RGeeProductions
08-28-2017, 10:39 PM
The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series was back in action this past Saturday night with the season starting to wind down and the point’s battles heating up. The Sportsman modified’s would be doing twin 25 lap features for the 3rd and final time this season. A quick look at the points standing of the Sportsman Modified’s and you would see that going into the night’s action 18 points separated 6th place from 1st. Todd Patnode would enter the night 2nd in points and capture the win (his 2nd on the season) in the first 25 lap feature for the Sportsman Modified’s. Brian Chapin found himself 3rd in points entering the nights twin 25’s and took the win (his 3rd of the year) in feature #2 for the Sportsman Modified’s. Joel Monahan would take his 3rd trip to victory lane in the Super Stocks. While Kevin McKnight (Mini Stocks), Randy Rameau (Thunder Stocks), and Chloe Wright (Young Guns) all captured their first wins of the season.
Young Guns shot on the track for the first feature event of the evening. Chloe Wright in the 17 brought the field to the green. Wright would lead every lap on her way to her first victory. Chris Phelps in the 21 would run 2nd the entire way, but was unable to reel in Wright until a lap 9 caution for the 95 of Cale Skillings and 99 of Bella Minchella getting together along the front stretch wall which caused Wright her only stress of the night. It was an emotional win for Wright who dedicated the win to her uncle, who is currently battling cancer. Phelps finished 2nd and Chris Wenzel was award 3rd place.
The first of two 25 lap features for the Sportsman Modifieds roared onto the track next. Cole Littlewood in the 5c and Paul Smith in the 45 made up the front row. At the drop of the green Littlewood fired out to the lead followed closely by the 99 of Kim Rivet and the 02 of Geoff Rollins. The top 3 started to pull away from the pack. By lap 5 Todd Patnode in the 24 had made his way from his 9th place starting spot to 4th. Three laps later Patnode had caught the leaders. Littlewood feeling the extra pressure got a little loose coming of turn 2 which caused Rivet, Rollins, and Patnode to check up and allowed the rest of the field to catch up. Rivet wrestled the lead away from Littlewood on Lap 9. Rollins and the 25 of Brian Robbie followed Rivet around Littlewood. Lap 13 saw Patnode return to the mix as he would pass Robbie for 3rd. Two laps later Patnode took his # 24 machine to the outside of Rollins and make the pass for 2nd. Patnode must have liked how his car felt on the outside because he just kept going around Rivet for the lead on Lap 17. Lap 18 would see the first and only caution of the race as Robbie got into the back of Rollins coming out of turn 2 while battling for 3rd place, sending Rollins into the infield. Tyler Jarvenpaa in the 22 would assume 3rd place on the restart. Patnode and Rivet lead the field to green. Patnode took off and never looked back as he cruised his way to victory lane. Jarvenpaa slipped past Rivet on the restart for 2nd. Jarvenpaa held onto 2nd place and Rivet held on to 3rd. Ben Byrne in the 6 also put on a show for the fans. Byrne started in 16th place after not being able to finish his heat race due to an accident. Byrne finished 4th. Patnode was clearly happy with his 2nd win of the season. In victory lane Patnode stated that “the car felt really good.” A twist for the 2nd feature was that a fan would draw a number and that is how many cars would be inverted for the 2nd feature. The number drawn was 11, meaning Patnode would start 11th; when asked if he could pull of a win in feature number two, Patnode responded confidently “I don’t see why not, it’s only 2 spots back from where we just started.”
Mini Stocks raced onto the track next for their 25 lap feature event. Veteran Bill Chaffee in the 00 and Rookie Shelby Avery in the 8 made up the front row. Chaffee would take off at the drop of the green. Kevin McKnight would fly by Avery for 2nd place. Lap 2 McKnight would take the lead away from Chaffee. The first caution would fly on lap 3 for the 7 of Ben Williams and William McCarthy in the 30. McKnight retained the lead on the restart but after a lap the caution would fly again for the 50x of Matt Kimball and Avery coming to rest just short of the backstretch wall. McCarthy would also get caught up in the action. McCarthy and Kimball would head to the pits and not return. The field restarted single file. This turned out to be to McKnight’s advantage. At the drop of the green McKnight pulled away from the field. On lap 5 Desmond Skillings in the 90, Alexander Pearl in the 43 and Pat Houle in the 57x all passed Chaffee. By lap 9 Skillings and Pearl had separated from the pack as well and managed to catch up to McKnight. McKnight got loose coming off of turn 2 which allowed Skillings to get alongside McKnight. Just before Skillings could attempt to complete the pass the caution would fly for Avery, who spun on the backstretch. McKnight brought the field to the green and again started to pull away but Skillings wasted no time getting caught back up. The race would be slowed one more time on lap 17 for a 3 car accident on the front stretch wall. The 97 of Ethan Marsh got loose coming out of turn 4 and collected the 40 of Nadine Coates as well as Avery, ending all of their nights. McKnight held on the rest of the way to capture his first victory in 3 years, Skillings finished 2nd and Louis Maher in the 69 finished 3rd. A clearly excited McKnight summed up the feelings for his first win of the season with saying “it feels great.” McKnight noted that this is almost 3 years to the day from his last victory.
