Being the fastest for one lap during qualifying was cool.
It didn’t take long, however, for second-year late-model driver Tony Scalpelli Jr. to trump that triumph Friday night at Grundy County Speedway.
The 19-year-old from Oswego made his first career late-model feature victory a majestic one, scorching the 17-car field from start to finish to capture the second 47-lap leg of the Frank Welch Memorial 94.
The overall points winner and champion of the event was Boris Jurkovic, who finished second to Larry Schuler in the first leg Aug. 14 and second to Scalpelli on Friday.
Scalpelli beat front-row partner James Gregait to Turn 1 at the drop of the green and for 47 laps had no real challenges. Jurkovic was the only driver to even gain any ground on him during the course of the race, but Scalpelli still prevailed at the finish by 0.367 seconds.
“I always thought we would luck into a win with crashes or getting the luck of the draw,” Scalpelli said. “But never in a million years did I expect it to come like this.
“Doing this was just amazing. My spotter was on the radio the whole time saying that (no one was gaining) and I just didn’t believe him until I looked in the mirror with five laps remaining and saw that nobody was around me.”
Earlier in the evening, Scalpelli bested a 21-car qualifying field with a 15.214 lap. It was the second time in his career he was the fastest qualifier.
Jurkovic came from as far back as sixth to weave his way through the pack and at least get within seeing distance of Scalpelli.
It was the same story the week before when he finished second to Schuler.
“It was the best of two (races), so we were happy to be there in both,” Jurkovic said. “We were too tight in both races but I was able to free it up a little bit.
“And I’ll tell you what. That kid (Scalpelli) is going to be a good race car driver. He held his own out there.”
The fairly strung out field saw John Nutley finish third ahead of Schuler. Well back, Brett Sontag beat Eddie Hoffman for fifth.
In the regular 30-lap feature, James Gregait led comfortably for several laps until a yellow tightened the field. After a restart, Hoffman made a lap 13 pass then collected his eighth victory of the season.
For the third time in two weeks, Jurkovic finished second, with Schuler, Scott Tomasik, Scalpelli and Ricky Baker completing the top six.
Tommy Knippenberg made it six victories on the season in the Mid-American feature, taking the top spot from Kenny Benson on lap 15, and beating points leader Matt Clemens to the finish by 0.875 seconds. Third went to Kevin Murphy.
A wild street stock feature saw a Turn 4 tangle with three laps remaining that took title contender Jake Bradley out of the race and jumbled the field. Up front, Tim Stewart was untouched and went on to claim his third victory.
Seth Blommaert picked up some spots late to finish second, while Cheryl Hryn edged out Rita Fields in the final turn for third. Points leader Christy Penrod was fifth.
Ryan Lagestee joined the 4-cylinder feature winners list with a power run in the 15-lap race. Lagestee passed Chris Mihalski on the outside on lap 11 and beat Mihalski by 0.653 seconds. Ricky Wilson was third.
Twitter @tbaranek
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Late-model
Fast time: Tony Scalpelli Jr. (15.214). 1st heat: 1. Chris Cooling, 2. Billy Knippenberg, 3. Brian Tedeschi. 2nd heat: 1. Larry Schuler, 2. James Gregait, 3. David Einhaus. 3rd heat: 1. John Nutley, 2. Scott Tomasik, 3. Ricky Baker. 47-lap feature: 1. Scalpelli, 2. Boris Jurkovic, 3. Nutley, 4. Schuler, 5. Brett Sontag, 6. Eddie Hoffman, 7. Brandon Clubb, 8. Gregait, 9. Andy Jones, 10. Tomasik. 30-lap feature: 1. Hoffman, 2. Jurkovic, 3. Schuler, 4. Tomasik, 5. Scalpelli, 6. Baker.
Mid-American
Fast time: Kevin Murphy (16.570). 1st heat: 1. John McMahon, 2. Mike Slabenak, 3. Jim Kachel. 2nd heat: 1. Matt Clemens, 2. Tom Knippenberg, 3. John Ventrello. 25-lap feature: 1. Knippenberg, 2. Clemens, 3. Murphy, 4. Marty McKinney, 5. Jim Kachel, 6. John Ventrello.
Street stock
Fast time: Jake Bradley (17.613). 1st heat: 1. Tim Stewart, 2. Bill Serviss, 3. Darrell Gay. 2nd heat: 1. Rita Fields, 2. Christy Penrod, 3. Cheryl Hryn. 25-lap feature: 1. Stewart, 2. Seth Blommaert, 3. Hryn, 4. Fields, 5. Penrod, 6. Zach Sontag.
4-cylinders
Fast time: Michael Tobuch (19.892). 1st heat: 1. Chris Mihalski, 2. Alex Clubb, 3. Dylan Marshall. 2nd heat: 1. Ricky Wilson, 2. Jim Gross, 3. Alex Gay. 15-lap feature: 1. Ryan Lagestee, 2. Mihalski, 3. Wilson, 4. Gay, 5. Gross, 6. Spencer Leake.
