another big win to his already-impressive resume with a victory in the 45th
running of the Classic at Lee USA Speedway on Saturday night.
Perley came into the night as a four-time overall Classic winner, including
the past two in a row, and he tied the legendary Ollie Silva and Russ Wood
to become just the third driver in Classic history to make the trip to
victory lane three years running.
The best-combined finish in a pair of twin 50-lap feature events decided the
2010 Classic championship, and Perley won both ends of the doubleheader to
collect his third straight Classic title. “The Rowley Rocket” became just
the third driver in Classic history to win three in a row.
Five-time Classic winner Russ Wood settled for second place overall with a
runner-up and third place finish on the night. Perley received a $1,500
bonus for the Classic championship, Wood grabbed $900 in bonus money for
second, and Lou Cicconi collected an extra $600 for third.
Perley won the first of the two feature events handily, outrunning Wood,
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour ace Bobby Santos III, Cicconi, Rob Summers,
Bobby Magner, Jeff Locke, Mark Sammut, Eric Lewis, and Mike Lichty to grab
the checkers.
In the second 50-lapper, Perley led them across the stripe followed by
Cicconi, Wood, Sammut, Magner, Bobby Bond, Lichty, Vern Romanoski, Locke,
and Justin Belfiore, who had been knocked out of contention in the first
race due to a crash.
Lee’s weekly Small Block Supermodifieds contested the PB Chopper Shop and
Rods Super Summer Shootout on the support program, with a strong field of
competitors on hand for the night’s action. 17 cars took the green flag for
feature event action, with several drivers contending for the win along the
way.
“Super Dave” Sanborn had problems early in the race and was forced to pit,
but when he returned to the track, he was a man on a mission. Sanborn
worked his way patiently through the field, picking his way to the front as
the laps clicked off.
Sanborn got the lead with plenty of race left, and he pulled away to lead by
a comfortable margin at the checkers. Former champ Eddie Witkum, Jr.
grabbed second, with Dan Bowes, Tommy Tombarello, Jr., Billy Osborne, P.J.
Stergios, Danny Lane, Steve Dickey, Jr., and Tony Carroll the rest of the
top ten.
Jim Shorey ran off to his first Picnic Table Factory Hobby Stock feature win
of the year, running the former Doug Ricker machine to an impressive win.
Ron Washburn battled Shorey early in the race, but he found problems in the
late going and dropped off the pace.
Shorey went on to post the win, with Mike Williams coming on strong in the
late laps to take home second place honors in the Mike White entry. Mark
Parenteau finished third, with Bobby Glass, Steve Douphinette, Eric Hoffman,
Jim Piaseczny, Niko Manyati, and Kenny Scott the remainder of the top ten.
2010 division champion Jack Victoria continued his winning ways in the
Ironman feature event, capturing the checkered flag after running down
early-race leader Jeff Nadeau. Nadeau checkered second, with Chris Martel,
Crystal Brown, and Cody Harvey next across the stripe.
Ricky Porter took down a hard-fought victory in the David’s Race Cars and
Components Roadrunner main event, picking up the feature win over Lance
Barthelemy, Jason Hodgdon, Charlie Kipphut, and Crystal Brown.