Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – GEORGETOWN, DE – Danny Bouc can finally say he’s a winner at the Georgetown Speedway, and it came in one of the biggest races of the season at the track, the Camp Barnes Benefit.
“About time, right,” Bouc said. “This has been about four or five years in the making man.”
Over that time, a multitude of issues has kept Bouc out of victory lane at the Brett Deyo-promoted facility.
“We’ve been so fast when we come down to Georgetown,” he said. “Hell, half the time we leave on the wrecker or almost in the hospital.”
Bouc started on the front row for the 30-lap, $5,500-to-win Modified feature, right alongside young gun Matt Stangle. It didn’t take long for the Pipersville, PA pilot to grab the lead though, as Bouc powered to the top spot off the second corner on lap two.
From that point on, the red C&S Equipment #6 looked to be unstoppable and on his way to victory. However, Stangle and the #126 of Jeff Strunk had other ideas.
Both drivers began to pressure Bouc in the closing stages of the feature with Strunk getting around Stangle for the runner-up position and very nearly stealing the win away. However, it was night to be and Bouc finally parked it in victory lane at the track.
“You always assume that those guys are going to be right there,” he said. “I really didn’t want to get into lap traffic. The track was starting to dry up and when you’re out front, you don’t really know where to go.”
That seemed to be an equalizer for Bouc as the laps rolled on.
“I was trying to watch those cars,” he said. “I just wanted to see where they were running and they seemed to be all over the place. I was hoping the track was still two groove and not necessarily one-lane dominant.”
As the race came down to the wire, did Bouc know how close Strunk and Stangle were?
“I thought on the last two laps I was hearing somebody on the bottom,” he said. “It was definitely getting close for me. I didn’t want to get racing with those lap cars and make a mistake.”
Bouc knew he had a good car, but the idea of traffic was fearful to him.
“I was starting to ride there at the end,” he said. “I didn’t want to get racing with those guys. They were racing pretty hard in front of me, sometimes two and three-wide. I was kind of riding there at the end and hoping I wasn’t going to make a mistake by doing that.”
Past experiences for Danny led to this game plan.
“The shoe’s been on the other foot so many times here,” he said. “I’ve been pushing too hard here and had something bad happen or something break. We’ll definitely take this.”
Bouc was grateful to his car owners for giving him the chance to go after wins like the Camp Barnes Benefit on Thursday night.
“I can’t thank Craig and Leslie Pondish enough,” he said. “They’re the ones who give me the opportunity to come down here and do this. They’ve given me everything I’ve needed. It just hasn’t worked out down here. I truly have to thank them and my crew for their hard work.”
Strunk finished second on the night was Stangle coming home in third. Mike Gular brought his #2a home in the fourth spot with Kid Rocket, Alex Yankowski, completing the top five.
Modified Feature Finish (30 laps): DANNY BOUC, Jeff Strunk, Matt Stangle, Mike Gular, Alex Yankowski, Rocky Warner, Matt Sheppard, Ryan Krachun, Ryan Godown, Anthony Perrego, David Schilling, Stewart Friesen, Ryan Watt, Jordan Watson, Mike Mahaney, Billy Pauch, Jr., Mat Williamson, Joseph Watson, Ronnie Johnson, Brandon Grosso, Mike Trautschold, Andy Bachetti, H.J. Bunting, Louden Reimert, Jimmy Horton, Ryan Riddle.
Did Not Qualify: Austin Hubbard, Rick Laubach, John Willman, Craig Von Dohren, Cale Ross, Kevin Sockriter, Tom Solderich, Sean Weiss, Carson Wright, Brad Roberts, Matt Smith.