RPW Exclusive: Near Green-To-Checkered 70 Lap STSS Slugfest At Airborne Captured By Anthony Perrego

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – PLATTSBURGH, NY – Over 60 of the scheduled 70 circuits around Airborne Park Speedway Thursday night during the Short Track Super Series’ Adirondack Invasion were run without a caution flag.

To that point, any one of a half-dozen drivers could have found way to victory lane.  It could have been Alex Payne or Michael Maresca or Carey Terrance or David Hebert or Mat Williamson or even Stewart Friesen.

At the end of the event, though, it was Anthony Perrego who stood tall in victory lane and is now undefeated in Short Track Super Series competition at the Plattsburgh, NY oval.

“This was a great race car tonight,” Perrego said.  “Obviously, this is a great facility.  Hopefully we can get back here next year. (Mike) Bruno did good here and does good up at Devil’s Bowl too.  We’re looking forward to that one as well.”

The long green flag run that the field endured on the slick racing surface produced amazing wheel-to-wheel action with multiple lead changes and had fans on the edge of their seats.

It also had the drivers smiling post-race.

“It was fun when we all got bunched up there and I was able to take the lead,” Perrego said.  “It was definitely nerve-racking when I was starting to catch them (lap cars) because I didn’t know if I needed to move up or what to do.”

As the run went on, Payne and Maresca who made up the front row at the start of the race, battled back and forth for the top spot.  Each would take turns at the lead but that only allowed the likes Perrego, Hebert and Terrance sneak up to make it a dog fight for the number one spot.

“Both of those guys were fighting for the bottom pretty hard,” he said.  “Alex found the outside but he didn’t stick to it.  I figured I had one shot at him.  I almost had him off of four but I didn’t want to show him I was there yet.”

Perrego waited for the opportune time and when he saw it, he took it.

“I just waited for the right time,” he said.  “We were able to roll around him and then this thing was lights out on the bottom if I could find that little strip of brown, especially off of (turn) two.”

Second place finisher on the night was Maresca and he loved battling with Payne for the lead, swapping first and second back and forth, before Perrego joined the party.

“Alex and I race together a lot at Outlaw Speedway,” Maresca said.  “We have a lot of respect for each other.  Tonight was a lot of fun racing with him.  We talk a lot during the week so it was cool to go head-to-head with Alex.”

Once Perrego made it a three-car race for the lead, what was Maresca’s mindset if he wanted to score the victory?

“I saw the 4 (Perrego) rolling the outside,” he said.  “I was like, well, I’m going to kind of stay here because I got back by him.  Then, the top started to open up for him and he drove away.”

Did Maresca believe he had a shot to get back by Perrego when the yellow flag flew?

“I actually felt pretty good after the caution,” he said.  “I felt like we had a good car but we couldn’t get back by Anthony.”

Even though it’s not a victory, the driver of the St. Lawrence Radiology #7MM was pleased with how his night in Plattsburgh ended up.

“Finishing second stinks when you were leading after starting on the pole,” he said.  “However, we’ll take it.  I think we made a lot of the right changes.  I felt pretty bad after the heat race.  I’ll definitely take this tonight.”

Payne brought his number 70a home third on this night.  To be honest, it could have very easily been the Canandaigua, NY driver standing in victory lane.  Any one of the top three had a legitimate claim to the $7,070 top prize.

“I hope that was a good race for the fans,” Payne said.  “It was a lot of fun from the driver’s seat.”

Set-up and tire selection was a concern to Payne once the green flag dropped but the young racer showed how good his Bicknell was.

“I wasn’t sure on tires,” he said.  “I was trying to conserve at the beginning.  Michael and I passed each other back and forth a bunch of times and all of the sudden here comes the 4 car.  I then was like, where did he come from?”

The racing surface also threw a monkey wrench into Payne’s strategy but he seemed to be able to adapt nicely.

“I feel like the track changed quite a bit throughout the feature,” he said.  “However, we made the most of it and we’re happy with third.  If we keep putting these good finishes together, a win will come.”

Seventh place starter Mat Williamson came home fourth while Stewart Friesen drove from 13th to finish in fifth.

Friesen now leads Williamson by five points in the Short Track Super Series North Region points heading to Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday, June 16th.

Adirondack Invasion Feature (70 Laps): 1. 4P-Anthony Perrego[9]; 2. 7MM-Michael Maresca[1]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne[2]; 4. 3W-Mat Williamson[7]; 5. 44-Stewart Friesen[13]; 6. ONE-David Hebert[3]; 7. 9S-Matt Sheppard[12]; 8. 91-Felix Roy[14]; 9. 66X-Carey Terrance[5]; 10. 25P-Michael Parent[15]; 11. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[10]; 12. 02-Jack Lehner[23]; 13. 28T-Michael Trautschold[17]; 14. 01-Chris Raabe[19]; 15. 19-Tim Fuller[4]; 16. 25-Steve Bernier[11]; 17. 90JR-Jeremy Roy[16]; 18. 9J-Marc Johnson[18]; 19. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[21]; 20. 35M-Mike Mahaney[8]; 21. 55-Matt Woodruff[24]; 22. 61-Donovan Lussier[6]; 23. 5S-Tanner Siemons[27]; 24. 35-Francois Bellemare[26]; 25. 72-Ajay Potrzebowski II[25]; 26. 124-Mario Clair[20]; 27. (DNS) 35C-Chris Curtis

