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Saturday, August 13 , 2011 - Waterford, CT - (ISMA 50)
ISMA Waterford
top three, second place Mike Lichty, winner Chris Perley and third
place Mark Sammut. - Photo By Jim Feeney
CHRIS PERLEY
BACK BEHIND THE MILLER 11 FOR A WATERFORD WIN
- By Carol
Haynes, ISMA PR
Waterford, CT – Vic
Miller’s #11 had won the previous two ISMA outings without Chris
Perley but Saturday night, the Rowley Rocket was back in dominant
form. Perley took over the lead of the 50-lapper after a devastating
crash involving checked-out race leader Eric Lewis and two lap cars,
brought out the red. Perley blew by the 74 of Johnny Benson and the
78 of Mark Sammut in one felled swoop coming off turn four to lead
lap 21 and the rest of the way. A yellow on lap 43 shortened his
half-track plus lead, but five or six lap cars sat between Perley
and second place runner Sammut, leaving not much chance for a
shootout to the finish. The win was Perley’s third of the five races
he’s run this season and his fourth at the Waterford Speedbowl since
the 2005 ISMA inaugural there. The race was a redeemer of sorts for
the now infamous May Waterford event.
“I hope this was a
better race than the last time we were here. At least I was able to
see it and you, the fans, were too. This is a great place to race
at. We always enjoy coming here. The track was great tonight. There
were two good grooves for racing. The car was, as usual –right on.
These guys always end up giving me a good car and it was a good race
out there. I feel bad for Eric Lewis. He was too far in front of me
to see what he was doing, but I know he was checked out in the lead.
I wanted to see him pick up his first win. But things happen and
we’ll always take a win. It’s been a good season. It’s my fifth race
and my third win. I’ve also had a second and a dnf where I pulled
out before I hurt myself. Thanks to the fans for coming out
tonight. Thanks to Hoosier Tires Corr Pak, Vic Miller, R&R Motors,
NEMRS, Ed Shea, Malco, Perley’s Marina, Barrett Transportation,
Blink’s Fry Doe, my crew, me, my family – everybody.
“It was tough.
Everybody was there fighting. You can’t blame them. They don’t know
that the leader is there. We don’t use the passing flag, which is
fine but boy it makes it tough. Everyone was fighting tooth and
nail, slipping and sliding. You just hope you can get by without
sliding into someone or someone sliding into you. It’s funny. When I
slowed down to the traffic, the car got worse. I needed to go fast
to make it work better. The slower I go behind them, the harder it
was to pass because the car’s loose and pushing. The minute I got up
to speed, the car was good again.”
Mike Lichty won the
battle for second with less than ten to go after taking away the
spot from fellow-Canadian Mark Sammut, who had to get by
Brockville’s Craig Rayvals earlier in the race. Lichty indicated
that it was a tough run to get there. “We started the race off way
too loose. I’m still learning with this car and now I think I know
what we need to do come feature time every race. I had to fight hard
to get second from Mark. I was up on the wheel digging every inch.
Luckily, everybody else but Chris was that way too. We stayed second
because of it. I just have to thank everyone – my dad, the crew,
Craig Reed Salvage, PATCO, Stage Door, Rockway Building, Johnny
Benson Enterprises, and Ravco Metals.”
Mark Sammut, off a
bad Sandusky crash, a major repair job, and two top tens at
Delaware, has pleased with a third. “By the end of the race I was
just hanging on. We were really good there after the first four or
five laps. We got into a groove, got going and we were really good.
But then, after the red we lost a little bit. Then after the last
yellow, we lost even more. But, it was pretty good most of the night
and I’m glad to finish third. I got up high there trying to pass
some lap cars and Mike got by me, but that’s the way it goes. Third
is good.”
Eric Lewis and
Johnny Benson led the nineteen-car field to green with Lewis
immediately sprinting away in the lead. Benson, Sammut, Craig
Rayvals and Mike Lichty were soon challenged by 8th place
starter Perley.
Lewis, who had some
of the top times in practice and a heat win already behind him,
continued to speed away from the pack and to put away some
tail-enders, leaving Benson a distant second, Sammut third and
Perley fourth just prior to lap 20 when all hell broke loose for the
leader looking for a career-first. On that circuit Lewis’ 28
approached a couple slower cars. He looked for a way to get by and
then found there was none. Unfortunately, he and the 92 of Rich Reid
crashed heavily into the first turn wall. The red was dropped and
the two badly damaged cars were taken away. Neither of the drivers
were hurt and neither seemed to be able to pinpoint what happened.
Reid said later
shaking his head as the mangled 92 was being packed into the Lehnert
hauler, “I have no clue what happened there. I just remember there
was a gaggle of cars out there racing hard and this.”
Lewis commented
after his 28 was also being pieced into his hauler, “I don’t really
know what happened. I think two cars came together in front of me.
They were racing side by side. I think I was past the 92 already and
he might have gone over the back of me and that kind of collected
it. I knew it was a tough spot and there’s no passing flag so they
are running their race and I’m running mine. The car was perfect.
Now the car is junk. It pulled the valves right out of the motor.
That might have been my first win, but… Maybe ISMA needs to re-look
at the passing flag.”
As the green
dropped to resume the race, Benson was now the leader with Sammut
right behind, but not for long. With less than one lap complete,
Perley was by both of them gliding by off turn four for the lead.
He was gone. Benson had the Canadian express bearing down with
Sammut, Rayvals and Lichty charging forward. Joey Scanlon, Jeff
Locke, Jeff Abold, in the Soule 32, and Russ Wood were among those
racing hard right behind.
