The track opened the season last night with warm weather and hot racing as 6 divisions began their season long point chases, with the Blunderbusts competing in a double-point 30 lapper, while the Modifieds, Late Models, Chargers, Super Pro Trucks, and Legends competed in single point events. There was also a “Legends Freshman” race for the new racers in the class, with the winner advancing to the regular Legends feature. Due to continuing water issues in the infield area, Figure 8 competitors were invited to run in the Charger feature until further notice.

    The first race event of the night was the Freshman Legends, which was won by John Marchica, gaining him a transfer spot to the Legends feature later on in the evening. However, after he declined to run the event, 2nd place finisher Justin Strumpf took the opportunity to enter that race.

     The next event on the schedule were the Super Pro Trucks, with Frank Dumicich, Jr. on the pole, and Lou Maestri on the outside. Dumicich, Jr. took the lead at the drop of the green, with Maestri tucking in behind him, as the field quickly ran in single file formation through lap 10 of the race. Things got interesting then as Dumicich, Jr. encountered lapped traffic. Roger Turbush made a move at this point to pass Mike Albasini for 4th, while Dumicich, Jr. had to figure out how to get by the two lapped trucks running side by side in front of him. Taking the only option he had, Dumicich, Jr. bumped one of them and shot between to get by as the rest of the field followed, but Albasini got clipped by one of them, resulting in him crashing in turn 4 on lap 12, bringing out the caution. With the green out once more, Dumicich, Jr. took off with Maestri still on his tailgate, as Koenig, R. Turbush, and C. Turbush followed. They continued to run that way right until the end, with Dumicich, Jr. notching the win, as Lou Maestri, Dave Koenig, Roger Turbush and Chris Turbush rounded out the top 5.

     The next race was the Legends feature, with James Pape, Jr. on the pole and John Brand to his outside leading the 25 car field to the green flag. Pape, Jr. and Brand ran side by side until a caution on lap 2 for a wreck involving Tom Rogers, Jr. and Jason Sendlewski in turn 2. Green was back out quickly, with Pape, Jr. in the lead, but he was quickly challenged for the lead by Jim Sylvester, as John Gloor IV also ducked under to take the top spot, but a multi-car collision quickly brought out the caution as 4 cars went spinning in turn 4. Yellow flew once more on the restart attempt as track officials felt Gloor IV jumped the start, resulting in Gloor IV being put to the rear. On the next restart, Bill Hiscock jumped out front, with Kevin Nowak chasing him in 2nd, while J.D. Abrahams followed in 3rd, with Chris Young and Tom Sherman rounding out the top 5 at that point. Nowak quickly mounted a challenge for the lead, taking it from Hiscock 2 laps later, as just as Young spun, colliding with Silas Hiscock, Sr., tearing a fender from Hiscock, Sr’s. car, bringing out a caution for debris, and allowing Young to keep his 4th running position, and negating Nowak’s previous pass for the lead. On the restart, Hiscock was in the lead once more, as Nowak and Abrahams battled for 2nd, with Abrahams taking the spot, but only briefly, as Nowak battled back and retook 2nd a lap later. Sendlewski spun in turn 4 on lap 9, bringing out the caution once more.

   With a single file restart mandated by the officials, the race restarted on lap 9 with Hiscock still in the lead, and the field stretched out quickly as Hiscock continued to hold the lead, but caution came out on lap 10 as Abrahams got tagged and spun into the back stretch wall. Hiscock still led on the restart, as Nowak rode his bumper through the turns, but Nowak got caught in lapped traffic a few laps later, allowing Sherman to take 2nd spot away, with Timmy Solomito coming to 3rd spot as Nowak dropped to 4th. Sherman rode Hiscock’s bumper as the laps dwindled, getting under him in turn 2 with 2 laps left, and finally making the pass in turns 3 & 4, with Solomito taking a stab at getting by Hiscock as they came to the line, but Hiscock held on for 2nd, as Timmy Solomito, Kevin Nowak, and Tony Naglieri rounded out the top 5. 

    The evening had started off with time trials for the Blunderbusts, and Tommy Walkowiak set fast time with a lap of 15.01, but a redraw saw Tommy’s ‘luck’ continue as he drew 6th spot for the start. At the start of the race, Paul Parisi and Rob Bader, Jr. made up the front row , and at the drop of the green, they ran side by side, with Tom Pickerell, Tom Sullivan and Scott Maleszewski making up the top 5 starters. Parisi jumped out front, as Bader and Pickerell battled for 2nd, with Bader holding the spot by a nose on the outside. Pickerell made contact with Parisi, getting him loose, but Parisi recovered nicely as Pickerell backed off, holding the lead. But this allowed Bader to get right along side of Parisi, setting up what would become a long battle for the lead running right through the first 15 laps of the race, as battles for position behind them continued amongst Pickerell, Walkowiak, Sullivan and Kevin Rommeney. Walkowiak eventually worked his way up to 3rd, with Pickerell hanging on in 4th, when on lap 15, Pickerell and Parisi both spun, with Parisi suffering the worst of it as he his the wall, and caution came out for the first time in the event. 

