Danner, Papiez and Allen take Day 1 High Bank Classic Victories at Bridgeport

Day 1 of the High Banks Classic three day weekend of racing saw a full Friday night program with over 100 cars in attendance at Bridgeport Motorsports Park. 

Briggs Danner finished his rookie season in the USAC East Coast Sprint Series by making his 9^th trip to USAC victory lane and was followed by Alex Bright and Davie Franek on the podium.

The 602 Crate Underdog 20 was won by Brian Papiez who held off a final lap slider by Howie Finch who was followed by Joe Brown in 3^rd.

In the Street Stock feature it was Lee Allen with nearly a 3 second margin of victory over Rich Stinson and Jeremy Doerr.

The USAC East Coast Sprint Car series saw a fitting conclusion in the final race of their 23 race season with a battle between their 2021 points champion Alex Bright and their 2021 Rookie of the Year driver Briggs Danner who was also second in points.  Alex Bright took the early lead but by lap 3 Briggs Danner had already moved into 2^nd from his 5^th starting position.  By lap 7 Danner moved into the lead and started to stretch the lead until the first caution came out on lap 12 and bunched the field back up.  On the restart; Danner successful held off a barrage of sliders Bright through coming out of turn 2 and 4 until 2^nd and final caution came out on lap 17.  But the second restart was a different story; Danner took off and closed the door on any late race drama and cruised into his 9^th victory lane of the season with nearly a 2 second margin of victory over Alex Bright and Davie Franek in 3^rd place.

In victory lane Briggs commented “We were really good tonight.  I would have liked to won the championship but want to congratulation Alex and Hummer as they were consistently good all season and that’s what it takes to win championships.  I got to thank the Gallagher family; who after everything that went on they stuck it out with me.  We sure miss Bill and he always loved to be in victory lane and we couldn’t have ended this season in a better way for him.”

The 2021 USAC East Coast Wingless points championship was awarded to Alex Bright who won 11 of the 23 features on his way to the championship. 

USAC EAST COAST SPRINT CARS RESULTS:

 1. Briggs Danner, 2. Alex Bright, 3. Davie Franek, 4. Kenny Miller III, 5. Damon Paul, 6. Nash Ely, 7. Christian Bruno, 8. Brenden Bright, 9. Bruce Buckwalter Jr., 10. Eric Jennings, 11. Colin White, 12. Kyle Smith, 13. Ed Aikin, 14. Brian Spencer, 15. Thomas Radavoy, 16. Jermain Godshall, 17. Al Cheyney, 18. Carmen Perigo Jr., 19. Joey Amantea, 20. Troy Betts

2021 CHAMPION: Alex Bright

The 602 Crate Underdog 20 feature was led by pole sitter Howie Finch until the first restart on lap 7 when Brian Papiez used the high line to take over the lead position.  Lap 18 was the final restart and Finch made a go of it not letting Papiez to break away and threw several last lap sliders but crossed over on the final lap to take his first trip to victory lane in 2021.

In victory lane Brian noted “My whole career I have had to deal with late cautions.  I got the utmost respect for Howie; he a good racer; loves racing and does a lot for the sportsman division with his business.  He loves racing and did a hell of a slider and did it clean.  Some people don’t know how to do that.  A big thank you to Dave Adams for the ride and when Dave asked me to drive I was honored to be driving for him.”

Back at the trailer Brian reflected “Car was really good early in the feature.  I was happy he gave me the top on the lap 7 restart.  Momentum is huge on this track.  Car got loose towards the end of the race that’s why he was able to close in so well on the final restart.  In qualifying for Sunday we ended up 4^th in session 1 and I knew exactly where I needed to be to be better.  So we made some minor adjustments and were able to put down a really nice lap in session 2 for overall quick time of the night.”

2^nd place Howie Finch noted “I had trouble with my carburetor launching during restarts but on the final restart I timed it perfectly and was able to give him a run for the money right to turn 4 of the final lap.”

602 SPORTSMAN UNDERDOG 20 RESULTS:

 1. Brian Papiez, 2. Howie Finch, 3. Joe Brown, 4. Ethan Bill, 5. John Micek, 6. Ryan Stangle, 7. Bobby Bracall, 8. Trent Willey, 9. Erik McKinney, 10. Ryan Conrad, 11. Shane Kassekert, 12. Bryan Brobst, 13. Billy Chester, 14. George Gareis, 15. Tommy Klimkowski, 16. Lee Nardelli, 17. Will Protinick, 18. Scott Maher, 19. Ryan Krushinski, 20. Anthony Sisco, 21. Pete Serra, 22. Scott Hulmes, 23. Ricky Wegner, 24. Sara Napora, 25. Erik Mattson, 26. Greg Reed, 27. Wayne Weaver, 28. Howard Huepful

Lee Allen took the lead from the green flag but on lap 11 got caught up in lapped traffic which allowed Kyle Sailer to move into the lead.  Sailer was holding off Allen until lap 16 when his car appeared to have a front end failure and drove straight for the wall and handed the lead back to Allen who reclaimed the lead and drove into victory lane for the win.

STREET STOCK RESULTS: 1. Lee Allen, 2. Rich Stinson, 3. Jeramy Doerr, 4. Mike Creamer, 5. Vern McGlaughlin, 6. Tom Wills Sr., 7. Jeff Dirkes, 8. Spider Ensinger, 9. Steve Kemery, 10. Johnny Bush, 11. John Parker, 12. Kyle Sailer, 13. Jack Beaumont, 14. Mike Baldwin, 15. Daniel Harrison, 16. Nick Sandone III, 17. Spider Ensinger Jr., 18. Jeremy Zufall, 19. Mike Hughes

Racing continues with day 2 and a full program of URC Sprints, Sportsman, Speedsters, Vintage Stocks and Modifieds (Timed Hotlaps only) on Saturday November 6 with hot laps starting at 4:00 and racing at 5:00.