Dominic Buffalino Wins Tuesday Night Battle with Krachun at Bridgeport & Modified Pit Notes

A strong field of 35 modifieds were on the grounds of Bridgeport Motorsports Park for the Tuesday night “Invasion of the Posse” special event.  410 sprint fans and modified fans alike were not disappointed with a fast pace night of racing provided by the two division program.

From the outside pole Ryan Krachun took a commanding early in the 30 laps feature only to see Dominick Buffalino begin to close the gap until lap 19 when Buffalino took the lead for the first time from his 6^th starting spot in the field.  Krachun never lost contact with Buffalino and made several attempts to regain the lead that did not stick and in the end it was Dominic Buffalino taking the checkered flag into victory lane for his second win in a row.  The race was run in 8 minutes and 49 seconds without any cautions.

In victory lane Buffalino commented “It felt like a 130 laps and I don’t know if I ever went 30 laps in a row here without a caution.  It definitely wears you out and I don’t think I ever ran a whole feature here without hitting the wall.  I want to thank Glen and Bonita for giving me this opportunity.  I’ve been in a lot of stuff and I always felt like I could do it.  I got in this car saying if I don’t do it here I’m not any good.  We had a little rough start this year and had to figure some stuff out and I think we are on it now.”

2^nd place Ryan Krachun commented in tech “My line was a little different than what Dominick was running and he was able to run me down.  I’ve got to get better getting through lapped traffic.  Dom is a young veteran driver with a lot of experience getting through lapped traffic.  We’ll be back this Saturday and hopefully get one spot better.”

3^rd place Mike Maresca noted in tech “Ryan and Dom lost me in lapped traffic.  They got through lapped traffic early and a little better than I did.  I lost sight of them and it took me about 10 laps to catch back up to them.  Congratulations to Dom that is two wins in a row for him.”

The top ten was rounded out by Ryan Krachun in second followed by Mike Maresca, Billy Pauch Jr, Alex Yankowski, Danny Bouc, Craig Von Dohren, JoeJoe Watson, Jim Britt and Briggs Danner in 10^th.

Heat races were won by JoeJoe Watson, Mike Mahaney, Craig Von Dohren and Billy Pauch.  The last chance consolation was won by Davey Sammons.

Results 4/06/21 – Modified @ Bridgeport Motorsports Park

 1. Dom Buffalino 2. Ryan Krachun 3. Mike Maresca 4. Billy Pauch Jr. 5. Alex Yankowski 6. Danny Bouc 7. Craig Von Dohren 8. Joseph Watson 9. Jim Britt 10. Briggs Danner 11. Brandon Grosso 12. Jimmy Horton 13. Dillion Steuer 14. Tommy Beamer 15. Sam Martz 16. Mike Gular 17. Davey Sammons 18. Jim Gallagher 19. Brandon Hightower 20. Neil Williams 21. Billy Pauch 22. Frank Yankowski 23. Joe Toth 24. Tim Buckwalter 25. Brad Roberts 26. Ryan Godown 27. Mike Mahaney

Did Not Qualify: Mike Frantz, Ron Roberts, Travis Hill, Jack Swain, Tim Buckwalter, Brett Kelly, Matt Stangle, Jimmy Blewett

Modified Pit Notes – Invasion of the PA Posse

It may have taken a little while and the road may have been a little bit bumpy but Dominic Buffalino in the Glen & Bonita Hyneman #126 have now put the rest of the modified in the DE, NJ & PA tristate area that they are ready to compete for wins and championships any were they go during the 2021 season.  The 126 team has quickly built on a couple of rough early season outings and have been able to  put everything they have learned together in recent weeks to land back to back wins at New Egypt and Bridgeport.  Big Diamond is next on the docket this Friday and then back to Bridgeport on Saturday for the season points opener.

Back at the trailer post-race Dominic noted “You have got to go hammer down here otherwise you will get run over. I was fortunate to be committed to the bottom pass when Sam Martz hit the wall.  I then had to decide if I was going to run hard for the lead or ride around waiting for a yellow but I was thinking if I ride I’ll get passed by someone running hard.  It’s hard not to hit the wall here and this was actually the first time I never touched the wall in a 30 lap feature.  I can race with Ryan all day trading sliders and cross overs he’s just a lot of fun to race with.  I didn’t see the “two to go” because I was in the lapped cars.  With the 30 green flag laps I was looking for the white flag for the last 12 laps and didn’t think it would ever out.”

It’s little wonder why Ryan Krachun has choose Bridgeport as his 2021 as he has had outstanding speed at Bridgeport since the Danny Serrano Memorial in September of 2020 when he won the Cash Dash and continues to have speed into 2021 with being fast qualifier in the Doug Hoffman Memorial 2021 season opener. 

Back at the trailer post-race Ryan commented “I messed up in lapped traffic and need to do a better job navigating the lapped cars.  It’s hard to know where the best line is when you are leading.  When Dominick passed me I was able to see the lines and use the best one to stay with him and throw a couple of sliders at him.  We were happy with the car and setup tonight.”

