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Saturday, September 10 , 2011 - Star Speedway, NH -
(Star Classic)
The 2011 ISMA Star Classic top
three are, Jon McKennedy third, winner Russ Wood and second place
finisher Chris Perley. - Photo By Jim Feeney
RUSS WOOD PICKS
UP SIXTH STAR CLASSIC WIN LEADING ALL THE WAY TYING BENTLEY WARREN’S
RECORD
By Carol Haynes
- ISMA PR
Epping, NH – A huge
throng of fans turned out to watch the rebirth of the traditional
Star Classic and they weren’t disappointed. It was a classic race!
And, it was a perfect day for Russ Wood at Star Speedway Saturday.
He led all 150 green flag laps, collecting the lion’s share of the
over $10,000 in lap money and bonuses, plus the $5,000 winner’s
share of the purse. It had not been a great year for the
Holbrook-Wood team until then, with a blown motor almost keeping
Wood out of a race he’d won five times over the years. Then a
borrowed motor from fellow competitor Howie Lane, made it all
happen. Wood, by virtue of time trials and handicapping, sat on the
pole and he took full advantage of the position. Taking off with
first his teammate Rob Summers, then five-time Classic winner Chris
Perley challenging the entire distance, Wood was able to stay out
front through traffic and cautions. It was a very big boost to what
has been a declining season of late.
Russ, amidst a huge
throng of well-wishers, said in victory lane. “I want to thank Howie
Lane for our borrowed motor. Without that we wouldn’t be here.
Thanks to Jeff Holbrook and the entire crew for working so hard, my
parents and wife and kids - everyone whose supported us this year.
We’ve had an up and down year. This makes it all worthwhile.”
With a lot of lap
money and a halfway bonus of $1,000 to give incentive, Russ mapped
out his strategy. “I was kind of thinking lap money at the
beginning. I knew Chris would be coming. I figured he’d blow right
by me. But, my car was really not bad. We borrowed a motor from
Howie and it was good on power. I can’t believe that we held off
Chris. I knew when he got close. I saw the flashes from the cameras.
I was just saying, ‘let me pull this off and help us make up for
some of the year’. This is awesome, beating Chris and Jonathon. They
were fast. Just beating them was something. And, to tie Bentley with
six Classic wins is pretty special. It’s not a bad position to be in
to be tied with him. I love racing here and I love this race. Thanks
for everyone who came out to watch.”
The driver behind
Wood for 100 of the 150 lap grind was Chris Perley, who also went
into the race with five previous wins of the prestigious event and
who was the opponent Russ feared the most. Perley was happy
finishing second in a race he deemed as fun.
“This was a great
run. I got tight early and didn’t know if it would get better or
worse and it got worse. But, it was tough racing. I was able to stay
with Russ for most of the race and kept him honest. Lap traffic was
tough. It was a good one and a lot of fun. I’m happy to bring the
car home in one piece and head on to the next shot. Congratulations
to Russ. He did good. It’s nice to race with Russ. It always is. The
track was fun, the crowd looked good… it’s nice to be back to the
old stomping grounds.”
Taking the third
podium finish was Chelmsford’s Jon McKennedy, who doesn’t race
supers very often, but when he does, his record is an enviable one.
He commented after his run, “We had a good run. We started twelfth
and worked our way up to third. It was a tough race. We had a bunch
of cautions and a lot of lap cars between every one. Overall it was
a good day. It’s the first time we brought the car out all season.
We set fast time and due to the handicapping, we had to start
twelfth.
“I would have liked
to win. This is my third Classic in a row and we’ve been close all
three times. At the end of the race we had a pretty good car but it
took four or five laps to get going after a caution. Once the tires
got hot and the stagger shrunk down, the car would come back to
life. Congratulations to Russell. He’s the master around this place.
He’s raced here for many years. It’s good to see him win.”
Sixteen cars were
locked in from time trials with the top twelve handicapped by ISMA
rules. The consi finished lined up the rest of the field. With some
bad finishes in the past few races, veteran Russ Wood and teammate
Rob Summers made up the front row in the 24-car field. It was Wood
taking the point from the green, a spot he would not relinquish.
An early caution
for Ben Seitz slowed the pace but green flowed after as Wood and
Summers tried to shake off Eddie Witkum, Johnny Benson and quickly
up from tenth, Chris Perley.
Traffic soon came
into play on the famed bullring as Wood began to lap cars by lap ten
as Summers followed. Perley was third a distance behind the lead duo
when yellow fell again on lap 22 for Dave Sanborn in the Lane 9.
The slowdown
allowed Perley to close the gap on Wood and Summers as Benson,
Witkum, Justin Belfiore, Mike Lichty and McKennedy threaded through
the traffic left by the leaders as the race stayed green for a long
spell.
Just before the lap
50 mark, Perley moved up on Summers as Wood was struggling with a
trio of slower cars ahead. On lap 49, Perley became the nemesis for
Wood and it would be all their ballgame for the next 100 laps.
Yellow flew again
on lap 56 when Dave Duggan’s 51 was into the wall in four. Justin
Belfiore pulled the 98 pitside at this juncture, not to return. On
the restart of his mishap, Johnny Benson stopped the Lichty-owned 74
coming out of turn one and he too was out for the night.
Wood and Perley,
two of supermodified’s greatest, showed the large crowd on hand, why
they should be so named. The red 29 and the black 11 diced in and
out of traffic in awesome fashion as they headed for lap 75 and an
extra $1000 contributed by the fans who bought special 2011 Star
t-shirts. Wood picked up that bonus and then continued to tally at
least $25 for each lap he led.
