08/28/2021 - Anthony Perrego and Matt Sheppard Reign Supreme on Big Block Final Four / Champions Night
Saturday evening was the crowning of the 2021 H.O Penn CAT Small Block Modified, The Arkel Motors Sportsman, and The NAPA Northeast Parts Street Stock Track Champions, along with The Final Four in the hunt for the United Rentals DIRTcar Big Block Modified Track Champion. Over 100 competitors filled the pit area for one of the final nights of racing in 2021, with the main event action kicking off first with The H.O Penn CAT Small Block Modifieds.
Twenty-three H.O Penn CAT Small Block Modifieds were in contention for the win, with Anthony Perrego and Tyler Boniface competing for the track championship. Three heat events set up the field, which were won by Charlie Loiodice, Ryan Macartney, and Anthony Perrego. Ryan Macartney and Charlie Loiodice made up the front row. It took no time for Charlie Loiodice to get out front. As Loiodice’s lead continued to grow, it allowed for non stop action to proceed. Points leader and eighth place starter “The Ant Man” Anthony Perrego, worked his way into the top five quickly, getting by leader Loiodice by lap twelve. A caution would come out on lap fourteen for “Hollywood” Craig Mitchell with a transpired motor. On the restart it was all Anthony Perrego out front, however shortly after a second caution would be for “DC Express” Danny Creeden. The final restart would find Perrego still in the lead, but “The Sensational One” Jimmy Horton was hot on his tail. As laps continued to dwindle, Perrego’s lead grew stronger. Horton would then be left to defend second from “Big Brother” Bob McGannon, but McGannon would work his way around Horton and take second. Perrego proved too powerful out front of this event, adding another win to his career. Perrego would put the exclamation point on his 2021 season as he was crowned the 2021 H.O Penn CAT Small Block Modified Champion.
As Small Blocks rolled off the track, it was the NAPA Northeast Parts Street Stocks who rolled onto the track. John Tucker and Ben Richard brought the field to the green. When exiting turn two, Tucker and Ryan Modiano were competing for the lead. Instantly a three wide battle for second ensued. As the racing heated up with action as close as can be, the first caution came when Walt Henry who was in the top five, spun coming out of turn two. The incident would collect Charlie Donald, Jimmy Hajkowski, Ben Richard and Marty VanNieuwland. On the restart, it was all Bob Sleight Jr out front. Sleight would gain the lead, but it didn't come easily. “DC” Danny Carlough put the #777 door to door with Sleight for a few laps until a caution for Anthony Tarantino brought the action to a halt. Sleight and Carlough would take off on the restart and race two laps side by side. As always, the hard chargers made their way into the top five and this would include points leader “The Haverstraw Hammer” Mike Vigiletti. As Vigiletti entered the fray, the tight racing would bring out a yellow for a spinning #777 of Carlough. Sleight and Vigiletti would restart two more times, and the action would come all the way down to the wire with Sleight collecting another win for the history books and Mike Vigiletti’s finish would crown him 2021 NAPA Northeast Parts Street Stock Champion.
When the full fender main event wrapped up, it was now time for the twenty lap Arkel Motors Sportsman feature. Two Precision Hydraulic Rookie Sportsman graduates would make up the front row, with Kasey Hufcut and Brett Weslowski sitting one and two. At the start, Hufcut would garner the lead. Weslowski would follow suit. On lap five a caution would come out for the #11B of Mike Bull on the back stretch. Hufcut would lead the way on the restart again with Weslowski following. As the duo began to put distance between themselves and third place, the points leaders were making their way throughout the field. Jared LaBagh, Joey Bonetti, and Jeff Hulseapple would all be maneuvering around the ⅝ mile. LaBagh would hook his #38 up on the top side and would work his way into the top five before getting caught up to the tail side of Weslowski. Weslowski was throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Hufcut for the lead, but a caution would come out for Mike Orlando in turn three. The lead that Hufcut had was diminished. On the restart, Hufcut maintained his lead but the more experienced Jared LaBagh would take over second from Weslowski before challenging Hufcut. A lap fifteen caution would halt the battle, giving LaBagh another shot at taking the throne among the Sportsman field. As the green waved and Hufcut took the lead, it was short lived as LaBagh would take away the top spot and pick up another win in the 2021 season. Although LaBagh came into the event sitting second in points, Joey Bonetti’s seventh place finish would declare the Central Valley NY native the 2021 Arkel Motors Sportsman Champion.
