Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – ACCORD, NY – For a racer who doesn’t compete there on a regular basis, Anthony Perrego always comes prepared when he races at Accord Speedway.
Except for just briefly on a restart, Perrego led all 50 laps en route to the $5,000 victory in the annual post-Thanksgiving event, The Gobbler.
In 9 runnings of the Gobbler, Anthony has now driven it into Victory Lane 4 times.
“Danny Tyler, he was pretty good, and he passed us before he got into the rough stuff and I got back by him there,” Perrego said. “Once I got to pick the top, I knew we had a really good car.”
Perrego made a good pick at the redraw, picking the pole. He took the lead at the start over Joe Judge and Tyler. After some early restarts, Tyler got by Judge and began his chase of Perrego.
In lapped traffic early, Perrego easily maneuvered through the cars and Tyler was unable to take advantage.
“In lapped traffic, we were able to go where we wanted to go. I knew that cushion was fast, but there was bouncing like crazy out there. But I knew that when we got to lapped traffic that ve had a very good maneuverable car.”
Andy Bachetti started 3rd and quickly lost a couple of spots. But by lap 15, he passed Randy Green to take back 3rd spot and do battle with Tyler.
It took until halfway when the race would get a lengthy green flag segment. Perrego was able to put some distance from himself and Tyler with Bachetti keeping the heat on the 97T.
Bachetti got by Tyler on lap 38, but as the laps ran down, he was unable to challenge Perrego.
At the finish, it was Perrego by a second and a half over Bachetti with Tyler 3rd. In a good run for an invading driver, AJay Potrzebowski finished 4th with Green 5th.
Modified Champion for 2023, Corey Cormier, was 6th with Scott Ferrier 7th, Joe Judge 8th, Shane Jablonka 9th and Travis Green 10th.
The win helped to top off a season that started kind of rough for Anthony’s teams.
“The year started off very rough for both teams with Vinnie’s and Brian;s cars losing a couple of motors. Once we got past August, things started clicking. It’s good to end the season with some wins and a little momentum going into Florida.”
Here is the recap of the 2023 Gobbler Contingency Awards.
- Halfway Leader $100 – Brett Ryan hair Artistry – Anthony Perrego
- Each Modified Heat race winner- $50 – Dave Farber Accurate Collision
- Anthony Perrego
- Andy Bachetti
- Dom Buffalino
- Tyler Siri