WALL TOWNSHIP — Although he led the majority of the Modified stock car 40-lap main event at Wall Stadium Speedway on the evening of May 21, Blake Barney had to fight every lap of the contest to earn the victory. It was the third division win for the Jackson resident.
In the early going, Barney’s challenges came from Toms River’s Derek Hopkinson with the duo racing side-by-side most of the time, according to a press release.
When Hopkinson was instructed to go to the rear of the field when officials ruled he had jumped a few restarts, Holmdel’s Andrew Krause and Jackson’s Kyle Scisco were there to be constant challengers.
As several cautions forced many restarts in the race, Barney was was racing side-by-side with contenders more often than not.
A final restart late in the race set up a run to the checkered flag between Barney and Krause. On the final lap, Krause charged into the outside lane and raced side-by-side with Barney.
At the finish, Barney won the race by the length of his front bumper. Krause and Scisco were second and third, while Howell’s Eric Lane and Tyler Truex of Little Egg Harbor wrapped up the official top five.
On the track, Brick Township’s Dom Fattaruso crossed the finish line fourth, but after a post-race inspection, officials said a tire bank issue forced his disqualification.
“That was an amazing race,” Barney said. “Especially at the end with Andrew (Krause). I didn’t even go to the outside because I didn’t think he would go up there. I trust him on the track as a clean driver, but his car is always fast and he always wants to win.”
Nick Catone of Brick Township raced into the lead early and held his ground to win his second career Factory Stock 40-lap main event. Constant challenger A.J. Jadacki of Freehold was second, Beachwood’s Elliot Wohl was third, Howell’s Brian Osborn was fourth and Kevin Flores of Brick Township was fifth.
Alex McCollum won the 25-lap main event for the Legend Cars, fighting off challenges from Quinn Trimmer and Tanner Jones. Brian Gardella and Jeff Stevens were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Defending champion Alonzo Morales of Burlington topped the 25-lapper for the Fast 4 cars over the fast closing Ryan Bilello of Brick Township. Ryan Maher, Logan Fraser and Greg Veil were third through fifth.
Freehold’s Howie Conk was the winner of the Limited Late Model feature race, while Kyle Taraska was tops with the visiting TQ Midgets.
The 2022 Saturday night regular season continues on May 28 with the Sportsman cars, Factory Stocks, Fast 4 cars and Legend Cars in action. Demolition Derby action is also on the card with grandstands opening at 4 p.m., qualifying at 5 p.m. and main events at 7 p.m., according to the press release.
