Lee
Speedway - Friday, August 17th, 2007 |
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CHRIS PERLEY KEEPS ROLLING AS HE TAKES
OLLIE SILVA CLASSIC AT LEE AND
TIES WOOD FOR ALL-TIME ISMA WINS |
Lee, NH - The Ollie Silva Memorial 75 got off to a real rough
start at Lee USA Speedway Friday night but when all was said and
done, Chris Perley came away with his eighth win of the season,
and a tie for the ISMA All-Time win list. What was purported to
be one of the largest crowds in years saw one hometown boy -
Perley - take the lead on lap 38 from another hometown boy -
Justin Belfiore. Another young hometown boy, Mike Ordway Jr.,
gained second on lap 42, to chase Perley to the checkers. It was
a popular podium finish.
“It's awesome to bring one home for the hometown crowd. There
are so many people who came out. There's a lot of pressure.
You're afraid you're going to be an idiot out there. The first
lap, the back of the car got drilled. The car lifted up. I was
sideways. I thought we were all done. I just got lucky and
plugged away. I'm just ecstatic. We're still on a roll and that
new bucket of luck still has some in it, so we'll keep on
rolling on to Oxford. To be tied for the top spot in the ISMA
all-time wins is amazing. It's great to just be among those guys
at the top.”
Mikey Ordway pressured Belfiore and then Perley, but after
losing brakes on lap 45, settled into a strong second. His
running mate of just a week ago, John Blewett III, was on the
teenager's mind all the while. “The car was awesome. It was real
loose in practice and I didn't know how good we were going to be
for the feature. We got it fixed up pretty good and I just
followed Perley around. We lost the brakes on lap 45 and that
made it tough. I wish we could have gotten the win for Johnny
Blewett but I'll take a second to Perley. We'll keep John in our
prayers. And, hopefully we'll give Perley another run for his
money tomorrow night.”
Justin Belfiore, coming back after a crash at Sandusky, had a
strong run out front before Perley took over. “It was kind of a
weird night. My car was good all day. I just think I ran it a
little too hard at the beginning. I was hoping I could keep
those guys behind me and that the laps would wear down quicker.
But, Chris and Mikey were hooked up. I'll take the third. Those
two have been racing every week and they're into it a little
more right now. We'll be back. We've got a good car now.”
The race started out with four straight yellows before one lap
was in. Affected were Mike Keeler, Kelly Miller, Eric Emhoff,
Vern Romanoski, Joe Petro and Bob Timmons Jr. Miller and Emhoff
were the only cars not to restart at this juncture.
It was Jon Gambuti, driving the Martel 14, out front when the
race finally took hold. Belfiore was right there as was Robbie
Summers and Dave McKnight. Belfiore moved in to take the lead
from the New Jersey driver on lap 4. As things started to settle
into green flag racing, Jeff Holbrook, Scott Martel, Jamie
Timmons, Mark Sammut and Chris Perley were the men up front
behind the 8 and 14.
Yellow flew again on lap 13 when the 31 spun again and Joe Petro
headed into the pits. Billy Buyck in the Bushley 38, also pitted
here.
Belfiore charged out front on the restart chased by Dave
McKnight who had come by Gambuti and Summers but Justin quickly
put some distance between his car and the Canadian.
Things just couldn't seem to stay green however as poor Belfiore
found the field bunched behind him on restarts. One came on lap
18 when Bob Timmons finally parked it and both Dave McKnight and
Mike Lichty were pitside. Lichty came back out but McKnight was
done. Just as Belfiore pulled away from Gambuti again, yellow
flew on lap 21 for Vern Romanoski and Jamie Timmons. Vern got
back on track only to find himself sliding into the grass with
R.D. Timmons joining him on lap 22.
Finally, the yellow fever was cured and Justin took off out
front as Gambuti, Scotty Martel, Summers, Perley, and Ordway
began their assault of the front spot. But, as often has been
the story this summer, it was Perley making the most moves the
fastest. He described it this way. “I realized there was nothing
on the bottom and I move way to the outside. Then I basically
did kind of a Dale Earnhardt rim riding effect. That was the
only place I could get some bite. It seemed to work and it
allowed me to save the tires for the end.”
By lap 25, Perley was third. On lap 28 he had moved by Gambuti
for second as Martel fought his own car in fourth and Mikey
Ordway Jr moved into fifth.
Justin was able to hold on until lap 38 when Perley took over
the front spot, leaving Belfiore to fend off Mikey Ordway.
Gambuti, Martel, Mark Sammut, and Summers were swapping spots
just behind.
Lap 42 saw Ordway by Belfiore and the two black and orange
machines kept together for a while until Ordway lost brakes and
began to fade back from the high flying Rowley driver. Ordway
was reported to be smoking with about 20 to go and when the
yellow flew on lap 61, he was asked to stop out front for a
check while the 55 of Joey Scanlon was attended to. With many
caution laps already run, it was decided to do a quick refueling
while the tech men checked over the 10 which was deemed okay.
On the restart, Ordway tried to stick with Perley but couldn't.
In the meantime Belfiore closed in on Ordway for several laps.
Unfortunately for Gambuti he was penalized for jumping on the
lap 61 restart, and although running fourth on the track, he was
no longer holding that position. Mark Sammut moved into fourth
with Gambuti and Summers the next in line behind Perley and
Ordway when the checkered fell on lap 75. Gambuti was scored at
the tail of the lead lap giving Summers fifth.
