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Friday, August 19 , 2011 - Lee USA Speedway, NH - (Ollie
Silva Classic)
ISMA top three at Lee USA’s Ollie Silva
Classic are all big smiles as they pose with race
sponsors Ed Shea and Bob Harrington. Crouched (next to
the ISMA sign) are Shea and Harrington. Standing are
Justin Belfiore third, winner Chris Perley and with a
fine second place finish Dan Bowes. - Photo By Jim
Feeney
PERLEY IN SECOND STRAIGHT LEE USA OLLIE SILVA MEMORIAL THAT GOES
GREEN TO CHECKERED
By: Carol D Haynes, ISMA PR
Lee NH – Nothing, even an early rain, hampered Chris Perley’s race
Friday night as he worked toward a second straight Ollie Silva
Memorial win. It was his sixth ISMA victory at the Lee USA oval
since ISMA racing began at the New Hampshire oval in 1988. Starting
twelfth in the field, Perley had a long road ahead, especially with
early leader and 3-time Lee winner Russ Wood out front at the start.
Wood, who unexpectedly broke a rocker arm while leading, gave way to
Jeff Locke and Locke in turn yielded the point to 2009 Lee 350 champ
Dan Bowes. Bowes would provide Perley with his last challenge. From
lap 48 to lap 72, the Rowley Rocket chased Bowes, a ten-feature
small block winner at Lee, but a rookie with ISMA, through, down and
around traffic. As Bowes approached yet another lap car with less
than 5 to go, Perley put the Vic Miller 11 under the 18 off turn
four and was the leader of lap 73, going on for the win. The race
went green to checker in a time of 17.58 minutes, with low 13-second
laps the norm.
Said Perley in victory lane, “They put some coke down on the track
and that’s what gave us an outside groove. People could run inside
and out. I could run everywhere. My car was so tight. I saw Danny
out there running for everything he had. I couldn’t gain on him. I
was hoping we would get to lapped traffic to help even us out a
little bit. I wasn’t even sure if I was second, third, or fourth. I
had no clue. We just ran. That’s all we could do. It was fun coming
here. It always is. It’s always nice coming to a hometown track and
putting on a show. I hope we put on one tonight.”
He continued in regard to winning the legendary Ollie Silva’s
memorial race. “I’m old enough to know of Ollie, and I’m too young
to have raced against him, but I hear all the stories. You never
hear anything bad about the guy. He was a legend. To win a race
dedicated to him - to win the whole package here tonight – you just
can’t beat it. Ed Shea is here tonight and we couldn’t do anything
without him. My R&R motors are great. Nothing stops them. Vic builds
a great car and it comes with a great crew. I have great sponsors –
New England Motor Racing Supply, Perley’s Marina, Malco Products,
Barrett’s Transportation and Blink’s Fry Doe. My family is here
tonight. It’s all awesome. You just can’t beat it.”
Perley’s enviable part-time 2011 season record continued. In the six
ISMA races to date, the August 19th Silva Memorial victory gave him
4 wins, a second and a dnf.
Runner-up Dan Bowes of Bayfield, Mass., was proud to finish within
sight of Perley at race end. “This is a tough track to drive
especially with all the horsepower. I was working good on the
outside, but I knew Chris was coming. He’s always fast. I knew I
just had to try and keep traction in the turns. That was my main
goal all night. I never really had to work hard to pass anybody. For
the most part everybody slipped up and I was able to get by. I
almost got in trouble with Jamie Timmons high there in three and
four. It wasn’t his fault. It was bad timing. My front bumper got
hooked with his rear bumper. I couldn’t get away. I thought for sure
Chris would have gotten by me then. But he didn’t then, anyway. I
just didn’t have enough at the end and I knew he was coming. I tried
not to spin the tires. This second isn’t bad. If I had to lose to
somebody here, it’s got to be Chris. It’s nice to see such a good
crowd here tonight despite the weather. It’s awesome.”
Third place finisher Justin Belfiore had a couple lap cars between
his 98 and the top two, but settled for this finish. “The car
actually started out a bit loose. I just tried to take my time and
to not burn up the tires. It worked out. I was the third fastest car
of this crew. It was awesome to run up through the field with Chris
and Dan. All these guys ran a good race tonight – nonstop. It was
just good racing and I love racing like this. Thanks to all the fans
for coming out tonight. It’s nice that you could make it. And, I’m
glad you got to see a good race.”
Despite foreboding skies, storm threats all around and an early
shower, Lee USA’s Ollie Silva Memorial got off without a hitch. Russ
Wood and Jon McKennedy, in the Lane 9, paced the 20-car field, but
before the white fell, McKennedy pulled the 9 pit side and out of
the race with mechanical ills. Rob Summers pulled into his spot and
green fell. The race assumed a rapid flow with Wood and Summers out
front of Eddie Witkum Jr, Jeff Locke, Mike Lichty and Timmy
Jedrzejek.
It didn’t take long for Locke to move up to third and by Summers on
lap 8. The Wood-Locke duo would begin a twenty-plus lap domination
of the front two spots, quickly threading through tail-end traffic
on the small one-third mile bullring. A Summers-Dan Bowes, Witkum,
Lichty, Perley, Belfiore battle was ensuing behind, with Bowes
taking Summers on lap 23 in traffic.
On lap 29, Locke pulled by Wood on the backstretch to take the lead.
On lap 31, Wood pulled suddenly to the pits, out of second. A broken
rocker arm was deemed his demise.
Locke now was able to pull away from Bowes who had Perley a distance
behind him. Summers and Belfiore swapped positions just before lap
40 as Witkum, Lichty and Mark Sammut raced hot and heavy in the top
eight.
