Bud Flath Flies at Derry Ground Hog Day Derby

Goshen, IN 2/2/05…Punxsutawney Phil wasn’t the only one seeing shadows on Groundhog Day. Try as they might to catch a glimpse of Bud Flath’s TK High Performance #71 Wednesday night, Flath’s fellow SUPRS competitors saw nothing but his fading silhouette as he handily drove to victory in the wild and woolly 38 lap Ground Hog Day Derby at Derry Raceway Park over John Davidson, AJ Truax, JP Curry, and Gary Waldron.

With the Ground Hog seeing his shadow the SUPRS drivers knew going into the night’s events that there would be no time trials for the feature. “We just wanted to mix things up a little bit and make things fun so we told everyone that if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow we would have a random feature start and if someone could win from last place starting position they would get 10 bonus points in the championship standings,” said SUPRS League Director Bob Gangwer. Gangwer himself would be the driver who would have the chance at the bonus as he took the green in the Wing Side Up Enterprises, B&G Racing Photos, Borderline Enterprises #25 from the last starting position. He would only be able to muster a sixth place finish at the end.

He did however get his wish for excitement from the time the green dropped on the feature with mayhem ensuing in a turn one crash fest that collected several cars in the middle of the pack. A restart was called and the 15 car field took the green behind pole sitter Ray Dulins of Hannibal, NY.

That restart wasn’t something that Flath wanted to see. “After the restart I was a little nervous because I had such a great start on the first one and the second one I messed up and thought I was done,” he said. “I just did what I could and worked my way past Ray and ran my line trying to be consistent.”

Flath wanting to stay consistent wasn’t a problem as he pulled away from the field once he cleared Dulins going on to break John Davidson’s two race win streak. “Lapped traffic was a lot better tonight but it was still tough on this tight little track. I knew that blue # 5 of John was back there and I was getting a little worried,” Flath stated. Davidson followed Flath across the line in second and while not satisfied with his finish was content nonetheless. “I feel pretty good about the night,” began the San Diego California driver. “I just didn’t have anything for Bud tonight. I kept hoping that lapped traffic would hold him up but it never did so I just did my best.”

Coming home in third place was the ever improving AJ Truax in the BurnBoys.com #72. Truax, who is never one to shy away from speaking his mind, was unusually quiet in post race interviews stating only, “I started outside pole and got screwed so I gave what I got and ended up third even though I think I had something for John and Bud tonight.”

Fourth place finisher JP Curry was a bit more vocal about his finish. “I should have been third, but when you got guys out there carving you up this is what happens. So we’ll see what happens next week, “said the young pilot of the Rage Kart Chassis, Chevrolet Motorsports, DSES #31. “I’ll be happy with my finish at a track I don’t really do that well at especially considering what happened.”

Gary Waldron of Wyoming, MI had another consistent run in the Michigan Hill Gang #10 and like the other SUPRS competitors he was relieved when the race was over saying, “I feel pretty good about a fifth, it was rough out there and the car was pretty beat up, so I am lucky to finish where I did but it was fun.”

Joining the SUPRS field for the second week in a row was Joe Payne, JR who is also known as “The Jersey Jet” and has plenty of experience in real Supermodified racing. Payne’s night was less than stellar as he came home in 11th place after battling an ill-handling race car for most of the 38 hotly contested laps. “I started coming up there with about 10 laps in, I was going to the front and somebody got into me and the car started pushing real bad and unlike the real thing you can’t use the throttle to compensate,” said the driver of the Gibraltar Financial Corp. #4.

First time SUPRS competitor and fellow ISMA Supermodified driver Kevin Tourigney fared a little better bringing the GNPG Construction, Kamco Supply #86 home in ninth place. However, KT echoed Payne’s statements concerning sim racing vs. the real deal when he said, “It’s really cool and a lot of fun, everyone was great, but it’s not at all like the real thing where you can romp the throttle and use that to help overcome a push.”

Also making his first SUPRS appearance of the season was Jamie Belfiore in the D&G Modular Homes #8. Belfiore is an experienced sim racer and was planning on making his first run at a SUPRS win last week at Cayuga when he was sidelined with steering wheel difficulties. “This was very cool for my first time running the whole format on a track that was tough, but a lot of fun,” expressed Belfiore who is part of one of the most well-known Supermodified families in history.

So while the Ground Hog Phil heads back to his hole for another six weeks the SUPRS competitors will be working hard and some will be looking to dig themselves out of a whole with the Mid Season Championship Twin 25s at Laporte Speedway featuring Double Points. The racing action gets underway with the driver’s meeting at 7:45pm and Racing at 8pm. Come out and join the fun of simulated Supermodified racing with the “Ultimate Online Short Track Race Car!”

SUPRS RESULTS

 Ground Hog Day Derby 38 at Derry Raceway Park-2/2/05

NO TIME TRIALS

13 Lap Heat Race Random Start-Top Three Finishers Receive Points

HEAT 1

1. #5-John Davidson, San Diego, CA
2. #31-JP Curry-Bucks County, PA
3. #84-Chris Lucas-Vulcan, MI
4. #8-Jamie Belfiore-Haverhill, MA
5. #10-Gary Waldron, Wyoming, MI
6. #4-Joey Payne, Jr.-Fairlawn, NJ
7. #69-Tanya Matthews, Hannibal, NY
8. #22-Jim Davidson, Elyria, OH

HEAT 2

1. #71-Bud Flath-Brick, NJ
2. #23-Chris Meyers, Amherst, OH
3. #72-AJ Truax, Hannibal, NY
4. #777-Kevin Marine, St. Paul, MN
5. #25-Bob Gangwer, Goshen, IN
6. #86-Kevin Tourigney, Nashua, NH
7. #007-Ray Dulins, Hannibal, NY

38 Lap Feature Finish

1. #71-Bud Flath, Brick, NJ
2. #5-John Davidson, San Diego, CA
3. #72-AJ Truax, Hannibal, NY
4. #31-JP Curry-Bucks County, PA
5. #10-Gary Waldron, Wyoming, MI
6. #25-Bob Gangwer, Goshen, IN
7. #23-Chris Meyers, Amherst, OH
8. #777-Kevin Marine, St. Paul, MN
9. #86-Kevin Tourigney, Nashua, NH
10. #8-Jamie Belfiore, Haverhill, MA
11. #4-Joey Payne, Jr.-Fairlawn, NJ
12. #007-Ray Dulins, Hannibal, NY
13. #69-Tanya Matthews, Hannibal, NY
14. #22-Jim Davidson, Elyria, OH
15. #84-Chris Lucas, Vulcan, MI