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PERLEY STANDS
ALONE ATOP THE ISMA
ALL-TIME FEATURE WIN LIST AFTER TAKING OXFORD MAINE CLASSIC 75
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Oxford, Maine - August 18th -
Saturday night's drive for the checkered for Chris Perley was like any
other of late except this ninth win of the ISMA-Wirtgen season also
placed him atop the ISMA All-Time feature win list passing Bentley
Warren and Russ Wood who held the one-two spots until recently. At
Oxford Plains Speedway, ironically, Perley had to pass the legendary
Warren driving one of the cars that has brought the Rowley driver to
that pinnacle. Warren took the lead in the Oxford Maine Classic on lap
14 but lost it to Perley on lap 21restart for a 3-car tangle happened
right in front of both the Vic Miller machines. Perley is still amazing
himself at what he has done since the start of last season.
“I was out there knowing that I had the old car and that Bentley had the
newer car,” said Chris. “And, you know something, old things just don't
go away. I figured I was going to be out there racing against Bentley
instead of myself. I just wanted the lead and I figured if anybody was
going to go by me I was going to make him work for it. I can't believe
we took the lead in the ISMA All-Time feature wins list. To be in that
company is just amazing. I just want to say hats off to all the crew
because this car is awesome. Anybody can see it. It's a blast to drive
and I can't believe I just keep ending up here in victory lane.”
And, he paused after almost wrecking his 11 in a post-race attempt at a
donut as an errant super was heading back to the pits, to thank all
those people who have helped bring him to this level. “I have awesome
motors by R&R Competition Engines. Ed Shea Concrete has helped us so
much with the engine program and all the way through the car. We have
Perley's Marina and Blink's Fry Doe now, New England Motor Racing
Supply, Barrett's Transportation, Cook's Enterprises and a whole bunch
of people that back me in each and every race. I just want to say thanks
to all my sponsors and to all the fans that hung around to watch. I hope
we gave you something to watch tonight.”
The sage Bentley Warren smiled broadly after his run and as he listened
to the crowd applause which accompanies his every race achievement.
“This was fun,” said the man of few words. “I had a good time. The car
ran wicked good. I tried to stay out front but Chris just goes too fast.
He's just so good.”
Robbie Summers brought the Lane 97 home for a podium finish at Oxford
after a fifth place at Lee. It was tough going through the traffic after
an early pit stop. “We had some problems there at the beginning and had
to pit. The car started to come on and we worked back up from the rear
to battle by Sammut and Lichty for fourth. That probably would have been
it had Vern not pulled out late in the race. Thanks again to Howie and
the crew for their hard work.”
After three qualifying heats won by Justin Belfiore, Dave Trytek and
Perley, Mike Keeler and Vern Romanoski sat on the front row for the
75-lap main. Romanoski, from Strong, Maine, was determined to put on a
show for his friends, family and fans in attendance. Unfortunately in a
scene from at Lee, only one lap was in the books before caution flew.
This time a nasty accident took place when Dave McKnight caught a wheel
coming out of turn four, sending him hard into the front straight
concrete. Dave was shaken after the hit and was transported to a
Lewiston Hospital for a thorough checkup.
After the red Romanoski took up the lead and began to pull away only to
have the yellow fly on lap 6 for a spin by Bob Timmons' 31. Brandon
Bellinger went pit side on this one.
Back underway; Vern soon had Kennebunkport's Bentley Warren breathing
down his neck. The two Maine residents took charge out front as
Romanoski held off the 71 with Scotty Martel, Jon Gambuti and Perley
third through fifth. Mike Keeler's 56 brought out the yellow on lap 11
to slow the action. The 10 of Mikey Ordway swung into the pits at his
crew's request and then re=entered the fray.
This yellow was Romanoski's demise as the 66-year old Warren drove past
on the outside in the backstretch to take over the lead on lap 14.
Bentley only was out front two laps before the 56 brushed the back
straight wall hard, with yellow flying. He was able to continue and this
time Robbie Summers used the time to pit quickly.
As Bentley held a solid lead with Romanoski right behind, eyes were on
the “other” black and orange car of Perley who had methodically worked
up to third. Perley worked Vern high and low for a couple laps and then
made his move. The powerful front duo of Warren and Perley didn't have
much time to pull away as a three-car pileup occurred right as the 71
and 11 approached to lap on the fast 3/8ths. Jamie Timmons, Bob Timmons
and Keeler were involved.
Perley had the “old man” in his sites on the restart and punched it out
of two to take the lead. Justin Belfiore's 8 also used the restart to
take third from Romanoski.
