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Friday, July 22, 2011 - Oswego, NY - (ISMA RoC 50)
ISMA RoC 50 top three at Oswego - from left; Ray
Graham second, winner Chris Perley and Bob Dawson third.- Photo By
Jim Feeney
CHRIS PERLEY
TRACKS DOWN RAY GRAHAM FOR THE OSWEGO ISMA ROC WIN FRIDAY NIGHT
Oswego, NY – Chris
Perley stealthfully stalked down a high-flying Ray Graham Jr. Friday
night at Oswego to take his sixth career winged win at the “Steel
Palace.” Perley, starting 12th in the 26-car ISMA field,
was working his way forward in the early going when Ray Graham, who
started 14th, blew by the 11 on the outside on an early
restart. Graham was flying by car after car and was a half-track
ahead of everyone soon after taking the lead on lap 10. But that big
lead dwindled lap after lap as Perley gave it all he had after
moving into second on lap 19. As the race wore on, the lap traffic
and car fatigue began to play a role. With ten to go, Perley was
reeling in Graham and by lap 44, the 11 was in the lead, but Graham
wasn’t giving up and Perley knew it. It was survival of the fittest
to the checkered.
A hot but happy
Perley waved the checkered high above his wing to the crowd’s
cheers. Perley, who had notched his first career ISMA win at Oswego
in 1995, admitted in victory lane that he had had to change some of
his old Oswego ways.
“I learned a little
bit tonight. When we used to come here I always used turn one to
pass everybody. Ray schooled me tonight. He woke me right up. I
passed somebody early in the race and I tucked it in to see what I
had and there goes Ray by me. He was getting two cars at a whack.
His car was on. I didn’t think I was going to get him. When I
finally got into second I couldn’t even see him. I was praying that
lap traffic might help me tonight. And, wow, I ran as hard as I
could every lap after the one Ray passed me.
“My car wore out
just after his did. I saw that he had started to use it up and he
was having trouble with lap cars. I finally got under him and at
the same time I was tight. Then my car went to both tight and loose
and I was done. I was trying to get one car in between me and him
and hoping that would be enough. I don’t know if he ever cleared
that lap car but I just made myself wide at the end. I think if I
had passed one more car I would have spun out.
“It was crazy
tonight. It was a well-earned win. The crew does an awesome job with
the car with the help of Ed Shea and R&R Motors. Vic Miller prepares
a great car. I have a great crew and I love racing this car. And, I
love racing at Oswego.”
Graham, driving a
brand new Xtreme car, was happy with the car’s performance. “This
was the first time out with the car. It just went where it wanted to
go. It was really, really good on the restarts. I was actually
hoping for a couple more cautions because we would get two or three
cars on a restart. For a brand new car just out of the box and to
get beat by the king here, what can I say, it was a good run! Toward
the end there Chris was loose and I was looser. I could run behind
him at the end, but couldn’t get by. Thanks to Paul Colloca who
built this car, Mickey Marollo who does a killer engine and all crew
and sponsors. Without those guys we wouldn’t be here.”
Early race leader
Ohioan Bob Dawson ran a pretty tough race out front until the
dynamic duo caught up and got by. Before he spoke about his race he
had high praise for the new track owners. “First I want to thank
Eric and Johnny Torrese. They are doing a heck of a job bringing
this place back up to where it should be. It’s fun racing here
again. Those guys deserve a big round of applause. I have to thank
the Reed family for this car. It’s an awesome piece right now. Also
Reed’s Salvage, Stewart’s Appliance, TJS Level Performance, and the
Hoosier tires were fantastic. I like coming up here and racing. It’s
fun. I didn’t have anything for those two up front. They were just
checked out. I was just running my own race. We were good where we
were at.”
Dave Duggan and
Dawson led the car to green but only one lap was in before a back of
the pack melee occurred affecting Rich Reid, Bob Magner, Johnny
Benson, Bob Bond and Chris deRitis. Unfortunately, it was Benson who
had high hopes of doing well his first winged race at Oswego, was
the first car out of the race.
Dawson led the way
for a couple more laps before yellow flew again for Magner with Jeff
Abold calling it a night in the Rayvals 04.
This restart saw
Graham grab off a couple cars as he moved furiously forward. On lap
5 he was third. On lap six he was second and by lap 10 he was
leading as he flew by Dawson. Jamie Timmons held off Perley while
Dave Duggan still ran top five.
There would be no
more stops in the action, which allowed Graham to move in and out of
traffic with ease, building up what appeared an insurmountable lead.
Perley, however, was Perley. Undaunted, he gradually cut into that
lead. Graham, just before midway, had gotten stuck behind Dave
McKnight in the Morton 70 and the 11 was gaining.
By lap 30, Graham
had Bobby Bond in between his car and the 11 as Dawson ran alone in
third ahead of Jamie Timmons, Duggan, and Eddie Witkum Jr. Also
coming on strong from behind was Mark Sammut who moved up to sixth
around lap 35.
