07-10-07

ROB SUMMERS PASSES PERLEY FOR STAFFORD ISMA WIN

Stafford Springs, CT 7-10-07 - Robbie Summers fulfilled a dream Tuesday night at Stafford Motor Speedway. While successful in several divisions of auto racing in the Northeast, Summers' secret love has been the potent winged supermodifieds. After only a half season of competition in 2006, Summers had made a fulltime commitment to drive the Howie Lane 97 this year. In the Xtreme Tuesday main event, Summers not only kept up with the pretty much invincible Chris Perley after Perley took the lead on lap 17, but he dogged the point leader until a bobble up front by a lap car gave the Vernon, CT driver his chance and he took it. On lap 37, Summers took the lead and the eventual win. It was his career-first on the ISMA-Wirtgen super series circuit.

Summers reviewed his achievement. “This is something I've always dreamed of. It's probably the biggest race of my career. This is big. I've been wanting this one for a while. Ever since I was a kid I was intrigued with supermodifieds. They were always the coolest cars to me and to win in one of them is great.

“The longer I went tonight, the better my car got. We had it perfect tonight. Howie and the crew had the car the best it's been since I've been driving it. I can't thank them enough. With these supers the right rear is everything. We had the car tight in the beginning and it was tough to get by some of the cars. But, once the car came in it was on rails.”

After catching up to Perley - no easy task by any means - Summers awaited his opportunity. “When Bob Magner got sideways there, and I didn't see a caution, I was gone. I was close one other time. I think we were about the same speed. Lap traffic was something. I got hit once and bounced off the back stretch wall. I was holding my breath. Last Saturday was pretty disappointing at Jennerstown. The guys worked their butts off in pretty much one day to get the car back together and I won. It was particularly rewarding to win at Stafford. I love this place. I've had a lot of laps here. We've struggled with the Tour car here but thank god the super was perfect today. It's a big booster for us.”

Getting by was one thing. Staying there was another. Summers knew Perley would not go away. “Once I got by Perley I knew I had to get by that lap traffic because there is no one better in lap traffic than Chris. That's why I was trying to get through it whether I had to knock or crash through it. I knew he was right on my heels. I had no idea where he was but I figured he was right there. I got sick of seeing that 11 pass by every week, driving by me on the outside like I have an anchor hanging off the car. To beat Chris tonight is big. He's the best of the best!”

After winning four features to date, second place finisher Perley reiterated some of Summers comments, “I got the lead and was kind of on cruise control and then Robbie showed me a wheel and woke me up. He got me going. I thought we might have him covered. Then Magner got crossed up and I didn't know which direction he was going. I got by and then I got back on the throttle and nothing happened. It just loaded up and I thought it was going to shut off for a minute. Then Robbie came up beside me and then he got out front. It was a great race. We were really evenly matched. It was going to be whoever was out front at the right time. Hats off to Robbie and the team. They've been working hard. We'll take a second. I'm very happy with that. Traffic was interesting at times. Everybody was trying to drive their own race and hang on to their car. It makes it tough to pay attention I guess. All in all it was a good night.”

Mike Lichty, for the third time in three races, had a podium finish. Still looking for that first win, he's certainly gaining. “It's been a great four days for the whole team. The cars came out in one piece. We can't complain about three thirds in three races. We're just a little off still. We're having a problem with the tightness in the car; trying to get the front end gripping on corner entry. It looks like we're going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. All in all the Patco Transportation, Stage Door team did a helluva job!”

A very hot and humid night did not deter the great racing that ensued. Twenty-five cars started the 50-lapper with three more broken before feature time. Dave Trytek jumped from his pole position to build up an early lead ahead of his teammate Jeff Holbrook, Summers, Lichty and Dave McKnight. By lap ten Dave was slicing through the tail of the field until lap 13 when the first yellow fell for Brent Roundy who lost a tire.

The field now bunched behind Trytek, but he pulled away. Back in the pack though, Perley was methodically picking off car after car. He was third behind Trytek and Holbrook when the next yellow came for the third Holbrook car of Bob Magner. Magner had slid off the track and into the grass. He recovered and pitted momentarily while the yellow flew.

On the restart, Perley just drove by Holbrook in turn two and Trytek in turn four to take the lead. Summers, however, did not lose track of the 11 as he followed him.

The last caution came on lap 23 when Dave Sanborn stopped on the track.

