By Dave Dykes                                                                                 (Click on any Photo for Full Size version)

It was a familiar name in Modified Land that entered victory lane Saturday evening, as young Chris Pasteryak stole the thunder from the veterans to take the victory. After having experienced an up & down season thus far, the second generation racer finally overcame the bridesmaid role that had been bestowed upon him in recent weeks.

In the Sportsman division, it was a happy first time winner taking the main event, with Joe Bertholet coming out on top in what was clearly one of the Speedbowl’s most competitive contests of the year. Greeted by a throng of fence-bound well-wishers as he pulled up to the line for the post-race interview, it was clearly a popular and well-earned triumph. Several of his competitors took the time to slowly motor by and give the winner a “thumbs-up” in recognition of finally coming out on top after having been so close on many occasions.

It was a stat-setting night for one driver in the Legends division, as not only did he record yet another win in what’s been a stellar 2006 campaign, but Mark Bakaj also tied the consecutive win record set by “Golden Age” Bomber Champion Ed Bunnell in 1966. Six in a row was what it took, and Bakaj did so in convincing style by outdistancing his nearest competition by a country mile worth of race track. Like the old saying goes, “When You’re Hot. You’re Hot…..”

Dave Sylvia not only survived the carnage in the marathon Mini feature (an accomplishment in itself), but he also managed to record the victory. In an event that seemingly featured enough yellow flag laps to run the field out of gas, Sylvia displayed the calmness of the veteran that he is to outfox the bottleneck of fast guys that had rose to the top of the field in the waning laps.

The Late Models did double-duty with two features on the docket, one being a holdover from the intervention of Mother Nature the week before. Glenn Colvin took the first one, with the regularly scheduled event going to Tim Jordan.

The Bristol Winston Cup event was televised Saturday night, and at least one Waterford SK driver would have been much better off staying home parked in front of his sofa taking in the show. Apparently experiencing a stuck throttle during his qualifier, Wendell Dailey managed to plant his new SK into the third-turn wall with one of those sickening thuds that kind of rattles the bones of anyone in earshot. After surveying the damage pitside, the team determined that they’d give it yet another try and headed off to the shop to exchange the damaged carcass for the backup car. What happens next? The feature starts, and within a couple of circuits the backup car is thrashed also…..

Speaking of Bristol, a writer friend of mine coined a new phrase the other day for what the ever-wise NASCAR is doing to their own short track venues by televising these events at night. From now on, we’ll call it the “Bristol Stomp”. One look at the grandstands Saturday night, and you’d know what we’re talking about. Thank God there are still a few fans out there that enjoy REAL racing…..

During their recent Wednesday night visit to Waterford, the New England Antique Racers had a most unfortunate incident occur when two drivers got together on the back chute during the club’s exhibition run. A slight and quite accidental wheel rubbing episode resulted in one of the cars going up in a momentary ball of flash-fire and another making contact with the wall. Fortunately, all involved escaped without injury, the event quickly red-checkered. A great deal of love and care goes into the restoration of these rolling historical artifacts by NEAR members, and it’s a real downer to see something like this happen. Again, the most important thing is that nobody was injured…..

Seems that there’s been some slight grumblings in the pits over the “Double Down Shootout” event that’s to take place on Saturday Night September 2nd. Apparently, a few of the teams have taken issue with the twin-main format of the show. Two feature events for each division, the second of which will be an inverted start, and no changing tires in-between races. Only the second will be for points. If there’s an issue with this, I’m still trying to figure it out, as is one well-known Bowl’ shoe that summed it up this way; “You work all week on the car to go racing, what’s the problem?”

Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m an Old Fart, and it’s a different era, and things cost more, but these guys that are worried about it would have been in a heap of trouble when twin features were on the schedule several times back in the “old days”…..

For those that like to see stuff get destroyed, it’s the annual “Back To School Bash” coming up on Sunday night, Sept 3rd. School bus demos & races, burn-out contests, etc. In general, it’s a hoot, and a good way to spend part of the holiday weekend.

And with that, we’ll close out another one. Contact me at ddykes@originnet.net