Well gang, this is the last report from me for 2006. If the stars line up properly, I may get out for tomorrow's Enduro, but it doesn't look work will allow me to make it out.
Just wanted to say its been a slice doing these reports. Its fun, and It was cool to meet a few of you as a result of it. I hope you've enjoyed as well.
Trev AKA Shadowracer
See you on the boards!------------------------------------------------------
Last Call for 2006 - Shadow's Report - Supermodified NightRiddle me this, Batman: Can you put on a race on the same night as the Knights are playing, in 5 degree weather, charge 39 bucks per head, and expect to draw a crowd?
The answer is "Hell yeah" They were parked all the way down to the road, and the coffee line, at one point, went almost to the souvenir window!
Delaware Mod Time TrialsThe night starts off with Powerade Modified time trials. 19 cars take the green with a couple hotshoes from Varney to round out the field. Your fast qualifier is Jamie Cox with a 19.327, followed by 7-Starr, 20-Watson, 88-Shipway and 1-Newman. Going by the scores the announcers were giving, only 8 guys out of 20 were faster than 20 seconds. No records were set. (I'd imagine a cold track probably trimmed the speeds a little)
Supermodified HeatsTher first one gets off to a rough start, as 02-Brendan Bellinger and 44-Haynes get together on the fronstretch and pile into turn 1. They manage to keep it off the wall, but Haynes car is done for the night. 05-Fisher is caught up in it too. After the restart its 9-Hessard (?) and 11-Perley battling for the lead with 75-Cicconi coming on fast. After Ryan Litt's 98 goes south with mechanical problems, it becomes a furious three car battle. Hessard goes wide in turn 1 allowing Cicconi to scoot underneath to take first. Then on the last lap, Perley makes an outside pass for the win. (I guess someone forgot to tell him its a one-groove track.) In the end its Perley, Hessard, and Cicconi.
Heat 2 sees 35-Holbrook jump out front followed by 32-Fornoro. Fornoro gets by him on lap 2 and proceeds to leave the field in his dust..
Heat 3 sees 33-Petro take the win, followed by Sammut in 2nd and 40-Magner in 3rd.
Supermodified Feature23 cars start the feature. It gets off to a rough start, as a number of cars seem to have stalling issues. They wave the green then the yellow because someone is stalled out, then they have to bring out the push truck etc. This happens a couple of times. When the green finally flies for real, its 40-Magner in the lead, followed by USAC ace (but first time in a Super) Micheal Lewis. Lewis is wicked fast, and it doesn't take long for him to get the front spot. Magner begins to drop off here, and Fornoro, Perley and Cicconi get around him. Lewis begins to run away with the race, and by the time the first caution flies at lap 32, Lewis has a huge lead.
On the restart, Perley shoots into second spot, and then takes first as Lewis ends up damaged and stopped in turn 2 after contact with someone.
At the next restart, now the order is Perley, Fornoro, Cicconi, Magner and 61-Ordway, but caution flies as 90-Graham takes a hard ride down the frontstretch wall. At this point, the red flag comes out for a fuel stop. Its lap 39.
In the end, no one can touch Perley. Perley said that he couldn't have caught Lewis if Lewis hadn't broken. 2nd spot went to Fornoro and 3rd went to Cicconi.
What a thrill show these Supermodifieds put on! It was maybe the only race I saw this year where it was pointless to try and hear the announcer...it was just that loud. And fast. Its amazing to watch when the leaders begin to overtake the pack, zigging and zagging thru the field - even in the corners. I don't know how else to describe it.
I can see why Supermodified fans are so rabid...nothing else really compares. It IS a shame these cars died out around here. I noticed a lot of older folks in the crowd tonight, and not as many kids as we're used to seeing. (Also a lot of out-of-town fans.) I heard a lot of comments like "sounds just like the old days" and such. Unfortunately, the nostalgia aspect is lost on me. The Supers were gone as a weekly show by the time I was 5 or so...despite what the ISMA guy said tonight. (We were on to full bodied cars at Delaware by 73 or 74 - after that the Supers were only a once in a while event.) So while it wasn't a blast-from-the past for me, it was for a lot of folks tonight. Great show...and worth the 39 bucks.
Modified Feature 1 Final 1st to Starr, 2nd to Newman, 3rd to Shipway, 4th to Cox, 5th to Watson
Modified Feature 2 Final 1st to Cox, 2nd to Starr, 3rd to Shipway, 4th to Morris, 5th to 8-Gary McLean (Varney driver)
Both Newman and Watson were contenders but got together in the opening laps. Watson spun, and both of them went to the back. At the end they were (I think) 7th and 8th,
As of the time I left, they hadn't announce the 2006 Mod Champion yet...but I'm pretty sure its Newman. Pretty cool to be the guy to de-throne Jamie Cox!
Enduro All Star Race26 cars started and it was actually a pretty entertaining race. I enjoyed it. Funny that
myblast-from-the-past moment came with these guys. It was just like the old Street Stock days, when the cars weren't necessarily as pretty and fast as they are now, and the drivers were a little crazier...actually it was sort of like watching a truck feature with lots of three and 4 wide action.
Jeff Coward came from the back to the front to win the race, followed by Steve Book, Dave Goertz, Jeremy Reid, and James Shaw. It looked like Book had the race in the bag, but seemed to have some handling issues towards the end...enough to let Coward by him.
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=5529.msg20409#msg20409
