BENTLEY
WARREN CLOSES OUT 50TH ANNUAL CLASSIC WEEKEND EVENTS WITH A MEMORABLE WIN |
Oswego, NY – It was only fitting and proper
that the man standing in the last victory lane ceremony of the 50th annual Oswego Speedway
Classic weekend events would be Bentley Warren. Recently named number one in the all time
top fifty drivers in the Classic, Bentley showed us why on Sunday. After a rather
inauspicious start to the much-anticipated 50th anniversary weekend, which began Sept.
2nd, the end on Sept. 17 proved to be spectacular. The rain date which began with warm
sunshine and a good field of winged supermodifieds, ended with the legendary New England
driver doing it one more time. Driving through a field of some of supermodified’s
best – several of whom were not born when he started winning races, Bentley drove by
his teammate Chris Perley and race leader Dave McKnight on the 45th lap of the Bud Light
ISMA Super Nationals to take the victory. Thunderous cheers greeted the man who won his
first Classic in 1969, as he took a lap around the track he made his own over the five
decades he raced on it. One can only presume it may not have been his last victory ride.
Said Bentley after embarking from the Miller 71 “It wasn’t easy. I was driving
my butt off from lap one to lap fifty. The car was just unbelievable. They put a heck of a
racecar together. I always thought Chris was a good driver but I found out it was just the
racecars. Chris said during that red for me ‘to go for it if you can do it.’ He
said he thought he might have something for Dave on the outside and he was going to try it
a couple more times. I couldn’t catch them but when they started working together
they definitely lost a couple tenths. They were off a little bit and I just had a good
hole there. I drove by and said, “Thanks for the ride. See ya. Wouldn’t want to
be ya. I had some breaks with traffic. It turned out to be wicked easy getting by there. I
can’t believe it. I’m just as happy as can be.”
Dave McKnight, who took the lead from Dave Trytek on lap 30, remained in second after
Bentley’s late race pass. He acknowledged later that “The car was solid all race
It was terrible in qualifying and the guys went to town and did the adjustments. It was
great for the feature and I definitely think I had the car to win but with ten laps to go
the line broke off the left rear caliper. The brake went to the floor. My race was pretty
much done without having a brake to set the car up. Hats off to Bentley. He did a great
job. I knew he was there. I don’t think he could have gotten by if I could have used
the brakes but that’s here say. Second again. Maybe we’ll get one before the
year’s out.”
Bentley’s teammate who is chasing him for second on the all-time ISMA win list
didn’t seem to mind that Ben had just made it one marker harder. “Awesome job -
a first and a third. I told Bentley under the red that I would give it one more shot, but
if I don’t get it done and you’ve got it, you better get there. He just giggled
so I think that he knew that from that point he was going to be there. It was awesome for
him to win. I mean I gave it everything I had. I ran outside with Dave. He held his line
and it was a blast. But I didn’t have enough. I needed a couple more feet. I was
working the outside and Dave opened up the bottom for Bentley and he just drove through. I
thought I might be able to follow him but then I got loose. It was fun.”
Thirty-nine winged supers filled the pits and saw four qualifying heats and two consis to
pare down the field to twenty-six starters for the 13th annual Bud Light ISMA Super
Nationals. A horrendous crash in heat three saw Joe Gosek hit the fourth turn wall and
slide upside down with parts flying everywhere, stopping in front of the flag stand. A few
tense moments were when Gosek proved to be shaken but otherwise okay. The Snyder 0 he was
driving looked pretty much destroyed. Joe described the accident later in the pits,
“We were struggling in the heat behind Jamie (Timmons) and I was trying to get up on
the outside but I don’t think I got far enough. He used the racetrack and we came
together and I ended up in the wall. It’s too bad that you wreck a car like that in a
heat. You’re always trying and sometimes it just doesn’t work out.”
When all was said and done, teammates Jeff Holbrook and Dave Trytek held the front row at
the start of the 50-lapper. Trytek pulled immediately into the lead and proved to be a
formidable point man. Holbrook stayed in second, as Dave McKnight, Mike Lichty, Nokie
Fornoro, Chris Perley and Bob Magner were next in line.
Trytek began lapping cars by the 11th circuit as McKnight, Lichty and Fornoro moved by
Holbrook as traffic was already playing a role.
The first slowdown of the raced came on lap 18 when Magner, Lou Cicconi and Holbrook were
parked in turn three. Cicconi and Holbrook went pitside for a check over, as did Michael
Barnes who was pulled in for a possible fuel leak. All cars restarted.
Trytek lost the momentum he had built up, as McKnight Lichty, Fornoro and Perley were
right behind with only one lap car breaking up the pack. Perley got by Fornoro several
laps after the restart and looked to be seeking a ninth win on the season. Also on the
move was the wily Warren who was sixth by the midway mark.
