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By Dave Sully
( Thorold , Ontario ) Adam Ferri made personal history, scoring his first modified victory after three years of trying, while Don Spatorico rode to an impressive win in the fifty-six lap Lucas Oil sportsman Shootout at Merrittville on Saturday, July 21st. Both drivers had to turn back strong challenges at the end of their events, with Ferri prevailing over a fast closing Chad Brachamnn, while Spatorico, from Ransomville , NY , held off Jim Johnstone, who had to qualify through the consi, and then made a dramatic march through the field from twenty-second to mount his late assault.
For Ferri it meant getting the proverbial monkey off his back, which by this time had grown to a gorilla, as the gritty driver from Pt. Colborne finally dispensed with the demons which have plagued him as he sought that elusive first win. Numerous times before he has been in a position to win, but has been denied by mechanical woes or track incidents that have kept him out of the winner’s circle, but not so this night. Armed with a strong running car and some timely advice from car builder Billy Colton, Ferri was not to be denied, but in the end he had to fend off a serious bid by Brachmann from Sanborn , NY , to spoil the party. Brachmann, who chased Pete Bicknell to the line two weeks before, made a similar effort against Ferri, but once again had to settle for the runner-up spot.
The thirty-five lap feature had a rough start as two early cautions bruised cars and egos. On the first lap, leader Paul Ashton looped his car in turn two, collecting Rick Richner, who had nowhere to, forcing both cars to the sidelines. On lap four, Ken Cosgrove slowed on the front chute and, as Larry Lampman tried to avoid him, Lampman made contact with Scott George , who subsequently made hard contact with the wall causing terminal damage to his No. 9G. George expressed his displeasure with Lampman, but it was clear from the replays that Lampman was merely trying to avoid hitting Cosgrove and the contact with George was unintentional.
When they got to racing, George Bosse set the early pace opening a good lead, but all eyes soon turned to Ferri, who was flying around the outside. After starting ninth, Ferri was lying fourth after a lap five caution and he was clearly the fastest car at that point. He dispatched Boyd Mactavish and Fred Carleton to claim second on lap ten. While this was going on, Bosse, who was having his best run of the year, drove out to a commanding lead, but he lost it when Chris Steele spun on lap eighteen, putting Ferri on his bumper for the re-start. Ferri hounded him for two laps before edging in front at the line.
Once in front, Ferri began to draw away and attention shifted to Brachmann, who had started fourteenth, but patiently worked his way forward, taking fourth on lap twenty-six, third on lap twenty-eight and then slipped past Bosse for second on lap thirty. He caught Ferri on lap thirty-two, and the two dueled the final two laps, with Ferri hanging it out on top while Brachmann bore in low. At the line it was Ferri, with Brachmann a close second, followed by Bosse, Scott Wood, who made a great run from eighteenth, and Dan Miller, who started thirteenth.
Ferri gave considerable credit to a phone call to Colton before the feature, noting, “We didn’t run that well in the heat, and I wanted to make some changes. I picked up the phone and called Billy Colton. He told me to make changes with the trailing arm, the rollers, and a couple of shocks, and the thing was a rocket. I didn’t change shocks, but I did the rest of the stuff. The last three weeks we’ve been turning it around, and the car has been coming to us.”
As for winning his first feature at Merrittville, he added, “It took three years, not for lack of effort, because we’re one of the hardest working teams out here. I can quit tomorrow. At least I won a race before I packed it in, and I’m happy.”
For Brachmann, it was déjà vu, with his second straight runner-up finish. He commented, “We had a good car. I think I fell just one lap short. It took me a little longer than I needed to get through traffic. I moved around all through the race, and I found the bottom to be the best place for my car to work and the outside was the best for his (Ferri’s). I think it was a good race, all in all. We’ll keep plugging away and hopefully we’ll grace victory lane pretty soon.”
The Lucas Oil Shootout drew thirty-seven cars, which took four heats and two consis to set the starting grid. Brad Rouse led early, courtesy of the re-draw and was cruising as the rest of the field battled for position. It became apparent that Spatorico, who won the sportsman feature the previous night at Ransomville, was hooked, as he picked his way to third on lap eleven after starting seventh. He got past Brandon Easey for second one lap later and then caught a break when cautions on laps fourteen and fifteen erased Rouse’s lead and put him right behind him on the restarts.
He hounded Rouse when the race resumed, taking the lead at the line. Following a lap twenty caution when Travis Braun went hard into the turn one wall, Spatorico was able to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field. A lap twenty-three caution erased that lead, but when the race restarted another car appeared on the radar screen, that of Johnstone, who had doggedly moved from twenty-second to lie fourth by lap twenty-six.
As Spatorico moved out to a comfortable advantage, Johnstone kept working, taking over third on lap twenty-nine. He then engaged Chad Chevalier, who had moved up from eleventh, in a spirited fight for second, finally claiming the spot on lap thirty-nine. A caution on the same lap put him on Spatorico’s bumper for the final laps and the two
put on a high low dual, with Spatorico running outside, while Johnstone hugged the bottom.
