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POINTS RACE #8 AT OCEAN SPEEDWAY
June 6, 2008 |
| This
was my first race since mid-April and it was good to be back - the final
step in my vacation recovery. It was a day of contrast: Morning at the
inauguration of
the new UCSC Chancellor, with ceremony, regalia, gourmet food
and snoozer speeches; evening in the pits for BAD Race #8, with dirt,
noise, track burgers and rousing action. It reminded me of an
interesting day about 20 years ago: tea with Carl ('Cosmos') Sagan in
the afternoon and beer with Evel ('Skycycle') Knievel in the evening. Another excellent field of cars signed in for this event - a total of 27, including a few visitors. Sharing the program this night were 10 micro 600s, 17 American stocks and 24 360 sprints. Our club consistently brings a good field and a good show to Ocean Speedway (pause for applause). BAD points leader, Gilbert Toste, was absent this night; had a painful GI problem and decided he could not get comfortable enough to drive, even with double-Rx pain meds. I think Gilbert is just a damn wus. With a hot enema and a generous dose of my patented 'I-don't-give-a-crap' he could have been back to his normal form. I wonder if Ryan Diatte sent him a get well card. HEAT RACES Winners of the three heats were, Robert MESLOH (Heat 1), Ryan DIATTE (Heat 2) and Nick SQUATRITTO (Heat 3). In Heat 1, Dave Mosier and Robert Mesloh had their own race at the front, separating from the rest of the field by as much as a straightaway and running nose-to-tail. From the pole, Dave led until Robert made a late-race pass for his first win of the season. Robert started in 3rd position, set fast time in the chase and edged Dave by only 0.002 seconds! Without transponders, that would have been a photo finish. From the backstretch perch, I could not tell who won. If the cars were going 70 mph (103 fps), that calculates to be about 2 1/2 inches. Wow! Doug Penny started 5th, spun early, then charged back from 9th to 3rd where he finished. Danny Zuger started 4th and finished 4th. Mike Weaver started 8th and finished 5th for the final transfer to the A Main. Rookie, Camron Diatte, had more bad luck; was moving up from a 6th place start when another car took him out of the race and sent him to the B Main. Fast time = 15.552 sec, Robert Mesloh In Heat 2, Ryan Diatte led from pole to flag for the win. When Mark Tillinger fell back from 2nd to 6th place on the first lap, Punky Pires (starting 3rd) and Duane Daniel moved up to finish 2nd (Punky) and 3rd (Duane). Punky set another fast time and was only 0.25 seconds behind Ryan at the line. Tony Carmignana started 5th and finished 4th. Mark Biscardi started 7th and finished 5th. Fast time = 15.891 sec, Punky Pires In Heat 3, rookie, Nick Squatritto, was awesome. From a 5th place start, he made steady progress to the lead on lap 6, set fast time and won by a wide margin. This was his first heat win and he went on to a 6th place finish in the feature (previous average finish = 19th+). Butch Liston, pole-sitter and early leader, gave up the lead to Nick and finished 2nd, far ahead of the next car. Marty Weisler, another rookie, started 2nd, dropped back to 5th after a lap 5 spin but moved up to 3rd on the final lap. Chris Dorto started 6th and reached 3rd but settled for 4th when passed by Marty on the last lap. Greg Penny started 9th and finished 5th with a direct transfer spot and a very broad smile. Fast time = 16.020 sec, Nick Squatritto TROPHY DASH Start: Mosier, Pires, Liston, Ryan Diatte, Squatritto and Mesloh. Finish: PIRES, Diatte, Squatritto, Mesloh, Liston and Mosier. Dave went backwards from the pole start, spun on lap 3 and came in last. Punky took charge and was very happy to collect his first trophy. B MAIN For some unknown reason, the track scorer wanted to eliminate the B Main and run all 27 cars in the A Main. Joe objected and drivers voted in favor of the B Main option. John Wear, fixed up (broke in heat) and geared up, wasted no time in making the trip from 6th place to the checkers (with fast time) in this shortened (8 lap) semi. From a 2nd place start, Mark Tillinger led for five laps but settled back for a 2nd place finish. Troy Wagner started on the pole and finished 3rd. Fourth place belonged to Oscar Milla, from start to finish. Martin Whittingham, making the call after a hurried driveline repair (broke in heat), went from 11th to 5th. The final two transfers were Thomas Smith and Camron Diatte. Camron, a victim in his heat, stayed conservative to claim the final transfer spot. Fast time = 15.940 sec, John Wear A MAIN Butch Liston was on the pole with his hot pink, Mary Kay car but soon gave up the lead to 'Flyin' Ryan Diatte who handled heavy pressure from Dave Mosier and John Wear for his third feature win this season. The competition was fierce and tight and, much of the time, the leaders were 'under a blanket'. Dave's #1B was close enough for sex with Ryan's #57B; actually got wheel-over-wheel in turn 4 of lap 4. Unfortunately, Dave left the race with a flat tire on lap 17. John Wear, transferring out of the B Main and starting 15th, rocketed to 3rd place by lap 7 and was there for the 2nd place finish, two car lengths behind Ryan. John's teammate, Robert Mesloh, had an up and down trip to the 3rd place finish, three car lengths behind John. Robert is still the nice guy but starting to kick some butt. The paint scheme on the #13B reminds me of a famous midget in the late 1940s - the 'Hungry Offy'. Shall we start calling Robert's car the 'Hungry Yamawho'? Back to the race... Duane Daniel started 8th, ran 4th to 5th and 4th again when Mosier dropped out. Punky Pires started 3rd, lost eight positions when he went to the infield to avoid a crash, came back to run 5th to 7th to 5th at the finish. The remaining top 10 were, Nick Squatritto, Tony Carmignani, Oscar Milla, Mark Tillinger and Camron Diatte. Nick was impressive and scored highest among rookies in the lineup. Camron showed much poise and made the most of a night of setbacks; coming from last, finishing in 10th and scoring 11 hard charger points. Oscar came through the B Main, started 20th and finished 8th. Mark Biscardi went from 14th to 7th, setting fast time on lap 4 but was a DNF (problem?). Fast time = 15.769 sec, Mark Biscardi Robert Mesloh had overall best time for this event = 15.552 sec CONGRATULATIONS TO RYAN DIATTE (HEAT & A MAIN WINNER), ROBERT MESLOH AND NICK SQUATRITTO (HEAT WINNERS), PUNKY PIRES (DASH WINNER) AND OTHER TOP FINISHERS. THANKS TO ALL DRIVERS WHO MADE THE SHOW. I can't wait until the next race. |