It Was A Night To Be “Happy” For Harry Shaffer At Glen Ridge

Column By: LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – FULTONVILLE, NY – It was an amazing night of racing at The Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, which featured double points for all divisions. That means it could be a great night for some and disappointing for others.

Happy Harry Shaffer in the Sampson Motor Car 1H had a fast night. It all started with him winning his heat and starting on the pole in the 25-lap feature. He went into the race sitting second in points behind the #35 of Chris Curtis.

Starting on the outside of Shaffer was the #9x of Jim Introne Jr. as the pair brought the field down to the green. The 1H took the point but a caution came out before they could get a lap in as cars bunched up in turns one and two. Collected in the accident were Tim Hartman Jr. and Bobby Hackel, among others. Hartman and Hackel were able to continue.

On the restart, it was all Shaffer as he started to run away and hide. Meanwhile, the battle for positions two through four was heating up between Introne, point leader Curtis and last week’s winner, Dave Constantino. The car that was on the move was the #7 of Constantion as, on lap 14, he took over third and the next lap second. Now he was setting his sights on Shaffer, but 1H had already built up a half track lead. The thing that the #7 needed was a caution, but it never came. It was all ‘Happy Harry’ with a dominating win.

“We’ve been struggling the last couple of weeks and the boys at DKM helped us out to get the car back to were it needed to be,” Shaffer said. “I just wanted to get in lead and hope for no cautions and bring home the victory. I sure am tired.”

Coming home second was Constantino and with his third place finish, Chris Curtis took home the track championship. Fourth was Tim Hartman after coming from the back and fifth was Jim Introne.

Limited Sportsman action had Kathy Bellon #77 and Vinny Visconti #9 bringing the field down to the green and it was the #9 taking the lead.

After a caution on lap two, Mike Jackson took the top spot and wasn’t phased the rest of the way, claiming the Win and the track championship. He did so in his brother. Harry Shaffer’s, #1H machine.

“This was our goal but we’ve been struggling,” he said. “We’re thrilled we got things turned around.”

The runner-up position went to the #50 of Bill August and the driver who has been on a tear of late, Dave Richer, in the popular #318, came in third.

No matter what track you are at, the Pro Stock drivers put on a great show as the race at Glen Ridge on Sunday was no different,

It was Kyle Hoard’s #78 and Justin Knight’s #8 on the front row with Knight looking strong as he took the lead. Luke Horning, who started in the third position, was looking to take his 2H to the front.

On a lap four restart, Horning powered around the outside to take over the top spot but Knight wasn’t going away as the two battled side-by-side for a couple circuits.

Joining the dog fight was the Iceman, Ivan Joslin, as he would soon get around Knight with the #5 of Norm Loubier coming in to the battle as well. Soon, the leaders would come into lap traffic as Joslin was right on the back bumper and knocking on the door. Horning made it around the lap traffic and went on to Win the race by a car length at the checkers, and also took the 2017 Track Championship.

The wild and crazy 4-Cylinder feature was won by Chris Andrews in commanding fashion as he also took the track title.

The 15-lap Sr. Slingshot feature had Danny Ballard, “YES folks” the 22m of Danny Ballard. Ballard was one of the original Grand Gorge Gang that raced at Fonda Speedway many moons ago. He started on the pole with John Sprague along side.

It was Ballard who took the lead early as a battle was brewing between your leader, Bryce Cherko and Mike Hill.

A Lap 9 caution sent Cherko to the pits. On the restart it had Mike Hill getting a good jump to take over the top spot. One more caution came out on lap 13 giving Ballard a shot to take the lead back.

The two raced side-by-side for the last two circuits with Hill nipping Ballard by a hair at the finish line and took home the championship.

“It was great racing with Danny,” Hill said in victory lane. “I always watched him when I was growing up.”

I must say, those slingshots are really moving on the fastest 1/4 mile track on dirt.

Jr. Slingshots was won by Derrick McGrew Jr. He was able to get by the top two runners as they had contact and the second-generation driver was there to take advantage. He went on to get the victory but it was Garrett Poland who took the track title.

I must give a shout out to the track preparation as it was in great shape. Fast, smooth and tacky all night with a lot of great racing in all divisions. Hats Off to you, as one knows, when all the drivers are out of breath in victory lane, the track was fast and they were up on their steering wheel every second.

The Track will be holding more races this year as they are not ready to end the season at the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. The promoters are hoping that you will come and support your local track.
Keep your eyes open to see what’s coming up next. See you all at the track. And please, everyone, be safe in your travels.