The field bunched behind Perley with Summers, Trytek, Holbrook, Lichty, Fornoro and McKnight the closest contesters. Perley could not lose Summers as the laps ticked away. Lichty moved by Holbrook to take fourth behind Trytek on lap 27.

On lap 32, Summers was obviously getting stronger and he tucked up behind the Perley car, even getting alongside on lap 33 as traffic played a major role here. On lap 37 the Magner slide gave Summers his chance and the lead. Now he also knew he would not lose Perley easily and for ten laps he dove down and up around lap cars with Perley in hot pursuit. In the waning laps Mike Lichty and Dave McKnight got by early leader Trytek and the checkered fell non-to soon for Summers for his career-first with Perley settling for second. Lichty, McKnight and Trytek stayed in that order.

McKnight, who has had an up and down season to date, was pleased with fourth. “Outside of the heat, everything is good. The Patco, Stage Door team did a good job. We've been struggling since the crash. We've had this power steering problem and we're still having it. Hopefully we'll get that straightened out. It was a great effort by everybody involved. I'm happy with the finish. We're slowly getting back on track. It was a great day, everything is in one piece and now we'll go to Sandusky and see what we've got.”

And, Trytek, likewise, was satisfied with his early lead and eventual finish. “Starting on the pole helps a ton. The car was pretty good; it just got tighter and tighter as we went on and we lost a couple spots at the end there. But, I'll take the fifth. I haven't had that in a long time.”

Nokie Fornoro, Mark Sammut, Lou Cicconi, Vern Romanoski and Jeff Holbrook completed the top ten.

Notes: Time trials had to be scratched due to a computer failure but Bentley Warren had unofficially set a track record of 16.797 before the demise. Half the cars had not taken time…Erica Santos, older sister to Bobby Santos, became the first woman ever to win a NEMA event as she held off Joey Payne for the win… Fornoro and Cicconi did double duty…ISMA is off until the Sandusky Hy-Miler on July 27-28.Mike Badessa and Bobby Haynes Jr. were scratches prior to the heats…Jeff Holbrook brushed with Lou Cicconi after the checkered and ended up in the wall…Bentley Warren, having recuperated from knee surgery was in his first race of the season. He said the car was sliding around due to a tire going down.

SUMMARY ISMA-WIRTGEN

Event #5 Stafford Motor Speedway, July 10, 2006

Heat 1: Jeff Holbrook, Chris Perley, Mike Lichty, Justin Belfiore, Mark Sammut, Brandon Bellinger, Brent Roundy (Larry Lehnert dns -motor)

Heat 2: Ray Graham Jr., Rob Summers, Nokie Fornoro, Bob Magner, Bentley Warren, Scott Martel, Dave Sanborn, Kelly Miller, Eric Emhoff

Heat 3: Dave Trytek, Dave McKnight, Vern Romanoski, Lou Cicconi, Mike Ordway Jr., Jamie Timmons, Eric Lewis, John Torrese, Mike Keeler

Xtreme Tuesday ISMA-Wirtgen 50: 1. Rob Summers (97), 2. Chris Perley (11), 3. Mike Lichty (84), 4. Dave McKnight (94), 5. Dave Trytek (70), 6. Nokie Fornoro (32), 7. Mark Sammut (78), 8. Lou Cicconi (75), 9. Vern Romanoski (5), 10. Jeff Holbrook (35), 11. Bentley Warren (71), 12. John Torrese (91), 13. Mike Ordway Jr. (10), 14. Scott Martel (88), 15. Jamie Timmons (27), 16. Bob Magner (40), 17. Brandon Bellinger (02), 18. Ray Graham Jr. (99), 19. Justin Belfiore (8), 20. Dave Sanborn (24), 21. Brent Roundy (76), 22. Eric Lewis (28), 23. Kelly Miller (16), 24. Eric Emhoff (22), 25. Mike Keller (56).

8/18/06

BOBBY SANTOS HAS ONE AMAZING WEEK CAPPING A TWO-WIN TUESDAY WITH AN ISMA-WIRTGEN WIN ON FRIDAY

Lee, NH – Twenty-year old Bobby Santos pulled off an amazing feat at Stafford Speedway on Tuesday night by taking both open wheel features for a bonus of $50,000. What does this Franklin, Mass. driver do for an encore? He beats some of ISMA’s best including the hot streaking Chris Perley. On Friday night at Lee USA Speedway he pulled into victory lane for his third career-win in his short ISMA career. Santos, starting seventh in the 24-car field, snuck up on battling race leaders Scott Martel and Chris Perley, and stole the front spot from both of them with five laps to go. As Martel and Perley were playing cat and mouse with some lap cars, Santos took the Howie Lane 97 under both of them for the lead in turn two. Perley chased Santos for the five remaining laps, but couldn’t catch him. Santos had been stealing away with wins this week and the Rowley Rocket wasn’t going to stop him this night.

