YANKOWSKI, DAVIS & COLAGIOVANNI ARE BIG WINNERS AT BRIDGEPORT
Bridgeport, NJ – Day two of the John Blewett Inc Wildcard Weekend at the Bridgeport Motorsports Park produced many unforgettable moments for both the competitors and the fans. It was a day full of excitement, great racing and big victories with nearly three hundred laps raced throughout the day honoring the memory of Danny Serrano. Danny was on everyone’s mind as Doug Rose and his crew produced a day of racing that will have fans talking about their Bridgeport experience for a long time.
Alex Yankowski raced to the biggest win and the biggest payday of his young career when he took the checkered flag in the Danny Serrano 100. There are many ways to celebrate victory on the track but Yankowski came up with one (accidentally) that will not soon be forgotten;
After crossing the finish line for the win, the field continued to circle the track so that all cars could complete their last lap and take the checkered flag. Yankowski was behind a group of lapped cars who were still racing for position. One of those cars spun in front of the race winner, forcing Yankowski to take evasive action but he caught the outside wall in the process, flipping at the start/finish line. The race winner emerged uninjured but the No. 84Y had to be towed to the scale and Victory Lane. It was certainly an experience not soon to be forgotten as the grandstands cheered for Yankowski’s first Bridgeport victory!
Yankowski, a regular Saturday night competitor at the new Bridgeport Motorsports Park, took to the 4/10 mile track immediately, competing for the win on his first night of competition. He’s been close so many times but finally sealed the deal in the $10,000 to win Danny Serrano 100.
“If I ever have grandchildren,” Yankowski related, “this will be something to tell them about.” “The car just kept getting better and better,” Yankowski stated and no truer words have ever been spoken. Yankowski lined up in the twelfth row of the line-up, going to the green flag in the twenty-third position. Yankowski never reached the top ten until after the halfway mark. While the leaders raced through heavy lapped traffic, Yankowski broke into the top five with about thirty laps to go.
Ryan Krachun took the lead on the start but it was Jimmy Horton who led the field to complete lap one after Krachun made hard contact with the wall in turns three and four. Jojo Watson raced Horton to become the race leader on lap nine.
Watson led the way through lap forty with Danny Bouc taking over on lap forty-one. Ryan Godown raced from twenty-fifth to challenge Bouc for the lead as they raced down the backstretch on lap fifty-nine.
With Godown out in front, Yankowski began to pick his way through the top five after a three wide battle with Mahaney and Billy Pauch. Bouc challenged Godown for the lead on a lap seventy-four restart but it was Yankowski who raced into second and then challenged for the lead. A move to the inside on lap seventy-eight saw Yankowski take the lead in turn three.
Yankowski pulled away from the field leaving Godown, Watt and Bouc battling for second while Jeff Strunk battled with Billy Pauch and then Danny Bouc for a top five spot.
Watt moved into second and began to close in on the leader but his progress was detoured when a lapprd car crossed the track in front of him. Yankowski drove to the $10,000 win over Watt, Godown, Bouc and Strunk. Frank Cozze, who had been battling in the final laps with Bouc and Strunk, finished sixth followed by Mahaney, Matt Stangle, Rick Laubach and Pauch.
Yankowski’s win came with small block power under the hood of the No. 84Y.
There was racing all through the field throughout the one hundred laps. Fans didn’t know where to look as the wheel to wheel action went from green to checkered. After one hundred laps, twenty-seven cars were still running – the attrition rate was incredibly low. It was a race for the ages.
The track crew took a few minutes to prepare for the next feature and delivered a multi-groove surface for the Capitol Renegade URC Sprint cars, sponsored by Absolute Dog Training of Medford, NJ.
Polesitter Alex Bright took the lead at the start of the second race for the High Banks Classic. Bright led the way with Pauly Colagiovanni running in second.
Bright led through lap eight and then came to a stop in turn two on the next circuit. Bright’s night ended with mechanical failure as Colagiovanni took the lead as the field lined up for the restart.
Empire State Sprint competitor, Colagiovanni used every inch of the wide Bridgeport surface, choosing the highest line possible as he ran through the turns. Colagiovanni, who is accustomed to racing on the flat bullrings of New York, took full advantage of the wide racing surface as he led the way in the twenty-five lap event.
Ryan Smith raced the Eastern Rigging No. 10x into second around the midpoint of the race and set his sights on the leader. Smith closed in on Colagiovanni and the drivers of the two number ten cars raced hard in the final laps. Smith was able to challenge for the lead but Colagiovanni held the advantage. The two cars came out of turn four and headed for the checkered flag with Smith mounting the final challenge.
Colagiovanni improved his past Bridgeport performance by one to take the win over Smith and Briggs Danner, racing the Gallagher No. 5G in only his second race in a winged sprint car. Chuck Hebing finished fourth followed by Derek Locke. Jason Shultz finished sixth followed by Tyler Ross, Josh Weller, Adam Carberry and Troy Betts.
