NOKIE
FORNORO EDGES OUT LOU CICCONI FOR ISMA TOLEDO AFTER PERLEY IS KNOCKED OUT LATE IN RACE |
Toledo, OH – Nokie Fornoro chased
down Lou Cicconi to take over the lead of the ISMA-Wirtgen 50 lapper at Toledo Speedway
Friday night. What turned out as a great battle for the win in the latter stages of the
race, looked to be a run away for Chris Perley prior to that. Unfortunately, Perley met
with a couple lap cars on lap 38 sending him to the pits with a broken lower radius rod.
The remainder of the race was between Lou Cicconi, Nokie Fornoro and Dave McKnight. In the
end, thanks to a little chiding from an old friend, Nokie was in the winner’s circle
after climbing the front straight wall Tony Stewart style, much to the crowd’s
delight. Tony just happened to be that old friend and who just happened to be sitting in
the pit grandstand where he has been on this Friday night before Michigan’s Nextel
Cup race the past few years. The win for Fornoro was his ISMA career eighth and the first
of the young ISMA-Wirtgen season.
Said Nokie after the race, “I’m very happy with the win. Danny had set up the
car to come in at about halfway and he helped make a couple chassis changes that allowed
me to run up high. It was a good place to pass as everyone else was running down low. I
had been talking with my good friend Tony Stewart earlier tonight and he said ‘think
you can win this one old man?’ I had to show him I could and climb the fence too. I
really had a second place car tonight if Chris had stayed in it. This makes up for Oswego
where I thought I had a first place car and I finished 24th!”
Second place finisher Lou Cicconi, who had taken over the lead after Perley’s exit,
wasn’t quite sure where all the pressure came from behind him. First it was McKnight
and then Fornoro who stormed at the bright 75. He was still pleased with second stating,
“It was real good. At least we finished. Everything was good. I’m happy with
that run. Where did the rest of those guys come from anyway? They weren’t supposed to
pass me!”
Dave McKnight, who came into the Toledo event a little apprehensive after his record at
the Ohio oval the past couple years was hot, but smiling after he exited his third place
car. “The Patco-401 Trailers-Stage Door Transport team did a great job. We’ve
been struggling since last year to try and be consistent. We’re chipping away at it
this year. The last three years here I’ve blown a motor so to finish third is a
bonus. Chris was definitely a class act. Too bad about what happened. Hats off to Nokie.
It’s on to Mansfield and to keep this momentum going.”
A strong contingent of supers were on hand to give the large, enthusiastic crowd a show.
And, that they got. The early race lead was swapped between Bobby Santos, Mike Lichty and
Dave McKnight before The Rowley Rocket moved up to take the lead from McKnight going under
the Canadian in turn one on lap 8. Perley took off and began to lap tail end cars by lap
14. His run looked like a repeat of the ISMA opener at Oswego. It was not to be however.
On lap 19 the 7 of Charlie Schultz and the 8 of Waterford winner Justin Belfiore brushed
and flew the yellow. Both restarted although Belfiore dropped right back out. The field
was grouped behind Perley but there were three lap cars between his 11 and the 94 of
McKnight. Trailing the Patco machine was his teammate Mike Lichty, Lou Cicconi, and Bob
Santos.
Perley was long gone once again as he continued to lap cars. Bob Magner spun off to the
infield on lap 25 but no flag flew. Only Perley was flying at this point. He lapped fast
time trailer Ray Graham on lap 30 leaving McKnight and Cicconi mired in his wake.
Lap 37 proved Perley’s demise however as he approached the V2 of 16-year old rookie
Danny Shirey and Joe Petro. Shirey bobbled causing Petro to spin and Perley catch a tire.
At first it looked as if only a flat tire was the problem but pitside the crew determined
that a radius rod was gone and Perley’s run was done. “I think I’ve
inherited the Ordway luck,” said Perley afterwards. “It just seems like I’m
having his luck from last year.” Mike Lichty used this slowdown to put for a new tire
also.
Back underway, Lou Cicconi was now the leader with 7 laps to go. McKnight and Fornoro sat
behind with five lap cars in between the top three and the rest of the pack. Mike Lichty
had pitted out of a top five spot during the yellow and was now working his way back
through the field.
