Seekonk event results 8/20

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

Seekonk event results 8/20

openwheelracer · Admin/Mod/Eyewitness

Seekonk, MA: Kirk Alexander and the A-Team have become unstoppable in their hunt to clinch their 2nd True Value Modified Racing Series Championship. This past Saturday, August 20th, it was no different at Seekonk Speedway as Alexander collected his tenth win of the 2005 season. The True Value Modified Racing Series continues to grow as three new teams made their first appearance with the series this past Saturday night. These teams included Dave Moulding of Fall River, MA in the 86, John Bush of Huntinton Station, NY in the 68 and Zack Sylvester of Lebanon, CT in the 19. The series has had an impressive number of 46 different drivers that have participated at an event in 2005.

Twenty-nine modifieds and only twenty-four starting positions kept the fans on their feet for three intense qualifiers at the Cement Palace. The first qualifier went a stray as rookie Tom Abele in the 32 and veteran Bob Polverari in the 7 got together in turn one. Polverari headed to the pits to repair his car for the last chance consi along with the 10 of Dave Bergman and Jim Storace in the 4 who also got caught up in the mayhem. At the end of the first qualifier new comer Zach Sylvester in the 19 locked down the pole starting position for the 100 lap feature event. Qualifier number two saw Jimmy Dolan of Bethel, CT in the 69 lock down the outside pole and Andy Seuss in the 70 won the third qualifier to start in the third spot. The final chance to make the show had ten modifieds racing to fill four spots. Bob Polverari and Chris Wenzel took the two available provisional to make the show. Dave Berghman in the 10 won the consolation qualifier followed by rookie Tom Abele in the 32, veteran Rusty Ball in the 20 and taking the last spot the 2 car driven by rookie Luke Royea.

The True Value Modified Racing Series brought rolling thunder to the cement palace with twenty four cars starting the 100 lap feature event. The front row of Sylvester and Dolan rolled out of turn four taking the green from flagman John Spence Jr. The 19 of Sylvester and Dolan's 69 battled side by side when an early caution on lap two flew for the 20 of Rusty Ball spinning in turns three and four. Again Sylvester and Dolan filled the front row for the restart. Sylvester jumped out ahead of Dolan as Dolan became challenged by third place runner Andy Seuss in the One Stop Toy Shop number 70. Seuss and Dolan would make contact coming down the backstretch that would send Seuss through the infield grass and shooting back out onto the track in turns three and four. Seuss's reentry had everyone checking up sending cars scrambling. Dwight Jarvis in the 28 of Ascutney Vermont did not escape damage as his car rolled to stop with two front flat tires and a broken radiator. Jarvis' night ended after just four laps completed. Sylvester and Dolan remained on the front row followed by the 62 of veteran driver Roger Raymond and Jim Boniface in the 71. At the green the modifieds put down thirty hard racing laps before the next caution would fly. Lap thirty three two cars spinning in separate incidents brought out the yellow. Involved were the 2 of Luke Royea in turn two and Roger Raymond spinning in turn three. The front row remained strong with Zack Sylvester and Jimmy Dolan now followed by the 21 of Glenn Billings and the 47 of Louie Mechalides. Once again with only two laps into the restart the yellow flew for Seuss spinning his number 70 modified on the front stretch. Sylvester continued to lead as Dolan started to slip back out of the second spot. Louie Mechalides didn't waste any time getting around Dolan and then moved on to challenge Sylvester and take over the lead. Mechalides moved up from his tenth starting position to take over the lead just prior to half way and collected the Black Mountain and Painting half way bonus.

On lap 59 caution for Les Hinckley of Windsor Locks, CT in the 06 after the 62 of Roger Raymond made contact with Hinckley. Hinckley and Raymond restarted at the rear of the field. The action remained in the top five as Mechalides continued to hold of Sylvester but knocking on the back door was Kirk Alexander in the 43. Alexander moved throughout the field from his twenty-fourth starting position to challenge the top two spots. Alexander was followed by the 76 of Peter Daniels of Lebanon, NH. Alexander took over the second spot from Sylvester and Mechalides held off Alexander until lap sixty-nine. The battle continued for the third spot as Sylvester felt the heat from Daniels. With lap cars spread throughout the field Alexander continued to maneuver and keep Mechalides behind him. The final caution of the night came on lap ninety-one for the spinning car of number 8 of Kirby Monteith in turns one and two. A single file restart kept Alexander out front for the remaining nine laps. Alexander clinched his tenth win followed by Mechalides and Sylvester placing third. Peter Daniels finished fourth and remains second to Alexander in the points chase, home town favorite Dave Berghman rounded out the top five. Although not a top five finish Jimmy Dolan in the 69 held on to have an impressive run finishing sixth in the one hundred lap main event.

Mrs. Vendetti of Seekonk Speedway was on hand in victory lane to congratulate and award the top three trophies. Along with Alexander collecting his trophy and winnings the event was also a qualifier for the North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsports Park. Alexander will travel to Concord with a guaranteed starting spot and join other modified stars such as Whelen Tour drivers Ted Christopher and Andy Hirschman.

Kirk Alexander continues to lead the points by a gap of thirty-five points over Peter Daniels. With five races remaining for the True Value Modified Racing Series, Daniels still has a chance to close the gap on Alexander. Daniels has had ten top five finish's thus far and remains a strong competitor to challenge Alexander. As it was last year this points chase will come down to the wire before crowning the 2005 champion.

The True Value Modified Racing Series make their final appearance at Monadnock Speedway this Saturday, August 27, 2005, racing starts at 6:00pm. Just added to the schedule the modifieds will make their only appearance in 2005 at Canaan Fair Speedway on Sunday, September 4th for a special show with the PASS tour. Labor Day weekend will be a double header show for the modifieds as they also make their final 2005 appearance at White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday, September 3rd. For more information on these dates visit www.modifiedracingseries.com.