October 2, 2010 - Seekonk, MA - (ISMA 100)
Kraze Korlacki Speed Equipment
Presents RACING AGAINST BREAST CANCER
ISMA
Seekonk’s Racing Against Breast Cancer top three are second
Chris Perley, winner of his first supermodified feature,
Johnny Benson Jr and third place finisher Dave Gruel - Photo
By Jim Feeney
NASCAR TRUCK CHAMP
JOHNNY BENSON JR PULLS OFF FIRST EVER SUPERMODIFIED WIN AT
SEEKONK’S ISMA 100
Seekonk,
Mass. – Saturday, Oct. 2 was a day to help raise money to
fight breast cancer, but it was also day of fulfillment of a
dream at Seekonk Speedway. 2008 NASCAR truck champion Johnny
Benson Jr. had successfully raced late models, trucks and
more, but one of his goals in life was to also win a
supermodified feature race. Supermodifieds were in his
racing roots. His dad had raced them and for four years the
Michigan native had raced with the Brad Lichty team when
time allowed. He had even built his own super, then
destroyed it in 2009 in an injurious crash. In 2010, he came
back to run a few races for Lichty.
Saturday
night Benson took over the lead of 100-lap Racing Against
Breast Cancer ISMA event on lap 28 from an ultra-quick
Robbie Summers and continued on to his quest for victory
over a stellar field, which included former Seekonk winner
and key challenger Chris Perley. There were faster cars at
the Cement Palace this night, but none better and none that
made the winner more proud.
Benson
contemplated what the whole night meant. “My dad raced
supers when I was a kid – around 5, 6, 8 years old. He then
ran them again when I was around 13 or so. Dad then ran late
models for many, many years. That’s what I did too. But,
winning a supermodified race was always one of my goals.
When Brad Lichty gave me an opportunity four years ago to
take a couple laps in a super, I took it. Afterward I
talked to my dad and he said, ‘They’re pretty good aren’t
they,’ and I said ‘yes they are”. I went on to run for Brad,
got my own car and wrecked it so bad, then came back to race
for Brad and finally won!”
“I can’t
say thank you enough to the Lichty family and everybody who
works in this organization. They are such a great family to
me. It means more to me winning this race with Brad and this
group. It definitely means a lot. Don’t get me wrong. I’d
have liked to win one in my own car, but for Brad to give me
the opportunity means a lot for me. It’s very cool.”
After
Benson took the lead his main challenger became the
always-amazing Rowley Rocket. Benson knew he was there.
“Anytime the 11 is at the race track it’s a problem. Chris
is so good. I grew up on round race tracks so hopefully that
helped us tonight. Chris Perley and that whole group have
been phenomenal and it was nice to say he was here when I
won!”
Perley,
after one or two late race attempts at the 74, gave the
credit to Benson. “He was just too good. If this thing (74)
was a pick up he would have really hauled butt! We had a
good car. We didn’t start off the race tight enough tonight.
As always the crew gave me something to work with. I was
ecstatic with second watching Johnny. He could reel them in
on a long run – a long run being six or seven laps, but the
lap cars starting in between made it harder to catch up.”
Perley
continued, “With the lap cars out there we were having a
blast. We were just sucking them for a long time but if I
had made any sort of a goofy move I would have spun myself
out. The car got a little too loose half way and I didn’t
know if we could hold on to second. I saw the 50 coming up
on the board and I didn’t know if anybody gave me a fight if
I would have been in trouble or not. I gave it all I had
trying to get Johnny but it was too little, too late. I love
coming back to Seekonk. Great crowd, great car, great motors
and just one more great time.”
If a truck
driver winning a winged supermodified ISMA race wasn’t
enough of a surprise, a rookie driver with little winged and
little knowledge of the tough Seekonk bullring finishing
third, added to the excitement. Fulton, NY’s David Gruel, a
first-year pilot in the supers had just seen Seekonk a
couple months ago, but he took to the track with the poise
of a veteran when he pulled onto the Cement Palace in the
Hoefer-Samuels 50 that has called Oswego home most of the
season. How did he pull it off he was asked in victory lane?
“I have no
idea. All I can say is that the Double Deuce team gave me an
awesome, awesome car. The car basically drove itself. I was
getting off the corner better than just about anybody else
out there. I know Johnny and Chris were out there a bit, and
I didn’t quite get to race with them but I know that after
starting 12th and having to go through that
traffic, that the car was just awesome all the way..
