HENDRICKSON ENDS VICTORY DROUGHT WITH BRIDGEPORT WIN SATURDAY NIGHT

Bridgeport, NJ – Wade “the Flying Farmer” Hendrickson picked up the $2500 win Saturday night at Bridgeport Speedway, winning the twenty-five lap big block modified feature in the Rio Brothers #R10 Teo modified. The win was the first one for the 2000 modified champion in almost three months, giving Hendrickson a total of five for the season. In sportsman action, Grenloch, NJ’s Sam Wescott grabbed his first win of the season, taking the twenty lap feature event in an exciting battle with five time winner Richie Pratt Jr. The Jasper Winged Sprint A-Main saw Hammonton, NJ’s Steve Strubble take the win, driving the Helget #94 to victory.

The front row starters of Ricky Elliott and Stephan Durand paced the field to start the twenty-five lap modified feature, with Elliott jumping out to the early lead with fourth starting Jimmy Chester right on his bumper. On a lap four restart saw Chester use all the horsepower of his #44 to charge past Elliott to take the lead as the two raced through turns one and two. At the halfway mark, Chester still had the lead, with Wade Hendrickson and Duane Howard closing in on the leader. Howard actually got past Hendrickson for the runner up position, but Hendrickson charged right back to grab back the spot. With ten to go, Chester still had a lead, but it was shrinking fast as Hendrickson and Howard were cutting down the lead. Coming down the front straight to complete lap seventeen, Hendrickson was right on Chester’s tail and as the two entered turn one, Hendrickson dove under Chester to take the lead as the two exited turn two. As Starter Dennis Weir gave the field the five to go sign, Hendrickson had the lead with Chester holding off the #126 of Howard for second, with Jimmy Horton and Doug Hoffman having a battle of their own for fourth place. Lap twenty-two saw Hoffman, who started fifteenth, wrestle away fourth place from Horton, and one lap later the 2001 champ slid the Lincoln Auto Body #5 slid past Howard for third place. At the finish, Hendrickson had his fifth win of the season, while Newfield, NJ’s Chester had his best finish of the year, coming home second. Hoffman, Howard, and Horton completed the top five. Elliott, Chester, and Durand won the eight lap qualifying heats, with Danny Hieber taking the consolation race.

Flemington, NJ’s Jay Horton sprinted out to lead the opening of the twenty lap sportsman feature, but fourth starting Sam Wescott had his eyes on the front spot, and after charging into second place on the first lap, Wescott had his own #51 in the lead on the very next lap. While Wescott had the lead, the action behind him was hot as Billy Harris and five-time feature winner Richie Pratt Jr. were battling for the runner up position. This battle went on for about five laps until Pratt finally got past Harris and set his sights on Wescott. Lap nine saw Pratt get within two car lengths of Wescott, and as the two went into turn one, Pratt pulled even with the leader, but Wescott was able power out of turn two to hold on for the lead. Coming down the front stretch to get the halfway sign, Pratt and Wescott came down in front of the main grandstand door to door, with Pratt again making a low groove move to take the lead, only to see it erased when the caution flag had to be displayed for a two car tangle in turn two. On the restart, Wescott was able to pull away, but Pratt again put the nose of the Klair #34 right on the rear bumper of the leader. With Wescott and Pratt waging their own war, Harris, point leader Bob Sarkisian, and two-time feature winner Dan Cogdill were putting on a show of their own for third place. Sarkisian, who leads the sportsman point race by one point over Harris, used the high groove to get by the Haldeman Ford #3 for third place with just two to go. For the last two laps, Wescott used the low groove to hold off Pratt to get his first win of the season. Sarkisian came home third, right behind Pratt, with Harris and Cogdill completing the top five. Sarkisian increased his point lead over Harris by two points, giving him a three-point lead for the season. Heats for the Bridgeport Sportsman were won by Sarkisian, rookie of the year candidate Judd Mills, and Steve Lindale, while Kevin Collins won the consolation race.

