6.19.21 Bridgeport Speedway Results
Bridgeport, NJ – The Bridgeport Motorsports Park hosted their first USAC Eastern Storm event for the Amsoil Wingless National Sprint Cars on the high banks of the 4/10th mile speedway. The Foley Cat Modifieds shared the stage with the wingless sprint cars in Wednesday evening action and both divisions left the racing fans in attendance wanting more. The double header race event was sponsored by Rodota Trucking and Excavating.
Shane Cottle, behind the wheel of Tim Hogue’s No. 39, sat on the pole for the start of the thirty lap sprint car main event. The green flag waved and the race was on as Briggs Danner and the Gallagher 5G challenged Cottle for the lead but Cottle powered back to lead lap one. Danner, who started fourth on the grid, settled into second ahead of Tanner Thorson. Ballou and CJ Leary completed the top five with five laps scored.
Cottle put some distance between himself and the field. Ballou replaced Thorson in third and then started to pressure Danner for second on lap eleven. Danner battled Ballou for one trip around the track but Ballou owned second on lap twelve. Now he was ready to move in on Cottle.
Lap by lap, Ballou reeled Cottle in. Then on lap seventeen, Ballou used the huge momentum that a run off of turn two provides. The run down the backstretch put him in position to challenge for the lead. Ballou was the race leader as the field raced to the start/finish line to complete the lap.
Out in front, Ballou just simply drove away from the competition. In spite of lapped traffic in front of the leader, Ballou stretched his lead to just under two seconds by the time he reached the checkered flag. Cottle finished second giving car owner Hogue a huge accomplishment in Eastern Storm competition. Chris Windom raced home in third after running in the top five for the second half of the race. Brady Bacon raced his way into the top five in the late stage of the race and battled Windom in the final laps. Bacon finished fourth. Briggs Danner came home with a fifth place finish in his first ever Eastern Storm competition. Danner and the Gallagher team traveled to Florida in February to compete with USAC and followed the USAC eastern series earlier this season.
Tuesday night’s winner, Justin Grant finished sixth with CJ Leary taking seventh after running in the top five for the first half of the race. Our local talent continued to shine as Tim Buckwalter brought the Bagel Rack No. 7 home in eighth with multi- time USAC East Coast Wingless Champion, Steve Drevicki in ninth. Kevin Thomas, Jr., who won the last Eastern Storm event at Bridgeport, rounded out the top ten.
Ryan Godown left nothing on the race track as he raced to his fourth Bridgeport victory of the season. Godown and two time winner, Dominick Buffalino, set a torrid pace as they raced in first and second for multiple laps. Godown had the lead but Buffalino had the Big Spring Car Wash No. 126 on Godown’s back bumper or just inside his quarter panel. Buffalino’s run came to an end on lap twenty-two with mechanical failure.
While Godown ran away from second place, Tyler Dippel, there was a huge five car battle happening behind the leaders. Matt Stangle, Ryan Krachun, Rick Laubach, Sam Martz and Alex Yankowski raced three and four wide with Martz coming out on top to finish third. Stangle finished fourth with Yankowski winning the battle for fifth. Laubach, Krachun , Davey Sammons, Jimmy Blewett and Wade Hendrickson completed the top ten at the end of thirty laps.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CARS: 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Briggs Danner, 6. Justin Grant, 7. CJ Leary, 8. Timmy Buckwalter, 9. Steven Drevicki, 10. Kevin Thomas Jr., 11. Jake Swanson, 12. Tanner Thorson, 13. Logan Seavey, 14. Charles Davis Jr., 15. Isaac Chapple, 16. Paul Nienhiser, 17. Alex Bright, 18. Chase Stockton, 19. Brandon Mattox, 20. Mark Bitner, 21. Mark Smith, 22. Matt Westfall, 23. Nash Ely
FOLEY CAT MODIFIEDS: 1. Ryan Godown, 2. Tyler Dippel, 3. Sam Martz, 4. Matt Stangle, 5. Alex Yankowski, 6. Rick Laubach, 7. Ryan Krachun, 8. Davey Sammons, 9. Jimmy Blewett, 10. Wade Hendrickson, 11. Troy Ale, 12. Billy Osmun III, 13. Blaine Braclin, 14. WB James, 15. Nick Keefe, 16. Dominick Buffalino, 17. Neal Williams, 18. Mike Franz, 19. Ryan Watt, 20. Jim Gallagher Jr., 21. Jimmy Horton, 22. Billy Pauch Jr., 23. Jim Britt, 24. Rich Rutski, 25. Joseph Watson