Archive for July, 2010

2010 Hy-Miler Classic Champion; Mark Sammut. (Todd Ridgeway Photo)

Sandusky, OH – London, Ontario’s Mark Sammut finally won his first and second winged ISMA features in 2009 after more than a decade of trying. He finished runner-up in ISMA points at year’s end. But, 2010 had not gone as well as the 78 team would have liked. In the first five races of the ISMA season, their best finish had been a sixth, that is until Saturday night’s 33rd annual Hy-Miler Nationals at Sandusky Speedway.  Sammut took the early lead, lost it to fellow Canadian Mike Lichty and then quietly stayed with the 84 until he was ready to reclaim the point. On lap 77 Sammut pulled alongside Lichty. The duo ran side by side until turn four when Sammut plucked the Hy-Miler prize. It was Sammut’s race to lose now, and for the final 22 laps he held on for the biggest win of his supermodified career.  He also became only the second Canadian to win the prestigious Hy-Miler race;  the first being Dave McKnight in 2001. Sammut recapped his road to victory.

“This is something. We had a really bad car all weekend long. We kept messing with it and messing with it. Finally before time trials today we thought it was coming around so we just pushed it a bit in that direction. We had a decent run in time trials. We had a decent run in the heat. I knew then that if we could stick with it we’d have a good car at the end of 100 laps. And we did. It was great.
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Dave Shullick Jr, Rob Summers, Charlie Schultz at Sandusky (Jim Feeney Photo)

Sandusky, OH – Despite the fact that it was 10:30 Saturday morning at Sandusky Speedway,  Dave Shullick Jr. proved he was was wide-awake and ready to go racing. Shullick, starting fourth on the grid, moved by race leader Rob Summers on a lap 5 restart and proverbially never looked back. The 40-lap Hy-Miler ISMA preliminary had been rained out on Friday night and was begun at 10:30 am. It was the fifth different winner and team at the fifth different racetrack to date this ISMA season. Shullick, who exited the last race with mechanical ills, was more than pleased with Booth-61 ride.
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Joe Starr Photo, www.bigwestracing.com

by Keith Shampine

DACONO, Colo. – Chris Sheil started third and held off veteran Joe Priselac to record his first-ever Englewood Supermodified Association feature win Saturday night at Colorado Nat’l Speedway. Sheil’s triumph made him the fourth different winner in as many races on the 2010 ERA tour.

Sheil recorded the triumph after a record-breaking day for temperatures in the Denver area. The official high was 102 degrees, breaking a record from 1971. Track temperatures were said to be about 140 degrees when Sheil and 11 other winged ERA supermodifieds lapped CNS’s three-eighths-mile oval during practice.
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by Gerald Laurie

The annual Al Pombo Classic at Madera Speedway on Saturday featured Supermodifieds and BCRA Midgets. The show was comprised of qualifications, trophy dashes, heat races and feature events for both classes.

The event started with Time Trials for the BCRA Midgets on the 1/3 mile banked asphalt oval. Tanner Swanson (10) set fast time with a lap of 14.235 seconds. He was closely followed by older brother Kody Swanson (15) at 14.341, and Nick Foster, Jr. (1) at 14.573.

Next to challenge the clocks were the 360 Supermodifieds. Fastest was Kenny Kinchen (5) at 13.555, followed by Kyle Vanderpool (1) at 13.726, and Lance Jackson (18) at 13.882.

The Open Supermodifieds were the final qualifiers and were led by Kody Swanson(72) at 12.776 over Jim Birges (32) at 12.858, and Lonnie Adamson (98) at 13.037.

The next order of business was the trophy dash sequence. The Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets lined up with Floyd Alvis on the pole flanked by Nick Foster, Jr. The back row included Kody and Tanner Swanson. At the drop of the green, Foster charged to the lead on the outside followed by Tanner and Kody Swanson, Alvis had trouble accelerating at the start and dropped to the back.  Tanner Swanson made several attempts to pass down low and although he was able to pull even, he could not complete the pass. Foster took the hardware over the Swansons and Alvis.
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Plattsburgh, NY – The large, enthusiastic crowd that filled Airborne Speedway Saturday night to see the ISMA winged supers race for the first time, certainly got their money’s worth. From the speeds, the qualifying heats, to the wave lap and down to the checkered flag, the fans were into it. The northern New York four-tenth’s mile oval seemed to be made for the powerful supermodifieds and it showed in the racing. “Awesome” was the by word from the drivers and fans alike at the end of the Airborne 50-lapper. It was a race to remember for sure – especially for winner Russ Wood and runner-up Justin Belfiore.

