Delaware Speedway: May 22, 2010
IMG_6340: Steve Book after his heat race win
IMG_6390:Transmission Direct Enduro Top five: Piet Blaauboer (4th), Steve McCaw (3rd), Steve Book (1st), David McCullough (5th) and Ed Jeffrey (3rd).
IMG_6320: Jacob Orr's "Lightning McQueen" car rolls toward victory lane after his heat race win
IMG_6351: Gary Triska ("Blue Thunder") celebrates his Ultimate Sandblasting and Coating Chaos Car win
STEVE BOOK WINS TRANSMISSION DIRECT ENDURO RACE
May 22, 2010 (Delaware, ON): Jerseyville’s Steve Book had a perfect day at Delaware Speedway, winning both his qualifying heat race and the Transmission Direct Enduro feature race. It was a nice bounce-back victory for Book, a perennial contender and former Enduro champion, after failing to finish the season-opening race on May 1st.
It was not an easy win. After taking the lead from London’s Steve McCaw at lap 76 (of 150), Book had to navigate his way through a variety of wrecks, loose tires and the fact that his car was trailing smoke for the last 40 laps of the race. Book later said the smoke was due to a transmission issue.
The most hair-raising incident for Book was just three laps from the finish, when Dennae Marchand’s no. 21 car spun on the front straightaway and was hit hard by Kyle Ropp in the no. 778. The wreck happened just in front of the leaders but Book managed to snake his way through with a hard left toward the pit road wall and then a quick right back up toward the outside retaining wall as he entered turn one.
In all, there were six red flags in the race.
At lap 59, Arkona’s Dave Goertz lost a tire entering turn three. His car came to rest in the grass between turns three and four. Under the red flag, Goertz, another top competitor, exited his car and walked away, ending his race (he finished 43rd). He was not hurt.
In all, there were four lead changes between three different drivers (McCaw, Book and Paul Fothergill of London). Fothergill, who lead laps 57 through 69, saw his race end in spectacular fashion when he slammed into the side of the no. 86 of Wayne Ysebaert, who had spun in some oil dropped by another car. After the wreck, Fothergill said, “ I saw the car had spun. I tried to turn and I tried to brake but I was into the oil and it just went straight.”
In an ironic twist, Ed Jeffrey (who finished 3rd) went out of his way to thank John Lynch at the end of the race. Jeffrey said he’d broken an axle earlier in the day and that Lynch had given him one so that Jeffrey could run the feature. Jeffrey’s story drew large cheers from the crowd.
The irony of the situation was that Lynch’s car took heavy damage earlier in the day, destroying the back end in a wreck at lap 82. In explaining the cause of the incident, Lynch told announcer Jamie Maudsley that, “The axle broke in the rear end coming out of turn 4.”
Earlier in the day, Book and Jacob Orr won the qualifying heat races.
The Ultimate Sandblasting and Coating Chaos cars put on another entertaining show. “Snotty” started at the front of the 10-lap event but was quickly overtaken by the “Red Baron.”
“Baron’s” time at the front was short, as a flat right-front tire ruined his day. Poised to take the top spot was the “Undertaker,” who led for a lap before being overtaken by the eventual race winner, Gary Triska in “Blue Thunder.”
The event featured a lot of action. The most significant incident was at lap 6, when “Lucifer” and “Snotty” tangled in the barrel turn (turn 1). Lucifer then spun out Snotty on pit road, knocking out part of the retaining wall. Both drivers continued to finish the race.
The next event at Delaware Speedway is Friday, May 28 at 8 p.m. as NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing resumes with the first of three “Triple Crown” races for the NASCAR Late Models, the Demar Aggregates Trucks and the Super Stocks. The event is sponsored by O’Tools Rent or Buy. The Krown Junior Racing League also starts up this week, beginning the evening of Wednesday, May 26.
From Lisa Brandt / Public and Media Relations, Delaware Speedway // www.delawarespeedway.com
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