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ANDY LINDEMAN WINS AT TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY AND CLINCHES 2008 CHAMPIONSHIP
by Debbie Duvilla
October 25, 2008
Andy Lindeman won the AllStar Race Truck Series feature event at Twin State Speedway on Saturday, October 25th thereby clinching the 2008 Championship. Andy is from Poestenkill, NY and drives the #3 sponsored by Thorpe Electric Supply Co, Dawson Towing, Wells Communication Service Inc., Buffa-Matic Transmission, FANE Trucking, Dale Lindeman Construction, PMC Race Car Fab, Lakeview Inn, Shirmer Plumbing, EJP Homes, Towne Tavern, Freeman Brothers, and Salvage Eaton Electric.
With the treat of rain moving in the feature was run in lieu of the heat races. Eleven trucks took the initial green flag for the start. In turn one Derek Chriss of Averill Park driving the #12 sponsored by Dan Engwer Wholesale Florist went low inside making it 3 wide which sent trucks spinning in all directions. Mike Carrigg of Southbury, CT driving the #41 Sponsored by Carrigg Motorsports ended up in the infield with a bent chassis, right side suspension destroyed, and was done for the night; Gee Perry of Granby, CT driving the #83 FEB Construction went into a pile of dirt in turn 1 not causing any damage to halt his competition for the night; Greg Butler of East Hampton, CT driving the #85 sponsored by East Hampton Auto Parts had to go into the pits and change his left rear tire which went flat causing him to restart at the rear of the field; Chriss had his front end damaged and had to restart in the rear of field; and Chris Austill of Waterford, CT driving the #07 sponsored by C & S Marine Service went into the back wall. The collision with the wall had Austill’s hood and roof being ripped off along with damaging the right frame rail. This brought out the red flag while they attended to Austill’s truck. Everyone was ok.
At the restart Chris Correll of Old Lyme, CT driving the #7 Hooters of America was on the pole with Dan Butler of Cromwell, CT driving #25 sponsored by Butler Motorsports to his outside. Correll took the lead with the field close behind. In turns 1 & 2 Lindeman passed D. Butler and moved in on Correll. By lap 2 Lindeman had the lead. Meanwhile Perry who started 5th was moving up the field. It took several laps for him to move up to 3rd behind Correll with D. Butler in 4th. Behind Perry, G. Butler was also moving up the field. G. Butler eventually passed his brother taking over 4th with Keith Chapman of Groton, CT who drives the #90 sponsored by B & W Paving and Tom Smith of Hope Valley, RI who drives the #64 sponsored by TLS Design & Mfg. battling for 6th. Smith got around Chapman and had his sights on D. Butler. It didn’t take him long to get around Butler taking over 5th. Rookie Ron Fortune driving the #46 sponsored by TK Auto in his 1st ARTS event was hanging in there right behind Chapman. While Perry was doing his best to catch Lindeman, G. Butler was battling Correll to take over 3rd. On lap 16 Correll came down into G. Butler causing him to hit the front wall and be done for the night. Correll was black flagged for rough running and parked his truck in the pits. At the restart Lindeman and Perry pulled away from the others to battle for 1st. Smith, D. Butler, Chapman, & Fortune were having their own battle. Smith managed to pull ahead and capture 3rd with D. Butler finishing 4th, Chapman finishing 5th, and Fortune finishing 6th.
Finish Order: Andy Lindeman, Gee Perry, Tom Smith, Dan Butler, Keith Chapman, Ron Fortune, Greg Butler, Derek Chriss, Mike Carrigg, Chris Austill, Chris Correll.
This was the last event for the 2008 season. Lindeman needed to take the green in order to clinch the championship. After last weeks engine problems at Thompson, his crew was cautious. He not only clinched the championship but drove to the win the event.
Greg Butler won the 2008 Rookie of the Year in ARTS. Greg also finished 3rd in the 2008 Point Standings 162 points behind Lindeman.
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Howard Payne wins at Thompson
By Debbie DuVilla
October 18, 2008
Howard Payne of Shelton, CT driving the #0 sponsored by Big Boys Toys won the 25 lap feature event at Thompson Int’l Speedway on Saturday, October 18, 2008.
