Kevin Casper finally threw that monkey off his back on Saturday night in the 40 lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Pro Stock feature at the Action Track of the East. Casper, behind the wheel of his Phil’s Propane No. 88, put himself in position to score the win right from the start when he jumped out front from his pole position. Casper battled Bobby Pelland III for much of the race, doing everything he could to hold off the No. 12 A&A Auto Parts ride over the final half of the feature.
However, after a caution for a spin by brother Kyle due to a flat left rear tire, Kevin took control on the final restart and never looked back in route to the victory. Kevin pulled away in the final laps while Angelo Belsito and David Darling worked hard battling for second and in the end, the defending champion Belsito was able to slide by and take the checkered flaG in the second spot. Darling, who has struggled a lot with the setup this season underneath the hood of the No. 52, was able to finish in third.
In the 30 lap Everett’s Auto Parts Late Model feature, it was the Everett’s car that drove into victory lane at the end of the night. Dylan Estrella, the defending division champion, captured a dominating victory. Estrella passed veteran Charlie Rose early in the race and never looked back — pulling away from the rest of the field and basically coasting across to the checkered flag in the final laps.
For Estrella, he takes every victory he can get, but this one was even more special. His points lead, that was already over a race advantage coming in, just continues to grow. Going into the Triple Crown 50 lap feature next week, Estrella needed all the points he could get just in case something happens in the double points thriller on Saturday August 6.
The 25 lap Street Stocks feature was won by Scott Serydynski, who added to his all-time wins list lead by capturing another victory. He got to the outside of Vinny Pangalinan in the final laps of the race and really drove around the outside of him for many laps, not able to seal the deal. However, Serydynski got clear and then something went wrong with the 53. Vinny ended up rolling into the tunnel and coming to a stop and needed the assistance of Mark Labbe and the tow team to get him back to his pit stall. While Vinny sat in the tunnel, Mike Teague didn’t notice he was there and came up the tunnel at speed and drove into Vinny. Luckily, there was no damage that was severe.
The Phil’s Propane Triple Crown Series finale for the Sports Trucks class was won by Dan Johnson on Saturday, after his impressive run around the outside of David Lougee. Johnson grabbed his second victory of the season after working over Lougee for many laps. The tough part for Lougee was that he slowed up to let Johnson by then got kicked back through the field and ended up spinning out on the final lap.
It was a tough break for the ‘All In Kid” after running inside the top-two for much of the races distance. Congrats to Chase Belcher, who escaped some early race struggles to take the checkered flag in the Phil’s Propane Triple Crown Series championship chase. Belcher was the first one to take a crown this season.
Next Saturday, the Late Models conclude their Phil’s Series with a 50 lap special!
SATURDAY NIGHT RECAP
WITH KYLE SOUZA
July 30th Recap