100 in the 100

This is just a preview of what's coming up in this week's installment of the blog. Also coming in this story: Red flags in back to back races, a disqualification in the biggest race of the night (someone who's up on the board doesn't finish on the board for long), and I apologize about something I went and said in a past week or two. With that said, are you ready? Great. Let's get this going, then!

We just jumped right into the swing of things with the first feature of the evening. That was the Late Model's make up race from way back when. Okay, so it was originally scheduled for May 23, but I think you get the point. Michael Bennett would get the early jump in this one, but when there's a car that wants to do good, there's always something that stops him. No, the caution three laps into the race did not come out thanks to the leader, but it was for Kyle Nosal who spun in turn one. It was a quick caution, and the race resumed with Bennett still out in front. The race would be green up until the halfway point, where Brian Chapin was in a minor accident in turn three, which brought out the caution again. Again, it would be Bennett out in front, but he would have some competition when Ryan Posocco would try to find a way to get by Bennett. It would be no use, and it would be Bennett taking his first win of the season. Posocco finished second, followed by Dillon Moltz and Mike Quintiliano. (And I admit to not catching this part, but after Bennett won the race, he parked the car near the wall in turn one, got out, and showed off the rear deck lid that has a memorial to the late Dave Rowe. The race would be dedicated to him.

There were some heats to take care of (in the name of the SK Lights), but after that, it was back to business. And when we picked back up with the features, we were going to have the DARE Stocks come out for their race. We did. Bill Dunn gained possession of the lead early and would lead until lap-4 as Robert Thompson got into an accident on the frontstretch. Everything was cleaned up, the field went back to green, and it was Dunn back out front. Your next caution took place on lap-11 when Matt Davis spun in turn one. Dunn would once again get back out in front, but we would only get to lap-13 before the next caution, involving Kyle Casagrande and Megan Bienkowski, who wrecked on the frontstretch. After extensive cleanup, the race would resume for the final few laps. It wasn't a race for the win -- Dunn took down his first win of the season. The true battle was for second, with Jeff Jolly and John Kasper dueling it out over the last laps. Jolly would just get over the line by a nose over Kaspar for second and third respectively, with Peter Bourque in fourth.

The next race on the agenda would be the Limited Late Models. But it comes with a price, and that price was on the opening lap as there was a multi-car spin/accident in turns three and four. Drivers involved in this included (and may or may not be the only four involved) Charlie Newman, Joey Ferrigno, Greg Butler, Jr, and Lori-Jo Rzeszutek. (Please don't shoot the messenger here if I put down any wrong numbers in my notes. I feel as though it happens all of the time.) Meanwhile, up in front, it was Darrin Havanec up front and in the lead until another caution came out on lap-11 when Robert Dow, Michael Nadeau, and Shawn Thibeault caused an accident in turn two. Havanec would hold the lead again, but the lead would soon belong to Sean Foster on lap-13. Foster would not have any competition as he would win his first race of the season. Rounding out the top-four were Andrew Durand, Ed Charette, and Bill Davis.

Kids, it was finally time for the biggest race of the evening. (No other race, in my opinion, could live up to that title.) It was time for the SK Modified 100 to get underway. Last year, there were a grand total of 13 cautions. (Yeah, I feel the irony regarding this already.) Significantly less in terms of yellows this time around, I can assure you of that. Let's start at the top, shall we? Doug Coby lead the first three laps of this race until Todd Owen took control on lap-4. Owen would have the lead for what seemed like an eternity -- well, nearly a full regular-length SK Modified feature. We wouldn't have our first yellow until lap-39 when Bo Gunning spun on the frontrstretch. Alongside of Owen for the restart was Ted Christopher, and he took over the lead on the restart. The next green flag session would turn out to be a short one as there was a multi-car accident on the frontstretch on lap-41, bringing out the next caution. Christopher would once again put himself out front, and this is where we had the second of two long greens of the event. Into the picture came both Chris Jones and Woody Pitkat, and in this green flag run, the leaders would start to run into the potential lapped traffic. Thankfully, nothing happened as cars were being lapped by the leaders other than the whole "being lapped" thing. Okay, without getting too carried away, the next caution wouldn't be until lap-90, and that would be for Eric Berndt, Brad Hietala, and Jimmy Blewett in a three car accident in turns three and four. The field tried the restart, and that didn't settle so well for quite a few cars. I'm calling it a multi-car accident in turn one. But anyway, it came down to Christopher and Pitkat in a ten-lap race to the finish. Pitkat would close in on Christopher multiple times before the end of the race, but he just couldn't pull off a pass. Call me crazy, but it was the 13th day of the year and the 100, but however you look at it, it was Christopher in victory lane for the second time in '08. Pitkat would finish second, followed by Tom Bolles and Keith Rocco. Christopher was awarded a plaque in honor of the milestone, and his name will grace section A of the general admission grandstands. (Section A is to the far right of the stands when you walk onto the midway from the ticket booth, all the way down at the turn one end.) Meanwhile, the boys in Technical Inspection had other ideas about the rest of the board. Upon inspection of Pitkat's car, they found that the car did not meet the minimum frame height requirement, and he was dropped to last place in the finishing order.