With six to go Fornoro rode high around McKnight and set his sites on the leader. Santos
and Lichty made up the top five. With four to go, Fornoro drove the Soule 32 around the
high side of Cicconi for the lead and the win. McKnight tried with all his might to take
second from Cicconi but to no avail. Lichty ran into fourth while Mark Sammut made a last
lap charge around Santos for fifth.
Lichty was semi-pleased with his fourth. “I hurt the tire in the heat race and had to
run the feature on it. The tire came apart on the caution there. I started way back and
drove up to fourth and that was okay. But, I’d like to start finishing one or two
instead. I’d like to thank my Dad, Patco, Stage Door Transport, 401 Trailers and all
the crew.”
The third Canadian in the top five, Mark Sammut, was extremely pleased with his long run.
“That was probably one of the best runs we’ve ever had starting at the back. It
wasn’t our best finish, but we started 19th and at the beginning the car was really
going. The tires began to go away. We wouldn’t have had anything for the leaders at
the end, but to get fifth after how we ran the rest of the day was incredible.”
Finishing out the top ten were Bob Santos, Scott Martel, Moe Lilje, Ray Graham Jr., and
Randy Burch.
The ISMA-Wirtgen group were on the road to Mansfield for a Saturday, June 17, 2006
fifty-lapper there.
SUMMARY - ISMA-WIRTGEN SUPER
SERIES - EVENT #3
Toledo Speedway - June 16, 2006
Top 3 Time Trialers: Ray Graham Jr. 13.519, Chris Perley
13.635, Randy Burch 13.681
Heat 1: Bobby Santos, Charlie Schultz, Justin Belfiore, Randy
Burch, Scott Martel, Dave Shullick Jr., Dave Trytek, Rich Reid, Joe Grunda, Dorman Snyder,
John Torrese, Denny Fisher.
Heat 2: Nokie Fornoro, Chris Perley, Mike Lichty, Moe Lilje,
Kyle Carpenter, Joe Petro, Mark Sammut, Jeff Holbrook, Larry Lehnert, Eric Torrese (dns).
Heat 3: Bob Dawson, Lou Cicconi, Dave McKnight, Bob Magner,
Ray Graham Jr., Vern Romanoski, Danny Shirey, Jon Henes, Bobby Haynes Jr. Frank Neill.
Consi: Mark Sammut, Dave Trytek, Danny Shirey, Rich Reid, Joe
Grunda, Bobby Haynes Jr., Jon Henes, Jeff Holbrook, Dorman Snyder, Frank Neill, Larry
Lehnert. Denny Fisher (dns), John Torrese (dns).
Toledo ISMA-Wirtgen 50: 1. Nokie Fornoro (32), 2. Lou Cicconi
(75), 3. Dave McKnight (94),
4. Mike Lichty (84), 5. Mark Sammut (78), 6. Bobby Santos (97), 7. Scott Martel
(88),
8. Moe Lilje (19), 9. Ray Graham Jr. (90), 10. Randy Burch (52), 11. Rich Reid
(55),
12. Dave Trytek (70), 13. Bobby Haynes Jr. (44), 14. Jeff Holbrook (35), 15. Chris
Perley (11),
16. Danny Shirey (V2), 17. Joe Petro (33), 18. Bobby Dawson (28), 19. Bob Magner
(40),
20. Justin Belfiore (8), 21. Charlie Schultz (7), 22. Vern Romanoski (5), 23. Dave
Shullick Jr. (49),
24. Kyle Carpenter (9), 25. Joe Grunda (1) |
ENTRIES
TOP 30 FOR THE WIRTGEN ISMA
TOLEDO AND MANSFIELD SHOWS |
Oswego, NY – A large contingent of
ISMA-Wirtgen supermodifieds have indicated that they will attend the upcoming events at
Toledo and Mansfield Speedways. The two race venues will be the third and fourth of the
2006 season for the winged warriors.
Friday, June 16 the traveling
supermodified group heads to Toledo Speedway
which has been a tradition the past few years. Pat Abold is the defending champion of this
event but Chris Perley has perennially been the fast man in time trials.
According to the Toledo press release, “It’s time again for one of the most
exciting, exhilarating and fastest events on a short track in the country—it’s
the All American Coach “Fastest Short Track Show in the World”, set for Friday
evening, June 16 at the big, .5-mile paved oval at Toledo Speedway!