A spin by Eddie
Witkum brought the intense action to a halt on lap 108. A red was
dropped and due to the number of caution laps already run, refueling
was allowed as the 97 was taken to the pits.
The race resumed
with Wood and Perley now in a different time zone. Timmy Jedrzejek
ran in third on the track, but was fifth in the rundown as he had
just been gone down a lap prior to the red. Rob Summers and Jon
McKennedy were the only remaining cars in the lead lap.
At the 120 mark, it
was evident, that the winner was going to be a tiebreaker of sorts
with both Wood and Perley tied for most Classic wins with five.
Timmy J ran behind Perley in the 5th place spot with
Summers third just ahead of McKennedy in fourth.
Lap 130 found
Summers turned around bringing out the yellow and McKennedy
continuing after tapping the 35. Summers went to the rear and the 79
held its spot.
A couple attempts
at the restart of this lap saw a tangle between the 37 of Locke and
the 17 of Seitz with Seitz done for the night. Then Locke pulled in
as attrition increased. Another attempt at green found Craig Rayvals
off in turn one but he was restarted at the tail.
The race finally
got to green and stayed that way for the next 20 laps with no change
out front as Wood and Perley stuck together, still slicing and
dicing in and out of traffic. McKennedy held onto third while
Summers was mired back a distance in fourth. Jedrzejek ran pretty
much alone in fifth, coming across under the checkered ahead of the
35.
Summers said
succinctly of his fourth. “I’m happy for the whole team that Russ
won. We needed that bad. Russ borrowed that motor from Howie and
it’s really cool for him to win. We were off a little bit then we
got tight. Then I got a little help and got spun around. That kind
of sucked. But, hey we came back and finished fourth in one piece. I
guess it was a decent day. Hopefully we can continue on for the next
couple races.”
Ohioan Jedrzejek,
who had not raced at Star for over a decade, was quite pleased with
a fifth and his growing progress in the Soule 32. “We’re happy with
fifth tonight. We started fourteenth after a qualifying run that we
didn’t put down too well. I had to start back there in the pack but
I knew right away we had a decent car. I just kept coming and
coming. I was watching guys starting to slip and every time someone
would slip a little, it would give me another spot and another spot.
Unfortunately we got down a lap just before that red flag. And, then
we were almost on a lap of our own there for a little while, at
least the first car on our own lap. We just had to run it out and
not give up any more spots. After the refueling and we got some heat
in our tires, I actually felt like the car was pretty good again. We
made it to the end and we’re happy to pull it in the trailer and get
a fifth place finish. I think we’ve made some more progress on the
setup as Danny’s been working on it pretty hard. I was pretty happy
with what we had tonight.
Mike Lichty, Joey
Scanlon, Mark Sammut, Craig Rayvals and Ben Seitz completed the top
ten.
SUMMARY 46th
Star Classic, Sept. 10, 2011
Top 16 time
trailers locked into field, top 12 handicapped
Fast time: Jon
McKennedy (11.261)
Consi: Ben Seitz,
Rick Wentworth, Dave Sanborn, Bobby Haynes Jr., Dan Bowes, Mike
Ordway Sr., Dave Duggan, Mike Netishen
Star Classic 150:
1. Russ Wood (29), 2. Chris Perley (11), 3. Jon McKennedy (79), 4.
Rob Summers (35), 5. Timmy Jedrzejek (32), 6. Mike Lichty (84), 7.
Joey Scanlon (88), 8. Mark Sammut (78), 9. Craig Rayvals (04), 10.
Ben Seitz (17), 11. Danny Bowes (18), 12. Jeff Locke (37), 13. Eddie
Witkum (97), 14. Joe Gosek (00), 15. Ray Graham Jr. (90) 16. Dave
Duggan (51), 17. Dave Sanborn (9), 18. Jon Gambuti (14), 19. Johnny
Benson (74), 20. Justin Belfiore (98), 21. Mike Ordway Sr. 22. Bobby
Haynes Jr. (44), 23. Rick Wentworth (10). Mike Netishen (01) dns.
ISMA Star Classic Photos… by Jim Feeney:
For
several laps, early in the Classic, Chris Perley 11 tries to get by
Rob Summers 35, for second place. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Russ
Wood 29 quickly moved through the field to put many cars a lap down.
Here he goes low to get by Ben Seitz 17 the eventual tenth place
finisher. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Russ
Wood 29 had Chris Perley 11 chasing him for much of the race. Perley
never got much closer than this. They both went on to finish
one-two. - Photo By Jim Feeney
A
battle for a top five finish with Tim Jedrzejek 32 and Mike Lichty
84. Timmy J would go on to get a fifth while Lichty would finish
sixth. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Leader Russ Wood 29 moves in to put a lap on Tim Jedrzejek 32, who
was running and finished fifth. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Two
young New Englanders, Joey
Scanlon 88 and Dan Bowes 18, race wheel to wheel. Scanlon
would go on to finish seventh, was eleventh. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Some
real tight racing for a podium finish between Rob Summers 35 and Jon
McKennedy. McKennedy would get the podium with a third place finish.
Summers was fourth. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Mike
Lichty 84 battles for a top finish with Mark Sammut 78. Lichty would
end up sixth at the checkered, Sammut was eighth. - Photo By Jim
Feeney
Russ
Wood has a big smile as climbs out of his ride and waves the
checkered flag after leader all 150 laps of the Star Classic. -
Photo By Jim Feeney
Russ
Wood Stands in the ISMA Star Classic Victory Lane. - Photo By Jim
Feeney
Candid Photos from the Star Classic Weekend By Jim Feeney......
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More 2011 Race Results and
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