On lap 28, yellow flew again after Trytek had seen his lead disappear to teammates Dave
McKnight and Mike Lichty. The 55 of Joey Scanlon and 40 of Magner were restarted and
Trytek was given a reprieve as the field reverted back to the last lap.
Trytek was able to hold off the onslaught until lap 30 when McKnight and now Perley were
the marauders who stole the lead away and fled the scene. Trytek soon lost third to Warren
who was closing in on the lead duo. Behind Trytek were Lichty, Fornoro, Randy Ritskes,
Joey Payne and Mark Sammut.
The top trio now pulled away until a lap 38 stop when Michael Barnes slid around in turn
one tapping the inner hub. The 5 of Vern Romanoski had lost an oil plug and laid a grease
trail around half the track. It was on this red for cleanup that Bentley and Perley
chatted back and forth in regard to how to possibly get by McKnight.
With only twelve laps remaining McKnight was ready for the plotters. One thing stood,
however, in his way. Within two laps he had lost his brakes. Within four laps Bentley had
moved on by Perley and was heading for McKnight. On lap 45, a cheer erupted from the
grandstands as Bentley put the Vic Miller 71 out front and put an exclamation mark at the
end of the story. McKnight was able to hold on to second as Perley, Lichty and Fornoro
finished up the top five. Trytek slid out of a top five finish when a broken rocker arm
sent him backwards in the waning laps.
McKnight’s teammate said of his fourth place, “It was a good day for the team
with Dave finishing second. My hats off to him. It was a tough track out there today. It
was really hard to pass cars. It felt like every line I needed, somebody else was in it
and they needed it too. Once I got by Davey Trytek for fourth and I had an open racetrack,
I could use the whole track and it felt much better. The car was really coming in then but
by that time it was lap 48 and we only run 50 lap races. So, hats off to everybody.
Everyone did a good job.”
And defending race champion Fornoro had this to say, “We needed a little more wedge
in the car. We’re still trying to get our balances the way I would like them. Danny
and the team have been really good. I’m happy we had a fifth place finish and
I’m totally ecstatic about Bentley. Sixty-five years old and I’m fifty. You know
what, these young guys gotta keep on the high side and keep their stuff in one bag.
I’d like to thank the sponsors and the fans for coming out. We had a pretty good
crowd for a Sunday afternoon!”
Ritskes, Joey Payne, Graham, Trytek and Mark Sammut rounded out the top ten.
SUMMARY ISMA-WIRTGEN - Sept. 17,
2006
50th annual Oswego Speedway Classic Weekend
13th annual Bud Light ISMA Super
Nationals
Heat 1: Nokie Fornoro, Bob Magner, Scott Martel, Randy
Ritskes, Joey Payne, Bobby Haynes Jr.,
Kelly Miller, Shawn Muldoon, Andy Noto.
Heat 2: Mike Lichty, Justin Belfiore, Lou Cicconi, Joey
Scanlon, Vern Romanoski, Charlie Shultz,
Bob Bond, John Payne, Tim Gareau, Pat Lavery (dns).
Heat 3: Chris Perley, Jeff Holbrook, Dave McKnight, Robbie
Summers, Jamie Timmons, John Torrese, Danny Shirey, Keith Shampine, Michael Barnes, Joe
Gosek.
Heat 4: Dave Trytek, Mark Sammut, Bentley Warren, Ray Graham
Jr., Craig Rayvals, Randy Burch, Brandon Bellinger, Mike Brubaker (dns).
Mike Ordway, Joe Petro and Rick Wentworth had motor problems in warm-ups and reported ofn.
Consi 1 (3 qualify): John Torrese, Danny Shirey, Bobby Haynes
Jr., Kelly Miller, Shawn Muldoon,
Tim Gareau.
Consi 2: Randy Burch, Bob Bond, Michel Barnes, Johnny Payne,
Andy Noto, Charlie Schultz
13th annual Bud Light ISMA Super Nationals: 1. Bentley Warren
(71), 2. Dave McKnight (94),
3. Chris Perley (11), 4. Mike Lichty (84), 5. Nokie Fornoro (32), 6. Randy Ritskes
(97),
7. Joey Payne (92), 8. Ray Graham (90), 9. Dave Trytek (70), 10. Mark Sammut (78),
11. Rob Summers (9), 12. Lou Cicconi (75), 13. Johnny Torrese (91), 14. Scott
Martel (88),
15. Vern Romanoski (5), 16. Joey Scanlon (55), 17. Bob Bond (25), 18. Danny Shirey
(V2),
19. Bobby Haynes Jr (44), 20. Jeff Holbrook (35), 21. Michael Barnes (22), 22.
Craig Rayvals (95),
23. Bobby Magner (40), 24. Jamie Timmons (27), 25. Justin Belfiore (8), 26. Randy
Burch (52). |