Sammut, who had never run well at the New Hampshire oval
commented, “I'm glad to get a fourth coming out of here. We
usually run terrible here. We were a little looser than we
needed to be. Too bad we didn't tighten it just a bit more. We
might have been better. The car was actually coming back around
toward the end. We're happy with fourth. I could see Justin and
Mikey Ordway so we were close. We just need a bit more.”
Summers, off a streak of bad luck, was happy with fifth. “We had
a decent car and we got out in one piece. The past couple weeks
have been real tough on the whole team and they worked real hard
to get the car back together. We were just a little too tight
tonight. So, we'll go on to Oxford and hope we do a little
better.”
SUMMARY
ISMA-WIRTGEN EVENT #10 - Lee USA Speedway
Heat 1: Justin Belfiore, Kelly
Miller, Mark Sammut, Jeff Holbrook, R.D. Timmons, Bob Timmons,
Brandon Bellinger, Mike Keeler
Heat 2: Chris Perley, Jon Gambuti,
Dave McKnight, Mike Ordway, Jr., Vern Romanoski, Dave Trytek,
Joey Scanlon, Larry Lehnert
Heat 3: Robbie Summers, Scott
Martel, Mike Lichty, Jamie Timmons, Dave Sanborn, Billy Buyck,
Joe Petro. Eric Emhoff (dns)
Ollie Silva Memorial 75: 1. Chris
Perley (11), 2. Mike Ordway Jr. (10),
3. Justin Belfiore (8), 4. Mark Sammut (78), 5. Rob Summers
(97),
6. Scott Martel (88), 7. Jon Gambuti (14), 8. Jeff Holbrook
(35),
9. Joey Scanlon (55), 10. Dave Trytek (40), 11. Mike Lichty
(84),
12. Brandon Bellinger (02), 13. Mike Keeler (56), 14. Dave
Sanborn (24),
15. RD Timmons (13), 16. Jamie Timmons (27), 17. Vern Romanoski
(5),
18. Bob Timmons (31), 19. Dave McKnight (94), 20. Joe Petro Jr.
(33),
21. Billy Buyck (38), 22. Larry Lehnert (92), 23. Kelly Miller
(16),
24. Eric Emhoff (22). |
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ISMA HEADS TO LEE AND OXFORD AUG. 17 and 18 |
Heading from a successful racing
doubleheader at Mansfield Motorsports Park, the ISMA-Wirtgen super
series has only a few days before they land in New England at Lee USA
Speedway (NH) on Friday Aug. 17 for the Ollie
Silva Memorial 75 and then head north to Oxford Plains Speedway
in Maine.
A lot of the New England contingent will be right in their backyard at
Lee including Mike Ordway Jr., who is just a stone’s throw away. And,
then there’s Perley, Martel, car owner Howie Lane, Dave Sanborn, Justin
Belfiore, Jamie Timmons, Eric Emhoff, Joe Petro, and possibly Russ Wood.
A couple Mainers are expected at one or both of the shows in Vern
Romanoski and the old vet Bentley Warren.
Joining three of the ISMA Supers as a local sponsor for the Miller-Perley
11, the Ordway-Wentworth 10 and the Vic Miller-Bentley Warren 71 is
Blink’s Fry Doe of Hampton Beach. And, we
hear this is not just any fried dough. Most fried dough places offer the
usual toppings like powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar… some even serve
it with tomato sauce… but nobody, and I mean nobody, has the kind of
selection you can find at Blink’s. The mind-boggling menu lists 20
different toppings from the standards, to the exotic, to the
unbelievably indulgent, all for about three bucks. Some Blink’s
representatives will be on hand at Lee to meet the drivers and to enjoy
the show!
The defending champion of the Silva Memorial is Bobby Santos III, but
the big winner at this traditional event which dates back to 1988 is
Mike Ordway Sr., Now, after a good weekend out west, Mike Ordway Jr.
would like to add his name to the elite list of winners which also
includes Russ Wood, Bentley Warren, Joey Payne (who should be in
competition in the Cicconi 75), Dave McKnight, Pat Abold and Chris
Perley among others.
Things get underway at Lee with pit gates opening at 2:00, warm-ups for
the supers from 4:00-5:00 and the first qualifying at approximately
7:15. Lee is located off Rte. 125 in Lee, New Hampshire easily accessed
from Route 495.
ISMA returns to Oxford after a two-year
hiatus with Chris Perley being the last winner at this Maine 3/8th’s
mile oval in 2004. Other winners at Oxford have been Nokie Fornoro, Mike
Ordway (2) and Bobby Santos III.
Pit gates at Oxford open at 1 pm with grandstands at 4:30 pm. Super
warm-ups begin at 2:00 pm with the first heat of the day flagged off at
6:30 pm.
If you’re traveling from Lee USA to Oxford, get on Rte. 95 north into
Maine to Rte. 495 Turnpike. Take Exit 11, bear right to traffic light,
turn left twice to get onto Rte. 26. Stay on Rte. 26 for 26 miles.
Oxford Plains is on Rte. 26. Travel time from Lee USA: 2 Hours.
For further information visit
www.leeusaspeedway.com or
www.oxfordplains.com. |
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Comments
or Questions: isma@ISMAsupers.com |
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