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By Dave Sully
( Thorold , Ontario ) Chad Brachmann is a bridesmaid no more. After two nail-biting second place finishes in successive features, Brachmann, from Wheatfield , NY , won a bruising 56 lap modified feature at Merrittville on Saturday, July 28th. It was the Jerry Winger Memorial Lucas Oil Shootout, which had been postponed by rain two weeks before.
Brachmann took the lead from Scott Wood on lap thirty-nine, opened a big lead and then held off Larry Lampman Jr., when his motor started acting up in the final two laps. The win came after he finished runner-up to Pete Bicknell and Adam Ferri at Merrittville, and another second place to Justin Haers last Sunday at Rolling Wheels.
Scott Wood held sway for most of the race, after taking the lead from Lampman on lap five. As Wood motored away to a good lead, a furious battle for second developed between Lampman, Ferri, the polesitter and last week’s feature winner, and Pete Bicknell. The three swapped positions several times as the tacky track provided plenty of bite and allowed the drivers to fling their cars through the corners with almost reckless abandon.
While this was going on, Brachmann was patiently moving forward from his tenth place starting spot. He took over third on lap twenty-three, and then on lap twenty-nine moved into second when Lampman whacked the fourth turn wall and bounced to the outside.
Brachmann caught Wood in lapped traffic on lap thirty-six and hounded him for three circuits before steaming by on the outside on lap thirty-nine, immediately opening a substantial lead. A scary incident on lap forty-five saw Wood being hit by the lapped car of Boyd Mactavish as he tried to get by in turn one. Wood spun wildly, while the trailing cars, notably Pete Bicknell, tried frantically to avoid the melee. Bicknell actually got airborne in the middle of a large group of cars. The hit by Mactavish was deemed deliberate by track officials, and he was banned from the race. He was also scored last in the final result. Further action may be pending as Mactavish was already on probation for a previous incident.
Following this episode, Brachmann re-established a comfortable margin, while Lampman retook second from Ferri on lap forty-seven. As the laps wore down it appeared that Lampman, who was trying to run down the No. 3 of Brachmann, didn’t have a chance, but with two laps to go, the Brachmann car began to slow noticeably and Lampman closed the gap. Brachmann was able to hold on at the end, winning by about five car lengths. Lampman finished a well-earned second, followed by Ferri, Bicknell, and Ken Cosgrove.
Brachmann commented, “I just had to wait my turn and bide my time throughout the race. The track was super fast tonight. It was awesome. I’ve had a real good car the last couple weeks, so I knew I had a good piece under me. I just had to keep it clean.” Of the last two laps, when his car slowed noticeably, he added, “Something wasn’t running right with my motor, and it was popping and banging an backfiring a bit, so I was doing everything I could just to keep my momentum up and caught the cushion a couple of times because I had things I was thinking about with the motor. Luckily we made it to the end.”
Larry Lampman, who never stopped digging, noted, “The track was a bit tackier than we expected, and the car was tight. We were struggling the whole race. We dropped back and then with that scuffle there (on lap thirty-nine), we were back to third. We were catching Chad at the end. He was having a hard time in one and two. It was a wild race. There were five or six of us who were just battling it out.”
Adam Ferri, who notched his first ever modified victory the previous week, was satisfied with third, declaring, “Starting on the pole you’ve got nowhere to go but backwards. I’ll take a top three finish any day, especially in a Lucas race. I was happy with the car. The track was good, and there were good guys to race with.”
The top five finish is pending post-race technical inspection.
The twenty-five lap sportsman race featured a scintillating dual between two young drivers, Nick Cupolo and Mat Williamson. Starting ninth and tenth respectively Cupolo and Williamson worked their way to the front, with Cupolo taking the lead from Travis Braun on a lap four restart. He was joined by Williamson by the time the yellow flew on lap eleven with Williamson taking the lead on the restart. The two then battled for the lead the rest of the way, running side by side and swapping the lead several times before Cupolo took the lead for good with two laps to go.
At the line it was Cupolo barely ahead of Williamson. They were followed by another young driver, Tyler McPherson, who made a gallant run from twenty-first, Mike Bowman, who went off nineteenth, and Chad Chevalier, who started twelfth. Unfortunately for Cupolo, he failed tech and lost his points and money, though he retains the win.
The Hoosier stocks produced a first time winner as veteran Mike Dooley from St. Catharines won his first feature in a year and a half. Dooley took the lead from rookie Brent Begolo on lap five and proceeded to open a huge lead, only to see it evaporate on lap eighteen when the caution flew for a spin in turn four. On the restart he was badgered unmercifully by Peter Reid and Jeff Dayman, but managed to hold them off to claim the victory. Reid came home second, with Dayman, Begolo, and Paul Wichert rounding out the top five.
