8/15/09
MARK SAMMUT TAKES LEE USA OLLIE SILVA ISMA SUMMER CLASSIC
By Carol D Haynes, ISMA PR
Lee, NH – Canadian Mark Sammut surprised the large Lee USA crowd Friday night when he came
by both Chris Perley and Russ Wood in the late stages of the Ollie Silva 75 to take the win. It was
Sammut’s career-second win of his 11-year supermodified career, the first coming just over a
month ago. The victory surprised Sammut as much as anybody. He started 16th in the 26-car field
and had to pick his way through a competitive field to a top three spot. With less than 10 laps to
go, he got by Chris Perley and headed for leader Russ Wood. With five to go he had maneuvered
around some lap cars and closed in on Wood. In a spectacular move on lap 73, he dove under the
Pelham driver to take the lead. One lap later he took the win. Mark also received a hard charger
bonus from the Witkum family on what was the 10th year since the loss of Randy Witkum at
Jennerstown.
Said the London, Ontario driver after the feat, “I never thought I’d get a win here. I remember the
first time we came here. I pulled into the infield about lap 20 because I figured I’d have a wrecked
racecar if I stayed out. I didn’t think I’d ever win a race and especially so close to our first one. It
was great tonight. It was probably the best car we’ve ever had.”
He went on to describe his race. “The car was so tight at the start, I almost pulled it in. I was so
bad I think we picked up only one car by the time the first yellow came out. I thought we’re just
going no place here. All of a sudden everything just started to come to me. I don’t know if
everybody else was slowing down or I was getting faster. I started picking them off one at a time. I
could really stick to the bottom coming out of four which didn’t look like anybody else did. That’s
where I passed most of the cars. I think the only car I passed up high was the 05. So the car was
working good for whatever reason.
“We thought we had a decent car earlier today. We tried to change it around a little to get faster
because we weren’t keeping up time wise with the 11 or 61. Everything we did seemed to make it
worse so we ran the heat race like that and finished sixth. We were out to lunch. Before the
feature we put everything back to where it was when we got here and away we went. I think those
guys up front were going a little bit harder than I was from the start because they had no one
ahead of them and they had no choice. It probably worked out better for me because the tires
didn’t get worn out.”
Russ Wood, who almost got knocked out by a spinning car on lap 62, echoed Sammut’s
sentiments. “The car was going really good. But I used it up in the beginning. The last 15 laps we
were kind of skating around. When that car looped it down 3 and 4 I definitely thought it was all
over. Luckily I just slide through the grass and kept it going. So we were slipping and sliding and
Mark was coming on strong. Chris was third. It’s not bad finishing second with all these guys. We’
re in once piece and we’ll head to Waterford tomorrow.”
And, finishing up on the podium was Chris Perley who commented, “We had a good car. We were
able to come up and get in the top 3, which is always good, I felt we had a good run in front of the
fans here tonight. I had a lot of people from the hometown come to see us. I would have liked to
pull off the win but I just kept plugging away, I didn’t think I had much for Wood. I figured I’d wear
him down and I couldn’t. Then Sammut came out of nowhere. It was an awesome run for him
coming from 16th. He passed me and I couldn’t do anything. I wanted to go up and battle with
Russ. But Mark did a great job. I hope I didn’t hold him up for too long. It was a good run for us.”
Lou Cicconi dove to the lead at the start of the 75-lapper only to hit the brakes when yellow fell on
lap 4 for the 71 driven by Mike Ordway Sr. Mike Ordway Jr. made a pitstop in the Holbrook 41 at
the same time with the father and son both restarting at the rear.
Cicconi led the way while Danny Lane, Jamie Timmons, Vern Romanoski and Dave Sanborn
pursed in the early laps. Coming up quickly were Jeff Abold, Wood, Perley, Dave Shullick Jr., Rob
Summers and Dave McKnight.
The laps ticked away rapidly on the fast 3/8th’s mile oval as Cicconi was soon into the tail of the
field. By lap 20 “Liquid” Lou already had two lap cars separating his 10 from the 9 of Danny Lane.
Wood, Abold and Perley were next in line.
Yellow flew on lap 24 for a spin by Jerry Dinnen in the 56. Justin Belfiore, Jamie Timmons and
Ordway Jr. pitted on this slowdown.
Within 4 laps of this restart, Wood moved passed Lane and tucked in behind Cicconi. Perley sat
behind the Essex, Mass. rookie, as Abold and Summers were top six.
On lap 31 Wood put the 29 by Cicconi off the second turn, leaving Cicconi behind to contend with
first Lane and then Perley.