After retiring 10 years ago from ARTS an opportunity arose for him to get back into the truck one more time at the very track that he won his last truck race at. It wasn’t out of the question that Payne could return to victory lane. He left the series a very good racer and he teamed up with a top running team from last year in ARTS which made a good combination. A couple of things did make it a bit easier for him. Three teams had engine troubles on Friday which had all three missing the heat race and returning to their shops Friday and repairing their trucks over night to return to the track on Saturday for the feature. The were current points leader Andy Lindeman of Poestenkill, NY who drives the #3 sponsored by Thorpe Electric Supply Company; Derek Chriss of Averill Park, NY who drives the #12 sponsored by Dan Engwer Wholesale Florist; and Chris Correll of Old Lyme, CT who drives the #7 sponsored by Hooters of America. With the unusual amount of trucks with problems it was decided that only one heat race would be run, which was the second break that Payne got. The current rules and handicap system allowed Payne to remain where he qualified for the feature and required that Lindeman, Chriss, and Correll would start after the trucks participating in the heat race. And finally due to an illegal move by Bill Leonard of Woodriver Jct, RI driving the #8 sponsored by Holmes Garage in the heat, which resulted in him being black flagged from the event, left another point contender, Gee Perry of Granby, CT who drives the #83 sponsored by FEB Construction, repairing the entire right front suspension of his truck Friday night and finishing Saturday morning.
Sitting on the pole for the feature was Tom Smith of Hope Valley, RI driving the #64 sponsored by TLS Design & Mfg. with team mate Richard Brooks of Groton, CT driving the #46 sponsored by TK Auto on the outside. In the second row was Rookie leader Greg Butler of East Hampton driving the #85 sponsored by East Hampton Auto Pars with Tony Naglieri of Island Park, NY driving the #03 sponsored by Eveready Motorsports along side. At the drop of the green Brooks got the jump ahead of Smith with Butler on his bumper putting Smith in 3rd and Naglieri following. Brooks, Butler, and Smith battled closely for several laps with Payne catching up and getting in on the battle. With the other points contenders Perry, Lindeman, and Correll moving up through the field made for a very exciting race. The ARTS regulars up front did all that they could to hold off the returning Payne. But not to be denied, Payne showed why he was so successful 10 years ago as he worked his way to the lead. The rough weekend closed up the point standings for the upcoming season finale next weekend at Twin State Speedway. Lindeman is leading with 2034, Perry is 82 points behind him with 1952; Correll moved up to 3rd with 114 points behind Lindeman with 1920; and Butler went to 4th with 116 points behind Lindeman with 1918.
Finishing order: H. Payne, R. Brooks, G. Perry, C. Correll, M. Powers, M. Anzalone, T. Smith, A. Lindeman, G. Butler, T. Naglieri, D. Butler, S. Senerchia, C. Austill, M. Carrigg, J. Zoller, K. Chapman, D. Chriss.
The next and final race of the 2008 season is next Saturday at Twin State Speedway.
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September 29, 2008
Its a sad day in the AllStar Race Truck Series camp. For the first time in over 12 years, since the ARTS trucks started racing in that area, we will not be racing at the Waterford Speedbowl's season finale. After having a long conversation with Jerry Robinson today by phone, a deal could not be reached on the past due payment of a race we ran at the Bowl on 7-19-08. He also stated he could not guarantee it would ever be paid. To top that off he then said we were more than welcome to come to this weekend's event. He suggested that the ARTS racers pay to get in the back gate but race for free with no purse or possibly a smaller purse. He again promptly said he did not know if he would be able to pay for this weekend's event as well as the 100 lap event which we ran on 7-19-08. Jerry claimed that the TIS Modified division that is on their website as replacing us was also running for free, no purse.
ARTS did everything in its power to maintain a good relationship with the track. It has always been two to three weeks after running a race at the Bowl before the check comes. It was never a big deal. But after three weeks went by and we did not receive a check we made several attempts to contact Jerry concerning the bill. When I finally got to talk to Jerry days later, he said he was not going to pay the amount that we were contracted to receive. We agreed on a payment of a lesser amount. Jerry said that we could pick up a check for the 100 lap event when we came back to race in two weeks time. Trusting that things would be ok, the ARTS trucks returned to the Bowl 5 weeks after the 100 lap event, which we were not paid for. When we went to the office to find Jerry we found out Jerry was not there and Bill could not give us a check because Jerry hadn't left one with him for ARTS. He said we had to talk to Jerry. Once again, in good faith, the ARTS truck raced hoping that things would work out. Again, I resumed my daily phone calls to try and get some kind of answer from the track. Some times calling the track, Bill's cell, and Jerry's cell and still no one would return a phone call. On Thursday, 9/18/08, I again spoke with Jerry. I wanted to set up a meeting to work something out, to remain racing at the Bowl. At this point they now owed ARTS for the 100 lap event which was run 7-19-08 as well as the race ran on 8-23-08. Jerry said he could not meet with me but did agree to pay off the 8-23-08 race. We did receive that check and are waiting to hear if it has cleared. Also Jerry said I could call him back on the following Monday, 9-22-08 to settle the remaining balance. But it was back to the same old thing, leave a message and no one will call you back.
