by J.R. Kennerup



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JR KENT WINS R. o. C. MODIFIED TOUR CENTRAL REGION OPENER AT CHEMUNG
BY JR KENNERUP
Chemung, NY .. Living up to his nickname of “ Kid Quick “ JR Kent of Horseheads, NY outdistanced a stellar field of asphalt Modifieds on Saturday evening at the Chemung Speedrome. Kent who started fourth inherited the lead on lap three when leader Bill Chandler pitted with a left front flat tire. Kent then went on to lead the rest of the 75 lap feature holding off the relentless challenges of Eric Beers for the $2,800 win. Chasing the top two across the line were 19th place starter TJ Potrzebowski, Matt Hirschman, and 22nd place starter Jim Long, Jr. in the second Horwith Racing entry.
“ This is a big win for us right off the bat “ said the happy winner JR Kent. “ Driving for Tommy Jack, it’s his first R. O. C. win, it’s a good way to start it off. We redid the car during the off season as we struggled a little bit last year. We didn’t have the best of luck last year but it is pretty cool to start off with a win this year. “
“ We planned on running the whole R. o. C. Series from the start and by winning the first one it makes it enticing “ said JR. “ Tommy and Don McCormick came up and helped me all winter long, they were fantastic in helping me. Drivers get all the credit but there are a lot of guys who work at the shop that deserve credit also. “
In talking about his strategy for the race JR said. “ You had to be patient from the beginning, I knew Eric was there. I burnt the tires off trying to get away from him but it also helps to know that you have a driver behind you who has respect. Eric he’s a real good driver and I knew we could race clean and set a pretty decent pace. “
Although it looked that JR had a relatively easy time of it he did have two very interesting moments while leading the feature. The first was when a lap car was allowed out of the pits right in front of him entering turn one on lap 48. “ Wow, I don’t know what that was “ exclaimed JR. “ That wasn’t a good deal, I don’t know if the guy ( Curtis Cowles ) knew if we were coming or what the scoop was. Once again Eric was so respectful as he could have probably shoved it in the corner and got me. However we hung on and kept the lead and that was a good thing. “
JR’s second hairy moment occurred with just nine laps left following a full track speedy dry application. “ We probably could have used another lap down here in turn four “ stated JR. “ We could have cleaned it up with a couple of laps under speed but we didn’t. It was a little hairy but when it gets near the end of the race you got to go for it. “
“ It means a lot to win at my home track “ said JR. “ Last year we ran good a couple of times and were close in a couple, wrecked a few times too. But it does feel good to win this one. “
“ We rode for the early part of the race “ said Eric Beers who finished second. “ It seemed like we were out there an hour and there was only seven laps completed. You don’t want to kill your tires right away and he ( JR ) was running a good pace and there was no one coming up behind us. We were a straightaway ahead of everyone and I could stay right with him. I was looking high a couple of times out there to see what was there. It was decent up high in three and four but down in one and two there wasn’t much there. I think I could have got next him coming down into the turn but I don’t think I could have gotten by him on the outside. “
“ Coming off four on that one restart ( lap 66 ) he ( JR Kent ) got into some speedy dry and it got on my tires and I almost spun out “ said Eric. “ It’s awesome that the car came back, I don’t know how it came back, I’m glad it didn’t spin out. “
Eric talked about all of the late race restarts. “ I was really mad to see that last yellow ( lap 73 ) cause I was tearing at him as the car felt real good. The green white checker finish hurt us as the right front didn’t come in until we got the checker. It was a great day for us coming up here, my third race ever here and it’s the first one I finished here, so I’ll take it. “
Beers who is a regular on the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series is planning on making an assault on the Central Region R. o. C. championship this year. “ We’re going to try and run the whole Central Region deal “ said Beers. “ As long as we don’t get any rainouts and conflicts, mother nature played it good today and she stayed away from here and give us a nice day to race. Looking forward to Mahoning, next race, our home track and see what happens. “
“ I tried to keep the nose of the car clean all day long “ said third place finisher TJ Potrzbowski. “ When it was 15 laps to go and I was in the top eight I said this was the way it was suppose to be. “
“ We suffered in the heat “ continued TJ. “ We had a skip in the motor and that is why we had to start so far back. I said let’s take it easy and not race the thing until 25 laps to go and see how it unfolds for us. I could run with the leaders at the end so the skipping problem with the motor was definitely the problem. “
Qualifying for the 34 asphalt Modifieds in attendance saw the heat races being won by Eric Beers, JR Kent, Pete Brittain and Tony Hanbury while the B Main was won by Andy Szapacs.
NOTES
Summer like temperatures brought out a large crowd for the opening event of the 2004 season. Spotty rain showers did hit the facility three times during the show causing only minor delays. The Modifieds had to run several laps before the start of the feature to dry up the speedway after a passing shower. During intermission Race of Champions Awards from the 2003 were handed out to the championship driver and crew chief in each region along with the overall champion of the Race of Champions Modified tour. Defending Central Region R. o. C. champion John Markovic lost a certain top three finish after the Kent and Hanbury melee when he was black flagged for leaking fluid on the track. Jim Willis had severe brake problems which saw him lose a certain top five finish. Zane Zeiner suffered a blown motor in the heat race and for the rest of the program drove the Wesley Swarthout car. Chemung added two track provisionals for the feature and they were George Kent and David Koroleski. Tioga added one track provisional and it was Brian DeFebo. Both Chemung and Tioga host a race in each region and due to their outstanding support of the Race of Champions were allowed to add provisional as there were no Race of Champions provisional available for the opening race. All 75 laps of the feature were run under green flag racing conditions. DNQ’S; Terry Zacharias, John Udes, Don Dreher, and Wesley Swarthout.