On lap 41, yellow flew for Dave McKnight who had a tire going down. He restarted but one lap
later as yellow flew for the Dinnen car, the 94 pitted. Defending race winner Dave Shullick Jr. also
pulled the 61 out of the action here.
The lap 42 restart found Wood leading Perley, Cicconi, Lane, Abold, Sammut, Summers, Ben
Seitz and Mike Lichty. Things just couldn’t seem to get going as another attempt at a restart
found Friday night’s Delaware winner, Jeff Locke, spinning between 3 and 4.
When the race finally got its momentum back, Wood was able to pull away from Perley as
Sammut was picking off cars slowly moving into fourth by lap 50.
Wood was still in command with 15 to go, as Perley broke free of the four lap cars Russ had put in
between the two local heroes.
The scare came for Wood on lap 62 when Eddie Witkum Jr. spun off turn four as the leader
approached. Wood had the 38 in his sites but was able to avoid him, driving through the grass
and back onto the track.
This was the last restart. It gave Perley his last chance at Wood but it also gave Sammut a chance
at Perley, which he took on lap 65. As Russ bogged down behind some lap cars, Sammut
appeared to be getting faster and faster, and closer and closer as the race approached its end.
On lap 73, Sammut drove the 78 under Wood in turn one and made it stick. Two laps later he was
pulling into victory lane after a most amazing run. Wood and Perley completed the top three.
Finishing fourth was Jeff Abold, whose teammate and car owner Craig Rayvals had taken a
frightening ride down the back straight, hitting two walls and landing in the pit entrance. He was
taken to the hospital for x-rays while his destroyed 95 was flatbedded to the pits.
Said Abold, fresh off a Boston Louie Seymour midget win, “After the season we’ve been having
this year, we went back to basically what we had last year for a setup. It woke up the car. I think
we really have something to race with now. It’s a fourth place but we’re pretty happy with it, as it’s
the first top five of the season. It was a pretty good night for us. We were fast right out of the box. I
hated what happened to Craig. I really wanted to go out and win it tonight for him. I was really
good on the green flag runs. On the restarts I was no good. I was loose and it took about 3 laps to
get going. Once I got going I could start picking cars off. Those laps really hurt us at the
beginning. We’re happy with fourth.”
Four-time NEMA champ Ben Seitz brought the Budnick 88 home in fifth. “I had a good run,” said
the Bourne, Mass. driver. “I conserved the car as much as I could at the beginning and towards
the end it really started to pay off. Bruce gave me a real good car. I have to thank the sponsors,
Shea Concrete, Harrington Paving and Lee Vinyl. Without them it wouldn’t be possible.”
Notes: Craig Rayvals of Brockville, Ontario, suffered a devastating crash in Heat 2 after his
throttle stuck at the race beginning. He was taken to an area hospital with possible leg, shoulder
and rib injuries. … Mike Duggan (51) and Butch Valley Jr. (1) were unable to start heats due to
mechanical problems.
SUMMARY
ISMA Event #10
Lee Speedway, Aug. 14, 2009
Heat 1: Jeff Abold, Jamie Timmons, Dave Shullick Jr., Robbie Summers, Mike Ordway Jr., Mark
Sammut, Jeff Locke, Brandon Bellinger, Eric Emhoff
Heat 2: Danny Lane, Dave McKnight, Justin Belfiore, Dave Sanborn, Jeff Holbrook, Eddie Witkum
Jr., Mike Keeler, Jerry Dinnen, Mike Ordway Sr., Craig Rayvals
Heat 3: Lou Cicconi, Russ Wood, Chris Perley, Vern Romanoski, Ben Seitz, Mike Lichty, Bobby
Haynes Jr., Mike Keeler, Artie Rousseau
Ollie Silva Super Summer Classic: 1. Mark Sammut (78), 2. Russ Wood (29), 3. Chris Perley (11), 4.
Jeff Abold (05), 5. Ben Seitz (88), 6. Jeff Holbrook (35), 7.Lou Cicconi (10), 8. Rob Summers (97), 9.
Dan Lane (9), 10. Mike Lichty (84), 11. Eddie Witkum Jr. (38), 12. Jeff Locke (37), 13. Mike Keeler
(55), 14. Artie Rousseau (616), 15. Dave Sanborn (24), 16. Jerry Dinnen (56), 17. Dave McKnight Jr.
(94), 18. Bobby Haynes Jr. (44), 19. Dave Shullick Jr. (61), 20. Brandon Bellinger (02), 21. Jamie
Timmons (27), 22. Justin Belfiore (98), 23. Vern Romanoski (5), 24. Mike Ordway Jr. (41), 25. Mike
Ordway Sr. (71), 26. Eric Emhoff (2).
