September Series Kicks Off

Friday night was the first day of September and therefore started what Stafford called the "September Series". This is the first time the track management has had racing for the entire month, but you can only blame the rain for this. (Oh, and by the way: It was a clear night for action.) Let's get to the features. September 1st, what did you have for us?

Well, they gave us the DARE Stock feature first. And they gave the first caution on lap-9 when a multi-car accident took place in turn four and the frontstretch. When that was cleaned up (and said and done), the rest of the race remained caution free. Jim Brice held off all challenges from his competitors and won his first race of his career. Following him to the line were Vince Gambacorta, Steve Berardi, and Tom Stirk. (Post race tech inspection said otherwise. Berardi's third place was stripped from him because his car didn't meet the minimum frame height requirement.)

Right after they were done, we went into the action of the SK Lights. To tell the truth, there wasn't much action. No cautions. But Brit Andersen stirred the pot some with his fourth win of the season. Next three at the line? Chris Matthews, Glen Reen, and Richie Pallai, Jr.

The Late Models took to the track after a quick detour from the norm...fireworks above and beyond the track sponsors gracing the backstretch with a musical performance. Cautionfest started on lap-3 when debris was seen in turn one. Three laps later, John Severns and Billy Snow, Jr get together on the frontstretch and right when they first entered the turn one area. After a brief cleanup by the safety team, the green was back out...until lap-17, when Steve McQuillan and Dave Wray made contact in turn three. Then finally, lap-20 proved costly for Severns and Jonathan Smith as they got into an accident in turn four and the frontstretch. Now with cautions out of the way, the race belonged to Scott Foster, Jr. He took down his first win of the season with Jim Peterson, Tom Fearn, and Ryan Posocco following him to the finish.

Your next feature of the night was courtesy of the Limited Late Models. The first 14 laps were clear under green. And then...caution in turn four, thanks to Sean Foster. When all was finished, the final five laps of the race were green, green, green, and Kevin Gambacorta captured win number two of the 2006 season. 2nd through 4th were Corky Hinze, Charlie Newman, and Michael Nadeau.

With the final feature, we have the SK Modifieds. Let me tell you...it was something, all right. Our first caution occured on lap-2 with a multi-car accident in turns three and four. With that came a minor bit of controversy in regards to some of those "involved" in the wreck. There were one or two people that decided to slow up so that they didn't end up with battered cars, but track officials thought otherwise and added them in as caution cars. (I'd give you more on this opinion, but I'd like to remain as fair as possible here.) Next caution: Three laps later, Rowan Pennink spins in turn tour. (He'd go on to finish 9th.) We wouldn't see a yellow for five more laps; this being due to Chris Jones spinning on the frontstretch after an apparent incident with Jeff Johnson. (After he pulled behind the wall, Jones told the #15 crew and officials that they were "#1". I wouldn't be surprised to see a suspension in his future.) Anyway, lap-13 wasn't pretty for a few drivers as turns three and four became the hot spot for a second multi-car accident. Pulling away from all of these caution periods and restarts was Eric Berndt who had taken the lead at lap-3. But the lead would shrink on lap-15 when Pennink and (by what I wrote) Bo Gunning got together in turn two. And then the caution would fly on lap-24 when Lloyd Agor spun in turns three and four. Finally, the last two cautions took place on lap-37. The first time around, Steve Zukowski spun in turn one with what looked like help from Frank Ruocco. The second time around, the officials didn't like the start. But those two incidents went out the window and it was a three-lap race to the finish. At the end, however, Berndt sat pretty in Victory Lane, winning his third race of the season. Gunning, Jeff Malave, and Ruocco finished off the top-four.

The September Series is back in action this Friday night with five divisions and a whole lot of action. Points leads could change hands. Who'll leave the track on the 8the with the title of "points leader"? Stay tuned and find out.