Ryan Smith posted the best two night performance to take possession of the Midge Miller Memorial Trophy after finishing fifth and second. Adam Carberry finished one spot behind Josh Weller but his thirteen point advantage at the start of the night carried him to his first ever URC Championship.
With $3,000 on the line for the winner, there was plenty of bumping and banging with side by side action in the thirty lap Precision Hydraulic & Oil Invitational race for the South Jersey Overhead Door 602 Sportsman feature event.
Polesitter, Steve Davis and Steve Kemery raced for the lead at the start. Davis won the battle and led for the first fourteen laps. Kemery put the No. 69K out in front at half way and led all the way to the first caution after twenty-eight green flag laps.
That put Kemery and Davis back together for the final two lap shootout.
The two cars raced as one around the track with Kemery holding the advantage on lap twenty-nine. Coming out of turn four for the checkered, the two leaders were door to door in the drag race for the checkered. Payton Talbot, the young invader from New York, was in a great position to steal the win as he raced on the bottom of the track while Kemery and Davis banged their way to the finish line. Davis held the advantage for the win with Kemery taking second and Talbot a close third. Dan Fleming finished fourth with Ryan Simmons in fifth.
Mike Mahaney and Richie Pratt, Jr. were the fast timers in the timed Modified hot laps with both drivers earning a starting spot in Sunday’s fifty lap season finale for the Foley Cat Modifieds.
Scott Riggleman won the make-up event for the 4/8 Cylinder Enduro cars over Chris Allen and Justin Dunn.
Justin Dunn returned to pick up the win in the second race over his father, Scott Dunn and Scott Riggleman.
RESULTS 11/07/20:
South Jersey Overhead Door 602 Sportsman Precision Hydraulic & Oil Invitational: 1. Steve Davis, 2. Stephen Kemery, 3. Payton Talbot, 4. Dan Fleming, 5. Ryan Simmons, 6. Sammy Martz Jr., 7. Howie Finch, 8. Danny Buccafusca, 9. Matt Peck, 10. Jim Housworth, 11. Jenna Shotz, 12. Anthony Raisner, 13. Paul Mancini, 14. Doug Snyder, 15. Johnny Bangs, 16. Joseph Brown, 17. Joe Nappi, 18. Chris Jenkins, 19. Kevin Borden, 20. Addison Bowman, 21. George Gareis Jr.
URC 360 Sprint Cars: 1. Pauly Colagiovanni, 2. Ryan Smith, 3. Briggs Danner, 4. Chuck Hebing, 5. Derek Locke, 6. Jason Shultz, 7. Tyler Ross, 8. Josh Weller, 9. Adam Carberry, 10. Troy Betts, 11. RobbieStillwaggon, 12. Tim Tanner, 13. Dallas Schott, 14. Kyle Smith, 15. Brian Carber, 16. Ryan Coniam, 17. Davie Franek, 18. Joe Kata, 19. Matt Tanner, 20. Jessie Pruchnik, 21. Austin Bishop, 22. Justin Foster, 23. Jeff Rohrbaugh, 24. Alex Bright, 25. JJ Grasso, 26. RJ Jacobs
MIDGE MILLER MEMORIAL WINNER: Ryan Smith
2020 URC CHAMPION: Adam Carberry
4/8 Cylinder Make-up: 1. Scott Riggleman, 2. Chris Allen Sr., 3. Justin Dunn, 4. Scott Dunn, 5. Tom Wolfe, 6. Kevin Flores, 7. Ryan Drews, 8. Joe Biederman
4/8 Cylinders: 1. Justin Dunn, 2. Scott Dunn, 3. Scott Riggleman, 4. Chris Martinez, 5. Joe Garey Sr., 6. Justin Dunn, 7. Mike Fox, 8. Tom Wolfe, 9. Ryan Drews, 10. Kevin Flores, 11. Jim Tinnes, 12. Joe Garey Jr.
Danny Serrano 100: 1. Alex Yankowski, 2. Ryan Watt, 3. Ryan Godown, 4. Danny Bouc, 5. Jeff Strunk, 6. Frank Cozze, 7. Mike Mahaney, 8. Matt Stangle, 9. Rick Laubach, 10. Billy Pauch, 11. JR Heffner, 12. Dominick Buffalino, 13. Jimmy Horton, 14. Peter Britten, 15. Dillon Steuer, 16. Tommy Beamer, 17. Jimmy Blewett, 18. Jared Umbenhauer, 19. Davey Sammons, 20. Wade Hendrickson, 21. Jim Britt, 22. Neal Williams, 23. Eric Kormann, 24. Mike Franz, 25. Joe Toth, 26. Tommy Scheetz, 27. Richie Pratt Jr., 28. Briggs Danner, 29. Joseph Watson, 30. Brandon Grosso, 31. Duane Howard, 32. Ryan Krachun, 33. Roger Manning, 34. Justin Grim