Said the quiet young driver in victory lane “It was a great night. It was a lot of fun racing with those guys. Scotty did an awesome job. It was his race but the lap traffic played in my favor. To be able to beat Chris is just unbelievable because he is the best right now. To steal one from Chris right now is like amazing. I’ll take one. It’s been a good week. It’s been a good year.”

Perley, who admitted earlier that he’d settle for a good finish at the tough New Hampshire bullring, was ecstatic with his finish. To get a second at Lee. It can’t beat that with a stick! It was a good race for the fans. I was trying not to get sideways through the whole thing. I was tight on top and loose on bottom. It was a good race. Bobby did a great job. Martel and I were battling for a long time. I think I used up a lot of my tires. I was battling with Nokie and Louie. And the caution would come out and I’d be back behind them. Whatever. It was a great run and a great battle.”

Lou Cicconi, off a win at Mansfield on August 11, made the 75-lap affair even more exciting by taking third from Martel on the last lap. “It was a good race. I can’t believe it. I got third. I caught Scotty napping there at the end. I passed him in the last lap in the last quarter. I did good.”

A large crowd was on hand to see the battle of the titans of ISMA and a battle they got. Oswego’s Bob Magner was the polesitter and he took command right away trailed by Robbie Summers in the Lane 9, and Justin Belfiore, one of the 2006 feature winners. Just behind mixing it up were Dave Trytek, Scott Martel, Nokie Fornoro, Lou Cicconi and Joe Petro.

By lap eight the top four cars which now included Martel, began meandering their way through slower cars on the three-eighths mile. By lap twenty, Magner had pulled away from the pack somewhat and had a lap car-cushion when the first yellow fell for a hard hit by Johnny Payne. Several cars headed to the pits in the cleanup including Jamie Timmons, Dave McKnight, Mike Lichty and Vern Romanoski. Payne and Timmons remained pitside on the green.

The field bunched behind Magner but he was able to stay the course with two more minor yellows falling in laps 24 and 26 for a spinning Brent Roundy. On the next green positions behind Magner began to change as Scott Martel put the Budnick 88 into third behind Belfiore and second on lap 30. Belfiore, Summers, and Fornoro now had Chris Perley breathing down their necks, something they had experienced all season. Cicconi, Bob Santos, Joe Petro, Russ Wood in the Martel 14 and Ricky Wentworth ran closely behind.

Martel, in front of friends and family, had the winning desire and on lap 37, he passed by Magner off turn four as Magner’s teammate Shawn Muldoon (35) slowed the front-runners for a moment. Magner, however, did not lose sight of Martel as lap traffic began to play. Chris Perley was high and low as all eyes watched the Miller 11 move up. By lap 43 he was second and headed for his close friend Martel.

It now became a friendly battle for the lead as Perley, who said earlier, Lee was one tough track to win at, tacked to Martel’s rear. On lap 47, Mike Lichty slowed suddenly and headed to the infield with Martel and Perley getting on the binders a bit. Perley actually got by Martel here, but settled back into second as Lichty moved toward the pit in front of him.

With twenty to go, the 88 and 11 had fans on the edge of their seats as Magner, held off Santos, Cicconi, Fornoro, Summers and Russ Wood. Wood, however, stopped suddenly off four bringing out the yellow. He said later the 14 just shut down unfortunately as he was just beginning to move forward.

Martel was able to stay ahead of Perley on the green, but it was Santos on the move now as he went by Magner to take third. Lou Cicconi put the 75 by Magner a few laps later as the chase to the finish heated up. Belfiore, Fornoro, Summers and Petro were still running strong behind.

Perley pressured Martel with all he had with a loose and tight car as aforementioned. On lap 69, the crowd screamed as Santos dove under Perley who almost was sideways as the leaders approached a lap car. In one fell swoop, the Franklin Flyer was in the lead passing Martel as cheers erupted from the bleachers. The checkered flags flew for Santos as they boys were still racing behind. Perley drove over for second while Lou Cicconi made a last ditch attempt and stole third from Martel. Magner finished a fine run behind Scott for fifth.

