VMCRA Racing - Shenandoah Speedway 4/18/2009
Welcome back to season 13 of VMCRA racing. We’re off and running and happy to report our first event winner this year at Shenandoah Speedway is Kevin Berkstresser in the good looking #19 Lee Hi Truckstop car. Congratulations Kevin and gang! Although there were lots of position changes, Kevin was in the top three during the entire race, however, the last caution on lap 21 moved him to the top spot all the way to the checkered flag. It was great to see Corey and Dean at the track helping him out. We also had another returning driver make his first trip to victory lane collecting the 2nd place trophy. Congratulations Andy Defillipis in the #97 on a great run. Following Andy was Tim Brown in the #7 taking the 3rd spot. So again, congratulations to all of you on your great finishes in our season opener.
What a great day for racing. The weather couldn’t have been better and we had 12 cars and drivers that were ready to hit the track. Welcome to our newest members that will be heading up our field of rookies this year. Hunter Koschara, Quinn Houff, Tommy Livengood, Shane Estes and David Williams. Although a couple of these you’ve seen before, they still qualify to run with the rookie status and are all out for that Rookie championship. If this race was any indication of what’s to come, this should be an exciting year for these folks.
We were given two practice sessions followed by the European qualifying and in all of these, even though the times were extremely close, it was the #77 of Ryan Adams leading the way through all three, capturing the pole position with a lap time of 19.122. Ryan returns after a year off but still looking good on the track and it’s great to have him and the rest of the Adam’s gang back with us. Taking the outside spot was Amanda Forney with a time of 19.326. If you have access to the internet, you can go to www.mylaps.com, search Shenandoah Speedway and you will be able to view the lap times from the practices, qualifying and the race results.
On to the race. Although a bit of a rocky start with the first couple of cautions coming out just after the 1st and 2nd laps, everybody seemed to regroup and get straightened out. When the green flag dropped, Amanda Forney took the lead on the first lap but then spun on her own coming out of turn 2 which moved Ryan Adams into the top spot. Lap 2 would see the 2nd caution with David Williams in the #34 also spinning out on his own also in turn 2. It seems that this turn is going to be where all of our action is since that’s where all six of the spins and cautions happened. So after getting through the first two laps, everyone would make it to turn 2 again on the 7th lap except for the #17 of Quinn Houff who found himself in the spin cycle bringing out caution number 3, all the while Ryan Adams was leading the way. After getting back to green, once again in turn 2 of the 17th lap it would be David Williams in the #34 taking his turn spinning out for caution number 4 and also bringing Justin LaDuke in the #27 to the front of the pack. With very tight racing Justin would lead laps 17-21 but contact between the two caused both of them to spin thus bringing out caution number 5 and opening the door for Kevin Berkstresser to move into the lead. With a great restart, Kevin was right where he wanted to be but guess what happened next…..Quinn in the #17 spun again followed by Ryan in the #77 also spinning going into lap 24 and bringing out what would be the final caution of the night. Again Kevin had a great restart and took it to the checkered flag for the win. As already mentioned he was followed to victory lane by Andy Defillipis and Tim Brown. 4th would go to Hunter Koschara in the #11 car who ran a great race, stayed out of trouble all night and was never any further back in the pack than 5th, so way to go Hunter! Another smiling face was that of Tommy Livengood who did finish 5th and was tickled to death after suffering some major brake issues and missing out on a lot of practice time. 6th goes to Amanda Forney who started in the front but because of her spin in lap 2, she had to deal with a very ill handling car the rest of the night still managing to work her way back. 7th goes to Cusson & Houff racing with Quinn Houff in the #17. Quinn is another “young gun” you’re gonna have to watch out for. It seems after the race they found several issues with the car that very well could have been holding him back, so look out next week! 8th goes to Justin LaDuke only because of his misfortune on lap 21 but we all know what Justin is capable of. 9th spot, Shane Estes in the #00. Good to see Shane back with us. 10th was Ryan Adams, 11th Darrel Williams who also had some contact with the wall under caution after a little brake checking which broke his floor pan loose. Rounding out the field was #34 David Williams who was involved in a couple of the spins not allowing him to move up through the field. So that’s the race. Even though we had cautions, none were serious, damage was minimal and all 12 cars finished the race on the lead lap with a lot of position changes and excitement throughout the entire event. Looks like our challenge is to find the right way to get through turns one and two and everything will be ok.
Thanks to all of our sponsors – you know we can’t do this without you. We appreciate all of our returning sponsors, Terry Walters, Moody Brothers Jewelers, Mini Cup Supply, Affordable Marine Service, Blue Ridge Pictures (formerly known as Racer Tee’s) and welcome all of our new one’s, Lightening Light Racing Bodies, Houff Transfer, Inc. and Shenandoah Pharmacy.
Most of you should have your decals by now – if you don’t, let me (Robyn) or any of your eboard members know. There will also be more decals coming.
Next race – April 25th, Shenandoah Speedway – 50 laps. If you need anything at all or there is anything we can do to help you get ready, give any one of your eboard members a call and we’ll do our best to make it happen for you. We want you at the track.
Reminder – keep selling and returning your tickets and if you need any more, let me know.
Until next time…..
Robyn
p.s. Willie says Hi and if there’s anything he can do to help any of you out just give him a shout.
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