Perley, as has been the norm, set the car on cruise and pulled away from
teammate Warren as Belfiore, Romanoski and Scotty Martel stayed top five
trailed by Mark Sammut, Mikey Ordway Jr and Mike Lichty. Two more
yellows flew for spins on laps 24 and 26 by Timmons and Keeler. Keeler
was called pit side for his third encounter.
The slowdown allowed Bentley and Belfiore to close the gap on Perley and
away they went weaving through some tough traffic with finesse. Belfiore
was on fire and on lap 34 he charged by Bentley and had only the 11 in
his way to a potential win. Unfortunately for Justin, the 8's motor blew
big time on lap 36 and red was called for cleanup and a refueling.
Romanoski had his third place back and Bentley his second place but now
a long green stretch found the dynamic duo leaving the country as they
dove in and out of some pretty scary traffic. Romanoski kept them in
sight but the battle was now between Mark Sammut. Robbie Summers and
Lichty as they were three wide at times all going for fourth. When
Summers and Sammut finally claimed their real estate, Scotty Martel,
Mike Lichty and Mike Ordway Jr were the next trio to watch as the laps
ticked away.
With ten to go it was evident that nothing was stopping the front two
except another yellow. It came on lap 72 when Larry Lehnert drove off
the track in three and came back on in four. As the lineup was sorting
out for the final laps, Vern Romanoski's 5 slowed suddenly and entered
the pits in a heartbreaking conclusion to what would have been his best
and probably proudest race to date. Vern recapped the end of his race;
“I went down underneath the 14 and got up beside him going into three
and four. The 24 was straight ahead of me. I was going to swing in and
then swing out and pass him on the outside going into one and two. I
believe he said he lost his collector off the exhaust and I ran over it.
It got my left front tire, my fuel line and an oil line. We had four
laps to go. It would have been nice to finish behind Perley and the
legend Bentley. I run one of Bentley's old numbers, the 5, and it would
have been a great finish for me in Maine in front of the people who
support me and came out to see me tonight.”
With lap cars scattered throughout the running order, Perley and Warren
were divided by one or two cars on the restart while Summers, Sammut and
Lichty were the top five. Sammut ended his best New England run saying,
“The car was awful all day. The only race it was even close was the
feature. It was great really for where we came from. We started
fourteenth and ended up fourth. We could have had third but Summers was
a little stronger than we were at the end. All in all this was a great
weekend. We'll take that anytime. Hopefully we'll keep plugging away in
the points and see what happens.”
For Lichty standing in the pits next to his teammates mangled 94, it was
a bittersweet fifth. One car is in one piece. It was unfortunate for my
teammate Dave. It happened right in front of me. It was a hard impact
and I just hope everything is all right with him. We just missed the
setup another night. These are two of my worst tracks - Lee and Oxford.
I don't have any enjoyment coming up to these places. But, my car is in
one piece and I think we gained a little more on Ordway in points. We'll
just have to keep it up.”
ISMA is off until Oswego's Super Nationals on Friday, Aug. 31 and to the
All-Star Speedway Classic featuring a new split 150-lap format with 75
laps each segment.
SUMMARY
ISMA-WIRTGEN EVENT #11
Heat #1: Justin Belfiore, Vern Romanoski,
Robbie Summers, Jeff Holbrook,
Mike Ordway Jr., Bob Timmons, R.D. Timmons, Billy Buyck
Heat #2: Dave Trytek, Jamie Timmons, Dave
McKnight, Bentley Warren,
Mark Sammut, Jon Gambuti, Randy Wimert (Kelly Miller ofn)
Heat #3: Chris Perley, Mike Keeler, Mike
Lichty, Scotty Martel, Brandon Bellinger, Dave Sanborn, Larry Lehnert
Oxford Plains Classic 75: 1. Chris Perley
(11), 2. Bentley Warren (71),
3. Robbie Summers (97), 4. Mark Sammut (78), 5. Mike Lichty (84),
6. Mike Ordway Jr. (10), 7. Scott Martel (88), 8. Jon Gambuti (14),
9. Dave Trytek (40), 10. Bob Timmons Sr. (13), 11. Dave Sanborn (24),
12. Larry Lehnert (92), 13. Vern Romanoski (5), 14. Randy Wimert (60),
15. Bob Timmons Jr. (31), 16. Jamie Timmons (27), 17. Justin Belfiore
(8),
18. Mike Keeler (56), 19. Billy Buyck (38), 20. Brandon Bellinger (02),
21. Dave McKnight (94), 22. Jeff Holbrook (35). |
