RPW Column: Le Mans Style Meet & Greet, Revival Of Kids Club At OCFS This Saturday

Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – There are two different things happening this Saturday at the Orange County Fair Speedway that fans of all ages will have the opportunity to enjoy.

Near to the 6 o’clock hour, drivers will be bringing their cars to the front stretch and be set up for a “Le Mans” style meet & greet. Fans will be able to go onto the track to meet the drivers, get some photos and autographs and see the cars up close. Speedway officials have indicated that the meet and greet session will last approximately 1/2 an hour with hot laps following.

Also happening Saturday is the revival of the OCFS Kids Club. The club was inactive in 2020 due to the Covid 19 restrictions. Ms. OCFS 2018, Christina Contento, will be signing up members for the club and she is working on some fun activities for the kids. The children are encouraged to head out onto the track around 6pm with their parents, guardian or other family members and enjoy the meet and greet.

This Saturday’s Escape Powersports Plus Night race card will feature the H.O. Penn 358 Small Block Modifieds, Arkel Motors Sportsman and NAPA North East Parts Group Street Stocks.

A look at the 358 point standings sees that Anthony Perrego has reassumed the point lead by 10 points over Danny Creeden. Tanner VanDoren remained in 3rd with Tyler Boniface moving up two spots to 4th. Jimmy Horton is 5th and Roger Henion Jr’s first career 358 win saw him jump from 11th in the standings to 6th. Corey Cormier is 7th and Jimmy Spellmon’s 3 rrd place finish moved him into the top 10 in 8th. Craig Mitchell and Mike Kolka complete the top 10.

Jeff Hulseapple expanded his point lead with his 6th consecutive top 5 finish. Hulseapple now has a 42 point lead over 2nd place Joey Bruning who had a difficult race this past Saturday, involved in an early race accident. Despite also dropping out early in the feature race of 5/8, Joe Bonetti maintained his 3rd place points spot. Bobby Flood moved up 2 spots to 4th and Jake Bedell dropped a spot to 5th. Jared LaBagh is 6th, Gary Edwards Jr 7th, Ryan Neiger 8th, Joe Conklin 9th and Kevin Stevens 10th. Josh Allen, who picked up his first career Sportsman win this past Saturday, is one point out of the top 10 in 11th.

As the Street Stocks hit the track this Saturday, Mike Vigiletti has a 6 point lead over Bob Sleight. Walt Henry is 3rd, Wayne Taylor is 4th and Danny Hedges 5th. Ron Constable, Jim Hajkowski, Dillon Gannon, Ryan Modiano and Charlie Donald comple the top 10 standings.

The May 15th OCFS Schedule is as follows:

• 3:00 Pit Gate opens
• 4:00 Grandstand and Drive in gates open
• 5:30 Mandatory drivers meeting
• 5:50 All Divisions / Cars to the front stretch
• 6:00 – 6:20 Le Mans Style Meet & Greet with fans
• 6:25 All divisions move to the hot pit lane for hot laps
• 6:35 – 6:55 Hot Laps Sportsman, Street Stocks, 358’s
• 7:00 Prerace ceremonies, National Anthem
• 7:15 Sportsman heats, 8 laps each
  • Small Block Modified heats, 8 laps each
  • Street Stock hot laps. round 2
  • Sportsman Last Chance Qualifier (s), 8 laps
  • Small Block Modified Last Chance Qualifier, 8 laps
  • Intermission
  • Sportsman feature, 20 laps
  • Street Stock feature, 15 laps
  • Small Block Modified feature, 30 laps
  • Victory Lane photos, all divisions