Unity, Me Kenny Wright of
Woolwich scored one of his biggest Pro Stock victories by taking the checkers in the
D.N.K. 150 at Unity Raceway. The race was a makeup from two weeks ago when the Pro All
Stars Series (PASS) event was rained out. With the two-week delay, PASS officials were
able to secure sponsorship from D.N.K. Select Used Cars of Farmingdale and 38 cars were on
hand to attempt to qualify. After a 30 minute rain delay on the evening and several
cautions, Wrights Newmarket
Sand & Gravel Monte Carlo was a car length in front at the checkers to claim the
$4,000 first prize.
The Sunoco Time Trials saw 36 cars take two laps on the clock. It was no surprise that Ben
Rowe of Turner set the fast time with a lap of 14.703 seconds. It was Rowes second
straight Sunoco Pole Award as he edged out Sammy Sessions and Wright, who actually ran
identical times! Sessions would get the nod due to his lead in the season point
championship. The re-draw for
starting position in the Dash for the Pole saw first year driver Cassius Clark pull the
top spot with Louie Mechalides to his outside. The story of the race, however, was that
Sessions, Rowe, Doug Averill, and other top ten qualifiers found themselves in pretty
serious accidents that would put their pit crews to the test. Scott Chubbuck made the move
past Clark on lap 9 to take the win and earn the pole for the D.N.K. 150.
True Value Hardware heat races were next and Randy Turner, Patrick Thibodeau, and Chuck
LaChance won $50 for their victories. Wayne Helliwell won the consolation race. Russ
Hersey, Chip Keene, Gary Bellefleur, and Henry Hudson all received provisional starts to
bring the final starting grid to 30 cars.
The D.N.K 150 got underway with Chubbuck pulling away early on. The first of 13 cautions
flew on lap 22 which brought Mechalides alongside Chubbuck for a restart. The Cushman
Competition Ford Taurus proved to be up to the task and powered around Chubbuck for the
lead on lap 24. Mechalides maintained the lead for 5 laps until Kenny Wright made a move
down low and took the lead on lap 29. Wright withstood many restarts and fended off the
challenges of Chubbuck early on until the new threat of Rowe moved into second place on
lap 45. Wright was unaware of all the activity behind him, however, as his
rearview mirror fell off on lap 4.
I had no idea what those guys were doing back there, laughed Wright. My
mirror fell off early on so I couldnt see anything. I think I may have the guys take
it off for good if it means more wins.
The victory certainly was not in the bag as Rowe finally started hitting his stride on a
long green flag run starting at lap 99. The driver of the Mechanical Services Monte Carlo
is no stranger to leading, and winning, PASS races so it was no surprise to see him
knocking on Wrights back bumper with 50 laps remaining. Rowe checked up several
times for Wright out of turn two as the drivers had an outstanding duel for 30 laps.
I wasnt going to spin him, said Rowe after the race. This is a
tough place to pass and I just couldnt get the run off the corner. The wreck in the
Dash (for the Pole) messed up the toe and the guys in the crew did a great job to get us
out here for the feature.
The final caution flew on lap 139, setting the stage for a three-car battle to the finish.
Chuck LaChance had raced his Rockland Ford entry into contention on lap 45 and had been
able to keep the leaders in sight without mounting a challenge. However, with 11 laps to
go, LaChance was on Rowes bumper as Rowe tried to find a way around the stubborn
Wright. The final laps clicked away with Wright and Rowe inching away from third place.
Wright took the white flag with Rowe on his tail and held on to the victory by one car
length.
That was a lot of fun, said an elated Wright in victory lane. Ive
learned a lot over the years from following Ralph Nason about how to keep out front at
this race track. Ben ran me real clean and could have spun me a couple of times when I
made mistakes. Ive always like racing Ben and Im happy that I could hold him
off tonight.
Race Notes:
Point leader Sessions suffered multiple flat tires and finished 15th.
Johnny Clark, driver of the D.N.K. Monte Carlo finished 6th.
Chubbuck and Scott Mulkern rounded out the top five.
Cautions: 13
Lead Changes: 2 Leaders: (Chubbuck grid-23, Mechalides 24-28, Wright
29-150)
Sunoco Fast Time: Ben Rowe - 14.703 seconds
True Value heat races:- Heat #1 - #1 - Randy Turner
Heat #2 - #51- Patrick Thibideau
Heat #3 - #38 - Chuck LaChance
Pole Dash Wiiner- #15 Scott Chubbuck |