The mood in the Budnick trailer showed a little disappointment at having just missed another one. Said Martel of Bradford, MA, “Tbe most frustrating part is racing here in front of so many family and friends and to come up short again. It’s really, really frustrating. With a little more cooperation from lap cars we would have had this one in the bag. Bruce and I are really jelling. All our sponsors that help us out we appreciate it.” And then Scott, smiling, made a prediction, “We’re going to win the Star Classic.”

Magner, who held is own among the big dogs, was all smiles. “I’m happy that we all finished. I shared the fifth place with Dave and Shawn. I’m glad that we are all going to roll on the trailer because it’s too much work when we don’t. To lead was nice. I was just trying to be smooth. Those guys are going to go by. They’ve been doing this for a while. I got real loose. If it were a thirty lap race I probably would have won it.”

Sixth through tenth were Justin Belfiore, Nokie Fornoro, Rob Summers, Joe Petro and Doug Boisvert.

Notes…. Prior to the ISMA feature a long line of Harleys traversed the Lee USA Speedway with Bentley Warren near the front. Bentley and friends were raising money for a young girl Megan with a brain tumor who needs an operation and doesn’t have the funds…. The group received a warm welcome…The unclaimed ISMA Iron Horse bike sponsored by Perley’s Marina Repair, also went to Megan…Next up is the ISMA-Wirtgen Super Nationals of Bud Classic weekend on Sept. 2.

7/29/05

KYLE CARPENTER WINS HIS FIRST-EVER ISMA FEATURE AT SANDUSKY HY-MILER PRELIMINARY FRIDAY NIGHT

Sandusky, OH: Kyle Carpenter took a pretty hard hit to his shoulder at an ISMA race at Toledo Speedway in June and has been on the mend since. But, Friday night at Sandusky Speedway, the pain lifted for a moment after he claimed his first-ever ISMA win fending off some of the top drivers in the business in so doing. The young Gloucester, Mass. driver led every step of the way in the 40-lap prelim to the prestigious 100-lap Hy-Miler on Saturday. Kyle survived several yellows on his way to his career-first in his short supermodified career and a third coveted win for car owner Howie Lane. Carpenter was elated in victory lane after accomplishing a life-long dream.

“I have to tell you it’s just great to be a part of this. I still remember watching my first ISMA super race at Lee Speedway and Mike Ordway left everybody and won it. Just to be able to race with these people, to be around all of the people and now to become one of the people who have won a super race is a really great feeling. It really is. I never intended to use midgets or the supermodifieds as a stepping-stone to anything else. I don’t want to go to Nextel Cup. I don’t want to go to Busch North. I just want to race supermodifieds. You don’t know how good this is!

Kyle continued on to say, “I have to thank everybody on my crew. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve rebuilt these cars. I have to thank my dad because he puts in endless hours on this car. Howie Lane puts these two cars together. He never gave up on me. Thanks to Tuner for putting these motors in here. And Reader Electric, Dr. Mom Says School is Cool and of course ISMA and Sandusky Speedway.”

Trailing Kyle throughout the 40 laps was Ipswich, Mass. driver Justin Belfiore who could get close to Kyle, but admittedly never close enough. “Kyle pretty much had us covered. I couldn’t do anything with him. I was hoping the race would stay green and we could actually run through some lap traffic and have some fun. But, Kyle did a great job. He was the fastest car from lap one on. . Congratulations to him. I’d like to thank my sponsors too, D&G Modular Homes and Kingsley Automotive Machine tonight - one and two.”

Another young driver who had to work for his third spot was Mike Lichty. Lichty had started seventh and worked his way into third on lap 26, passing Carpenter’s teammate Scott Martel on the way. Said Lichty, “We were just a little too tight. Third again. We’ll take it and we’ll try and get them tomorrow I’d like to thank Lucas Oil and Patco and congratulations to Kyle. Thanks to my dad Brad. Without him I wouldn’t be here.”

Justin Belfiore and Carpenter were on the front row of a 25-car field when the green dropped on the Hy-Miler ISMA 40 with Carpenter slinging the Lane 9 out front from the get-go. On lap 10 things slowed with a multi-car tangle, which affected Bobby Haynes, Joey Payne, Jon McKennedy and Pat Abold. Payne had to pit with a flat left rear. Haynes was hooked and Abold and McKennedy went to the rear.

Carpenter was off on the green, putting some distance between his number 9 and Belfiore’s 8. Scotty Martel moved into third after Payne’s pitstop with Mike Lichty and Chris Perley right there. Joe Petro, Russ Wood, Louie Cicconi, Dave McKnight and Nokie Fornoro were chomping at the bit to move forward. Cicconi, however, brushed with the 94 of McKnight around lap 16 and although no flag flew, Louie had to put the 75 pit side with a damaged axle.

