Troy Regier has been saying at each SRL event this year that his S&S Motorsports Silsby was going to set new Supermodified Qualifying records this year. His prediction came true Saturday evening as he set a new all time track record at Rocky Mountain Raceways. The Supermodified Racing League brought twenty three winged sidewinders to the Salt Lake City Oval on July 3rd for the traditional Independence Day Weekend Event. When it was over, Regier had not only topped all qualifiers, he had racked up a heat race win and captured the forty lap feature.
The evening started with two qualification laps for each team. Regier(98) served notice that his sub 13 second practice laps on the 3/8 mile oval were not a fluke. He turned a lap of 12.838 seconds to smash the previous track record of 13.140 seconds. Rounding out the top five qualifiers were Mike Ford(56) at 13.198, Ken Hamilton(1) at 13.199, Jeff Russell(85) at 13.274, and A.J. Russell(7) at 13.285.
The first heat lined up eight starters with Rob Carlotto(41) on the pole. He was flanked by Harry Stone(40). They were followed by Ricky Otts(3) Ron Burger(89), Bobby Dalton(36), Eric Silsby(96), Jeff Russell(85), and Regier(98). Prior to the start, Carlotto elected to start from the rear moving the inside column forward. Harry Stone led from the outside over Otts, Regier, who advanced four positions on the first lap, Burger, and Russell. Regier grabbed second on lap three and stole the lead on lap four. The lap eight checkers saw Regier win over Otts, Stone, Silsby and Burger.
The second heat lined up seven competitors. Competing were Joe Priselac(51), Harold Evans(37), Jim Tartaglia(83), Rick Veenstra(91), Gary Land(55), A.J. Russell(7) and Mike Ford(56). On the first lap, Veenstra experienced a possible suspension failure and slammed the right side of the Pat Russell Super into the turn three wall. The red flag was flown to expedite the clean up, and Tartaglia headed for the pits for adjustments. The field realigned sans Veenstra and with Tartaglia at the rear. However, by the end of the first lap, Russell and Tartaglia had moved from the rear to second and third places behind Harold Evans. A.J. grabbed the lead on the second lap and Mike Ford had moved to fourth with Gary Land rounding out the top five. Then on lap seven, Ford darted into the pits. Finish order showed Russell over Evans, Tartaglia, Land and Priselac. Ford and Veenstra were DNF’s.
Heat three was led off by Johnny Pickard(02) followed by Rick Cameron(24), Rich Castor, Jr.(2), Dave Adamson(5), Jim Pasquin(12), Jim Birges(32), and Ken Hamilton(1). When Pasquin didn’t answer the bell, the race was flagged off with six cars. Pickard grabbed the lead at the outset followed by Castor, Adamson, Birges and Cameron. Hamilton displaced Cameron for fifth on lap four and Birges snagged second from Castor on lap seven. On the final lap, Birges sailed off high into turn three and completed the outside pass in turn four to grab the win at the line. Behind Birges were Pickard, Castor, Adamson, and Hamilton. The forty lap feature lined up all twenty one surviving cars. With an eight car invert, Gary Land wound up on the pole followed by Eric Silsby, Jim Birges, A.J. Russell, Jeff Russell, Ken Hamilton, Mike Ford, and Troy Regier. Behind the invert were Jim Pasquin, Bobby Dalton, Dave Adamson, Ron Burger, Jim Tartaglia , Rich Castor, Jr., Ricky Otts, Harold Evans, Rick Cameron, Harry Stone, Joe Priselac, John Pickard, and Rob Carlotto. Rick Veenstra and Whitey Janssen were unable to start.
At the green, Silsby grabbed the lead while A.J. Russell, Birges and Hamilton freight trained Land. Meanwhile, Regier moved up to fourth by the second lap, displaced Birges for third on lap four and grabbed second place by lap seven. Troy displaced Silsby on lap ten making the order at one quarter distance Regier, Silsby, A.J. Russell, Birges, Hamilton, Ford, Land, J. Russell, Tartaglia, Burger, and Dalton. Regier then moved into lapped traffic, A.J. Russell took second from Silsby while they were negotiating lapped traffic. And then the yellow flew on lap 14 for a Pasquin spin in turn one.
With thirteen laps complete, the restart order had Regier in first followed by Russell, the lapped car of Pickard, Birges, the lapped car of Priselac, Silsby and Ford. Birges cleared Pickard on lap fifteen and entered into a sizzling battle with A.J. for second that would have the two running side by side for several laps. In the middle of the pack, Tartaglia was starting to quietly pick off cars in a steady move toward the front. The yellow flag waved again on lap nineteen when Ford contacted the turn one wall. The restart order had Regier, Russell, Birges, Silsby, ahead of Picard( one lap down). Hamilton, Tartaglia, Land, Jeff Russell, Burger, and Otts came next. At the green, Birges dove under A.J. in turn two and completed the pass when they banged wheels coming off two. Hamilton cleared Pickard on the same lap and Tartaglia did the same a lap later.
A yellow flew for debris in turn four on lap 22. On this restart, Tartaglia snookered Hamilton and moved into the top five and set his sights on Silsby. The yellow flew again on lap 28 when Silsby hit an errant muffler which jammed behind the tie-rod and caused him to contact the turn three wall. There was contact at the same time on the other end of the track when Bobby Dalton got into the lapped car of Joe Priselac. Both Silsby and Priselac were done for the night. On this restart, Birges got a great run off turn two and got alongside Regier in turn three but was unable to complete the pass coming off the turn four. At Three Quarter distance the top ten were Regier, Birges, A.J. Russell, Tartaglia, Hamilton, Jeff Russell, Burger, Land, Otts, and Dalton (separated from the leaders by the lapped car of Pickard). Another debris yellow occurred on lap 32. During the previous green flag session and the ensuing one, Russell and Burger ran nose to tail with neither gaining a distinct advantage. There was one more yellow on lap 36 when Pickard spun in turn one under pressure from Dalton. Again the green flew and Tartaglia relentlessly pressed A.J. Russell but was unable to execute the pass. On the 38 the lap, Jeff Russell slowed dramatically and Burger was unable to avoid contact and lost a couple of positions clearing Russell. The checkered flag saw Troy Regier winning over Jim Birges, A.J. Russell, Jim Tartaglia, Ken Hamilton, Gary Land, Ricky Otts, Bobby Dalton, Harold Evans Rich Castor, and Harry Stone. Rick Cameron and Ron Burger rounded out the cars on the lead lap and Jeff Russell finished one lap down.
The Independence Day celebration continued with a massive fireworks display and then the pits were filled by the Utah fans scrambling to get a look at the exotic cars of the Supermodified Racing League. There was a large contingent of Colorado based cars from the Englewood Racing Association and they aquitted themselves well with several top ten finishes. Overall, it was a great night of racing, followed by a great fireworks show. From 828 miles West and South of Rocky Mountain Raceways, I am the Racing Widow’s Husband.