With Johnstone applying serious pressure in turns one and two, Spatorico moved low to thwart him, while staying high in turns three and four. The strategy worked, with Spatorico weathering a final caution two laps from the end to take the win. Johnstone was followed to the line by Chevalier, Mike Bowman, and Wayne Conn to round out the top five.
Spatorico commented, “As well as I was running on the top, I didn’t think anybody could catch me on the bottom, but when the No. 21 (Johnstone) started showing his nose, I kind of went to the bottom to hold him off as much as I could.”
On his effort coming from twenty-second, Johnstone noted, “The car was good in the heat. It was just bad luck that took us out, so I was just patient. I just kept picking a car off at a time. Everybody was running the top, so I went to the bottom, and that’s how I got up to second.” As for the final laps, he added, “If he (Spatorico) had stayed on the top and that caution hadn’t come out, it might have been different.”
There was other action on this busy night. In the twenty lap Hoosier stock feature, Jeff Dayman from St. Catharines made it two in a row, as he motored up from sixteenth to take the lead on a lap sixteen restart, passing Kirk Wilson and Shayne Pierce on the same lap to do it. The twenty lap open wheel lite feature had a familiar ring to it as Paul Klager from Beamsville racked up his ninth win of the season, coming from twelfth place to turn the trick. Klager took the lead on lap ten and then withstood a withering attack by Shawn Sliter before claiming the win. Finally, Trevor Goulding from Welland prevailed over Aaron Wiley to win the fifteen lap mini stock feature.
Notes: The second draw in the Grand Marshal competition was held, with Bonney Davies, Jason Blais, Ashley Perrotti, and Keith Porter the latest additions…… There were a season high 128 cars in the pits on this night, bolstered by the sportsman shootout.
………… There was some heavy bumping going on during the evening, both on the track and off. Travis Braun and Darren Zumpe were sent off for some on-track extra curricular activity, and Zack Zumpe faces heavy sanctions for a bumping another car on pit road, a particularly serious offense in the eyes of the officials and everyone else………..Hoosier stock point leader Rob Murray had a rough night as he was t-boned early in the feature. He was able to return, but something was obviously amiss after the contact. He soldiered to a nineteenth place finish.
Results:
L. St. Amand Modifieds: (35 laps) Adam Ferri, Chad Brachmann, George Bosse, Scott Wood, Dan Miller, Larry Lampman Jr., Pete Bicknell, Boyd Mactavish, Ken Cosgrove, Dereck Lemyre, Robbie Krull, Fred Carleton, Tim Jones, Roger Chrysler, Brian Stevens, Todd Gordon, Rich Vinson, Chris Steele, Scott George, Paul Ashton, and Rick Richner. Heat winners were Ashton, Brachmann, and Bosse.
Lucas Oil Sportsman Shootout: (56 laps) Don Spatorico, Jim Johnstone, Chad Chevlaier, Mike Bowman, Wayne Conn, Luke Carleton, Greg Panunte, Alan Sleight, Mark Dixon, Nick Cupolo, Dave Dykstra, Mat Williamson, Steve Schumacher, Brandon Easey, Steve Miller, Dennis Giancola, Robbie Rounce, Rick Bellante, Brad Rouse, Tyler McPherson, Don Spiece, Bill Bleich, Travis Braun, and Darren Zumpe. Heat winners were Braun, Spiece, and Spatorico. Consi winners were Williamson and Rounce. DNQ: Tom Flannigan, John Baker, Justin Sharp, Mark Potter, Mark D’Ilario, Rob Knapp, Zack Zumpe, Tony Cowell, Tim Lipsitt, Rob Pratt, and BJ Willard.
Hoosier Stocks: (20 laps) Jeff Dayman, Kirk Wilson, Jason Fontaine, Shayne Pierce, Cody McPherson, Paul Wichert, Rick Beales, Kevin Knapp, Mike Dooley, Peter Reid, Kevin Kocarik, Russ Davidson, Vince Fargnoli, Brad Herron, Dave Small, Rick Champigny, Bill Bleich Jr., Rob Murray, Bill Hogue, Ron Loggie, Rob Disher, and Ron Kingsbury. Heat winners were Fargnoli, Pierce, and Fontaine.
Lucas Oil Open Wheel Lites: (20 laps) Paul Klager, Shawn Sliter, Dave Russell, Andy Tallman, Wayne Robins, Wally Billing, Kory Howe, James Curran, Jordan Curran, Jamie Gilbert, Derek Bredin, Dan Russell, Todd Kendrick, Mark Brighton, Andrew Sittler, Joel Szigatti, Bob Bredin, Malvin Jeffrey, Adam Leslie, Ray Sliter Jr., Lorne Collings, Josh Sliter, and Kevin Aube. DNS: Kellie Mason. Heat winners were Tallman, Klager, and Howe.
Turn 4 Collision Minis: (15 laps) Trevor Goulding, Aaron Wiley, Tony Kelly, James Small, Brandon Iuduciani, Garnet Wilson, Abel Castelein, Ken Kadwell, Ed McLean, Charlie Lynch, Mike Giberson, Jocelyn Wiley, David Lopes, Greg Wilson, Terry Larmet, Baden Curtis, Carey Gore, Rob Overholt, Matt Castelein, and Mark Swayze. Heat winners were Gore and Goulding.
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