    On the restart, Bader had the lead, but Walkowiak and Pickerell were side by side behind him, battling for 2nd. Walkowiak got ahead of Pickerell a lap later, and Walkowiak started looking on the high side, but couldn’t get by Bader. One lap later, Bader came out of turn 2 a little high, and Walkowiak ducked under him going down into turn 3, taking the lead as they came off turn 4 on lap 18. Bader fell in behind Walkowiak, as Pickerell, Bill Wegmann and Scoot Maleszewski rounded out the top 5. After that, Walkowiak stretched his lead over Bader to about 5 car lengths by lap 25, as Bader led Pickerell by the same amount, as Pickerell, Wegmann, and Maleszewski ran bumper to bumper. Behind that, a battle for 6th was heating up as Chris LaSpisa and Bryan Sescila ran side by side for the position, with Sescila taking the spot a lap later. On lap 28, Maleszewski suddenly lost power, dropping to the apron on the track and losing his spot, as Pickerell and Wegmann battled to the line for 3rd, with Pickerell holding onto 3rd by inches as the passed under the checkered flag in what was a truly action packed race. Walkowiak took his first victory of the season, as Rob Bader, Tom Pickerell, Bill Wegmann and Bryan Sescila, in his return to Blunderbusts, rounded out the top 5. 

     Next out were the Chargers to run their feature event, 14 cars strong with 2 Figure-8 competitors, Roger Maynor and Arne Pedersen added to the field. Alan Reeves and Erin Dumicich made up the front row, with Reeves grabbing the lead at the drop of the green, as Erin D followed, with Chris McGuire in 3rd, Frank Dumicich, Jr. 4th, and Tom Anderson 5th. Reeves and Erin D. ran side by side at the beginning, but Reeves spun going into turn 3, collecting Frank D. Jr., Dan Turbush, and Daryn Miller, who hit the turn 3 wall hard , and bringing out the caution on lap 2. On the restart, Erin D. and McGuire battled for the lead but debris on the front stretch brought out another caution. On the next attempt at a restart, Erin d. overdrove going into turn 2, spinning into the infield as McGuire took the lead with Dan Turbush moving into 2nd, but the caution flew as Erin. D. was unable to restart. 

    On the next restart, McGuire immediately took the point, with D. Turbush and Anderson battling for 2nd, while Kevin Orlando watched from 4th spot. D. Turbush won the battle for 2nd, as Orlando moved up to 3rd, while Anderson dropped back to battle for 4th with Chris Turbush, who moved by Anderson to take that spot, as Jay Henschel ran a close 6th.  The leaders were now running single file, as McGuire had a comfortable lead over D. Turbush. C. Turbush and Orlando had a spirited battle for 3rd, as C. Turbush took the spot and set off to take 2nd from his father, Dan. C. Turbush took 2nd from D. Turbush as Orlando tried to also get past, but D. Turbush held him off as a lapped car came into play. Orlando was finally able to use the lapped car to get by D.Turbush. D. Turbush got the spot back a few laps later after getting Orlando loose by tapping him on the rear bumper, while up front C. Turbush was closing in on McGuire for the lead. On lap 19, Orlando got into the rear of D. Turbush, resulting  in D. Turbush spinning and blowing a left rear tire, and the caution flag flew once more. On the restart, C. Turbush put pressure on McGuire for the lead, but Orlando made a move to the outside, getting by C. Turbush for 2nd  as they came to the checkered flag, with Orlando taking 2nd as they crossed the line. Chris McGuire held on to take the win, as Kevin Orlando, Chris Turbush, Jay Henschel and Frank Dumicich, Jr. rounded out the top 5. 