Next up on the schedule, it was the SK Lights. Apparently this 15-lap feature they had Friday was "special" since they were going to go back to a 20-lap feature for the next program (more on that later). But they had to race this race first, and I'm going to state that I think it was anything but a race. Anyway, let's start with the facts: Heather DesRochers had the lead for the first two laps of the race until a yellow came out for David Webb, who spun on the frontstretch. They tried again on the restart, but couldn't get the full lap in as the caution came out again for Harry Wheeler, Todd Clark, and Tommy Membrino, Jr, who were involved in a three-car accident in turn three. On lap-4, Alan Provost took the lead from DesRochers, but the lead would last for a lap as (once again) the caution came out for a two-car accident with Shawn Brule and Tony Santangelo. The very next lap would provide the biggest fireworks of the night. There was a multi-car accident in turn four, but that wasn't the worst part of it. The worst part was when a fire ignited in the mass of cars that had been stacked up against the wall in the turn, coming from what Mark Bakaj's car. Everyone walked away from the incident, but the red flag came out because of the fire. It took (maybe) a good five to ten minutes to get everything cleaned up. And when it did, the race was back underway. Provost jumped back in the lead and would hold it until lap-10 as debris in turn four sent the field back into a yellow state of mind. Again, it got cleaned up and it was back to green. The rest of the race ran smoothly, and it was Provost who would win his first race of the season. Rounding out the rest of the board were Joe Allegro, Jr, John Walmsley, and Adam Skowyra.

Finally, the stage was set for the final race of the evening. We went back to the Late Models as they had to run their race that was originally scheduled for the sixth of the month. It all started off with Tom Fearn leading the first two laps, but Dillon Moltz took over possession of the lead. Corey Hutchings would follow Moltz and attempt to challenge him for the lead on a few restarts towards the end of the race. He had three shots to do so. The first shot was on lap-22 after Kyle Nosal, Brian Chapin, and Walt Wosko, Jr gave us a combination spin/accident kind of thing in turns three and four. On the restart, Hutchings and Moltz battled for the lead, but Moltz edged out Hutchings coming out of two and away he went. That lead would be short lived because of another caution that came out four laps later. More spin/accident problems occured, this time in turn two and courtesy of Nosal, Doug Blowers, Jr, and Dave Wray. For the third straight race, they tried a restart on the same lap, and that didn't work out the way anyone would have wanted it to. Woody Pitkat, Blowers, and Don Acker, Jr brought out the third caution on the same lap after an accident in turn three. This time, however, the red flag had to come out so that the track safety team could attempt to fix the fence. (Though I swear that it was to fix the fence over in turn two, but that just may have been an incorrect notion on my part.) After another lengthy yellow, Hutchings and Moltz would do battle for the lead one final time, and it was Moltz to come out on top in both that battle and overall as he would take down his first win of the season. Mike Quintiliano would get by Hutchings for second, leaving Hutchings for third, while Ryan Posocco finished fourth.

Okay, now it's time to apologize for something I said in an earlier entry. Two weeks ago, I went on and gave you a rant about stuff that happened during the 5/30 SK Modified feature event. I was angry about people getting positions back that (in my opinion) shouldn't have, and I got confirmation from someone who had evidence of the events in question that what I thought was a complete misunderstanding. I heard from my source that coming to a near complete stop when there is an accident right in front of you does not necessarily mean that you're involved in the caution. I heard one thing, but another thing happened, and I let my opinions loose two entries ago. It was my bad for saying what I said, and next time I hear something, I'll try to confirm that it did or did not happen there so I don't look foolish two weeks later. Again, I'm sorry about my heart being on my sleeve, and I promise that it won't happen again.

Now that we've gotten that taken care of, I'd like to inform you that tomorrow is Friday! I hear that it's supposed to be a regular program (weather permitting) with fireworks in the skies at dark. Anyone under the age of 14 who is under the watch of an adult will get in for no charge at all. SK Lights are not going to qualify, and I don't know why this is going to be the case, but that's what the schedule says and I'll use it as gospel. So if we don't get postponed or cancelled tomorrow, I'll see you at the track. If you're going out over the weekend to the Travelers, have a safe trip. For hockey fans, the NHL draft is on Friday night and Saturday morning and afternoon, so in the event of the wet stuff, you can check that out on Versus at about 7:00pm Friday (first round) and NHL.com at around 9:45am Saturday (second round). So whatever you decide to do, stay safe and dry and I will definitely have something written up this weekend.