A 25-car
field of winged supers took to the 1/3 mile banked oval with
Robbie Summers, who had spent part of the day qualifying a
modified at Stafford, taking the early lead, trailed by Jeff
Locke, then Russ Wood. Wood came into the 100-lapper just 3
points behind Canadian Mike Lichty in their battle for the
ISMA title. He won his heat and looked to be headed for a
win or top spot and the points that went with it.
A couple
minor skirmishes slowed Summers, who was turning some torrid
mid 10-second laps, but he was able to maintain a lead over
Wood. Back in the pack ninth place starter Johnny Benson was
picking his way quickly toward the front as traffic came
hard and heavy for the leaders. Benson got by Wood on lap 24
as Wood slowed suddenly and exited the track with an obvious
malfunction. He would return later to finish 19th,
22 laps down salvaging some of those sought after points.
Out front
Benson faced a long green stretch and a ton of traffic,
which allowed Summers to stay nearby. Also moving up were
Perley, and Mike Lichty, passing by Jeff Locke.
Unfortunately, Summers was also moving, but it was
backwards. The Vernon, CT driver said of his hectic day, “We
started off real fast in those few practice laps we got
earlier and the car was good in the heat. We just missed it
a little bit in the feature. We got tight and we kind of
fell back but then people crashed or loosened up and we
ended up fifth. It was a decent day for us.”
Another
driver moving quietly up through the field was David Gruel.
Just prior to a lap 47 caution for a spinning 88, Gruel had
worked his way up to fourth behind Benson, Perley and Lichty,
although lap traffic was also playing a role.
Said the
former small block super runner at Oswego, “ I was always in
traffic. I always had somebody in front of me. The car
worked low or high – wherever I had to put it. Then five,
ten laps to go, it started loosening up a little bit. But I
still had an awesome race car.”
On the
restart Perley quickly put a lap car down and headed for
leader Benson as the two pulled away. Another slowdown came
on lap 54 just as Benson was about to encounter more
traffic. Dave Duggan spun the 51 and got clipped by Bobby
Santos in the 61. Santos, who held a slim margin in the
Whelen Modified Tour points going into Stafford’s Fall
Final, had also been at qualifying there earlier in the day.
With no more practice than Summers had, Santos was moving up
in the ISMA field until tagging the 51. His day was done at
54 laps as was Duggan’s.
Back
underway it was Benson, Perley, Lichty, Gruel and a slew of
lap cars back to Ben Seitz, Justin Belfiore and Bob Magner.
A classic cat and mouse battle ensued out front with Lichty
laying back from the dynamic duo out front.
With 20 to
go, the crowd was on the edge of their seats watching Benson
and Perley thread their way past traffic that was running
almost as well as the leaders. Lichty, Gruel and Seitz were
doing likewise a distance behind in the top five. Gruel was
able to take third in these waning laps as Lichty’s car was
not cooperating. Said Lichty after ending up seventh in his
quest for a first-time ISMA title, “The camshaft was sucking
the oil filter in and I’d lose the oil pressure which made
the switch turn the motor off. I really don’t know. Once we
picked up speed, we’d be okay, but the pressure was too low
when we were at an idle. We were too tight also. The car
became horrible.”
A caution
on lap 94 gave everyone a quick breather, but it came at a
price for fifth place runner Ben Seitz who had to exit with
a broken top wing. His day was done, but Justin Belfiore
moved up to take that coveted fifth place spot and soon
thereafter fourth.
Just seven
laps remained when the race resumed and it was Perley moving
up on Benson in the corners, but Benson pulling away
slightly in the short straights. With two to go, Perley gave
it his all, but the 74 prevailed. Gruel, Belfiore and
Summers eventually finished up the top five. In victory
lane, Benson, on behalf of ISMA, presented race promoter
Kraze Korlacki Speed Equipment’s Gary Sagar with a $2,500
check for the Racing Against Cancer effort. Portions of the
admission price also went to the cause.
Fourth
place finisher Justin Belfiore, was more than pleased with
his fourth place after having a really up and down season.
“I had no expectations going into this race. The car was
horrible all day. I only had four or five warm-up laps and I
was the slowest car. We talked about what we wanted to do
and decided to make it totally different than what it was.
