Mansfield Motorsports
Speedway - Saturday, August 11th, 2007 |
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Jim Feeney
Photos |
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The top three at
Saturday’s ISMA-Wirtgen 75 at Mansfield Motorsports Park were
Charlie Schultz, Chris Perley and Mark Sammut. Perley had a dnf on
Friday
but bounced right back for win number 7 this season. |
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Chris Perley took
home win number seven of the ISMA-Wirtgen season to date at
Mansfield Motorsports Park winning the 75-lap main event on Saturday
night. |
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CHRIS
PERLEY OPENS A NEW BATCH
OF LUCK TO TAKE MANSFIELD
SATURDAY ISMA SHOW |
Mansfield, OH - Chris Perley said Friday night at Mansfield that
he'd run out of luck after a minor wreck on lap six put him out
of the 40-lap ISMA-Wirtgen event. But, he added kidding, that he
had a new bucket of luck in the trailer, unopened. Saturday
night he put that new batch of luck to good use as he stood in
victory lane next to a hissing rear tire, which would go flat
moments after his post-race interview. A lap or two more and he
would not have been there. But, that's the way things have been
going this year - and last, for Perley and the Vic Miller team.
Perley's seventh win of the season puts him two races away from
taking over the ISMA all-time feature win list from Pelham, NH's
Russ Wood.
Said Perley, “We just opened that new bucket of good luck
because I don't know if you can hear it, but my tire has a big
hole in it. So we pulled this one off tonight. We got lucky. The
car was just awesome. Last night was a bit of a disappointment
but we just come back and try to do the best we can the next
day. And the crew said 'we're going to give you a car tonight
that will get the job done' and boy did they because this thing
was on a rail.
“I'll tell you I never thought I'd be here - to be in the
company of Russ Wood and Bentley and those guys in all-time
wins. It's just awesome. I'm just so lucky to be with this team.
They work so hard and I can't say enough for them. Vic Miller is
the best car owner in the world. Don't tell him I said that
because it will go to his head. I have awesome motors built by
R&R Automotive and I have great sponsors in Ed Shea and in
Perley's Marina, New England Motor Racing Supply, KidsFirstUSA
and I want to thank all the fans for coming out and watching us.
I hope we put on a good show tonight.”
Perley took the lead from Canadian Mark Sammut on a lap 32
restart, slipping under the 78 to lead on lap 33. Trying hard to
stay out front eventually cost Sammut his second place when
Ohio's Charlie Schultz grabbed the spot with less than five laps
to go. Charlie, driving the May Motorsports 7, was ecstatic with
second. . “We weren't real good last night. When I got here this
afternoon I made some changes in the car. We still weren't real
good. Then I tried something kind of spur of the moment before
the last hot lap session and then the car was like three times
faster. I thought we might be on to something here. The car was
really raceable all night. It was good enough to come up second.
Chris got through some of the lap cars better than I did. They
said Chris had a tire going down and if the race had been 100
laps it might have been somebody else different in victory lane.
I just want to thank my sponsors, Dave and Lori May, my mom and
dad, my entire crew, Performance Race Fuels, Hempel Transport,
Burke's Home Center, DEI - everybody who works on this car. I'd
also like to thank Lou Cicconi. He came down and helped us out
too. It ended up being a pretty good day.”
Sammut, still yearning for that first win, settled in for third
and a podium finish. He had to run the wheels off his car to
even hope for that first one. “Starting where I started I had no
choice but to go right off the start. I held it down for
everything it had and maybe that was a mistake. By the end I was
out of tires and just hanging on. It probably cost us second. We
fought the car all weekend and this was definitely the best the
car has been. We'll take third place anytime running ISMA. We'll
just keep plugging and doing what we need to do. Maybe one of
these days things will go our way and that first win will come.”
After time trials and the first heat was run, won by Dave
McKnight, a horrendous crash occurred in the second heat, which
caused hearts to stop and some anxious moments. While Robbie
Summers led out front, a crash involving Johnny Torrese and Vern
Romanoski stopped the action and saw Torrese airlifted to a
local hospital. On lap 9, the 91 apparently lost a wheel nut,
which caused the spline to break. Torrese, coming into turn
three, caught Romanoski, spun around and slammed hard into the
soft walls pretty much destroying the 91. Torrese was being
x-rayed for a possible broken shoulder at press time, but
otherwise had escaped serious injury.
Racing resumed with Bob Dawson beating out Perley for the third
heat win.
The 23-car field was led immediately from the green by Sammut
who started outside front row. Sammut knew he had to get out as
fast and as far as he could. He did just that. By lap 15 he was
well out front of Kelly Miller, Schultz, Perley, John Blewett
and Dave McKnight. On lap 17, his efforts were negated as yellow
flew for the 24 of Dave Sanborn who had a flat tire and was
towed to the pits.
On the restart, Schultz and Perley fought by Miller for second
and third as Sammut once again tried to flee. Behind that trio,
Mike Ordway Jr., McKnight and Blewett were furiously swapping
spots. One lap later, Perley was by Schultz and tucked up behind
Sammut, but Sammut was not giving up easily.
The 78 held off the 11 until a lap 33 yellow, which saw the 16
of Miller, go up in smoke as he headed into the pits. A couple
lap cars now sat between first and second while McKnight,
Blewett, Ordway, Bob Dawson, Jeff Holbrook, Mike Lichty, Ray
Graham Jr. and Robbie Summers were still fighting for top ten
spots.