All eyes were up
front as Graham was planted behind Ben Seitz and couldn’t quite get
by. Perley just kept coming and he was right on Ray’s bumper by lap
42 as Seitz remained in front of both. Perley finally made his move
in lap 43 and came across with the lead on lap 44. Graham was still
within shooting distance however despite the fact that Perley had
tucked Seitz in between them. On lap 48, Ray was back on Chris’ tail
and now Chris had a slower car ahead of him, but Chris was able to
hold on to take the win. Graham was second and several lap cars
separated them from Dawson in third. Jamie Timmons in a fine run
ended up fourth.
Timmons was a bit
speechless after some bad luck of late. “The car was good but I
started loosing the brakes in like the ten to seven laps to go. I
kept reeling Bobby in but couldn’t get enough to get him. Fourth is
great for us especially after the last few weeks we’ve had.
Hopefully this can carry over to Airborne and maybe out to Ohio if
things go good. I’d like to thank Woody’s Auto and Towing, the
Moonies, Rod End Supply and everybody else that helps out all the
time.”
Moving into fifth
behind Timmons was Canadian Mark Sammut, who also was grateful for
some good luck for a change. “This was a little better than the
last few times out. Unfortunately we got boxed in at the start and
lost a few spots, which I had to make up. The car was really good at
the end. We were probably as quick as the leaders at the end but we
were a half-track behind so it was too late. This is a big
improvement over the last few races like I said, I just didn’t get
going soon enough. We’re happy with the car and hopefully we’ll get
it geared up for tomorrow and go from there.”
Timmy Jedrzejek,
Ted Christopher, Dave Duggan, Eddie Witkum Jr. and Joey Scanlon
completed the top ten.
SUMMARY ISMA EVENT
#4 Oswego Speedway, July 22, 2011
Heat 1: Timmy
Jedrzejek, Dave Duggan, Eddie Witkum, Rob Summers, Jeff Locke, Mike
Lichty, Chris deRitis, Bob Bond, Bobby Haynes Jr.
Heat 2: Bob Dawson,
Dan Bowes, Mark Sammut, Ted Christopher, Ray Graham. Paul White,
Russ Wood, Johnny Benson, Jeff Abold
Heat 3: Chris
Perley, Danny Lane, Jamie Timmons, Joey Scanlon, Ben Seitz, Dave
McKnight, Rich Reid, Bob Magner
ISMA RoC 50: 1. Chris Perley (11), 2.
Ray Graham (90), 3. Bobby Dawson (28), 4. Jamie Timmons (27), 5.
Mark Sammut (78), 6. Timmy Jedrzejek (32), 7. Ted Christopher (61),
8. Dave Duggan (51), 9. Eddie Witkum (9), 10. Joey Scanlon (88), 11.
Danny Bowes (18), 12. Russ Wood (29), 13. Ben Seitz (17), 14. Rich
Reid (92), 15. Jeff Locke (37), 16. Paul White (16), 17. Bobby Bond
(25), 18. Danny Lane (97), 19. Mike Lichty (84), 20. Dave McKnight
(70), 21. Rob Summers (35), 22. Bobby Magner (40), 23. Bobby Haynes
(44), 24. Jeff Abold (04), 25. Chris deRitis (66), 26. Johnny Benson
(74).
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Scroll Down For Photos From the ISMA Oswego RoC
50 By Jim Feeney:
Early in the feature
Ray Graham Jr 90 passes Dave Duggan 51 for second place. Graham
would end up finishing second at the checkerds. Duggan with a good
run of his own wound up eighth. - Photo by Jim Feeney
Ray Graham Jr 90
closes in on leader Bob Dawson 28. Graham would take the lead
shortly after. - Photo by Jim Feeney
Chris Perley 11
moves in to challenge a hard charging Jamie Timmons 27. Perley went
on for his sixth Oswego win and Timmons had a fine run to finish
fourth. - Photo by Jim Feeney
A fight for
position, early in the feature, between Rob Summers 35, Tim
Jedrzejek 32 and Mark Sammut 78. Sammut would go on to finish fifth
and Jedrzejek sixth. Summers left the track shortly after this photo
and finished twenty-first. - Photo by Jim Feeney
Two top ISMA
competitors Joey Scanlon 88 and Ted Christopher 61 fight for a top
ten finish. Scanlon ended up tenth and Christopher seventh. - Photo
by Jim Feeney
Tim Jedrzejek 32
tries going high to get around Ed Witkum Jr 9. -Photo by Jim Feeney
Chris Perley (11) goes low under
under Ray Graham (90) to over take the lead. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Chris Perley in Victory Lane for
the ISMA Sunoco Race Of Champions at Oswego Speedway - Photo By Jim
Feeney
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Scroll down for candid photos from ISMA Oswego
RoC weekend by Jim Feeney:
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More 2011 Race Results and
Photos |
