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Kirk Alexander Lightning Quick in
Thunder Road Debut:
 Barre,
VT, (May 26, 2008) -- Defending True Value Modified Racing
Series champion Kirk Alexander, Swanzey, NH., made his
first visit to Thunder Road International Speedbowl an
impressive one as he captured the Mekkelsen RV Memorial
Day Classic 100 for modified racers Sunday afternoon, May
25. in front of a huge sun-drenched crowd. Alexander
passed race leader Peter Jarvis on lap 84 to win his 29th
career feature race in five years and his third victory of
the 2008 season. Sundays win was the 11th different New
England race track Alexander has finished first at, in
TVMRS competition. The 100 lap grind was the second in a
series of eight Sunoco Race Fuel qualifying events for
“Mod Mania” weekend at Thompson , CT , in September.
25 race cars started the event with front row drivers Dale
Evonsion and Peter Jarvis staging a torrid battle at the
drop of the green flag racing side by side until lap four
when Jarvis, the 2007 rookie of the year, snuck by only to
turn the top spot back over to Evonsion on lap eight.
Jarvis re-inherited the lead on the 10th lap and held it
until lap 68 when Evonsion took it back. The second
generation driver continued to battle with P. Jarvis and
then Chris Pasteryak until the 80th circuit when Pasteryak
got into Evonsion resulting in a five car incident. Two of
those were a hard charging and very fast David Pinkham,
and Jonathan McKennedy . Neither driver made contact or
suffered damage but a forward motion rule resulted in both
drivers being sent to rear of the field. Prior to the lap
80 slowdown, seven cars were closely bunched together
often inches apart at speeds by radar gun at 100 miles per
hour on the high banked quarter mile speedway.
When the race resumed, Alexander moved to the front on lap
83, was never headed, and won by four car lengths over
Vermont veteran Dwight Jarvis. Peter Jarvis finished a
strong third. Eddie Dachenhausen, a consistent effort
throughout the race, finished fourth, and Pasteryak
finished fifth.
Ever the outdoorsman, Alexander was highly complimentary
of the famed speedway in post race interviews. "I just
happened to be on the bottom when the leaders got into it,
this is a great facility with great fans. I had never been
here before and when I saw it set here in the beautiful
hills, I thought, this is my kind of place"
Veteran Jack Bateman had a solid run and finished sixth
after being involved in a practice crash on Saturday
requiring a return to his Canaan , NH, shop for repairs.
Sean Bodreau had another strong top 10 finish with a
seventh, followed by Pinkham, Mike Holdridge, and
McKennedy, rounding out the top 10 positions.
Qualifying heats were won by Evonsion, P. Jarvis, and
Pinkham. By series rule, Pinkham started last (25th) as he
won the last race at Waterford , CT , May 3.
The next event for the New England racing series will be
June 14 at Seekonk , MA Speedway .
Race Summary: Thunder Road International Speedbowl
Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 100
May 25, 2008
Race Time: 55:45:930
Fastest Lap: Alexander: 12.35
Fastest Lap for New Track Record: 12.24 (Saturday) Rob
Goodenough
Race Leaders: Evonsion Laps 1-3, P.Jarvis: Laps 4-7,
Evonsion: 8-9, Jarvis: Laps 10-67
Evonsion: 68-79 Jarvis: 80-83 Alexander: 84-100
Caution Periods: (6) Laps, 31, 52, 67, 78, 80, 83
Black Mountain Painting Half-Way Leader: P. Jarvis
Sunoco Hard Charger Award: Alexander |
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