NOT EVEN MOTHER NATURE CAN STOP SERRANO MEMORIAL
Bridgeport, NJ – After the “light showers, clearing after noon” turned into substantial amounts of rain overnight Friday and into the day Saturday, Doug Rose and crew persevered and presented day two of the Danny Serrano Memorial weekend. The start time had to be delayed due to the very wet conditions but between the hard work of the track crew and the cooperation of the race teams, the scheduled program was completed minus the Modified Cash Dash that was moved onto Sunday’s schedule.
The Foley Cat Modifieds ran three groups of timed hot laps to determine the starting line-up of the three, twenty lap qualifying races for Sunday’s Danny Serrano 100. As expected, the twenty lap events provided great racing as the starting field for Sunday’s 100 lap main event were determined.
Jeff Strunk and Jimmy Blewett led the way to the first twenty lapper with Blewett jumping out in front on the start. Blewett led the way for the first two laps before a flat tire caused the red, white and blue to make a wicked turn on the cushion. Blewett pulled to the infield while Strunk led the way over Jared Umbenhauer, Davey Sammons, Ryan Godown and Mike Mahaney through lap five.
Mahaney was the man on the move as he raced into third by half way and then battled lap after lap with Umbenhauer for second.
Strunk had the All Fab No. 126 out in front and was able to pull away from the competition in spite of several restarts. Godown, who set fast time for the first group on Friday, was pushed to the pits after half way with mechanical failure.
Strunk led the way to the checkered with Mahaney grabbing second as he raced Umbenhauer to the finish line. Sammons, Tommy Scheetz, Jr., Craig VonDohren and Brandon Grosso trailed Strunk to the finish transferred to the Serrano 100 on Sunday.
Jojo Watson led the way in the second twenty lapper with Dominick Buffalino, Danny Bouc, Peter Britten and 2020 Track Champion, Bill Pauch racing behind the leader.
At half way, Watt was engaged in a back and forth battle for third with Bouc, with Watson and Buffalino out in front. Bouc challenged Buffalino for second on lap twelve but it was Watt who was on the move, taking over second on the next circuit. Watt quickly reeled in Watson and mounted a charge for the lead. Watson held on for lap sixteen but Watt put the inside to good use as he drove into the lead one lap later.
Watt, who usually prefers the high outside line, rolled the inside of the track for the win over Bouc, who grabbed second on a late race restart, Watson, Buffalino, Britten, Cozze and Pauch who transferred into Sunday’s main event.
The final twenty lapper was just as exciting as Justin Grim took the lead over Duane Howard on the start. Both drivers were making their first attempts on the new Bridgeport 4/10th mile speedway.
Multiple caution flags realigned the field during the first laps as Horton moved into second with Grim prevailing as the leader. Horton battled with Grim for the lead, putting the Halmar No. 43 out in front on lap seven. At half way, Horton led Grim, Howard, Dillon Steuer and Rick Laubach.
Ryan Krachun was forced to pit for a tire change on lap two and raced his way into contention in the second half of the race. With five laps to go, Krachun was back to second but was not able to challenge for the lead.
Horton drove to the twenty lap victory over Krachun, Howard, Steuer, Laubach and Grim. JR Heffner grabbed the last transfer spot from Briggs Danner in the final laps.
Horton, the winningest driver in Bridgeport history, grabbed a victory on the new 4/10 mile surface.
The East Coast USAC Wingless Sprints made their first ever appearance on the 4/10th mile track and provided the type of action that this group is been known for.
Carmen Perigo, Jr. fell victim to a classic Alex Bright outside run as Bright grabbed the lead on the start and quickly drove away from the field. Briggs Danner, making his first ever start in sprint car competition in the Gallagher No. 5G, grabbed the runner-up spot on lap two.
Two time series champion, Steve Drevicki raced into third and then took second from Danner on lap six. Ryan Watt, who has a win in the wingless series from earlier this season, put the Tim Hogue No. 39 on top of the cushion and blasted his way into second on lap eight only to see his run come to an end with a flat tire. Drevicki also headed to the pits at this time with neither driver able to return. It was Drevicki’s first DNF in his third season of competition.
Bright continued to lead the way over Danner, stretching his lead until lap sixteen when the leader caught the back of the pack. With five to go, Bright looked to be on his way to his second wingless victory over Danner as Kyle Spence, Chris Allen, Jr. and Joey Amantea battled it out for third.
