It was a night to rejoice with cupcakes, sheet cake, brownies, cookies and of course, tiramisu as Brian Bianchi and his Culpeppers Bakery ground-pounder dominated the inaugural Camden Classic held at Stafford Springs Motor Speedway on Tuesday night. Coming into the race, points leader Tom Ogle looked to stretch out his points lead after a victory provided by some "on point" race strategy at the Connecticut 150 held at Thompson Speedway on June 3rd. However, it was not to be as Ogle qualified 7th and got caught up early in a turn 2 incident that collected numerous cars. Ogle got the "meatball" flag and had to pit going 3 laps down.
Newcomer Eric Stout impressed by taking the pole and looked strong for the first third of the race. However, a spin coming out of turn two cost him the lead and put him back into 5th in the field. Soon after, the Red Light racer lost control coming out of turn four in a battle with Chris Davis to regain third place and the night was over.
As has been typical with YesterYear Racingâ„¢, after two somewhat early cautions, the race went on a long green flag run that saw a "survival of the fittest" mentality come into play for most of the field as the tires became virtually bald with many driver never stopping to put on fresh Hoosiers.
In the end it was the Culpepper Bakery/Colony Tire duo of Brian Bianchi and Rex Hoyle that stood out from the field with Bianchi leading 112 laps of the 125 lap race. The dominance was reminiscent of early F1 days where the Marlboro team of Senna and Prost were virtually untouchable in every round held across the globe. However, the big question is can it continue. With drivers like Tom Ogle, Ryan Pittman, and Lloyd Moore waiting in the wind to grab a win, it will not be easy.
The Tour takes a long awaited summer breather for the next 8 weeks. YesterYear Racingâ„¢ will return to the track on Tuesday, August 20, for the Tri-State 150 from Thompson Speedway. Last time out at that track, Tom Ogle came from starting last to win his third race of the season.
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