IRENE
FAILS TO STOP THE JERSEY RUSH.....
JJ GRASSO STORMS TO IMPRESSIVE $5,000
410 SPRINT VICTORY
AS BILLY PAUCH
TOPS THE MODIFIEDS IN THE "JERSEY
RUSH"
TUESDAY NIGHT AT NEW EGYPT
SPEEDWAY
NEW EGYPT, NJ (August
30, 2011)
– Rain, hail, sleet and snow will
not stop the mailman and Hurricane
Irene was not about to stop the first
presentation of the "JERSEY RUSH"
Tuesday night at the New Egypt
Speedway.
The event battled
plenty of rain, damaging high winds
and even a power outage at the track,
but when it was all said and done, JJ
Grasso of Pedricktown, NJ lived up to
his "Jersey Jet" name to win the 30
lap, $5,000 to win JERSEY RUSH.
Grasso wrestled the lead from Mark
Smith on lap thirteen and survived two
restarts to score his first ever 410
sprint car victory. Grasso was driving
the John PInter owned sprinter and for
Grasso, it was just his second time
driving a 410 sprinter. In the thirty
lap modified feature, Billy Pauch was
the winner. Pauch started deep in the
pack and took the lead on lap nineteen
for David Van Horn. Pauch earned
$3,000 for the victory in the feature
event that ran non-stop. The checker
flag in the modified feature fell at
10 PM, allowing the big crowd ample
time to visit their favorite drivers
in the pit area.
The JERSEY
RUSH was a co-promotion between Lenny
Sammons, his sons Danny and Davey and
special events organizer Bob Miller.
The show was viewed as a big success
as a result of the large crowd on
hand, outstanding dust-free track
conditions and an efficiently well run
program thanks the officials and staff
of the New Egypt Speedway.
In
the 410 sprint time trials, Lance
Dewease set a new one lap track
record of 14.193 for the recently
re-configured "D"shaped New Egypt
Speedway. Sprint heat race winners
were Davey Sammons, Daryn Pittman and
Rick Lafferty. In the big block
modifieds, heats were won by Dave
Hunt, David Van Horn and Billy Pauch
as Stan Frankenfield won the modified
consolation.
In the 30 lap JERSEY RUSH for sprint
cars, Mark Smith led the field down
for the green flag in the feature
event. Smith set the pace with JJ
Grasso in the chase followed by Davey
Sammons, Lance Dewease and Rick
Lafferty. By lap seven, Smith had a
six car length lead over Grasso as all
eyes were on Daryn Pittman who now
moved into fifth.
On lap night,
Grasso took a run at the lead, pulling
within inches of Smith and as the
field passed the line on lap nine. The
yellow was then displayed for Davey
Sammons who tagged the inside
guardrail and spun in turn four as
Shane Stewart spun to avoid contact.
When green flag racing resumed,
Mark Smith continued to set the pace
with Grasso about three car lengths
behind as Lance Dewease and Daryn
Pittman tried to reel in the top
two. The move of the race came on lap
fourteen when Grasso made the pass
around Mark Smith for the lead. As
the field passed for the halfway mark,
Grasso was the leader followed by Mark
Smith, Pittman, Dewease and Rick
Lafferty.
The second yellow
flag of the race was displayed on lap
sixteen for Dave Wilson and Robbie
Stillwaggon who spun in turn four. The
restart saw Grasso get a good jump on
the field, pulling a six car length
lead by lap seventeen. On lap
nineteen, the yellow was displayed,
this time for Jim Campbell.
On
the restart, Mark Smith managed to
stay closer to Grasso with an attempt
to regain the lost position and by the
way, Daryn Pittman was now charging
after the leaders followed by Dewease
and Fred Rahmer now in the top five.
Grasso maintained a several car
length lead by now Smith had to stop
challenging for the lead and start
defending his runner-up spot from
Daryn Pittman. It was a two car race
for second with Smith and Pittman
battling for the final five laps.
With the checker flag waiving,
Grasso scored an impressive win over
Mark Smith, Daryn Pittman, Lance
Dewease and Fred Rahmer.
In the thirty lap modified feature,
David Van Horn was the early race
leader with Jimmy Blewett in the chase
along with Tim Tanner Jr. The
side-by-side battles where taking
place everywhere on the finely
prepared track surface. On lap ten,
Tanner made a bid for the lead, but
settled back into the runner-up spot.
Blewett ran in third with Jeff Strunk
now joining the party in fourth with
Jimmy Horton fifth. By lap fourteen,
Blewett moved into second on lap
fourteen and made his bid to reel in
the leader.
At the halfway
point of the race, Van Horn was
running a brilliant race with Blewett
second and out of nowhere, Billy Pauch
moved into the picture racing third
with Tanner and Strunk making up the
top five. On lap sixteen, Pauch moved
into second and set out to chase down
the leader.
By lap nineteen,
Pauch was the leader with Van Horn now
in second followed by Blewett, Strunk
and Horton. With just five laps
remaining, Jeff Strunk pass Blewett
and took over the third
position. Pauch had a solid lead but
there was still plenty of passing
within the rest of the field. On the
final lap, Jimmy Horton passed Jimmy
Blewett to finish fourth with Blewett
fifth. Pauch took the win with Van
Horn second and Jeff Strunk third.
THE JERSEY RUSH 410 SPRINT FEATURE
FINISH:
1.
JJ Grasso, 2. Mark Smith, 3. Daryn
Pittman, 4. Lance Dewease, 5. Fred
Rahmer, 6. Rick Lafferty, 7. Chad
Layton, 8. Todd Shaffer, 9. Davey
Sammons, 10. Curt Michael, 11. Mark
Bitner, 12. Shane Stewart, 13. Jeff
Geiges, 14. Brent Marks, 15. Robbie
Stillwaggon, 16. Dave Wilson, 17. Jon
Brennfleck, 18. Jimmy Campbell, 19.
Frank Cozze, 20. Greg Hodnett, 21.
Steve Petry, 22. Billy Pauch
THE JERSEY RUSH BIG BLOCK MODIFIED
FEATURE FINISH:
1. Billy Pauch, 2.
David Van Horn, 3. Jeff Strunk, 4.
Jimmy Horton, 5. Jimmy Blewett, 6. Tim
Tanner Jr., 7. Danny Johnson, 8. Billy
Pauch Jr., 9. Mike Iles, 10. Ryan
Godown, 11. Ryan Watt, 12. Richie
Pratt Jr., 13. Rick Laubach, 14.
Dominick Buffalino, 15. Tommy Scheetz,
16. Ron John Kozon, 17. Stan
Frankenfield, 18. Robbie Nixon, 19.
Steve Haggan, 20. Randy Laird, 21.
Gary Butler, 22. Mike Frantz, 23. Brad
Freeman, 24. Bob Lineman, 25. Dave
Hunt