Did Not Qualify: 24D-Patrick Dupree; 87.9-Darryl Mitchell; 111-Demetrios Drellos; 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr

American Racer/Lias Tire Bonuses (FREE Tire Certificate): Felix Roy (eighth) & Chris Raabe (14th) ATL Fuel Cell ‘Hot Lap Hero’ ($100): Matt Sheppard (16.715)
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Bonuses ($50 Gift Cards): Mat Williamson (fourth) & Carey Terrance (ninth)
Beyea Headers Redraw Bonus ($50): Matt Sheppard (Redrew 12th)
Eibach SpringsEibach ($100 Certificate): David Hebert (sixth)
Henry’s Headers & Exhaust Systems LLC Power Position ($50 Certificate): Alex Yankowski (11th)
PEM Engineering Bonus (Quick Change Gears): Alex Payne (third)
Penske Racing Shocks Bonuses: Anthony Perrego (first – $150 certificate); Michael Maresca (second – $75 certificate); Alex Payne (third – $50 certificate); Mat Williamson (fourth – $25 certificate) Saint Lawrence Radiology Hard Charger ($200): Jack Lehner (23rd to 12th)
Schultz Racing Fuel Cells Bonus ($100 Certificate): Michael Parent (10th)
Wilwood Disc Brakes ‘Lucky 7’ Bonus ($100 Certificate): Matt Sheppard (seventh)

Consolation (8 Laps): 1. 01-Chris Raabe[2]; 2. 124-Mario Clair[1]; 3. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[5]; 4. 35C-Chris Curtis[9]; 5. 02-Jack Lehner[3]; 6. 55-Matt Woodruff[11]; 7. 35-Francois Bellemare[8]; 8. 24D-Patrick Dupree[4]; 9. 72-Ajay Potrzebowski II[6]; 10. 879-Darryl Mitchell[12]; 11. 5S-Tanner Siemons[7]; 12. 111-Demetrios Drellos[10]; 13. (DNS) 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr

Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. 4P-Anthony Perrego[2]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[1]; 3. 35M-Mike Mahaney[3]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[4]; 5. 44-Stewart Friesen[6]; 6. 90JR-Jeremy Roy[8]; 7. 124-Mario Clair[7]; 8. 24D-Patrick Dupree[10]; 9. 5S-Tanner Siemons[11]; 10. 111-Demetrios Drellos[9]; 11. (DNS) 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr

Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Tim Fuller[1]; 2. 25-Steve Bernier[2]; 3. 3W-Mat Williamson[4]; 4. ONE-David Hebert[3]; 5. 91-Felix Roy[6]; 6. 28T-Michael Trautschold[5]; 7. 01-Chris Raabe[7]; 8. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[10]; 9. 35-Francois Bellemare[8]; 10. 55-Matt Woodruff[9]

Heat #3 (8 Laps): 1. 70A-Alex Payne[2]; 2. 61-Donovan Lussier[1]; 3. 7MM-Michael Maresca[4]; 4. 66X-Carey Terrance[3]; 5. 25P-Michael Parent[5]; 6. 9J-Marc Johnson[7]; 7. 02-Jack Lehner[6]; 8. 72-Ajay Potrzebowski II[8]; 9. 35C-Chris Curtis[9]; 10. 879-Darryl Mitchell[10]

Penske Racing Shocks Hot Lap Group 1: 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:16.715[11]; 2. 35M-Mike Mahaney, 00:16.953[1]; 3. 4P-Anthony Perrego, 00:17.216[4]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:17.290[2]; 5. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr, 00:17.383[5]; 6. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:17.403[8]; 7. 124-Mario Clair, 00:17.435[10]; 8. 90JR-Jeremy Roy, 00:17.439[6]; 9. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 00:17.454[7]; 10. 24D-Patrick Dupree, 00:17.530[9]; 11. 5S-Tanner Siemons, 00:17.706[3]

Penske Racing Shocks Hot Lap Group 2: 1. 3W-Mat Williamson, 00:17.005[2]; 2. ONE-David Hebert, 00:17.032[4]; 3. 25-Steve Bernier, 00:17.035[6]; 4. 19-Tim Fuller, 00:17.100[5]; 5. 28T-Michael Trautschold, 00:17.142[10]; 6. 91-Felix Roy, 00:17.394[8]; 7. 01-Chris Raabe, 00:17.458[7]; 8. 35-Francois Bellemare, 00:17.509[1]; 9. 55-Matt Woodruff, 00:17.719[9]; 10. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:17.720[3]

Penske Racing Shocks Hot Lap Group 3: 1. 7MM-Michael Maresca, 00:17.276[8]; 2. 66X-Carey Terrance, 00:17.292[7]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:17.364[1]; 4. 61-Donovan Lussier, 00:17.413[6]; 5. 25P-Michael Parent, 00:17.416[4]; 6. 02-Jack Lehner, 00:17.417[10]; 7. 9J-Marc Johnson, 00:17.591[9]; 8. 72-Ajay Potrzebowski II, 00:17.686[2]; 9. 35C-Chris Curtis, 00:17.866[5]; 10. 879-Darryl Mitchell, 00:18.056[3]