Danner continued to close the gap on Bright as the raced through lapped traffic. With three to go, Danner caught the leader. Coming to the white flag, Danner executed the perfect slide job to move into the lead as the field headed to the white flag. Danner drove to a popular victory followed by Bright, Allen who won the battle for third over Spence and Amantea. Troy Betts finished sixth in his first wingless start followed by Kyle Lick, Bill Unglert, Perigo and Bruce Buckwalter, Jr.
It was a popular victory for the nineteen year old hot shoe from Allentown, PA who also set fast time in his USAC All Pro SpeedSTR and just missed a transfer spot in his twenty lap Modified run.
Steve Kemery became a five time winner as he dominated the twenty-five lap South Jersey Overhead Door 602 Sportsman feature event.
Kemery led the way through several caution flags with Dave Jenkins racing in second. Second and third saw all of the racing action after Wayne Weaver got out of shape in turn three and four but was able to collect the No. 0 and continue, after losing several positions. Brian Krummel, Friday night‘s Underdog 20 winner, Dan Fleming and Sammy Martz battled to the finish.
Kemery took the win over Jenkins who was disqualified after failing post race tech. Krummel finished second followed by Fleming, Martz and Weaver. Travis Hill finished sixth with Steve Davis, Anthony Tramontana, Jeremy Martino and Adam White rounding out the top ten.
On to Day 3 of the Danny Serrano Memorial weekend with more Foley Cat Modifieds and USAC All Pro SpeedSTR action.
South Jersey Overhead Door 602 Sportsman: (25 laps) 1. Steve Kemery , 2. Brian Krummel, 3. Dan Fleming, 4. Sammy Martz, 5. Wayne Weaver, 6. Travis Hill, 7. Steve Davis, 8. Anthony Tramontana, 9. Jeremy Martino, 10. Adam White, 11. Ryan Anderson, 12. Michael White, 13. Daniel Morgiwetz, 14. Rick Wegner Jr., 15. John Aumick, 16. Eric Mattson, 17. Jim Gallagher Jr., 18. Tom Sherby, 19. James Hill, 20. Jon Meyer, 21. Justin Grosso, 22. Brett Belmont, 23. Ryan Godown Jr., 24. David Jenkins
USAC East Coast Sprint Cars:(25 laps) 1. Briggs Danner, 2. Alex Bright, 3. Chris Allen Jr., 4. Kyle Spence, 5. Joey Amantea, 6. Troy Betts, 7. Kyle Lick, 8. Bill Unglert, 9. Carmen Perigo Jr., 10. Bruce Buckwalter Jr., 11. Kenny Miller III, 12. Mike Thompson, 13. Nash Ely, 14. Jonathan Swanson, 15. Ed Aikin, 16. Mick D’Agostino, 17. Lee Kauffman, 18. Ryan Watt, 19. Steven Drevicki, 20. JR Berry, 21. Craig Pellegrini
Foley Cat Modified Triple 20 #1: 1. Jeff Strunk, 2. Mike Mahaney, 3. Jared Umbenhauer, 4. Davey Sammons, 5. Tommy Sheetz, 6. Craig Von Dohren, 7. Brandon Grosso, 8. Roger Manning, 9. Eric Kormann, 10. Matt Stangle, 11. Jim Britt, 12. Frank Yankowski, 13. Ron Roberts, 14. Rich Rutski, 15. Billy Lasko, 16. Stan Frankenfield, 17. Ryan Godown, 18. Jimmy Blewett
Foley Cat Modified Triple 20 #2: 1. Ryan Watt, 2. Danny Bouc, 3. Joseph Watson, 4. Dominick Buffalino, 5. Peter Britten, 6. Frank Cozze, 7. Billy Pauch, 8. Neal Williams, 9. Anthony Perrego, 10. Mike Butler, 11. Ryan Simmons, 12. Richie Pratt Jr., 13. Billie Osmun, 14. David Crossman, 15. Rocco Infante, 16. Kevin Hirthler, 17. Steve Davis, 18. Troy Ale
Foley Cat Modified Triple 20 #3: 1. Jimmy Horton, 2. Ryan Krachun, 3. Duane Howard, 4. Dillon Steuer, 5. Rick Laubach, 6. Justin Grim, 7. JR Heffner, 8. Briggs Danner, 9. John McClelland, 10. Joe Toth, 11. Alex Yankowski, 12. Cale Ross, 13. Tommy Beamer, 14. Donny Cogdill, 15. Tom Moore Jr., 16. Mike Franz, 17. Tom Macherrone, 18. Wade Hendrickson, 19. Sam Martz