Friday, June 6th - Want Ad Digest Night - By FRANK CATIZONE
ACCORD, NY – Dom Roselli lived up to his nickname last Saturday evening at the Accord Speedway.
Roselli, affectionately known as “The Iceman’’, raced cool as a cucumber as he held off a talented group of drivers behind him to capture his first victory in almost three years in the Modified 30-lap main event.
Roselli, after starting on the pole, drive flawlessly in and out of lapped traffic throughout the event, and maintained a slim lead over Tommy Meier to earn his first win anywhere since Aug. 26, 2011. The veteran Eldred driver said a multi-car accident with 27 laps completed proved instrumental in his triumph.
“That final caution really helped me,’’ admitted Roselli. “I went with soft tires and the most important thing for me was to keep my car straight. I could feel the car starting to slip a little bit through the turns, but that caution came out at the right time.
“Tommy Meier is a real good competitor and there were several other real good drivers close behind him. I just tried to keep in my groove and concentrated on keeping my car straight and true through the turns. I knew one slip up was probably going to cost me the race.’’
But Roselli was able to run a clean line as he was able to race a few car lengths ahead of Meier from the opening green flag waved by Accord starter Steve Otten. After Andy Bachetti slowed action with a flat tire with nine laps completed, Roselli took control and kept Meier at bay until Tom Hindley, Rich Ricci Jr., Jerry Higbie, Anthony Perrego, Mike Ricci and Donnie Elliott were all involved in a second-turn pile-up.
That accident enabled Roselli to cool down his tires as he went on to finish ahead of Meier, Danny Creeden, Jeff Heotzler Sr., Bachetti, Danny Tyler, Jackie Brown Jr., Scott Ferrier, Mike Ricci and Darrell Ford.
Bachetti, after his ninth-lap misfortune, drove all the way back to a fifth-place performance and opened a 28-point lead over reigning champion Brown in the standings. Bachetti paces the division with 210 points as he attempts to unseat Brown early in the 2014 campaign.
Kevin Ward pocketed his second win of the season in the Sportsman 25-lap feature as he finished ahead of Mike Barrett, Dave Coene, Jesse Marks and Ken Ferrier.
Ward, after starting fifth in the 16-car field, grabbed the lead away from Barrett following a restart on the eighth lap. A second-turn spin by Sean Dietz slowed action for the final time with 14 laps completed.
Ward was able to increase his cushion each lap as he took the checkered flags 2.712 seconds ahead of Barrett.
Nick Plumstead picked up the first victory of his racing career as he led wire-to-wire in the Spec Sportsman 20-lap feature.
Plumstead, after starting second, got the quick jump on Robbie Knipe to grab first place and never looked back as he raced non-stop to the finish. Ed Dachenhausen was awarded second place after Knipe was disqualified during the post-race inspection.
Ken Boniface Jr. followed in third place with Joey Bruning and Corey Lowitt rounding out the top five.
Ray Tarantino grabbed his second win of the season and Ant Marguglio notched his initial triumph in a pair of Pure Stock 15-lap main events.
Tarantino was able to slip past Bob Sleight Jr. for the lead just before Marguglio lost a tire on his car to force a caution with five laps completed. Tarantino was in control from that point on as he finished ahead of Dan Speedling, Gary Ronk, Jay Smalley and Sleight.
Marguglio had better luck earlier in the program as he won the race held over from April 25. Marguglio led the entire 15-lap distance as he finished ahead of John Woinoski, Speedling, Ronk and Smalley.
Wyatt Clark took advantage of Demetriois Drellos’ hard luck to earn his first win this season in the All Star Slingshots 20-lap feature.
Clark inherted first place when Drellos’ car broke with 17 laps completed. He went on to finish ahead of Lydia Rueckheim, Cole Hentschel, Ashley Rogosich and Don Boonstra.
Hunter Lapp picked up his second win of 2014 in the Junior Slingshots 15-lap feature. He finished ahead of Bobby Flood, Vinnie Visconti, Ryan Mccartney and Peyton Speedling.