The Invasion from Albany

Southampton, Massachusetts    March 09, 2019  –  We had a total of 17 participants

Fast Five Raceway in all it's glory

for our yearly westward trek to Ryan Archambault’s Fast Five Raceway for our 7th event of the season.  Making the show were Gary Hallenbeck and Gerd Wolny from Albany, while this might have been their first MARC race of the season, they came with their A Game – Gerd taking down victories in both Super Stock races (Sportsman and Pro) with Gary taking down 2nd in both Sportsman races (Open Weight and Super Stock) – way to go guys!

 Open Weight Cars

The field is combined for our first race of the day so after an hour and a half of practice, 17

Sportsman Open Weight Podium - Pete Medeiros 1st, Gary Hallenbeck 2nd, Terry Ayer 3rd and Mike Tiffany 4th

drivers lined up for a round robin event.  Greg Burstein dominated the race using a car from Ryan Archambault’s stable, beating the boss to the finish line by 11 laps.  Rob Hayes finished a respectable 3rd but off the pace of the top two finishers.  Tom Gray borrowed a car from Ryan Archambault and pushed Rob hard for a top three spot on the podium but fell 3 laps short.  Following close behind Tom was MARC Director, Paul Ryer, making his return after a two-race absence.   Pete Medeiros jr was

Pro Open Weight Podium - Greg Burstein 1st, Ryan Archambault 2nd, Rob Hayes 3rd and Tom Gray 4th

the top sportsman in the field finishing 7th overall.  Pete was followed by Gary Hallenbeck, Terry Ayer and Mike Tiffany filling the podium for the Sportsman division.

After the Open Weight race, we had an awesome lunch of home-made lasagna, a welcome respite from our usual pizza fare.   Thanks go to Ryan’s wife for making the lunch and putting up with us tramping through the house…

 Super Stock – Sportsman

Sportsman Super Stock Podium - Gerd Wolny 1st, Gary Hallenbeck 2nd, Pete Medeiros 3rd and O'Jimmy Colligan 4th

With the field equally split between Sportsman and Pros, we had the Pros marshal for Sportsman race and vis-a-versa for the Pro race.  The dynamic duo from Albany dominated the race with Gerd taking down the victory beating Gary to the line by 20 laps.  Pete Medeiros finished 3rd with O’Jimmy Colligan grabbing the last spot on the podium in 4th.

 

 

Super Stock – Pro

As is the tradition in MARC events, the winner of the Sportsman race has the choice to join

Pro SUper Stock Podium - Gerd Wolny 1st, Rob Hayes 2nd, Greg Burstein 3rd and Ryan Archambault 4th

the Pros for their event.  Gerd took advantage of this tradition and accomplished a rare feat, taking down the victory in the Pro event also.  Rob Hayes kept Gerd honest in this event but fell short by 3 laps taking down 2nd.  Greg Burstein and Ryan Archambault had, what’s for them, an “off-day” finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.

 

 

I’d like to thank Ryan for hosting the race, he always has the facility in top-notch shape for us.  As mentioned, I’d like to thank Ryan’s wife for making lunch for us.  Also a shout out to Gerd and Gary for making the event, it’s always great to have participants from other race groups join us (even if they do win…).

 Next up: We at John Stezelecki’s Nantasket Beach Speedway in Hull, Massachusetts on March 23rd racing Spec Racers and Super Stocks.

John