A WEIGHTY ISSUE
Several teams were caught light at the scales following qualifying race action on this evening. In heat race two third place finisher George Kent was light at the scales thus disqualifying his heat race effort. In the B Main apparent winner David Koroleski was light at the scales and was disqualified, he was added to the feature using a Chemung Speedrome track provisional. Third place finisher in the B Main Jim Long, Jr. who will be racing as a team mate to Eric Beers on the Race of Champions Modified Tour this year was found not to have enough left side weight thus disqualifying him, or so we thought. Following further inspection the Long machine had a severely bent front end from a heat race skirmish. With the left front being bent back four inches this difference made the car illegal because there wasn’t enough left side weight and after the front end was properly aligned the car was legal. After this was proved the B Main finishing position of second was awarded back to Long. Long made the most of this break as he patiently worked his way to the front to end up fifth.
THE DUKE’S ROLLER COASTER DAY OF RACING
Defending North Region and overall Race of Champions 2003 Modified champion George Kent had one of those days. Many drivers would have succumbed to the events that happened to George on this day. But this type of day and how George made the best of it just proves how good of a racer he is. First off George was found to be light at the scales after the heat race. In the B Main George got caught up in a multi car turn four tangle that found his car receiving the most damage. The severe front end damage saw many crew members not only from his team but also from his son’s team helping out to repair the car. After receiving a provisional to gain entrance in the feature from the Chemung Speedrome George put on a show in the feature. In just 17 laps George moved from 29th place starting position to tenth place. While attempting to take ninth spot away from Richard Crompton contact was made between the two which saw Crompton spin out. It was determined by R. o. C. officials that George was the cause of the spin and he was sent to the rear of the field. Once again George moved to the outside groove and started to masterfully work traffic on his way to the front. Just 37 laps after restarting at the rear George Kent entered the top five on lap 54. Eight laps later George took fourth and set his sights on third place runner Tony Hanbury. George took third from Hanbury on lap 62 with both drivers putting on a crowd pleasing side by side duel for the next three laps. Coming out of turn four on lap 66 Hanbury made contact with Kent spinning both drivers out. George pitted for a new right rear tire and literally fought his way back to a very hard earned ninth place finish.
R. o. C. MODIFIED TOUR RACE REPORT: CENTRAL REGION RACE 1
CHEMUNG SPEEDROME SATURDAY MAY 1ST, 2004
FINISH STARTING SPOT CAR# DRIVER HOMETOWN
1. 4 16 JR Kent Horseheads, NY
2. 2 9 Eric Beers Northampton, Pa.
3. 19 72 TJ Potrzebowski Elmira, NY
4. 13 52 Matt Hirschman Northampton, Pa.
5. 22 19 Jim Long, Jr. Staten Island, NY
6. 11 99 Pete Brittain Oakhurst, NJ
7. 5 3 Daren Scherer Binghamton, NY
8. 23 44 Rick Kluth Brockport, NY
9. 29 26 George Kent Horseheads, NY
10. 18 95 Lee Sherwood Hillcrest, NY
11. 2 27 Tommy Allen Cold Spring, NY
12. 10 21 Dan Kurzejewski Mansfield, Pa.
13. 9 72 Terry Potrzebowski Elmira, NY
14. 15 33 Richard Crompton Wall, NJ
15. 30 4 David Koroleski Riverhead, NY
16. 6 6 JR Swansbrough Nichols, NY
17. 8 45 Tony Hanbury Owego, NY
18. 14 95 John Markovic Bethlehem, Pa.
19. 20 96 Curtis Cowles Corning, NY
20. 21 38 Andy Szapacs Slatington, Pa.
21. 12 11 Jim Willis Red Bank, NJ
22. 3 42 Bill Chandler Waverly, NY
23. 17 16 Tyler Haydt Kunkletown, Pa.
24. 1 36 Matt Wentz Lehighton, Pa.
25. 24 25 Zane Zeiner Bath, Pa.
26. 25 09 Bobby Osgood Wellsburg, NY
27. 28 53 Brian DeFebo Berwick, Pa.
28. 27 x6 Tim Santee Palmerton, Pa.
29. 16 8 Earl Paules Kunkletown, Pa.
30. 26 1 Bobby Jones Palmerton, Pa.

SUNOCO RACE FUELS BONUS; Willis
GATER RACING NEWS DRIVER BONUS DRAW; Koroleski
HOOSIER TIRE HARD CHARGER AWARD ; G. Kent, 20 spots gained
HOOSIER TIRE HARD LUCK AWARD ; Wentz, 23 spots lost
ROOKIE OF THE RACE; Allen
LAP LEADERS; Wentz ( 1 ), Chandler ( 2 ), Kent ( 3 - 75 )
NEXT EVENT; Central Region Race 2 Saturday May 22nd, 2004 Mahoning Valley Speedway