May 10, 2008
 Nocella and Montesi are red hot at Whip City Speedway
Bennett, Dupuis, Johnson, Moore and Marangio take feature wins
By Mark McKeon
Westfield, MA
  Fifteen year old Anthony Nocella of Woburn, MA took home his first ever Mini Sprint feature victory in the highly competitive 600cc class at Whip City Speedway on Saturday night.  Nocella did it in high style: exiting turn four on the last lap, he and Lex Burritt split a lapped car and drag raced to the finish line, with Nocella winning by less than a car length.  He also won his heat race.

“The car was running really good at the end of the heat, so we didn’t change anything between the heat and the feature.  It feels really good to win and it especially feels good to beat Lex Burritt because he’s one of the best that there is, here or anyplace else.  I was running high and Lex was running low and I think that the track may have been better up high. I can’t wait for next week,” Nocella said.
 
After the race, the Woburn High School Student thanked his family and his sponsors, Gillis Brothers Inc, Mike’s Auto Body, Nocella Paving, C. N. Wood and Komatsu.
 
The Quad 4 Midget finale featured a thrilling side-by-side battle between veteran chauffer Tony Montesi and teenager Bethany Viets.  Although the official scoring sheet shows 4 lead changes, it only tallies who was leading as the cars crossed the start/finish line.  In reality, the two front runners swapped the lead 2 or 3 times per lap for about 10 laps until Montessi prevailed by a matter of inches.
 
“That was fun,” Montesi said after the race, standing along side his car owner, the legendary Hully Bunn, whose grin was as big as his resume.
 
Brooks Bennett of Goshen, CT is no stranger to victory lane and he returned there after winning the 270cc Mini Sprint feature.  Bennett held off Flying Phil Bessette for the win.  Todd Bertrand was third and Bryan Russo charged from ninth to finish fourth.
 
Mark Dupuis of Westfield, MA defeated 19 other competitors to win the 750cc Mini Sprint Main event.  Marc Guerard came from seventh to claim the runner-up spot, Jay Haviland was third, Joe Platt fourth while former track champ and current SK Light Modified driver Kyle Spencer was fifth.
 
There was good news and bad news in the Modified Lite feature.  A full field of 16 cars started the event and many of the drivers were rookies, indicating a strong future for the division.  Notwithstanding the future, the present proved challenging as the feature was curfewed after only 9 laps and 7 caution flags. Tim Johnson took the win, followed by a pair of Ryans- Charland and Nicewicz respectively.
 
Jon Moore had the fastest car in the 1200cc Mini Sprint feature and he knew just how to handle it.  He won the event over Josh Walts, Mark Dupuis, Denney Lamke and Jimmy Broderick.
 
John Marangio was the class of the field in the 750 Sportsman feature, leading every lap without a serious challenge. Jack “The Flying Farmer” Fogarty was second and Robby Spino was third.
 
There were 2 flips during the night.  Carlos Gray flipped his Quad 4 Midget in the heat, shortly after having been presented with an award for the best appearing car by Shorttrack Magazine editor and Publisher Thom Ring.  Pete Michaels flipped in the 750 Sportsman feature.  Neither driver was injured.
 
Whip City Speedway offers two complete shows for one low admission every Saturday.  Competition Karts, 250cc and Youth Mini Sprints make up the afternoon program which gets underway at 12:30 pm.  Four Cylinder Street Stocks are added every other week.
 
The evening program starts at 5:00 pm and consists of heats and features for Modified Lites, Quad 4 Midgets and Mini Sprints in the following classes: 270cc, 600cc, 750cc, 750 Sportsman and 1200cc.  Adult tickets are just $12 while kids 10 years and younger are just $3.  Parking is always free and Whip City Speedway is just a hop, skip and a Mini Sprint flip from both I-91 and I-90- The Mass Pike.  Check out our website at www.whipcityspeedway.com. 
 