Super Stocks rolled out next for their feature event. Mike McGoldrick in the 1 and Justin Littlewood in the 37 brought the field to the green. It was Justin Littlewood with the advantage that would lead lap 1, with Joel Monahan in the 03 in tow. By lap 2 Monahan had taken the lead and Justin Littlewood had dropped back to 5th place. Tyler Leary in the 11x took 2nd place from the 02 of Geoff Rollins on lap 4. Monahan had a commanding lead until lap 11 when the caution flag flew for the 27ma of Marc Curtis. The ensuing restart put Leary on the outside of Monahan. At the drop of the green the two competitors did not disappoint as they raced side by side until the caution flag was displayed on lap 12 for the 96 of Nancy Muni and the 1 of McGoldrick spinning on the front stretch. This restart would be no different than the previous one. Monahan and Leary raced side by side for the next 5 laps until Monahan was able to get around Leary on lap 17. Leary wasn’t going to give up easily as he tried a crossover move a couple of times but was unable to get by Monahan. Monahan captured his 3rd win of the season, while Leary had to settle for 2nd and Geoff Rollins held onto the 3rd spot.
The Thunder Stocks thundered onto the track next. James Nowakowski back in his familiar #9 sat on the pole; while Craig Chaffee in the 28 completed the front row. Nowakowski wasted no time jumping out into the lead; Chaffee following closely. On lap 3 Chaffee was challenged by the 43 of Jason Kozacka and Kozacka would take the spot. The caution would fly for the 5 of Scott Vien. On the restart Nowakowski took off again into the lead. Chaffee powered past Kozacka. On Lap 5 it appeared that Kozacka made contact with the wall, which caused him to slow and head to the pits. On Lap 7 Chaffee passed Nowakowski for the lead. On lap 13 Nowakowski would dive under the Chaffee for the lead entering turn 3 and Nowakowski would spin bring out the caution. Chaffee would retain the lead on the restart but the race was slowed again on lap 14 for the 39 of Bruce Clark coming to rest on the top of turn 2. Chaffee wouldn’t be as lucky on the ensuing restart as the 45x of Randy Rameau drove to the lead on lap 16. On lap 19 Ed Lofland took 2nd from Chaffee. The caution flew for the last time on lap 21 as the 28 of Chaffee came to rest on the back stretch grass. It was a single file restart with Rameau in 1st, Lofland in 2nd, and Nowakowski back in the mix in 3rd. Rameau thundered off into turn 1 at the drop of the green and never looked back on his way to his first win of the season. Lofland finished 2nd and Nowakowski finished 3rd. When asked how it was Rameau commented with “it was a lot of fun.” In a post race inspection, Ed Lofland refused to go through inspection giving Nowakowski 2nd and Bruce Clark third.
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Young Guns shot on the track for the first feature event of the evening. Chloe Wright in the 17 brought the field to the green. Wright would lead every lap on her way to her first victory. Chris Phelps in the 21 would run 2nd the entire way, but was unable to reel in Wright until a lap 9 caution for the 95 of Cale Skillings and 99 of Bella Minchella getting together along the front stretch wall which caused Wright her only stress of the night. It was an emotional win for Wright who dedicated the win to her uncle, who is currently battling cancer. Phelps finished 2nd and Chris Wenzel was award 3rd place.
The first of two 25 lap features for the Sportsman Modifieds roared onto the track next. Cole Littlewood in the 5c and Paul Smith in the 45 made up the front row. At the drop of the green Littlewood fired out to the lead followed closely by the 99 of Kim Rivet and the 02 of Geoff Rollins. The top 3 started to pull away from the pack. By lap 5 Todd Patnode in the 24 had made his way from his 9th place starting spot to 4th. Three laps later Patnode had caught the leaders. Littlewood feeling the extra pressure got a little loose coming of turn 2 which caused Rivet, Rollins, and Patnode to check up and allowed the rest of the field to catch up. Rivet wrestled the lead away from Littlewood on Lap 9. Rollins and the 25 of Brian Robbie followed Rivet around Littlewood. Lap 13 saw Patnode return to the mix as he would pass Robbie for 3rd. Two laps later Patnode took his # 24 machine to the outside of Rollins and make the pass for 2nd. Patnode must have liked how his car felt on the outside because he just kept going around Rivet for the lead on Lap 17. Lap 18 would see the first and only caution of the race as Robbie got into the back of Rollins coming out of turn 2 while battling for 3rd place, sending Rollins into the infield. Tyler Jarvenpaa in the 22 would assume 3rd place on the restart. Patnode and Rivet lead the field to green. Patnode took off and never looked back as he cruised his way to victory lane. Jarvenpaa slipped past Rivet on the restart for 2nd. Jarvenpaa held onto 2nd place and Rivet held on to 3rd. Ben Byrne in the 6 also put on a show for the fans. Byrne started in 16th place after not being able to finish his heat race due to an accident. Byrne finished 4th. Patnode was clearly happy with his 2nd win of the season. In victory lane Patnode stated that “the car felt really good.” A twist for the 2nd feature was that a fan would draw a number and that is how many cars would be inverted for the 2nd feature. The number drawn was 11, meaning Patnode would start 11th; when asked if he could pull of a win in feature number two, Patnode responded confidently “I don’t see why not, it’s only 2 spots back from where we just started.”
