro and Jon McKennedy taking heats and Ricky Wentworth copping the consi.
A quick yellow on the first lap came for a spin by Johnny Payne and with the race
resumption, polesitter Justin Belfiore took off from the pack. Lou Cicconi rapidly moved
his brightly colored 75 into second and it was obvious that Lou was fast and smooth. On
lap 6 Lou drove outside Belfiore off turn three for the lead. But the excitement was just
beginning.
A second yellow fell on lap 8 as the steering broke on the Bob Magner-driven 35. This put
the line right of Belfiore, Scott Martel, Mark Sammut, Mike Lichty and Abold right on
Lou’s tail. But Cicconi began to pull away from Belfiore. On lap 21 a high-flying Pat
Abold took over second from Justin as his teammate Russ Wood did likewise for third. Chris
Perley, driving high and low, pulled into fourth a couple laps later with Lichty, Joey
Payne, Belfiore, Martel, Sammut and McKennedy still racing hard toward the front as the
race approached half way.
A final yellow for debris on lap 20 allowed the field to bunch back behind Cicconi.
After the restart, slowly but surely Wood made up the distance Cicconi had acquired and by
lap 29 the fans knew a breath-taking battle was coming. With lap cars in front and Abold,
Perley and Joey Payne behind, Cicconi and Wood began their run to the checkered
maneuvering in and out of the fast moving lap cars. On lap 40, Wood dove low as the duo
approached Jamie Letcher and Bobby Santos with Lou mired for a moment. Wood came across
the line in the lead as the board clicked to 41. He was nine laps away from his first win
of the season and he wasn’t about to lose this one.
A couple lap cars soon separated Wood’s 29 from Cicconi while Abold, Perley and Joey
Payne still fought their own fight for the next spot. Joe Petro moved up to sixth in a
late race charge while Lichty and Martel diced behind. With very little attrition in the
field, racing continued all over the track right to the checkered which Wood passed under
comfortably in first. Cicconi came off turn two and pulled into the grass with the
aforementioned fluid spitting on him. The track crew tended to Lou and eventually he made
his way to victory lane to join Wood and Abold for the podium finish.
Perley, trying to make up a disappointing season start, settled for the fourth. “It
was a tough race. To come out with fourth is good. We were battling good people through
and through - Joey behind me, Pat in front of me. And Louie. There was a lot of traffic
but the car was off and we made the best of it. Stafford does appear to be a fun track to
race at because it gives you different grooves. After we put on new tires for the heat,
the car just got greasy. It didn’t have the bite that it had and it kept that greasy
feel for the whole feature. We were tight and loose at the end but a lot of people were
having the same problem except for Woody who had checked out. Congratulations to him. We
wanted to get Lou and Pat but we’ll have to wait until next time.”
And Joey Payne in his best ISMA finish to date and after a disappointing midget run, said,
“It’s been a rough night. We wore the midget out…killed that thing. It
feels good to come home fifth in the super for a low buck team. We were coming. I clogged
the fuel filters again. We’ve been having problems with fuel all night long and the
car wouldn’t pull off the corners. I just had to drive the crap out of it to get it
in behind those guys. I almost had Chris at the end but he’s going for the
championship so I didn’t want to screw him up so we settled for fifth and we’re
looking forward to Cayuga.”
Petro, Martel, Lichty McKennedy and McKnight rounded out the top ten. Two USAC drivers
Paul White and Brad Noffsinger tried their hands in the supers and Connecticut’s Ted
Christopher was once again aboard a Lane-owned car where he finished eleventh.
ISMA heads to north of the border to Cayuga Speedway on July 16.
Summary - ISMA Event #5 - Stafford Motor Speedway -
July 13Heat 1: Pat Abold, Scott Martel, Chris Perley, Mark Sammut, Dave
McKnight, Bobby Santos, Rick Wentworth, Vern Romanoski, Bob Timmons Sr., Mike Badessa
Heat 2: Joe Petro, Mike Lichty, Lou Cicconi, Matt Seavey,
Joey Payne, Ted Christopher, Bob Magner, Bobby Haynes Jr., Paul White
Heat 3: Jon McKennedy, Russ Wood, Nokie Fornoro, Justin
Belfiore, Johnny Payne, Eric Shirey, Jamie Letcher, Jon Gambuti, Brad Noffsinger
Consi: Rick Wentworth, Jon Gambuti, Paul White, Jamie
Letcher, Bob Magner, Brad Noffsinger, Vern Romanoski, Bob Timmons Sr., Bobby Haynes
Haynes used ISMA option
Carquest Xtreme Wednesday ISMA 50: 1. Russ Wood (29), 2. Lou
Cicconi (75), 3. Pat Abold (26),
4. Chris Perley (11), 5. Joey Payne (4), 6. Joe Petro (33), 7. Scott Martel (97),
8. Mike Lichty (84),
9. Jon McKennedy (79), 10. Dave McKnight (94), 11. Ted Christopher (9), 12. Mark
Sammut (78),
13. Nokie Fornoro (32), 14. Jamie Letcher (58), 15. Matt Seavey (66), 16. Bobby
Santos III (14),
17. Paul White (16), 18. Johnny Payne (67), 19. Eric Shirey (V2), 20. Rick
Wentworth (10),
21. Bobby Haynes (44), 22. Brad Noffsinger (74), 23. Justin Belfiore (8), 24. Bob
Magner (35),
25. Jon Gambuti (15) |
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ISMA HEADS EAST AND THEN NORTH OF THE BORDER
Oswego, NY – After a couple weeks’ hiatus, the ISMA Lucas Oil-Helping Hands of
America Super Series heads for a Wednesday, July 13 show at Stafford Motor Speedway in
Connecticut and three days later they will fill the pits at Cayuga Speedway in Ontario,
Canada on July 16. Wednesday’s show at Stafford is called Xtreme Wednesday and what a
show that will be. At Cayuga, the winged supers return after a year’s absence at that
five-eighth’s mile oval. A great field of cars is expected at each show.