“The show features 2 of the fastest short track machines on the planet; the winged,
Auto Value Super Sprint Series and the New York state-based International Super Modified
Association (ISMA) Super Modifieds. This event originated at Toledo 4 years ago and has
become a must-see race for fans in the Midwest. The Toledo race is also a stop for many
fans traveling north for the NASCAR weekend at Michigan International Speedway. NASCAR
champ Tony Stewart has been a spectator for the last
2 events at the Glass City oval. The awesome display of speed and power that is seen at
Toledo is rarely duplicated at any track across the nation.
While the track’s ARCA Late Models run laps in the mid to low 15 second bracket, the
lighter, sleeker, winged creations are breath-taking at speed. The track record and
bragging rights are always up for grabs during the qualifying session. While the ISMA cars
rarely qualify against the clock, the group has agreed to do so for the Toledo show,
looking to top the AVSS boys. The track record is held by Kevin Feeney in an AVSS Sprint,
as he blistered the 1/2 mile in 2004 at an astounding 12:944! With the crowd in awe and
urging Feeney on, he set the mark on his second lap 2 seasons ago. He came close last year
in a full-out, never-lift off the gas assault on the track mark. Chris Perley holds the
ISMA record at 13:187. More of that is expected again for this year’s edition of the
classic. ISMA winner Pat Abold and AVSS winner Cameron Dodson are the defending race
winners.
The pit area will open at 1 p.m. and practice begins at 3, with the front gate opening at
that time. The much-anticipated time trials are set for 5:30 and racing starts at 7:30
p.m.
Tickets are now on sale for reserved seating by calling the track office at 419-727-1100.
Cash, Visa and Mastercard are accepted for advance orders. All general admission tickets
will go on sale race day
at 3:30 p.m. and tickets are on a cash-basis only on the day of the event.
Toledo Speedway is located on Benore Road at the I-75/Alexis Road exit on the
Michigan-Ohio border. Due to construction, fans coming north on I-75 should exit at exit
209, Ottawa River Road. Go left at the light, left at the second light, which is Benore.
For fans coming south on I-75 from Michigan, take the Summit Street exit (exit 2). Follow
Summit to Shoreland Drive and turn right. Shoreland becomes Benore Road at the light.
From Toledo, the ISMA-Wirtgen group makes tracks for the Mansfield
Speedway, about two hours southeast. This Saturday,
June 17 show is the first of two visits to the beautiful Ohio oval. The
last winner at Mansfield was Chris Perley who ran away with the October 1 rainout show.
Dave McKnight also has been strong at Mansfield and he is certainly aiming for a repeat of
his past prowess there.
“When the Open Wheel Extravaganza comes to Mansfield Motorsports Speedway, imagine if
you will sounds so loud you think you are sitting in the middle of a tornado, cars so
powerful the entire grandstand shakes when they go by, exhaust so bright you start looking
for the lightning and then there’s the Con-trails. These are long wisps of vapor
trails circling the track caused by the computer-designed wings as they slice through the
moist evening air at unimaginable speeds.
That’s Supermodified racing at its best. Take tremendous fuel injected horsepower,
drop it into a super light tubular frame, hang four huge tires off the corners and cover
it all with a wing that belongs on a
Stealth bomber and you’re ready to go racing Supermodified style.
“Put somewhere between twenty and thirty of these ground pounding fire breathing
monsters inches apart running at blinding speeds on a high banked half-mile track and
you’ve just bought yourself a little piece of heaven.
“It’s called Supermodified racing and it’s known as the fastest form of
short track racing in the world.
“The Supers only come to Mansfield twice a year and this is one of them. It’s
definitely a don’t miss show.
Along with the ISMA Supers there will be a full complement of Modifieds with the USA
Modifieds visiting the track the same night. They always bring a large amount of high
quality racecars with them and put on a very exciting show.
Not to be outdone the Miller Lite Late Models will have at least thirty cars running for
NASCAR championship points also on the same night.
There you have it. A true Summer Spectacular and all it costs is $15. Racing begins at 7pm
and as always kids 15 and under are free. Mansfield is located 2.7 miles north of US 30 on
SR 13, then .3 miles
east on Crall Road. |
