Riverside FANatic 6-23-07
by Alan Plummer
It was a great night of racing at Riverside Speedway, a PASS sanctioned speedway. It was a little cloudy and a bit cooler than most would like, but the action on the track made up for it.
The Daredevil Rookie division started things out for the night, with the 47 of Randy Whittum starting on the pole, outside his door was the 93 of Cameron Bowen. Whittum took the initial lead, but the 44 of Kyle Pembroke lunged past the two for the top spot. The 29 of Brendan Hunt overtook the 2nd spot. By lap 5 Hunt is working on trying to get by Pembroke. On lap 12 he finally makes the pass, but the two of them get together and almost loose control, as Pembroke regains the lead. Pembroke takes the checkers followed by Bowen and Whittum.
The Daredevil Veterans were up next. They had a rough start with 2 cautions before getting going. The 12 of Brett Gervais took the lead over the 2 of Curtis Randall on the 2nd restart. The 72 of Cody Hodge moved into the 2nd spot and the 5 of Jesse Switser moved to 3rd. On lap 3 Hodge took the lead, bringing Switser with him for 2nd. On lap 11 Hodge slides up the track and Switser takes advantage sneaking under him. The two were leaning on each other hard through the turn. Switser completes the pass, and gains the win, followed by Hodge and Gervais.
The Outlaw Sportsman were divided into two segments. In the first segment the 7 of Matt Leblanc started on the pole with the 17 of Steve Patnaude on the outside. Patnaude took the lead as the 1 of Ken Marier moved to 2nd and the 2 of Mike Clark overtook 3rd. Ken Marier took the lead on lap 6 as the 31 of Derek Ming moved into the 2nd spot. Ming took the lead on the following lap. Clark again moved to 3rd on lap 9, and 2nd on lap 18. On lap 20 the 74 of Doug Laleme moved into the 3rd spot. Ming took the checkers followed by Clark and Laleme.
In the 2nd segment of the Outlaws Sportsman, Patnaude had the pole with the 68 of Jonathan Ledger on the outside. Ledger took the lead and Marier moved into 2nd on lap 4. On lap 5 Laleme moved into the 3rd spot. Ming overtook 3rd and 2nd on lap 7. Ledger had almost a ½ track advantage when Ming moved into 2nd, but by lap 16 that advantage was gone, as Ming moved into the lead. Ming takes the checkers followed by Ledger and Laleme. Ming was the overall winner for the night with Laleme in 2nd and Clark 3rd.
The Dwarfs had a larger field than normal with 10 cars starting the race. The 20 of Bobby Riley started on the pole with the 17M of Curtis Robinson to his outside. Robinson takes the lead as the 22 of Dana Huoppi moved to 2nd and the 4 of Nathan Brown moves to 3rd then 2nd. On lap 2 the 28 of Ernie Laplant moves to 3rd. Brown loops the car in turn 2 on lap 6. Robinson takes the restart, and on lap 7 Laplant takes the lead. Laplant takes the win followed by Robinson and the 17NH of Haywood Herriott.
In the Super Stocks, the 55 of Jamie Longley started on the pole as the 18 of Ron Watson started outside his door. It looked like something was about to ensue as they went 3 wide before entering turn 2. The 31 of Brian Middleton took the lead. On lap 5, the 04 of Nathan Swallow and the 73 of Dan Sidney get together sending Sidney around. Middleton took the lead on the restart. Denny Degreenia, in the 8, overtook 2nd place on lap 8. On lap 9 the 13 of Luke Shannon moved into 3rd and on lap 11 overtook the lead. The 74 of David Ofsuryk spins in turn 3 on lap 22. Shannon takes the lead as Sidney moves into 3rd. Didn’t see exactly what happened on lap 23, but in left the 76 of Shawn Hood down a tire and the 1 of Jeremy Lacoss with a broken axle. On the restart, Middleton gets a jump, but Shannon takes the lead, and Sidney takes 2nd. Jeff Fysh, in the 33, moves into the 3rd spot on lap 27. At the stripe it is Shannon followed by Sidney and Fysh.
On the pole for the Street Stocks was the 07 of Bill Stebbins Jr. with the 29 of Chris Meunier outside. Meunier took the lead, as the 06 of Michael Moore moved into 2nd and the 36 of Chris Hodgdon moved into 3rd. Moore took the lead on lap 4, with Hodgdon taking 2nd, and the 04 of Shawn Swallow taking 3rd on lap 5. On lap 9 the 22 of Michael Smith moved into the 3rd spot. On lap 12 the 27 of Troy Randall overtook 3rd and on lap 19 he moved into the 2nd spot. The caution flag flies on lap20 as Swallow and Hodgdon get together and end up in the infield. After a few minutes of realigning the lights after they were hit by one of the cars the show went on. Randall takes the lead on the restart. On lap 24 the 76 of Tori Delabruere overtakes the 3rd spot. Randall takes the win, followed by Moore and Delabruere.
Join the fun next Saturday as the P.A.S.S. Sportsman roll into town for a 75 lap main event. Also on the card will be Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Angels, Daredevils, Dwarf Cars, Cyclones and a giant fireworks display. Post time 5 p.m. Then come to the track on July 4th and see a 4X4 Truck Tug of War, 4 cyl demolition derby, kids bike races, stunt show, and spectator drags, along with another fireworks display. 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