Bridgeport Sportsman Pit Notes 4/30/22 –  Brandon Shipley Scores First Sportsman Win

Brandon Shipley and Ethan Bill battled for the early race lead until Bill spun in turn 3 handing the lead to Shipley and 2^nd place to Stephen Yankowski.  Shipley maintained the race lead through 5 restarts and a late race charge from Ryan Godown Jr. to take his first trip to victory lane at Bridgeport.  

602 Crate Pit Notes

Brandon Shipley won his heat race and transferred into the handicap which earned him the pole position for the feature.  That was all he needed to lead the race from green to checkered and take his first career 602 crate sportsman win.

In victory lane Brandon noted “Got to thank the Papiez family big time for their help as they looked at our car and found some tweaks and got them straightened out for us.   Late in the race we developed power steering problems and I was fighting the car to stay off the wall while Ryan Godown Jr. was making a run at us for the lead, but we had enough speed to keep him at bay and pick up our first crate win.

Ryan Godown Jr. finished a strong 2^nd from his 9^th starting position.  Ryan has the trifecta this season with a win, 2^nd, and 3^rd in his first 3 points races of the season and has already emerged as a front runner for the 2022 points championship.

  Ryan Jr. stated “We were good all night with a heat race win and no complaints about the track. Started 9^th in the feature and it took me a while to get to the top 3, but when we got up there our car was just coming in and we just needed more green flag laps to catch the leader.  We want to continue our consistency and be 100 % ready and focused every week.”

Tommy Moore finished a strong 3^rd from his 10^th starting position.  Tommy had a 4^th earlier in the week at the STSS Diamond State 50 and added his 3^rd tonight to make for a real good week of crate racing for the 59 team. 

Tommy reflected “It is a lot of fun racing at Bridgeport.  Passing and tire wear were both good today.  This was a fun week of racing and to get a 3^rd here at Bridgeport and a 4^th at STSS in Delaware is very encouraging for us.”

Stephen Yankowski finished 4^th and started 4^th.   Stephen has quietly stepped up his consistency  with a 4^th and two 8^th places finishes in three races this season.

Stephen noted “In the feature we got up to second early on.  I was hoping it would go caution free because I knew the sliders would be coming on restarts.  Even though I ended up 4th it was fun mixing it up with those guys.  Last two weeks we got into redraw and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going and produce some better results in the next few weeks.  A win at Bridgeport is definitely on the bucket list.”

“We are starting to get it figured out down there at Bridgeport and I  can’t thank my guys enough for the help.  My dad, brother Alex and crew, the Loney team, as well as Jerry Higbie who have all been huge factors in our results this season.  I’ve been focusing on getting into redraw for qualifying.  We have definitely showed speed and have decided we have to get in the redraw to have a chance at Bridgeport.”

Wayne Weaver finished 5^th from a 7^th starting position and continued his season of top 5 and podium finishes in 2022.

Wayne stated “the consistency of our car has great so far this year.  This is such a contrast from last year.  We are still not perfect, but we are working with different carburetor combinations to hopefully get the difference that is needed to get us in to victory lane. It’s been a lot of fun so far this year and we are hoping we can maintain this momentum the rest of the year.”

Ethan Bill finished 7^th from a 3^rd place starting position despite spinning on lap 2 and going to the rear of the field.  Ethan then proceeded to run back to front (24^th to 7^th) after a 2^nd place finish last week. 

Billy Chester had one of those forgettable weekends with multi flat tires in the feature race.

Next up at Bridgeport is Modifieds, 602 Sportsman, Street Stocks, 4 Cylinders and All-star Jr. Slingshot Matinee on Saturday May 7^th with hot laps at 6:00 and racing at 7:00.