Results:
270cc Mini Sprints: BROOKS BENNETT, Phil Bessette, Todd Bertrand, Bryan Russo, Kevin Tefft, Grant Sabo, Dylan Menditto, Kurt Conklin, Ryan Bigelow, Kelly McCarthy, Andrew Howe, Shayne Prucker, Seth Carlson, Brian Hurd, Frank Russo, Scott Franqueza.  Heat winners: Bennett and Bessette.
 
600cc Mini Sprints: ANTHONY NOCELLA, Lex Burritt, Richard Crooker, Luke Greenwood, Matt Seymour, Ricci Hirth, Matt Pupello, Lowbed Johnson, Susan Lescynski, Andy Shiatz, Kevin Heath, Chris Lennox, Jim DeCambra, Dylan Menditto.  Heat winners: Nocella and Burritt.
 
750cc Mini Sprints: MARK DUPUIS, Marc Guerard, Jay Haviland, Joe Platt, Kyle Spencer, John Virgilio, Eddie LeClerc, Bill Adamsky, Ed Adametz, Josh Woollam, Rob Walendy, Dan Schaubert, Tom Sarjeant, Walt Feldman, Michael Parolo, Ken Hinckley, Jack McKeon, Peter Dance, Paul Rose. Heat winners: Dupuis and Rose.
 
Modified Lites: TIM JOHNSON, Ryan Charland, Ryan Nicewicz, Bob Charland, Bob Poloski, Brian Peterson, Joseph Anselmo, William Carter, John Durst, Nick Dupre, Brian Hohenstein, Wayne Abair, Rick Ashlaw, Eric Bacon, Bob LaForge, Eric Bourgeois. Heat winners: Johnson and Peterson.
 
1200cc Mini Sprints: JON MOORE, Josh Walts, Mark Dupuis, Dennis Lamke, Jimmy Broderick, John Casazza, Bob Dance, Will Casazza, Tim Durland, Justin Phillips, Jon Walts.  Heat winners:  Moore and Josh Walts.
 
750cc Sportsman: JOHN MARANGIO, Jack Fogarty, Robby Spino, Kristen Phillips, John Missale, Matt Brown, Mike Chmura, Pete Michels. Heat winner: Morangio.
 
Quad 4 Midgets: TONY MONTESI, Bethany Viets, David Rose, Thom Ring, Vince Jacobs, Scott Viets. Heat winner: Montesi.
 
250 Youth Mini Sprints: TYLER JACKSON, Wayne Ibitz, Jim Santa Maria, Tyler Chartrand, Alex Curley, Alyssa Pawloski, L. J. Lombardo. Heat winner: Jackson.
 
Novice Karts: COREY LEMELIN, Dylan Irish, E. J .Adametz, Richard Jacobs. Heat winner: Lemelin.
 
Turquoise Karts:  KYLE SMITH, Kate Lafreniere, Cullen Pike, Ryan Irish, Alex Blanco, Alex Adamsky, Nora Lemelin, Kaitlyn Brice. Heat winner: Smith.
 
Junior Karts: JUSTIN WALTS, Josh Wood, Makayla Lucia, Dylan Dexter, Anna Coons, Kara Franqueza, Elliot Daly, Dylan Campbell, Robby Spino, Jon Schiezer. Heat Winner: Campbell.
 
Lite Karts: CHRIS TACK, Steve Rockwood, Tyler Virgilio, Will Coons. Heat winner: Tack.
 
Heavy  Karts:  JAKE SAPOWSKY, Justin Dube, Ron Fenner, Tim Gallant, Rit Dulac, Bruce Dodge, Eric Jorgensen, Rich Dulac, Bill Tack, Dan Murdzia, Justin Regan. Heat winner: Sapowsky.
 
2 Stroke Karts DON WOOD, Dan Card, Ernie Whidden, Roger Angers Jr., Josh Woollam, Jason Wood.  Heat winner: Card.
 
Limited Karts:  RYAN BIGELOW, Steve Rockwood, Roger Fujimoto, Craig Michael.