It was actually probably better than what I ended up because
we bent the canard wing with a lap car around midway. That
made me go back to being tight. I was actually following
David Gruel and he was doing a heck of a job. Once I caught
up to the back of him I didn’t even feel like going in front
of him at the time. I was going to wait it out because he’s
doing such a good job. I’d like to say congratulations to
him. I don’t know if we could have won but I’ll certainly
take a top four. This is great for us.”
Eric Lewis,
Mike Lichty, and Mark Sammut, finished sixth through eighth,
the final cars on the lead lap. Joey Scanlon and Jon Gambuti
completed the top ten, both one down.
Summary ISMA event #14
Heat 1: Bob
Magner, Mark Sammut, Mike Lichty, Jon McKennedy, Bob Haynes
Jr., Jon Gambuti, Craig Rayvals, Vern Romanoski, Jamie
Timmons
Heat 2: Rob
Summers, Joey Scanlon, Johnny Benson Jr., David Gruel, Dave
Duggan, Eric Lewis, Eddie Witkum Jr., Brandon Bellinger (Bob
Fitzpatrick dns)
Heat 3:
Russ Wood, Chris Perley, Bob Santos, Jeff Locke, Ben Seitz,
Justin Belfiore, Rick Wentworth, Danny Lane, Bill Gove
Consi:
Eddie Witkum Jr., Craig Rayvals, Vern Romanoski, Rick
Wentworth, Jamie Timmons, Brandon Bellinger, Billy Gove, Bob
Fitzpatrick (dns), Dan Lane(dns)
Seekonk
ISMA Racing Against Breast Cancer 100: 1. Johnny Benson Jr.
(74), 2. Chris Perley (11), 3. David Gruel (50), 4. Justin
Belfiore (98), 5. Rob Summers (35), 6. Eric Lewis (28), 7.
Mike Lichty (84), 8. Mark Sammut (78), 9. Joey Scanlon (88),
10. Jon Gambuti (14), 11. Jeff Locke (37), 12. Jon McKennedy
(79), 13. Bobby Magner (41), 14. Bobby Haynes Jr. (44), 15.
Eddie Witkum Jr. (9), 16. Craig Rayvals (04), 17. Ben Seitz
(17), 18. Jamie Timmons (27), 19. Russ Wood (29), 20. Rick
Wentworth (10), 21. Bobby Santos (61), 22. Vern Romanoski
(5), 23. Dave Duggan (51), 24. Dan Lane (97), 25. Brandon
Bellinger (02).
Scroll down for more
action racing photos from Seekonk by Jim Feeney:
For most
of the first quarter of the race teammates Russ Wood 29 and
Rob Summers 35 had a tight battle going on for the lead.
Summers would stay up front to finish fifth. Wood had
problems and had to pit, losing laps, and finished
nineteenth.- Photo By Jim Feeney
On his
way to the leaders Johnny Benson Jr 74 puts a move to pass
teammate Mike Lichty 84, early in the feature. - Photo By
Jim Feeney
Coming
down to complete lap 29 Johnny Benson Jr 74 makes the pass
for the lead on Rob Summers 35. Even though he was closely
followed by Chris Perley 11 for much of the second half of
the race, he would never give up the lead. - Photo By Jim
Feeney
On lap 33 Chris Perley 11 puts a
low move coming out of the third turn on Rob Summers 35, to
take over second place. - Photo By Jim Feeney
There was some very tight
racing, not just up front, but all though the Seekonk field.
Here Mark Sammut 78 races Jon McKennedy 79. Sammut was able
to race up to eight. McKennedy finished twelfth. - Photo By
Jim Feeney
In the
later stages of the race a fight for a top three finish
developed between Dave Gruel 50 and Mike Lichty 84. Gruel
would move up to finish third. Lichty faded a bit at the end
to wind up seventh.- Photo By Jim Feeney
Johnny
Benson Jr goes under the double checkers of starter Frankie
Horvath to take his first ever supermodified and ISMA
feature win. He is closely followed by Chris Perley 11, who
had been chasing Benson for most of the later part of the
race. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Johnny Benson Jr waves the
checkers and is all smiles after winning his first
supermodified feature. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Johnny
Benson Jr poses in Seekonk’s ISMA Victory Lane. - Photo By
Jim Feeney
ISMA
donated $2500 of their purse at Seekonk to Racing Against
Cancer. Here an RAC rep accepts the check from feature
winner Johnny Benson Jr and race promoter Gary Sagar. -
Photo By Jim Feeney
Candid photos from ISMA
at Seekonk by Jim Feeney:
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More 2010 Race Results and
Photos
