Laubach Claims Bridgeport Win

The Kingdom of Speed held their final Sunday night racing at Bridgeport Motorsports Park on the 4/10 mile high banked raceway.  The Sunday night racing program had drivers from DE, NJ and PA to competing with the Bridgeport regulars.

The modified feature looked like an Alex Yankowski run away for 22 laps as he had checked out on 2^nd place Rick Laubach by nearly 3 seconds but then the 1^st yellow of the night came out and everything changed.  Laubach’s big block powered # 7 entry took command on all of the 4 restarts from lap 22 to 27.   Richie Pratt was running in 2^nd but fell to the back of the field after a spin in turn 2 on lap 26.  Alex Yankowski couldn’t fire on the final restart and had to pull off.  The final 4 laps turned into a three car battle between Laubach, Watt and Pauch as they traded positions coming out of turn 2 and 4 but Laubach powered to the lead down the straight away on all 4 laps.  Rick Laubach collected the first big block win on the Kingdom of Speed.

In victory lane Laubach noted “Last week we had the small block and it just isn’t right for me here.  We always joked we are a fan of the big ole 5/8 but tonight I’m a fan of my big ole big block. This was definitely good for us tonight.  We are trying to pay attention to what is going on here.  I’m a big block guy and I and just don’t know the tricks to the small blocks yet.  I’m just glad we got this win that solidifies I’ll be running a big block here.”  

2^nd place finisher Watt noted in tech “The big block with the coil over was a handful tonight and I was bouncing around and it wanted to go straight into the wall.  The 3 and 4 wide in the turns is exciting racing.”

3^rd place Billy Pauch Jr stated “We had a really good car tonight.  We had low fuel at the end of the night and every time we get in under the leader motor would die and car would get tight and just couldn’t finish it off.  I think we had something for them tonight.  The small block got better as the race went on and we have something to work with here.”

The top 10 was rounded out by Ryan Watt, Billy Pauch Sr., Ryan Godown, Tim Buckwalter, Craig Von Dohren, Ryan Krachun, Matt Stangle, Neal Willams and Louden Reimert.

Heat winners were Richie Pratt, Rick Laubach and Ryan Godown.  Consolation was won by Jeff Strunk.

Bridgeport track champion lead the crate feature for the first 15 laps but on a restart Scott Hitchens took the lead and quickly checked out on the field for the Delaware driver’s first win at the Kingdom of Speed.  Each time Hitchens is in attendance it has come down to a Hitchens / Kemery one two finish.  The score is one to one with Kemery winning the first race on the new 4/10 mile and Scott Hitchens winning this time.

The top ten was rounded out by Steve Kemery, Matt Peck, Wayne Weaver, Ryan Godown Jr., Joe Toth, Brad Roberts, Ryan Anderson, Eric Kormann and Tommy Errico.

Crate heat races went to Joe Toth, Ryan Anderson and Erik McKinney.  Justin Grosso took the consolation win.

Pit Notes    

The big blocks are starting to figure the new track out with Rick Laubach securing the first big block win on the new 4/10 mile and Ryan Watt’s big block running a strong 2^nd place finish.   Other big blocks in the top ten were Craig Von Dohren, Matt Stangle and Neal Williams.

The small blocks also made a strong showing with Alex Yankowski checking out on the big blocks for 22 laps while Billy Pauch Sr. ran from a 15^th starting position to a 3^rd place finish. 

Jared Umbenhauer returned to action in his Big Diamond 1H small block but he could not make the call for the feature due to mechanical issues from his heat race.  Jared is having a strong season with an opening day win at Big Diamond and currently is leading the points at Grandview with two second place finishes already this season.  An end over end flip at Big Diamond in late June put the 1H team on the sidelines while a new car was built.  Today served as their first visit to the new Bridgeport and a shakedown session for the new 1H entry.  After qualifying for the feature in the heat race Jared and team 1H looks to be ready to return to weekly competition at Big Diamond.

With Delaware International raining out on Saturday a host of Delaware cars came down for a Sunday night of racing.  The modifieds of Jordan Justice and Joseph Watson came up from Delaware as well as five 602 crates.  In addition OCFG modified Dillon Steuer and 602 crate Sammy Martz Jr were in attendance as well as multiple entries from Big Diamond, Grandview and New Egypt.

Bridgeport returns to Saturday racing next week.  Next up at Bridgeport is a regular show with the MASS 305 sprint cars on Saturday July 18^th with racing starting at 7:00 PM.