07/17/10 - Wall Stadium

FARRELL WINS WALL STADIUM MODIFIED GARDEN STATE CLASSIC SATURDAY

Tommy Farrell III, as well known for his racing misfortunes as for his driving talent, had the best night of his stock car racing career Saturday as he won the 50th running of the “Garden State Classic” at Wall Stadium. The Neptune resident stayed in contention throughout the entire 150-lap distance before taking the lead late in the contest.

Farmingdale’s Billy Cole and Steven Reed of Freehold wrestled for the lead early in the event before tangling exiting turn four after a lap 13 restart. Reed’s No. 55 was knocked from the race with damage, while Cole was instructed to leave the track by officials for his involvement in the mishap.

At that point, Freehold’s Chas Okerson raced into the lead with Chris Hamilton of North Haledon and Farrell running second and third. For most of the next 100 laps Okerson, the defending track champion, and Hamilton diced for the lead while Farrell watched from third.

Lap 117 marked a major turning point in the race as nearly every car in the field pitted for two new tires. Farrell’s winning move may have very well been made in the pit area as he returned to the track before Okerson to take the lead. From that point on Okerson ran a tight second and challenged Farrell nearly ever lap before the duo crossed the finish line in tight formation. Hamilton, Ken Woolley, Jr. of Howell and Lafayette’s Roger Coss completed the top five.

“The pit crew won this race for me,” Farrell said in the winner’s circle. “They got those tires changed fast. Our game plan was to just cruise in contention until that pit stop. My spotter had to keep telling me to be patient until then. He kept telling me to slow down.”

Howie Conk of Jackson took the early lead in the companion Street Stock 25-lapper and fought his way through lapped traffic to take the win. Beachwood’s Bill Vanderveen was the tight runner-up, while Gregg Miranda of Hazlet, Mike Kennedy of Pt. Pleasant and Mike Tillett of Bayville were third through fifth.

Tim O’Shea of Neptune was the top man in the 20-lap Flanagan Retail Development Factory Stock field as he grabbed his first career victory. Whitey Miller of Jamesburg was second at the stripe, while Wall’s Rob Longo, Jim Downey of Cliffwood Beach and Rick Siddons of Beachwood rounded out the top five.

Mike Renn won a race-long battle with runner-up Wes Gilbert to take top honors in the 25-lap feature for the visiting 4C SuperModifieds.

Wall Stadium stock cars roar back into action this Saturday night, July 24, with rescheduled “Pack the Track” night that was rain postponed on July 10. On Saturday all fans age five and under will be admitted free of charge, fans age 6 through 11 will be admitted for just $6 and fans age 12 and over will pay a ticket price of just $10. An “On Track Party,” where fans will be welcome to walk the speedway and get an up close look at every car parked on the track, will be one of the highlights of the evening.

The Supreme Manufacturing Modifieds will battle in a 40-lap feature race; the Sportsman cars, Street Stocks and the Legend Cars will race in 25-lappers and the Factory Stocks will battle in a 20-lap feature. The open cockpit TQ Midgets will visit for a 25-lap main event and the young racers from the Garden State Quarter Midgets will be honored. Spectator seating will open at 4:00 p.m., with qualifying set for 5:15 p.m. The “On Track Party” will then run from 6:15 p.m. until 7:15 p.m. and feature racing will start at 7:15 p.m.

On Sunday, July 25, the fifth mile paved “inner oval” returns to action with the 2010 “Sunday Series” featuring Go Karts, wingless Midgets, Legend Cars and Micro Stocks starting at noon. For more information call 732-681-6400 or visit http://www.wallsundayseries.com.

Wall Stadium presents professional motorsports events on most Saturdays and Sundays during the summer months. The speedway is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, N.J., just one mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. The speedway hotline number is 732-681-6400, while more information is also available at www.wallspeedway.com.


WALL STADIUM 7/17/2010 RESULTS

MODIFIED FEATURE – 150 Laps – 1. TOMMY FARRELL III, NEPTUNE, 2. Chas Okerson, Chris Hamilton, 4. Ken Woolley, Jr., 5. Roger Coss, 6. Pete Brittain, 7. Jason Treat, 8. Marc Nappi, 9. Ron Frees, 10. Harry Schaefer, 11. Tim Arre, 12. David Reinhardt, 13. Adam LaCicero, 14. John McCormack, 15. Billy Cole, 16. Shaun Carrig, 17. Steven Reed

STREET STOCK FEATURE – 25 Laps – 1. HOWIE CONK, JACKSON, 2. Bill Vanderveen, 3. Gregg Miranda, 4. Mike Kennedy, 5. Mike Tillett, 6. Jerry Stanzione, 7. Ray Minieri, 8. Mitch Brudy, 9. Michelle Moamann, 10 Scott Kurzwell, 11. Jack Sayegh, 12. Dom Scala

FACTORY STOCK FEATURE – 20 Laps – 1. TIM O’SHEA, NEPTUNE, 2. Whitey Miller, 3. Rob Longo, 4. Jim Downey, 5. Rick Siddons, 6. Roy Farfel, 7. Joe Stongein, 8. Tom Nascone, 9. Jason Bundy, 10. Todd Pilla, 11. Chris Felber, 12. Steve Lynch, 13. John Bowers, 14. Marty Van Druten, 15. Ed Bischoff, 16. Dan Birdsall, 17. Troy Gant, 18. Mike Bilello, 19. Ronnie Mullen, 20. Elliott Wohl

Jeff Gravatt