Bowes gradually reeled in Locke who got stuck behind a couple lap
cars for a number of laps. This gave Perley and Belfiore the chance
to close up on the lead duo. On lap 46, Bowes watched as Locke was
still trying to get by the 51 of Duggan and when the time came,
Bowes pounced, taking the lead in turn 1 of lap 48. Three laps
later, Perley was by Locke and the chase for the lead began, now
with two different players. Behind them were Belfiore, Locke and
Sammut.
With 15 to go, Bowes’ aforementioned miscue with Jamie Timmons came,
but he recovered and Perley remained in second. As lap cars
intermingled with the top ten behind, fighting for position was
intense, especially between Summers. Lichty, Ben Seitz and Joey
Scanlon all in the top eight.
Perley finally seized an opportunity to get by Bowes, getting under
him in lap 72 and coming out with the lead on lap 73. Bowes stayed a
close second as the checkered flew. Two lap cars separated one and
two from third place runner Belfiore. Mark Sammut had a one-car
cushion over fifth place Jeff Locke.
Sammut, obviously putting a bad crash at Sandusky at the end of July
well behind him, was pleased with fourth. “We were decent. We
started eighth by the time the race started. We were a little tight
at the start. About lap 15 or 20 the car came in pretty decent.
About lap 45, it started to tighten up real bad again. If we had
gotten a yellow we might have been in good shape. Hey, we finished
fourth on a tough track. Considering where we started, I’ll take it.
It was good to see the race go green and nobody got wrecked. You
have to like that. So, we’ll put it all together again and hope for
the best next time.”
And Locke, who also came away from that Sandusky event with his car
in a bad shape, welcomed the fifth place finish. “It was a good run.
The car was probably too good, too early. We just got loose. I
didn’t have enough to do anything toward the end. For the last 20
laps we just hung on. Going all green actually helped. It spread out
the field and when I got loose, I had some track position. I think a
caution would have hurt me. Although it might have helped in one
aspect. I couldn’t get to my tear offs on my visor and I couldn’t
see all that well toward the end of the race. I have to thank
Richard Witkum, my crew and my father for giving us good equipment.
We’ve had a rough year. So I’m really, really happy to come out of
here with a fifth place finish. The car is in one piece. It feels
good. We just have to get it a little bit better at the end of the
races then we’ll be in good shape.”
Summary ISMA Event #11 Lee USA Speedway:
August 19, 2011
Heat 1: Rob Summers, Justin Belfiore, Dan Bowes, Jon McKennedy, Dave
Duggan, Ted Christopher
Heat 2: Russ Wood, Eddie Witkum Jr., Timmy Jedrzejek, Mark Sammut,
Joey Scanlon, Jamie Timmons, Stephen DuBois
Heat 3: Mike Lichty, Jeff Locke, Chris Perley, Ben Seitz, Jon
Gambuti, Craig Rayvals
Feature 75: 1. Chris Perley (11), 2. Danny Bowes (18), 3. Justin
Belfiore (98), 4. Mark Sammut (78), 5. Jeff Locke (37), 6. Ben Seitz
(17), 7. Rob Summers (35), 8. Joey Scanlon (88), 9. Jon Gambuti
(14), 10. Mike Lichty (84), 11. Eddie Witkum (97), 12. Dave Duggan
(51), 13. Timmy Jedrzejek (32), 14. Jamie Timmons (27), 15. Russ
Wood (29), 16. Craig Rayvals (04), 17. Stephen DuBois (01), 18. Brad
Lichty (74), 19. Jon McKennedy (9).
Ted Christopher (61) scratched due to earlier heat accident
Ollie Silva Classic Photos by Jim Feeney 8/19/11...
Chris Perley 11 takes to the outside of
Justin Belfiore 98 going into four. Perley would go on
to his second straight Lee Ollie Silva Classic win.
Belfiore had a good run of his own with a podium finish
in third. - Photo By Jim Feeney
For a number of laps, early in the
feature, Mike Lichty 84 battles with Dan Bowes 18 in the
top five. Bowes would go on to a fine second place
finish. Lichty would slide back to tenth. - Photo By Jim
Feeney
A battle for a top ten finish here
between Jon Gambuti 14 and Joe Scanlon 88. Scanlon would
get the best of this battle finishing eighth and Gambuti
ninth. - Photo By Jim Feeney
A fight for a top ten finish between Ben
Seitz 17 and Joe Scanlon 88. Seitz just missed the top
five with a sixth place finish. Scanlon was eighth. -
Photo By Jim Feeney
Dan Bowes 18 closes in on then leader
Jeff Locke 37. Bowes was able to take the lead away on
lap 48. They both would end up with good top five
finishes, with Bowes second and Locke fifth. - Photo By
Jim Feeney
As the race nears the lap 50 mark, Chris
Perley 11 moves in on second place Jeff Locke. Perley
would make the pass on lap 51 and go on to win. Locke
would slip a little back to fifth. -- Photo By Jim
Feeney
Mark Sammut 78 races with Rob Summers 35
to get to a top five spot. Sammut would get to fifth,
while Summers finished seventh- Photo By Jim Feeney
Coming down to complete lap 72, Chris
Perley 11 gets a run on leader Dan Bowes 18 out of four.
Perley would have the lead on lap 73, and the win. Bowes
with his best ISMA finish to date crossed under the
checkereds right behind. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Chris Perley in ISMA Lee USA Victory Lane
for his second straight Ollie Silva Classic win. - Photo
By Jim Feeney
Candid photos from the Ollie Silva Classic at Lee USA Speedway
8/19/11 By Jim Feeney....
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More 2011 Race Results and
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