By Dave Dykes                                                                                   (Click on any Photo for Full Size version)
A few weeks ago, the Speedbowl staged its annual “Night of Destruction” a Friday night show geared more toward demolition derby aficionados rather than “serious” racing folk. Saturday night regulars got their own version of the event when all hell broke loose just past the halfway point of the Late Model feature. Continuing the “bad blood saga” that’s been played out all season, veteran Jay Stuart and second-generation shoe Bruce Thomas Jr. started exchanging blows toward the front of the pack. The result ? One of the scariest-looking accidents ever witnessed at the shoreline oval and the instant extermination of most of the starting field. After initial contact with Thomas in the third turn and then a miscalculated attempt to squeeze his car through an opening that simply wasn’t there, Stuart harpooned the car of Thomas square in the driver’s door pinning him against the wall without even a hint of trying to back off the throttle. It appeared deliberate, and quite honestly, it was disheartening to witness a driver of Stuart’s caliber execute such a move. As the approaching pack tried to maneuver around the Stuart-Thomas incident, the car of Jay Lozyniak launched itself over the # 98 of Allen Coates becoming airborne, barrel-rolling down the front chute for what seemed like an eternity. In a scene more reminiscent of one of those Talladega Nextel Cup mishaps than a Speedbowl cruncher, the Lozyniak car continued to shed parts as it bounced along violently. In the meantime, several other drivers were involved, most notably Larry Goss who was minus the entire front of his racer after coming to rest. The seconds after the dust settled looked akin to something you’d see in one of those 70’s-era disaster flicks. Drivers just kind of walking around in a dazed manner wondering just what had happened. Fortunately, there were no injuries, with even Lozyniak making a quick retreat from his overturned racer without a scratch. The accident prompted veteran motorsports writer and Waterford Director of Media Relations Pete Zanardi to say that it was one of the most violent he’d ever witnessed, and Mr. Zanardi has certainly seen a lot of them.

             
 Left Photo, Jay Lozniak (Helmet) checks with Allen Coates, whose car he took the roof off before barrel rolling down the front straight. Right Photo, the remains of Lozniak's car.

Glenn Colvin was declared the winner of the event, which was red-checkered due to the accident after only 18 circuits. Rounding out the top-3 were Tim Jordon and Duane Noll.

Waterford’s Late Model division is in serious trouble. Rough-riding has been the norm this season, and with that, you obviously end-up with wrecked race cars. Waterford fans have been witness to short fields in the class this year. Only 15 cars took the green Saturday night and only five finished under their own power. If the once-healthy division is to survive, steps simply must be taken to curb the carnage. Speedbowl Race Director Steve Harraka is well-aware of the problem, and has went as far as having a meeting with drivers to try and get them to show each other a bit of respect, a virtue that’s obviously in short supply. According to Harraka, if things don’t improve, it’s a very real possibility that the entire division could be given a couple of weeks off. While I don’t recall the venue, I do remember the Pro Stock division going through a similar situation a number of years ago, and the “divisional suspension” went a long way in calming the troops down. It’s unfortunate that an entire class must be punished in an attempt to alter the behavior of only a select few. Truth be told, one of the principal players directly involved in Saturday evenings disaster has been walking a tightrope all season with his fellow competitors and track officials. It’ll be interesting to see how this one turns out after the videotapes are reviewed and the official calls are rendered later this week. It’d certainly be refreshing to see the division get back to racing rather than wrecking.

Ronnie Wyckoff, who in this writers opinion remains one of the most underrated drivers of New England modified racing’s “Golden Era” (multi-time Riverside 500 winner, and scads of victories all over the region), is a frequent visitor to the Speedbowl. Ironically, just before the late model fiasco, Wyckoff and I had been talking about some of the ways racing has changed over the years. One of the things that the now-retired driver pointed out is that to his estimation, a lot of today’s drivers seem to harbor a lack of respect for each other. “You might tap a guy or ride his bumper to gain a spot, might even move him up a bit, but nothing that’d intentionally end-up with both of you in the wall. Sometimes you had to settle for second, but that meant you didn’t have to bring home a wrecked car. There was always next week to pass the guy. We had a degree of respect for each other and our equipment back then. A lot of these guys seem to take each other out for no reason now”, stated the veteran shoe in comparing his era to the present. Well spoken Ronnie…..

Rob Janovic got out in front in the SK main and survived a couple of restarts that pitted him against familiar rival Dennis Gada. In the end, Janovic prevailed to become the division’s only repeat-winner this season. In the Sportsman, it Rich Staskowiski celebrating his first-ever win, while it was veteran Jeff Miller landing in Mini Stock victory lane.

And with that, it’s a wrap. Contact me at ddykes@originnet.net