After a disastrous night on Tuesday, TC and the Bear Motorsports team were hoping to get back on track in Wednesday night’s 50-lapper in the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. With just four races remaining and a 52-point deficit facing them, it was time to focus on winning races and getting good finishes.
In qualifying, Teddy was the fastest qualifier at 17.434 seconds. He then drew the seventh starting spot in the main.
John Blewett got the jump from the pole but it was Eddie Flemke, making his first Series start in 2004, who led lap one over Blewett and Eric Beers. Once the field got sorted out into single file, TC was on the move. Using both the inside and outside groove, he drove into the top five by lap five. He continued his march to the front, up to fourth by lap 10. On lap 15 he drove around Beers in turn one to grab third as the race was a four-car battle up front. On a lap 20 restart he drove under Blewett to grab second.
He wasted no time in putting heavy pressure on Flemke for the lead. Lap after lap he looked high and low for any opening, all the while beating on the rear bumper of the #79, but Flemke had him blocked each time. Blewett remained in contention with Beers close behind. By lap 25 George Kent and J.R. Bertuccio had joined the lead draft. The race took on a much different look on lap 47 when Blewett crashed in turn four and collected Bertuccio, George Bock and John Bush. Point leader Beers remained on the track but eventually retired from the event with a bent rear axle, credited with a 13th place finish
After a lengthy red flag the race was set to resume and TC picked up the chase once more as George Kent waited patiently. Donny Lia, who had pitted for new rear tires on lap 34, was moving on the outside and by the white flag lap he was up to third. Christopher made a final move in turn two on the final circuit and there was contact. Both leaders scrambled to hold on and Lia drove to the infield, losing several spots. At the finish it was Flemke, Teddy, Kent, Charlie Pasteryak and Chuck Hossfeld as Lia fell back to eighth. John White won the SK Bonus with his 15th place finish.
“We changed motors today and it definitely picked up our program,” reported TC. “We set fast time and even though we were starting back in seventh I knew we were good enough to get to the front. I caught Eddie (Flemke) and tried every trick I knew, but he’s very good at blocking and using his brakes. I thought I had him a couple of times but he was using the whole racetrack. Still, we got a good finish and Beers fell out of the race, so we cut the deficit almost in half and got back in contention for the championship. There are still three races to go and the top four all have a good shot at it. We’ve got a good racecar and we’re due a few breaks. I wouldn’t count us out just yet.”
Finish: 1. Eddie Flemke 2. Ted Christopher 3. George Kent 4. Charlie Pasteryak 5. Chuck Hossfeld 6. Justin Gaydosh 7. Chris Young 8. Donny Lia 9. J.R. Bertuccio 10. Jimmy Winters 11. Carl Erickson 12. Kevin Goodale 13. Eric Beers 14. Jeff Malave 15. John White (SK Bonus) 16. Billy Anderson 17. Terry Zacharias 18. Andy Seuss 19. John Blewett 20. George Bock 21. Bo Gunning 22. John Bush 23. Buck Catalano 24. Mike Fitch 25. Stash Butova 26. Jim Storace 27. Larry Altholtz 28. Steve Malbach 29. Adam Horwith
Current Points: 1. Eric Beers 500 2. Charlie Pasteryak 488 3. Donny Lia 484 4. Ted Christopher 473 5. J.R. Bertuccio 445 6. George Kent 428 7. John Bush 418 8. Buck Catalano 413 9. Chris Young 410 10. Kevin Goodale 410 11. Jeff Malave 398 12. John Blewett 394 13. John White (SK) 374 14. Billy Anderson (SK) 374 15. Justin Gaydosh 368 16. Andy Seuss 360 17. Mike Fitch 360 18. Jimmy Winters 356 19. Jim Storace 356 20. George Bock 342 21. Stash Butova (SK) 320 22. Bo Gunning 284 23. Adam Horwith 272 24. Steve Malbach 228 25. Jim Jensen 216 26. Chuck Hossfeld 210 27. Steve Whitt 182 28. Eddie Flemke 150 29. George Swansbrough 146 30. Carl Erickson (SK) 130 31. Terry Zacharias (SK) 120
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