MARK SAMMUT TAKES LEE USA OLLIE SILVA ISMA SUMMER CLASSIC
By Carol D Haynes, ISMA PR
Lee, NH – Canadian Mark Sammut surprised the large Lee USA crowd Friday night when he came
by both Chris Perley and Russ Wood in the late stages of the Ollie Silva 75 to take the win. It was
Sammut’s career-second win of his 11-year supermodified career, the first coming just over a
month ago. The victory surprised Sammut as much as anybody. He started 16th in the 26-car field
and had to pick his way through a competitive field to a top three spot. With less than 10 laps to
go, he got by Chris Perley and headed for leader Russ Wood. With five to go he had maneuvered
around some lap cars and closed in on Wood. In a spectacular move on lap 73, he dove under the
Pelham driver to take the lead. One lap later he took the win. Mark also received a hard charger
bonus from the Witkum family on what was the 10th year since the loss of Randy Witkum at
Jennerstown.
Said the London, Ontario driver after the feat, “I never thought I’d get a win here. I remember the
first time we came here. I pulled into the infield about lap 20 because I figured I’d have a wrecked
racecar if I stayed out. I didn’t think I’d ever win a race and especially so close to our first one. It
was great tonight. It was probably the best car we’ve ever had.”
He went on to describe his race. “The car was so tight at the start, I almost pulled it in. I was so
bad I think we picked up only one car by the time the first yellow came out. I thought we’re just
going no place here. All of a sudden everything just started to come to me. I don’t know if
everybody else was slowing down or I was getting faster. I started picking them off one at a time. I
could really stick to the bottom coming out of four which didn’t look like anybody else did. That’s
where I passed most of the cars. I think the only car I passed up high was the 05. So the car was
working good for whatever reason.
“We thought we had a decent car earlier today. We tried to change it around a little to get faster
because we weren’t keeping up time wise with the 11 or 61. Everything we did seemed to make it
worse so we ran the heat race like that and finished sixth. We were out to lunch. Before the
feature we put everything back to where it was when we got here and away we went. I think those
guys up front were going a little bit harder than I was from the start because they had no one
ahead of them and they had no choice. It probably worked out better for me because the tires
didn’t get worn out.”
Russ Wood, who almost got knocked out by a spinning car on lap 62, echoed Sammut’s
sentiments. “The car was going really good. But I used it up in the beginning. The last 15 laps we
were kind of skating around. When that car looped it down 3 and 4 I definitely thought it was all
over. Luckily I just slide through the grass and kept it going. So we were slipping and sliding and
Mark was coming on strong. Chris was third. It’s not bad finishing second with all these guys. We’
re in once piece and we’ll head to Waterford tomorrow.”
And, finishing up on the podium was Chris Perley who commented, “We had a good car. We were
able to come up and get in the top 3, which is always good, I felt we had a good run in front of the
fans here tonight. I had a lot of people from the hometown come to see us. I would have liked to
pull off the win but I just kept plugging away, I didn’t think I had much for Wood. I figured I’d wear
him down and I couldn’t. Then Sammut came out of nowhere. It was an awesome run for him
coming from 16th. He passed me and I couldn’t do anything. I wanted to go up and battle with
Russ. But Mark did a great job. I hope I didn’t hold him up for too long. It was a good run for us.”
Lou Cicconi dove to the lead at the start of the 75-lapper only to hit the brakes when yellow fell on
lap 4 for the 71 driven by Mike Ordway Sr. Mike Ordway Jr. made a pitstop in the Holbrook 41 at
the same time with the father and son both restarting at the rear.
Cicconi led the way while Danny Lane, Jamie Timmons, Vern Romanoski and Dave Sanborn
pursed in the early laps. Coming up quickly were Jeff Abold, Wood, Perley, Dave Shullick Jr., Rob
Summers and Dave McKnight.
The laps ticked away rapidly on the fast 3/8th’s mile oval as Cicconi was soon into the tail of the
field. By lap 20 “Liquid” Lou already had two lap cars separating his 10 from the 9 of Danny Lane.
Wood, Abold and Perley were next in line.
Yellow flew on lap 24 for a spin by Jerry Dinnen in the 56. Justin Belfiore, Jamie Timmons and
Ordway Jr. pitted on this slowdown.
Within 4 laps of this restart, Wood moved passed Lane and tucked in behind Cicconi. Perley sat
behind the Essex, Mass. rookie, as Abold and Summers were top six.
On lap 31 Wood put the 29 by Cicconi off the second turn, leaving Cicconi behind to contend with
first Lane and then Perley.