This restart was Sammut's demise as Perley got along side and
rode next to Sammut for half a lap before taking over the lead
on lap 33. In a scene repeated six other times this season, it
was bye, bye Perley. Sammut, Schultz, McKnight, Blewett and
Ordway, however, were putting on one heck of a show well behind
as the laps ticked away.
The flap fifty mark had the order behind Perley showing Sammut,
Schultz, McKnight and now Ordway, Blewett, as the youngster
battled with one of the modified world's best for the second
straight night. Ordway Jr. was the one to watch as he put away
McKnight on lap 65 as McKnight's car began to have its fuel
problem once again. With less than ten to go it was Perley,
several lap cars, then Sammut, Schultz, Ordway, McKnight and
Blewett.
With five to go, Schultz had used traffic to move past Sammut
and Blewett had moved into fifth past McKnight. And, that's the
way they passed under the checkered with Perley's tire hissing
as he pulled into victory lane with Schultz and Sammut parking
nearby.
Second-generation driver Mikey Ordway had another fine run,
holding off Blewett. “We were joking around all day that John
and I were going to get stuck with each other again. He's just a
great driver. He ran me clean both nights. Louie helped me out a
ton this weekend. John was helping me out - he's great with the
chassis stuff. I have to thank Lee Vinal Excavating, Harrington
Trucking and Harrington Paving, Glenn Shanks Oil, my dad, Ricky
Wentworth, Vic Miller and all those guys, because they helped me
out a ton again. The car was good. The car came on great at the
end. I told Perley's guys if it had been a 100 laps, I would
have passed him too. It's just unbelievable. Hopefully we can go
home to Lee and run good there.”
And, Blewett, in only his second supermodified run ever, was all
smiles after finishing a strong fifth. “I just have to thank the
Cicconi's. I had a really great time. The guys worked their tail
off trying to get the car where we thought it needed to be. It
was an opportunity for me to come out and do something different
from what I usually do. It was fun. This is a great group of
guys - a great organization. I don't race much with no radios
and no mirrors. I think a lot of series could take a page off of
this series where the guys drive with a lot more respect than we
have on say the Whelen Tour and even the weekly series. I see
radio driving a lot. I didn't know who was around me or behind
me when I was running. I was cautious and listening for guys
coming around me. It's nice when you're running with guys who
are racing hard, but clean. Like I said, I have to thank the
Cicconi family for having me come out here. The closest thing to
a super I've raced are the modifieds we ran at Flemington. We
had a lot of horsepower there. I've never driven anything with a
wing before. It's similar to the midget I ran at Atlantic City
for Lou but that track is small and tight and you can't use the
horsepower. This is definitely not like anything I've ever
driven before.”
McKnight, Mike Lichty who had indicated they'd missed the setup
on his 84 that night, Summers, Bobby Dawson and Jeff Holbrook,
rounded out the top ten.
Notes…
Bob Magner sat out Saturday
night's event after Friday night's wreck left him extremely
sore…Vern Romanoski tried in vain to make the feature after his
heat race incident that also involved Torrese… Viewers likened
the damage to Torrese's 91 to his car owner, Ray Graham's bad
accident at Oswego earlier this year….Kelly Miller discovered a
cracked axle on the 16 prior to the feature with hasty repairs
made….A piece of aluminum was found in Perley's tire after the
race….Larry Lehnert's 92 had overheating problems after that
team had managed to work all night to get a second car back in
competition after Friday's wreck…The Lane team spent a long
night on spindle-rack and pinion repair to get Robbie Summers
back into the fray on Saturday… Gene Lee Gibson reported that
his 0 was damaged beyond repair on Friday and may not be out the
rest of the year…
SUMMARY
Mansfield Motorsports Park 75
Time Trials: Fast time Chris Perley,
13.705
Heat 1: Dave McKnight, John Blewett
III, Charlie Schultz, Ray Graham, Jr., Brandon Bellinger, Terry
Gibson, Ryan Klingelhofer, Larry Lehnert
Heat 2: Robbie Summers, Kelly
Miller, Jeff Holbrook, Mike Lichty, Jack Smith, Dave Sanborn,
John Torrese, Vern Romanoski
Heat 3: Bobby Dawson, Chris Perley,
Mark Sammut, Mike Ordway Jr., Dave Trytek, Rich Reid, Jon Henes,
Dave Mumaw.
Feature
ISMA-Wirtgen 75: 1.
Chris Perley (11), 2. Charlie Schultz (7),
3. Mark Sammut (78), 4. Mike Ordway Jr. (10), 5. John Blewett
III (75),
6. Dave McKnight (94), 7. Mike Lichty (84), 8. Rob Summers (97),
9. Bobby Dawson (28), 10. Jeff Holbrook (35), 11. Dave Trytek
(40),
12. Rich Reid (55), 13. Brandon Bellinger (02), 14. Terry Gibson
(2),
15. Ray Graham Jr. (99), 16. Jack Smith (09), 17. Jon Henes
(36),
18. Kelly Miller (16), 19. Larry Lehnert (92), 20. Dave Sanborn
(24),
21. Dave Mumaw (14), 22. Ryan Klingelhofer (77). Romanoski dns |
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Comments
or Questions: isma@ISMAsupers.com |
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