RPW Column: Anthony Perrego’s Last Lap Pass Nets Him 358-Modified Win Saturday At OCFS
Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – As the laps were winding down in the H.O. Penn 358 Small Block Modified 30 lap feature at the Orange County Fair Speedway Saturday night, no one would have blamed Anthony Perrego if he felt that the best he could do would be a runner up finish.
Tyler Boniface was cruising well out in front, at one point having a near straightaway lead.
But Perrego is not one who will give up without a fight. And as often happens in short track dirt racing, lapped traffic came into play and affected the outcome of the race as Perrego made a final lap pass of Boniface to take the victory on Orange County Chamber of Commerce night at the speedway.
It was Daniel Morgiewicz Jr and Pat Reiser on the front row for the feature. On the original start, caution waved for Jimmy Spellmon before a lap was scored. On the next attempt, a mix up in turn 4 collected Chris Shultz, Kirk Horton and Tanner VanDoren. Shultz retired, but Horton and VanDoren continued. When racing got going, it was Reiser leading with Charlie Loiodice moving to 2nd. Boniface, who started 12th was quickly moving up on the outside, racing into the top 5 by lap 9. Perrego was having a slower go of it, as he stayed mired in traffic until starting to break free around lap 7.
It was Reiser, Loiodice and Rich Eurich in the top 3 when caution flew on lap 11. Boniface took 3rd on the restart and then got by Loiodice for 2nd with Bob McGannon racing up into 4th position. Caution was back out on lap 13 and Boniface took the lead while Perrego was still back in 9th. At the halfway point, it was Boniface, Reiser and Loiodice as the caution was again out for Corey Cormier, stopped on the track and requiring a push back to the pits. Perrego was now up to 6th.
Perrego cracked the top 5 on the restart as Boniface was turning some fast laps in the high groove. Perrego passed Reiser for 2nd on lap 18 as Boniface was pulling away. Loiodice was keeping the pressure on Reiser for 3rd. But with 7 to go, Boniface caught the back of the pack and his once impressive lead began to shrink. With 2 to go, Perrego was right behind Boniface and on the white flag lap, they were side by side for the lead when in between turns 3 and 4, they split between a spinning car with Perrego getting the advantage and taking the checkered flag a shade under a second over Boniface. Loiodice, who had battled with Reiser all race long, passed Pat on the last lap to take 3rd. Reiser finished 4th and McGannon 5th. Allison Ricci finished 6th, Danny Creeden 7th and Jimmy Horton 8th, VanDoren recovered from his early race difficulties to finish 9th and Morgiewicz Jr was 10th.
“I thought it was over on lap 5, this thing was going nowhere,” said Perrego in Victory Lane. “It was a great night for us. Tyler runs the top very well here, but we started to reel him in with the lapped traffic. He had to change his lane. It’s a great night for the Brian Smith team.”
Small Block heat wins went to Craig Mitchell, Eurich and Kevin Root.
Brian Krummel held off a hard charging Jared LaBagh to take Saturday’s Arkel Motors Sportsman division 20 lap feature.
It was Mel Schrufer and Cody Higbie leading the field to the green with Schrufer moving out front. After one lap, caution flew for Jeff Higham and Matt Shultz. Schrufer continued to lead Higbie and Ryan Neiger. Krummel was on the move from his 13th starting spot as was LaBagh from 14th. Krummel took 2nd from Higbie on lap 7 and passed Schrufer for the lead a lap later.
Caution on lap 9 slowed the field. LaBagh took 2nd on the restart and from the high groove, kept within striking distance of Krummel. As the laps clicked off, caution waved on lap 18 when Jeff Hulseapple, trying to get into 5th, had a spin around. Clinton Mills made contact with Hulseapple and had his right rear panel torn off. Mills was able to continue. The caution for Hulseapple ended his remarkable string of top 5 finishes for 2021.
The final restart saw Krummel maintaining the lead and taking the checkered flag over LaBagh, Bobby Flood, Schrufer and Mills. Higbie was 6th, Jake Bedell 7th, Neiger 8th, Josh Allen 9th and Charlie Loiodice 10th.
It was Krummel’s 2nd Sportsman win of the season, joining Joey Bruning as 2021 repeat Sportsman winners. Bruning was not in competition Saturday.
Sportsman heat wins went to Josh Allen, Joe Bonetti, Krummel and Higbie. Shultz was the consi winner.
A late race tangle between the 1st and 2nd place competitors enabled Dylan Madsen to take full advantage and win his 2nd Precision Hydraulic and Oil Rookie Sportsman division feature win over Michael Giuliano and Tyler Banks.
Paul Giardini grabbed the lead at the start of the 15 lap feature with Joey Mennite 2nd. Giardini led the first 6 laps before Bob Jashembowski took the lead. Brett Weslowski was 2nd when on lap 12, he and Jashembowski made contact with Bob spinning and Brett retiring to the pits.
Madsen inherited the lead and he outraced Giuliano and Banks to the checkered flag. Kevin Murphy crossed the finish line 4th, but a post race disqualification moved Jashembowski to the 4th spot with Giardini 5th. Mark Connoly, Mike Mikulski, Matt Fairchild, Mennite and Alyssa Fogel rounded out the top 10.
Racing returns to OCFS on Thursday, May 27th as the United Rentals DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds are in action with twin 25 lap qualifying races and a 75 lap feature following. Rookie Sportsman and One-On-One Spectator races are returning for the event. There will be no racing next Saturday, Memorial Day Weekend.
