The Inside Track Nov 2014 | Page 23

At the conclusion of the inverted second round of heats, everyone knew Tidman was the man to beat. In 2013 the Boyd owned machine of Flying Ryan was always there to contend for the top spot ( parking once in VL in 2013 too! ). At the drop of the green, the big dogs would be rail to rail. The 5b Excel600 chassis 600 wheeled by veteran wheeler Bobby Butler and the up north native Shawn Nye chased Tidman to turn one. Nye, reminiscences of last years performance and his success in AC , slingshotted by Butler out of turn two with his sights set on Tidman. After a few yellows, Pauch was clearly starting to get a rhythm and was on the move and took over second on a lap twenty five restart. The red flag waved mid way thru bringing the cars to a halt on the backstretch to take on fuel and make tire air pressure adjustments. Tim Krysiuk Photo By lap ten the remaining Bangor Steel entry wheeled by Rob Vivona was ticking faster laps than the leader and was on the move. His teammate and owner, Pat Van Varick was once again sidelined by brake issues. Vivionna had no problem carry the team and screamed into fourth with Billy Pauch Jr. glued to his rear bumper. On Lap fourteen after the two traded places, it was clear that Pauch's MMF #46 was going to have his hands full with the lighter Hyper 750 TQ. As the laps clicked off , Vivona moved up two spots into second with Pauch Jr falling in behindVivona for third. As the race went back to green it was Tidman, Pauch, and vivona dicing for the lead. As the fight for the lead intensified Larry Hoagland, Sheldon Iudicello, and Brandon Zavarella joined the hunt. With six laps to go Pauch was involved in a tangle that sidelined him with a bent tie rod ending a spectacular run for the lead. As the checkered flag waved it was Tidman, Vivona, Hoagland, Iudicello, and Zavarella. Other winners included Taylor Eccles (Slingshots), Kurt Bettler (Slingshot Cash Dash), Joey Costello (Junior Slingshots), Joel Smith (Stage One Modifieds), and Drew Fornoro (ATQNRA Vintage TQ’s) November 2014 ~ 23