Ipswich, Mass. driver Justin Belfiore jumped to the initial lead and looked to be headed for his first win of the season until ninth-place starter Russ Wood closed in on the Belfiore 98. For the last ten laps of the race, the duo swapped the lead dicing in and out of traffic. A yellow with five to go set up a shootout, that had the crowd going wild. Lap after lap Wood tried the low side of Belfiore and was repelled. On the last lap, Wood chose the outside in one last attempt to wrest the lead from Belfiore and was able to pull alongside and by as the pair came down for the checkered much to the delight of the fans on hand. Thunderous applause greeted the veteran driver in victory lane.
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Jon Henes in victory lane. (Todd Ridgeway Photo)

A first time visit to a new playground turned fun for Jon Henes as he became the first repeat winner on the tour in 2010. Henes took his No. 36 family owned Supermodified to the front, battled all challengers, and hung on to get his second seasons victory on the 2010 Midwest Supermodified Association (MSA) campaign. Those challengers drove hard and fast lap after lap gunning for the determined veteran leader. It was the first time the MSA had ever visited Kil Kare Speedway in Xenia Ohio and 15 cars would take the green flag for the 30 lap feature race.
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Jim Feeney Photo

Stafford Springs CT: It’s been a while since 50-year old Mike Ordway Sr. has stood in an ISMA victory lane. He’d spent several years out of competition, but Tuesday night he showed neither the heat nor his absence from regular supermodified competition had slowed him down. He put the Vic Miller number 1 into second just past the lap 10 mark and slowly reeled in race leader Bob Magner who possessed a healthy lead. Twelve laps later Ordway Sr. took the lead and was only challenged slightly after a series of late race yellows bunched the field behind him. It was his first ISMA win since July 23, 2004. The win was Ordway Sr.’s career 31^st in ISMA. He stands fourth on the All-Time win list behind Perley, Wood and Warren.

“Car was really good tonight,” said the veteran Fremont, NH driver. ” I owe it all to the crew for putting it back together after Waterford where it was wrecked. They worked on it for three straight weeks and to have it run like this is unbelievable. That’s why Chris won so many races.

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Lonnie Adamson & S-S Team

Rhonda Costa Photo

By Rhonda Costa

LAS VEGAS – The heat was on at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway not only in air temps but on the track as Lonnie Adamson gained his first win in a supermodified since running a full year in 2003. Adamson, of Salt Lake City, ran for the S&S Motorsports team, replacing recently retired Troy Regier.

Eight teams in all made the tow to Las Vegas, including Seattle’s Ray Stebbins, Dale Lamborn of Carson City and Pat Whittet of Boise. Other teams included Jim Birges of Fresno, Bryan Warf of Meridian, Idaho, AJ Russell of Clovis, Calif., and Jeff Collins of Three Rivers, Calif., who ran the No. 89 in his first-ever supermodified race.
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First-time 2010 winner Rich Castor Jr.

Photo courtesy of Joe Starr, www.bigwestracing.com

DACONO, Colo. – Rich Castor Jr. started shotgun on the 11-car Englewood Racing Association main Saturday at Colorado National Speedway and drove to his first feature victory of the season at the three-eighths-mile oval in a competitive 25-lap feature.  

Castor, who is the ERA president and defending point champion, quickly worked his way through the field of winged supers, taking the lead from a strong running Chris Sheil on lap 11.  Castor was never headed as he cruised to the victory, his first of 2010 in the ERA’s third event of the season.
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Sitterly at speed out of Oswego’s fast turn four

Mike “Pinner” Johnson photo.  www.gosupers.com

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Otto Sitterly drove his Nicotra Racing No. 7 to a fourth-place finish in Saturday night’s first of two 45-lap features at Oswego Speedway.  The top-five finish did little to negate Sitterly’s commanding point lead over the Oswego supermodified field, but it did end an impressive four-race winning streak that Otto had laid down to open the 2010 season.

Sitterly finished a disappointing ninth in the second 45-lapper and admitted the night never developed into what he had hoped.  The Canajoharie, N.Y., shoe spoke of tire issues that he felt clearly hindered his chances at a fifth victory on the 2010 season.
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