Mini Stocks raced onto the track next for their 25 lap feature event. Veteran Bill Chaffee in the 00 and Rookie Shelby Avery in the 8 made up the front row. Chaffee would take off at the drop of the green. Kevin McKnight would fly by Avery for 2nd place. Lap 2 McKnight would take the lead away from Chaffee. The first caution would fly on lap 3 for the 7 of Ben Williams and William McCarthy in the 30. McKnight retained the lead on the restart but after a lap the caution would fly again for the 50x of Matt Kimball and Avery coming to rest just short of the backstretch wall. McCarthy would also get caught up in the action. McCarthy and Kimball would head to the pits and not return. The field restarted single file. This turned out to be to McKnight’s advantage. At the drop of the green McKnight pulled away from the field. On lap 5 Desmond Skillings in the 90, Alexander Pearl in the 43 and Pat Houle in the 57x all passed Chaffee. By lap 9 Skillings and Pearl had separated from the pack as well and managed to catch up to McKnight. McKnight got loose coming off of turn 2 which allowed Skillings to get alongside McKnight. Just before Skillings could attempt to complete the pass the caution would fly for Avery, who spun on the backstretch. McKnight brought the field to the green and again started to pull away but Skillings wasted no time getting caught back up. The race would be slowed one more time on lap 17 for a 3 car accident on the front stretch wall. The 97 of Ethan Marsh got loose coming out of turn 4 and collected the 40 of Nadine Coates as well as Avery, ending all of their nights. McKnight held on the rest of the way to capture his first victory in 3 years, Skillings finished 2nd and Louis Maher in the 69 finished 3rd. A clearly excited McKnight summed up the feelings for his first win of the season with saying “it feels great.” McKnight noted that this is almost 3 years to the day from his last victory.
Super Stocks rolled out next for their feature event. Mike McGoldrick in the 1 and Justin Littlewood in the 37 brought the field to the green. It was Justin Littlewood with the advantage that would lead lap 1, with Joel Monahan in the 03 in tow. By lap 2 Monahan had taken the lead and Justin Littlewood had dropped back to 5th place. Tyler Leary in the 11x took 2nd place from the 02 of Geoff Rollins on lap 4. Monahan had a commanding lead until lap 11 when the caution flag flew for the 27ma of Marc Curtis. The ensuing restart put Leary on the outside of Monahan. At the drop of the green the two competitors did not disappoint as they raced side by side until the caution flag was displayed on lap 12 for the 96 of Nancy Muni and the 1 of McGoldrick spinning on the front stretch. This restart would be no different than the previous one. Monahan and Leary raced side by side for the next 5 laps until Monahan was able to get around Leary on lap 17. Leary wasn’t going to give up easily as he tried a crossover move a couple of times but was unable to get by Monahan. Monahan captured his 3rd win of the season, while Leary had to settle for 2nd and Geoff Rollins held onto the 3rd spot.
The Thunder Stocks thundered onto the track next. James Nowakowski back in his familiar #9 sat on the pole; while Craig Chaffee in the 28 completed the front row. Nowakowski wasted no time jumping out into the lead; Chaffee following closely. On lap 3 Chaffee was challenged by the 43 of Jason Kozacka and Kozacka would take the spot. The caution would fly for the 5 of Scott Vien. On the restart Nowakowski took off again into the lead. Chaffee powered past Kozacka. On Lap 5 it appeared that Kozacka made contact with the wall, which caused him to slow and head to the pits. On Lap 7 Chaffee passed Nowakowski for the lead. On lap 13 Nowakowski would dive under the Chaffee for the lead entering turn 3 and Nowakowski would spin bring out the caution. Chaffee would retain the lead on the restart but the race was slowed again on lap 14 for the 39 of Bruce Clark coming to rest on the top of turn 2. Chaffee wouldn’t be as lucky on the ensuing restart as the 45x of Randy Rameau drove to the lead on lap 16. On lap 19 Ed Lofland took 2nd from Chaffee. The caution flew for the last time on lap 21 as the 28 of Chaffee came to rest on the back stretch grass. It was a single file restart with Rameau in 1st, Lofland in 2nd, and Nowakowski back in the mix in 3rd. Rameau thundered off into turn 1 at the drop of the green and never looked back on his way to his first win of the season. Lofland finished 2nd and Nowakowski finished 3rd. When asked how it was Rameau commented with “it was a lot of fun.” In a post race inspection, Ed Lofland refused to go through inspection giving Nowakowski 2nd and Bruce Clark third.
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