With a front row of Steve Strubble and Jeff Mueller leading the Jasper Sprints to the green flag to start the race, familiar fans of these two knew that these two would put on a show with their exciting driving styles. Strubble jumped out to the lead, but Mueller could never really mount any kind of a challenge, and by the sixth lap was retired from the event with mechanical woes. Mueller slowed on the backstretch and coasted around to the front to bring out the yellow flag. With Mueller out, this put point leader Shane Smith on Strubble’s rear bumper, with Mike Donaghy, driving the Grandinetti #23 in third. With five to go, Smith and Donaghy were closing in on Strubble, and two laps later Smith dropped down to the inside of one and two to actually pull ahead of Strubble. As the two charged down the backstretch, Strubble was able to get enough bite to retake the lead, while Smith had his hands full with the flying Donaghy. At the finish, Strubble had his second win of the season and sixth of his career in the Jasper Sprints, with Smith holding off Donaghy for second place. 2000 Jasper sprint champion Steve Fleetwood came home fourth, while John Wyers filled out the top five. Smith and Mueller won the qualifying heats for the winged sprints.

BRIDGEPORT SPEEDWAY RESULTS SATURDAY AUGUST 3, 2002

MODIFIEDS

Heat 1 – Elliott, Hendrickson, Schweibinz, Hirthler, Kerr, Hatt

Heat 2 – Chester, Horton, Bottcher, Stonebraker, Franz, Hughes

Heat 3 – Durand, Adams, Howard, Infante, Hoffman, Kressley

Consi – Hieber, Firth, Vasquez, Gibbons, Weaver, Dekutoski

MODIFIED FEATURE - 25 LAPS

WADE HENDRICKSON, Jimmy Chester, Doug Hoffman, Duane Howard, Jimmy Horton, Carmine Infante, Steve Bottcher, Rick Laubach, Ricky Elliott, Dave Adams, Ryan Kerr, Kevin Hirthler, Danny Hieber, Brian Kressley, Ben Hatt, Mike Hughes, Mike Franz, Phil Vasquez, ed Firth, Dave Daniels, Bob Gibbons, Dave Stonebraker, Bud Schweibinz, Stephan Durand, Joe Dekutoski DNS-Wayne Weaver

SPORTSMAN

Heat 1 – Sarkisian, Horton, Wescott, Burkhart, Lileck, Forte

Heat 2 – Mills, Briggs, Britt, Pratt, Cogdill, Hirthler

Heat 3 – Lindale, Masiado, Harris, DeMedio, Klingmeyer, Stinson

Consi – Collins, Lineman, Pursell, Wyant, Pierce, Malcolm, Price, Schultz

SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20 LAPS

SAM WESCOTT, Richie Pratt Jr, Bob Sarkisian, Billy Harris, Dan Cogdill, Kevin Collins, Judd Mills, Jim Britt, Steve Lindale, Mike DeMedio, Bill Briggs, Bob Lilick, Andy Burkhart, John Pursell, Bob Lineman Jr, Mark Malcolm, Robert Wyant Jr, Bruce Hirthler, Rich Stinson, Mark Forte, rob Pierce, Dennis Price, Jay Horton, Bill Klingmeyer, Joe Masiado, Steve Schultz

JASPER WINGED SPRINTS

Heat 1 – Smith, Donaghy, Durbin, Strubble, Brennfleck, Fowler

Heat 2 – Mueller, Schmidt, Karnbach, Howe, Wyers, Andersen

JASPER WINGED SPRINT A-MAIN – 20 LAPS

STEVE STRUBBLE, Shane Smith, Mike Donaghy, Steve Fleetwood, John Wyers, Ron Karnbach, Steve Schmidt, Warren Durbin, Keith Andersen, Don Smith, Jeff Fithian, Jon Brennfleck, Jim Fowler, Joe Howe, Jeff Mueller, Mike Piersig, Greg Lotosky DNS-John Barnett