As the race ran green for a number of laps, Belfiore was able to close the gap that Carpenter had built up with Martel, Lichty and Wood in the top five. Wood had moved past Perley by lap 23, but Perley recovered his fourth place spot from Wood a few laps later.

Yellow flew on lap 26 for a part on the track while Matt Seavey and Jack Smith pulled in with mechanical problems.

One lap was complete with Carpenter at the helm before another yellow and quickly red fell for a blocked track out back. Obstructing the flow of the race were Joe Petro, Randy Burch, Mike Ordway, Joe Gosek and Joe Grunda. Gosek was pushed to the pits. Grunda, who already was laps down, headed in. Petro and Ordway received hook jobs while Burch was given his spot back on an avoidance call. A brief fire erupted on the Ordway 61, but it was quickly extinguished.

The race resumed with 11 to go and Carpenter feeling the pressure from Belfiore and Lichty after the field had closed in behind him. But Kyle was up to the challenge and he able to pull away from Belfiore and Lichty. Russ Wood had settled in fourth while Scott Martel held up Chris Perley’s progress forward for a couple laps before Chris put the 11 by to make a run at Wood for fourth but time had run out.

Crossing for his first career feature was Kyle Carpenter, trailed by Belfiore, Lichty, Wood and Perley in the top five.

Said Wood after his run, “The car was okay. There were a lot of top runners in front of me that I had to pass. We’ll just use this as a tune-up for tomorrow. We got everything we could out of it. I lost my brakes there. I was using them way too hard. After I passed Chris I lost my brakes and I had to slow down. Then Chris got me back and I stopped using my brakes. We got that yellow and they came back and I got him back again.”

The yellows that helped Wood, hurt Perley. “We needed long stretches. We tried something different tonight because every time we come here we just don’t get it right. I don’t know if we got it, but we didn’t go backwards. We had fun in that long stretch racing with Russ racing back and forth. Tonight we needed more laps. Tomorrow we’ll probably need less. I think 63 laps will do it tomorrow.”

The Hy-Miler 100 takes place on Saturday, July 30, 2005.

9/04/04

BOBBY SANTOS TAKES SECOND CAREER ISMA WIN WITH BUDWEISER SUPER NATIONALS VICTORY AT OSWEGO SPEEDWAY

Oswego, NY – Eighteen-year old Bobby Santos of Franklin, Mass. has been jumping back and forth between different divisions and different cars this season. Santos likes the variety as he prepares for his future in racing. Saturday at Oswego Speedway Santos jumped from his NEMA midget ride into the Howie Lane owned number 9 supermodified as part of a triple-duty driving weekend and went from his fourth place starting spot to a win over some of supermodified’s best! Santos inherited the race lead from a high-flying Justin Belfiore when Belfiore’s mount blew a motor just 17 laps shy of what would have been his second career ISMA win. Santos survived pressure from first Lou Cicconi and then defending race champion Greg Furlong for the next 16 circuits to capture one of supermodified racing’s big prizes. And he did it like a seasoned veteran, playing traffic, despite his relatively short time in the powerful supermodifieds. The 50-lap Super Nationals event paid $6,000 to win for the Lane team. The young driver had praise for his crew and his challenger at race end.

“I’d like to thank all the guys on my crew,” said Bob. “ I’ve also got to thank Greg. He looked like the fastest car at the end but I want to thank him for running me clean. He could have beaten me if he really wanted to. But he raced me clean, and again I thank him for that. I tried to use the lap cars to my advantage because I knew someone behind me was faster. I tried to keep the lap cars beside me as along as I could. I was trying to buy some time each lap. It worked at the end.”

Furlong, who had a long road ahead at the start, indicated at the end, “I told the guys to give me the car I had in May when I made that pit stop and started coming up through. That’s exactly the car they gave me. I think I started 15th and the car was a rocket ship. Coming up through I tapped one guy lightly – I think it was Gosek – and I bent up the front nose wing. It was straight up and down. That killed all the down force. The car started pushing. I thought maybe I could get him in traffic but we have to race this car tomorrow and I figured second place is better than a 24th so we’ll take the second.”

