Seekonk Speedway 5-16-15 Late Model Results, Crowd Favorite, Bobby Pelland III Victorious

                           

photos by Wayne G. Barber

              Posted by Wayne G. Barber
  Bobby Pelland III and Ron Barboza, Jr. dueled door-to-door out of a lap 3 restart, with Pelland nosing ahead on the outside at the stripe, into lap four to win the lead. Pelland took command and led Barboza, then Charlie Rose and finally last week’s winner, Dylan Estrella to the checkers. Although he made it look easy, it wasn’t . He had to confront the crafty veteran, Rose on two restarts and Estrella on two more but he wasn’t to be denied. With Estrella glued to his bumper, he flashed across the stripe a quarter-second ahead. Austin Blais followed on their heels with Rose in for fourth and Bill Bernard completing the top five. At the outset, Barboza outran Mark Hudson for the lead and Bernard shot under to second. Hudson took the position back and they battled. Pelland got under Bernard and they nudged each other coming out of turn four, resulting in a Bernard spin. Two tries at a lap 3 restart saw Pelland take the lead while Rose challenged for second on the outside until John Mahoney went around in turn one. Vinny Arrenegado got the call on the assist. The lap 5 green saw Pelland retain the lead while Rose got underneath for second. Estrella was under Hudson for third. Lap six saw Blais completing a climb from thirteenth to fourth, getting past Hudson and then Barboza. At the front, Pelland, Rose and Estrella were running a tight line while Blais, Gerry DeGasparre, Jr, Bernard and Jerramee “The Hammer”Lillie were in a knot, brawling over position.Estrella went to work under Rose on lap 12, but rookies Curtis Rolando and TJ Moreshead went around, sending Rolando to the pits for the night. Another lap saw Estrella under Rose, wheel-to-wheel, before Nick Uhrig looped in turn four with Barboza diving onto the grass to avoid him. It took two attempts to get restarted as Barboza spun in turn one on the first try. The second try saw Race Director Frank Sgambato black flag four competitors who would not follow directions on getting properly in line. Rose had pitted after the first attempt, giving Estrella control over second and putting Blais low on the second row with DeGasparre on the outside. Bernard and Lillie followed. Blais looked under Estrella but was denied while Bernard ducked past DeGasparre for fourth.
Arrenegado and Lillie battled then Vinny nosed under DeGasparre knocking him into a spin and earning a black flag in the process. Pelland nosed ahead of Estrella in turn two after the green and had the lead to himself going into turn one on the following lap. Blais glued to the bottom under Estrella with Bernard in tow. Rose went to work on Lillie and Bernard and moved past into fourth on lap 22. Pelland was nursing a two car lead on Estrella and Blais as Bernard got by The Hammer and Uhrig ducked below Lillie. Estrella closed to Pelland’s bumper with three to go and looked underneath but the wily Pelland slammed the door on him. Estrella glued himself to the bumper, looking for a mistake, but there were none. Pelland Flashed home for the big first win on the season. The Hammer grabbed sixth, followed by Uhrig, DeGasparre, Moreshead and Barboza.  Greg Cotter, the final car running out of 17 starters, ran in for eleventh. Source Seekonk Speedway Press Release, Photos by Wayne G. Barber

1	1	12	Robert Pelland III	Cranston , R.I.	50.00
2	2	46	Dylan Estrella	N. Attleboro, Ma	48.00
3	3	16	Austin Blais	Somerset , Ma	46.00
4	4	7	Charlie Rose	Tiverton , R.I.	44.00
5	5	47	Bill Bernard	Holliston , Ma	42.00
6	6	50	Jeramee Lillie	W. Warwick, R.I.	40.00
7	7	11	Nicholas Uhrig	Warwick , Ri	38.00
8	8	71	Gerry Degasparre Jr	Pawtucket , Ri	36.00
9	9	00	Tj Moreshead	Seekonk , Ma	34.00
10	10	2	Ron Barboza Jr	Warren , Ri	32.00
11	11	1	Gregory Cotter	Onset , Ma	30.00
12	12	17	Vincent Arrenegado Jr	Warren , Ri	28.00
13	13	82	Mark Hudson	Norton , Ma	26.00
14	14	69	David Hutchins	Somerset , Ma	24.00
15	15	6	Nicholas Johnson	Rehoboth , Ma	22.00
16	16	15	Jonathan Mahoney	Hope , Ri	20.00
17	17	48	Curtis Rolando	Newport , Ri	18.00