The final event of the evening was the United Rentals DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds. With only one more event left after the conclusion of the nights thirty lap affair, eight drivers vied for the final four spots for Thursday nights declaration of the $25,000 track champion. Coming into the event, only one of the top eight was locked into the final four, and that was Stewart Friesen. After three heat events, who were won by “The Thrilla From Unadilla” Billy Decker, “Big Brother” Bob McGannon, and “The Ravena Rocket” Keith Flach, the top four from each heat race would redraw for starting positions. At the conclusion of the redraw, Keith Flach and Craig Mitchell would start out front. “Hollywood” Craig Mitchell would take advantage of the start, taking the lead and quickly extending it. Matt Hitchcock would get on by Flach for second and be on the hunt for Mitchell. “Super Matt” Matt Sheppard, the defending 2020 Track Champion would work his way into the top five quickly after starting eighth. As laps dwindled away, Sheppard would catch up to Mitchell during Mitchells charge into lapped traffic. Sheppard would work his way around the #93X and become the race leader. As Sheppard got out front, Billy Decker would work his way into the fray, battling around Mitchell to take over second. A lap seventeen caution would regroup the field, giving Decker a shot at locking himself into The Final Four.
On the restart, Sheppard would be out front, but a caution would be displayed for Stewart Friesen in the apex of turns one and two. Sheppard would lead the way on the restart, but a contender in The Final Eight, Tyler Boniface, would find himself in trouble on the backstretch. This ended Tyler’s shot at making it into The Final Four. Sheppard and Decker were both still out front, and both fighting to lock their way into The Final Four. Heartbreak struck, as mechanical issues for Decker on the last lap brought out the yellow. In a last lap attempt, Craig Mitchell would have one final shot at gaining the lead. Sheppard proved too quick for the one lap dash and claimed his entry into Thursday night's hunt for the track championship. Stewart Friesen, who locked himself into The Final Four by virtue of his feature event win during The Centennial 102, was joined by Sheppard after this win. After the totaling of points, Billy Decker and Anthony Perrego snatched the final two spots for a shot at the $25,000 pay day over Tyler Boniface, Tommy Meier, Bob McGannon, and Billy VanInwegen.
Modified finish:
Pos Competitor Total Time Diff Laps Best Lap Best Lap No. Best Speed
1 9S Matt Sheppard 25:48.240 0.000 30 22.046 21 102.059 mi/h
2 93X Craig Mitchell 25:49.726 1.486 30 22.295 1 100.919 mi/h
3 1D Tyler Dippel 25:50.125 1.885 30 23.035 4 97.677 mi/h
