9/21/2022
USAC East Coast Sprint Cars
Danner Out Duels Lattomus for Winchester Victory
September 17th, Winchester, VA. Nick Fillman, USAC ECSC
In a late race three lap duel to the finish, 2022 USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series points leader Briggs Danner battled with rookie driver, and one time feature winner on tour this season Preston Lattomus, to collect his 10th win on the series trail, and continue to extend his season long points lead.
Austin Graby and Colin White lead the field to green for the twenty five lap feature event at the Winchester Speedway, with White taking command of the field in the early running.
White secured the race lead early, and was in front of the field as the first half of the race began to click off. Unfortunately for White, in a similar twisted fate of events, Colin White would break while leading the feature event on lap nine, and end his chance at collecting career win number one.
This in turn handed the lead over to veteran driver Carmen Perigo, who assumed control of the field with sixteen laps to go.
The second caution flag of the event fell on lap twelve as second place points runner, Alex Bright spun to a stop in turns one and two on lap twelve, just shy of the half way mark.
Perigo continued to lead, but the caution flag flew yet again only a handful of laps later as contact between Briggs Danner and Joey Amantea. Amantea would end up backing the 88J entry, which was on loan from Lou Cicconi, into the wall in turns one and two, ending a strong night for the top five in points driver.
The field eventually got into a rhythm with Perigo leading comfortably as he did in last seasons fall visit to the speedway. Unfortunately the caution flag yet again flew, this time on lap twenty two, and involved the leader Carmen Perigo. Lee Kauffman, while being lapped, spun in front of the leader, leaving nowhere for Perigo to go and ending his shot at victory as well.
The trouble for Perigo would leave Rookie Preston Lattomus at the front of the field, with Briggs Danner in second, with only a three lap dash to the finish.
Danner and Lattomus would race side by side over the last handful of laps, with Danner ultimately having the momentum on the high side of the speedway to secure the lead away from Lattomus and collect victory number ten of the 2022 season.
The win for Danner and team was a bit of a surprise at the Winchester Speedway, as the team has historically struggled with grip on slick tracks, and where Danner struggled in his debut at the speedway last season. But as was the case at Delaware International, the team was able to find the right set up for the sophomore driver, and secure yet another victory in 2022.
Preston Lattomus nearly collected his second career feature event victory on Saturday night at Winchester as the young driver continues to build confidence and driving abilities behind the wheel of a sprint car. Lattomus missed the Delaware International Show a few weeks ago due to a family trip, but rebounded on Saturday night with a strong runner up finish.
Morgantown, PA’s Kenny Miller continued to be consistent in USAC East Coast Series Action, but has yet to find his way back to victory lane with the series. Miller picked up the heat race one victory, and has collected back to back top five efforts in his last two starts.
While Briggs Danner may have come from the eighth place starting spot to win, Steven Drevicki was able to garner a fourth place run from seventh as the second highest points driver with Alex Bright missing the invert. Drevicki has a great deal of confidence on small tracks and in the slick, and utilized that skill to secure another top five run. Look for Drevicki and team to head to this weekends Four Crown Nationals at the Eldora Speedway in 410 sprint car competition.
Rounding out the top five and continuing to knock on the doors of victory was Mike Thompson. Since Thompson’s massive crash at the Williams Grove Speedway in June and the teams subsequent rebuild, Thompson has been among the fastest and most consistent drivers in the field. That pattern remained unchanged as the eighteen year-old collected yet another top five placement in series competition.
Up next for the Rapid Tire Services, USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, presented by Capitol Renegade is a trip to the First State of Delaware and the series one and only visit to the Georgetown Speedway on September, 30th!
USAC East Coast at Winchester Results:
Heat 1 (10 laps, Top four points invert, all Qualify): 1. 23m Kenny Miller lll, 2. 19 Steven Drevicki, 3. 88J Joey Amantea, 4. 87 Austin Graby, 5. 18T JT Ferry, 6. 83 Bruce Buckwalter Jr, 7. 83s Billy Ney, 8. 7 Ed Aikin, 9. 96 Lee Kauffman, 10. 42 John Fraker.
Heat 2 (10 laps, Top four points invert, all Qualify): 1. 5g Briggs Danner, 2. 21 Carmen Perigo, 3. 23B Preston Lattomus, 4. 90 Colin White, 5. 20 Alex Bright, 6. 11 Mike Thompson, 7. 67 Jason Cherry, 8. 17 Christian Bruno, 9. 45 Brett Rose.
Feature Event (25 Laps): 1. 5g Briggs Danner, 2. 23B Preston Lattomus, 3. 23M Kenny Miller lll, 4. 19 Steven Drevicki, 5. 11 Mike Thompson, 6. 18T JT Ferry, 7. 83 Bruce Buckwalter Jr, 8. 67 Jason Cherry, 9. 87 Austin Graby, 10. 20 Alex Bright, 11. 17 Christian Bruno, 12. 21 Carmen Perigo, 13. 7 Ed Aikin, 14. 45 Brett Rose, 15. 83s Billy Ney, 16. 96 Lee Kauffman, 17. 88J Joey Amantea, 18. 90 Colin White, 19. 42 John Fraker.
Lap Leaders: Colin White (1-9), Carmen Perigo (10-22), Preston Lattomus (23), Briggs Danner (24-25).
Article Credit: Nick Fillman
Submitted By: Nick Fillman
