RPW Exclusive: Constantino Keeps Bounty Going At The Ridge; Melee On First Lap Almost Changed The Game

Column By: LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – FULTONVILLE, NY – Another night and a bigger bounty on the line to see if anyone could knock off the two king pins at the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. A few more cars would invaded the fastest quarter-mile to see if anyone could dethrone Tim Hartman Jr. and Dave Constantino. The answer to the question though, was no as Constantino parked his car in victory lane.

The bounty was up to $700 and even Albany-Saratoga Modified ace Jessey Mueller was in the house. Mueller was in Brian Calabrese’s white #21c. The talk before the race may have been about the bounty, but it soon turned, and turned in a bad way.

Joe Orlando grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag with third place Chad Edwards ducking underneath Billy August for second in turns three and four. As he was completing the pass off the corner, Edwards’ right rear went up over August’s left front sending both out of shape.

With the rest of the pack hard on the throttle, Andrew Buff had no time to react as he was right behind August. Edwards was going sideways up the track as everybody jammed up and had no time to react. August couldn’t slow with Buff’s car under his rear bumper and for the rest of the drivers, it was hang on.

A chain reaction ensued. August went airborne, rolling over as the pack piled in hard. It was a misfortune along with heartbreak for many drivers, but most importantly, everyone was ok.

Those involved in the accident included Tim Hartman Jr., Buff, Mike Coffey, Kurtis Hohensheldt, Brian Calabrese and Mueller as well as Edwards and August along with a few others. Some cars had extreme damage.

While one of the hunted was eliminated, Dave Constantino was lucky enough to make it through. As the race resumed, Orlando continued to lead, running a strong race before the West End Service #7 got wound up on the outside. Constantino took over the lead on lap 7 coming down the frontstretch and went on to claim the victory, and in turn keeping the bounty intact.

“This weekend, I watched Days of Thunder and they said always aim for the smoke and that’s exactly what i did,” Constantino said of the accident. “I headed towards the accident and was lucky enough to make it through.”

Orlando finished in runner up position with Colin DuBois, Mueller and Harry Shaffer rounding out the top 5.

Limited Sportsman driver Ryan Heath took advantage of his front row starting position as he had a couple restarts that would see David Boisclair give him a challenge. However, Heath was up to the challenge as his ‘drive for five’ became reality, claiming the victory.

Boisclair finished second with Derrick McGrew Jr. making his way to third after an early-race incident where he was sent spinning. Greg Perron came home fourth followed by Shane Larman in fifth.

“The car is amazing tonight,” Heath said. “Everything just worked out well for us.”

The Pro Stock feature had fans on the edge of their seats as Andy Graves set the pace with Luke Horning breathing down on the rookie. Horning charged by for the lead as Graves drifted high in turns one and two. Ivan Joslin and Justin Knight scamper through for second and third at the same time, battling door-to-door for many circuits until the yellow was waved.

A restart on lap eight had Knight grab second away from Joslin with Randy Cosselman wanting to join the fun. Cosselman was trying to make it a four-car battle for the lead.

Knight took advantage and powered around Horning on the outside to take the lead and then the battle for second heated up between Horning and Joslin all the way to the finish. However, the evening belonged to Knight as he pulled away to capture the victory for car owner Todd Hoffman.

Horning would get the bridesmaid spot followed by Joslin, Cosselman and Devon Camenga.

The Street Stock feature had Cliff Haslun take the early lead but Jason Samrov came storming to the front. Samrov took the lead on lap 11 going to the inside, bringing Steve Cosselman with him. Cosselman was pulling double duty on the night and got to Samrov’s back bumper but ran out of laps, having to settle for second. Samrov brought home the win over Cosselman, Haslun, Jim Groncki and Bob Sleight.

The 4-Cylinder Dual Cam feature saw Josh Samrov, brother of the Street Stock winner, grab another victory as he out-duelled PJ Bleau. Ken Hollenbeck was your Single Cam winner.

The crafty veteran who has found it, Danny Ballard, has been on a tear for a while at the Ridge in the Senior Slingshots. Spencer Cherko took the lead but the “Grand Gorge Gang” member Ballard took his #22 machine to the bottom and reeled in the leader, making the pass on lap 11 and pulled away to the convincing win.

“It took me a little time to see what lane was the best,” Ballard said. “I tried the bottom but wasn’t sure if i could catch the leader. He slid up getting loose and I was able to get by.”

Junior Slingshots had Garrett Poland get back to victory lane after an unusual outing last week. Poland got out in front early and put his car on cruise control until the checkers flew. Bryan Preville, Chris Pinkerous, Connor Hill and Darryn Fallis rounded out the top 5.

I was able to catch up with the “hired gun” Jessey Meuller before the feature started to see what made him venture to the track.

“Calabrese and I were talking during the week and he asked if I would like to race his car,” he said. “I accepted as I had a free day, but can also help him out with some stuff on this car.”

I asked him if he had ever been to the Ridge in the past.

“Yes, I’ve been here twice for Small Block shows,” he said. “We didn’t run well in the heat tonight but I think it will be much better in the feature.”

Unfortunately, Mueller was caught up in the first lap incident and never had the car at 100% after that.

Next week is Championship night at the Ridge so make sure you get out and support your local race track.