Eighth place starter Pat Abold was pleased with his third place finish. – “It wasn’t a bad third place run. It was a fast paced race tonight. The car was good in the long run. I actually got a little loose on entry and I started to fade a little bit. The caution came out there and cooled the tires a little bit. Then it was really tight for about five or six laps and I couldn’t get through the middle of the corner. Then in our run after that it got really good. It was really dangerous going into one tonight at those speeds. For about one or two hundred feet there going into one you could not see anything. You couldn’t have seen a wreck in front of you.”

The competitive ISMA 50 lapper began with Eric Shirey taking the early lead and with continuous green ahead, Shirey took his V2 to a commanding lead, which began to be whittled down by the 9 of Santos and the 8 of Justin Belfiore. Just before the halfway mark of the fast-paced race, Belfiore came off four and put both Santos and Shirey into runner-up spots as the number 8 took over the lead in one swoop.

Belfiore took off in pursuit of his second ISMA win leaving Santos in second. Shirey who had developed a bad vibration in the rear end, began a backward slide while Lou Cicconi, Pat Abold, Joe Gosek Mike Lichty, Furlong, Bentley Warren, Russ Wood and Chris Perley were all hot on the trail.

With twenty to go it was Belfiore, Santo, Cicconi, Abold and Lichty in the top five. One lap later, Belfiore pulled off turn four and into the pits with a blown motor. As Justin said afterwards, “this motor which is an old Bellinger motor has the power, more power than my other motor. I have led four times with it. One time I won.”

The one and only caution of the torrid feature fell on lap 33 for a minor incident involving Dave McKnight which also saw Santos’ teammate Kyle Carpenter heading pitside. Mike Lichty’s 84 was stopped here with a bad overheating problem and he too pitted. The second half of the Lichty team, Dave McKnight finished his race for the day with an ill handling car.

With sixteen laps left, Santos had Lou Cicconi and Greg Furlong bearing down on him on the restart, but Bobby pulled away from Cicconi at the green. Furlong soon got by Cicconi who was losing tire and contracting a motor problem at the same time. It was now the Santos-Furlong show out front as Cicconi held a precarious third. Abold soon took over third on lap 46 with Cicconi trying to hold on.

Traffic, as Santos had said, was his friend as he heard Furlong’s thunder behind. Abold was soon joined by Russ Wood and Joe Gosek as Cicconi fell back in the waning laps. Chris Perley tried to move by Gosek to no avail as time ran out on the race.

Wood was more than happy with fourth. Said Russ, who had won a heat earlier, “We ended up fourth. We were a little too tight. I stopped using the brakes and it stopped pushing. Some guys were slowing down there at the end and we picked up a few spots in the last couple laps. It wasn’t too bad a weekend. Pat was third and I was fourth.”

And, Joe Gosek, driving the May 77, was also satisfied with a fifth. “We’re really happy with fifth,” said Joe. “Everybody worked hard on the car. We really struggled most of the day. We weren’t really one of the fastest cars. We made some changes for the main because we had blistered a tire in the heat finishing second. In the main we sort of started fifth and finished fifth. It was tough out there. It was a good run for us. There were a lot of green flag laps. As I said we had struggled and we’re just happy to come away with a top five. There were a lot of good cars around me – Abold, Cicconi, Woody, Perley and they were still there at the end.”

Bentley Warren, who brought the Dunigan Racing 25 home in 8th, picked up an extra $588 from the Jim Shampine Memorial fund.

8/16/03

17-year-old Santos Stuns Field with First Feature Win

OXFORD, ME--- The LST Landscaping and Property Management Maine Classic for the ISMA Modifieds, NEMA Midgets, and the Oxford Plains Speedway Weekly Racing Series division is one of the major events on the racing calendar in Maine. It’s brute horsepower, high speed, and breathtaking racing. The kind of racing that you’d expect to be dominated by seasoned veterans, but somehow that event became a special night for the Santos family of Franklin, Massachusetts. Because 17 year old Bobby III and his younger sister stole the spotlight and the hearts of Maine’s racing community Saturday night at the famed Maine SuperSpeedway.

