Danny Serrano Memorial Weekend Recap & Pit Notes

The 3 day weekend of racing at the Danny Serrano 100 Memorial saw lots of racing with frequent rain which ultimately halted the racing and completion of the much awaited 100 lap feature.  Everything is in the books except the 100 lap feature and the Speedster feature which will be rescheduled in early November with details TBD.

Saturday – Modified Triple 20’s

Triple Twenty # 1 saw Jimmy Blewett take the early lead only to have his rear break on lap 3 ending his night early after being in the lead.  Jeff Strunk inherited the lead and took command of the race until the checkered flag and right into victory lane for triple 20 # 1. 

The top 7 qualifiers for Sunday’s Danny Serrano 100 were Jeff Strunk, Mike Mahaney, Jared Umbenhauer, Davey Sammons, Tommy Sheetz, Craig Von Dohren and Brandon Grosso.

Twenty # 1 pit notes

Each of the three triple twenties had 18/19 modifieds qualifying for 7 positions in the 100 lap feature event with a total of 56 modifieds on the grounds looking to qualify for the 100 lap feature event.

Tommy Sheetz was the surprise of the night with a 5^th place qualifying position from his 13^th place starting position.  Sheetz had his big block powered T3 moving forward and holding off challenges from Craig Von Dohren and Brandon Grosso for the 5^th position.

Roger Manning recently returned to racing and this was only his 3^rd race of the season.  Manning started in 17^th position and from lap 14 and picked up a position on almost every lap to finish 8^th place and just missed transferring his 414 entry into Sunday’s 100 lap feature.  Manning will start on the pole of one of the two consolation events on Sunday.

Mike Mahaney made the long trek from King’s Ferry, NY for his second visit to Bridgeport this season.  Mahaney has quickly taken a liking to the 4/10 mile high bank facility and grabbed the 2^nd qualifying position from a 7^th place starting positon.

Twenty # 2: Dominic Buffalino and JoJo Watson brought the field to green in modified triple 20 # 2 with weekly regular Watson powering to the early lead which he held until lap 16.  Ryan Watt made his move on lap 17 and took over the lead and drove right into victory lane of twenty # 2.

The top 7 qualifiers for Sunday’s 100 lap feature were Ryan Watt, Danny Bouc, JoJo Watson, Dominic Buffalino, Peter Britten, Frank Cozze and Billy Pauch.

Twenty # 2 pit notes

Bridgeport’s weekly competitor Neal Williams just missed qualifying with an 8^th place finish in a battle with Billy Pauch, Anthony Perrago and Richie Pratt Jr for the final transfer spot.  Billy Pauch got the final sport sending Williams, Perrago and Pratt to the consolation.  Pratt made a strong charge on the final 2 laps going above the cushion but a flat tire finished his bid for the final transfer spot.

Frank Cozze was in a lap 1 tangle which sent the 401 to the pits for a flat tire.  Visibly smoking Cozze continued to charge back to the front and moved into the 6^th qualified position from 15^th after returning from changing his flat tire.

Twenty # 3 – Justin Grim led the first 6 laps but tracked down by Jimmy Horton on lap 6 who then proceeded to check out on the field.  Ryan Krachun pitted for a flat tire on lap 2 and the 29 entry proved to be one of the most dialed in entries on the grounds as he proceeded to move from 17^th to 2^nd place after pitting for a flat tire.

The top 7 qualifiers for twenty # 3 were Jimmy Horton, Ryan Krachun, Duane Howard, Dillon Steuer, Rick Laubach, Justin Grim and JR Heffner.

Twenty # 3 Pit Notes

Justin Grim made his first visit to Bridgeport during Friday night’s practice session. It was well worth the practice time; as Grim picked up right where he left off at Grandview this season on Saturday with a 6th place finish and qualified position in the 100 lap feature. Justin has met many challenges this year at Grandview and has succeeded at each one; from staying up front when handicapped; moving forward in the heat race; and moving forward in the feature and on top of that he added qualifying for the 76er. So it wasn’t extremely surprising to see the #61 go to a brand new track and qualify from the heat race with 56 cars on the grounds. The progression has been outstanding as Justin Grim continues on with his breakout season.

Briggs Danner made a strong bid for a qualifying position but fell one sport short with an 8^th place finish from his 13^th place starting position.  Briggs had a busy night as he also was the winner of the East Coast 360 sprint car feature.  Briggs will be on the front row of the modified consolation tomorrow.

Alex Yankowski had a flat tire and visible vibration from mud in his wheels and his 11^th place finish puts the 84Y entry in the consolation qualifier tomorrow.