4 17Z Dillon Steuer 25:50.255 2.015 30 23.016 4 97.758 mi/h
5 44P Anthony Perrego 25:50.431 2.191 30 22.787 3 98.741 mi/h
6 43F Keith Flach 25:50.909 2.669 30 22.637 2 99.395 mi/h
7 4V Billy VanInwegen 25:51.309 3.069 30 23.162 13 97.142 mi/h
8 33.3 Tommy Meier 25:51.329 3.089 30 23.279 12 96.654 mi/h
9 244 Chris Whitehead 25:52.280 4.040 30 23.617 7 95.27 mi/h
10 55 Allison Ricci 25:52.686 4.446 30 23.683 27 95.005 mi/h
11 21M Bob McGannon 25:53.374 5.134 30 22.774 3 98.797 mi/h
12 83 Chris Stevens 25:53.641 5.401 30 23.727 12 94.829 mi/h
13 78 Zach Vavricka 25:54.583 6.343 30 23.620 12 95.258 mi/h
14 91 Billy Decker 23:06.488 1 lap 29 22.520 20 99.911 mi/h
15 33H Matt Hitchcock 23:12.522 1 lap 29 22.358 3 100.635 mi/h
16 10 Rich Eurich 25:54.090 1 lap 29 23.766 3 94.673 mi/h
17 4SL Bob Hentschel 25:54.318 1 lap 29 24.035 7 93.613 mi/h
18 33R Patrick Reiser 25:55.811 1 lap 29 23.479 3 95.83 mi/h
19 69 Tyler Boniface 17:15.585 7 laps 23 23.238 9 96.824 mi/h
20 17J Matt Janiak 16:06.801 10 laps 20 23.456 13 95.924 mi/h
21 44F Stewart Friesen 11:25.793 11 laps 19 23.078 10 97.495 mi/h
22 43 Jimmy Horton 6:45.336 13 laps 17 23.069 11 97.533 mi/h
23 28F Stan Frankenfield 6:32.796 14 laps 16 24.026 10 93.649 mi/h
24 47 Brent Cross 5:57.288 16 laps 14 24.760 6 90.872 mi/h
358 Modified finish:
Pos Competitor Total Time Diff Laps Best Lap Best Lap No. Best Speed
1 44P Anthony Perrego 16:35.124 0.000 25 21.883 18 102.82 mi/h
2 21M Bob McGannon 16:40.116 4.992 25 22.261 19 101.074 mi/h
3 43 Jimmy Horton 16:41.550 6.426 25 22.546 18 99.796 mi/h
4 69T Tyler Boniface 16:41.933 6.809 25 22.234 24 101.196 mi/h
5 22 Tanner VanDoren 16:45.093 9.969 25 22.718 12 99.04 mi/h
6 5L Charlie Loiodice 16:45.838 10.714 25 22.434 3 100.294 mi/h
7 12 Ryan Macartney 16:46.215 11.091 25 22.602 5 99.549 mi/h
8 19H Roger Henion Jr 16:47.462 12.338 25 22.724 4 99.014 mi/h
9 83 Chris Stevens 16:48.069 12.945 25 22.913 6 98.198 mi/h
10 4V Billy VanInwegen 16:48.388 13.264 25 22.930 9 98.125 mi/h
11 69G Randy Green 16:49.264 14.140 25 22.910 10 98.21 mi/h
12 55 Allison Ricci 16:49.531 14.407 25 22.787 13 98.741 mi/h
13 16X Dannny Creeden 16:50.661 15.537 25 22.746 8 98.918 mi/h
14 26 Corey Cormier 16:50.827 15.703 25 22.892 8 98.288 mi/h
15 M2 Todd Morey 16:54.683 19.559 25 23.282 10 96.641 mi/h
16 406 Richard Ricci III 16:55.806 20.682 25 23.403 9 96.142 mi/h
17 3 Erik Holmgren 16:53.766 1 lap 24 23.041 19 97.652 mi/h
18 4S Peter Shwartzott 16:58.322 1 lap 24 23.210 18 96.941 mi/h
19 78 Zach Vavricka 16:52.337 6 laps 19 23.007 17 97.796 mi/h
20 17Z Dillion Steuer 5:20.650 11 laps 14 22.151 5 101.576 mi/h
21 93X Craig Mitchell 5:25.568 11 laps 14 22.592 6 99.593 mi/h
22 10 Rich Eurich 4:29.200 14 laps 11 23.481 10 95.822 mi/h
DNS 5A Trevor Arnold 0.000 0.000 - 0.000 - -
