Big Winners on Day 1 of Danny Serrano Memorial at Bridgeport Speedway

Day 1 of the Danny Serrano Memorial weekend is in the books with a full Friday night of racing that was a fitting tribute to Danny and his legacy at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.  130 cars were on the grounds in 6 classes of racing.

The modifieds had 3 sessions of practice which rewarded the quick time of each session with a guaranteed re-draw position in their modified triple 20 tomorrow.  36 modifieds were on the grounds looking to be fast time for one of the sessions.  Fastest times for each session were: Jordan Watson in session 1 @ 16.34; Tyler Dipple in session 2 @ 16.65 and Dillion Steuer in session 3 @ 16.42. 

The Mass 305 feature was dominated again by Kevin Nagy moving from his 3^rd starting position to first by lap 3 where he stayed through a handful of cautions and held off Eddie Wagner and Dave Grube to make his 6^th trip to the Bridgeport victory lane and collected his 9^th win and the Mid-Atlantic sprint car series 2021 championship. 

The top ten was rounded out by Dave Grube in second followed by Buddy Schweibinz, Eddie Wagner, Tim Tanner, Tom Carberry, Mark Bittner, Joe Kay, Scott Frack and Aiden Borden in 10^th.

In victory lane Kevin noted “I could see Eddie in turn 4 out of the corner of my eye and I was good as I could be with the bumps in turn one and two.  I kind of knew that I could probably rip around the top past some cars in lapped traffic while Eddie may get bottled up since he was running on the bottom.  This season has been surreal we have always been fast but to win this many in a row has just been one of them seasons.  We had luck in the heat and I just happened to get Tanner on the last lap which was the difference between starting 16^th or redraw 4^th.”

Next was the Underdog 20 Crate race which is only for drivers with no wins during the season and this event was created by Danny Serrano for the drivers without a win during the season.  40 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.  For the first time there were so many entries that two features of 20 crates each were run.

In Underdog feature # 1 it was Matt Ellery leading every lap from the pole but a late single file restart with 3 laps to go it got a bit tight and on lap 19 Ian Humphreys took the lead on the backstretch and Matt Ellery had to cross him over to take a close win over Humphreys’ late charge.

The Underdog feature # 1 top 10 was Ian Humphreys in second followed by Billy Chester, Joe Brown, Cody Miller, Daniel Morgiwetz, Trent Willey, Nick Desantis, Jon Meyer and John Scarpati in 10^th place.

In victory lane Matt stated “It was a rough one tonight.  Ian almost got me in the end.  I had to take the bottom and make myself wide.  I would like to do this on Sunday.  We need $4,000 to win since I keep spending it.”

The second Underdog feature saw pole sitter Eric Kormann take a strong lead over 2^nd place Ryan Stangle and then just glided through lapped traffic to victory lane.

The top ten was rounded out by Ryan Stangle in second place followed by Ryan Simmons, John Stevenson, Nick Van Winkle, Sean Mertz, Sean Metz, Howie Finch, Scott Hulmes and Chad Sandt in 10^th.

Eric Kormann may have many wins over the years but this one was special.  In victory lane Eric noted “This thing was flying tonight.  I really got to thank George Tubbs and the whole family for giving me the opportunity to drive this car.   I really thought I was done with crate racing forever and would end up being a back marker in modified for the rest of my life.  But George called me and gave me the opportunity to drive a hell of a race car.  I spend many nights up on this podium a long time ago and here we are again.  My daughter Hanna did it again and drew me the pole.  We had a great car that made the yellows not matter.  This win means a lot to me personally and I would like to dedicate this win to my brother Sargent Michael Kormann.”

Back at the trailer Eric stated “I think the moisture came back in the track with the cooler temperatures and we adjusted for it and nailed.  Thanks to the Tubbs family; Hoffman Heating and Cooling; Blue Hen Disposal; Ad Art; Penske Shocks; Teo Pro Car and all our marketing partners on this #10 car.”

The street stocks and their competitiveness was always one of Danny’s favorite classes at Bridgeport. Lee Allen took the early lead from the pole position and that is where he stayed right into victory lane. 

The street stock top 5 was rounded out by Jeff Dirkes in second followed by, Chris Murray, Brian Ludwig and Nick Sandone in 5^th place.

The first night of the Danny Serrano 100 is in the books with solid fields of cars in every class and racing that Danny would for sure be proud to have at a race with his name on it.

Day 2 of the Danny Serrano 100 weekend is Saturday September 25 with modified triple 20s, 602 crates timed hot laps, speedsters and east coast 360 sprint cars on the card with racing starting at 6:00.