(Story Courtesy
is Challenger Raceway)
Indiana,
PA (October 14, 2007) – Billy Drake makes a lot of visits from
his Illinois home to the Challenger Raceway in Western
Pennsylvania. He has made the long drive to race there on
many occasions, but none were more profitable than his visit in
October of 2007. Taking the lead with eleven laps
remaining in the 75-lap championship event, the Bloomington, IL
resident raced to a $20,000 victory in The Ultimate, putting an
exclamation point on FallFest 13 at the Challenger Raceway. Rob
Blair had won both previous Challenger events in 2007, but
Drake’s pass in the closing stages of the event was the final
of the five lead changes as the event thrilled a record crowd.
In
the Super Late Models, 87 drivers assembled from ten states;
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In preliminary
action, eight 16-lap qualifying heat races were held as
victories went to Davey
Johnson, Steve
Casebolt, Dutch Davies, Bart Hartman,
John Mollick, Billy Drake, Bob Close, and David Scott.
Four B-Mains finished setting the field with
Jackie Boggs, Todd Andrews, Alex Ferree, and Boom Briggs picking
up the wins.
All
16 heat race transfer drivers drew for the top 16 starting
positions for the 75-lap “The Ultimate” championship race.
Davey Johnson and Bob Close were the lucky pair to draw the
front row, and at the drop of the green flag it was Johnson
taking the early lead. Indiana driver Scott James started
third on the grid, and he moved to second on lap 3 and started
to set his sights on the leader. Close was feeling
pressure from Indiana’s Steve Casebolt, and Casebolt took
third on lap 10.
The
first of just four caution periods in the 75-lap race came a lap
later for a spin by Bump Hedman, slowing the field for a double
file restart. Johnson chose the inside lane for the
restart, and back to green it was a side-by-side battle for the
lead with James nosing ahead on the outside to lead lap 12.
James also led lap 13 at the line, but Johnson worked the inside
to regain the top spot at lap 14. Casebolt and Close still
held third and fourth, but eighth starting Gregg Satterlee was
on the move. Satterlee took fourth on lap 18, as Close
lost fifth spot to seventh starting Rob Blair at lap 20.
The top two were inching away from the field, as many drivers
were advancing through the field. With all 26 starters
still running, Gary Lyle suffered the misfortune of being the
first retiree, as he exited the event on lap 23.
A
John Mollick spin brought out the event’s second caution at
lap 26, setting up another double file restart. Johnson
again chose the inside, moving James to his right. James
again nosed ahead as racing resumed, but this time he pulled
ahead of Johnson in making the outside lane work. Close
went to the pits on lap 30, with Jared Hawkins exiting two
rounds later. Satterlee pulled ahead of Casebolt to take
third, with Blair still riding fifth. Third was a hotly
contested battle, and on lap 34 Casebolt and Blair both passed
Satterlee.
The
halfway mark at lap 38 saw James leading Johnson, Casebolt,
Blair, and Satterlee. Billy Drake had advanced from
starting position 15 to hold down sixth, ahead of Dutch Davies
from tenth, Jeep VanWormer from 21st, 17th
starting Jackie Boggs, and David Scott. Caution waved for
the third time on lap 41 for debris on the track, setting up
another double-file restart.
James
pulled back ahead when racing resumed, but Blair was now on the
move. He quickly grabbed third, then slipped by Johnson as
lap 43 was scored. Then he picked up a big break as Ron
Delano spun to force another caution period. This would
set up another double file restart, as it would turn out to be
the last restart of the event.
When
green flag racing resumed, it was Blair pulling ahead to lead
for the first time in the event at lap 44. Blair had won
both previous Super Late Model events held at Challenger in
2007, and was looking for the $20,000 hat trick. James,
Johnson, Casebolt, and Drake now trailed the leader. Drake
was now showing strength, as by lap 46 he had advanced to third.
VanWormer was also moving, as he passed Casebolt for fifth on
lap 48. The battles were for second and fourth, as
VanWormer gained fourth from Johnson on lap 52. Drake got
second from James two laps later, and set his sights on race
leader Blair. The lead battle developed, with Drake
inching closer to Blair’s back bumper.
On lap 63,
working through turn two, Drake made his move to the inside of
Blair, making the pass to take the lead at lap 64. Blair
was not done yet, as race traffic allowed him to make a strong
challenge at lap 69. But Drake worked the traffic like a
pro, as he would pull away over the closing laps to score the
impressive victory after starting in position 15. Blair
held off a last lap bid from 21st starting VanWormer
to finish second. James was fourth, with
Davies turning in an impressive drive for fifth. Johnson
was sixth, with Satterlee a strong seventh. Casebolt was
eighth, with Boggs ninth from 17th. Tenth went
to 23rd starting Jim Yoder. Yoder had been
voted the RPM Racing News - Marsh Pivorotto Memorial Award
winner, after moving from 16th to second in his
B-Main to earn a feature berth, as he was involved in a wreck in
Friday’s heat races.
While
Blair had to be disappointed with finishing second, his day
turned better as Drake celebrated the victory. The
Steigerwald family holds an annual raffle to benefit Toys for
Tots, where the lucky winner wins a new Rocket Chassis Late
Model, basically complete less engine. When Drake reached
in to pull the winning ticket among the hundreds of entries, he
pulled Blair’s ticket stub out of the bin.