The 4th annual Maine Classic 100 for the 800 horsepower winged
Supermodifieds of ISMA was the launching pad for the 17 year old who drove his first small block supermodified at the age of 14 and was a multi time winner that year. Now moving up to the faster, sensitive big block creations Santos has been opening eyes along the way. It took him just nine laps to get to the front in the 100 and for the middle portion of the event he was more than a straightaway ahead of any of the would be challengers. Early leader Lou Ciccione of Aston, PA led, dropped back and then raced back to the runner up spot. Dave McKnight, one of the best racers in the series then took over second, but was at least 6 seconds behind the youngster. With the leader turning laps in the near 13.0 second range, Ciccione had turned a fastest race recorded lap via an onboard laser indicator of 12.805 seconds, McKnight needed a caution flag or a miracle to catch the Bay Stater. He got that caution and after a two lap challenge at more then 105 miles per hour around the 3/8 mile oval he dropped back and worried about the challenges of Chris Perley, the current ISMA point leader. With 10 to go Santos threw caution to the wind and simple increased the lap speed, lap 98 was almost 107 miles per hour, and he pulled away from both McKnight and Perley to run away with his first ISMA win and the first for team owner Howie Lane of Essex, MASS. The soft spoken star of the future in open wheeled racing was a gracious winner to say the least. With the words awesome and unbelievable sprinkled among the thank you’s to family, team members and sponsors Santos sounded like a veteran on the victory podium. But perhaps the biggest endorsement of his talents came from the driver who finished tenth on the night. Bentley Warren is considered one of the greatest short track open wheeled drivers in American motorsports and responded to a recent assessment of young Santos. "This kid is going to get good some day isn’t he" was the question from a news reporter. Warren’s reply was short and to the point. " What do you mean... going to BE"! Former OPS speed record holder Randy Ritskes, Santos’ teammate for Lane Racing, finished fourth with Pat Abold rounding out the top five. The next five were Nokie Fornoro (the 2000 winner), Russ Wood, Greg Furlong, Mark Sammut and Warren.

The Santos family made their mark on the night early when younger sister Erica won her qualifying race for the companion NEMA midget event. Starting third in the 19 car main event she quickly moved to second and set her sights on young Kyle Carpenter in the 25 lap feature run. For 23 laps she chased, but couldn’t make up the difference as Carpenter was looking for his first NEMA win. Lee Bundy blew a motor coming off turn four to bring out the yellow flag for the lone time and that gave Miss Santos another shot at her first NEMA win. Brother Bobby was fighting an ill handling race car so his glory moment would come later in the night, but with Randy Cabral positioned on the inside of the second row he timed his restart better and got in front of Erica as they raced off turn two. Carpenter pulled away for a 1 second victory with Cabral and Santos next across the line. NEMA point leader Joey Payne was next in line and Sean Caisse would round out the top five.

YOUNG BOBBY SANTOS BEATS SOME OF SUPERMODIFIED'S BEST TO TAKE THE OXFORD PLAINS MAINE ISMA CLASSIC FOR THE LANE TEAM

By Carol Haynes 8/17/03

It was almost unfathomable that the young man standing in victory lane Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway had just won his first-ever ISMA-Lucas Oil Super Series feature. But, won he had, taking the Howie Lane 97 into the lead on lap 10, and for 90 more laps, holding off some seasoned supermodified veterans for the victory worth $10,000. The quiet, unassuming 17-year old Bobby Santos III had accomplished what some have tried years to do in the potent division. While it certainly was not his first win in a short, but illustrious career that has found him claiming victory in Star Speedway 350 supers, NEMA midgets and notching a second place in the competitive Sunoco Modifieds at Thompson Speedway, it may the most memorable to date. Santos, from Franklin, Mass., also brought car owner Howie Lane and his Reader Electric-sponsored team their first ISMA-Lucas Oil victory. It was a definitely one for the record books!

Said the new winner above the din of applause from the large crowd on hand," This is amazing. I can't believe it. I don't even know what start this if for me in this division, but I know it's not too many. This is a great crew I drive for. I can't thank them enough. I'd also like to thank all the guys I race with. They treat me great and they're great to me in the pits, coming over to congratulate me. I saw Dave McKnight beside me there. I knew I had a little more so I used it when I saw him and I used it at the end. I had to give it what I had. Racing with someone like Dave McKnight was racing with someone I could trust."

Santos was challenged near race end with some side-by-side racing by 2001 ISMA champion Dave McKnight, but to no avail. Said McKnight after the race," We tried. We still have motor problems. We're not right yet. But, hey, we're in one piece and second here tonight, second last year, second the year before. I’ve got the three seconds. It was a good job by the Patco-Lucas Oil Racing team. They worked hard. I think we're getting back on track and it's a good time to do that. We'll see what happens in a couple of weeks at the Big O."