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Xtreme Wednesday at
Stafford finds Chris Perley the defending champion after winning last year’s exciting
80 lapper. Mike Ordway, Bentley Warren, Scotty Martel and Rick Wentworth trailed him to
the checkers. Joining ISMA again this year will be the NEMA midgets and Pro-4 Modifieds.
In addition Stafford has some special treats up their sleeve with some stars from NASCAR,
USAC and the IRL added to the night.
Rising star Erin Crocker has also entered the Seymour Enterprises midget in Stafford Motor
Speedway's CARQUEST Extreme Wednesday. This will be Crocker's first New England appearance
since signing on with NASCAR Nextel Cup's Evernham Motorsports operation.
In addition to Crocker, several USAC midget and Sprint car regulars are expected to join
the field of NEMA midgets. Bobby Santos and Mike Lewis will have their regular USAC
mounts, from the Wirtgen Racing stable, outfitted with wings to see how they measure up
against area stalwarts that include ISMA star Joey Payne and defending NEMA champ Ben
Seitz.Buddy Rice, the 2004
Indy 500 champion and NEXTEL Cup Stars Dave Blaney, Ken Schrader and Car Edwards round out
the program with an autograph session as well as the CARQUEST USAC all Star Clash which
will see Blaney, Edwards and Schrader compete in USAC Silver Crown Cars for a
winner-take-all 15 lap main event.
Full schedule of Extreme
Wednesday show HERE
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Advance tickets are available for CARQUEST Extreme
Wednesday at $28.00 for adult general admission, $5.00 for children 6-14, and free for
children 5 & under. Reserved seating is $32.00 for all ages.
For more information, or to order advance tickets to CARQUEST Extreme Wednesday, please
call the Stafford Motor Speedway Track Office at 860-684-2783, or log on to www.staffordspeedway.com.
Cayuga2000 Speedway on Saturday, July 16th
And don’t miss all the action-packed excitement at Cayuga2000 Speedway on
Saturday, July 16th when the fastest short track methanol breathing big blocks hit the
five-eighth’s mile oval in Canada. The supermodifieds have a long, storied history at
Cayuga, which dates back to 1976 when the first race was held. During the years some
events were held wingless, but most were with the huge wings attached. Over the years
names famous names have graced Cayuga’s oval (number of wins). Bentley Warren (2),
Gary Allbritian, Jimmy Winks, Warren Coniam, Eddie Bellinger, Kempton Dates, Steve Gioia
(2), Doug Heveron and in the more recent era, Scott Martel, Mike Ordway (3), Dave McKnight
(2), Joey Payne (3), Russ Wood (2), Joe Gosek (3) and Chris Perley was the last winner in
2003.
The 2005 50-lap ISMA feature will be held under the lights with Pit Gate opening at 2:30
PM; Spectator Gate opening at 4:00 PM and racing will begin at 7:30 PM. Added to the
program is a 100 lap CASCAR Sportsman event, Outlaw Thunder cars and a demonstration of
the CSSM – the Canadian small block super division that became reality just this
season. . Adult admission is $25 Can. You can come out and camp for the whole weekend if
you’d like and enjoy some of the other sites around this famed oval.
For information and directions, www.cayuga2000speedway.com
or call 905-768-1177 |
Santos, Christopher, Martel team up for Stafford Extreme Wednesday
ISMA Show
Lane Racing normally runs a two car team, but this Wednesday July 13th at Stafford
Speedway Jim and Scott Martel have decided to bring out the 14 as a third car.
Martel: “ We are excited to have Bobby drive the car: the Martel and Santos names
have been around racing for many years. Jim Martel raced against Bobby Grandfather and I
have raced against Bobby’s Dad.”
Joining Scott, who drives the Lane Racing 97 for the Car Quest Extreme Wednesday show,
will be Ted Christopher in the Lane Racing 9 and Bobby Santos III in the Lane/Martel 14.
The 14 finished fourth last year at Stafford with Martel behind the wheel. Bobby who will
be driving the 14 on Wednesday recently won the pole and finished second in the USAC
Midget race out at Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Lane Racing would like to thanks their sponsors Essex Seafood, Dr. Mom say “School is
Cool”, Gangi Plumbing, Burkes Home Centers, Avenger and Ipswich NAPA.
We would also like to thank Stu Murray of Wirtgen, and Gangi Plumbing for making it
possible for Bobby Santos to be able to drive this Wednesday at Stafford Motor Speedway
For further information on Lane Racing see www.laneracing.com
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Comments
or Questions: isma@ISMAsupers.com |
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