Constantino Does It Again At Glen Ridge; Pro Stocks Put On Amazing Show!
Column By: LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – FULTONVILLE, NY – In front of a jammed packed house at the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park Sunday night, there was plenty of fireworks, not only in the sky, but also on the track.
With a super fast track at the 1/4 mile, the cars were making their way around the track in quick fashion, thus making for some high flying action. As the Crate Modified feature made its way on onto the track, the thoughts in everyone’s mind had to be, could anybody spoil David Constantino’s three-race win streak. The West End Towing #7 pilot has been unstoppable at the speedway and he’s proven to be the man to beat in the division.
Jim Introne took the early lead from the drop of the green. He would, however, only hold it for a short while as Constantino made inside then outside moves until he was able to power his way on the outside in turns three and four, taking the lead in just two circuits.
Looking to try to reel in the leader was your second place man Chris Curtis along with Tim Hartman Jr, who was pressuring Curtis on the inside. Joe Orlando was riding in fifth as the top 5 cars started to settle in.
Meanwhile, up front, the #7 of Constantino was on cruise control as he encountered lap traffic near the lap 20 mark. However, he easily made his way through.
Hartman was not giving up though, as he was working to get by Curtis, making his way by on lap 29 to take over the runner-up spot. It was to no avail, however, as it was all the “Lil Bear” who went on to claim his 19th career win at the track and his fourth in-a-row.
Settling, once again, for second place was Hartman with Curtis in third, followed by Colin Dubois and Tyler Thompson.
“I can’t thank my owners enough,” Constantino said. “They give me a a fast hotrod every time we hit the race track.”
Heat winners were Introne and Orlando.
The Limited Sportsman feature saw Shane Lorman and Derrick McGrew Jr. take the green on the front row and it was the young gun McGrew who took the top spot from the outside pole. Lorman sat second followed by the 6r of Ryan Heath.
Up front, it was all McGrew who has been looking very strong and winning races, and he did so again on this night, leading flag-to-flag to claim the win.
“I was a little worried on the last restart we had,” McGrew said. “But, I was hoping to still pull off the win.”
Following the winner across the line was Heath in second followed by Lorman, heat race winner Billy August and Greg Perron.
The Pro Stock main event was one heck of a race for car owner Todd Hoffman. His two drivers, Justin Knight and Ivan Joslin, along with Luke Horning, made this the race of the night.
Early on, Hoffman’s two cars raced side-by-side for several laps with Horning stalking them, just waiting for something to happen so he could make his move.
On the fifth lap, Horning’s car experienced a flat tire to bring out the caution. He did, however, return to the race, albeit at the back of the field.
As racing resumed, it was Joslin who had a nose out front, but Knight came storming right back, as the two would swap the lead back and forth. You could barely fit a pin between the two. However, near the lap 16 mark, the 2H of Horning was back in the mix.
The fans were on the edge of their seats as the trio went through the final laps with nobody giving an inch. However, all good things must come to an end as Joslin’s great run was for naught after he suffered a right front flat and had to go to the pits. He would return though.
At the finish, Knight took the checkers for his sixth career win at the track. Horning was second with Joslin driving like a man possessed to get back to third. Jim Normoyle finished fourth with Ron Delease coming home fifth.
Steve Cosselman took home the Street Stock feature win with Johnny Bennett grabbing his first career Glen Ridge win in the 4-Cylinder Single Cam feature and Andy Graves taking another one in the 4-Cylinder Dual Cam. Bryce Cherko (Sr.) and Connor Hill (Jr.) took home the two Slingshot feature wins.
There was a lot of high-flying action on Sunday night at the Ridge with a couple of drivers showing their muscles in their respective classes to become top dog at the fastest 1/4 mile on dirt. Great action and a super crowd was just what promoters Mike Parillo and Ray Sefrin were looking for and they got it.
Until the next race, God bless our troops and everyone, stay safe. SEE YOU ALL AT THE RACES!