Chris Perley, who had taken over the ISMA point lead the night before at Lee Speedway, added a few to his point lead by finishing a close third. The" Rowley Rocket" commented on what had just transpired. "We had a pretty good car today. It tightened up a little bit, but we had another good run. We didn't know what to expect from the track. It's fast and everything. Everybody was afraid of the rear tires, but from what I saw a lot of us ended up being tight at the end. We just went overboard. But, Bobby did a great job. It was fun watching him and McKnight battle. I could just run with them, but I couldn't really gain. It was a great battle to watch. It tested Bobby and I think he passed the test tonight. I think it's awesome for him. To be in that seat - hat's off to the Lane crew. And, McKnight needed a good run too and it was good to watch him too. It was good, clean fun. We just came up a little short. I'd like to thank my crew and sponsors - Shea Concrete, Perley's Marina, R&R Engines, NEMRS, Barrett Transportation, Hardy Transportation and Jack Cook Enterprises for all their help."

Only 22 cars were able to make the call to the green in the Oxford Plains 100 ISMA event, but what a show they put on. After testing the waters on the newly paved oval in warm-ups and the qualifiers, the time had come to see what the surface would provide. If the irst three laps were any indication, the crowd was in for a great one. Jamie Timmons, Lou Cicconi and Mark Sammut led each of the first three with Sammut taking over until Santos moved the 97 by on lap nine and away he went

The first of the only three yellows that stopped the progress of Santos
toward his first-ever career win came on lap 15 when Randy Wimert spun off turn four. Wimert was not able to continue.

Mark Sammut tried to reclaim the point on the restart, but Santos was determined to keep it. Soon, Lou Cicconi was back on his tail, then his own teammate Randy Ritskes began pursuit. As the race flew by, it was apparent that Santos had something special this night. He began to pull away, slowly but surely, until he had built up almost a half track lead over Ritskes, Sammut, Cicconi and Jamie Letcher. Moving up through the field were McKnight, Perley, Nokie Fornoro, Russ Wood and Scott Martel.

Santos, whose sister Erika had just finished third in the NEMA companion feature, began to put cars away one at a time as the race approached the halfway mark. Still sorting out behind were Ritskes, Sammut, McKnight, Perley, Fornoro, Wood, Martel and defending race champion Mike Ordway. By lap 47, defending race champion Ordway had moved up behind Sammut and McKnight, as Ritskes ran second a good distance behind. A great deal of action ensued while Santos held his own out front as McKnight, Ordway, Ritskes, Perley, Sammut, Fornoro, Wood and Martel ran wing to wing each lap. Ordway suddenly pitted out of third on lap 61when he suffered motor failure, leaving the spot to Ritskes.

With 25 to go, Santos still had control as he moved smoothly by some lap cars. McKnight, Ritskes and Perley were still battling amongst themselves as Fornoro, Sammut, Wood, Furlong, Martel, Abold and Bentley Warren did likewise a short distance back.

Things looked like they might change when on lap 78 the field was bunched for a spin by Joe Petro. Jen Chesbro exited the race at this juncture with an overheating 33. The crowd watched intensely as McKnight was now right on Santos' tail on the green, but Bob pulled away slightly. Several laps later, Perley finally got by Ritskes and he now chased McKnight. Yellow flew one more time to give Dave, Chris and others a fighting chance. It came at the expense of Scott Martel who broke a hub while running near the top ten.

Once more McKnight mounted some unbelievable pressure that might have intimidated even the most experience driver, but Santos did not yield. With five to go, he began to pull away by a couple car lengths, showing that he had a little more than his pursuers, McKnight and Perley. At the checkered, Santos had done the almost impossible. In just a few short attempts, he had beaten some of the best in the business and the crowd left knowing that they had not seen the last of this rising star of racing. McKnight, Perley, Ritskes and Abold completed the top five. Ritskes, who Santos thanked in victory lane for much advice as his teammate, commented, "We got fourth. We destroyed our tire in the heat race. The crew did an awesome job for the feature because I didn't think I'd have a tire left after 20 laps. We ran a good, easy pace, but the car tightened up at the end. That’s all. That's the stuff that happens. That's why there is only one winner. The kid did a great job."

Howie Lane, longtime competitor and car owner, whose two cars had done him proud Saturday night, just smiled as he watched the ceremonies. "These guys work so hard. I can't even tell you. This was a frame Monday morning and we worked all week on it. We had a problem last night and we worked all day on it. And, this kid is just so smooth and it's such a nice family, I can't be any happier than I am right now."

Santos, by virtue of his win, also earned a guaranteed spot in this prestigious 50 lapper, which pays $6,000 to the winner.