Ryan Krachun went above the cushion and it stuck as he drove from 17^th to a 2^nd place finish.  Krachun noted “I knew it would either stick or end up in the loose stuff and into the wall.  Fortunately for us it stuck.”  Ryan has been fast since Friday as he was 2^nd quickest of 39 at practice on Friday.  Krachun seems to have the Bridgeport 4/10 figured out and the 29 entry dialed in for the Danny Serrano 100.

Sunday – Modified Consolation Qualifiers

The consolations were on Sunday with 2 consolations of 18 & 17 cars scheduled.  13 drivers made the call in each consolation with 4 drivers securing positions in the 100 lap feature event.

Briggs Danner led the consolation # 1 from green to checkered flag followed by Jimmy Blewett, Anthony Perrago and Matt Stangle.  Just missing the field in the 5^th position was Wad Hendrickson.  Roger Manning was in a qualified position but unlucky timing put him to the back of the field after a rain delay but he still moved through the field for a 6^th place finish but a DNQ nonetheless.  Joe Toth had racing contact which lead to heavy wall contact and his day was ended with a trip on the hook back to the pits.

Consolation 2 was also a green to checkered run by the pole sitter Eric Kormann who was followed by Ryan Godown, Neal Williams and Alex Yankowski in the final qualifying position.  Richie Pratt had a whole weekend of almost qualifying but ended up in 5^th position and the first alternate or the highly likely senerio that Pratt will get a track provisional.

Sunday – Modified Pit Notes

Ryan Krachun won the cash dash for the pole position and $600 bonus.  On Sunday Krachun continued to be one of the fastest cars on the grounds for the entire 3 days of racing.   The cash dash set the top 9 starting positions for the 100 lap feature event.  Cash Dash results:

1. Ryan Krachun
2. Jimmy Horton
3. Mike Mahaney
4. Danny Bouc
5. Jeff Strunk
6. JoJo Watson
7. Ryan Watt
8. Duane Howard
9. Jared Umbenhauer

Eric Kormann won his consolation heat from the pole position qualifying for the 100 lap feature event. Kormann and Bobby Firth have combined efforts for just two races with Kormann’s car and Firth’s spec 358 engine. In only their second outing they were able to qualify for the feature as the team gets quicker each time they hit the track.

Sunday – Modified Match Races

An entertaining 12 driver modified match race was won by Mike Mahoney.  Dillion Steuer won his first 10 matches against all the cash dash entries above with the addition of Dominic Buffalino & Duane Howard.  After 10 wins in the outside lane Steuer just couldn’t hold off Mike Mahaney who won the 11^th and final match race.  Postrace Steuer stated “Unfortuantely we underestimated how much fuel we would burn in the match races and on the last few races it started to stumble through the corners on the steep banking.  Still proud of what we accomplished winning the first 10 races.  Congrads to Mike Mahaney on the win.”  

Saturday Night – 602 Crates

The 602 crate feature went to 2020 Bridgeport track champion Steve Kemery who started on the pole and never looked back as he drove green to checkered into victory lane for his 5^th Bridgeport win of the season.  David Jenkins from Delaware had his best run of the season and ran 2^nd behind Kemery for the entire race from the outside pole until failing tech inspection and resulting in a DQ moving Brian Krummel to 2^nd place.  The top 10 was rounded out by Dan Fleming, Sammy Martz, Wayne Weaver, Travis Hill, Steve Davis, Anthony Tramontana and Jeremy Martino, and Adam White.

Crate Pit Notes

 2nd place David Jenkins received a postrace DQ to 24^th place for a tire infraction.

Friday Night – 602 Underdog 20 Race

The Underdog 20 Crate race only for drivers with no wins during the season and this event was created by Danny Serrano for the drivers.  33 crates competed in the timed hot lap qualifying with the top 6 quickest times redrawing and the remainder of the field going to a heads up starting position based on their qualifying time.  The entire race was dominated by Howie Finch’s two 4 team cars as they battled one another for the lead.  The white 4 driven by Steve Davis lead the first 15 laps but on a late restart Brian Krummel took the lead on lap 16 and checked out on Davis and the field in the final 5 laps.   Brian Krummel wins his first time in any race car for over a year, his first time in the green #4 crate car and his first time at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.  Krummel plans to be in a 360 wingless sprint car for the first time tomorrow at Bridgeport.  A big weekend of firsts for the returning driver after a year off.

The crate top 10 was rounded out by Steve Davis, Wayne Weaver, Anthony Tramontana, Tom Sherby, Travis Hill, John Meyer, Daniel Morgiwetz, Gregg Reed and Darren Cox.

The 100 lap modified feature and Speedster A Main will be rescheduled for early November with details to follow on Bridgeport Motorsports Website.