By lap 28, Perley
had caught back up to the tail of the field and began lapping cars
one by one. The excitement continued behind as Sammut and Rayvals
moved by Benson who had a right rear tire going flat, possibly after
picking up something from the previous accident scene. Lichty,
Locke, Abold, Seitz and Scanlon were all fighting for position as
the race sped by under green.
A single race
yellow flew on lap 43 when Dave Duggan’s 51 spun and pulled pitside.
The slowdown was no
threat to Perley because of the lap cars between him and second
place Sammut, but still he was cautious. Said Chris of his strategy
in traffic, “When passing slower cars I look to try to pass that car
where I know I’m good enough to move if he moves. It doesn’t always
work, but I try not to just jam myself in a hole, unless maybe when
it’s for the leader and you’re fighting for the win. Everything
changes as it goes on. I just try to give lap cars enough room that
if they get out of shape, I can move with them.”
And, move he did,
right to the checkered flag. That late caution gave Mike Lichty a
shot at Mark Sammut and he took it despite struggling with his car.
Lichty moved by the London, Ontario driver one lap after the restart
of lap 43 to take second while Ben Seitz stole fourth from Craig
Rayvals in the last two laps, with Rayvals finishing one of his best
races in a while in fifth.
Seitz reiterated
the redemption theme. “I’m glad we put on a better show for the fans
and the track then we did last time out. We all needed it. We had a
good run. We were in traffic the whole race. Everybody was fighting
the whole time. There was a lot of good racing and everybody was
running clean and hard. Once again I need to thank my sponsors Cape
Cod Aggregates, Lorusso Heavy Equipment, S.M. Lorusso & Sons, car
owner Dick Bien and my crew. Coming back to the east means we
finally have a full crew again. It’s nice to be able to relax a
little bit because more people mean they take more responsibility
for what needs to be done. Sammy, our sponsor, was here for this one
and I’m happy we had a good race.”
Craig Rayvals
probably had the biggest smile of the top quintet. He’s been
struggling for a while, especially after a devastating accident at
Lee several years ago, which caused months of recovery and rehab
after his injuries. “It’s been two years, two years and a bit
actually, since we’ve been on the scales. The car is finally
starting to come around. We’ve been working hard on it, Murray and
I. We made a lot of changes and spent a lot of late nights last
week. We talked to Brian Allegresso; talked to the Abolds; talked to
a lot of people and got a lot of feedback. And, now it’s coming
around. A top five feels really good.”
Jeff Abold, driving
the Soule 32, filling in for Timmy Jedrzejek who was in Alaska, Jeff
Locke, Johnny Benson Jr., Joey Scanlon and Russ Wood rounded out the
top ten with Wood the last car in the lead lap.
Summary ISMA
event #10, Waterford Speedbowl, Aug. 13
Heat 1: Eric Lewis,
Mike Lichty, Chris Perley, Ben Seitz, Rob Summers, Dan Bowes, Dave
Sanborn (Lane 9)
Heat 2: Johnny
Benson, Mark Sammut, Joey Scanlon, Dave Duggan, Justin Belfiore,
Eddie Witkum Jr.
Heat 3: Russ Wood,
Craig Rayvals, Jeff Abold, Jeff Locke, Jamie Timmons, Rich Reid
Feature 50: 1.
Chris Perley (11), 2. Mike Lichty (84), 3. Mark Sammut (78), 4. Ben
Seitz (17), 5. Craig Rayvals (04), 6. Jeff Abold (32) 7. Jeff Locke
(37) 8. Johnny Benson Jr. (74) 9. Joey Scanlon (88), 10. Russ Wood
(29), 11. Justin Belfiore (98), 12. Eddie Witkum Jr. (97), 13. Danny
Bowes (18), 14. Rob Summers (35), 15. Jamie Timmons (27), 16. Dave
Sanborn (9) 17. Dave Duggan (51), 18. Eric Lewis (28), 19. Rich Reid
(92).
ISMA Waterford August Photos…
by Jim Feeney 7/13/11:
On the restart,
after the lap 20 accident, Chris Perley 11 makes a move on then
leader Johnny Benson Jr. Perley took off and cruised to an easy win.
Benson who probably had a tire going from driving through that
accident finished eighth. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Jeff Abold in the
Soule 32 races Jeff Locke a spot in the top ten. Abold would go on
to finish sixth with Locke just behind in seventh. - Photo By Jim
Feeney
Ben
Seitz 17 battles for a number of laps with Russ Wood 29 looking for
a top finish. Seitz would go on to finish fourth, Wood was tenth. -
Photo By Jim Feeney
Mark Sammut 78
goes outside off of turn four to take second place from Johnny
Benson Jr 74. Sammut would go on to finish third and Benson, with a
tire going down, was able to make it home eighth. - Photo By Jim
Feeney
Craig Rayvals 04
and Mike Lichty 84, part of Waterford’s “Canadian Express” fight for
position. Lichty would moves his way up to second and Rayvals had a
fine fifth place finish to make three of the top five Canadians. -
Photo By Jim Feeney
As the laps were
clicking down Mike Lichty 84 gets by Mark Sammut 78, going down the
front straight, to take second place away from Sammut. - Photo By
Jim Feeney
In the waning
laps of the race Ben Seitz closes in and makes the pass on Craig
Rayvals 04 to take over fourth. Rayvals would get fifth. - Photo By
Jim Feeney
Chris Perley 11
flies under the double checkerds of starter Frankie Horvath. - Photo
By Jim Feeney
Chris Perley
smiles big in ISMA Waterford’s Victory Lane, after a very dominating
run. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Candid photos
from ISMA at Waterford By Jim Feeney.......
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