DNS 24 Chris Shultz 0.000 0.000 - 0.000 - -
Sportsman Finish:
Pos Competitor Total Time Diff Laps Best Lap Best Lap No. Best Speed
1 38 Jared Labagh 15:27.095 0.000 20 22.810 18 98.641 mi/h
2 72 Kasey Hufcut 15:29.797 2.702 20 23.323 6 96.471 mi/h
3 5 Ryan Neiger 15:31.217 4.122 20 23.737 8 94.789 mi/h
4 3W Brett Weslowski 15:32.204 5.109 20 23.518 8 95.671 mi/h
5 24B Joe Bruning 15:32.588 5.493 20 23.906 9 94.119 mi/h
6 1X Jeff Hulseapple 15:33.402 6.307 20 23.990 4 93.789 mi/h
7 20B Joe Bonetti 15:34.016 6.921 20 23.597 4 95.351 mi/h
8 24S Matt Schultz 15:34.388 7.293 20 24.032 4 93.625 mi/h
9 21 Jamie Yannone 15:34.788 7.693 20 23.868 4 94.268 mi/h
10 21JR Gary Edwards Jr 15:35.193 8.098 20 23.860 19 94.3 mi/h
11 15S Dylan Smith 15:35.393 8.298 20 23.714 3 94.881 mi/h
12 46 Lem Atkins 15:36.200 9.105 20 24.093 4 93.388 mi/h
13 J73 Joe Conklin 15:37.621 10.526 20 24.053 5 93.543 mi/h
14 4A Josh Allen 15:37.877 10.782 20 23.840 11 94.379 mi/h
15 91 Bobby Flood 15:38.377 11.282 20 24.499 8 91.84 mi/h
16 21III Gary Edward III 15:38.609 11.514 20 24.221 10 92.895 mi/h
17 97B John Bockhorn 15:39.224 12.129 20 24.519 4 91.766 mi/h
18 6 Pat Mann 15:39.695 12.600 20 24.539 4 91.691 mi/h
19 11 Mike Bull 15:40.147 13.052 20 24.176 7 93.068 mi/h
20 69T Travis Green 15:41.449 14.354 20 24.608 9 91.434 mi/h
21 10R Ryan Walther 15:43.094 15.999 20 24.016 3 93.688 mi/h
22 399 Nick Giardini 15:44.252 17.157 20 24.536 3 91.702 mi/h
23 7D Mike Orlando 15:44.871 17.776 20 24.746 10 90.924 mi/h
24 73J Troy Arnold 15:45.406 18.311 20 23.611 7 95.295 mi/h
25 717 Everett Haubrich 2:09.758 15 laps 5 25.247 3 89.119 mi/h
26 97C Cody Higbie 32.780 19 laps 1 28.220 1 79.731 mi/h
Street Stock Finish:
Pos Competitor Total Time Diff Laps Best Lap Best Lap No. Best Speed
1 8 Bobby Sleight Jr 22:00.770 0.000 15 28.767 11 78.215 mi/h
2 1 Mike Vigiletti 22:01.005 0.235 15 28.808 13 78.103 mi/h
3 3C Cody Clark 22:01.609 0.839 15 29.195 13 77.068 mi/h
4 191 Jack Beaumont 22:02.100 1.330 15 29.338 12 76.692 mi/h
5 78H Danny Hedges 22:02.766 1.996 15 29.642 15 75.906 mi/h
6 75 Ray Tarantino 22:03.380 2.610 15 29.921 6 75.198 mi/h
7 110 Ben Richard 22:04.254 3.484 15 29.980 8 75.05 mi/h
8 32 Charlie Donald 22:04.488 3.718 15 29.756 13 75.615 mi/h
9 414 John Tucker 22:07.792 7.022 15 29.946 12 75.135 mi/h
10 3T Randy Torres 22:17.762 16.992 15 29.985 9 75.038 mi/h
11 45 Jim Hajkowski 22:05.821 1 lap 14 29.797 14 75.511 mi/h
12 777 Danny Carlough 14:11.115 2 laps 13 28.859 12 77.965 mi/h
13 07 Ryan Modiano 14:16.238 2 laps 13 29.790 13 75.529 mi/h
14 07T Anthony Tarantino 11:08.844 6 laps 9 30.401 7 74.011 mi/h
15 171 Walt Henry 1:31.916 12 laps 3 29.914 3 75.216 mi/h
16 60 Marty Van Nieuwland 1:34.377 12 laps 3 30.668 3 73.366 mi/h
DNS J30 Jared Palmer 0.000 0.000 - 0.000 - -