WALL TOWNSHIP — Mike Carpenter of Brick grabbed his first win of the year in Busch beer Modified stock car action, and Beachwood’s Bill Vanderveen won a 50-lap thriller for the Street Stocks at Wall Township Speedway Saturday night.
It was the first win of the 2003 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series for each driver, although Vanderveen did win a rain postponed Turkey Derby main event in April that was originally scheduled for last November.
The first third of the Modified race featured a torrid battle for the lead between Carpenter and former Street Stock standout Rich Mongeau of Brick. This duo struggled for command and raced side-by-side for several laps before Carpenter finally moved to the front on lap 11.
From that point on Carpenter raced on to the victory, while Curtis Truex Jr. of Mayetta eventually slipped by Mongeau for second place. Mongeau was third while Brick’s Marc Rogers and Joe Mongeau wrapped up the top five.
While the 50-lapper for the Snap-On Tools Street Stock was relatively calm during the first 25 circuits, it was explosive during the final laps. Robert Geibel was the first leader of the contest and was forced to hold off the challenges of a host of drivers.
The fireworks really started in the final 10 laps, however, as Vanderveen and Absecon’s Bob Geiger ganged up on the leader. With just a handful of laps remaining, the trio ran three-wide with Geibel in the middle before Vanderveen was able to slip into the lead. Geiger was right on his bumper for second at the stripe, with Geibel a tight third. Rob Hyer and Ron Frees were fourth and fifth.
Bryan Gardella of Brick raced to victory in the companion 20-lapper for the INEX Legend Cars. Gardella raced past early leader Dennis Macri with an inside pass on lap 12 and then held off former champ John Menzak of Flemington at the line. Rudy Rinderer was third, with Chad Barney and Macri both recovering from spins to complete the top five.
Defending Truck Series champ Bill Weichert of Chatham raced to his second straight win in the 20-lapper for the pickups. Jimmy Weiss, Steve Naylor and Keith Mulleneaux were in a knot for second through fourth at the finish, while Jim McLaughlin Jr. was fifth.
Don Adams of Robbinsville grabbed his fifth TQ Midget main event win of the year, while Jim Downey in the Street Stocks and Kevin Yeatts in the Legend Cars were first time winners this season at Wall Township Speedway during a special Sunday racing program.
Steve Stull of Hamilton was the first leader of the 20-lapper for the TQ Midgets, while Adams and a host of others fought their way through the pack. A lap five caution for a spinning Gary Betsey bunched the pack for the restart, and Adams put the pedal to the metal when the green flag returned.
On the restart, Adams charged from fifth to second and then spent a lap on Stull’s rear bumper before racing into the lead. Adams cruised on to victory followed by Robin Johnston, Stull, Bob Watkins Jr. and Don Zrinski.
Cliffwood Beach’s Downey took advantage of a front row starting spot to race into the lead at the outset of the Street Stock 25-lapper, but had plenty of pressure most of the way. A restart with just two laps remaining found a pack of cars on his bumper, but Downey was able to hold them all off for the win. Dave Jennings of Howell was the eventual runner-up, while Bob Geiger of Absecon, Farmingdale’s John McCormack and Beachwood’s Bill Vanderveen were third through fifth.
Kevin Yeatts made the long trip to Wall from Virginia well worth his while with a win in the Legend Cars 20-lapper. While Yeatts ran a tight third with just seven laps remaining, front runners Bryan Gardella of Brick and Craig Rochelle of Hackettstown tangled in turn one. Yeatts made a daring move to avoid the mishap and raced into the lead for good. At the finish it was Yeatts, Rudy Rinderer of Pine Beach, John Feehan, J.J. Jensen and Pat Brown.