The open wheel lites also saw a first time winner as Shawn Sliter from Pt. Colborne crossed the line first after taking the lead from Dave Russell on lap twelve of the twenty lap event. He won by a good margin over Russell. Nine time winner Paul Klager was involved in an early race scrum, but came back from the rear to finish forth, ahead of Andy Tallman.
The mini stocks saw a driver score his first ever win, as Rob Overholt from Ft. Erie took the top spot on lap two and led the rest of the way in the fifteen lap race. He beat last week’s winner Trevor Goulding.
Finally, Ryan Huntsinger won the Midstate Vintage car feature over Doug Fralick.
NOTES: Three new members of the L. St. Amand Enterprises Wall of Fame were inducted this night, the Nostalgia and Reunion re-scheduled from a rainout two weeks before. The first was former jalopy and later limited sportsman and modified driver, Hughie Tripp, who won the modified title at Ransomville in 1965, and later was a regular at Merrittivlle, Ransomville and Humberstone driving for veteran car owner Ray Stevens. The second was former modified star Harvey Hainer Jr., who won the Merrittville title in 1981, and was a regular at Merrittville for a number of years. He also competed on the DIRT circuit at tracks like Fonda, Rolling Wheels, Five Mile Point and Syracuse , as well as running regularly at Ransomville for several seasons. The third was Tammy Willard, a member of the famous Willard racing family that is till in evidence today. Tammy’s high water mark was 1998 when she won sportsman championships at Merrittville and Oshweken Speedways……….Following several draws, the Petris family has been selected as the Grand Marshal for the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series Big Block, Trevor Wilkins Memorial event to be held on Monday, August 6th.
RESULTS:
L. St. Amand Lucas Oil Modified Shootout Jerry Winger Memorial: (56 laps) Chad Brachmann, Larry Lampman Jr., Adam Ferri, Pete Bicknell, Ken Cosgrove, Rick Richner, Chris Steele, Dereck Lemyre, Dan Miller, Scott Wood, Tim Jones, Fred Carleton, Rich Vinson, Jeff McGinnis, George Bosse, Todd Gordon, Jon Miller, James Friesen, Brian Stevens, Rick Hoctor, Scott George, Scott Kerwin, Robbie Krull, and Boyd Mactavish. Heat winners were Brachmann, Ferri, and Bicknell. Consi winner was Steele. Dash winner was Brachmann. DNQ: Pete Cosco and Randy Chrysler.
Original Pizza Logs Sportsman: (25 laps) Nick Cupolo, Mat Williamson, Tyler McPherson, Mike Bowman, Chad Chevalier, Ken Winfield, Bill Bleich, Wayne Conn, Justin Sharp, Brandon Easey, Jim Johnstone, Alan Sleight, Mark D’Ilario, Darren Zumpe, Robbie Knapp, Joe Middlemiss, Robbie Rounce, Dave Flannigan, Norm Mark, BJ Willard, Travis Braun, Jordan Leach, Luke Carleton, Tom Flannigan, and Brad Rouse. Heat winners were Willard, Braun, and Zumpe.
Hoosier Stocks: (20 laps) Mike Dooley, Peter Reid, Jeff Dayman, Brent Begolo, Paul Wichert, Jason Fontaine, Kevin Knapp, Cody McPherson, Brad Herron, Bill Bleich Jr., Dave Small, Dolf McCready, Vince Fargnoli, Rick Champigny, Rob Murray, Rob Disher, Kirk Wilson, Adam Gracey, and Ron Kingsbury. Heat winners were Reid, McPherson, and Wilson.
Lucas Oil Open Wheel Lites: (20 laps) Shawn Sliter, Dave Russell, Adam Murphy, Paul Klager, Andy Tallman, Kevin Aube, Wayne Robins, Jamie Gilbert, Todd Kendrick, James Curran, Kory Howe, Lorne Collings, Wally Billing, Bob Bredin, Derek Bredin, Josh Sliter, Ray Sliter Jr., Adam Leslie, Malvin Jeffrey, Joel Szigatti, Jordan Curran, Dan Russell, Mark Brighton, and Andrew Sittler. Heat winners were Bob Bredin, Tallman, and Murphy. DNS: Kellie Mason.
Turn 4 Collision Minis: (15 laps) Rob Overholt, Trevor Goulding, Carey Gore, Aaron Wiley, Garnet Wilson, Matt Castelein, Abel Castelein, Ken Kadwell, Mike Giberson, Brandon Iuduciani, Mark Saul, Ed McLean, Greg Wilson, David Lopes, Jocelyn Wiley, Terry Larmet, Mark Swayze, James Small, and Tony Kelly. Heat winners were Aaron Wiley and Overholt.
Midstate Vintage Cars: (12 laps) Ryan Huntsinger, Doug Fralick, Jim Ruston, Kevin sharp, Jim Atkinson, Bob Legue, Mike Legue, and Al Wagner.
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