By Lou Modestino
Second generation driver Richard Savary, of Canton, MA, took the lead on lap 45 and was never headed winning Sunday’s 100-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series event at Seekonk Speedway.
Savary, who grew up watching his father George Savary compete successfully at the famed race track, started 3rd in a 23 car field. The victory is Richard’s second VMRS win. He joins both Keith Rocco and Rowan Pennink as race winners this season.
Savary piloting a brand new mount praised his new ride for the 2014 campaign. “This is a new chassis we got from Brad Lafontaine over the winter. We put our running gear in it and the first two races at Waterford and Monadnock the car was super fast. We got into some situations and were not able to show the speed. Today we were able to show the speed.”
Justin Bonsignore, of West Islip, NY, started 9th, and finished second again after nabbing the runner-up spot last week at Monadnock.“We had a good car. Picked them off one by one. We were a little too neutral. We probably should have been a little tighter to start the race which might have helped us to get through traffic but it hurt us at the end when we couldn’t go get the 99 (Savary)
Anthony Nocella. of Woburn, MA, finished a solid third holding off a persistent Steven Masse, of Bellingham, MA., in the late stages of the race. Nocella, who took the green flag from the 8th starting position, was pleased with the podium finish. “ It was a good car. I thought we had a fast car in the first couple of races. We had a couple of problems We had to strip the car right down to the frame after Monadnock. So it was a solid run. Thought we had a little more but we got loose at the end. All in all it was a good run.”
Masse and Todd Annarummo, of Swansea, Ma, rounded out the top five.
Sixth through tenth were, Jeff Rocco, Pennink, Chris Pasteryak, Max Zachem, and Todd Szegedy.
13 of the 23 cars that started the race finished on the lead lap.
Another fast race was scored at Seekonk by the VMRS at 29 minutes, 16 seconds to complete the 100-laps. Only three caution flags were displayed. The race went non-stop to lap 100 after the third and final caution flag on lap 34.
The series next event is Thursday, May 29, at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson, CT.
Race Summary:
Seekonk Speedway
May 4, 2014
Entrants (23)
Distance: 100-laps
Time of Race: 29:16.045
Margin of 12.231
Best Speed: 98.013 (Annarummo)
Lead Changes: 2
Lap Leaders: Zachem (1-4) Annarummo (5-45) Savary (46-100)
Cautions: Laps- 7, 32, 34
Unofficial Order of Finish: (1) Savary (20 Bonsignore (3) Nocella (4) Masse (5) Annarummo (6) Rocco (7) Pennink (8) Pasteryak (9) Zachem (10) Szegedy (11) Schneider (12) Richardi (13) Houlihan (14) Holdridge (15) Mead (16) Owen (17) Meservey (18) Kopec (19)