ARTS received many phone calls over the weekend concerning the Waterford website and all of the tracks other problems that are posted all over the internet. We did everything we could to try and work something out with Jerry and the Waterford Speedbowl. But with Jerry admitting he was not able to pay the past balance and was guaranteeing me he would not pay if we raced this weekend's upcoming season finale, we will have to pass on the final race of the bowl.
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GEE PERRY WINS AT
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY'S
SEASON FINALE
September 21, 2008
By Debbie DuVilla
Gee Perry of Granby, CT driving the #83 FEB Construction truck won the AllStar Race Truck Series feature event at Monadnock Speedway’s season finale on September 20th tightening up the points battle.
The 30 lap feature started with Rookie Richard Brooks of Groton, CT driving the #46 sponsored by TK Auto on the pole with Chris Austill of Waterford, CT in the #07 sponsored by C & S Marine Service on the outside of him with Derek Chriss of Averill Park, NY driving the #12 sponsored by Dawn Engwer Wholesale Florist starting 3rd and Perry starting in 4th. At the drop of the green flag Brooks led the pack into turn 1 with Perry moving from 4th to 2nd in the 1st lap and taking the lead from Brooks on lap 6. With Perry pulling away from the pack the battle was for 2nd. Brooks, Greg Butler of East Hampton, CT driving the #85 sponsored by East Hampton Auto Parts, & current point’s leader Andy Lindeman of
Poestenkill, NY driving the #3 sponsored by Thorpe Electric Supply Company battled for the position. The 1st caution flew for a single truck spin involving the #25 driven by Dan Butler of Cromwell CT on lap 19 bunching up the field. But Perry was not to be denied, holding onto the lead at the re-start. The battle was between Brooks, with another great run, still holding onto 2nd with Lindeman right behind him and Rookie leader G. Butler on their tails battling with past champion Chris Correll of Old Lyme, CT driving the Hooter #7. A caution flew again on lap 24 when Austill spun on the front stretch bunching up the field once again for a 6 lap dash to the finish. Perry once again held onto the lead on the re-start but this time Lindeman was stuck to him like glue. Brooks set another personal best finishing 3rd with G. Butler finishing 4th and finishing 5th was Correll. Tony Naglieri of
Island Park, NY driving the #03 sponsored by Eveready Motorsports, running a partial schedule this season, had a solid run finishing 6th. Chriss finished 7th; D. Butler finished 8th; Tom Smith driving the #64 sponsored by TLS Design & Mfg. finished 9th; Austill finished 10th; and Mike Carrigg of Southbury, CT driving the #41 sponsored by Carrigg Motorsports finished 11th.
The 2008 points battle has closed up just a little bit with Lindeman still in the lead with 1858 points. Perry moves into 2nd, 104 points behind Lindeman dropping Rookie Greg Butler into 3rd with 1732 points, 126 points behind Lindeman and 22 points behind Perry; and Correll moving into 4th with 1725 points, 133 points behind Lindeman. 29 points behind Perry, 7 points behind
Butler. With only 3 races remaining on the schedule the battle is not over yet.
Two 10-lap heats were run. In the first heat Brooks was on the pole with Lindeman starting 5th. Lindeman eventually passed Brooks to win the heat with Brooks finishing 2nd. In the second heat Austill started on the pole with Perry starting 3rd. Perry won this heat with G. Butler coming in second.
Contingency Award winners: Capital Motorsports is Chris Austill; M & R Tie Downs is Tony Naglieri; aDP Rivet is Dan Butler; RacingJunk.com are Gee Perry, Andy Lindeman, Richard Brooks.
The AllStar Race Trucks will be at Twin State Speedway’s season finale this Saturday, September 27th.
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