Mike Maresca was in the neighborhood on Saturday at Grandview with a finished 6^th and traveled only part way home to Syracuse, NY only to travel back to Bridgeport on Tuesday to take a shot at his 3^rd Bridgeport win in a row.  Maresca came up a few spots short this time with a strong 3^rd place finish in the caution free 30 lap feature were he started from the 7^th position on the starting grid.  In the heat race Mike finished 3^rd from a 9^th place shotgun on the field. the grid.  Post-race at tech Mike commented “Ryan and Dom lost me in lap traffic and they got through a little better and I lost sight of them and it took about 10 laps to catch back up with them.  Congratulations to Dominick that is two wins in a row for him.”

Billy Pauch Jr. finished 4^th in the Joel’s Auto Technology # 19 which makes two 4^th place finishes in a row at Bridgeport this season.  Postrace at tech inspection Billy Jr commented “I lost my brakes on lap 5 and was trying to not kill myself without any brakes.  I was lucky there were no cautions as I would not had been able to slow down.”  Billy Jr. finished 2^nd in his heat race from an 8^th place starting position which earned him a redraw position

Alex Yankowski is returning to his 2020 form after a slow start to the 2021 season at a few of the STSS races with large car counts and his bad draws.  The 84Y finished 5^th from a 14^th starting position and went +9 forward in a caution free 30 lap feature.  His prior outing at Bridgeport was a 9^th place finish from a 13^th starting position in a 60 lap feature.  Yankowski is back in top 5 form just in time for the start of the 2021 points season. Postrace Alex noted “We are really happy to get a top 5.  It has been tough and a struggle here in the 1^st month of the season.  We will be back here at Bridgeport on Saturday to start the 2021 championship point chase.

Frank Yankowski was in attendance tonight with his 127 entry and used a track provisional to get some track time in preparation for the 2021 season.  Frank is Alex’s uncle and this year there will be two Yankowski cars on track at Bridgeport.

Sam Martz Sr. was one of only a couple of big block entries in the field of 35 modifieds.  Martz had a strong run in his heat race and came out with a redraw position which was good for the 4^th starting spot in the feature.  The Martz # 3 big block was running a strong 2^nd early and then began to fade after contact with the wall to finish 15^th.  Sam Martz Sr. commented “It’s tough for a big block to compete with the small blocks when the track dries out.”

Danny Bouc continues to quickly move forward with every outing in Norm Hansell’s 357 entry.  Danny finished 6^th from a 13^th starting position in the caution free 30 lap feature event.

Briggs Danner finished 10^th in his # 78 family owned modified from a 16^th starting spot.  Briggs is coming off of a win in the USAC east coast 360 sprints at Bridgeport this past Saturday and continues to demonstrate his driving diversity by running wingless 360, winged 360 and his modified interchangeably already this season.

Dillion Steuer finished 13^th in the caution free 30 lap feature from a 22^nd starting position on the grid.  Dillion started his night out with a flat tire on the first lap and was able to battle back through the field for a 6^th place finish sending him to the last chance consolation.  Dillion has had good speed this spring and is just looking for some good luck to match when the 2021 points season opens up on Saturday April 10^th.

Jimmy Horton continues to move in on the setup of his new 2021 Teo Elite car with a season best 12^th place finish from a 23^rd starting position.   

Mike Gular had an unusual night in his 2A entry.  Some confusion with which heat race they were in had the 2A come out of the pits just as his heat race was just about to take the green.  Gular was able to pick-up the final feature transfer position in the last chance consolation with a 4^th place finish from a 10^th place starting position in the last chance consolation.  Gular finished 17^th in the feature from a 24^th starting position.

Jimmy Blewett broke a motor while leading his heat race bringing his night to an early end.  Matt Stangle had engine issues develop during hot laps and worsen in the heat race ending with the # 6 entry not making the call for the consolation.

The 30 lap non-stop caution free feature still saw an unusual number of drivers pull off due to engine failures and mechanical issues.  Billy Pauch Sr. was in 4^th place when he felt a vibration and had to pull off with only 2 laps to go.   Other drivers pulling in earlier in the feature for mechanical issues were Mike Mahaney, Ryan Godown, Joe Toth and Tim Buckwalter.

Jim Gallagher Sr. team owner, manager and dad of the 31J Lombardo powered Bicknell entry noted “We decided to make the switch to modified as soon as the points ended in September 2020.  We got the crate motor out and modified motor in prior to the season finale and were able to run our first modified race ever.  It didn’t last long as we broke the motor in the heat race.  We repaired and updated the motor this winter and wanted to use today as a test session.  The progress my son made driving the modified for the first time made me really proud of him.  We have a lot of things to learn but I never dreamed we would be trading positions with Gular today for 6 laps in our first time out in modified.  We are looking forward to the opening of the weekly racing season and are hoping to qualify every race and make the top 10 in points here at Bridgeport.”  Gallagher missed qualifying by only 2 positions in the last chance consolation and used a provisional to start in the feature to get additional seat time.  Jimmy Jr. finished 18^th from a 26^th provisional starting position in his first modified feature of his career.  Jimmy commented “We had a really bad push and it was a handful to drive but I’m optimistic for this Saturday’s points opener after we make adjustments for everything we learned tonight by getting 45 laps in.”

Tom Moore, Matt Peck, Tommy Errico, Joe Toth & Brad Roberts are all Bridgeport home grown modified drivers that have moved up from crates for the 2021 season and all have great expectations for the 2021 modified racing season.

The next event at Bridgeport Motorsports Park is the points opener on Saturday April 10^th with modifieds, 602 Sportsman and Street Stocks and warmups starting at 6:00 PM.