RPW Column: Anthony Perrego Prevails In Orange County Fair Speedway 358’s Saturday
Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – After finishing a close 2nd on the opening night for the OCFS H.O. Penn 358 Small Block Division, Anthony Perrego took the lead just before halfway in Saturday night’s 25 lap feature at the 5/8ths House Of Power and he went on to win over Ray Hall Jr, and Jerry Higbie.
It was John Ferrier and Hall Jr making up the front row as the field came to green. But before a lap could be scored, a crash in turn 4 involving Matt Janiak, Allison Ricci, Joe Bonetti and Rich Eurich brought out the red flag. Janiak, Bonetti and Eurich all went off on the hook. Ricci drove away from the scene, but retired to the pits and did not return.
Ferrier led the first 2 laps before Hall Jr moved past him and into the lead on lap 3. After avoiding the 4th turn crash, Perrego was moving up quickly from his 16th starting spot, moving into 4th on lap 3 and passing both Randy Sweetman Hall Jr on lap 4 to take 2nd. Perrego narrowed the gap between himself and Hall Jr. When Hall Jr drifted high in the 2nd turn on lap 11, Perrego moved by for the lead.
Just after halfway, a big pileup on the backstretch brought out the 2nd red flag of the race. Involved were Craig Mitchell, Billy VanInvegen, Roger Henion Jr, Daniel Morgiewicz Jr, Kevin Root, and Charlie Loiodice with Kirk Horton spinning to avoid contact. Horton was able to continue. Henion Jr drove away, but soon pitted. Loiodice came back out, but he too also was done for the race. The others involved were all towed off and finished for the evening. Fortunately, there were no injuries with the red flags.
On the restart, Higbie was able to move from 4th into 2nd, but Hall Jr fought back and passed Higbie to regain 2nd on lap 16. As the race went non-stop the rest of the way, Perrego pulled out to a comfortable and went on to win by 7 1/4 seconds. Hall Jr, despite his car briefly slowing on a couple of occasions, finished 2nd, his best ever finish at OCFS with Higbie 3rd, Corey Cormier 4th and Danny Creeden 5th. Spots 6-10 were taken by Tyler Boniface, Jimmy Horton, Sweetman, Tanner VanDoren and Brad Rothaupt.
“We were lucky at the start to avoid what happened in turn 4,” said Perrego in Victory Lane. “Once out front, the car ran real good, but we have more work to do on it. But I feel good about this win and I think that we can get some more.
Earlier in the evening, heat wins went to Ferrier, Sweetman, Hall Jr and VanDoren with Danny Creeden and Kevin Root taking the consis. Forty cars attempted to qualify.
The win was Perrego’s 13th in the Small Block division, tying him with Higbie for 6th on the all time list.
After the disappointing week 1 tech disqualification and the 2nd week DNF, Brian Krummel had the bounce back race that his team needed as he drove to victory in the Arkel Motors Sportsman division. Jared LaBagh recovered from last weeks heat race crash to finish 2nd to Krummel, and in a great performance, Jake Bedell finished 3rd.
As the field took the green, a spin in the 4th turn collected a large group of cars. Involved were Kevin Stevens, Jeff Higham, Grant Hilfiger, Joey Bruning, Jeff Hulseapple and Joe Conklin. Hulseapple and Bruning drove away with little apparent damage. Stevens continued with body damage, but the others were done for the evening. No injuries reported.
Jared Miller took the lead at the start over Cody Higbie and Bedell. But Bedell, running a great race, took the lead on lap 4 and built a nice cushion for himself until caution waved after 12 laps were down. Krummel had moved into 2nd on lap 9 and passed Bedell for the lead on the restart. Bedell and LaBagh had a great race for 2nd until Jared was able to make the pass on lap 17. At the finish, it was Krummel by 3.5 seconds over Labagh and Bedell. Jamie Yanonne crossed the finish line in 4th, but he was a DQ which moved Hulseapple up to 4th, a nice comeback after the opening lap skirmish. Joe Bonetti was 5th, Gary Edwards Jr 6th, Cody Higbie 7th, Charlie Loiodice 8th, Bruning 9th and Miller 10th.
“We had a problem the first night, we got things straightened out. We made the necessary changes. We had some overheating last week and we now have that corrected so it’s great to be back in Victory Lane tonight,” Krummel said.
Thirty eight Sportsman took part in the heats which were won by Hilfiger, Krummel, Bobby Flood and Josh Allen. Bruning and Anthony Falanga won the consis.
This was Krummel’s 34th career Sportsman win, adding on to his all time leading total for the division. His most previous win was on 10/23/15.
It looked like Jack Beaumont was going to be in line for his 1st ever NAPA North East Parts Group Street Stock win at OCFS. But after an issue in tach, it moved the returning 3 time champion Mike Vigiletti into the top spot on the podium with Wayne Taylor 2nd and Danny Hedges 3rd.
Taylor led from the green and held on solidly to the lead over Vigiletti. Beaumont started 2nd, drifted back to 4th, but started making a comeback, passing Vigiletti for 2nd on lap 11 and Taylor for the lead on lap 12. On lap 14, 4th place running Ryan Modiano slowed on the track, ending his fine race. This set up a one lap sprint to the finish with Beaumont, Vigiletti and Taylor. Beaumont just nipped Vigiletti at the finish, but his disqualification gave the win to Mike, a nice way to end his first night back in competition.
“We weren’t the fastest out there, others were faster than us,” said Mike in Victory Lane. “The car that won is legal at his usual track, I don’t think he did it on purpose. I’m happy to be back here, happy to be back in Victory Lane.”
Taylor finished 2nd with Danny Hedges 3rd. Bob Sleight was 4th with Rob Taylor 5th. Spots 6-10 were Walt Henry, Dillon Gannon, Ron Constable, Jim Hajkowski and Jared Palmer.
Vigiletti’s win was his 29th in the division at OCFS which ties him with Charlie Donald for 3rd on the all time list.
Racing returns to OCFS next Saturday, April 24th with 358’s, Sportsman and Rookies.
