16th Annual John Blewett North / South Shootout Victory

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Jim and Crystal Snape would like to wish you all a great holiday.

Concord Motor Speedway

Concord, N.C.

11.10.2018

   It didn't take long for Jon McKennedy of North Chelmsford, Mass to show everyone how potent the Tommy Baldwin Jr. prepared 7NY modified was for the John Blewett Memorial North/South

   From victory lane McKennedy said "The last 20 laps were tough for sure, it seemed Andy (Seuss) myself and a few other guys were all even and I knew we needed a good 6 or 7 lap run when the car was really the strongest. I told my guys on the radio my best chance to get him (Seuss) was on the restart and that's exactly what happened, it all worked out and here we are." He added "The long red flag delay on lap 105 really helped us with the heat cycle on our tires, my car was getting tight and the heat cycle made it loosen up. We led a lot of laps (56) got the pole with the quickest time and won the race, its an awesome day. There's a lot of good cars here today so this win feels great."

   Turning in the quickest time of the day with a 15.296 second lap gave McKennedy the pole for the 125 lap marathon. Brandon Ward of Winston-Salem, N.C. started along side McKennedy with a 15.486 sec. lap.

   When starter Randy Smith showed the 28 car starting field the green, McKennedy became the first leader of the event until he pitted for adjustments on a lap 42 caution flag. 

   The crashed filled event was slowed or stopped 11 times, the worst on lap 105 when 6 cars tangled on the front stretch blocking the track which resulted in a 30 minute delay. That crash eliminated Chase Dowling, Cameron Sontag, Chuck Hossfeld and Jeremy Gertsner from the event.

   When racing resumed on lap 106 McKennedy wasted no time overpowering race leader Andy Seuss, (Hempstesd,N.H.) then held off all challengers including Matt Hirschman (Northhampton,PA.) who starting picking off competitors one at a time until he found himself in second place behind McKennedy on lap 123. Hirschman glued himself to McKennedy's back bumper but never found the opening to challenge the race leader for the win.

  At the checkered flag McKennedy, Hirschman and Jimmy Blewett (Howell,N.J.) who turned in a stellar performance, ran nose to tail.

   John Smith (Mount Airy,N.C.) and Andy Seuss finished 4th and 5th.

   Runner up Hirschman said, "It didn't go the way I wanted it to go, there were a few things that didn't go my way. It was so close at the end, you could say one more lap or a few more laps but when the checkered flag comes out at 125, it's all over. We were right there but a little too short." He added, "There were just so many cautions, delays and red flags, I don't know, just a lot to process really. It was just a very wild race and a break here or there would have made a difference in the outcome, but it is what it is."

   Third place Blewett said "It was interesting, a lot of ups and downs. For the most part we were able to get the car fixed and get back out on the track." (lap 57 Blewett stalled and stopped in turn 3.) "We got a flat in practice and hitting the fence was disheartening for us but we just started working and to come back to finish third really means something to me. I thought I might have something for those guys at the end (McKennedy-Hirschman) but it just got too loose."

   Anthony Nocella (Woburn,MA.) looked to be a serious contender for the win even without power steering for the last 50 laps but ran out of fuel under yellow while running third. Nocella came back to finish 7th.

Track- Concord Speedway, Concord,N.C.

Track size- 1/2 mile- Tri Oval

Starting Field- 28 Cars

Quick Time- 7NY, McKennedy-15,296 sec.

Race Leaders- 7NY, McKennedy--#76, Jimmy Zacharias--#11, Ron Silk--#25, John Smith--#57, Andy Seuss--#1, Burt Meyers--#19, Brandon Ward

Caution/Red Flags-11--Laps 24,31,42,57.87.87.89.93.93.94.105 

story by Jim Snape, photos by Crystal Snape

	#7 Johnathan McKennedy   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:48.702	99	00:15.885
2	#60 Matt Hirschman   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:48.836	114	00:15.973	0.134	0.134
3	#76 Jimmy Blewett   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:49.778	99	00:15.961	1.076	0.942
4	#25 John Smith   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:51.853	97	00:16.019	3.151	2.075
5	#57 Andy Suess   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:53.856	100	00:15.904	5.154	2.003
6	#17 Bobby Measmer   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:54.781	98	00:16.048	6.079	0.925	Jr
7	#92 Anthony Nocella   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:56.480	97	00:15.942	7.778	1.699
8	#81 Todd Owen   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:56.784	100	00:15.993	8.082	0.304
9	#07 Patrick Emerling   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:00:59.627	98	00:16.137	10.925	2.843
10	#79 James Civalli   Tour Modifieds
	Laps	Total Time	Best Lap	Best Time	Diff	Gap
	125	03:01:01.874	2	00:15.924	13.172	2.247