On lap 41, yellow flew for Dave McKnight who had a tire going down. He restarted but one lap
later as yellow flew for the Dinnen car, the 94 pitted. Defending race winner Dave Shullick Jr. also
pulled the 61 out of the action here.
The lap 42 restart found Wood leading Perley, Cicconi, Lane, Abold, Sammut, Summers, Ben
Seitz and Mike Lichty. Things just couldn’t seem to get going as another attempt at a restart
found Friday night’s Delaware winner, Jeff Locke, spinning between 3 and 4.
When the race finally got its momentum back, Wood was able to pull away from Perley as
Sammut was picking off cars slowly moving into fourth by lap 50.
Wood was still in command with 15 to go, as Perley broke free of the four lap cars Russ had put in
between the two local heroes.
The scare came for Wood on lap 62 when Eddie Witkum Jr. spun off turn four as the leader
approached. Wood had the 38 in his sites but was able to avoid him, driving through the grass
and back onto the track.
This was the last restart. It gave Perley his last chance at Wood but it also gave Sammut a chance
at Perley, which he took on lap 65. As Russ bogged down behind some lap cars, Sammut
appeared to be getting faster and faster, and closer and closer as the race approached its end.
On lap 73, Sammut drove the 78 under Wood in turn one and made it stick. Two laps later he was
pulling into victory lane after a most amazing run. Wood and Perley completed the top three.
Finishing fourth was Jeff Abold, whose teammate and car owner Craig Rayvals had taken a
frightening ride down the back straight, hitting two walls and landing in the pit entrance. He was
taken to the hospital for x-rays while his destroyed 95 was flatbedded to the pits.
Said Abold, fresh off a Boston Louie Seymour midget win, “After the season we’ve been having
this year, we went back to basically what we had last year for a setup. It woke up the car. I think
we really have something to race with now. It’s a fourth place but we’re pretty happy with it, as it’s
the first top five of the season. It was a pretty good night for us. We were fast right out of the box. I
hated what happened to Craig. I really wanted to go out and win it tonight for him. I was really
good on the green flag runs. On the restarts I was no good. I was loose and it took about 3 laps to
get going. Once I got going I could start picking cars off. Those laps really hurt us at the
beginning. We’re happy with fourth.”
Four-time NEMA champ Ben Seitz brought the Budnick 88 home in fifth. “I had a good run,” said
the Bourne, Mass. driver. “I conserved the car as much as I could at the beginning and towards
the end it really started to pay off. Bruce gave me a real good car. I have to thank the sponsors,
Shea Concrete, Harrington Paving and Lee Vinyl. Without them it wouldn’t be possible.”
Notes: Craig Rayvals of Brockville, Ontario, suffered a devastating crash in Heat 2 after his
throttle stuck at the race beginning. He was taken to an area hospital with possible leg, shoulder
and rib injuries. … Mike Duggan (51) and Butch Valley Jr. (1) were unable to start heats due to
mechanical problems.
SUMMARY
ISMA Event #10
Lee Speedway, Aug. 14, 2009
Heat 1: Jeff Abold, Jamie Timmons, Dave Shullick Jr., Robbie Summers, Mike Ordway Jr., Mark
Sammut, Jeff Locke, Brandon Bellinger, Eric Emhoff
Heat 2: Danny Lane, Dave McKnight, Justin Belfiore, Dave Sanborn, Jeff Holbrook, Eddie Witkum
Jr., Mike Keeler, Jerry Dinnen, Mike Ordway Sr., Craig Rayvals
Heat 3: Lou Cicconi, Russ Wood, Chris Perley, Vern Romanoski, Ben Seitz, Mike Lichty, Bobby
Haynes Jr., Mike Keeler, Artie Rousseau
Ollie Silva Super Summer Classic: 1. Mark Sammut (78), 2. Russ Wood (29), 3. Chris Perley (11), 4.
Jeff Abold (05), 5. Ben Seitz (88), 6. Jeff Holbrook (35), 7.Lou Cicconi (10), 8. Rob Summers (97), 9.
Dan Lane (9), 10. Mike Lichty (84), 11. Eddie Witkum Jr. (38), 12. Jeff Locke (37), 13. Mike Keeler
(55), 14. Artie Rousseau (616), 15. Dave Sanborn (24), 16. Jerry Dinnen (56), 17. Dave McKnight Jr.
(94), 18. Bobby Haynes Jr. (44), 19. Dave Shullick Jr. (61), 20. Brandon Bellinger (02), 21. Jamie
Timmons (27), 22. Justin Belfiore (98), 23. Vern Romanoski (5), 24. Mike Ordway Jr. (41), 25. Mike
Ordway Sr. (71), 26. Eric Emhoff (2).
