Riverside FANatic 6/17/06
by Alan Plummer
Welcome to the June 17th edition of the Riverside FANatic. Mother Nature was finally kind to Riverside Speedway, a P.A.S.S. sanctioned speedway, the rain held off, after two weeks of rain. The skies were cloudy, but the rain held off.
In the Novice Daredevil Youth division, the 2 of Curtis Randall had the pole with the 3 of Kristopher Russell outside his door. Russell got the jump, but it was short lived as the 72 of Cody Hodge rocket to the front. Hodge stayed out in front, and by lap 7 had a half track lead. The 41 of Vanessa Brown tried and tried to take third away from the 19 of Walter Bandy, but just couldn’t get it done. Hodge finished 1st with the 8 of Tyler Leighton 2nd and Brown in 3rd.
The Pro Daredevils had a rather bad night. The 00 of Ciara McCoy started on the pole with the 7 of Dayna Randall outside. McCoy jumped the first start and was warned. Randall took the lead on the start with McCoy right there. On lap 6 the 77 of Brandon Lambert got together with McCoy causing a caution, and a blown front for Lambert. Randall again took the restart ahead of the 5 of Jesse Switser. By lap 8 the 93 of Alex Theroux had made his way to third. The 04 of Shawn Swallow and the 73 of Riley Hartshorn got together. On the restart Swallow and the 01 of Sami Gooden got together, with nowhere to go, Hartshorn ended up in the turn 4 water barrels. He was OK, but his car didn’t look that great. Swallow was told he had a one lap penalty, reportedly his father told him just to bring it in and load up the car, while bringing the car around Swallow ran over the guide cones, and was suspended indefinitely. It was also decided that they would have a single file restart, and if any other cautions came out the race would be over. The race did end under a caution as Theroux was pushed sideways across the finish line for 2nd second place, with Switser winning and Randall coming in 3rd.
I have to apologize to the ladies, because I missed the first 8 laps. As I joined the race on lap 9 the 44 of Jennie Dion was making the pass by the 7 of Kate Demar, with the 36 of Allison Brown in third. This is also the way they ended up finishing.
The Late Models took to the track next. The 90 of Floyd Bennett Jr. had the pole with the 1 of Corey Mason outside. Mason took the lead and for 25 laps was certainly the car to beat. On lap 8 the 2 of Stephen Hodgdon spun in turn 2 with everyone clearing him. Mason again took the lead, and on lap 11 the 4 of Ken Dufour moved up to 2nd. On lap 14 the 42 of Brian Greer spun in turn 2 and the 04 of Jamie Swallow Jr. ended up in the front stretch wall. Rookie Brian Gosselin whose car was running great in practice was plagued with overheating issues and a grounding issue, he still managed a ninth place finish on his first race. Mason again took the lead, with the 01 of Sam Gooden right behind him. On lap 25 problems started for Mason, apparent suspension problems had him falling back. A trip to the pit found nothing broken, but a few laps later he was sparking with something dragging underneath the car. Sam Gooden went on to win it with Dufour in 2nd and the 89 of Owen Wimble 3rd.
The Street Stocks were up next. The 66 of Michael Moore was on the pole with the 07 of Bill Stebbins Jr. on the outside. Stebbins took the lead. By lap 5 the 19 of Jake McDowell had made his way to 2nd only to have it taken away by the 68 of Derrick O’Donnell, and the 76 of Ryan Delabruere taking third. On lap 11 O’Donnell had taken first. Then Delabruere and the 18 of Robert Foss got together sending Foss on a wild ride off turn 2, with the car landing on its side, Foss was OK, and the car was righted and brought to the pits were he refired the car and after the white cloud of smoke cleared rejoined the field. O’Donnell took the restart with Delabruere taking second and the 03 of Jason Kenison taking third. On lap 18 Delabruere took the lead and the win with O’Donnell in 2nd and Kenison 3rd.
Last up, with out of car introductions were the Super Stocks. The 1 of Jeremy Lacoss was on the pole with the 10 of Adam Hurd outside. Lacoss took the lead. On lap 7 the 76 of Shawn Hood takes the lead. Lap 9 brings out a caution the 31 of Brian Middleton and the 55 of Jamie Longley get together and go off turn 2. The 76 has problems on the restart and falls back quickly. Lacoss regains first and the 18 of Ron Watson takes 2nd. Waston gets passed on lap 15 by the 48 of Willie Holebrook. Holebrook then takes 1st on lap 17, with the 74 of Dan Sidney taking 2nd. With 2 to go the 73 of Dave Ofsuryk goes under Lacoss to take second. Sidney was disqualified for an intake manifold violation giving Ofsuryk 2nd and the 8 of Denny Degreenia 3rd.
The race next week is on Friday the 23rd. On the card are the Late Models, Street Stocks, Cyclones, Angels, Daredevils, Dwarf Cars, and Spectator Drags. Post time is 7:30 pm with the pit gates opening at 3 pm. Pictures and archived FANatic articles can be seen at http://racing.apcomptech.com If you have any questions or comments email me at riversidefanatic@apcomptech.com