    11 Late Models then took to the track for their feature race, with Shawn Patrick and Chris LaSpisa leading the field to the green, followed by Doug Renalds, Peter ‘Buzzy’ Eriksen, and Artie Pedersen, Jr. to round out the top 5. Patrick and LaSpisa took off side by side, with Patrick eventually gaining the advantage, as Eriksen took 3rd from Renalds, and Pedersen, Jr. got loose momentarily, dropping out of the top 5 before recovering nicely. Renalds seemed to have a bit of a handling problem as his car fishtailed in the straightaway,  but RJ Oxee and Mike Bologna eventually got by Renalds, dropping him to 6th. But up front, Patrick, LaSpisa and Eriksen ran nose to tail as they pulled about 6 car lengths away from the rest of the field by lap 5. LaSpisa was looking under Patrick for a chance to get by, but couldn’t seem to get the grip off the corner to complete the pass. LaSpisa kept up the pressure on Patrick, bumping him to get him loose, but Patrick continued to hold him off as Eriksen watched about a ½ car length back. Suddenly, LaSpisa got loose, causing Eriksen high, where he brushed the wall as LaSpisa recovered, while Patrick pulled away from both of them, and Oxee, Bologna, and Renalds caught up to make it a 6 car race. LaSpisa caught Patrick again on lap 15, and LaSpisa continued to ride Patrick’s bumper. On lap 20, coming off turn 4, Renalds car erupted in steam, spilling water on the track as the yellow flew. After a brief cleanup, the race restarted, with LaSpisa all over Patrick’s bumper, and Patrick spun going into turn 2, causing LaSpisa to take evasive action, and Eriksen took advantage to go under them both and take over the lead as the caution flew and Patrick limped his car to the pits. On the restart, Eriksen took off with Oxee, now 2nd, in pursuit as Mike Bologna, Kevin Metzger and Artie Pedersen Jr. followed. On the last lap, Mike Mortimer mounted a challenge for 5th, wresting it away from Pedersen as they went down the back stretch. The victory belonged to Buzzy Eriksen, as RJ Oxee, Mike Bologna, Kevin Metzger, and Mike Mortimer rounded out the top 5. 

    The last race of the evening, the Modifieds, 20 cars strong, took to the track a little before 8 PM, with Eddie Brunnhoelzl III on the pole, and Chris Young to his outside. Brunnhoelzl took the early lead, as Young tucked in behind, with Dave Brigati and Wayne Anderson following closely behind. Suddenly, Brunnhoelzl spun after apparent contact with Young, bringing out the first caution of the race after only 1 lap was completed. Brigati and Chuck Steuer led the field to the green, with Brigati taking the point as Steuer battled with John Fortin for 2nd, and on the next lap, Brigati got loose after a tap, and while he recovered to continue in 8th, Steuer took over the lead, with Fortin now solidly in 2nd, and Wayne Anderson in 3rd, while Bill Park and Mike Andrews, Jr. rounded out the top 5. On lap 5, caution flew once more for a spin in the back of the field, involving Tom Rogers, Jr. and Timmy Solomito. Solomito suffered left front suspension damage and was done for the night, while Rogers pitted briefly but rejoined the race. On the restart, Steuer maintained his lead while Fortin stayed right with him, and the rest of the field quickly lined up behind them in single file. Brigati worked his way up to 6th by this point, staying right with the leaders as the continued to circle the track single file. 

    As the race continued, Steuer stretched his lead to about 4 cars lengths, but a spin by Tom Sekulski on lap 15 brought out yet another yellow, bunching up the field again. With the green back out, Steuer and Fortin ran side by side, but the bottom groove seemed the better place to run, and Steuer pulled into the lead once more,  but a 4 car spin in turn 4 brought out the yellow once more. 

     Though there were a few more minor incidents that brought out the yellow through the rest of the race, the front five of Chuck Steuer, John Fortin, Bill Park, Mike Andrews, Jr, and Wayne Anderson never changed. as Steuer took his first ever opening night victory.

News and Notes: Artie Pedersen, III, son of Artie Pedersen, Jr. (#1 LM) is now the youngest crew chief (at 14 years of age) to ever serve in that position at the track….  Bob Park, up for a visit from his home in North Carolina, was seen chatting with many old friends in the pits, and got to enjoy watching his brother Bill take a fine 3rd place finish…  The problem with the infield is not so much the water as the effect it has had on the ground under the pavement. Track officials blocked the area off with old tires to prevent anyone from driving through the spongy area. Track personnel expressed the hope the issue will be cleared up in about the next 2 weeks so that Figure-8 racing can resume. Until then, all Figure-8 competitors are invited to join the Charger division to get their racing fix… Noticeably missing from the double point Blunderbust race was Terry Stiles #41, who took a spectacular win in a similar race last season. No word on why he didn’t attend last night…  Brian Doyle dropped out of the Charger feature after running hotlaps due to a mechanical issue with his car....  Justin Bonsignore, running for rookie of the year honors on the Nascar WMT, couldn’t make it back in time from the rescheduled Spring Sizzler as he’d planned to do, mostly because the program moved along so nicely, with the Modified feature taking the green around 7:45, and being completed about 8:20PM….  Good field of Legends cars on hand, with 11 of them running the Freshman Legends feature to begin the program....  In the middle of this week, the Texas Worm crawled out of it's hole and reared it's stupid face, but it was quickly pushed back in where it belongs. Some of you know who I mean, lol....

That’s all for this week. Unable to make the Enduro program for Sunday, so you’ll have to look elsewhere for those results. Hope all those competitors have a good, safe day. Until next week, live well and stay safe. WJ

(Comments are welcome at wizgrand@gmail.com)